Foxfires and Harvey Pekar are heading out on tour in a week or so, and we’re teaming up with both bands to do a new PropertyOfZack Playlist feature. Check out their Playlists below while listening to the songs on Spotify and reading everyone’s thoughts!
When it comes to music to jam while on tour, a few things are important. You want tunes that get you psyched in one way or another, you want songs that will inspire you to have fun and you need songs that the band can more or less agree upon.
Incendiary - Snake
Incendiary’s new record, Cost of Living, is completely ridiculous. If I’m getting sleepy from too many drinks the night before, this song makes me immediately want to stagedive through the front of the van.
Rotting Out - I Love Living In The City *Song is not on Spotify
I love everything Rotting Out has released, I think they fulfill the “psyched and fun” criteria better than almost anyone else, but when I think of one song that makes me want to have the best possible time, it is this one.
Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
I don’t think anyone in Foxfires, except for myself and maybe Brad, enjoys T Swift at all. So this song will be the exception to the rules. Easiest way to put me in good times mode is my girl Taylor. I’m still hoping one day I can get a song written by her about how shitty I am.
Hot Water Music - Turnstile
Where I come from, Hot Water Music IS road trip music. One of my favorite groups of all time, the band immediately puts everything in perspective. Perfect to have some beers to and just enjoy life.
Alkaline Trio - Jaked On Green Beers
The second the feedback comes through during the intro of this song, there is a smile crossing my face. One of the greatest sing along road trip songs of all time. You could probably just change this playlist to Alkaline Trio’s Remains B-sides album and it would get the point across.
The Dedication - This Poison
I still think of The Dedication as one of the coolest hardcore bands of the early 2000’s, I can’t imagine not jamming this on the road. “A fashion show a parade of sheep, grow up and get away from me…” still applies.
Cock Sparrer - Bird Trouble
I don’t know why, but this out-there Cocksparrer song is one of my favorites. Nothing like some ‘sparrer to get you jamming on the road.
Lucero - Kiss The Bottle
Lucero’s amazing version of the classic Jawbreaker jam, this song is pretty heavy. Nothing wrong with singing along at the top of your lungs with your friends at the end of the night.
Geto Boys - G Code
This song, and the entire Foundation album, makes you want to act like a fucking psychopath and it’s AWESOME.
Comeback Kid - G.M. Vincent and I
I love every record CBK has ever put out, but I think Symptoms + Cures is my current favorite and this song is not only unbelievable catchy and awesome, it is also completely applicable to being on the road. I won’t lie though, there is no way I couldn’t also include at least ONE jam from each of their releases.
Bars – Bright Lights For Demise
It’s a travesty that Bars only released a single LP. Never mind the fact that the band was an undeniable super group, staffed by early 2000s hardcore luminaries hailing from The Hope Conspiracy, American Nightmare, and The Suicide File. Bars continues to serve as a cross section of all the elements that initially drew me to hardcore. They played stripped down rock ‘n’ roll riffs, and were always able to seamlessly transition between up-tempo punk fair and groove soaked, mid-tempo riffiness -without straying into the derivative breakdowns that were ubiquitous in the songs written by their contemporaries. When I initially started looking for people to play in HarveyPekar, Bright Lights for Demise was the template I presented. Granted, we’ve strayed a bit from that particular blueprint, but in listening to ‘Junto’ or ‘Are We Not Mammals?’ anyone familiar with Bars should be able to tell which side my bread is buttered on.– Elliott Frank
Thou – Smoke Pigs
For me Thou was one of those rare treats: You go to a show to see a band you like, and some band you’ve never heard of completely blows everyone else out of the water. There were 5 bands on this particular show, and everyone played on the stage except for Thou. They set up on the floor, and proceeded to destroy the room with some of the sludgiest riffs I’ve ever heard. Plus, the lead singer is probably the scariest live performer I’ve ever seen. He has this habit of looking people straight in the eyes, with this thousand-yard stare, like he is going to murder you. Anyway, Thou is not your typical sludge/stoner/doom metal band, and this song is a great testament to that. – Nate Kelly
Crime in Stereo – Abre Los Ojos
I’m usually completely miffed by the bands we get compared to. More often than not, I feel we share little if any cognitive or sonic realestate with these bands we seem to remind people of. However, once or twice someone has compared our sound to the first Crime in Stereo LP, and I had to resist the urge to give the person in question an embarrassingly enthusiastic hug. Crime in Stereo has always been one of my favorite bands, primarily because they’re difficult to pigeonhole into one of punk rock’s myriad subgenres. More importantly, they are loyal to their hooks. I try to make it a point to work a riff or two that has some sort of pop aesthetic into every song – the kind of thing that nests in one’s brain. Years after first hearing Abre Los Ojos, I still find myself humming the verse lead. It’s become my catchiness gold standard, against which everything I write for Harvey Pekar is measured. That song (and the rest of CIS’s body of work) is proof that bands can be both catchy and challenging at the same time; resisting the urge to stray into masturbatory, self-indulgent playing that appeals to a small few, while avoiding the pop-punk pitfall of regurgitating the same simple structures and themes until every song is indistinguishable from its predecessors. – Elliott Frank
