General Public June Spotify Playlists
My June playlist consists entirely of three things:
- The entire discography of North Carolina folk band Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
- The Arctic Monkeys’ new album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.
- The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Mean Girls: The Musical.
What do these three musical delicacies have in common? Absolutely nothing. Rainbow Kitten Surprise is an up-and-coming folk band who lists their influences as Kings Of Leon, Modest Mouse, and Frank Ocean. How can you not love that? The new Arctic Monkeys album sounds like swanky hotel lobby music if the hotel was on the moon. In fact, that’s the actual concept for this concept album. Lastly, Mean Girls: The Musical is just good old-fashioned fun. I’m not even embarrassed.
This general amalgamation of popular indie/folk songs is pretty representative of my typical weekly listening regimen. Have you heard it before? yes. Did you hear it in a commercial? In a coffee shop? probably. Do I pride myself on my well versed knowledge of music? no. Can I name you the artist of what is currently my favorite song? probably not.
I’m no music buff. I turn on spotify’s ‘Chill as Folk’ playlist no matter how many times it tries desperately to get me to pick something else. I’m a creature of habit. I like my background music. The only exceptions are for Demi Lovato and every emo/punk band I listened to in middle school. Those cats are my homies and we hang when I’m working out or cleaning the house.
Confession: I rarely work with music on in the background. On the off chance that I do decide to put my headphones on and actually make use of my Spotify account, my choices tend to run the gamut from independent rock to mellow ambient music. My current recommendations:
- Cautious Clay’s Newest Single Resonance
- MGMT’s New Album Little Dark Age
- II by Unknown Mortal Orchestra (from 2013, but still amazing)
- Spotify’s Chill Vibes Playlist
- I absolutely cannot stop listening to the latest Black Angels record Death Song. It’s yummy.
- Mansionair is on another level right now. They’re making music way beyond their years.
- I’ve probably listened to The War on Drugs’ A Deeper Understanding once a day since it came out.
- Lo Moon’s self-titled debut is tasteful and beautiful beyond words.
- Joan is just plain FUN.
- Both Balconies and Chariots by Paper Route are indie-pop masterpieces.
- The Aces are a brand new one for me. Digging their ability to write simple yet interesting pop songs.
- The Midnight’s Jason is synth-wave at its finest.
- Always need my Lana Del Rey & The Weeknd fix. Lucky for me, that exists in one gorgeous song Lust for Life.
- Day Wave is just crazy solid and consistent. Something Here is my fave right now.
- LEVV’s Collateral Damage is one of the more moving songs I’ve heard in a while.