lucero

Playlist #268

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Happy Monday, folks! The end of the school year is finally nigh; Wednesday is the last day of classes here in Northern Virginia, and it couldn’t have come any sooner. Of course, summer job starts next week, but it should be fun and fulfilling. Anyway, here’s a list of songs to get us through this partial week of classes and on into the sunny summer days.

  1. The Beach Boys, “All Summer Long”: Is there any band more connected with summer than the Beach Boys? I don’t think so. Every one of their songs just cries out “summer!” to me. And this is a pretty darn good summer song to me.
  2. Michigander, “Better”: I always like how full of hope this guy’s songs are. He fully acknowledges that life is often difficult at best and godawful at worst, but things can improve. Things can get better. And I think we all need to hear that sometimes.
  3. Marshall Tucker Band, “Fire On The Mountain”: There’s something about songs like this – deep-fried southern country rock with a hint of gothic undertones – that just tickles a particular need I have.
  4. Death Cab For Cutie, “The Flavor of Metal”: If you told me that I’d be listening to (and enjoying!) a new Death Cab For Cutie album in the Year of Our Lord 2026, I’d think you were smokin’ crack. But here we are.
  5. Harlem Shakes, “Strictly Game”: This is an upbeat, tap your toes and scream along to the chorus sort of song, perfect for that Monday morning pick-me-up.
  6. The Pretenders, “Middle Of The Road”: Chrissy Hinde remains one of the best rock vocalists in the biz. I will not be taking questions on this at this time.
  7. George Harrison, “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long”: I feel like Wednesday afternoon may never arrive. George Harrison gets it.
  8. Lucero, “On My Way Downtown”: I don’t know that, in my entire life, I have ever really made my way downtown for much of any reason. I tend to avoid the downtown areas of most cities unless it can’t be avoided. I certainly don’t go looking for bars downtown.
  9. Pearl Jam, “World Wide Suicide”: It’s just a sonic slap to the face, just the thing to wake you up and get you fired up on a Monday morning.
  10. The Ventures, “Pipeline”: Who doesn’t love instrumental surfer music? I’ll always dig the amount of reverb they’re able to plaster over everything; I aspire to that level of drenched reverby goodness.

Playlist #186

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Happy Monday, folks. Like many other individuals, I have decided to migrate from Twitter (still not gonna call it X, as that is stupid), that Nazi-amplifying hellsite, and over to Blue Sky! I have been posting regularly so far; we’ll see if that keeps up.

  1. Jessye DeSilva, “Let It Burn”: I think we can all agree that white supremacy is a huge issue in the United States today and that maybe, just maybe, burning it all down wouldn’t be a bad idea. And if that’s not a sentiment you can agree with, what the fuck are you doing here? Go away.
  2. David Gray, “After the Harvest”: It’s David Gray doing David Gray things, with delicate acoustic guitars picked over vaguely electronic beats. It ticks a few boxes in my head that give me that good dopamine hit, so this isn’t a complaint.
  3. Phil Collins, “I Don’t Care Anymore”: An effort to repeat the success of “In the Air Tonight”? I dunno, maybe. It has that same sort of minimalist drum/keyboard approach, the same dark theme, but more forceful singing (despite being about having no fucks left to give).
  4. Bon Iver, “S P E Y S I D E”: It’s weird hearing Bon Iver being almost…straightforward with a song after years of getting more and more cryptic and byzantine with his approach to lyrics specifically and music in general. I kinda dig it.
  5. George Harrison, “Not Guilty”: That little repeated guitar riff just eats its way into my head and won’t leave. I love it.
  6. The Velvet Underground, “Who Loves the Sun”: Hearing such bright, bouncy pop from the Velvet Underground always hits me weird. Like, these lyrics and those “Bop-ba-ba-ba”s shouldn’t be coming out of Lou Reed’s mouth.
  7. Patsy Cline, “I Fall to Pieces”: This woman had such a voice. And that shouldn’t be telling any of you anything you don’t already know.
  8. Lucero, “On My Way Downtown”: A song of drinking and regret and the promise of a better day.
  9. Mike Doughty, “Fort Hood”: Best use of “Let the Sunshine In” ever. Even better than the original “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” Fight me.
  10. The Mountain Goats, “No Children”: My wife’s favorite Mountain Goats song. Should I be worried?

Playlist #177

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Happy Monday, folks! Did you know that you can join my Patreon and hear a new song every single week? It’s true! Come join me, I’m lonely. Here’s songs by other people:

  1. Gary Wright, “Two Faced Man”: Pre-“Dream Weaver,” Gary Wright had a mustache and a more Americana approach to music. This one features George Harrison on slide guitar!
  2. Lucero, “Downtown/On My Way Downtown”: I unabashedly love this song. The horns that feature throughout this whole album (called Women and Work, if you’re curious) is top-notch and adds a great layer of novelty to the songs.
  3. Deer Tick, “Easy”: This song sounds so damn angry every time I listen to it, and I love it. Very loud and brash and upset and unhappy and so damn angry.
  4. Van Morrison, “Give Me a Kiss”: This song is so lighthearted and bouncy, like the musical equivalent of a kiss from your significant other.
  5. Bruce Springsteen, “One Step Up”: Getting back to sadness, apparently, with the Boss’s cheating song. At least, that’s how I always think of it.
  6. Days of the New, “Touch, Peel and Stand”: An acoustic-based grunge song? It’s more likely than you think!
  7. The Flying Burrito Brothers, “Sin City”: Sometimes, you just want some good ol’ fashioned country rock, and the FBBs are here for you in that moment.
  8. Neil Young, “Harvest”: Speaking of country rock, here’s another classic of the genre. I spent a good chunk of the end of last week learning how to play a number of songs off this album, so I’m pretty stuck in on this one.
  9. Garbage, “Only Happy When It Rains”: Sharp songwriting, incisive lyrics, and a snarl on the lead singer’s lips make this one a classic.
  10. Frank Turner, “We Shall Not Overcome”: Sometimes, it’s best to just say “fuck it” and accept the inevitable.

Playlist #8

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I put the playlist together earlier this week, but totally forgot to post it. So, y’know, here it is:

  1. Lucero, “On My Way Downtown”: I’ve liked these guys for a long time, and this is a fun homage to asking a woman in a bar to give a loser a shot.
  2. The Low Anthem, “The Horizon is a Beltway”: That thumping bass drum and the heavy-handed banjo strumming gets me every time.
  3. Moxy Fruvous, “Earthquakes”: I spent a good chunk of my college years just listening to these guys. I don’t regret it.
  4. Greg Brown, “Hey Baby Hey”: Such a beautiful, melancholic song, even if the chorus just ends with “hey baby hey baby hey baby hey.”
  5. U2, “Staring at the Sun”: Reminds me of the new songs off the Beatles Anthologies, though nowadays it mostly just reminds me of this:
Seriously, how did this man end up as President?

6. A Tribe Called Quest, “Can I Kick It?”: Yes, you can.

7. The Walkmen, “Four Provinces”: I think this song might be responsible for my current love affair with reverb.

8. Franz Ferdinand, “No You Girls”: I love these guys and how catchy they are. I haven’t heard a song by them I didn’t enjoy.

9. EL VY, “Happiness, Missouri”: There is no happiness in Missouri. It’s fuckin’ Missouri.

10. The Dodos, “Going Under”: I really dig the drums in this song. They’re simple but very effective.