Welcome to Monday Morning Mixtape, a PoYB Contributor-curated playlist of songs, made just for you on the first Monday of each month.
Welcome to our new monthly format! Regardless of what it does to participation, at the very least I don't have to put together Spotify playlists every week now, which is cool! Speaking of cool:
"Cool Cool Cool"
Give us the coolest songs you know (since we are bloggers, and are thus authorities on the concept of cool)
I'm not gonna lie, this is the MMM that has given me the most stress since at least the Women's History Month one. The first problem is that I don't think that I am cool (the theme's explanation was sarcasm, obviously), and thus I get an intense imposter's syndrome when attempting to speak on what is cool. The second problem is that someone believing that they themselves are cool is the most uncool thing you could possibly do, and so I wouldn't dare even approach that line of thinking. The third problem is that I have a very narrow definition of what "cool" means, especially in the context of music. I can basically run every song through my head and come up with a reason why it's not cool. That's on me, though. And so I'm basically choosing songs that have the weakest arguments in my head. I couldn't think of too many reasons why Mannequin Pussy would be considered uncool. —Joe
"Icky Thump" by the White Stripes
from Icky Thump, 2007
Here's what I'm speculating where my personal definition of cool comes from: grade school bullies. I use "bullies" extremely lightly, of course. No trauma, no hardship. But there were actions from me and reactions from others, and that trained me over time. The action was, uh, finding success, academically, in the small pond of elementary school. The reaction was "Joe is a fucking loser" because of that. I didn't bail on getting good grades (not until my last year of college, and even then, I got by), but I did build a protective layer. That layer looked something like "I will never show anyone that I care." Coolness isn't defined by what you do, but how you react to what you do, is what I found. I can get good grades but the crucial part is to pretend that I don't care. Cool is effortless and humble success. Uncool is having success and showing anyone that you're proud of it or that you tried really hard. And so I am trapped in this mindset, even though I realize how unfair it is. And so I apply it to music, within the context of this mixtape. What is cool? Cool is music from people who are really good at making music but don't ever show that they care. —Joe
"Puppet to the Man" by Kurt Vile
from Smoke Ring for My Halo, 2011
I asked Pam what she thought of this prompt. Her mind was not twisted in the same way as mine was so her definition of cool was a lot broader. The first artist she named as an example of music that is cool was the War on Drugs. The first artist I had named was Kurt Vile. The dichotomy of those two answers is actually pretty useful in trying to explain what I think is certifiably "cool." I like the War on Drugs' music a little better, but I think Kurt Vile is cooler. The reason I like the War on Drugs' music a little better is because the care so fucking much about the craft, and the music is large and epic and feels like it's important, and that they are giving fucking everything when they make that music, and it makes my heart swell. That's what makes it good, but that's also what makes it not as cool. Kurt Vile has rarely, if ever, made music that felt epic. His music sounds like a stoner making the shit he wants to make while hanging out in his garage (that's because that's literally what the music is). He obviously cares about his craft, but the presentation suggests that he doesn't care. That's what the difference is! Not the action, but the reaction. He's cool as fuck. —Joe
"expectations" by Olivia Rodrigo
from you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, 2026
This one finds me in the gap between knowing that the artist is cool and wanting to believe that the artist is cool. Besides, ya know, the whole idea of operating within the pop music industry that requires false pretenses for the sake of entertainment to the widest audience possible, Olivia Rodrigo feels to me to be the pop star most able to overcome those hurdles and present the truest version of herself that she can (again, understand the circumstances, which are trying for those who wish to present their true selves). She's working against the pop music grain in terms of music style (this being, what, an art rock song, post-punk, new wave, something like that? something that you would never fucking here from a banal Swift sort?) and in terms of play-it-safe PR shit (pretty outspoken about abortion rights; LGBTQ+ advocacy in a world that is actively trying to kill trans people; donations and forthrightness about UNICEF relief efforts for Palestinians who are currently being murdered by the Israeli government, in a culture that seems designed to silence such relief efforts). I believe that Olivia Rodrigo is working in an industry at a level that makes it impossible to make good art and act like they don't care, but I believe that Olivia Rodrigo gets closer to that cool ideal than basically any of her peers. —Joe
"You're Gonna Miss Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators
from The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, 1966
So much of what's cool and what's not cool comes back to the reaction outside of the artist, that it makes it pretty much impossible for any well-liked artist to actually be cool. I'm still describing my own fucked-up brain, mind you, so take everything I'm saying with a grain of salt. But my reaction to something being popular is still, after all these years, "that's not cool." Again, this is completely separate from the "is this good" discussion. The Beatles are very good, one of the best to ever do it, but they are NOT cool. Way too popular to be cool! This took me so long to distinguish, that these were two different conversations, like an embarrassingly long time. There is so much great music out there that I love, despite the fact that it is popular. There is so much great fucking music out there that I love, despite the fact that it is so fucking lame. My love of music is vast, and is not strung up on whether it's cool or not. My love of cool music is small and narrow, and that's because my definition of "cool" was irrevocably damaged at a formative age. That's not cool. —Joe
"What It Is" by the Cool Kids
from The Bake Sale EP, 2008
The exclusion of rap music from my own inner "what is cool" monologue has to do with the fact that I don't consider myself cool, and I certainly don't consider to cool to try to talk about what is cool regarding things I'm not knowledgeable about. I already said that there is a difference between caring and not caring, or at least the presentation of caring vs. not caring. But what would be a mortal sin would be the presentation of caring about something that you don't actually know jackshit about. The irony is that the very first rap album that I ever actually listened to of my own accord and appreciated and thought was cool because I grew to know it well and it became a part of my during my formative years was by a rap duo literally named "the Cool Kids." Do I think the Cool Kids are cool? Yeah, I do. Not every song on The Bake Sale EP is cool, but some of it is, because they feel like they are just fucking around, which is cool. I don't know if the Cool Kids think about coolness in the same way I do. Maybe what I think about cool doesn't matter. Probably it shouldn't. —Joe
NEXT MONTH: TBA for the next MMM on Monday, September 7th!
Now that the Monday Morning Mixtape is monthly, that opens up like three or four more days during the month that need to be filled with something. I would imagine that the Monthly Playlist is gonna be posted on Mondays from here on out. It just feels right to have a playlist of some sort greeting you at the beginning of the week, ya know?
July 2026
1. "u + me = <3" by Olivia Rodrigo — After a few weeks with the new Rodrigo album, I think we can safely say that this is the best song on there. Maybe even the best song of the year so far? July is too early to say that for sure, but it's up there. As always, there are two or three other Olivia Rodrigo songs that will be disqualified from the End of the Year Top Ten Songs list because of the best song, but damn, for any other artist, "expectations" would be the best song of the year too. But you never know how the rest of the year is gonna shape up, ya feel me?
2. "Thin Line" by Dag Nasty — I see other people's lists, and I cherry-pick those albums that feel like they would be a good fit for me, and then I put those albums on my own lists, and they sit for a while. Then eventually, I see Dag Nasty and I'm like, hmm, I don't remember how this rapper got on here exactly, but let's check it out! And then cue the surprise when I realize that Dag Nasty is not hip hop but instead hardcore punk. The road to discovery is twisty and jagged with my dead ends, but it gets me there eventually.
3. "Wasted Tonight" by Slippers — Maybe early-era Of Montreal has been on my mind lately because I've heard "Nickee Coco and the Invisible Tree" a dozen times in the past three months due to its conclusion on the Family Playlist, but I still don't think it's outrageous to say that Slippers remind me of early-era Of Montreal. Or at the very least some non-psych Elephant 6 shit. Very pleasant stuff.
4. "Hallucinogenic" by Sincere Engineer — It's the AC/DC theory that you don't need to reinvent your sound in order to stay relevant or enjoyable. In the four or five Sincere Engineer albums released since Nate sent me that recommendation god knows how many years ago, this band has sounded almost exactly the same. I like their sound, is the thing, and so as long as they keep releasing their scraggly-voiced emo-pop-punk albums at regular intervals, I'll keep listening (and keep including 'em here on this playlist).
5. "Punching the Flowers" by Death Cab for Cutie — Pam may or may not be going to the Death Cab concert tomorrow night. She has been preparing by listening to... all the old, well-worn Death Cab albums of her youth. No respect granted to the last two albums, which are the only Death Cab albums I've ever loved. What's the deal here? How wrong am I? Is this ridiculous to say? Does it betray my relative inexperience with this band? I'm starting to feel like I'm being punked.
6. "Unmade Bed" by Future Teens — I suppose you might slot Future Teens in the same category as Sincere Engineer above, in the "not really changing their sound" category I mean. Except that Future Teens have one song that I think is one of the best songs of all time (whereas Sincere Engineer are just generally great but have no standouts). "Born to Stay," goddamn, what a tune. Nothing on their new album that approaches that, but what could? I like listening to Future Teens anyway.
7. "Somebody Wants to Send You a Message" by Styrofoam Winos — Cool little band, and definitely hit a nerve with the music critics that I follow, in that they all recommended Styrofoam Winos at the same time. It was a good (collective) rec, and it's a good album. One of those bands where all members of the band bring their own songwriting styles to the group, so you get three different sounds throughout this one. I don't have a favorite songwriter in this band. I do have a favorite moment, though, and that's when we hear the frontman (of this song) mumble "take it away" and then you get the skronkiest sax solo of all time.
8. "Stillness Blues" by YHWH Nailgun — Very funny to read reviews of the new YHWH Nailgun and see the criticism of "too short!" Um, I think that's the point? It's eleven minutes long. There are ten songs. They are short songs. But they are weird and dense enough that the length shouldn't really be an issue. That's how it's designed! It's a feature, not a bug!
9. "Too Tough" by the Rolling Stones — Alright, alright, I tried. But I gave up on Catalog Club. For now, anyway. I couldn't move through five 1980s Stones albums in as many weeks, it was just too much. I got through a few, though, and found a couple gems. I think it'll just require me to go at my own pace. I want to slowly move through the nooks and crannies of this discography. I don't want to blow past a whole era in one month. That's not how my brain works.
10. "Too Far" by Improvement Movement — It was too quick of a turnaround between the last Through My Ears and the last Monthly Playlist for me to include my TME pick from June. But Gloria is taking a quick break from the blog, so it afforded me a little extra time to tell you about this crossover. Improvement Movement! Now that's some quirky shit! Pam told me about them first (she was at the same concert, and telling your husband about something takes less time than writing a blog post about it), and my reaction upon hearing them was "Wait, I thought you hated Vulfpeck?" Who knows why the brain attaches itself to certain music and not to others. Certainly not me!
11. "Crowbar" by Waxahatchee — I've been working on a little RC project for an upcoming bit (you'll know in approximately ten weeks) that requires me to trawl through all of the RC reviews of the past few years, looking for key words. But I keep getting distracted by certain albums and reviews. The week that tripped me up recently was Waxahatchee Week. I'm still burned from that shit. Tigers Blood is such an important album to me already, and it had (and has) me doing the cliché thing where I'm standing here yelling "you just don't get it!!!" to all those who just didn't get it. Fuck the haters, here's a throwback to one of the best RC songs (and best songs period) of two years ago.
12. "Tiny Raisin" by Suki Waterhouse — Pam picked "Back in Love" for the Family Summer Playlist, and so we've heard it enough times now that even the kids know it and love it and are constantly humming it under their breaths. Good song! I was gonna check out the new album, but we listened once in a car, and I was mildly unimpressed, so I think I'm gonna pass (unless it ends up in RC eventually). Here's the only other song that made an impression on me during that first run-through. Maybe Suki will come back around eventually! Either that or we'll just have to be content with "Back in Love" forever!
Sorry. If it was my fault, I mean. I don't know if it was, but it probably was. The Monday Morning Mixtape, and its teetering on the brink of blog oblivion, I mean. Possible reasons it doesn't work as a weekly activity anymore: because I don't do enough to get people involved; because I don't have my finger on the pulse of what would be considered interesting in terms of themes; because I let it fade into the background; because I let what I thought would be a nice replacement for a worthy blog project become this sort of inessential shadow of the thing it was going to replace; because I misread the room in terms of what people actually want from music, which is maybe not "to write about music"; because I didn't think about how disparate all our musical tastes are and how that might lead such a mixtape to feel sometimes like a bunch of siloed music-listeners lobbing musical suggestions over the prison walls and never hearing anything back in reply; because, I don't know, because I'm still forcing a blog into people's eyeballs at such a late time in our lives. I go through cycles, like sometimes I wonder what the point of all this is, and I'm sorry for that too, that it means that you have to read about it yet again on the blog that I'm sorry for. I'm not sorry for this song, though. It's a good song, and I'm glad to have this mixtape as a vehicle to give it to you. —Joe
"Total.Fucking.Gone.Song" by Dillinger Four
from Versus God, 2000
Not my favorite song off of Versus God, but certainly one of the top twelve songs on the twelve-song album. I might just fuck around and find a way to worm every song from this record into future mixtape lists. Since the air is coming out of this particular recurring recommendation engine, I might as well help speed it along by throwing all the tracks from what I have come to understand as the pinnacle of Midwestern punk music in increasingly esoteric and tangential ways. Versus God! Normally I would say "you had to be there," but I really don't think you do. You can be there now, baby. —Nate
"Unhappy Song" by Swamp Dogg
from Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife, 2026
I wouldn't say I'm unhappy. See, this is why it's good to document your feelings in writing somewhere (even if it's, oh lord, on a blog). I can trace the weeks and months of my life in which I truly felt unhappy. And I can compare and contrast what I was feeling then to what I'm feeling now. I don't think I'm unhappy now. There is, of course, the overarching truth that the is "no reason for me to be unhappy," which is a constant truth, but we all know that's not really how the brain functions, typically. Depression, for example, doesn't need an external reason, you're just unhappy because of your brain chemistry. But without a reason pretty much ever, I still find myself unhappy sometimes, during certain periods of my life. Right now, though, I'm okay. I think any negative feeling I have right now could possibly be described as: disconnected. I feel like I'm losing grip of certain things that I've held close during this stage in my life. Perhaps the blog is one of them, I don't know. This is the longest sustained slump I've ever felt about this thing. That's not unhappiness, it's just a disconnect. Like, why is this thing that has been so important to me for so long sort of drifting in the background so often? I don't know. It's not unhappiness though, I know that. —Joe
"The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars
from Doo-Wops & Hooligans, 2010
I always associate this song with Lamson, because he played it constantly when it came out. It's not really that good of a song, but it's got a very certain vibe. When you're on that wavelength, it's like an old armchair or your favorite roach clip. —Sean E.
"Drumming Song" by Florence + the Machine
from Lungs, 2009
Well... I made a mistake when picking a song and blurb for this week...
So instead of writing a whole new blurb, here's the blurb for the song I would've picked for last week's clapping theme:
"Here Come the Sixers" by Reed Streets
a single, 2019
Philadelphians across the city are clapping their hands at the news that the Sixers have traded for Jaylen Brown. The Eagles have a couple great Jalens (different spelling, but still...), so there are high hopes for Brown, a champion with the Boston Celtics in 2024. Add in the rumors that LeBron James is considering the Sixers are his next team, and there's plenty to be excited about after a few disappointing seasons out of the Sixers.
(Joe, feel free to leave it all in.)
—Batts
"Midnight Song" by Wild Nothing
from Nocturne, 2012
I don't often make it till midnight. If I'm up at midnight, like especially on a weeknight, I know I'm fucked the next day. At the very least, it means I won't be able to wake up early enough to hit the gym, and I'll feel sluggish and weak the rest of that day. At worst, I'm so tired I can barely get out of bed. And if I'm eating Taco Bell after midnight? Fucking forget it. I've been going to a club semi-often recently that takes your phone before you go in, and gives it back at the end of the night. Unless you find a dude wearing a watch, there's literally no way to know what time it is. So I've made a little game of it, trying to guess what time it is as the coat check gal searches for the phones and brings them back to the counter. I can usually get it within the right hour, but I also am usually underestimating. The reaction when I see the phone and it says 1:30 AM is: "ohhhh noooooooooooooo." —Joe
"Bird Song" by the Men
from New Moon, 2013
The Men touched the sun for approximately three years there in the early 2010s depending how you feel about Leave Home (an exciting suggestion of what's to come, but not yet the real thing). There's a clear arc from the band's three best records; Open Your Heart is a rip-shit punk band that can seemingly do anything, New Moon is that rip-shit punk band slicing off the shag and polishing the diamond, Tomorrow's Hits is the final form, in which the punk band reinvents themselves as the Rolling Stones circa Sticky Fingers. This track is right in the murky middle, the butterfly coming out of the crystals; boozy pianos, slide guitars, harmonicas-a-honkin', all this energy reigned in, waiting to blow the fuck up. Great rock song. —Nate
"'Cello Song" by Nick Drake
from Five Leaves Left, 1969
Isn't there a movie or TV show that makes a joke about a cello that's like the character saying it says "cello?" instead of "hello?" I forget. Tough to remember stuff like that when I'm listened to Nick Drake. It's also tough to remember that, before Nick Drake made music so sad that it killed him, he was making this ornate chamber music that really scratches an itch within me sometimes. What an artist. I could listen to him any— oh! It's School of Rock, isn't it? Jack Black makes the cello player play bass guitar? "Cello?!" Ah shit, I was gonna write about School of Rock in the next blurb. Fuck. Sorry for the repeat. —Joe
"Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
from Led Zeppelin III, 1970
If there's a good song in a Family Movie Night movie, I'm all over that shit. I'm rushing off to the nearest computer to download an mp3 of that song and uploading it to the kids' iPod. We watched School of Rock a few weeks ago, and the kids really liked it (their first Linklater!). And I was able to get a total of three songs off the screen and into their consciousness: the title track with Jack Black and the kids, obviously (it's a classic!); the AC/DC version of "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (the Jack Black version during the end credits is a little too much for me, i.e. decidedly NOT a classic); and "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" by Ramones. "Immigrant Song" is a great one too but would've been pushing it. But I am 100% confident that there's gonna to be a moment in the future, even years from now, when "Immigrant Song" is playing, and my middle child is like, "Daddy, is this from School of Rock?" That's how her brain works. She is genetically the closest to me, it seems. —Joe
"Travel Song" by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
from Broom, 2005
Do people take a break from their hobbies when they are traveling? This is a sincere question, I have no idea. I feel like the only things I've called a "hobby" in the past 20 years were blogging and drinking. I am taking a permanent break from the latter, but I haven't taken a break from the former in at least eight years. The next Monday Morning Mixtape is going to be in three weeks, when I'm in Wildwood. It would never occur to me that we would take a break for that reason. (I mean, I know we're taking a break from MMM, but not for the specific reason of traveling.) I'm trying to picture a scenario in which I'm not bringing my computer on vacation. Maybe an all-inclusive or something? But we have none of those on the horizon, and I guess I would probably try to publish everything in advance? Back to my original question though: for people who have normal hobbies, are they something you forget about when you're away for a short while? Like all you knitters, gamers, painters, athletes, are you just forgetting about your passion while you chill on a beach chair? There is no judgment in this question, I'm legitimately curious. —Joe
"Pop Song" by STRFKR
from Starfucker, 2008
I've been kicking it with a new friend and she seems to know some famous people. I've made it pretty clear from the get-go that I am not a starfucker. I don't think this was even something she needed to hear from me, it just makes me more comfortable if I'm upfront about it. I did tell the story about Mike Scott at the birthday party (with the subsequent punches thrown toward the South Philly plumbers in the Linc's tailgating parking lot) to illustrate my point. I'm the anti-starfucker. I will ignore any celebrity that gets in my way. Except maybe STRFKR. I should look up what this dude looks like so if I recognize him I can make a very funny exception to my rule. —Joe
"The Whale Song" by Modest Mouse
from No One's First, and You're Next EP, 2009
I have a core memory of being [REDACTED] out of my mind on [REDACTED] in my living room with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], listening to this song so loudly that our neighbor threatened to call the cops. For a good long while there, this was the last good Modest Mouse song, but the new album that came out earlier this year is quite good. It ain't Lonesome Crowded West or The Moon & Antarctica, but it's potentially the best album since that era. —Nate
So many layers of my understanding of this song have been added since I first heard it, in my youth, in the nascent stages of my musical discovery period (which is, decades later, still ongoing). The attachment to and falling out of the Doors, the constant reevaluation of the irony of Jim Morrison as my own understanding of what irony is ebbed and flowed, the experience with Record Club and how it acted like a relitigation or perhaps even like picking at an old wound, the evolving understanding of character and fiction and how they inform art, the way that art then informs our understanding of the world, the understanding that things can be many things at once and we can use those things like tools in a toolbelt to be deployed only when we need them........ I mean, all of that is true, but sometimes I wish I could just be a little kid in my parents' basement listening to the Doors for the first time and gathering the very simple notion that this song is weird even for these guys. —Joe
"Dancing Song" by Washington Social Club
from Catching Looks, 2004
Much ballyhoo made over the notion that it is impossible to dance while sober, both from external sources and within my own head. I think maybe we need to consider the fact that I just don't like dancing, as opposed to the more loftier idea that dancing is reserved only for those who are able to let themselves free, out of the cage of societal norms, reaching the ideal of human nature in which we find ourselves fully unencumbered by all expectations and are thus able to finally achieve the art of dancing, of moving your body, and that only then can you reach your full potential as a human being. Listen—in sobriety, I've danced. Or tried to, anyway. I just don't like it. I'd rather chill at my assigned wedding guest table and chitchat with the other guests. I don't need to dance. I won't feel anything. Just let me relax with my club soda in peace, please. —Joe
"Ferry Song" by Twin Peaks
from Lookout Low, 2019
Think about how a ferry and a bridge are mortal enemies. This is a profoundly stupid idea, something that maybe I'd only come up with if I was reaching for something to write in 20 different blurbs for a mixtape that itself feels like a sinking ferry. But, like, think about what would happen to the ferry if there were bridges everywhere. And think about how many ferries would be born if a bridge were to collapse. A mark of progress, a bridge, but also a harbinger of doom, depending on from whose perspective you view it. I think that was a Shel Silverstein poem, wasn't it? —Joe
"Wayward Song" by the Earlies
from These Were the Earlies, 2004
There are some albums in my life that I stumbled upon and fell in love with and hold dearly and ALSO, crucially, keep isolated from everything else, or sheltered maybe, sheltered from my natural impulse to explore, more and more, to carve out room for more art like it, especially from that same artist, and my love for these particular albums is so that it shields me from that impulse. E.g. the Earlies and their beautiful album These Were the Earlies. One of the only true random impulse buys in a record store in my lifetime, imprinted in my heart during formative years, held fast and true through most of life's journey now. I love it, but the question remains: would I love it like I do now if I tried to listen to other Earlies albums? My fear is no, I would not. I would like or maybe even love other Earlies albums if I tried, but somehow, that love would pull from the love I have from this first one, and make it seem more pedestrian. I don't have to know everything. I can leave some things under the shroud of mystery. Who are the Earlies? Where were they from and where did they go? I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, and I don't want to know. Let the mystery be. —Joe
"The Authority Song" by Jimmy Eat World
from Bleed American, 2001
I have no memory or impression of this song even now re-listening to it. Bleed American is perhaps a front-to-back, no skips record, so I do not mean it as an insult when I say this is potentially the worst song on that monumental record. Best song is "A Praise Chorus." When I was using a four-track recorder to cut demos in my bedroom and dorm room, I'm pretty sure I scratched something out and titled it "A Craise Phorus." I did this because I am an American visionary and soon-to-be recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Naming Cassette Demos. —Nate
"Prison Song" by System of a Down
from Toxicity, 2001
There's comfort in knowing that, in anyone else's hands, a song called "Prison Song" would almost assuredly be speaking to the figurative idea of a prison, like say you are typing furiously on a blog while stuck in a windowless office in between notes about children who were in situations so unsafe that they were in the news, and how you can feel a prison here in this situation and then look up at the high walls and barred windows of the prison that the clients must find themselves in, and thus in comparison scoff at the idea that this cushy office job could ever be a prison at all, the comparison somehow both soothing and agitating all at once, but in System of a Down's hands, it's literally about prison. —Joe
"Apartment Song" by Really From
from Really From, 2021
I've never lived in an apartment. Unless I'm constricting the definition of "apartment" too much? Are dorm rooms apartments? I lived in two different dorm rooms. I think apartments need their own kitchens, so I'm not counting it. Are extended stay hotel rooms apartments, then? I lived in one for six months, but there was no landlord and we weren't paying rent. This isn't something I need to do, live in an apartment, by the way. This isn't a checklist, just a stray thought. We own a home and I intend on living in it long enough to pay it off and actually own it instead of "borrowing" it from the bank for 30 fucking years. But you never know where life brings ya, right? If I ever find myself living an apartment, I will think back to this blurb, on this mixtape from July 2026, attached to a jazz-emo song. —Joe
"SHOWER SONG" by Tierra Whack
from WORLD WIDE WHACK, 2024
Sometimes I think about water shortages. These thoughts manifested from a confluence of a too-close reading of Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler and some disparate blog ravings by our very own Nate Dogg. But I also read something on Reddit the other day—no more or less reliable than a science fiction novel and a blog, I'd argue—that there is more than enough fresh water to last the inhabitants of earth a very long time, it's just that we have a distribution problem. And whether that's true or not, I really do trust the ingenuity of humanity, and how if water started getting low, we'd figure out a way to make more of it. Will I eventually not be able to shower as much as Tierra Whack wants me to? Maybe! But I think we—our generation and our children's generation—are going to be spared from widespread thirsty dystopia. —Joe
"Pain Song" by Yatta Bandz
from Scars, 2021
The new Effie song, I fear, is not very good. Little too far in the rage-rap direction, trying a little too hard to freak out the squares, huffing a little too strongly on the gecs gas without having the gecs movement. It might be a 5 or a 6 out of 10. Even at her most mid, she's still got juice, check the pre-chorus on that badboy. Song is called "Red Horse," I should say. Also, you may have noticed I am not writing about Yatta Bandz right now. This is out of kindness and respect. If you can't say something nice, and so forth. —Nate
"Road Song" by Sleeper's Bell
from Clover, 2025
We have two pretty big blogging milestones coming up in the next month or so. On August 4th, we'll be celebrating exactly five years of PoYB posting something every single day. And then sometime around there, we'll be publishing our 10,000th blog post. I don't have anything planned for either one. I mean, the way things are looking, there's a greater than 0% chance that these things are going to happen on the same day, so that would be cool. We're also gonna hit 1.5 million views around that same time, but I don't think that's as likely to happen on the same day. A sane person would see the confluence of these milestones as a sign that maybe things should slow down or even stop around here. Ya know, hit the road, and take that road away from here (he says, in a sweaty attempt to somehow connect these meta thoughts with the song they're sitting under). —Joe
"Anniversary Song" by Glocca Morra
from Just Married, 2012
The fifth anniversary of the blog posting every day is something that I'm pretty proud of. It's interesting to think back to the years leading up to that, and how I had tried to keep streaks going, and would never reach a month straight. And now here's the end of month 60 in a row. It's weird how something like that can become normal. I wouldn't say I'm thinking about Puke on Your Birthday all the time, but it's always in the back of my mind somewhere, either 1) when I'm like "ah shit it's Friday, I better start working on the mixtape," or 2) when I'm like "oh damn, that thought that I just had, that would make for a pretty great blog post." —Joe
"Walking Song" by U.S. Girls
from Scratch It, 2025
There's nothing better than that feeling when something clicks into place in my mind re: the blog (okay, there are plenty of better feelings, but stay with me). Like I'll be listening to the Record Club album for a few days, for example, and then all of a sudden, I'll be making dinner or getting out of the shower or walking to the train and BAM, it hits me. The whole goddamn blog post just arrives in my head. I have to get it out of my head and onto the screen, and that takes time, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the moment when it arrives. The crux of the blog post. I can envision it. Does this happen to anyone else? Maybe it happens to everyone else but most people just don't have the means or motivations to get it out in this particular way? —Joe
"Surf Song" by Fenix*TX
from Fēnix★TX, 1999
Monday Morning Mixtape is interesting in that context because so rarely does my writing in this space have an overarching theme or hook (with a few exceptions over the past 80 weeks, though nothing good enough to make me want to revisit it), and so there is by design no eureka moment. It's just me sitting down for x amount of time, typing whatever comes to my head in that moment. Most of the time, the writing is pedestrian. Every once in a while, there is a small moment of stardust that makes the words in the blurb sparkle, but mostly I'm typing just to type in this space. I think that's okay. Not everything has to be worthy of exaltation. Sometimes it's nice to just practice typing, and practice getting your thoughts into words on the screen. It better prepares yourself for the task when inspiration does truly arrive in all its glory. You don't wanna miss it. —Joe
"Heart Song" by Fust
from Big Ugly, 2025
I wonder if that's partially the reason why MMM's attendance has slowly tapered off over the past eighteen months—people just don't feel like writing. I mean, that is the biggest difference between PoYB's Monday Morning Mixtape and WXPN's Friday Morning Mixtape, right? The XPN listeners aren't being forced to justify their songs' inclusions in that mixtape. They just think of a song and send it in. And I enjoy XPN's mixtape just as much. Oh, I won't lie, the thought has crossed my mind, to try it that way here. To take away the writing aspect, to juice the numbers for the mixtape. But I can't bring myself to do it. That would be ripping the soul out of this blog. This is a writing blog. We write here. If you're looking to get together with friends and put together songs onto a playlist, there is ample opportunity to do so. This is something different. We're exchanging ideas here. And plus, let's be fucking real, the only thing sadder than one dude putting together a six-song mixtape with six disparate little blurbs about each song is one dude putting together a six-song mixtape and not writing anything about it. And you know that eventually it would devolve back into that, even after the initial surge of interest. That's how it goes with everything, both on this blog and in real life. You get excited about something, it's fun for a while, and then it gradually tapers off. Are there exceptions to this in real life? Sure. But generally, you have to work at something in order for it to not wither away and die. You can't just be comfortable with stasis. You need to help something grow and change and adapt. I couldn't do that with MMM. —Joe
"Okkervil River Song" by Okkervil River
from Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See, 2002
This is probably the most beautiful song I've ever heard. I'm happy to share it with you, just in case you've never heard it. I'm happy to share it within the context of a mixtape, put together by two or more friends, together. Maybe you've picked up some cool songs along the way. Have you? I have. I am thankful for that. And I am thankful that I'll be hearing some good songs in the future too, on the mixtapes after this. We're not ending, we're just slowing down. At worst, things stay the same, and I only have to suffer through the playlist-making mechanisms of that dastardly Spotify once a month instead of once a week. At best, a worthy blog endeavor gets a little room to breathe, and it survives as a gentle pulse controlled by the heart that is the gift of blogging. It's just some fucking thing. "And I searched and stared, but only the river stared back." —Joe
NEXT WEEK: We're taking a break next week! Come back on the first Monday of each month for some more MMM!
The whole "Philly reputation" thing is totally played out. Once the national population got wind of "jawn," it was all over. I'm not grumpy about it. Have your fucking cheesesteaks in Seattle, I don't give that much of a shit. I don't care if people think they are going to get beat up at the Linc, or need to dress the Rocky statue in their own team's garb, or listen to some asshole Kelce's dumbass podcast, or try to use jawn in a parody of a Philadelphia accent. Everything is commoditized these days, why not the reputation of a city. Whatever, I give up. What you can do, if you're worn out like me, is just let it collapse into the personal. Let Philadelphia be to other people whatever they want it to be. For me, it's been good to me, and I'm glad I'm still here. —Joe
"L.E.S. Artistes" by Santigold
from Santogold, 2008
I don't know why I legitimately thought that Santigold was British until this week. I was shocked to learn that she grew up in Mount Airy and attended Germantown Friends School, which I walk past almost daily. Wild. I loved this album when it came out in 2008. I'm still floored that she's from Philly. Did everyone else know this but me? —Gloria
"Freedom of '76" by Ween
from Chocolate and Cheese, 1994
Damn, we already did "Streets of Philadelphia" on MMM, didn't we? Hmmm. It's funny that no one I've talked to has provided me any excitement about the 250th. Sports fans are happily retreating into soccer (despite JMK's very good point last week that everyone is pretending). My dyed-in-the-wool liberal friends are disgusted by the country. My dyed-in-the-wool neo-con friends are disgusted by the country. Locals don't have a lot of faith in CP and her merry bureaucrats. Supposedly there will be hundreds and hundreds of block parties around the city; surely not a recipe for bedlam. —Sunny
"4th of July, Philadelphia (Sandy)" by Cymbals Eat Guitars
from Pretty Years, 2016
I claimed at one point that this was the best song of the '10s, and even if I relitigate the list in three and a half years, it would still be a lock for the top five. Sometimes I forget about it, but then I listen and get choked up all over again. It's about escape, but it's about escape within, not without. So the story takes place entirely in Philadelphia, but when the protagonist finds something else, it's a different frame of mind, briefly. That all happens in Philly too, though. We're here forever. No one could possibly want to leave, right? Even when a scary uncle threatens you with a gun? —Joe
"Frankford Ave" by Post Play
from Post Moves EP, 2022
(not available on Spotify!)
This is such a fun song. It samples the SEPTA announcement "doors are closing" from the El. It's dreamy and atmospheric, which is probably not what words you typically use to describe anything related to SEPTA. Post Play is made up of John Raphaele and Sweater, who (I think) run both Subsurface and the record store Impressions. Very Philly, very cool. —Gloria
"Wedding Singer" by Modern Baseball
from Holy Ghost, 2016
I've always wanted to take a huge map of Philadelphia and put pins all over it and tell stories from each pin. I'll get around to it eventually, maybe not anytime soon. I need to time to let the idea marinate some more. It's been sitting in my brain for a decade now, and in that time, the thing that's evolved is that I've let go of the idea of it being comprehensive. I think now that I would choose maybe 100-200 pins, and stick to that, and tell stories, and not just make those stories the "important" ones either. Kind of like how MoBo sings about a random night when they didn't have subway fare and couldn't make it home from Tasker-Morris. Probably not the greatest night of their lives, but something small to remember, to put on a map with specific lyrics about a subway stop. —Joe
"Silver" by Waxahatchee
from Out in the Storm, 2017
I'm not a purist when it comes to the definition of "Philadelphians," not by any means. Totally cool with people moving here and falling in love and wanting to stay. It's that kind of city. I'm also cool with people staying here for a few years and then trying somewhere else and taking a part of Philly with them as they travel. Philadelphia is for everyone. That's what "brotherly love and sisterly affection" means. The depth and breadth of this town is infinite. Take a piece, like Katie Crutchfield did, after Alabama and before Kansas. I insist. If you were ever here, you are from here. —Joe
"Norf Side" by Jill Scott ft. Tierra Whack
from To Whom This May Concern, 2026
Pretty much lifting this right from my other column, haha. Jill Scott blends funk, soul, and poetry on To Whom This May Concern. The rhythms are infectious, and the whole thing flows so well. The standout song for me is "Norf Side." I listened to her ode to North Philly on repeat when I first heard this album. If you didn't listen to it yet, you should. —Gloria
"Christian Street" by Marah
from Kids in Philly, 2000
No deep cuts today, all hits ("hits" relative to this blog and the music it typically traffics in, you get it). This is one of the greatest songs of all time, and it's one of the most, if not the most, Philly song of all time. It basically acts as a panorama of South Philly at the turn of the century, and it features the fucking Mummers. You ever been down to Two Street to see the Mummers' after party on New Year's Day? It's mayhem. Bunch of drunk fucking losers causing mayhem and destruction. You know what you don't ever see on Two Street on New Year's Day? Any police presence. Unlike the Pride Parade, where the police are out there roughing people up for fun. Fuck the police, fuck the mummers. Don't worry—this blurb is very Philly too. "I hate cops" is something that any Philadelphian worth a damn would say. —Joe
"The Liberty Bell," written by John Philip Sousa
performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, 1967
I don't think of the Liberty Bell when I hear this. I think of watching Monty Python with my dad. My mom always went to bed early when I was a kid; she was asleep by like 9 PM. But even when I was like four or five, I remember being up later than her because my dad was in charge of bedtime and wasn't so concerned about being asleep on time. So we'd watch Monty Python's Flying Circus on tapes or a Flyers game if they were playing. He would always sit in a rocking chair, and I would be on our brown velour floral couch; maybe one of my sisters would join us. But when I was five, they were middle school and junior high, too old and too cool to hang out with a kindergartener and their dad. —Gloria
"Bury Me in Philly" by Dave Hause
from Bury Me in Philly, 2017
It's America's birthday this week. Philly started it, 250 years ago. I think this is why trump was afraid to make a big ICE staging in Philly—because he was afraid we were going to end the American experiment just like we started it. Don't worry, ICE was still here, and still threw a bunch of innocent people in the back of vans. You just didn't hear about it, because the Eagles were on. Fuck ICE, Stop the Killing of Palestinian Children, Go Birds. Happy birthday, America. I'll be here in Philadelphia until your deathday, or mine. We can celebrate then too. —Joe
NEXT WEEK: "Clap Your Hands! (but I feel so lonely)" — Songs involving handclaps (chosen by Joe)
Four of the five of us (Sophie was strapped to the roof)
This is probably the fifth year that we've done this. I think it was inspired by the inaugural McD***** Family Vacation, which was six hours away, and we needed something to kill a couple hours on the car ride. Everyone chooses seven songs, and we put all the songs on a playlist and hit shuffle once we get on the highway. I like it because it means that five people with five different musical tastes have their music jammed up against one another, Titus Andronicus mixing flawlessly with Peppa Pig. Check out what the shuffle spit out at us this year.
Family Road Trip Playlist, Summer 2026
1. "What It Sounds Like" by HUNTR/X — Willow's pick — I know this is so fucking hard to believe, but we've been living with KPop Demon Hunters for less than one year. I checked, and my lists indicate that we watched this movie for the first time on July 19th last year, so there were no HUNTR/X tunes on the 2025 playlist. For the record, I like most of the songs in the movie. This one is like the fifth-best at best, but still good. It was probably inevitable that we were gonna start the family playlist with a KPop song, is my point here.
2. "Hedwig's Theme" by John Williams — Willow's pick — We're halfway through the sixth (and best, imo) HP book, but it's tough to translate an interest in a book into a song on a playlist. I am against songs from soundtracks on playlists, but this ain't my choice. ***SPOILERS*** R.I.P. Hedwig.
3. "Back in Love" by Suki Waterhouse — Mommy's pick — A couple weeks ago Pam asked me if I've ever heard of Suki Waterhouse, and I said yeah, I only know her from that dumb Fleetwood Mac pastiche zeitgeisty TV show from a few years ago, you know the one, and she was like oh shit that was her, and I was like yeah, is she actually a musician, and Pam was like yeah I really like the song that they're playing on XPN, and I'm like does it sound like Fleetwood Mac, and she's like is that a joke, and I said no I'm being sincere, I literally only know her from being the B-universe Christine McVie character on a Fleetwood Mac show. Then I heard the song, and can now confirm that it's not like Fleetwood Mac. That's a good thing.
4. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper — Martha's pick — Proof that good songs will overcome dubious origins. There was a time when they only knew this song from Trolls World Tour ("girls" replaced with "trolls," naturally). But after appearances on like four family playlists in a row, we're at the point where they would have no idea where they originally heard it. Cyndi Lauper is a survivor.
5. "I Knew It, I Knew You" by Taylor Swift — Willow's pick — I was informed today that this song is the number-one song in America. It's fine. I'm actually really excited for it to be nominated for an Oscar, because that means that I'll be rooting for something hilarious to happen at next year's Academy Awards (and I'm calling it now, so mark it): Diane Warren gets her eighteenth Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, and finally wins the award, beating Taylor Swift with a song from whatever nonsense movie Warren is soundtracking this year, probably a sequel to the Cheetos movie or whatever the fuck, and Taylor Swift is so embarrassed that she gets divorced.
6. "dirty wedding dress" by Bleachers — Daddy's pick — Finally a Daddy pick, let's fucking go! The new Bleachers album is just okay. I like this song though, like a lot. I'm the only Bleachers defender that I know. The children were nonplussed. I get it.
7. "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa — Sophie's pick — First Sophie pick. She's only three years old, so none of her picks are off the cuff, they are mostly formed by the other four of us being like "how about the song from the Barbie movie?" and Sophie nodding her head all proud of herself. It's cute. Occasionally, it ends up that she picks dogshit songs (see below), but this one is good, still, after all this time. Did you know the redheaded Barbie is from Philly?
8. "Free" by Rumi and Jinu — Willow's pick — Interesting to get a sense of where my kids are at in terms of, like, romance and, uh, sex? Weird to write that about kids under nine. But I dunno, Willow was all giggly talking about Rumi and Jinu kissing, right? And we're going through the sixth Harry Potter book right now, which is by far the most giggle-inducing book of the series (Ron and Lavender Brown are particularly hilarious). Too early for me to have much more to say about it now, just something to keep an eye on.
9. "When a Good Man Cries" by CMAT — Mommy's pick — Pam's a lot better at going to concerts than I am. She goes to like one per month! I don't think she read my CMAT concert review, but that's okay. It's cool to just go to concerts because you like going, and not because you are using the experiences for writing fodder.
10. "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World — Mommy's pick — That being said, Pam (and a couple other PoYB contributors) saw Jimmy Eat World this past Friday at the Mann, and she said it was great! I'll be waiting for that concert review!!!
11. "Nickee Coco and the Invisible Tree" by Of Montreal — Daddy's pick — Every year, I make one pick that aims to impress, and I think this is the one for this year. And it never lands on the first go-around! Especially if there is car sickness and whining, maybe not everyone is tuned in. But c'mon, you ever hear this song? It's the perfect song for a family playlist! It's got everything! Whimsy! Silly voices! An owl translator! A rousing singalong chorus! I am imagining a world in which they love this song, and then decide to explore the rest of Of Montreal's discography, only to discover... ah, yeah, wow, this is a weird fucking band!
12. "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s — Mommy's pick — One-third of the way through, and Martha and Sophie have only heard one song pick apiece. Which is bad because they get upset at the shuffle, but good for them because the rest of the playlist is heavy on their picks. It's all in the game, baby.
13. "Takedown" by HUNTR/X — Sophie's pick — Like I said about people feeding Sophie suggestions. Willow managed to sneak one more HUNTR/X song on here via her little sister. Subterfuge!!!
14. "Everybody Poops" by Koo Koo — Sophie's pick — Did I mention that Pam will often hit shuffle on this playlist many more times throughout the summer, even on trips to Aldi or whatever, whenever the kids are in the car? This means that I am going to hear each pick like a dozen times this summer. Which means I have to listen to these motherfucking idiots sing about shitting way more than I want to.
15. "We're All in This Together" by the Cast of High School Musical — Martha's pick — I tried telling the story about when I tried to sing this for karaoke in college, and it didn't land. Maybe because they didn't know what karaoke was? Or maybe because they don't know what alcoholism is, and how such a thing might convince their dad that it was a good idea to attempt to karaoke a song that he had never heard before?
16. "Summer Is for Chilling" by Danny Go! ft. Brecky Breck — Martha's pick — We don't have a record of the Summer 2022 Family Playlist, but I can make certain assumptions about it. We do have records for the subsequent four. And so there are at least two songs on here that I am 100% certain were featured on all five playlists (other songs have high changes but are not definite). This is one of them. Martha's first favorite song, and at this point I've heard it 100 times but literally only during the summer when we're shuffling the family playlist. I told the girls that if there is every a day when none of them pick this song, I am burning one of my picks to keep it on here. I swear on my life.
17. "Seven Wonders" by Fleetwood Mac — Daddy's pick — We tried to talk about what it meant to make a playlist. How sometimes it's nice to choose songs for other people. Like, yes, each of these songs was chosen by someone, but sometimes they can be for someone too. For instance, I chose this song for Pam. I love the song but I know she loves Fleetwood Mac, so I know it's gonna make her happy too. It's a win-win of a pick. I wonder if there will come a day when sisters are picking songs for each other. Maybe we can try that next year.
18. "Dance the Pain Away" by Haute & Freddy — Daddy's pick — This was previously a recommendation on the blog, and a personal recommendation to Pam. And now here it is again. It's just a fun song, and fun to recommend fun songs to people. I don't think I'll remember this in 20 years, but I'll remember it at the end of the year for sure.
19. "Take on Me" by a-ha — Martha's pick — Have you seen The Super Mario Galaxy Movie yet? It sucks shit for sure. But you know what is interesting that I literally just noticed today? There are close to zero needle drops in that film. Whereas the first Chris Pratt-led Mario cartoon movie was full of 'em. That's how my kids found "Take on Me." As much as I hate both of these films (they don't hold a fucking candle to the CLASSIC 1993 masterpiece Super Mario Bros.), I'll hand it to the first one for letting my kids know about a-ha (and ELO, and Beastie Boys, and AC/DC). They didn't learn shit from Galaxy except that Wart was the villain of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Birdo is canonically trans.
20. "Bluey Theme Tune (Instrument Parade)" by Jeff Bosh — Sophie's pick — Alright, yeah, I admit that I fed this one to Soph. I tried last year too, but I fucked up, and just picked the extended Bluey intro. This is different. This is "Instrument Parade," which means that all kinds of instruments perform solos over the theme. It's so fucking fun. Bluey is fun. I cannot fucking believe that we let Peppa Pig outperform Bluey with this last kid, jesus fucking christ.
21. "Let It Go" by Elsa (performed by Idina Menzel) — Sophie's pick — It's "Summer Is for Chilling" and "Let It Go" that are five-for-five on these playlists. The former has always been Martha's choice though. "Let It Go" has filtered down through the kids as they age and pass it to the next youngest. When Sophie gets too old for "Let It Go," it'll disappear from this playlist. "Summer Is for Chilling" will live on.
22. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M. — Martha's pick — The next trick, I think, would be to try to transition from one great rock song to other great rock songs in the artist's discography. I've tried! Like "oh here's another 100 gecs song, you know them," but it rarely sticks. The only one I can think of is "Once in a Lifetime" from Elio leading to Willow enjoying "Psycho Killer" (it helped that Grandpop has a Talking Heads live album cassette in his minivan... and also, crucially, a minivan that still plays cassettes). Haven't made a dent with R.E.M. yet. Ah well, there's time.
23. "Choo Choo" by Friko — Daddy's pick — Fuck, man, two Daddy picks right as we're veering off the highway into the rest stop. No one was paying attention to one of the best bands of 2026! It's bullshit!
24. "Forever" by the Format — Daddy's pick — The rest stop is Wawa. Everyone has to pee. "Forever" is cut in half. I have the same song stuck in my head standing in line now that I did basically the entire month of February. Feels good to be back at it. I didn't buy any food from Wawa, because "no Wawa food" is a rare New Year's Resolution that is still going strong.
25. "Start of Something New" by Troy and Gabriella — Martha's pick — What's Vanessa Hudgens up to? That was my question, once we were back on the road. But I answered my own question when I remembered that Hudgens is featured on my straight-up favorite musical number of all time. Oh, and if you haven't noticed at this point, my kids are into High School Musical now. I keep pushing High School Musical 2 for Family Movie Night, and I'll probably swing it this Saturday when we get home. I remember a HSM3 premiere party at A15 in the townhouses back at the beginning of my sophomore year. I was drinking in the kitchen. It did not impress the girl I was trying to hook up with, as she was super into it. Or maybe I'm just making all that up. I don't know. The Family Summer Playlist is not time to be reminiscing like that.
26. "Golden" by HUNTR/X — Willow's pick — Probably the only Oscar-winning song on this playlist. However, they should totally make a category for "Best Use of an Existing Song," because if that was the case, there are a few potential would-be nominees on this list. Remember when Porky Pig went around killed aliens to the sound of "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)"?!?! I do!!!
27. "Black Cab" by Jens Lekman — Mommy's pick — One of the best songs of all time (#13 circa 2024) but Apple Music doesn't have the right version. A tale as old as time with the fucking streaming platforms. They don't care. They don't give a FUCK that this isn't the original version of "Black Cab," that Jens had to rerecord it because there were, like, sampling issues or some shit? And now the inflections are all wrong, he's singing it slightly differently than the way he sang it 20 years ago and burned it into my brain so indelibly. I think there's a good chance that my kids could love this song (especially if the narrative of "it's actually 'Black Cat' like Lulu!" keeps getting pushed), but they'll never love the right version.
28. "Mother Knows Best" by Mother Gothel — Martha's pick — Another song I've heard a million times. What I like about Donna Murphy's performance here is the diction. You really hear the "t" in "Best" so clearly and distinctly. I don't think what's her name is gonna do a serviceable job in the live action remake of this film. I sincerely hate these fucking live action remakes. Fucking kill me when "Mother Knows Best" ends up on this playlist in two years sung by a different voice actor.
29. "Hang Fire" by the Rolling Stones — Daddy's pick — Daddy's seven-pack of songs ends with a bit of a whimper, with a pretty good Stones song picked up from Catalog Club. Still working on my Tongue Scrapers mixtape, i.e. the 40 best Rolling Stones deep cuts. "Hang Fire" will make the cut.
30. "Levitating" by Dua Lipa — Willow's pick — When you search for this song on YouTube, the version with the homophobe still pops up first. I'm so tired of assholes getting away with it. Hopefully my kids never know that version even exists, but I guess you never know.
31. "Evie's Bedtime" by the Pig Family — Sophie's pick — Holy shit, this was a wild pick for a playlist. Who allowed this song, which is 90% narration by Peppa Pig, to make the cut? C'mon! Yes, yes, I know that my own Of Montreal pick was heavy on narration two, but that added to the value! There was a story there! Not this fucking bullshit!
32. "How It's Done" by HUNTR/X — Willow's pick — We were listening to XPN on the way back home after picking them up from my parents' a few weeks ago, and we heard the "Worst Song in the World" segment, so we talked about what that meant and why XPN was joking around with it. But then later that night, Willow and Martha were fighting, and Martha said something positive about "Soda Pop" by Saja Boys, and Willow, in the most sulky voice possible, says, "I'm gonna send in 'Soda Pop' to XPN for the Worst Song in the World!" It was probably the funniest thing she's ever said.
33. "Super Potato's Theme" by Super Potato and kids — Sophie's pick — Long drive to the southern tip of Delaware. Rough stuff.
34. "Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional — Mommy's pick — Mandatory third-wave emo for the playlist. It's hard to keep track of when the playlist is going to end, but after a couple hours, the thought is always: is that it? Or is there another song?
35. "Tequila" by the Champs — Mommy's pick — There was another song. A song that was in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which apparently the kids and Pam rewatched the other night while I was out. One of the best flicks I've seen this year, so I approve the push in the household. But yeah, this was definitely the last song. The algorithm chose for auto-play another Donna Murphy song after this, choosing for some reason "Mother Knows Best" as the song it was going to follow-up on. How does it choose? It doesn't, that's the problem. It's a robot. Fuck the algorithm. Family playlists forever.
It would probably have been a funny bit if I chose all football songs. But this is the only one that isn't at least indirectly tied to soccer, i.e. "football." America Football implies that it's not soccer, that it's football. Most sports kinda bore me these days, so it's not like I'm all gung ho about defending American football. But man, I fucking HATE soccer. This World Cup thing has been pretty brutal, let me tell ya. —Joe
"We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" by Los Campesinos!
from We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, 2008
I knew generally that this Welsh band has a bunch of soccer references embedded in the lyrics. You can go down the rabbit hole if you want to, click here. As I said, I hate soccer, so I don't need to comb through this. I chose the LC! song whose only soccer lyric is that the protagonist pukes on the soccer field. I know this song very well, but it's hard to remember this lyric specifically pertaining to soccer, since they call it a "football pitch," which is fucking stupid. —Joe
"USA vs. POR" by Bent Shapes
from Wolves of Want, 2016
Ten years ago, I was still trying to listen to every new album that literally anyone recommended, including internet strangers. Whoever recommended Bent Shapes is long gone from my life. I don't even think the album is all that great. But it's fine, and obviously something about it stuck with me enough that I remembered vaguely that there was a band who had a song whose title was a soccer matchup. Luckily, "Bent Shapes" starts with a B, because I literally just scrolled through iTunes until I found it. If it had been "Zent Shapes" then I'd be here all night! Though it still would've been better time spent than watching a fucking soccer game! —Joe
"I Kicked a Boy" by the Sundays
from Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, 1990
You ever see these fucking bozos take a dive? It's honestly pathetic. I used to make fun of soccer a lot, and this was always my #1 argument. This was back when I hung out with friends who were sincerely into soccer. It's been a while, everyone moved too far away, and now I don't really have too many opportunities to bust balls vis-à-vis soccer. But yo, seriously, nothing has changed. The TV had the game on the other day, and I saw a grown fucking man get lightly brushed on the cheek, and then writhe around in pain on the ground for minutes, on national television. How sad does your life have to be that you're faking injuries for a living? How sad are we as a society that we condone this fuckery? Shameful shit. —Joe
"Wavin' Flag (Coca-Cola Celebration Mix)" by K'naan
from Troubadour, 2009
The only thing worse than attending a soccer match would be drinking a Coca-Cola at a soccer match. Not that I was going to soccer games too often before this, but now that I don't drink beer, I cannot possibly fucking imagine how I'd survive such an ordeal. I do think it's funny when soda commercials imply that people all over the stadium are enjoying cold, refreshing sodas, clinking their bottles as they cheer for the home team. It's all beer all over, buddy. Unless you're from Northeast Philly, then it's probably those hard tea drinks. But Coke? C'mon now. That's for kids. And maybe sober people who want to risk dehydration. Glad K'naan got that paycheck though, that's cool. —Joe
"goal of the century" by Gang of Youths
from angel in realtime., 2022
The incredible angel in realtime. ends with two songs named after soccer moments from the same game by the same dude. The first is "Hand of God," which is fucking hilarious, because the dude used his hand to score a goal, and the ref either didn't see it or didn't care. And the second was "Goal of the Century," the same player basically just deked around a few players and scored a goal. It's impressive, sure, but if this is the most exciting goal of the century, then I gotta say, soccer probably fucking sucks. But I chose the song named after that goal, because it's better. I definitely condone using hands, though. Makes me laugh that Argentina won the 1986 World Cup on the back of blatant cheating. I hope the U.S. wins the 2026 World Cup because someone uses their hands and doesn't get caught. That would be fun. Might actually get me to watch. —Joe
Alright, it's 10 PM, two hours past the deadline, and, 77 Mixtapes into this dumb stupid blogging thing, the inevitable has finally happened. I have received no submissions for the Monday Morning Mixtape. So I'm just gonna keep picking songs until I fall asleep, just so that it's not officially the shortest MMM too. I'm choosing songs for a soccer mixtape, okay. I'm searching for songs that have words that are coincidentally related to soccer based on choice words, okay. Kick makes sense, okay. Because that's what you do in soccer, okay. You get it. You're the only person on earth reading this right now. How does that make you feel? Lonely? Now try to imagine how lonely it would be to be a soccer fan. Very lonely. Because no one watches soccer. —Joe
"Ballin'" by Chief Keef
from Finally Rich, 2012
And a ball too, you see, like a soccer ball. I haven't watched any soccer on vacation so far, which is cool. Mostly baseball. It's fine. I don't need to watch sports anymore. I don't need to do anything anymore. I can just sit in a chair in an empty room and that can be how I live. I think I would be okay in prison. I would actually really enjoy the routine. But maybe whatever landed me in prison would cause guilt that would disrupt that routine. I don't know. I don't plan on going to prison. I know that if I had to choose between watching soccer and going to prison, I'd probably choose prison. —Joe
"Soccer Mommy" by Shalom
from Sublimation, 2023
I get it, that this is the mixtape that no one else wanted to participate in. There's soccer, which is boring as fuck, and who gives a shit about the music connected with that shit. There's also the misunderstanding about what the theme actually means. What does it mean to have a song that fits on a "soccer mixtape"? In my mind, being vague means that there are more options, the selection pool is wider. But I understand that my mind is rotten and diseased and that I'm occasionally not on the same wavelength as anyone. This is a symptom of a sinking into the depths of a blog whose purpose is nebulous and whose omnipresence is baffling. —Joe
"Electric Feel" by MGMT
from Oracular Spectacular, 2007
Out of desperation, I googled "soccer songs," and, after dutifully scrolling past the AI bullshit, I found this playlist, and scrolled until I found a song I recognized. Dozens of songs I have never heard of. I don't know how any of these are connected to soccer. Maybe there is a group of friends somewhere who are just adding songs to a playlist that make them think of soccer. I can't knock it. That's what I was trying to do here. But I understand why this happened. Maybe next week's Philly mixtape will be more well-attended. Or maybe I should just take a break from MMM at some point. —Joe
"The Penalty" by Beirut
from The Flying Club Cup, 2007
I think I'm going to wind down the blog a little bit by the end of the summer. I don't know what that looks like, but I think I need it. Record Club and Film Club remain untouched. MMM maybe goes monthly or something. The rest of it slows down significantly. We can get rid of the pressure to post every day. This August 4th will be the five-year anniversary of PoYB every single day. That feels like the right time to take a break on Tuesday or something, ya know? We'll see. —Joe
"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" by Shakira ft. Freshlyground
from Listen Up! The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album, 2010
I'm sitting here on the couch. Pam's here, along with sister-in-law and brother-in-law and father-in-law. It's getting late. Close to bedtime. I'm going to add these extra songs to the mixtape on Spotify and YouTube and then hit "scheduled publish" and then go to bed. But I asked Pam (and everyone else, but mostly Pam) to choose a song for a soccer mixtape. She named the Shakira song. It's a good pick. I don't know if I have ever actually listened to it, but I am familiar with its existence. I am happy to add it to the mixtape. I think it would've been a lock if anyone else was here. But listen, don't be upset that you missed your chance to add Shakira to this mixtape, because here's the thing. Here's the most important fucking takeaway of this experience: you can still listen to the mixtape! That's the point! It's music for you! There's no algorithm here! A human being chose this music! You can listen to it! Better to listen this than watch soccer, trust me!!! —Joe
NEXT WEEK: "Sounds like a Cracked Bell" — Songs for Philadelphia, America's First City, in honor of America's 250th (chosen by Joe)
You get a dozen songs every month, in playlist form, that act as official PoYB music recommendations, since none of the other music columns are necessarily recommending anything, just exploring. These are your recs. Fuck the algorithm.
In June, you get two playlists: the monthly playlist with songs that I have liked over the past four weeks, and then next week, the annual K*** Family Vacation Playlist, featuring seven songs chosen from each of the five family members. Get ready for lots of HUNTR/X and Peppa Pig on the blog. Use the playlist below as a palate cleanser afterward.
June 2026
1. "The Weak" by Iceage — In the week in between claiming that there was a moment on Iceage's album so absurd that I almost couldn't believe it, and writing this blurb, I played "The Weak" for Pam and the kids, prefacing it that there was a part that of the song that they were either gonna love or hate. I think I overhyped it for them, and the reaction to the recorder solo was more nonplussed than anything. I apologize if I overhyped it for you too. Regardless of what I've already said, I'll say now that the recorder solo in "The Weak" is probably my favorite moment of music in 2026 so far.
2. "Stockholm Syndrome" by Yo La Tengo — I got a Yo La Tengo album from Santa Claus maybe twenty years ago, and I really didn't like it. Looking it up now... I think it was Painful? I remember it being all post-rock. It probably wasn't that, I was probably just being young and naive. But now I'm older, and I figured it was time to try this band again. I went with their most critically acclaimed album this time, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. It's good! To me, this sounds like what I imagine college rock would be, if that's a real thing. It's funny how a bad experience as a teenage can turn you off for so long though.
3. "Dumber" by FILM — I'm not often sifting through the albums that come out each week, but every once in a while, something catches my eye. FILM is a band consisting of a dude from the Starting Line and Joe Reinhart (Philly legend and member of Hop Along and Algernon Cadwallader), plus a drummer I'm not familiar with who has since passed away. That plus the preposterously generic band name is what got me to add it to a list, and then I gave it a passing listen, which turned in a realization that it's one of the best albums of the year. That's how it goes sometimes!
4. "Definitely Clean" by the Dream Syndicate — This was a fill-in-the-gap situation. Japandroids have a song "The Nights of Wine and Roses," and Film Club watched a movie called Days of Wine and Roses. The Dream Syndicate fits right in the middle: they named their album The Days of Wine and Roses after the movie, and Japandroids named their song that because they were listening to a lot of Dream Syndicate when making Celebration Rock. You can hear the influences in both directions, in my opinion.
5. "Mission Accomplished (King Fisher)" by Broken Social Scene — Even if the new album is maybe the fourth-best Broken Social Scene album, it was still the album that made me have this sudden realization: holy shit, are BSS one of my favorite bands ever? They don't really have an album that is anything less than great, and Remember the Humans is certainly not an exception.
6. "Cheese and Dope" by Project Pat — Project Pat supposes the following: what if Three 6 Mafia, but fun? That's not a sonic connection, it's a literal connection: Project Pat is the older brother of Three 6 Mafia founder Juicy J, who co-produced this album. I gotta imagine that Duke Deuce is a Project Pat acolyte, no? With the right mindset, songs about money and drugs are the best.
7. "Ground Kiss" by youbet — I still read Friend of the Blog Josh Terry's Substack every Thursday, but I'll be honest with you, not too many new albums make it through that pipeline into my ears these days. Call it a glut of good-not-great music, and I'm overwhelmed. But every once in a while, I'll lightly go through some of his recs, and something will touch a chord with me. youbet did that this past month, mostly because it's a wildly versatile band, which makes them interesting to me. "Ground Kiss" is one of the best on their self-titled, but also sounds nothing like the other songs on there.
8. "Yassify Me" by Telehealth — Think B-52s but with a Gen Z eye for culture. There's a song on the new album that I'm pretty sure answers every question I have about why I hate what I hate on the internet. I feel like I have a full blog post in me for that one (or maybe a blurb on the Best Songs of 2026 list eventually), so in the meantime, here's a little taste of Telehealth.
9. "No Bone Movies" by Ozzy Osbourne — I'm not very well-versed in the history of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. I guess he spent years, possibly decades, out of the band? Does that explain this well-known solo album, Blizzard of Ozz? The one with "Crazy Train"? Maybe. Anyways, check out this hard rocker about porn flicks at the movie theater, and make sure you do it quick, before the AI-generated Ozzy Osbourne starts singing it in 2027.
10. "The Springtime Reminds Me Of..." by Touch Girl Apple Blossom — There's a whole thing where this band was named after a Calvin Johnson lyric, and now they are releasing music under Calvin Johnson's record label imprint, which would be a really cool full-circle moment if I had ever heard of Calvin Johnson before. Based on how much I like the new Touch Girl Apple Blossom album, I think maybe it's time to check Calvin Johnson out too?
11. "99 BPM" by Kurt Vile — I don't know what Kurt Vile song to recommend to you, not because they're all the same, but not not because they're all the same. The whole thing is an experience, and choosing one song from the new album feels like a fool's errand. Let "99 BPM" instead serve as a reminder to listen to more Kurt Vile.
12. "dirty wedding dress" by Bleachers — If there's one band that most of the people in my blogosphere circles fucking HATE that I am a big defender on, it's Bleachers. Jack Antonoff seems like a fucking goober, but innocently so, and I can't help but enjoy his explicitly nostalgia-soaked generic pop-rock. It's dumb but I like it. Whatever!
