Syllabus week is over. The joy of walking to class and seeing familiar faces will soon diminish. Earbuds will run rampant and angsty music will be in full force as we fill our days with trips to the Gorgas printers, endless Starbucks lines, Friday classes that never seem to have a point, and meetings that last a lifetime. The simple pleasure of listening to the freshest of new tracks while speed walking over the Quad is upon us. Personally, my walk to class has always been a spiritual experience and awakens me to the day better than a cup of Joe. The music I listen to is crucial to the success of this endeavor. This playlist includes some of those songs that make me excited to wake up for the sole reason that I get to listen to them.
“Ready to Start” – Arcade Fire: For completely obvious reasons, this song will make you walk with a sense of immediate urgency, despite any disgruntled feelings you may have towards the new Arcade Fire album.
“Provider” – Frank Ocean: A new Frank Ocean track is exactly what one needs to hear all the time.
“Trying to be Cool” – Phoenix: The title of this track describes most freshmen, including those still in lanyards.
“Prom” – SZA: Your favorite artists love this song, I love this song, and you will love this song.
“I Can Change” – LCD Soundsystem: The track talks about the crumbling of a relationship as two partners try and change for each other, or not change, which may seem heavy, but it’s still a delightful listen!
“Summer Dream Sigh” – New Madrid: “Summer Dream Sigh” sounds just like three months of summer bottled up in six minutes of entertainment.
“Star Roving” – Slowdive: This shoegaze track can slow down time; it’s that good.
“Have Love Will Travel” – The Black Keys: Arguably, “Thickfreakness” is the best Black Keys album and arguably, this is the best track on the album.
“Appreciate Me I” – The Revivalists: “You just don’t appreciate me” is a phrase that most students think a few times a week.
“Doe, Jane” – Shakey Graves: Honestly, this is just good new music that you should know.
“Christmas in L.A.” – Vulfpeck: Football season starting in August reminds me of Christmas coming, so this song seems fitting.
“Sun’s Coming Up” – Tame Impala: I have ne’er created a playlist without a Tame Impala song; you heard it here first.
“Wanted You” – Twin Peaks: Twin Peaks is the perfect way to ease yourself into the day, and the song has a cool Stones vibe.
“Fill in the Blank” – Car Seat Headrest: “You have no right to be depressed, you haven’t tried hard enough to like it.”
“In the Morning I’ll Be Better” – Tennis: Tennis is the greatest and this song proves it.
“Crime” – Real Estate: I think if I had a band, I would want it to sound like Real Estate, but no one else could recreate their hazy rock sound.
“Rise to the Sun” – Alabama Shakes: This song almost makes me excited to wake up and “rise to the sun.”
“Pony Up” – Kings of Leon: The phrase “pony up” means to pay up, which you sometimes have to do in the morning.
“The Gold” – Manchester Orchestra: Manchester Orchestra put out a really incredible album this summer, which is encapsulated in this song.
“Touch Me I’m Going To Scream, Pt. 2” – My Morning Jacket: At some point in the semester, we all feel like Jim James.
“Roll With The Punches” – Dawes: “You just roll with the punches, until you can’t feel a thing.”
“A 1000 Times” – Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam: This song is just straight up easy-listening.
“No Exit” – Tennis: A new Tennis song just in time for classes is just what the doctor called for.
“West Savannah” – Isaiah Rashad, SZA: A really cool track from two major players of this summer in music.
