Last weekend I went to my 5th Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, GA. This festival fits my music tastes pretty well each year, and is always a great time. I caught some incredible sets from The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, illuminati hotties, The Gaslight Anthem & Future Islands, to name a few.
The most surreal moment for me happened on Saturday night during Phantogram’s set. I was wearing a The Wonders baseball jersey that my friend Tyler got for me a few years ago. Yes, The Wonders, as in the band from my favorite movie That Thing You Do!
Ethan Embry, who played the bass player in the movie, noticed my jersey, walked up to me & said “the bass player in that band is really good.”
My mind was blown. And he was kind enough to chat a few minutes and take this pic. I told him that my Dad took me to see That Thing You Do! in theaters when I was 8, and I immediately sent him this picture after we took it.
Here’s one of my favorite T.B. Player scenes from the movie where he kindly wipes his feet upon entering Patterson’s:
Top Albums & Songs - April 2023
Moving on to the new music I enjoyed during the month of April. Here are my top albums featured on the "2023: Favorite Songs" playlist:
And here are the Top 13 songs from last month:
PONY’s sophomore album Velveteen is out next week (5/19) and it’s become one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Each single from this record so far has showcased their throwback alternative rock sound. “Sucker Punch” would have fit in nicely on MTV back in the mid-90s. (Speaking of, RIP MTV NEWS - Dave Holmes wrote a nice tribute today over on the L.A. Times)
MUNA have returned with “One That Got Away”, an infectious synth pop single. They’ve recently played Coachella, as well as a few shows with Taylor Swift. “Quarry” by Wednesday was a standout track for me from their latest album Rat Saw God. My favorite review of this record came from Grace Robins-Somerville for The Alternative, who also has a Substack worth checking out!
Militarie Gun’s “Very High” rules. I’m kicking myself for not catching them when they rolled through Atlanta back in March with White Reaper. But I’m very much looking forward to hearing their debut album out on 6/23. This track is short, sweet and just like the PONY song, would thrive on MTV in the 90s. When I was a kid I remember seeing the music video for Everything But The Girl’s “Missing” quite a bit on MTV or VH1 (specifically the Todd Terry remix). I didn’t care much for it back then, but now that I’m older, I love it. I’ve found myself really enjoying their latest album Fuse, which is their 11th album but their first since 1999! “No One Knows We’re Dancing” has not left my rotation the last several weeks.
I’m finalizing my top 50 songs of the year so far since we are nearly halfway through the year. I usually publish that playlist in June, and add songs until it hits 💯 at the end of the year. And I’m thinking about sharing it here first. Who wants it??? 🤔
Playlist: 90s Alternative Rock & Indie Playlist
Here’s another playlist I started back in 2011 and have added songs to over the years. Currently sitting at 2,462 songs, you’ll find all the 90s Alternative hits you know & love surrounded by deep cuts. While it’s fun to throw on shuffle, I change up the top of this playlist fairly often to showcase albums that have recently celebrated an anniversary. As of this writing, Version 2.0 by Garbage just celebrated its 25th birthday on May 11th and I have “Hammering In My Head” sitting at the top. It’s followed by by Aimee Mann’s “Could’ve Been Anyone” from her solo debut record Whatever which turned 30.
If one of your favorite 90s alternative / indie songs is missing from this playlist I’d love to know what it is! Leave me a comment or send over a message.
That’s all I got! Take care.
- Patrick