Staff Pix: 2/10
The Milk Crate staff’s favorite tracks of the week, presented with blurbs worthy of a promotional sticker on a jewel case. Tune in Fridays from 2-3 EST to the Staff Pix radio show.
Karenna Umscheid
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey is fiercely back, in her saddest, most sexual and dramatic form. “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” is the lead single for her upcoming album of the same title, expected to be just as honest and gorgeous. Del Rey flexes her aptitude for Californian metaphors for her own melancholy and heartbreak throughout the track list, and especially in this single. Her love is desolate, forgotten and layered with dust, just like the titular tunnel. In her lyricism, Lana is solemnly lamenting on her existence, singing “Open me up, tell me you like it, fuck me to death, love me until I love myself.” It’s an unforgettable return to Lana at her most heartbreaking and raw; I know this album will destroy me.
Robin Jacobson
Silhouette by Little Simz
With over 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Little Simz is quickly becoming an icon, if not already. Her newest album NO THANK YOU was released this past December and, I don't just believe you should listen to it – no, you MUST listen to it. It's flow and brilliance as it spans several genres and themes come together to show Little Simz's mastery in the art of music. Silhouette was my personal favorite song on the album. It's six and a half minutes of pure bliss. The hardcore, uplifting lyrics about learning how to stand up for and believe in yourself compared with the delicate gospel lyrics in the background result in something absolutely profound. With a delightful combination of rap and gospel and a breathtaking orchestrated piece, listening to Silhouette is like learning how to fly and finding peace while floating in the clouds.
Stephanie Weber
Boy’s a liar Pt. 2 by PinkPantheress, Ice Spice
TikTok sensations PinkPantheress and Ice Spice have come together to give Gen Z the collaboration of the year. PinkPantheress, a young English singer-songwriter, released her version of Boy’s a liar in 2022. The song is full of the pop and UK R&B genres with a catchy beat that makes you want to dance. On the collab, Ice Spice, an up-and-coming rapper, makes her debut on the song through the third verse. She wraps about a person who is presumably her ex-boyfriend, detailing all the ways that their relationship was flawed. Basically, “that boy’s a liar” because he was always thinking about other girls but never treating his girlfriend right. Lyrics like “Sayin' he home, but I know where he at, like/ Bet he blowin' her back” and “Don't like sneaky shit that you do” make the listener side with Ice Spice, making us hate this guy she’s dating. Yet, like any flawed relationship, despite all the ways the guy is doing her wrong, Ice Spice sings lyrics like “But I don't sleep enough without you/ And I can't eat enough without you,” highlighting the ways that she still values their relationship and wants to make it work. Even though Ice Spice only has one lyric on the song, she adds so much to her own discography and the genre that PinkPantheress has created for herself.
Will Ingman
Wooden Cross by Guitar Fight From Fooly Cooly
Until recently, when you queued up a song by Cleveland, Tennessee emo triad Guitar Fight From Fooly Cooly, it was pretty easy to assume what you’d be signing up for - high-energy rhythm parts, scream-friendly choruses, machine-gun drums, and classic video game references aplenty (see “64”, a song which substitutes lyrics for Mario 64 sound clips). They weren’t the most unpredictable band, but they made up for the lack of polish with heart and genuine earnestness - a rarity even in DIY nowadays. 2020’s Soak was, to me, an album it was impossible to be upset listening to; the energy and joy simply too infectious to resist. But, after a disappointingly dry three years of radio silence, Guitar Fight have released Drought, their appropriately titled followup EP to Soak, and it’s…interesting. The album art borrows a Francisco Goya painting, a major shakeup for the same band whose single art for “Stay Hydrated, Fuck Em” was a meme from Doki Doki Literature Club. Gone are lyrical homages to Kingdom Hearts or Gen 4 of Pokemon, replaced with bitterly illustrative references to suffocation and self-imposed martyrdom (“wooden cross”). Guitar Fight have grown up, and their sound reflects this, with guitars closer to Knocked Loose than Algernon Cadwallader and a rhythm section liable to take the listener’s head off at the neck. But, most importantly, they haven’t lost the je ne sais quoi that made Soak an instant fifth-wave emo classic - they’ve just given it a fresh new coat of paint.
Julia Norkus
Younger and Dumber by Indigo De Souza
I don’t think there’s anything I love more than talking about being young, naïve and stupid. Through all of the gut-wrenching, soul-crushing, life-altering events that happened during our most formative years, is there not a beauty or some amount of majesty to self-reflection? After the release of Any Shape You Take in 2021, De Souza’s musical return with “Younger and Dumber” two years later is no silent force. The single encapsulates the feeling of outgrowing your past life, but still not knowing where to go or what to do with oneself despite being older and supposedly wiser. Sonically, the single relies heavily on acoustic guitar and piano, making it a seemingly-simple ballad of questioning and contemplation. De Souza reflects on her past experiences, recognizing this movement away from that old life, “When I was younger / Younger and dumber / Built like a flower,” marking an air of innocence surrounding this ignorance of what’s to come. The song progresses to talk about moving beyond the people and places that changed us, for worse or for better. Lines like, “Which way will I run / when I want something new / Which way will I run / when I’m over you,” epitomize this lack of clarity that follows us into adulthood. As we move beyond the people and places we thought we’d need forever, it’s often impossible (and terrifying) to consider where we might end up or go without them. Regardless, shedding the people and places that held us back is like tattoo after-care — equal parts uncomfortable but necessary for growth and progression. As a personal philosophy, there are people that come into our lives to teach us something, whether they break our hearts or love us when we come to them shattered. No matter what it is, the experiences they provide help to shape us as people. Maybe one day, I’ll know what I’m doing here and what I need to learn from the people in my life, but for right now “Younger and Dumber” is here to cradle me as I cry myself to sleep.
Kaitlyn Hardy
The Evening Star by Belle and Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian is the sound of my nostalgia. Back when I was younger, I remember my dad playing their songs in the car for my family, and I’ve recently been having a bit of a B&S resurgence, with their latest album “The New Developers” coming to me at the perfect moment. The 11 track album takes listeners through a wave of heartwarming serenity and foot-tapping vitality, blending their classic laid-back, folk-rock sound with the modernity of synths and electric pop (on songs like “When We Were Very Young and “I Don’t Know What you See in Me”). The sixth track, “The Evening Sun,” is the wonderful epitome of the album itself: funky and folksy. Off the bat, the song is a warm, loving ambush of feel-good energy, opening with a bright drum intro and the burst of a gospel-like chorus vocalizing the first notes. Throughout the track, the notes rise steadily, swelling into points of pure ecstasy. Of course, there’s also the B&S staples of the golden sound of a trumpet, and a melodic guitar tune you’ll catch yourself humming for days after. On top of the instruments, the song’s lyrics give such a wholesome description of love, delicately articulating feelings of adoration. The whole song is just a gloriously soulful track, making you feel a glowing joyousness emanating from within.
Adri Pray
Life Support by Friday Pilots Club
An ode to Friday Pilots Club’s signature hollow, echoing production, “Life Support” describes the pain that comes from cutting the cord off the person you were once romantically attached to. Rhythmic beeping, synonymous with that of a hospital monitor, opens and closes the song to really drive home the idea of co-dependence. Over the course of the song’s three minute incantation, lead singer Caleb Hiltunen portrays a seamless emotional transition; taking the first part of the song from a needy partner to a confident, standalone individual.
Izzy Desmarais
Love From the Other Side by Fall Out Boy
I ended last semester’s Staff Pix season with a Fall Out Boy song, so it only feels right to come back with the lead single off their upcoming album So Much (for) Stardust. “Love From the Other Side” is the perfect track to introduce this new era of Fall Out Boy. With their signature genre-defying sound, the heavy guitar riffs and loud drums paired with the orchestral opening harkens back to their most experimental records, Infinity On High (2007) and Folie à Deux (2008). I will admit, the lyrics fall a little flat for me here, but I’m sure Pete Wentz has some tricks up his sleeve he’s waiting to reveal once the album is released on March 24th. Nevertheless, this song satisfies my hunger for some upbeat, pop-punk that you can easily bang your head to.