Staff Pix 11/3: State Crate

Uhhh wait, who has the map? This week, our staffers gave us a taste of home in State Crate, presented with blurbs worthy of a promotional sticker on a jewel case. Tune in Fridays from 3-4PM EST to the Staff Pix radio show.

Izzy Desmarais

“U-Mass” by Pixies

Yes, I know I chose a Pixies song for an episode of Staff Pix that aired not even a month ago, but I’m seriously incapable of not picking this track for State Crate. Lead singer Black Francis is not only from Massachusetts, but he met guitarist Joey Santiago while they were both studying at UMass Amherst. The unofficial official harbingers of grunge—a sound which is typically associated with the Pacific Northwest—were based out of New England. This is incredible news for someone like me: annoying with a ridiculous affinity for the East coast. 

Karenna Umscheid

“Portland” by The Replacements

On December 7, 1987, The Replacements performed in what was widely known as the band’s worst show ever in my beloved hometown of Portland, OR. The show was such a disaster that the band recorded the track “Portland” as an apology, and as a Portlander, all I can say is "apology accepted!” I listen to this song every time I fly back to Portland, and the warm instrumentals and perfectly upbeat, folksy melodies welcome me home. The track ends with Paul Westerberg singing a cheeky “Portland, we’re sorry,” ending such a beautiful song with a little joke referencing the reasons it was written. The song, despite not being written or performed by anyone from Portland, it encapsulates the spirit of the city, the beautiful weirdness, heavy rain, and rich lore and culture. The rumors are true, I am from the slightly lackluster suburb of Beaverton, but it’s only a 30 minute drive away from downtown! My soul is truly so Portland, and this song just understands it.

Sage Liebowitz

“California Girls” by The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys have been in my life for a very long time, and I’ve always been the solo fan in my family. I honestly think “California Girls” is one of my favorites because it evokes a dreamlike vision of California in the 60s, a place I’ve seriously fantasized about visiting my entire life. Everyone loves to poke fun at the West Coast and call Californians basic and obnoxious, and I feel like no one really sees the charm of California the way born and raised girlies do. Sometimes, I get caught in the mindset of California being overrated, but these guys are always there to lend a helping hand as we sing about my home state together.

Lia Klug

“good Morning Baltimore” from Hairspray

I’m from Annapolis, Maryland, which is smack in the middle of D.C. and Baltimore. Baltimore is my favorite city in the world and this song has always exemplified that love for me. The love for the city is so earnest, the character acknowledges its faults while still loving the city for what it is. “Good Morning Baltimore '' has been a favorite of mine since I was a 12 year old obsessed with musical theatre, spending a considerable amount of time in Baltimore, and slightly overweight (I’m not making this judgment on myself, it was told to me by my pediatrician at the time). This was MY SONG! Baltimore taught me to love cities. I would not be here in Boston if I hadn’t spent so much wonderful time in Baltimore. I wouldn’t be at an arts focused school if it wasn’t for the time I spent in Baltimore at my uncle’s art shows as a kid. As I got older I realized this is not the impression most people have of Baltimore. This year since I’ve moved to a different city in pursuit of my dreams I often think of the line “And I promise Baltimore That some day when I take to the floor The world's gonna wake up and see Baltimore and me”. I love that whenever I fly home I fly into Baltimore. This city has seen me my whole life, from art shows, to field trips, to exploring the city without parents for the first time as a young teen, to working in my friend's dad’s pub when I needed money. In Baltimore “every night is a fantasy” and I will always have a soft spot for it no matter where I go.  “I LOVE YOU BALTIMORE!”

Ellie Abbey

“West Coast” by Coconut Records

“West Coast” isn’t necessarily about Washington, but the opening lines mention rain so it’s good enough for me. I also truly feel like this captures the vibe of the Pacific Northwest with its melancholic melody and the weird funky lick in the chorus. If you’ve never been to the West Coast, first off, you should remedy that, second off, there’s a reason so many songs are about it. “I miss you / I’m going back home to the West Coast” progressively feels more and more desperate every time the lead singer, Jason Schwartzman, sings it (yes, that Jason Schwartzman). Coconut Records really manages to embody the feeling of being on the East Coast and the longing to return to the highly-forested-not-as-rainy-as-you-think-vampires-versus-werewolves world that I come from.

Bennett Himmel

“Ladies of Cambridge” by Vampire Weekend

The members of Vampire Weekend may have met at Columbia College, but their music represents the attitudes of privileged, white Harvard students better than any other artist I’ve heard! Cambridge is literally in the title, but “Ladies of Cambridge” paints a shockingly vivid picture of life in Boston. Listening to the frantic rhythms of “Ladies of Cambridge” feels like sitting inside a packed car on the Green Line- you’re surrounded by chaos, but your rose colored glasses are firmly planted on your face, and in that moment, Boston is the most beautiful town you’ve ever seen.

Stephanie Weber

“Walcott” by Vampire Weekend

Even though 2010s band Vampire Weekend is based out of New York City, they write surprisingly good songs about New England life. “Walcott,” off of their self-titled 2008 album, is reminiscent of my small Connecticut town of Mystic. The song mentions “Cape Cod” over and over again, but if you listen closely, you can pick up the lyric, “Walcott, Mystic Seaport is that way.” Mystic Seaport? The place I used to take field trips to in pre-school and in high school? The home of 1600s whaling practices and viking ships? Mystic is a tourist destination, especially for those who live in New England. The premise of “Walcott” is to get out of the small town of Cape Cop, where “The lobster's claw is sharp as knives” and “Evil feasts on human lives.” The lines “Walcott, fuck the women from Wellfleet / Fuck the bears out in Provincetown” make New Englanders recognize the song as a welcome home; that winter cold induced cynicism bleeds into all seasons that only we can recognize as normal. I always listen to this song when I’m home, usually for Christmas break, visiting my dad’s family in New Jersey. The song mentions the state in the lyrics, “Walcott, all the way to New Jersey / All the way to the Garden State.” There aren’t many songs about my town, so like a true New Englander, I take what I can get.

Gabriella Collin

“Theme From New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra

I’m bad at answering the question “so, where are you from?” I’m from the unknown neighborhood of Kensington in the extremely well-known borough of Brooklyn. Out of the six people in my family, four of us were born in New York. But, my family lives in Connecticut now, and has for a while. “New York, New York” was the first song to make me feel Big Emotions. With the amount of Frank Sintara vinyls and CDs I grew up with in the home, it was only a given I would listen to him on my own. While the big band, “classy” intro is a bit cliche, the lyrics speak to the goal I had set for myself when I was young; I was going to move back to New York, by any means necessary. Listening to this song for the first time in a few years, as a senior in college, itching to move out of Massachusetts,  I felt like I was a kid again. Sinatra, belting out, “These little town blues are melting away / I'm gonna make a brand new start of it in old New York”, I could cry. I struggle with calling New York, Connecticut, even Massachusetts my home, but with “New York, New York” I feel that fire again, that desire to be somewhere better.

Charlie Deitchman

“L.A.” by Elliott Smith

Guys, I’m sorry in advance for very likely ruining the vibe by playing an Elliott Smith song, this is not the first time this has happened, but I had to do it. Being from Los Angeles, I had an abundance of songs to choose from, but I wanted to choose one that felt more personal to me. For a long time, I thought I hated living in Los Angeles. I would shit on the weather and tell everyone I was meant for the east coast. Somewhere during the last couple years of high school, things changed. I got my license and really took the time to explore parts of LA beyond the valley. One of these places ended up being the Elliott Smith memorial wall in Silverlake. Elliott Smith has been one of my favorite artists for a few years now, so visiting this wall became somewhat of a meditative experience for me. If I wanted to spend a day alone or just wanted to go somewhere to think I would drive thirty minutes down the 101 to grab a cup of coffee, sit in front of the Figure 8 mural, and listen to Elliott’s music. Maybe it was geeky or a waste of gas money, but it made me feel closer to the music and really helped to give me a greater appreciation for the city I call home.

Jules Saggio

“Champagne Coast” by Blood Orange

I found out that I am the #1 listener of this song which is insane but doesn’t shock me since it comes on any time I’m driving. I listen to this song whenever I’m driving on the bridge to the beach on Long Island as the sun sets (very millennial-core but it is worth it). It is the closest to peace I will ever experience. Just go on a winter drive and loop this song, trust me. Also I found out that Dev (the lead singer) is based in New York which makes this even more special to me. This song embodies the feel of Long Island in the winter and how comforting it is to live in a coastal town during snowfall. “Champagne Coast” is nautical while embodying the comfort of driving past holiday decorated houses at the same time.

Serenity Holland

“baltimore” by Nina Simone

I am from a suburb in central Maryland, about 20 minutes outside of Baltimore. I became obsessed with the scene during high school which was abnormal considering the prevalent bar scene, but I’ve been trying so hard to like it. This song is a hard truth coated with a bluesy bass and ethereal strings. “‘Cause the city’s dying and they don’t know why. Oh Baltimore, ain’t it hard just to live?” Simone relays the lack of purpose and inspiration I used to feel when I visited the harbor downtown. Baltimore can be difficult to appreciate because it’s a bit slow to develop compared to other cities. However, as I’ve gotten older, I value the old charm and intimate neighborhoods that make up Baltimore such as Fells Point and Federal Hill. I enjoy the live music while walking around to different vendors for a sweet treat. “Never gonna come back here till the day I die,” Simone sings. But I will always fly into the BWI airport feeling nothing but the relief of home.

Payton Cavanaugh

“Paul Revere” by Noah Kahan

“Their license plates ‘Live Free or Die’ / But it just ain’t that simple, it never was.” If highschool Payton could have heard this one, I fear this track would be on a loop. While choosing a Noah Kahan song may seem like an easy cop out as opposed to picking a lesser known artist, I genuinely have never felt more connected to a song than this one. Being from a very small town in New Hampshire, going to a tiny public high school, and transitioning to a college in the middle of Boston, I initially felt quite overwhelmed. I had never been in a city for longer than a day trip, so you can imagine living here was a huge transition. I embarrassingly recall making Pinterest boards of city skylines in my high school English class. It was always my dream to graduate and get out of my small town. While I still love home, I was dying to get out and meet new people, explore new places, and gain new perspectives. “Ride like Paul Revere / And, when they ask me who I am / I’ll say ‘I’m not from around here.’” Noah’s album Stick Season came at such a pivotal time in my life. A time when I began reflecting on who I was when I left New Hampshire, and the experiences I’ve had and people I’ve met since coming to the city. Now, when I think about New Hampshire, or that girl impatiently awaiting graduation, I am so proud. I think this song, and this album in its entirety, is a reminder of my love for home, and how proud I am of young me for pushing herself to try something different and challenge what she knew.

Isabelle Pan

“UpTown Girl” by Billy Joel

There are so many songs to pick about the state of New York, but I feel like I would be doing a disservice to where I’m from if I didn’t pick a Billy Joel song. Being from Long Island, you have to know who Billy Joel is. You enter any restaurant, grocery store, mall, etc and his music is probably playing. And at every big celebration, whether that be a bat mitzvah, wedding, or a massive Sweet 16, every single person will get up out of their seats when his songs come on. I’ll be honest, I don’t listen to his music often, but just by living there, I know a good amount of it. He’s almost the only unifying entity of Long Island. I spent the last 18 years of my life waiting to leave, but now that I’m in Boston there is a part of me that misses it. It’s nice to have an artist who’s so closely tied to where I’m from to make me feel better when I want to go home. His music provides vivid memories of the terrible drivers and the great bagels anytime I hear it.

Sean Perry

“Carolina In my Mind” by James Taylor

As someone from North Carolina, it’s hard to find songs about my state that aren't aggressively patriotic country pop songs. When I heard this song for the first time about a month ago I lost my mind because it’s so deeply specific to my life at this specific moment. Taylor wrote the song about missing North Carolina while he spent time in England. As someone who grew up in a warm and sunny state like North Carolina, and is now in a colder and more cloudy environment, I can relate to everything that Taylor sings about. I’m now able to see that I took North Carolina for granted as I grew up, wanting to leave so badly instead of enjoying all of the nature around me. This song goes out to the very specific group of the people from the south that miss the disgustingly hot temperatures and humid air now that we’re away from it.

Lily Suckow Ziemer

“Gett Off” by Prince And the New Power Generation

As a proud Minnesotan I will never let anyone forget we are the home of music legend Prince. Not only was he born in Minnesota but he lived there until his death. One of my favorite Prince songs is “Gett Off,” released as a single off of Diamonds and Pearls in 1991. It was made with his backing band at the time, The New Power Generation (NPG). “Gett Off” was made for a club setting with lyrics perfect for dancing and singing along to. The song describes the freedom of healthy one night stands and is chalk full of sexual innuendos. There’s a storytelling aspect as well, with Prince singing, “You plus me, what a ride / If you was thinkin' the same / We could continue outside.” The music video only enhances the listening experience as it perfectly captures the song’s sexuality. Like usual, Prince never misses.

Julia Norkus

“Funny You Should Ask” by The Front Bottoms

“While I was stuck in Jersey / Tryna save some money / I guess I’m just another thing you left behind,” are some of the most New Jersey lyrics I think I’ve ever heard. Being from NJ, I’ve heard any number of insults about my homeland and what that might mean about me—no, I’m not Italian and no, I don’t have an accent. However, I always have more Jersey pride when I’m not actually in the state because it’s gray and slow and nothing ever happens there. But damn, do I love a bagel.