Issue #92
Issue #92
Featuring tracks from Runnner, Medium Build, Holly Humberstone, MUNA, Royel Otis, and Midcentury Llama
Looking for new music? Love art? Every week I create a short, five track playlist of the songs I am feeling at the moment along with a beautiful, found postcard. It’s a spark of joy for your eyes and ears.
There is nothing remarkable about “In My Room” from Medium Build. It is a collection of standard guitar, drums, and vocals layered together into a standard indie song. Similarly, the lyrics are straight-forward and easy to grasp on first listen. No Jason Isbell-esque lyrical somersaults here.
And yet, the song hits a lot harder than the sum of its parts. For an intensely nostalgic kid raised in the 90s and early 2000s, the cultural backdrop it taps into transforms the song. It is the same experience you get from watching Home Alone as an adult.
TGI Monday, I can see my friends again
I quote The Matrix, so I seem interesting
My mom called your mom, so you could ride home on my bus
She'll melt some cheese on chips, but then I got plans for usIn my room, check out this poster
The entire Simpsons cast
In my room, I got this Weird Al tape
Man, if you just wanna laugh
I am fascinated by songs like “In My Room” that are able to generate an outsized response by mentioning a time or place that has enough shared cultural context. Songs that take their power from memory and associations rather than the concrete components of the song itself.
If you enjoyed the track, check out Issue #40 and Issue #61 for more from Medium Build.