Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 136: Nate

Prompt: "A song that's probably gonna be in that new Grand Theft Auto game, whenever it comes out (unless it's already out, I don't know, I'm writing this prompt pretty far in advance)"

Selected by Nate

"Guilty & Cortez"

Kid Chameleon

How Long the Devil's Been Gone, 2024

God bless Fucked Up for giving me the phrase "epics in miniature," an incredible addition to my music-describing lexicon. This whole album was recorded on an 8-track recording device, which basically means it's very limited in its presentation. The scope, though, is vast. As much as I will always ride for people using limits and picking up the tools they have, you can just hear the big-band, big-production version of this dying to come out and be blasted across some stadium in the UK to 50,000 muddy blokes and lasses. At minimum, it makes you wish Kid C upped to a 12-track and hired a real drummer. As it is, this whole album is a treat and an exercise in expressing ambition with limited means. I assume these are the qualities that GTA looks for in its soundtrack tracks.

A BRIEF ACCOUNTING OF THE MOST EXCELLENT VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACKS:

5) Persona 5 — Specifically this tune right here

4) Jet Set Radio — Shit rips

3) Crazy Taxi — The video game that invented the Offspring

2) Amped — A mid-tier snowboarding game with more punk and hardcore cred than you'd ever hope to have

1) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater — SO HERE I AM / DOING EVERYTHING THING I CAN / HOLDING ON TO WHAT I AM / PRETENDING I'M SUPERMAN

I've been with the kids by myself all week while Meg has been laid up with a case of COVID/Strep. She's been shut up in our bedroom while I've been sleeping in my office in the attic. As it is in all attics, it's hotter than fuck-all up here, which wouldn't be a problem because my bed is right under a window unit except I have to keep it off at night so I can hear if one of my kids wakes up and needs help, which happens about once every three nights. As a result, I've been waking up sweaty around 1 AM for the last three nights. I am starting to see the grid that underpins all reality over here. Also, the house is disgusting.