It’s mid-August, and I’m back with another unsolicited listening report. All of these songs are highlights from my annual, evolving mega-playlist. No genre constraints, no “newness” mandate, no rankings, no funny business. It’s just the shit I like right now. But because I have no self-discipline, it’s only August, and it’s already a nine-hour mess. You can skip around—just shuffle that bad boy and see where he takes you. Here are some points of departure.

Off we go:

Open Mike Eagle – I’ll Fight You

GENRE	Indie Rap
YEAR	2022
RIYL	Hellfyre Club; freeform East Coast new school; smiling softly

Danger Mouse, Black Thought – Strangers (feat. A$AP Rocky, Run the Jewels)

GENRE	Hip Hop, Danger Mouse Music
YEAR	2022
RIYL	Walking through the lucid wet dreams of Millennial lyrical hip hop fanatics

Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

GENRE	Classic power pop
YEAR	1981
RIYL	The Cars, I don’t know—Steve Miller, or something? And sugary junk food

They Might Be Giants – Doctor Worm

GENRE	Classic alternative; nerd-rock
YEAR	1998
RIYL	Horns, sloppy bass solos, pretty good drums, making new friends

Do Nothing – Gangs

GENRE	Indie post-punk
YEAR	2019
RIYL	Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner performing a Talking Heads song in character as Mark E. Smith from the Fall.

Da Brat – Fa All Y’all

GENRE	Classic hip hop
YEAR	1994
RIYL	Missy, Dre’s 2001 album, Biggie, braggadocio

Single Mothers – Baby Bird

GENRE	Post-pop-punk; post-hardcore lite
YEAR	2022
RIYL	The Flatliners, Fucked Up, several months’ sobriety

Bad Breeding – Human Capital

GENRE	Industrial post-anarcho punk
YEAR	2022
RIYL	Idles played through a sewer grate; throwing bricks through windows and then rolling around in the broken glass

Boss – Cash Em In

GENRE	Punk
YEAR	2022
RIYL	Golden Pelicans, MC5, bite-sized riff-driven songs with great vocal harmonies

    Janet Jackson – Nasty

GENRE	Classic dance-pop/funk
YEAR	1986
RIYL	Jamaaladeen Tacuma; Drum machines; righteous female rage

Thee Oh Sees – If I Stay Too Long

GENRE	Alternative rock; Psych-Fuzz; Cover Rock
YEAR	2011
RIYL	The Creation; The Guess Who; John Dwyer’s earlier OCS demos.

The B-52’s – Lava

GENRE	Queercore New Wave
YEAR	1979
RIYL	Blondie, Disco, the New York Dolls, Getting heated on the dance floor of the future Love Shack

Lazy Lester – I’m A Lover Not A Fighter

GENRE	Classic blues
YEAR	1994 (Compilation)
RIYL	Harmonicas and stealing your girl

Riverdales – Time Chaser

GENRE	Classic Punk Revival
YEAR	2010
RIYL	The early Ramones; Gorgeous heartbroken pop vocal melodies

    Spider Bags – Alligator

   

GENRE	Alternative country-rock fuzz
YEAR	2018
RIYL	Uncle Tupelo; Natural Child

Green Day – 80

GENRE	Alternative rock; Pop-punk
YEAR	1992
RIYL	90s skate punk; Blink’s Dude Ranch; Tony Hawk game soundtracks

Destiny’s Child – Sexy Daddy

GENRE	Pop’n’B
YEAR	2001
RIYL	Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, juicy music industry gossip

    Diners – Spinning the Yarn

GENRE	DIY Pop
YEAR	2020
RIYL	Early Paul McCartney, the Grateful Dead, tender punk, power pop