I don’t know what it is about February. The month is short, it’s not quite Spring. The pressure of January with its capital letter NEW YEAR IS NOW theme and all the seriousness of resolutions and behaving has passed. The sun isn’t setting quite as early. Everyone has stopped talking about diets and the holidays are way in the rearview window.
This is the second year I’ve noticed the energy that fills me up at the beginning of this month—wide awake creative energy, young and lively, the kind I remember from my teens. I’m writing a lot. I’m reading a lot of Diane Di Prima. I’m seeing friends and walking in the fresh air and drinking too much coffee. And I’m craving a very specific kind of music: Spring music.
My Spring music essentials are simple. If there are cherry blossoms on the trees, I’m probably listening to:
- Clapping and tambourines and surf guitar.
- All-girl bands, specifically DIY 90’s girl groups where the lead singers’ vocals are described as “bratty” and modern bands with an old school Motown girl group sound.
- Indiepop.
- A splash of punk.
- Cover art that charms, that makes you want to give the band a shot (An experience that’s become nearly impossible based on how I consume music now, but I force it for fun a couple times a year because I miss the thrill).
- Lo-fi vocals.
- Bands with teenager in the name.
- Songs about starting a band, waiting for summer to come, and being a redhead.
These are songs that make you feel young and alive, like you might go on a big adventure and the whole thing might take place just down the street. And for dessert, fragile lugubrious songs for a restless mope. My So Hot Right Now for February is a soundtrack for tending to your bright rebellious spirit.
What are you listening to? Is your February mixtape approach completely different from mine? Is it a bad idea to get a tattoo of “We all love you, shifty disco girl”? Let me know in the comments.
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