Song we like: I Don’t Wanna Wake Up by Duff Thompson

Song we like: I Don’t Wanna Wake Up by Duff Thompson

A happy song, about being happy to be alive, but don’t worry it won’t make you throw up. Its lyrics and its music and its production all reference easy, easy easiness, of the kind that’s so hard to find. Featured on our #63 podcast, www.hlycrp.com

Song we like: Young Guns by Fever Beam

Song we like: Young Guns by Fever Beam

To call a band commercial-ready probably sounds like an insult, but this band is so ready and we’re not being insulting. (Fever Beam: if a car commercial approaches you, take that money and run.) Every choice they’ve made here is excellent; one of Cinnamon’s top 10 songs of 2019. Featured on our #63 podcast, www.hlycrp.com

Song We Like: Busted Lip by Pie Face Girls

Song We Like: Busted Lip by Pie Face Girls

https://music.apple.com/us/album/busted-lip/1466532805?i=1466532898

Musicians who are gifted with easy honesty can’t just party forever. This Pie Face Girls album rocks hard while also exposing the roots of various evils, and is performed with the kind of anger that comes from experience. In this way the world gets a little bigger. Featured on our #62 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: Space Program by Sam Pryze

Song We Like: Space Program by Sam Pryze

Colonizing Mars is well-expressed with a lot of giant, soaring, ironic/unironic vocals and a riff that sounds like beeping machinery. Colonizing space is an obvious metaphor for life: super serious, but also kind of improvised, unwinnable and ridiculous. Featured on our #62 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: Afterthought by Ings

Song We Like: Afterthought by Ings

A simple, echo-y elegant song about a woman saying fuck you. So many choices go into making a multi-layered song like this. In this case the choices were all made by one extremely talented person,  who chose correctly in every instance. Featured on our #62 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: Spacewalker (Lunar Mix) by Anti-Social Club

Song We Like: Spacewalker (Lunar Mix) by Anti-Social Club

https://anti-socialclub.bandcamp.com/

Anti-Social Club did three remixes of its song Spacewalker in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the lunar landing, and this thumping, ominous version is the first. Lots of cool, apprehensive rhythms featuring beeps and  hums and vacuum-tube kinds of sounds will make you feel good about having two feet on the ground. Featured on our #62 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: Hook Law by The Power

Song We Like: Hook Law by The Power

Two notes, with little flashes of harmony and chorus, and a really satisfying manic end. A good song for people who like to think about what music is and could be. We also recommend the album, which is long and interesting and showcases what happens when three skilled and very different lead musicians form a band. Featured on our #62 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: Personal Privacy by Playboy Manbaby

Song We Like: Personal Privacy by Playboy Manbaby

The lead singer’s energy is like a million exploding suns, but it wouldn’t work without the steady and creative guitar work, excellent drums (this song feat: clicking!) and some men who are not afraid to be really good backup singers. One of John’s top 10 picks for 2019 (really this song is from 2018 though).

Song We Like: Exploding Car by Hong Kong Wigs

Song We Like: Exploding Car by Hong Kong Wigs

A song that offers a lot to love: an enormous, organized, melodic sound, PLUS tons of Vin-Diesel-style imagery. We listen to this song constantly. This band is new and we anticipate that very soon they will be too big to talk to us anymore. Featured on our #61 podcast

https://music.apple.com/us/album/exploding-car/1450402479?i=1450402504