Single Saturdays: February 10, 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.
“Like little hell” by the haunt
by Gianna Di Cristo
There’s been a resurgence of admiration for pop-punk over the last few years, whether it be artists who have switched genres like MGK, or how older bands like Paramore have jumped back into the game, full force, to give fans what they missed. The Haunt, however, is reviving the 2000s pop-punk sound.
“Little Like Hell” is a song about being trapped in limbo with a lover who’s no good for you. It is formulaic in structure but not a copycat to its pop-punk predecessors. With some quick, creeping synths, the song starts with this build-up and releases into the first verse with an almost trap-like beat. It’s met with a potent voice coming from Anastasia Hunt, the lead singer of the band. Once the pre-chorus hits, that's when drummer Maximilian Haunt slides in to feed my musical appetite for a good, hard-hitting beat from a classic drum set. Exiting from the chorus, there’s a slight pause to build tension, which quickly explodes into a full-on rock ensemble with the electric guitar entering in full force. The voice, beat and melody come together perfectly and ensure that I’m headbanging wherever I’m listening to it.
The magic lies in the pauses and pace switch-ups throughout the song. The second part of the chorus, though lyrically repeated, is slowed down, letting the guitar shine through with the melody. Upon hearing it, I felt like I was thirteen again and listening to my beloved emo bands on my iPod Touch. It is familiar, but doesn’t feel unauthentic. The bridge toward the end of the song is one of my favorite parts: “Kiss me while you sharpen your knife” connects to the very last chorus where, for a brief moment, there's no drums, just Anastasia and the guitar. It makes the listener stop and look around, waiting for that last component of the song to come through one last time and deliver the end to go out with a bang – and it does exactly that.
“Sick Love” by red hot chili peppers
by Emily Zeitz
It’s already a couple years old, but “Sick Love” by Red Hot Chili Peppers deserves a listen, and a spot on your playlist this week. While the lyrics portray a toxic relationship, the overall vibes of the song are very positive. The groove is, in fact, very groovy, as it maintains a steady but consistently interesting melody and beat throughout its 3 minutes and 41 seconds. It can serve as a background song, maintaining that positive, chill vibe in whatever you are doing, but it’s also remarkable when you listen closely. “Sick Love” keeps you on your toes for the entire song with a very unique song structure, teasing a chorus or verse but then turning in the opposite direction and running with it. Whether you’re walking to class, doing your homework, or just plain jamming out with your friends, consider giving “Sick Love” a listen on this Single Saturday!
“End of beginning” by djo
by Marianna Orozco
Djo, pronounced ‘Joe,’ embodies everything I love about synth-pop. His voice is hypnotic and when I listen to his music, I can’t help but imagine the feeling of being lifted up to the sky — like in an airplane. There’s a place a few thousand feet above the ground when the sensation of taking, off, becomes less scary and more full of longing.
“End of Beginning” off of Djo’s 2022 album DECIDE, masters the art of picking at the scabs left after leaving the city you love. The song describes the burden of growing up, the longing for the person you were before being forced to change as Djo sings, “And when I’m back in Chicago I feel it / Another version of me, I was in it.” I listened to this song for the first time on the plane back from winter break, an hour after I left my crying mother behind the glass walls of the security checkpoint.
The entire album explores the pop genre through hints of hyperpop and some psychedelic edge. Though the music feels seemingly out of this world, Djo’s voice brings the listener back to earth with his sincere lyrics. “End of Beginning” starts off with a hazy synth that builds and builds until a moment of absolute silence, of suspension. Its moody and nostalgic sound makes listeners look back to a time they left behind.
“I never get Lonesome” by Arthur Russell
by Neko Collins
The song “I Never Get Lonesome” by Arthur Russell feels like both the opposite of loneliness and the embodiment of loneliness wrapped up together, existing right alongside each other. It’s a simple song, a bit over two minutes, and the melody is uptempo, but very mellow in its beat. It’s a walking kind of song, a driving kind of song or just a sitting and listening kind of song. It’s a song that, when I listen to it, I picture summertime and walking quietly with someone you love, or maybe just walking quietly with yourself in the moments right as dusk approaches. I love this song because it reminds me of the joys of simplicity, the joy one can find in being alone sometimes, and Arthur Russell helps you embrace that loneliness. He makes the feeling okay, comfortable, relaxing. He is describing these scenes, saying he never gets “lonesome in the night,” and yet, you don’t really believe him. But, you also don’t really want to believe him. He becomes an ally in loneliness, almost materializing right next to you and telling you ‘it’s all okay.’ A simple, yet beautiful little song from an unknown and underappreciated musician that I think just about anyone can relate to on some level and enjoy listening to.
“Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt
by Emma O’Keefe
With the recent announcement (and backlash on Twitter) that Selena Gomez would be portraying Linda Ronstadt in the singer’s upcoming biopic, I’ve been reminded of one of my favorite songs from high school by Ronstadt. It's a song I discovered through the Timothée Chalamet movie, “Hot Summer Nights,” during my freshman year era of obsession with the actor. The song is called “Long Long Time” and Chalamet’s character Daniel listens to it on vinyl as his mother tells him to stop brooding and leave his room.
This is exactly the environment and mood to listen to the song in. I used to listen to this in my bedroom and think about whoever I was dramatically fawning over at the moment. Ronstadt sings about loving someone who doesn’t love her back and knowing that, despite the pain this causes, she is going to feel this way for a long, long time. When you’re young, you feel like the feelings you have, especially the feelings you have for other people, are going to last forever. This song encapsulates that experience. I’ve had the song on repeat lately because, of course, I am still very young and still very dramatic. If you also enjoy reveling in the pain of unrequited love, you’ll enjoy the pain and beauty of this song. The feelings you have won’t really last forever, though. I know this because I was once in love with Timothée Chalamet. However, when I saw his SNL skit impersonating Troye Sivan, I was cured!
“Didn’t cha Know” by Erykah Badu
By Nina Fauci
“Didn’t Cha Know” by Erykah Badu comes around in my playlist rotation every summer, but I love to listen to it year-round whenever I need to mellow out. When I decided to play it on my way to class this week, a specific verse of this track instantly resonated with me. As a poet, I’m naturally a lover of words and how their position within a sentence or lyric has the power to cultivate immense meaning for the reader or listener. The lyrics go like this:
“Time to save the world
Where in the world is all the time?
So many things I still don’t know
So many times I've changed my mind
Guess I was born to make mistakes
But I ain’t scared to take the weight
So when I stumble off the path
I know my heart will guide me back”
When I hear these lyrics, the portrait of a young woman who is beautiful, confident and empathetic comes to mind. She’s questioning the direction of her life and very existence, yet among the uncertainty, she feels it doesn’t chain her to a negative mindset; instead, Badu acknowledges that she’s human and “was born to make mistakes,” and gracefully reassures herself that her “heart will guide her back.”
My analysis of these lyrics prompted me to apply it to my own life, and it made me realize that it perfectly captures the shared life experiences and feelings among the majority of women in their twenties. I love this song because it makes me feel centered and reminds me that it's perfectly normal and okay to feel like you have no idea what you’re doing or where life is going.
“Map on a Wall” by Lucy Dacus
by Norah Lesperance
There’s something about those long Lucy Dacus songs.
Clocking in at an eyebrow-raising 7 minutes and 28 seconds, “Map On A Wall” sonically captures how it feels when I fight the wind tunnel on Avery Street while second guessing every decision I’ve ever made. In short, I’d call this masterpiece from Dacus’ 2016 debut album No Burden the overthinker’s anthem.
Indecisiveness has a grip on the narrative of this song. Dacus exposes her insecurities and vulnerable traits, repeatedly begging, “Oh please, don’t make fun of me.” Yet, in between her pleading, she’s self-assured and ready to move on – “But I feel fine, and I’ve made up my mind.” Spoiler: she has not made up her mind. At least, not until the end. Juxtaposing lyrics alongside fluctuating percussion and electric guitar dominate the majority of “Map On A Wall,” as the song peaks and draws back several times. It’s just like Boston’s coastal winter winds, I swear.
In the final minute, Dacus decides to twist the knife she just stabbed me with: “If you want to see the world, you have to say goodbye / ‘Cause a map does no good hanging on a wall.” She sings this twice and, while it’s not the most profound lyric of all time, being told point-blank that I can’t get stuck in the back-and-forth forever will always hit. Sometimes I don’t want to hear it, sometimes I need to hear it, but there’s an evergreen reassurance, regardless.
So, if you loved screaming Lucy Dacus’ iconic (and also notably long) hit “Night Shift,” you’re a boygenius fan spiraling after their hiatus announcement or if you’re just an overthinker, give “Map On A Wall” a chance. Maybe even go for a windy walk! You may not feel better, but you will feel seen.
“awesome party, dude!” by Sorry Mom
By Payton Cavanaugh
Going back home to the place you grew up, after you moved away is a universally complex experience, I feel. For me, it feels a bit like walking back into a person I’m not. Sometimes it’s bittersweet, and sometimes it’s just bitter. “Awesome Party Dude” feels like the soundtrack to fake friendships and outgrowing people who you once thought would be in your life forever. It conveys every complex emotion I feel when running into these people after months of little to no contact. From annoyance, to an incessant draw-back to toxic friendships.
“You forgot to call me on my birthday
Well that’s okay
Cause I don’t even know your birthday anymore
I don’t even know your birthday anymore
Well it’s a cool cool party”
“But I can’t come back again
You are everything, you’re perfect
You’re my best mosquito friend”
I guess we’ll see if you remember my birthday, but don’t expect me to call.