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[5-5-5] of 2023 Part 3: Top Tracks

Part 3 of 3 (Read Part 1 Here; Read Part 2 Here)

Top 5 Tracks, New and Old, 2023

In no particular order, of course.

Lana Del Rey – A&W

Album: Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. – Released: March 24, 2023

I alluded to this in Part 1 but A&W may be my top-played song this year (I’ll know for sure once I get my Spotify Wrapped, I guess **UPDATE: I WAS WRONG). I haven’t been so obsessed with a Lana song since she dropped Venice Bitch back in 2019. Content-wise, the song appears to be about someone lamenting both the highs and lows of being a sex worker in America, maybe even one who was trafficked. Sometimes the emotions are filled with pride, other times with melancholy. The second part of the song with a much more aggressive beat than most Lana songs is absolute fire. And I’m unsure if the lyrics referencing cocaine-laced cigarettes are to be taken literally or if they’re a metaphor for something; also unsure if the content of the two parts are meant to complement each other. Either way it works and it’s an unreal way to end a song that’s so dark and foreboding.

Cheap Perfume – It’s Okay (To Punch Nazis)

Album: Burn it Down – Released: December 6, 2019

Everyone knows I have zero respect for former (and twice-impeached and quarce-indicted) president Tr*mp. When he originally announced his presidency, I said it was a joke. When he was elected to represent the Republican Party, I said there was no possible way he could win. When he won, I said he would make a public statement saying it was a stunt and would immediately resign. I was wrong on all counts. Something else I said that came true, however, is that with that obese subhuman in office, we’d get some GREAT punk rock! It’s hard to beat I Don’t Wanna Listen to Tr*mp by Runny (that I featured in the blog a couple of years ago!) but Cheap Perfume definitely did it with the ultimate punk rock anthem It’s Okay (To Punch Nazis). 

While the band has said the song was directly inspired by the election of the big orange clown, they’re also making reference to the iconic video of white nationalist and alt-right cheerleader Richard Spencer eating a knuckle sandwich while being interviewed by ABC News Australia. And it was DELICIOUS, just like this song. “Never thought it’d happen but just look where we are; Rather have a rapist than a woman in power; When we got complacent in defending our rights, the Nazis changed their name and they’re called the alt-right.” If you take offense to any of this, I implore you to please, please … die mad.

Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

Album: Wet Leg – Released: April 8, 2022

I was so disappointed to be a year late discovering this song! I have been positively obsessed with it since it popped up on YouTube randomly. Instrumentally, the song is full of drum-and-bass energy while vocalist Rhian Teasdale croons in her signature deadpan style. It’s a little hipster and definitely post-punk, two things that don’t usually butter my muffin but Wet Leg has something special here. While researching the history of the song, it made me oddly happy to learn that the song was written while Teasdale relaxed on an actual chaise longue. Inspiration can strike at any time, I suppose! Give this song a listen and good luck not having it in your head for the rest of your life.

Paris Hilton – Hot One

Album: Hot One – Released: June 29, 2023

I’ll probably get in a little trouble for this one but it just is what it is. I’ll start off by saying this song isn’t very good … but it also is? I don’t understand. My friend (and fellow Paris Hilton fan) Melisa sent me a reel where Paris introduced the song and at the time, the intention was “listen to how stupid this song is,” but after a few plays I think we both started enjoying it. I don’t listen to it every day but due to my consistent listening early on, my Spotify shuffle and DJ both love to feed it to me and, like it or not, I never skip. That’s hot!

Mischief Brew – Coffee, God and Cigarettes

Album: Songs From Under the Sink – Released: 2006

As I’ve mentioned a TON lately, folk-punk is something I’ve fallen in love with (again) this year. Coffee, God and Cigarettes is one of the top songs I heard this year (though it came out in 2006). It hit at a great time, though, because I had just finished reading Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone by Marky Ramone, which spends a lot of time discussing the musician’s struggle with alcohol addiction and time in AA. This song by Mischief Brew is about attending those same AA meetings where an addiction to alcohol is replaced with addiction to caffeine, nicotine and the Most High (swappin’ one addiction for another). Recently I’ve learned how to play the song, including the little diddy at the intro, on guitar and have started including it on my guitar warmups.

Honorable Mentions:

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