Single Saturdays: March 9, 2024
Single Saturdays is Five Cent Sound’s weekly roundup, where our staff members share a song that they’ve fallen in love with and make their case for why others should give it a listen.
“Your Mother’s Name” by Susannah Joffe
By Norah Lesperance
Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if “Bags” from Clairo’s Live at Electric Lady release and “Motion Sickness” from Phoebe Bridgers’ Stranger in the Alps had a child? No, you haven’t, but now that you’re thinking about it… I may have found just the song.
I heard “Your Mother’s Name” by Susannah Joffe on TikTok, and it immediately set off my “underrated woman-in-indie-music” alarm. Joffe’s viral 15-second chorus drew me in; “Unrequited love is part of being young / But I’m tired of sleeping by a warm gun” stopped my scrolling in its tracks. The full single did not disappoint — her relatable lyrics, ethereal backing vocals, and familiar production style forced me to hit add to playlist after just one listen. The chorus sits at a comforting intersection of danceable yet depressing, but then the bridge swoops in and knocks me out cold:
It sits like a rock in my liver
And I keep getting sicker
But it can't be undone
It's part of being young
Sleep around, call me a winner
But my love's getting thinner
And I'm coming undone
It's part of being young.
Whenever an artist writes a lyric with the word “liver” in it, I know it’s over for me (see: “the doctor put his hands over my liver” from Bridgers’ “Garden Song”). On top of that, I’m always a sucker for a coming-of-age narrative track. “Your Mother’s Name” has it all for me: “liver,” existentialism, melancholy, growing up, and an extremely catchy chorus. So, if you need me, I’ll be in my bed staring out my rainy Tremont-side window with this on repeat as I trudge through midterms season.
“Dr. Johann Averies” by Daneshevskaya
by Emma Parrott
Recently, I have been racking up an embarrassing amount of listens to the song “Dr. Johann Averies” by Daneshevskaya. Naming the band after her middle name, which is inherited from her great-grandmother, the singer Anna Beckermen allows this project to be a personal catalog of vulnerable patchwork memories. The song opens with an ethereal burst of violin and piano that instantly captivates the listener. Specifically, Beckermen includes tones of yearning, fear, and tenderness as the prose marks a hesitant but needed moment of change. The soft yet intense vocals ease seamlessly between the highs and lows of this song, creating a hypnotic allure. As she takes inspiration from other artists such as Elliot Smith, Sufjan Stevens, and Frank Ocean, Beckermen replicates the poetic and poignant qualities that these artists receive praise for. Aside from the quality of voice, the imagery of nature that the lyrics depict only intensify the beauty of this song. From details of moss covered bodies, to depictions of florals and oceans, these varying aspects allow “Dr. Johann Averies” to symbolize the departure of winter and the embracement of spring.
“Chloroform girl” by Polkadot cadaver
by Maya Eberlin
Last weekend, I was rained off of the sidewalk and forced to seek refuge inside of Buffalo Exchange while I waited for my train to approach Suburban Station. My headphones, only slightly rain-splattered, sat snug on my ears as I flipped through the hangers on the round rack of tank tops. “Chloroform Girl” came on shuffle, its bright acoustic guitar beat waking me up from the day’s gray gloom.
Chloroform girl, how have you been?
Don’t let me catch you sleeping again
You’re only alive because I like you.
Polkadot Cadaver is the avant-garde metal offshoot of the Rockville, Maryland based band Dog Fashion Disco. Formed after Dog Fashion Disco’s breakup in 2007, Polkadot Cadaver released their debut album Purgatory Dance Party in November of the same year. “Chloroform Girl” is the eighth track of this debut album. Frontman and lead vocalist, Todd Edward Smith, weaves a haunting tale from the perspective of someone who has kidnapped a girl and imprisoned her in his basement. Its threatening, macabre lyrics are delivered in an airy, silly tone, making for a unique listening experience.
It’s been three years since you’ve seen the sunlight
But I know you’re having fun
Bound, gagged, and chained up in my basement.
This hooky rock tune encapsulates the esoteric artistic vision of its makers. If you’re looking for an eccentric addition to your next playlist, don’t be afraid to give “Chloroform Girl” a try.
“We can Work it Out” by The Beatles
by Emily Zeitz
Like almost everyone, I was indoctrinated into the cult of The Beatles at a very young age. However, that love was not carried through into my teenage years, as my parents’ influence over my music choices went no further than the CDs they used to play in our car, back when I was young enough for cars to have CD players. One specific love of mine that was lost in my transition to MP3 was The Beatles’ compilation album, 1. While I had forgotten the specifics of my love for the Beatles, my subconscious certainly remembered. I have had the wonderful pleasure of occasionally re-discovering a Beatles song that I heard countless times and loved in childhood, but had never known the name of. This past week, upon finally realizing why I knew these songs and what album my subconscious knew by heart, I listened to it for the first time in years. Obviously I had heard some of its songs since my time listening to it as a CD in my family’s car, as they are some of the most popular songs in the world. But some lesser known favorites on the album were rediscovered, like a serene nostalgic dream. The one I was listening to when this narrative finally clicked for me was “We Can Work It Out”. An upbeat song with positive lyrics as many Beatles songs are, this one stood out to me for its interesting rhythm. It’s a song in 4/4, but is broken up often with short stints of 3/4 timing. Yet another stroke of genius by The Beatles to turn an otherwise (relatively) unremarkable song into a classic. Have a listen this week, and I hope you enjoy it!
“I Hate School” by Rueben the Understander
by Michelle Garcia
Even as an Education major, I can agree that school sometimes SUCKS. As we approach midterms season, I bet a lot of my classmates would agree. Deadlines, assignments, quizzes, tests - even your favorite class can turn into a chore at times like these. It makes me dream of times before when absences were not lost grade points, and faking sickness to watch cartoons was an easy way to get a day off.
Who better to express these feelings than Reuben The Understander - a 2011 one hit wonder. This punk English rockstar was barely pushing elementary school years when he released “I Hate School.” Reuben is loud, blunt, and 100% himself in this track, using his connection to and talent for music in a 1:36 minute long rant about things we can all agree with. From the iconic schoolyard chorus of “La la la la la la” to the simple yet effective lyricism of, “I don’t want to go to school today, I just want to stay home and play,” Reuben’s young heart doses the song in something authentic and fresh even 13 years later.
Rumor has it a now young adult Reuben is working on a 2024 remastering of this hit. This makes it the perfect time to remember that the stress of school should never matter more than keeping your inner rockstar alive (and whatever that means for you).