Top8 - 01/19/26

Welcome back to Top8. 

Fuck ICE.

I can't say this on the air, so I am saying it here. I live here. I have lived here most of my life. I know who my neighbors are. I don't need some out-of-state, bootlicking, piece of shit to tell me. My neighborhood isn't safer when fucking Brownshirts abduct my neighbors. The Valley isn't a better place to live when people are afraid of trucks of out-of-state assholes who have invaded us. I know who belongs here – the people who live here. Get the fuck out of my town you racist, Nazi scum.

Send us a message at wtsq.org/contact if you'd like to personally be told to die in a fire.

With that being said, let's get down to business. 

Playboy Manbaby - The System
The new Playboy Manbaby album is called "Violence" and it's apparently going to be their last. So don't get attached. Do check out the album though because it's a great piece of work. I like most of the tracks but I picked "The System" for this blog because of its specific hatred for fluorescent lighting. So, if you needed a punk rock song about hating corporate lighting systems, you're in luck.

Prostitute - All Hail (Pressure)
Out of Dearborn comes a band called Prostitute. Goodness sakes, what a name for a band. "All Hail (Pressure)" reminds me a lot of how the band Algiers made me feel back when I first heard them. This is a jagged, throbbing, growling post-punk bass line smashed into the most pissed off post-hardcore you can think of. Think of bands like Protomartyr or The Murder Capital.

Carsie Blanton - Hello Comrade
Carsie Blanton brings hard left politics to warm, funny music that dances between jazz and folk music. Her new album is called "The Red Album Volume 2". Every single track is great, but I picked "Hello Comrade" because it feels like the sort of encouraging hug I needed.

Jose Gonzalez - Against the Dying of the Light
The return of Jose Gonzalez is always welcome news to me. Gonzalez is one of the icons of modern indie folk. He hasn't really put out much since his last full length. "Against the Dying of the Light" does indeed 'rage against the dying of our light', to paraphrase Dylan Thomas. Gonzalez calls on us to reject the algorythm, unplug from the machine, and "Celebrate the fucking fact that we're alive."

Arlo Parks - 2SIDED
Arlo Parks makes queer sadgirl indie into something you can dance to. This is quite a magic trick. I've been a fan of hers from the jump going back to the first album. Before that even. Anyway, she keeps up the alchemy here with "2SIDED". This is a minor key bop about hoping someone reciprocates your feelings. Usually they don't – but at least we can get another cosmo and go back out on the dancefloor with a track like this.

Ora Cogan - Honey
I don't quite know what the term is for a song that makes you do that little thing where you bounce your hips a little while your head lolls about and you're high and a little wine-drunk. Probably something in German. Ora Cogan has a vibe like Carole King's "It's Too Late" on "Honey". Less sad though. It's Laurel Canyon-core, and that suits me.

Shaking Hand - In For a… Pound!
"In for a… Pound" is somewhere between Slint and Wire. There's a palm-muted little guitar lick in this song that kinda makes me want to kick a door in. More like this one, please.

Hemlocke Springs - w-w-w-w-w
Hemlocke Springs appears to have perfected 80's synth-pop sound on w-w-w-w-w. This is a synthesis of artists like Kate Bush and Cyndi Lauper. It's moody and a little nocturnal but still broadly theatrical and dramatic. I am also reminded specifically of the Kim Carnes classic "Bette Davis Eyes". Find yourself a neon headband and legwarmers dance.

And this week's extra innings. A few antifa bops to keep

Chumbawamba - The Day the Nazi Died

Croy and the Boys - Fuck I.C.E.

Bella Ciao - Tom Waits & Marc Ribot 

And a playlist with everything. 

Thanks for reading and listening. Keep your head up. Better days are ahead even if we have a while to wait before they show up. 

-emily