2021: A Playlist
It’s December here at Do You Know What I Love The Most?, and that means it’s time for Year End Lists! Or, at least, normally it would be — I kind of dropped the ball this year, and I apologize. Fortunately, putting this post together has reignited my spark for writing and compiling, so I plan to roll out the rest of my Best of 2021 lists throughout January. Stay tuned!
For the first Year End List of 2021, I put together a playlist of songs that defined 2021 for me. The rules? Only one song per release, and the songs have to have been released in 2021. I did specifically sequence these songs to flow together in order, but it wouldn’t be very punk of me to say you couldn’t listen to them on shuffle either. If you know me or have been reading this newsletter for any period of time you probably know by now that my taste in music is rather niche, so this playlist is only representative of what I’ve listened to this year, and not at all of the “objectively best” music has to provide at large. I try to be a culturally literate as possible, but life is too short to listen to music you don’t like, no matter how good or popular it actually is.
2021: A Playlist can be found here on Spotify, or if that’s not your streaming platform of choice, it can also be found here on YouTube. Below I’ve also included a sentence or two of commentary on each track. I hope you guys can find something here you enjoy, if not in the music, than at least in the writing.
"MYSTERY" -- Turnstile (GLOW ON)
Up until GLOW ON’s release, I thought Turnstile was a classic hardcore band from the 80s just because of the reverence they’re given by fans of all kinds. Having finally experienced them, I truly appreciate their eclectic take on a sometimes frustratingly-machismo scene. MYSTERY is probably my favorite track from the new album, and while it feels appropriately elusive at times, it’s an absolute jam and the only song that felt right opening this playlist up. (You also owe it to yourself to watch Turnstile perform this song on Seth Meyers, believe me.)
"Featuring Mark Hoppus" -- Hot Mulligan (I Won't Reach Out To You)
Alright Hot Mulligan, I’m sorry I made fun of your name that time I saw you open for the Wonder Years back in 2018. This song has one of the best choruses I’ve heard in years, and Nathan Sanville’s vocals have so much personality. The scream that opens this song gives me chills.
"Noah Fence" -- Origami Angel (GAMI GANG)
This song features everything I love about Origami Angel: noodly guitars; specific, eccentric references; perfectly-implemented profanity; the way both the lyrics and instrumentals often veer off into tangents that eventually come around to some kind of brilliance; the harmonies in the bridge are pretty damn great too. I am the target audience for a song that uses door-to-door evangelism as a segue into love song platitudes, let me tell you.
"GLITTER" -- Save Face (Another Kill For The Highlight Reel)
If you loved My Chemical Romance, you’ll love Save Face’s new album. GLITTER is probably its most approachable track, a theatrical yet insanely catchy pop-punk banger about wearing your enemies’ blood like glitter (appropriately, this is the band currently playing all their shows in orange jumpsuits and selling t-shirts proclaiming themselves as “Gay Slipknot”). I love it.
"Outta My Head" -- State Champs (Outta My Head/Just Sound)
My friend Zach and I have a running joke about how every adult emo has been assigned one of the many similar-sounding mid-2010s pop-punk bands to stan. His is Knuckle Puck; mine is State Champs. Outta My Head stands alongside the best of their singles, and has me very hyped for a potential new album next year.
"Sandstorm" -- Laura Stevenson (Laura Stevenson)
Seguing from an epitome of pop-punk like State Champs to an indie singer-songwriter darling like Laura Stevenson amuses me to no end. Stevenson’s an insightful and intelligent lyricist, but Sandstorm is my favorite track from her new self-titled record simply because it’s the one that comes closest to truly showing off her punk credentials. That a woman who can sing with the soul of Stevie Nicks once played bass in a ska band called “Bomb the Music Industry” is the coolest thing ever.
"In Love In Various Rooms" -- Dan Campbell (Other People's Lives)
This song makes me cry. I want to dance to it at my wedding some day.
"Can't Keep Waiting" -- MXPX (Single)
My favorite part of this song is the extended, bass-heavy instrumental outro that closes it out. Pop-punk bands haven’t done that sort of thing regularly since the era of Dude Ranch or Can’t Slow Down, and it’s something that needs to come back ASAP.
"Slogging Through Summer" -- Hurry (Fake Ideas)
I really enjoy the story this song tells. Matt Scottoline’s keen songwriting really captures the melancholy of an adolescent summer and being away from your friends. The guitar solo also shreds harder than it has any right to.
"Commit" -- Tiger's Jaw (I Won't Care How You Remember Me)
I Won’t Care How You Remember Me is such a great album that pretty much any of its songs could have made it onto this playlist, but there’s something about Commit that stands out to me, even beyond Brianna Collins’ angelic voice. There’s a blunt directness to the lyrics (“When was the last time you were honest with yourself/or with me?” “If you wanted to ask for forgiveness/then commit and say it”) that’s absolutely devastating and paints such a clear picture of the decay of a once-close relationship. It’s brilliant stuff.
"Guest Room" -- Future Teens (Deliberately Alive)
There’s so much I love about this song, but to be quite honest, my favorite thing about it is how it introduced me to the ethos of being “deliberately alive.” It’s something I’m gonna try to keep in mind every time I start scrolling aimlessly through social media from now on.
"Blacking Out The Friction" (Death Cab For Cutie cover) -- Spanish Love Songs (Phantom Limb/Blacking Out The Friction)
This Death Cab For Cutie cover is essentially a B-Side to the original single Phantom Limb, but of the two, I actually vastly prefer Blacking Out The Friction. It really feels like Spanish Love Songs — a band I love, but a band who has a frustrating tendency to sound pretty samey — pushing themselves in a way I’d love to see them do more.
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" (The Verve cover) -- Four Years Strong (single)
I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, but this is pretty much everything I want in a cover? It’s recognizable as the original song, but it’s also recognizable as a Four Years Strong song; it reminds me why I like the original, but is also different enough to justify its existence. This song shouldn’t be this much fun!
"He's So Good" -- Trash Boat (Don't You Feel Amazing?)
I’ve wanted to love Trash Boat for years, ever since I discovered their singer was queer, but this is their first song that’s really struck a chord with me. That said, it really struck that chord. Its narrative hits home, and Trash Boat delivers the story with all the righteous fury it deserves.
"Waiting" -- PUP (Waiting/Kill Something)
PUP is getting really weird at this stage of their career, but in a fun way! The second verse is almost spoken word, and does it work? I don’t know! Is it fun? Absolutely! There’s something endearingly, appealingly silly about the contrast between the heaviness of the opening riff and hyper-catchy chorus. And it’s a legitimately great chorus at that!
"Promise Not To Change" -- Justin Courtney Pierre (An Anthropologist On Mars)
Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Courtney Pierre was prolific in 2021, releasing three solo EPs. While the latter two got a bit too experimental for my taste, An Anthropologist On Mars is nearly perfect, five absolute bangers in a row. Promise Not To Change won its place on this playlist just by being fun, propulsive, poppy yet a little off-kilter. I love its abrupt beginning and ending, and I love love LOVE that guitar solo.
"Done With Drugs" -- The Dirty Nil (Fuck Art)
Luke Bentham of the Dirty Nil is the last true rock star, so leave it to him to find a new twist on the anti-drug song; a track that finds its narrator being done with drugs, not because of a moral objection, not because they ruined his life, but simply because he’s growing up and they’re no longer fun. It’s a smart, specific take, and that kind of specificity really elevates Done With Drugs, be it the narrator’s claim that “when I was young I had a dream I’d never die” or his list of all the things he may do now that he’s done with drugs: “Maybe I’ll try origami/or ju jitsu/or walk around IKEA with you.” Awwwwww.
"Sounds Like Love" -- Hotel Etiquette (single)
Speaking of which, this is a really sweet love song that finds romance in the little moments of a long-term, lived in relationship, and even in the way it often feels like you’re constantly on the verge of completely fucking it up. It’s real, yet optimistic in the best way possible.
"good 4 u" -- Olivia Rodrigo (SOUR)
What a withering, absolutely devastating break-up song! I listened to all of SOUR on the strength of just this single, and while most of it was too slow and sleepy for me, Rodrigo is clearly an incredibly talented songwriter, and this song is is the kind of anthem that’s gonna define a generation. I can already tell that the “Like a damn sociopath!” in the last chorus is a moment Gen Z kids are gonna be talking about decades for now, and rightfully so!
"Numb" -- Waterparks (Greatest Hits)
Man, remember when Waterparks was just your typical Warped Tour pop-punk band with just a tiny bit of electronica thrown in? To be quite honest I haven’t really enjoyed the direction they’ve taken their last couple albums, but occasionally they can still come up with a real banger like Numb. There’s a lot about this song that’s strange and silly and maybe even a little cringey, to steal a word from this band’s target audience, but I think that’s part of the charm; they make it work with sheer enthusiasm, and, sure, with a lot of help from a great chorus too.
"Lush Rimbaugh" -- Senses Fail (single)
We should absolutely speak ill of the dead when they’ve spent their entire life targeting marginalized people and attempting to make their lives hell. This song’s righteous fury is cathartic as hell.
"Threadbare" -- The Wonder Years (single)
Dan Campbell’s storytelling skills grow exponentially every year. Threadbare is a testament to the love of family, the desire to pay that love forward, and the bittersweetness that is often found around the holidays. Like all of Campbell’s best songs, it’s intensely personal and intensely, broadly relatable.
"Teeth -- Full Band" -- Real Friends (Torn In Two)
Did you know Real Friends replaced their lead singer a while back? Without his distinctive voice, the new Real Friends kinda just sounds like every other pop-punk band out there — but, fortunately, I really like most pop-punk bands out there. The acoustic track Teeth is the big single from Real Friends’ new EP Torn In Two and it’s pretty great, but surprising no one, I vastly prefer the full band version.
"Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave" -- Gregor Barnett (single)
I’m still not fully sure how I feel about Menzingers frontman Greg Barnett branching out into solo stuff. There’s a few points where this song feels like it’s just throwing stuff in just to sound different from the Menzingers, and it could stand to cut out a verse, but there’s quite a bit about this song I like; Barnett is still a great songwriter with a voice I love, and there’s a few unique vocal deliveries throughout this track that really tickled me.
"I'm Shaky" -- Descendents (9th & Walnut)
This is my favorite track off 9th & Walnut. I haven’t even the slightest clue what it’s about, but I love the old school vibe, especially when it comes to the up-and-down, almost circular bass in the opening.
"Hero" -- Weezer (Van Weezer)
After three or four almost unlistenable releases across the last several years, Weezer surprised me in 2021 by releasing not one, but two new albums that weren’t necessarily among their best, but were at least fun to listen to! Hero (off Van Weezer, Rivers Cuomo’s ode to the 70s rock and roll he grew up on) won me over pretty quickly with the superhero theme, but it’s just a really fun throwback rock song from start to finish.
"Airwalks (Alt)" -- Jeff Rosenstock (Ska Dream)
Ska Dream is the all-ska reinterpretation of Jeff Rosenstock’s 2021 release No Dream. While it’s a fun record that rethinks its songs in really novel ways, I’m just not a guy who usually has much interest in remixes or reinterpretations of songs. Airwalks has an interesting energy to it, though, that I really like and that may just elevate it above the original. I guess I’m just a sucker for an occasional “pick it up!”
"That Song" (Bouncing Souls cover) -- Kill Lincoln (single)
This makes me miss the 90s. I mean that as a huge compliment.
"We Need A Bigger Dumpster" -- Cheekface (single)
You’ll see Cheekface’s 2021 record Emphatically No pop up on my Best Albums of 2021 list in a few weeks, but given that half of its tracks were released as singles throughout 2019 and 2020, I gave Cheekface’s slot on this playlist to a new standalone single simply because I wanted to listen to it more. Cheekface songs always tend to be a bit absurd and tongue-in-cheek, but the lyrics here are practically nonsense, but in a way that really makes me laugh — but also in a way that seems thematically cohesive. Never before has acknowledging the fact that our society is one big dumpster fire made me wanna dance, but Cheekface can pull it off.
"Asinine Aesthetic" -- Catbite (Nice One)
God, the pipes on Catbite singer Brittany Luna. This is a great ska song, a great rock song, a great throwback — it really goes for broke, tries to do a ton, and does it all really well. It’s so much fun!
"Cooler Stuff To Do" -- Rumble Pack (Demo)
Rumble Pack — the brainchild of former Pentimento drummer Michael Hansen, who is also the man behind Hotel Etiquette earlier in this playlist, and his wife Becca — specializes in pop-punk songs for children, and for punk rock parents tired of playing their kids Raffi or the Wiggles. Not only do they teach good lessons in unique ways, but they work pretty darn well as pop-punk songs in their own right.
"Sound of Alarm" -- Cloud Nothings (The Shadow I Remember)
This chorus got stuck in my head the very first time I listened to it and wouldn’t get out no matter what I did. That makes for a great song! I love the uplifting, self-love message behind it too.
"I Got Time" -- Smokin' on Planes (single)
I discovered this song through a local DIY punk Discord Group I’m part of (one of the members is in the band!), and immediately fell in love with it. The chorus fills me with an instant sense of nostalgia and longing; I don’t even know what for, but I want to find out. I can’t wait to hear more from these guys.
"Don't Let Me Catch You" -- Dentist (single)
This was an instant ear worm. There’s something really interesting to me about singer Emily Bornemann’s vocal deliveries, which are smooth and restrained, words and sentences sometimes clipped short in a way that feels unique and alluring. As soon as I listened to this song for the first time I went and followed this band so I could keep track of them; it really made an impression on me.
"Trust Me" -- Sincere Engineer (Bless My Psyche)
I think we’re gonna be blasting this song at Emo Nites for decades to come. It’s just an instant classic. It’s got an absolute powerhouse of a chorus and enough self-aware self-loathing to put any third wave emo song to shame. What a banger.
"December" -- We Are The Union (Ordinary Life)
Like much of Ordinary Life, December is pretty explicitly a song about the trans experience, yet it’s also one with vast universal appeal. I may be cis, but I’m also someone who has essentially been two different people for much of my life, and lead singer and lyricist Reade Wolcott beautifully explores the unsustainability of that kind of life. The idea of having to kill a part of yourself in order to become the person you want, you need, to become is one that rings far too true to me, and I’ve never seen anyone capture the combination of excitement and dread, the bittersweetness, surrounding this fact the way We Are The Union has. This song has made me cry on multiple occasions this year, and I want to thank We Are The Union for it with all my heart.
Do You Know What I Love the Most’s “Best Of 2021” series:
2021: A Playlist
Top 10 Newsletters of 2021
Top Television of 2021
Top Comics of 2021
My Books of 2021
My Movies of 2021
Top Albums of 2021
And for more, check out last year’s “Best of 2020” series!:
Top 10 Newsletters of 2020
Top Television, Podcasts, and Movies of 2020
Top Books and Comics of 2020
Let’s Talk About Substack
2020: A Playlist
Top Albums of 2020
ABOUT
“Do You Know What I Love the Most?” is a newsletter from Spencer Irwin about his relationship with the stories he loves. Spencer is an enthusiast and writer from Newark, Delaware, who likes punk rock, comic books, working out, breakfast, and most of all, stories. His previous work appeared on Retcon Punch, One Week One Band, and Crisis on Infinite Chords, and he can be found on Twitter at @ThatSpenceGuy. If you like this newsletter, please subscribe and share with your friends!