Welcome back to Top8. I have been taking walks again. Thank god the weather has cooled off. December is one of my favorite months. I just turned in my last final for the semester on Friday night, so I am feeling the humanity return to my body. I had a pretty normal, cool Saturday and then went out for some Mexican that night. Got to see some WTSQ people for a few minutes and then went home and fell asleep without worrying about turning in anything. I have no idea if I am even going to pass this semester, but I am just so glad it's over.

I've been trying to experiment with some very quick meals recently. I cook almost everything I eat more or less from scratch, so quick can be a relative term. The new thing is peanut butter ramen.

Emily's Peanut Butter Ramen

Ingredients

1 pack normal trashy ramen

Some amount of real, oily peanut butter. None of this half sugar Skippy bullshit. 

Chili crisp

Soy sauce

Some kinda seasoning mix / ramen flavor packet

Frozen broccoli

Fried tofu

Directions

1.) Throw your broccoli into the air fryer for 7-8 minutes at whatever temperature you're feeling like. You are a free moral agent. Do what you like, although you should check on it after five minutes or so to make sure it's getting crispy but not burnt. Add extra time as needed.

2.) Boil the ramen. Use slightly more water than normal. We might need a little extra.

3.) Throw a teaspoon or so of some kinda seasoning in that water. I like to use a black pepper or maybe Badia All Purpose Seasoning. Or use the flavor packet that comes with the ramen like a lazy basic bitch. I will be silently judging you.

4.) Put a couple tablespoons of oily peanut butter into a bowl. You need that oil.

5.) When your water first starts to boil, ladle out a fair bit into the bowl. Now mix that hot water up with your peanut butter until it's fairly well dissolved.

6.) Strain out your ramen in a colander or whatever and then dump that in the peanut broth with however much extra broth from the pot that you might like.

7.) Top that with some chili crisp and the broccoli and a shake or two of soy sauce.

8.) If you were feeling real hungry maybe you also fry some tofu up. If so, throw that in the bowl too. I will not be telling you how to fry tofu here. You're on your own.

9.) Eat this and thank me later.

I also like to air fry some tater tots or frozen fries or something to go with this. This is a good warm thing to eat the morning after you had three margaritas at dinner the night before followed by "something else" before losing track of the evening a bit and falling asleep playing Fallout 4.

Maybe that's just me. Anyway, back at that new music grind. Send your hangover recipes to wtsq.org/contact.

p.s. - Just got in late from a show! This might be short and sweet.

Sailor Honeymoon - Armchair

Fun and bouncy egg punk out of Seoul. "Armchair" has some jagged guitars that remind me of bands like Wire, but the bass gets a little dancy. I'd like to see this band live.

Blood Pact - Keep

"Keep" starts like a Smashing Pumpkins song – smaller, quieter solo guitar piece that breaks into something earth shattering. Blood Pact makes the wise choice to swap out nightmarishly nasal vocals for something more shoegazy and buried in the mix. I am always a sucker for this kind of shit. 

Skuzland - Tell Me You Love Me

"Tell Me You Love Me" is a darkwave track that starts out brooding like whoa before it breaks into something between Phantogram and Chvrches in the chorus. Do NOT miss the absolutely bonkers video for this song.

This track comes courtesy of WTSQ founder Chris Long. And I just want to make this clear, I still expect to get paid the same for this blog even though Chris found one of the tracks for me.

Margo Price - Too Many, Too Few (ft. Logan Ledger)

If you wanted to hate someone just for being popular, it might as well be Margo Price. She's a legit Americana superstar. I have always loved her though. "Too Many, Too Few" is standard fare for Price. Note perfect evocations of the old country style, but made for the modern audience. Is it just a little too polished, sure. If she'd lived in the 60's - 70s, she'd have been Tammy Wynette if Tammy Wynette wasn't also busy being Tammy Wynette. Margo's contemporary Sierra Ferrell also does this sort of thing a bit better than she does, but that doesn't take away from what a great track this is.

Almost forgot, Logan Ledger delivers a perfect duet performance here. Just a little harmony, and a lot of country twang. I need to check this guy out too.

Woodbine - Tunnel

We had Woodbine in this space earlier this year too. And yeah, I do reserve the right to put my thumb on the scale for a WV band. But I definitely didn't need to do that here. "Tunnel" is a lush, gorgeous bit of folk with a lot of Appalachian soul, but also a decidedly modern sound. Think of the modern folk of bands like Watchhouse or First Aid Kit. Woodbine is the real thing, and they are right here in Charleston. If you get a chance to see them playing out, don't miss it.

Boy Golden - Cowboy Dreams (ft. Cat Clyde)

"Cowboy Dreams" is a bar song in the best way I can possibly say that. There's a sultry drunk dance in this song and its probably me dancing.

Die Spitz - Punishers

Someone told me recently that they wished they were the girlfriend of every one in Die Spitz. Fair enough. I fucking love this band. They have range for days. Sometimes they are hardcore and crazed. Like the kind of hardcore people that kinda scare you if you're being perfectly honest. Other times, they find something a little more contemplative. "Punishers" is more the latter than the former, but it is still pretty loud. If you're into Mannequin Pussy, you're going to love Die Spitz.

Maneater - The Prize

"The Prize" combines some lofi aesthetic with high energy darkwave to make something I really love. This puts me just slightly in mind of Moon Duo because of the sawing organs driving this one along.  The band tags their music as "sulk pop". I can't top that. 

And this week's extra innings. This week I've got some sad mopey tracks because I am a sad mopey girl.

Julien Baker - Black Top

Field Medic - Tombstone Poetry

Florist - Riding Around in the Dark

And a playlist with everything.

Thank you all for reading and listening.

-emily