Staff Pix 11/30: Teen Angst

The Milk Crate staff reminisces on their teenage years with songs that capture youthful angst. Tune in Tuesdays from 1-2 EST to the Staff Pix radio show.

Will Ingman

The Kill (Bury Me) by Thirty Seconds to Mars

As someone who developed his full awareness of self during the explosion of social media platforms in the late ‘00s and early 2010s, I’ve watched a lot of angsty teenage emo kid YouTube content - and atop the pile of bedroom covers and poorly aged sketch comedy sits the behemoth phenomenon of Anime Music Videos, or, just “AMVs”. With 14 million search results, “The Kill” earns its space on the AMV soundtrack pantheon (alongside Linkin Park’s “In The End” and Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”), and occupies a solid chunk of real estate in the three to five year period of my life I wish I could forget about.

Lily Hartenstein

How to Hate Your Body in 12 Easy Steps by The Max Levine Ensemble

My little group of black-skinny-jean-wearing, tumblr-scrolling, gay and angsty friends were obsessed with the Max Levine Ensemble when we were fifteen. They were the perfect amalgamation of teenage-y pop and filled-with-rage punk, topped off with lyrics reflective of the frustrations we felt in our political coming-of-age. “Hate Your Body in 12 Easy Steps” was typically blasting in my earbuds as I sat in the back row of carpool, preparing myself for another day of high school with the lyrics to the hopeful end of the track outlining how to overcome self-hating brainwashing: “step six/ is forget all the shit that they taught you/ you might think that you can't, but you ought to.”

Andrew Johnson

Basket Case by Green Day

Basket Case is about losing your mind and not finding help anywhere. Much like any teenager I felt these exact feelings trying to fall asleep many nights. The song perfectly captures the feeling of slipping away into the void and not knowing what to do. Besides the theme, it has a ripping fast pace guitar in it that makes the song feel like a speeding car out of control. Not to mention the cool lines every teenager wants to say “I went to a whore who said my lifes a bore”: I have never met a person who does not sing that line. I have also never met a person who does not get a little amped by listening.

David Shird

Teen Idle by MARINA 

This choice really highlights the grip Tumblr had on me during the 2010s. I listen to this song and am immediately reminded of fantasizing about actually being cool in middle school, instead of playing Minecraft alone and being awkward. MARINA really did give the weird kids the fantasy of having a full-on Jennifer’s Body moment. However, the Electra Heart era had me building all this trauma that I had no business holding at 13. I will say that this music really shaped me in terms how I present myself to the world. As an adult I still find myself wanting blood, guts and chocolate cake.

Karenna Umscheid 

Loser Like Me by Glee Cast

Anyone who was deep into show tunes and Glee in middle school was destined to have a poor social experience. My inability to listen to music that didn’t feature Jonathan Groff destined me to be an outcast. But I was rather okay with it, because I was able to relate to members of the Glee club even more. Their original song that secured a tie for first place at regionals was the power ballad I  needed to get through those formative years, along with copious amounts of Bethany Mota videos, lip glosses from Claire’s, and bottles of perfume from Bath and Body Works. For all ex-theatre kids, Loser Like Me is a modern classic. 

Sara O’Connell

Still Waiting by Sum 41

First and foremost, I am still angsty. Because of that this song in particular has followed me around for the last 10 or so years. I saw them live at the 20th anniversary concert for Does It Look Infected and when they played this song the overwhelming rush of the crowd was unstoppable. People ranging from their early 20s to late 40s were back to being 13 and confused. The obvious claim Deryck Whibley is making, when is the world going to get better? When are we going to stop creating chaos? It is the ultimate question that I think many people are still asking more and more today. 

Nia Tucker

Turn it Off by Paramore

The impact that Paramore’s Brand New Eyes album had on me is immeasurable. As a certified 2010s Tumblr Teen, I was constantly inundated with images and stories from mutuals about the depression and body issues we all seemed to be facing at once. This song reminds me of the solace I found in the Tumblr DMs of strangers across the world as we performed daily check-ins and extended a friendly, digital hand to those who were experiencing the same turmoil of puberty and depression. This album is admittedly the band’s Fleetwood Mac-era album—as it was made in the midst of rumors of the band’s breakup and their private spats over creative direction. But, I think it’s because of that pain that they were going through, that they were able to create a piece of work that upholds even today with its raw emotional honesty. The chorus— “And the worst part is / Before it gets any better / We're headed for a cliff / And in the free fall I will realize / I'm better off when I hit the bottom”— while lyrically simple, will punch you in the gut once it hits that final line. 

Izzy Desmarais 

Why Bother? by Weezer

Weezer is my favorite band of all time and has been since I was seven years old (very weird favorite band for a seven year old to have, I know). Their sophomore album, Pinkerton, is this epitome of angst. This album means the absolute world to me. It’s my go-to when I’m happy, sad, angry, and every feeling in-between. This track specifically is quite angsty, arguably the angstiest, as frontman Rivers Cuomo literally declares, “why bother?” I feel like everyone can relate to the song’s feelings of melodramatic despair, especially when you’re a teenager in high school when every minor inconvenience feels like the end of the world.

Sarah Fournell

Peach by The Front Bottoms 

While my sadgirl pop punk awakening was when I was seven with Paramore, the person I became after listening to the Front Bottoms for the first time was angsty like no other. Like, grungy, knee sock loving, “cooler than you but not even trying” angst. As most teen girls in 2014, I was tumblr trash. Something about the rusty, metallic sounding simplicity of the Front Bottoms sparked something so annoying in me. That annoying part of me that was completely obsessed with “the aesthetic” is still there. But now, everytime I hear the whiny lyrics about empty beer cans and acoustic finger-picking solos backed by a choppy trumpet, I cringe a little bit.

Harry Bates

One Way Ticket by Case Elliot

I had this Cass song on repeat over the course of some three years. It expressed exactly as I felt in my mid-teens: Ready to go out into the world and skip over little town shenanigans. I wanted to depart in true Cass style and move on to a whole new adventure. I still love this song for all that it’s worth. We all have moments where we feel that our wings are clipped, but it’s about finding a new way to fly which is much more impactful than trying to recreate the ways of our former selves.