Monthly Music Club - Feb FM

Welcome back to Song vs Song's Monthly Music Club, where we share actual new music we like every month. That’s right! New music! Did you know new music is still coming out? It is! Every day!

Oops, it's the end of March and a lot of the music I'd planned on recommending has gotten tons of press at this point. It's all still in the playlist, but I'll try to mostly hone in on stuff that hasn't gotten as much love. With some exceptions, of course.

As mentioned last time, this is a Todd free month. All Lina all the time. Hopefully I can make up for it with some nice variety.

Before we get under way with this month's songs, a quick recommendation to check out the album "Newfound Oxygen" by Steady Holiday. Lina recommended "The Balance" off that record last month and it turns out the whole LP is lush, gorgeous and lyrically stunning.

And now, here are February's picks!

Model/Actriz - "Amaranth"

Yes, I know I just said that we're doing the stuff getting less love, but I gotta single this song/record out because it's probably going to be one of the best of 2023.

Sometimes I like to ask myself a question: what kind of music do I think Kurt Cobain would be listening to right now? And for February '23 the answer is easy: it's Model/Actriz's industrial dance record "Dogsbody".

You'll hear a lot of comparisons drawn. The obvious one for me is NIN. But this isn't a nostalgia tour of '90s industrial. For all the clear influences, this is the kind of music critics flock to because it feels like the next big thing.

I picked "Amaranth" because it felt to me like the most immediately arresting track on the album. I wouldn't call it the "Closer" of the album, but it's accessible even if you haven't had a lot of noisy-yet-melodic grime in your ear for a while.

DEBBY FRIDAY (feat. Uñas) - "I Got It"

Do you know how hard it is to make me want to shake my ass? Damn near impossible. But Nigerian-born, Toronto-based DEBBY FRIDAY got me to the proverbial club.

"This track is a ‘Get in the Uber, Bitch!’ ode to nightlife, purgatory, and club rats everywhere," FRIDAY said in a statement. And heck yeah. This is some nasty rave shit. There's a little Prodigy in there, even.

It doesn't hurt that Uñas is on here, too, adding an insistent sensuality. And the plus side of this post arriving so late? The entire LP GOOD LUCK is out now and it's full of bangers.

Flo Milli - "Nasty Dancer"

Why do extended editions of rap records seem to wind up with the tracks I like most? I'm not saying that last year's "You Still Here, Ho" isn't solid.

On the contrary, while other people were more focused on GloRilla (good) and Ice Spice (she's alright, too) I was, unsurprisingly, more interested in the rapper whose record opens with a spoken word from Tiffany Pollard. That's Flo Milli.

As much as I like tracks like "Conceited" and "PBC," it's "Nasty Dancer" that takes that confident swagger to the dance floor. Yeah, it's scratching that '90s itch for me, too, but it's just a good track, period.

Scowl - "Opening Night"

Not sure you've picked up on this yet, but the tracks I gravitated to in February hit a little harder than January's. And while both Paramore and Screaming Females dropped some angrier stuff, it was Scowl's hardcore that I was most drawn to.

Honestly, though, "Opening Night" is not going to be the most hardcore track on Scowl's upcoming EP "Psychic Dance Routine". But it does have some '90s riot grrl flare, just that little Sleater Kinney that the world needs right now.

PONY - "Très Jolie"

One of my most proud consumerist moments is that I saw Josie and the Pussycats in theaters, years before it became a cult classic. I owned the soundtrack and danced around to it in my college's black box theater space in a wedding dress. It was a good time.

And "Très Jolie" evokes that feeling perfectly. It's bubbly, effervescent, and some third adjective to say "light, but in a good way". If Clueless got a remake, this song would be in it. If malls ever make a comeback, this track will play in whatever is the modern equivalent for Contempo Casuals.

Is it complex? No. Is it saying something? I mean... yeah. It's saying "I want to kiss you. I want to make you mine. I want to lie to you and say that I am fine". And that's good enough for me.

Ruston Kelly - "Mending Song"

Okay, so maybe it's not all kicking, dancing, and screaming this month. Everybody has dark nights off the soul, right? And when you have to fight the devils down in you, you could do a lot worse than having Ruston Kelly in your corner.

"Mending Song" feels like the flipsid coin of "Young & Dumb" by Indigo De Souza, another less-than-nostalgic tune from February. Kelly brings a little Paul Simon meets Sufjan Stevens energy to his vocal tone -- and his lyrics, too.

Look, sometimes you just need some "oohs" and "aahs" over a banjo strum, alright?

Indigo De Souza - "Younger & Dumber"

I know I just mentioned it like it wasn't gonna make the list, but screw it. I'm sure you've had your ear talked off about how good this track is, but indulge me. Because it's SO GOOD. One of the best sad af songs I've heard in years.

You know the saying "you can never go home again"? You want to have that concept punch you in the gut? Just... knock the wind right out of you? This is the song.

It's also a meditation on the foolishness of youth. It's about how the ones that hurt us are also sometimes the ones who make us feel like we're worth a damn. It's about running in circles because you don't know how to go forward, but you can't go back.

Plus it's got a slide guitar. And, look, I am a sucker for a slide guitar. Plus the lyric about not wanting to be alone because "It's just that I get so tired of filling the space all around me"? Phew! If you can't connect with that, we can't be friends.

Kara Jackson - "pawnshop"

You know what this playlist needs? A little bluesy folksy something. Something that makes you think "Did Corinne Bailey Rae do a record like the Globe Sessions?"

Jackson describes herself as "used but good as new". "Shiny as a tattoo" but "permanent as party balloons. No doubt you can hear that Jackson is old beyond her years. But she's still youthful and ready to flee if you don't see her worth.

Mostly I just like a track that feels like I'm laying back on my bed as the late afternoon sun shines in. And that's what this gives me.

"pawnshop" is a diary entry for one of those hazy days where you can't tell if you figured out the universe or you just realized that you need to break up with your boyfriend. Either way, it feels good.

Yves Tumor - "Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood"

Alright, if there's one other track on here you've 100% heard a lot about, it's this one. In fact the entire record is out now and, if the Billboard Hot 100 were mine, it would be populated by the whole LP.

But we're focusing on "Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood" because it came out in February. It's one of those tracks that's hard to describe because it's contradictory in its nature. Noisy but melodic. Hard but soft.

This is one of those tracks that knows how to use repetition without ever becoming repetitive. Every cycle reinvents. Every permutation evolves, moving towards oblivion. It's Annihilation if Annihilation were a song.

I don't think I can sell it better than that.

Loosie Goose - "Mess!"

You remember Sifl and Olly? It was an MTV show where two sock puppets do bits. It was, uh... esoteric, I guess? Goofy as hell, really. They did a whole song about speed reading done in the style of Guns 'N Roses. Yeah, it rules.

There was another sock puppet that appeared in many episodes whose name is Chester. Chester is jittery, forgetful, and frantic. And if Chester grew up to be trans and started making music, it would sound a lot like "Mess!" by Loosie Goose.

If that reference goes over your head, "Mess!" is a mixture of melodies played over dysphoric dysfunction to the tune of a letter to your college professor apologizing for being late on your essay. I guess you could say it's relatable content.

I like that Loosie isn't afraid to let the track sound a little unfinished. It's got a very McCartney II vibe in that way. Or, if you aren't a billion years old, it sounds like you might first hear about it on TikTok.

And those are 10 picks from February '23. Check out the full playlist for everything that stayed in my head throughout the month! And if you're so inclined, feel free to increase your patreon pledge to let me know you want to keep getting playlists!