Weekly Playlist #21: Why Didn't We Think Of That? - Reader Recs

Often, after publishing our weekly playlist, we scroll to the comments section, smack our foreheads and yell, “Why didn’t we think of that?!” when we see the suggestions you leave. After our first 20 playlists, we decided it was time to round up your feedback and acknowledge a few of the songs you would have liked to have seen on our lists.

CONTRIBUTORS:
Brian Kraus [BK]
Brittany Moseley [BM]
Jason Pettigrew [JP]
Cassie Whitt [CW]

AMERICAN NIGHTMARE – “HEARTS”

A reader recommendation for our short songs list and one of the most quoted bands in hardcore history, American Nightmare brought us “Hearts,” featuring camouflaged emo lines like, “Screaming gets you nothing” and “I drew a heart around the name of your city.” Though they’ve often been covered in their absence, no one has been able to capture American Nightmare’s original essence (besides them at their sold-out reunion shows, of course). Much like Refused, they've amassed a following unusually large and rabid for an “underground” genre, and one that apparently isn't over them yet. One minute of hastened NYHC grooves, shrill screaming, feedback-induced slamming and dudes-on-dudes gang vocals later—it's gone but not forgotten. We'll never know how many AN angel logo tattoos this song inspired. [BK]

BRAND NEW – “SEVENTY TIMES 7”

I came very closeto including this as one of my original Say My Name picks, but to make bias absolutely clear, I’ve always leaned toward the Taking Back Sunday side of the infamous “There’s No ‘I’ In Team” vs. “Seventy Times 7” rap-battle-style feud. It feels a bit treasonous, but damn this is a good song, and perfect for our name-drop playlist: “Ignore the sun, covers over my head/Wrote a message on my pillow that says, ‘Jesse, stay asleep in bed.’” So, Emily Forstrom, this may not be a color or number playlist, but your song’s finally made it! [CW]

DESCENDENTS – “’MERICAN”

For our White House Rock playlist, we told ourselves, “Hey, we pick the president. Why not pick his anthem, too?” Our goal was to find a “Hail To The Chief” for the 21st century. (Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the White House to sign off on our brilliant plan, so our suggested songs for the prez only went as far as your computer screen.) With so many songs out there that would be perfect presidential theme songs, some were bound to be overlooked. Such was the case with “’Merican.” I discovered the song after picking up the 2004 Warped Tour compilation, and quickly made it my summer mission to memorize the angsty, political, rapid-fire lyrics. (My mother would have preferred I spend my summer vacation reviewing math exercises, but numbers just aren’t punk rock, Ma.) Nine years later, and I can’t spit the lyrics back quite as quickly, but like any good political anthem, it still rings true. [BM]

FROM FIRST TO LAST – “CHRISTMASSACRE”

Remember when From First To Last gave out Pete Wentz’s actual phone number in a violent Christmas song? Ah, such were the things we reveled in late 2005, girls and boys. “Christmassacre” provided a heaping of disjointed randomness, holiday anti-cheer and the swishy-fringed generation’s 867-5309. And—yes, Greg—we should have put it on our 12 Songs Of Christmas list. [CW]

I SEE STARS — “THE END OF THE WORLD PARTY”

When we were putting together Armageddon Closer (our playlist tribute to those lying jerks I call “Mayans”), I tended to err on the side of being too emo on my personal picks, as opposed to songs that centered exclusively around the whole damn popsicle stand we call Earth being destroyed in the most brilliant, horrifying way possible. The title track from I See Stars’ 2011 album has everything from screamo hooks, hydraulic dubstep wobbles and the widescreen production style that’s producer Cameron Mizell’s trademark. Lyrically, vocalist Devin Oliver drops covers some bases on how one should feel about such a cataclysm, from braggadocio (“Welcome to the end of the world party/Your first move might be your last/This is the night we all leave it behind”) to curiosity (“You can tell this is an un-average rage/Not where I thought I'd be”) to impatience (“Will you be invited/Your front row seats at the edge of the moon/The end is near/As we spin/taking our last round”). Okay, so the planet didn’t end and I See Stars are playing Warped this year. I have no complaints. [JP]

SOMETHING CORPORATE – “KONSTANTINE”

I’m just gonna go ahead and make a sweeping music judgment call: “Konstantine” is Andrew McMahon’s best song. Go ahead, fight me on it. I love “I Woke Up In A Car” and “The Mixed Tape” as much as the next person, but neither are as powerful as the six-minute mark in “Konstantine” when the piano starts to build and McMahon sings “it’s to Jimmy Eat World and those nights in my car.” (And don’t even get me started on the song’s other nine minutes and 12 seconds.) Even in light of all that overwhelming evidence, I decided not to write about “Konstantine” for last week’s playlist on our favorite long songs. We try not to repeat artists, and seeing as I previously wrote about two other McMahon-related songs (“Forget December” for our Christmas playlist and “I’m Ready” for our New Year’s playlist), I left the song off. So thanks, Daniel Hansen, for giving me a chance to write about one of my favorites. It’s good to know “Konstantine” means so much to other people as well. [BM]

UNDEROATH — “Emergency Broadcast: The End Is Near”

Another obvious shoe-in for our Armageddon Closer listicle, this track from the maverick metalcore outfit’s 2008’s album, Lost In The Sound Of Separation, mixes the band’s mighty crunch and Spencer Chamberlain’s unbridled roar with some slower guitar figures that add a sense of melancholy to the proceedings. The context of the track is contrasted by the backing vocals intoning, “We always said it wouldn’t end up like this,” while Chamberlain shears his throat lining with the cheerful reminder that “We are the cancer/We are the virus,” as the whole song ends in rumbling waves of massively distorted guitar tones masquerading as bubbling lava covering Earth. This song actually does sound like the end of the world—which is cool, because you don’t have to actually witness everything you ever loved disappear violently. [JP]

THE WONDER YEARS – “DYNAMITE SHOVEL”

Another fan nominee for our short songs playlist, this hot minute off the Wonder Years' breakthrough release The Upsides is both catchy and catty. Frontman Dan “Soupy” Campbell sings of a Southern “shithole” visited by the band on tour “where the ignorant fucks of the world meet.” Put through a pop-punk filter, even his most sour material comes out sweet. [BK]