I got these frozen samosas and the airfryer directions were talking all about "preheat the fryer to 350F, cook for 8 minutes, then shake the basket and heat an additional 3 minutes at 420F…" Baby. Does this look like a fucking Michelin star resturant? Ima throw these samosas into this air fryer along with a handful of tater tots and for 12 minutes on 390F because that's the temperature that god saw fit to make the default airfryer setting on this thing. I am not shaking shit. I will serve this with ketchup and Sriracha on the side and chat masala sprinkled on top and I promise you there's a 7 year old in Mumbai eating this exact thing while watching SpongeBob at this exact moment.

Sometimes I just really wonder what Brie is going to make of these blogs for the newsletter. Imagine being a sane person trying to create some kind of brief digest of the things I write here. The mind boggles.

Anyway, music felt a little thin to me this week. Don't get me wrong, you're going to get 8 awesome songs, and you will love it. But I didn't find as much that really jumped out at me. For this reason, I went back a little further and I looked a little harder and damned if I didn't find some gems.

Send your airfryer tater tot settings to wtsq.org/contact

Venus & The Flytraps - Beneath You

Venus & The Flytraps sounds kinda like one of those bands that played on the last season of Twin Peaks, except a little more indie. I expected the band to be a little goofy from their name, but songs like "Beneath You" have some real darkwave notes and a bit of a claustrophobic atmosphere. I'd bet that fans of La Femme would find something to like here. Pay attention to the lyrics and find something darker still yet. Someone is going to be obsessed with this band. Probably a lot of someones.

F.O. Machete - I'm Fine, Are You?

Glasgow's F.O. Machete is a gazy alt act that's apparently been around for like 19 years. Their discography makes no sense. There's a single released in 2006 and then nothing else until another single last year. A few more singles, and now there's this album "Mother of a Thousand". I am guessing maybe they had some kind of dispute with the master recordings or something? Regardless, "I'm Fine, Are You" is, more or less, post-punky 2000s shoegaze. Except also not. The vocals are mixed very differently than most music in the genre. The tone is fairly upbeat and bouncy. This is, dare I say it, a bop. And a bop with a full on guitar solo.

Lifeguard - Ultra Violence

Proper lo-fi garage stuff here. There is a dark element creeping in around the edges. The band packs in a lot of clashing guitars and stabby bass into three and a half minutes of "Ultra Violence" and bless them for it. Whoever wrote their bio mentioned Chrome. And yeah, they do hit some of the lo-fi garage aspects of that iconic band. There's a secret vein of post-hardcore in this song, and, as someone who occasionally listens to Slint's "Good Morning Captain" 45 times in a row, that works pretty well for me.

Medium Build - White Male Privilege

I don't know why, but I kind of held my breath walking by Medium Build for a while. Maybe I am just overloaded on white folk dudes at the moment. Even after this guy did a song with Julien Baker. And lord knows, I love Julien Baker. Sometimes you just don't really give yourself a chance to love something. Sometimes you're just not really paying attention. But this dude went and released a song called "White Male Privilege". Fine, I'll listen.

And wouldn't you know it, it's a really really great song. Over a minimal guitar, Medium Build spins out a story of modern American ennui so searing that it left me sobbing. We wonder what's wrong with some of these men, and yet we all live in the same world that has sold us capitalism and achievement as ways to fill our souls. By the time most people realize they've been sold a pig in a poke, they fall into despair, believing nothing else is possible anyway. This seems to hit men worse than anyone else, and white men in particular seem especially good at making their desperate struggle for personal meaning everyone else's problem. Just a crushingly brilliant song.

Fine - Moment

I could say a lot of things, but let's be simple for once. "Moment" sounds like a lost Mazzy Star track. I featured Fine back in September with a track called "Portal", but I like Moment even more. Gorgeous stuff from Fine.

Chinese American Bear - Forever Lover

"Forever Lover" brings together some dancy synths that put me in mind of Chvrches or Kero Kero Bonito. There's something a little more free and breezy here though. Maybe it's the little splashes of actual laughter that decorate the song. This is downright cozy.

Yass - Got Hurt

If you ever need to run down a rainy, neon lit alleyway while being pursued by a killer android, you'll want to have this song playing. If you do, maybe you'll survive. "Got Hurt" races ahead so breathlessly that it feels like it lasts two minutes even though it's over five.

DYGL - Man on the Run

This one is a romp. Think of the more hype Fontaines D.C. tracks. "DYGL" is apparently pronounced "Day-glo". I swear to god, I love this song, but for fucksake, can I buy a vowel, Pat? The band is from Japan, but that's still no excuse.

You ever notice that by the time I get to the end, I have completely run out of gas on these?

And this week's extra innings, just a few not-new things I have been listening to. All jazz this time.

Miles Davis Quintet - My Funny Valentine

Bill Evans - B Minor Waltz

Ella Fitzgerald - When I Get Low I Get High

And a playlist with everything.

Thank you all for reading and listening.

-emily