I realize whenever I sit down to write this that it sounds like I’m exaggerating the excellence of the subjects, but the truth is I only feature people on here that I think are excellent. This includes , the coolest person in the beauty space, bar none, and also the most exceptional. She is the brand strategist and product developer behind many of your favs and recently launched her Substack . She has a level of discernment and instinct around skincare and wellness that makes her pretty much the only person I look to for guidance in this area, and I suggest you do as well.

She’s also funny as hell and has exquisite taste in music, which is why I’m so happy to have her Monday Mixtape:

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Alexis Page
Libra Sun/Virgo Moon/Libra Rising
East Village, Manhattan

How do you find/discover music?

I’m not so great at keeping up with this like I used to. The fanatical research part of my brain has shifted to other things, but mostly I end up hearing about new music from friends. If I see a name enough times, eventually I’ll bite. Months later it will make its way into some version of my content consumption. Anything that you or Patrik post I’ll look into, and then of course I’m always being bombarded with new names of new stars via Greg. More often, my “discovery” is me going down a rabbit hole of old music I just don’t know enough about.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

“That’s the Way Love Is” by Ten City. This is Sunday morning music to me, while I fold laundry and do my little chores.

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

“Closer to the Heart” by Rush. I’m currently at my parents’ house and my mom is a huge Rush head. I dug out her old records and it’s all Rush this, Rush that. They’re distinctly a band for men, but she’s been to like a million shows and I was raised on Rush. Maybe explains a lot, I don’t know.

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

I’ve been listening to variations of the same music for over 30 years...

A song off your workout playlist:

“Head On” by The Jesus and Mary Chain (ed note: same)

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“Sunday Morning” by No Doubt. It was illegal to be a 13 year old American girl in 1995 and not idolize Gwen. I can only imagine what it felt like for you in Torrance. I understood but didn’t fully get on board with “Just A Girl”. I really loved “Sunday Morning”. (ed note: yeah maybe I hot glued rhinestones to my bra strap in the 8th grade and what of it)

What is a song that makes you feel beautiful?

Have developed a taste for surprise, so I’ve been utilizing the “Alexis Page’s Station” on Apple Music. I do not understand the interface of Spotify and never will. The other day, “These Are Days” by 10,000 Maniacs came on in the car and - 1) Didn’t even know this song existed on my phone? 2) Inexplicably broke down in tears? I listened to it over and over because it mysteriously appeared in a moment of spiritual crisis and makes you remember that life is really weird and really beautiful. When you are driving, and crying, and the sun is shining, and somehow Natalie Merchant is singing, you are alive! (ed note: god definitely lives inside this song)

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

“Anemone” by The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I don’t participate in drugs anymore but this song fulfills that feeling in some way.

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

Trick question, I have so many. I feel really sure that if I were ever hired for an acting role, I’d be able to cry on cue by listening to one of these songs - “Norman fucking Rockwell” by Lana Del Rey, “Save Me” by Aimee Mann, “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones, “Sunny” by Morrissey, “Let Down” by Radiohead, “On Some Faraway Beach” by Brian Eno, “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica.

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

“The Cutter” by Echo and the Bunnymen. When I’m ready to wrap up the wallowing, this song shows up to feel both yearning and hopeful. The last fifty seconds gently usher you back into the world.

What is your favorite cover song?

“Please Don’t Go” by KWS

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

“Asleep” by The Smiths, the most dramatic of exits.

All the songs on Alexis’ Monday Mixtape can be found HERE

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Like most of the best people, it’s sort of impossible to describe . He has like, Mensa level IQ and unimpeachable taste, the kind of self-respect and integrity Joan Didion wrote essays about, wit like a razor-blade, and (and here’s the real magic) is one of the most caring and thoughtful friends one could dream to have. In his own words: “I am, unfortunately, a writer. I was born a writer and I will die a writer. Of this, I’m painfully aware.”

His recently launched Substack is an absolute gift. He’s also one of the only people on earth whose taste in music I both connect with and respect (Sorry! You either have taste or you don’t, as Patrik likes to say).

Here is Patrik’s Monday Mixtape:

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Patrik Sandberg
Sagittarius sun, Aries rising, Libra moon
Hollywood, where it all happens

How do you find/discover music?

Obsessively, religiously, and continuously. As a medium-elder millennial, I started with the bulk CD purchases from the Columbia House catalog that came in the mail, graduated to saving my allowance and buying CDs at the Wherehouse, then came Napster, Limewire, and finally the greatest music discovery machine ever invented, which was MySpace. Once MySpace ended and before streaming took off, there was a dead zone during which Pitchfork and other indie music sites were integral to the culture but something was lost. We had to go to forums to talk about music and learn about artists. I think we’re finally back on track now with the often-too-maligned “algorithm.” I love mine deeply. We are in a toxic codependent relationship. You have to invest in it to get the results you want.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

“Drugs in my Body” by Thieves Like Us

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

“OLD FLING$” by Slayyter

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

“Hijacked” by Odonis Odonis (ed note: Patrik put me onto this band and I am SO into them)

A song off your work-out playlist:

“Playgirl” by Ladytron

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“China Girl” by David Bowie was my go-to for a long time. I did it at Pieces Bar and they 86’d me for being racist? I thought that song was about heroin.

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“Blue Monday” by Orgy. The real answer is actually “Malibu” by Hole, but considering that song has been with me in my life at every age, it’s less thirteen-specific to me now. But I was thirteen when Celebrity Skin came out and it was nothing short of seminal.

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

Less lobotomy-coded but I do like to zone out and listen to beautiful psych rock, goth rock, and shoegaze while driving down California’s Highway 1, so I’ll say something like “Rosaries” by Weekend.

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

“Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure.

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

“Dreams Never End” by New Order.

What is a song that you find genuinely sexy?

“Human Nature” by Michael Jackson. I’m gonna get crucified for that one.

What is your favorite cover song?

“Better Off Alone” by SALEM (ed note: god tier)

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

“Ceremony” by New Order

All the songs in Patrik’s Monday Mixtape can be found HERE

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It’s Coachella weekend 1 which brings me great pleasure because Los Angeles empties out and you can move about freely and park easily and get good restaurant reservations. It seems neither Scott Speedman or I go to the festival anymore.1 I think the last really joyful year, for me, was when Dr. Dre and Snoop brought out the Tupac hologram. It just used to be so much more stupid in a good way? But I am happy for everyone. I’ll be using god’s Brick (phone in the other room) this weekend because I have a lot of work to do and I can’t look at one single other grotesquely protruding celebrity shoulder bone this week.

A few other things before I get into my list, which to be clear is just my 26 favorite songs of the year so far with no context (I trust your ears to serve you). Objective “best of” lists are not real but I’ve started to dabble in provoking via subject line and social media post because once you remove yourself from the energetic exchange, it’s really fun to observe. Also they’re not really in any order (you know how I feel about ranking things). Just a bunch of great songs for you. And if you like this, (almost) every week on my Instagram I put up a video of 5 songs I loved that week. Also, Chris Ryan and I discussed some of these artists in more depth on the Bandsplain episode about…our favorite music of 2026 so far (I am like a three trick pony at best).

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Anyway first some news:

• is on Substack now and you should all get involved with because his view of the world is unique and surprising (rare these days), his taste is basically perfect, and his throwaway writing is better than anything I could craft after forty drafts.

• My friend put out his first cookbook To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party! He is bitingly funny and much like myself, deeply devoted to researching his niche interests, one of which is traditional British cuisine. He’s always making something called like “milk fish” that I think will be disgusting but is actually delightful. I have had the extreme good fortune to attend a dinner part or two with food cheffed up by Jago, and let me tell you, you want to buy this book (once you can in America? Not sure when that will be).

• BLIND ITEM: I got to listen to a new album by a band you guys love (me too) that isn’t announced yet and it’s absolutely fucking incredible. (Stretching the outer limits of how annoying one person can be over here). Hint: they’re playing Coachella.

• Found Time, the new book by Caroline Goldstein from , has the protagonists meeting at a Jeff Buckley concert, if that is your sort of thing (it is very much my sort of thing but I have to read three more unauthorized Madonna biographies before I can get into it).

• Not really related to music but I contributed my non-scientific research on hair loss and hair care2 to ’s fabulous newish Substack . One of these days I’m going to get it together and create a second Sub for all my deeply researched, lightly provocative wellness/health/skincare thoughts and findings and then it will be over for at least a few hoes (or at the very least I’ll get a PR package that isn’t a stack of vinyl).

Moving on…

THE 26 BEST SONGS OF 2026 SO FAR:

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Dan Allegretto is one of the funniest people I have ever known. I’ve cry-laughed at things passed onto me second-hand that he has said; that is how powerful his humor is. One of my greatest goals (besides learning to play guitar and sing and subsequently becoming a middle aged Banger Sister style rocker chick) is to one day be in a group chat with him.

Dan is a podcaster (you must tune in to #Dial Dan if you love both the quotidian and also pissing your pants laughing), an accomplished home cook, a pioneer of colonizing Beacon, NY, and a general bon vivant (I know this is the second time I’ve used this term, I just happen to know a lot of gorgeous little bon vivants because I am #blessed).

He’s brilliant and amazing and I’m thrilled to have had him make a Monday Mixtape for us.

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Dan Allegretto
Virgo Sun/Virgo Rising/Libra Moon
Just moved to Beacon, NY after 15 years in Brooklyn. If any Yasi heads live around here, please reach out. I don't have a whole lot going on these days...

How do you find/discover music?

Listening to new music scares me and makes me feel like shit inside, quite frankly. What if it’s bad and I waste three minutes of my precious life? What if it makes me feel OLD? Well, usually it does both! But I’ve found some bands new and old I like from your Instagram stories.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

Lately I only listen to podcasts in my car or just the regular degular ass FM radio. I have a Spotify playlist called spaghetti dinner for one I’ve been adding to for over a decade that has every single one of my favorite songs. It’s 55.5 hours long and basically made to put on shuffle at a party. The English language doesn’t yet have the verbiage to describe how much of a crowd pleaser this little collection is. I’ll pick a recent addition and listen to that one song over and over again for about a month until I tire. (ed note: this playlist BANGS also important to note that within like the first 30 min you will hear a song by Farrah Abraham).

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

David Guetta ft. Rihanna “Who’s That Chick?” Someone on Twitter claimed this was RuPaul’s favorite song of the 2000’s. They were prolly lying but honestly, it’s perfect.

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

I’m trying so hard to think of a recent song. Like, any recent song. One that no one has heard of yet? My god…

A song off your work-out playlist:

I’m fat and completely out of control. Next question, please!

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

I haven’t been able to do karaoke since I did “Pretty When You Cry” off Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence in 2014. The manager of the gay bar Metropolitan whisked me off stage midway through. My ex-best friend has a video of this and still to this day I’m afraid of its release.

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“Survivor” by Destiny’s Child, “Ms. Jackson” by OutKast, “Lady Marmalade” by P!nk, Mya, Christina Aguilera, and Lil Kim… the list truly goes on. I’m looking at the Wiki for Top 100 songs from 2001 and it’s so lit. Sucks 9/11 killed the vibe…

What song makes you feel less alone?

Anything by Bradford Cox. He really gets it. (ed note: amen brother)

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

When Addison Rae’s album came out I went full Lobotomista for a couple weeks. But I’m back working with a full deck now and don’t want to return to that state for a while...

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

Anything by Bradford Cox. He really gets it.

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together (Mimi’s Late Night Valentine’s Mix [Extended])” It’s almost eight minutes long and she goes completely ballistic; scatting, harmonizing, going on “runs.” I have no idea if these musical terms actually apply but I’m begging you to listen. It came out during Covid lockdown and I would lay on my floor and weep at its profound beauty and Mariah’s divine talent. From strange and sublime songwriting to other worldly vocalizing, everything she does is on full display here. I’m so grateful to be alive at the same time as her.

What is your favorite cover song?

“Jealous Guy” by The Weeknd is incredibly underrated. He was catching a bunch of shit when The Idol came out because everyone said he’s a bad actor. I did a rewatch a few weeks ago and the haters could not be more wrong- he’s fantastic. Also, a musical genius. “I’m On Fire” by Electrelane is a close runner-up.

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

I already know I’m going to Heaven and God will let me listen to whatever I want once I get there, but the Les Baxter version of “Clair De Lune” would be such a freaky deaky way to enter the pearly gates.

All the songs on Dan’s Monday Mixtape (I took some liberties) are HERE

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What is going teenager mode? Glad you asked. (Even though I am sure you can just guess it’s pretty right there in the name).

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Petra Cortright is an extraordinarily talented interdisciplinary artist, a brilliant thinker, a classic beauty, and also my old neighbor. We met at our old weight lifting gym and I am continuously inspired by her art, her mind, her strength, and her incredible hair. She has exquisite and off-the-wall taste so I am thrilled to have her contribute a Monday Mixtape:

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Petra Cortright
Cancer sun, Capricorn moon, Libra rising
Arcadia, CA

How do you find/discover music?

Friends, The Internet

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

501Bryze - Tell It

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

501Bryze - Rapid Fire

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

501Bryze - BOP

What song do you put on when it's art making time?

DJmegan23 - Aphex Castles

A song off your work-out playlist:

Chief Keef - Love Sosa

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

Too $hort - Blow the Whistle (ed note: sorry but is this actually the best song in the world?)/ Blink 182 - Adam's Song / The Offspring - Self Esteem

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

Garbage, No Doubt, Aqua (if i had to pick A song No Doubt - Just a Girl)

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

501Bryze - Nelly Freestyle

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

Lana Del Rey - Video Games / The Smiths - Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

Raffi - Thanks a Lot

What is your favorite cover song?

Snow Strippers - Under Your Spell (Sorry.. is this actually a Desire - Under Your Spell cover??! in my mind it is??) (ed note: I feel like yes?)

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

Gigi D’Agostino - L’Amour Toujours (my favorite song of all time) (ed note: absolutely god tier banger), The Highwaymen - Highwayman (gotta go out like a cowboy)

All of the songs on Petra’s Monday Mixtape can be found HERE

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Geoff Rickly is the frontman of the band Thursday, a gorgeous novelist, an incredibly chic flaneur, excellent former (and hopefully future!) Bandsplain guest, and just a generally wonderful person/iconic Pisces. He also recently launched his own Substack, , which is filled with his beautiful and taut writing, little musical treats (like acoustic performances), and deep dives into his specialty interests (like fragrance, for example). Click on over.

As you can see, his taste (in podcasts to appear on and otherwise) is pretty impeccable so I’m thrilled he agreed to do a Monday Mixtape:

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Geoff Rickly
Pisces
Greenpoint, BK, NY

How do you find/discover music?

Mostly, I watch what my cool friends post, I hear about a band from one of my neighbors(Matt McGreevey of Epitaph/Anti-, possibly the man who sees the most shows on a yearly basis, lives next to me, and his wife Emily also has incredible taste). I try and stay interested in things that I don’t understand. If I pick up a sandwich at a deli and hear a song that makes literally no sense to me, I’ll ask the person at the register twenty questions about the band.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

I use Christopher Willits’ The Art of Listening score as a guided meditation. Feels like a bit of a cheat but that was the first thing I heard today. I’m in the studio right now so the second thing I heard was a song called “We Let the Devil In” (by Absent Colors).

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

Stu, who I work with has been going through a Dean Blunt resurgence so we listened to some of his stuff a bunch, but especially the Brit poppy song with the singer of Iceage. I think it has an unhelpful title: “4.”

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

crushed “exo”/ “starburn” (absolutely wild opening pair of songs). (ed note: In this house you already know we are obsessed with crushed).

A song off your work-out playlist:

End It “Familia Finito”

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Down” by 311 (ed note: hell yeah brother)

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

Probably “Down In It” by Nine Inch Nails. My angsty little self was already well obsessed with them before downward spiral came out on my 15th bday, but then again you already know this from Bandsplain!

What is a song that inspires you to create?

I’m endlessly inspired to create. Everything makes me think of something I’d like to add. I think the huge lesson of hardcore for me was that music doesn’t have to live in isolation. Music can be a communal phenomenon, each song informing the next. So if I hear a great song, I always want to reply. In a very real way, Thursday started at an Ink & Dagger show, when Tom and I stood there absolutely destroyed by “Full Circle.” Now I’m often inspired by late style: Kim Gordon’s “Get Yr Life Back.” Arto Lindsay “Grain by Grain.” Where do artists go when the style they made their name with is codified?

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

Tommy Richman, “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” is what I listen to after I get my weekly lobotomy. It’s so basic but it scratches some itch. To give myself a lobotomy, I like noise music, or if I’m feeling more musically minded I’ll put on Uniform’s American Standard record.

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

So many, Yasi, I’m a Pisces. Cat Power “Metal Heart”, “Bad Religion”… Wye Oak “Civilian”. Mount Eerie “Through the Trees Part 2”. Majical Clouds, “Heavy.” Daughter, “New Ways.” (ed note: god I love Majical Clouds).

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

Deafheaven “Sunbather”, Mary Jane Dunphe “Opening of a Field”, Envy “Chain Wandering Deeply”.

What is your favorite cover song?

Cat Power “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. I’ll be honest she has half a dozen covers that could slot in with this. At one point I thought Ryan Adams “Wonderwall” was my fav cover but I may have worn it out.

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

Spiritualized “Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space”.

All of the songs on Geoff’s Monday Mixtape can be found HERE

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ANYWAY I’ve been noting with interest how much incredible music is coming out of Ireland these days so I thought I would ask three artists from Ireland that I love to give us their recs, because I figured they know ball a bit more than I do (I can’t even drink more than one and a half pints of Guinness, absolutely shameful).

Here are some fab recommendations from rockers Cardinals, singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside, and actor Lola Petticrew:

CARDINALS

This quintet from Cork is Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C.’s favorite Irish band. I love their poppy, post-punky, goth-tinged rock, especially with the addition of traditional Celtic elements (particularly that goddamn gorgeous accordion). Their debut album Masquerade is soooo good. It’s romantic, it’s dramatic, it’s catchy, she’s got it all babe.

Their recs:

• Olan Monk is a rock musician from Connemara, in the west of Ireland. Their album ‘Songs For Nothing’ came out in late 2025. The record is stacked with fascinating instrumentation and features the textures of accordions, violins and whistles. The guitar lines ooze cool and the vocal deliveries give the record a very gothic feel. Maria Somerville also features on the record, who put out her own album ‘Luster’ last year. (A phenomenal album)

• Cellbridge rapper deathtoricky really excites me at the moment. His record #ikfly has a really infectious feel to it. Coming in hot with 12 tracks in 21 minutes, it’s super fun stuff. The production on his tracks have a fresh yet timeless feel to them. Head rocking drums, 808s, and catchy samples are all over his music. Favourites of mine include ‘ryanair’ ‘polo’ and ‘quest’.

• Pebbledash are a noise rock band from Cork. Their last two EPs are really stunning. Vocals from members Fionnbhar Hickey and Asha McCutcheon have this really nice call and response feel to them which is a particular highlight of their live set. They’ve always reminded me hugely of Sonic Youth, but they have a tendency to nod towards Irish traditional music. I’ve always thought this was a hard thing to do right that many try and fail to do. Pebbledash capture it so well and with so much class. Favourites for me are ‘Asha’s Waltz’, ‘Cartography’, ‘Tiles & Moss’ and their rendition of the traditional O’Carolan composition ‘Sí bheag sí Mhór’

• Rua Rí is a Cork based folk artist who plays a mix of original music and lesser known folk songs. His voice has a dreamy quality to it, he has a unique presence on stage and you can’t help but feel drawn in by his live performances. His guitar work is amazing, employing complex fingerpicking patterns and does not shy away from harmonics. I believe he has an album coming out this year. If you listen to anything at all this year, make sure it’s that record. The last working title I heard about was ‘tell your ma I saved your life’.

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I’ve been listening to Morgan Nagler’s debut album I’ve Got Nothing To Lose, and I’m Losing It (exquisite name) in repeat since it came out because I find it both soothing and comforting and also subtly thought-provoking which is such a great combination - like you’re just vibing to the music but then one of her excellent lyrics gets hooked in the craw of your mind and next thing you know you’re working out some knotted emotional issue that’s been causing you a quiet ulcer for the last six months. (“You”).

I know it’s nowhere near the whole story (she contains many layers!) but I personally love that at least PART of the story here is that Nagler put out her first album at the age of forty-seven, and it’s fabulous. Guess what. You kind of can do whatever you want whenever you want, especially if you’re doing it like Nagler - honestly, with an open heart and a great vibe and just a slight wink. It’s probably not a coincidence that a through line in her music is that a full life requires risk (I’m paraphrasing). Maybe I will finally learn to play that damn electric guitar this year. (Insert “there’s a 56 year old woman here” meme).

Here is Morgan Nagler’s Monday Mixtape:

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Morgan Nagler
Aries
Monte Nido CA

How do you find/discover music?

Word of mouth

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

‘Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)’by Elle King because I wanted to remember what her country hits sound like. Because I’m so obsessed with the clips of the new vibe she’s been posting … “I know that these days only motherfucker you can trust is the dog” - just wow

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

Beck’s cover of ‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime’ originally by the Korgies. The combination of Jon Brion and Beck and this song is some kind of magic. I simply can’t get enough of it’s perfect pocket.

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

Everyone should know about ‘System’ by Prewn. I am very excited about this artist. (ed note: SAME)

A song off your work-out playlist:

‘Denial is a River’ by Doechii - can’t stop won’t stop

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

‘Will You Still Live Me Tomorrow’ by Carole King

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

‘Don’t Cry’ by Guns N’ Roses- wore out the cassingle

What song best embodies California for you?

‘California’ by Joni Mitchell - my fave song of all time to sing along to

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

‘Rock Bottom Riser’ by Smog

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

‘Good Woman’ by Cat Power

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

‘Car Wheels On a Gravel Road’ - the entire album by Lucinda Williams or ‘Come On Home” by the Lijadu Sisters

What is your favorite cover song?

Currently ‘Years’ by John Anderson covered by Sierra Ferrell

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

‘Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die’ by Willie Nelson

All the songs on Morgan’s mixtape can be found HERE

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I don’t know what wave of emo we’re on now (seven?) but wherever we are, Tigers Jaw is near the top of that heap. They make the kind of emotionally-gripping, sweeping, beautiful music that oscillates between nostalgia and newness so fluidly that it kind of blurs them together. I’ve heard the new album (brag) and it’s fab and guess what you WILL cry. I personally was hot eyed watching the band perform at Something In The Way fest a few weeks ago (what, I’m not going to be moved by an entire crowd swaying and scream-singing the song back to the band? I’m only human my guy).

Tigers Jaw will release their new album, Lost on You, on March 27, 2026, via Hopeless Records. All four singles that have come out so far are so good but as for me, I can’t stop listening to “Ghost.” Goddamn gorgeous etc etc.

I asked front people (persons?) Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins for their Monday Mixtapes.

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Ben Walsh
Capricorn
Philadelphia, PA

Brianna Collins
Cancer
Kingston, PA

How do you find/discover music?

BEN: Looking at who cool bands are bringing to open up their tours, recommendations from friends, and sometimes the dreaded algorithm.

BRIANNA: Mostly recommendations from my husband and friends

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

BEN: Allen Wachs - “Adventures of the Invisible Dog”

BRIANNA: New Order - “Blue Monday”

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

BEN: Militarie Gun/Manchester Orchestra - “My Friends Are Having a Hard Time”

BRIANNA: Tigers Jaw - “BREEZER” (ed note: same tbh)

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

BEN: Momma - “Rodeo”

BRIANNA: Lana Del Rey - “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”

A song off your work-out playlist:

BEN: Third Eye Blind - “Graduate” (ed note: IKTR)

BRIANNA: Justin Bieber - “Sorry”

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

BEN: Tears for Fears - “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

BRIANNA: The Cardigans - “Lovefool”

What song do you listen to before you go on stage?

BEN: Fontaines DC - “Starburster”

BRIANNA: ABBA - “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

BEN: Osker - “Motionless”

BRIANNA: Fall Out Boy - “Chicago is So Two Years Ago”

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

BEN: David Bazan - “Hard to Be”

BRIANNA: The Verve - “Bittersweet Symphony”

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

BEN: Land of Talk - “It’s Okay”

BRIANNA: Tegan and Sara - “You Wouldn’t Like Me”

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

BEN: Oasis - “Acquiesce”

BRIANNA: Oasis - “Roll With It” (ed note: love this harmony)

What is your favorite cover song?

BEN: Karl Blau - “Fallin’ Rain”

BRIANNA: Slow Pulp - “Hanging By a Moment” (ed note: bangs!!)

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

BEN: Tom Petty - “Wildflowers”

BRIANNA: Dustin O’Halloran - “Opus 17”

All the songs on Tigers Jaw’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

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I have been here five days and have somehow not bought anything but beef jerky sticks and some questionable moisturizer. The night before last I got rockegnized at Takahachi (still honestly love when this happens even though I am severely luteal atm) while eating sushi with , who finally heeded the prayers of thousands and joined Substack. She is a genius in beauty and beyond, and is really one of the only people whose opinion I trust on skincare (and honestly, everything else). Her post today both guided me towards mollifying my chronic overwhelm and informed me of a new sauna opening in my hometown (if anyone at Bathhouse is reading this, I live nearby and am very interested in becoming a sweatfluencer).

Trying out a new format title (as I’m wont to do periodically because who cares, let’s have some fun). A few things that delighted or interested me this past week, plus five fab songs to listen to this weekend:

• this Twitter account called CIGARETTEMOVIES which highlights “real smoker movies” and quantifies how many cigarettes per minute each film highlighted contains.

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Stuart Braithwaite is the guitarist of the post-rock band Mogwai. I could take a bunch of time and words to describe them but I think all you really need to know is that they are one of Robert Smith’s favorite bands (The Cure has taken them out on tour multiple times just to prove it). Real heads will be up on Mighty Joe Young and his part in the supergroup Minor Victories. Real REAL heads will know him from his legendary appearance on the most Scottish episode of Bandsplain to date, the one about Jesus and Mary Chain.

Mogwai put out a new album last year called The Bad Fire. It rips. So does this:

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And so does Stuart’s taste. Here is his Monday Mixtape.

Stuart Braithwaite
Taurus
Glasgow, Scotland

How do you find/discover music?

I usually get recommendations from friends in record stores or gig promoters though I also hear stuff from tv, movies, and skate videos.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

“The Passenger” by Iggy pop or “Girl/Boy Song” by Aphex Twin

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

“Law of Life” by Farah

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

“JCMF” by Alan Sparhawk

A song off your work-out playlist:

“Bring the Noise” by Public Enemy

What is a song by a Scottish artist you think is underrated:

“Harbour” by Kathryn Joseph

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“Tainted Love” by Soft Cell

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“Plainsong” by The Cure (ed note: god tier song, maybe the goddest tier)

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

“I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

“To Be Of Use” by Smog

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

“Ace of Spades” by Motörhead

What is your favorite cover song?

“Song to the Siren” by This Mortal Coil (ed note: a weeper)

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

“Outside” by The Dead C

All the songs on Stuart’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

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Justice Tripp is the songwriter, vocalist, and general creative engine of Angel Du$t, one of the more exciting bands out there right now . He hails from Baltimore, where he formed his previous band, Trapped Under Ice (“hardcore in its truest form” as per Militarie Gun’s Ian Shelton) in 2007 and I believe he’s currently involved in like eight active music projects (not fact checking this, going off pure vibes here). It’s clear from catching one Angel Du$t live show that this man has an excess of libido for music, art, and honestly, dancing. Frankly, it’s hard not to dance to Angel Du$t. The music doesn’t just bend genre, it refracts it. It’s very god, the men you put on earth to make guitar rock music for us are channeling 311 and Red Hot Chili Peppers and power pop into their hardcore to make something new and exciting and beautiful (amen).

Their latest album, COLD 2 THE TOUCH, is dynamic, propulsive, aggressive, tuneful, emotional, and sometimes (like in the case of “Man On Fire”) gorgeously viscous? (Sorry! sorry). But most of all, as I said in last week’s favorite music round-up letter (I can’t be reinventing descriptions every week babe she’s busy), violently alive. It is simply, as Tripp likes to proclaim from stage like Mustard claiming the beat, “rock and roll music.” The band has featured a rotating cast of members since its inception, including Tripp’s former Trapped Under Ice bandmate Brendan Yates and Daniel Fang, who both left to focus on Turnstile (speaking of - I know we’re only allowed to have one lauded guitar rock band at a time as per the law but I truly hope AD is next as they deserve it). The current line-up (guitarists Steve Marino and Jim Carroll, bassist Zechariah Ghostribe, and drummer Nick Lewis) is musically tight and aesthetically awesome (I like when bands dress cool okay sue me), and so fun to watch. I implore you to catch an Angel Du$t show when they come to your town - you will be converted forthwith.

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Here is Justice’s Monday Mixtape:

Justice Tripp
Pisces
Baltimore, MD

How do you find/discover music?

My hardcore young heads and essentially living on the road and seeing live music all year round.

What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

Aaron Neville - “The Grand Tour”

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

Death Threat - “Dead at Birth”

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

Civic - “Gulls Way”

What’s a song that reminds you of where you come from?

Stout - “Block Watch”

A song off your workout playlist:

Merauder - “Master Killer”

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

Misfits - “Bullet”

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

Nine Inch Nails - “The Perfect Drug”

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

Dying Fetus - “Subjected To A Beating”

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

Blaze Foley - “Clay Pigeons”

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

Stooges - “Gimme Danger”

What is your favorite cover song?

Terror - “Lowest of The Low” (ed note: this is on my gym playlist)

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

Santo and Johnny - “Sleepwalk”

All the songs on Justice’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

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For example, this video of Fred Again with The Streets and Underworld doing “Born Slippy” actually added five years to my life (or replaced the five years I previously eroded with Mitsubishis, and according to the top comment on the YouTube of Underworld’s Boiler Room set, I’m not the only one who dreams of the days of pulling my Vicks Vapo Rub out of my red mini Adidas backpack after grinding the floor to dust at the function).

Let’s get into the music:

• I’ve been very into picking up whatever Angel Du$t has been putting down for the last few years (“Love Slam” still goes very hard on the gym playlist) but seeing them live a few weekends ago in Boston at the great Something In The Way festival actually felt like microdosing the Limitless drug. This Baltimore band is really checking every box and ringing all my bells right now. They look cool as hell (special shouts to the Pippi Long Stocking guitarist - only a man that tall and broad chested can pull off that hairstyle), their music is tuneful . There’s a visceral quality to the music that is incandescent - it’s like violently alive in a way that presses the defibrillators onto your phone-sick weary doom-scrolled-to-death heart and brings you back vibrating into the real world. Their new album COLD 2 THE TOUCH came out last week and if it doesn’t make you want to run through a wall then you must reading this from the afterlife.

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Barry Johnson is the frontman of Joyce Manor, one of my favorite bands who also happens to hail from my hometown of Torrance, CA, something I am medically incapable of shutting up about. (The city’s other claims to fame include that Beverly Hills, 90210 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were both filmed at Torrance High, that the first ever Runaways show took place in a guy’s house in Torrance, and that Natasha Lyonne’s character in The Slums of Beverly Hills would have rather died than have moved there).

Their latest album I Used To Go To This Bar is the exact collection of songs you’d want from a band you love that is over fifteen years into the game: it’s still extremely Joyce Manor but it’s also something new. There are songs that feel like elevated extensions of their earlier work, there are songs that traverse new terrain (and sound like The Cars got involved), and there is one song that is probably my favorite of the year (calling it in February is bold but so am I).

Barry is an incredible lyricist who creates these gorgeous little short story vignettes in his songs (Epitaph label head and Bad Religion icon Brett Gurewitz has likened him to a punk Hemingway), a fellow practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (lfg), and a guy with great taste in music. He is also actually from Lomita (nobody’s perfect). Here is his Monday Mixtape:

Barry Johnson
Libra sun, Libra moon, Libra rising
Long Beach, CA

How do you find/discover new music?

Usually friends and I will text each other stuff we think the other person will like. I do keep up with what bands are getting hyped in the usual places and I try to listen with an open mind. I also occasionally listen to the radio in the car. Sometimes YouTube or Spotify will go rogue and throw me something kinda cool.

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What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

Oneohtrix Point Never - “Chrome Country”

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

Cock Sparrer - “Because You’re Young”

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - “1/500”

A song off your workout playlist:

Propaghandi - “Back to the Motor League”

What is a song that helps you believe in yourself?

Bouncing Souls - “True Believers”

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

Depeche Mode - “Enjoy the Silence” (ed note: IKTFR)

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

TLC - “No Scrubs”

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

Screeching Weasel - “Hey Suburbia”

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

Low - “The Plan”

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

Desmond Dekker - “You Can Get It If You Really Want”

What is your favorite cover song?

Dawn Chorus - “I’m Goin Down”

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

Journey - “Don’t Stop Believin’”

All the songs on Barry’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

Follow Joyce Manor on Instagram

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Happy almost Valentine’s Day my friends. FYI I am not a Valentine’s hater nor do I have time for people’s smug and annoying yearly trot out of their “this is capitalist holiday” proclamations. Every day is a capitalist holiday because we live in a capitalist world (on Etsy this morning there was a toggle for “arrives by Ramadan!”) so your task is actually to reclaim joy and free celebration wherever you can. The holiday is a day of not just love but also devotion. So what are you devoted to? (Charli actually snapped when she said “Everything is romantic,” make it so).

Me personally I love love, and I especially love love songs. (Do I think that all love songs are essentially love songs about god because love is ultimately a projection of the divine onto the other? Yes but but we don’t have to unpack that right here right now). I love that there are so many kinds of love songs for all stages and games, songs of limerence and songs that further seduction, songs that invoke the feeling or pure new love and songs about the rotten desiccated corpse of a relationship, songs for situationships with alcoholics or cavernous unrequited yearning or friends with benefits that maybe want to be more. I tried to include all of those in the collection of 99 love songs I made for you last night when I was moved by the spirit to do so (you have to answer the call when it comes). I’ll list them all out here. But first let’s talk about how to make a good mix:

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Los Angeles native and Stüssy tribe member HANK has DJ’d in just about every environment you can think of and has traveled the world doing so. His label Kopa Records is a celebration of the early 2000’s West Coast house music movement. Last month he put out a fabulous EP with the Vancouver label Pacific Rhythm called Orbital Love. Imo it’s pretty perfect to put on while you walk for a long time with no destination and no objective, simply the desire to feel the pulsing joy of being alive in the world.

Hank is really one of the most talented DJs and producers I know. He cultivates an immaculate vibe, not just at the party but everywhere he goes, and he is always putting me on to music I would never find or know about myself, so I’m particularly excited for his Monday Mixtape:

HANK
Scorpio Sun, Scorpio Rising, Aquarius Moon
Los Angeles, CA

How do you find/discover music?

I find music at record stores, on SoundCloud, on Bandcamp, on Instagram, through DJ mixes…

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What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

“Body’s Chorus” by Skeleten

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

“Air It Out” by Jadakiss (ed note: LFG)

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

“The Naked Now” by Panthera Krause (ed note: have listened to this one sooooo much)

A song off your workout playlist:

“Over The Mountain” by Ozzy Osbourne 😈💔

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“Greensky Greenlake” by Dead Meadow

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

“Closer” by Mr. Fingers

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

“No Love Lost” by Tucker Zimmerman

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

“Leave Your Life (Lonely Hearts Mix)” by Alex Kassian

What is your favorite cover song?

“Hybrid Moments” by Helvetia (Misfits cover)

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

Any DJ Harvey 20+ min disco edit

All the songs on HANK’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

Follow HANK on Instagram

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Hua Hsu is a professor of English at Bard College and a staff writer at The New Yorker, and also one of the greatest writers of our generation (and probably a few other generations too). His 2022 memoir Stay True is incredible (it won a literal Pulitzer), he is a devoted proponent and creator of zines, and most importantly for our purposes, a rabid collector of musical ephemera, including but not limited to band shirts.

He also just launched his fabulous new Substack Magazines, about a subject extremely near and dear to both our hearts (he also sent me the greatest care packages of 90s music magazines after the tiny violin events of Jan 2025, for which I am forever grateful) . In conclusion, he stays stunting on you hoes, this hoe included.

Here are Hua’s most cherished band tees:

HH: I had a summer job working for a famous debate coach who, as a teenager, had been part of some landmark free speech case. He was mischievous and jaded, qualities I didn’t associate with adults. I went to Slim’s after work one night to see The Verve—who I annoyingly insisted on calling Verve, their original name—because I was really into “Slide Away.” They played it first (the full set is on YouTube) and I was honestly kinda bored the rest of the night. It was too out and I was too basic. I bought the shirt even though I thought the logos were both bad (with the worse one on the front) and wore it to work the next day. “The. Verve,” my boss said, mockingly. “What is that?” I tried to explain that they were really cool, a little unconvinced myself, using terms like “psychedelic” and “roomy” and “spacey.” “Sounds like Pink Floyd,” he said. “Pink Floyd sucks.” I was shook, I had no response, and I’ve still never really listened to Pink Floyd as a result (ed note: Same, despite new year’s resolutions).

HH: The first concert I ever went to (other than Lollapalooza, which was a safe daytime affair) was Suede/The Cranberries at the Fillmore. I was obsessed with Suede and desperately wanted one of those white t-shirts with the “Animal Nitrate” or “Metal Mickey” cover. I still want one. My friend Leigh, whose brother drove us to the show, had all the best shirts—Suede, a Manic Street Preachers “Gold Against the Soul” long-sleeve. To my dismay, Suede were not selling merch that night. Even worse (for me), everyone seemed to cheer the Cranberries louder than Suede. Anyhow, when they came back for “Dog Man Star,” I bought this “Heroine” shirt even though it says “London Suede” on it—a truly bad name they had to adopt for legal reasons. I think all my friends bought this shirt that night, and my pal Vincent wore it when we were on a public television phone-in telethon for community service. A provocative move, the slight frisson of a quasi-drug reference. That summer, Vince went to England and came back with this enormous Portishead bootleg (?) shirt for me, which I’m glad I kept all these years, as I expanded to its roominess. He also got super into raving and put me onto “Mr Kirk’s Nightmare” (which still scares me).

HH: I loved the single “Weirdo” and found this shirt on clearance at some Tower Records parking lot sale. I recall also buying a Wonder Stuff shirt, even though I didn’t like them at all. My mom would wear it around the house because she liked how colorful it was. Anyhow I wore the “Weirdo” shirt so much that I am addressed as “Weirdo” or “Wierdo” by multiple people in my 1992 yearbook. I remember thinking it was cool it said Charlatans and not “Charlatans UK”—the name they had to use in the states for a few years. (What does it say about the originality of the music I loved as a teenager that all these bands were using unoriginal names??) It felt a little stolen valor-y, since I’d never seen them in concert but nobody in San Jose was really trying to police Charlatans fandom. I saw them a few years later and my main memory is that this really gimmicky, very hyped, “all four of them are hot” band called Menswe@r opened. They remain a reference/epithet for me and my friend Harish. I bought a Menswe@r shirt too (I still have it, for some reason) because I thought it would be hilarious to own sometime in the future. But when?

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Michael Martin-Del-Campo is a Los Angeles based wardrobe stylist and consultant, burgeoning menswear influencer, and general bon vivant. He has great taste in suiting, books, and crucially for our purposes, music. Here is his Monday Mixtape:

Mikey MDC
Virgo...is all I know
Los Angeles, CA

How do you find/discover music?

I think of myself as all-knowing but sometimes I use the Apple Music “discovery” station, sometimes it shows me something obscure other times it just feeds me the same slop I’ve heard before. YouTube’s recommendations used to be good too in the 2010s (ed note: he prefers YouTube’s earlier stuff). There was a time when I even used to discover new music through tumblr but those days are gone from this earth like the snows of yesteryear…

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What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

“Crocodile Rock” by Elton John

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

“Different Drum” by The Stone Poneys

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

“Feeling” by Billie Marten

A song off your work out playlist:

“Threshold” by Slayer

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

“Graduate” by Third Eye Blind (ed note: hell yeah)

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

“The Decline” by NOFX

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

“Plays Cassavetes 2” by Ekkehard Ehlers

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

“Save it For Later” by The English Beat

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

“You Don’t Know Me” by Armand Van Helden

What is your favorite cover song?

Gillian Welch’s cover of Radiohead’s “Black Star”

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

“God moving over the face of the waters” by Moby

All the songs on Mikey’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

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Boyish is a band I discovered last year via PR email roulette. Made up of lead vocalist India Shore, vocalist and guitar player Claire Altendahl, Boyish released their excellent debut alum Gun in September of 2025. It’s moody, broody, vibey, atmospheric, ragged, and beautiful. Here’s what they’ve been listening to.

Boyish
Claire: Leo Sun, Sag Rising, Scorpio Moon 
India: Aries Sun, Scorpio Rising, Libra Moon
Los Angeles, CA

How do you find/discover music?

Claire: I go to my local library and scour the internet. Mostly I take an artist I love, and then read every interview with them to figure out who inspired their projects, then I listen to that artist, and then I look up who inspired them. For some reason, the library makes me hungrier than anywhere else on earth, so I really only have a couple good hours of searching before I have to go home. Also India shows me a lot of music.

India: I usually go to the library with Claire, and do a similar study of who has listened to who, and how it’s inspired their own music. I’m also more chronically online than Claire is, so I’ll see what music people are talking about while I’m lurking in various places on the internet.

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What was the first song you put on when you woke up this morning?

Claire: Wire “Strange”

India: Madonna “What It Feels Like For A Girl”

What song have you listened to more than once this past week?

India: Willie Nelson “Can I Sleep in Your Arms” - over and over again

Claire: Hole “Doll Parts”

What is a recent song you think everyone should know about?

We both love “Peppa Pig” by Slut Intent, off of their new record Slutworld. How many sluts does it take to make a great record?

A song off your work out playlist:

Claire: I was at a boxing gym a couple months ago and they played “How You Remind Me” by Nickelback (ed note: god tier song)

India: I’m having a hard time admitting this but “Ready to Run” by One Direction, it tells my mind and body that it is in fact ready to run

What song can you do at karaoke without looking at the tv screens?

India: Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights”

Claire: Meatloaf “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”

Song you associate with being 13 years old:

Claire: Trey Songz “Bottoms Up”

India: ABBA “Knowing Me, Knowing You” - my sister and I had a dance

What song do you listen to when you want a lobotomy?

Claire: Neil Young “Arc (Live)” - this is what I listen to at the library the most.

India: Patrick Swayze and Wendy Fraser “She’s Like The Wind” (ed note: also a god tier song, may he rest in peace)

What song do you use to indulge your wallowing?

Claire: Linda Ronstadt “Long Long Time”

India: Nico “These Days”

What song do you use to renew your spirit?

Claire: Laura Nyro “Wedding Bell Blues” - just marry me Bill already pls God

India: Bruce Springsteen “Atlantic City”

What is your favorite cover song?

Claire: Nina Simone’s “Lilac Wine”, the Jeff Buckley version is great too, but I think Nina’s is my favorite.

India: The Breeders “Happiness is A Warm Gun”

What song would you like to hear just before you die?

Claire: “Jim Cain” by Bill Callahan, he’s just asking all of life’s great questions like “how much a tree bends in the wind?” I think I would want my life to be summed up by his lyric: “Remember the good things I have done.”

India: The Blue Nile “Saturday Night”

All the songs in Boyish’s Monday Mixtape can be found here

Boyish on Instagram

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