Top8 - 01/05/26

First thing, Happy New Year.

Ok, so here's the deal – writing this usually takes me about 3-4 hours. It's currently 11:10 post meridian on Sunday night. I have to be up at 5. I have absolutely no idea what I have done today other than host a radio show and cook a pot of chili (loyal readers will remember the recipe from a few Top8s back). Let's get this show on the road.

Send your executive dysfunction lifehacks to wtsq.org/contact. God knows I need them. 

Remember Sports - Cut Fruit

There's a lot to like about Remember Sports. The name for one. Good name. Hell of a name. Also, the band has a wonderfully noisy take on indie rock with a bit of power pop. "Cut Fruit" is the new single. I love how this band takes real human drama and pathos and turns it into something exuberant. Think about the best Weezer songs from back when they were worth a good goddamn.

Sweet Pill - No Control

Philly's Sweet Pill has what I think is a pretty rad combination of 90s crunch, emo, and punk. "No Control" leans more into the punk elements, but still hits you with the band's usual sound. This track is a little more fun than what initially got me into them. The band's 2024 EP Starchild, and especially the track "Eternal", has really stuck with me and become one of my favorite releases from the last few years. I am not sure if "No Control" will quite hit that, but it is still pretty damn good.

Robber Robber - Suspicious Minds (Elvis Cover)

Holy hell, these crazy MFs hit us with an Elvis cover. And it's fantastic. I have always thought that if you do a cover, you should try to do something different with the song than the original artist did. Robber Robber certainly accomplished that here. The song is completely rearranged.  The guitars flirt with fuzzed out stoner rock, and the vocals are more or less whispered in a too-cool-to-care monotone. I really, really fuck with this cover, but I will add that the band also recently released an also terrific single called "Talkback" that almost wound up here instead.

Young Mountain - Sympati

"Sympati" has a good measure of rock music catharsis. Things get quiet and then get loud and finally find a struggling, survival of spirit in the midst of it all. Something that I really think only rock music does. There's a lot of other great music out there, don't get me wrong. But these kind of thunderous moments of defiance are best accomplished with a guitar, bass, and drums.

Or that's what I took from it anyway, however I think this song is in Swedish so it could be a grocery list for all I know.

Slut Intent - Peppa Pig

Proper punk rock. Femme fronted and extremely pissed off. This is the kind of thing you catch in a basement and count yourself lucky if you leave without a chipped tooth. Slut Intent brings the whole thing on "Peppa Pig", and really on everything I have heard from them. As a side note, I especially like it when shit is mixed so that you can understand the vocals. A+ from Auntie Em, kids.

The 3Strikes - Time To Say Goodbye

I don't know if this is really true, but there's a part of me that feels that everything will be ok as long as someone is out there playing old school punk in the vein of bands like the Ramones, the Descendants, or Pennywise. Drunken sing along choruses make you best friends with some kid in the pit who loves the same song – for exactly 2 minutes. "Time to Say Goodbye" is a perfect example of this kind of music. I'd have loved this when I was 19-20, just like I love it now. This is the kind of song that makes you remember to tuck your shoelaces in so you don't fall down in the pit.

Automatic - Terminal 

Synth-punk from LA with a little electroclash for good measure. Automatic drops a sort of breakbeat into something that hits the ground running. Or maybe that's dancing. "Terminal" is weird enough to be interesting, but goes hard enough to get your ass moving. This really grabbed a hold of me. Automatic might end up being one of my new favorite bands.

Honeymoan - If I'm Honest

Honeymoan calls themselves pop. I can hear it. And there's nothing wrong with pop. But this sounds way too band-oriented to be a pop track in 2026. "If I'm Honest" has a lot more of an edge to it than pop usually does too. I'd reference 90s stuff like Lush or Garbage as a comparison, just with a little more gloss.

Which brings us to this week's extra innings. These are just a few bonus tracks I am into right now. These aren't new, they are just awesome.

Sweet Pill - Eternal

Smog - Hit the Ground Running

Otis Redding - I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) (Live at the Monterey Pop Festival)

And a playlist with everything.

Thank all of you for reading and listening for another year.

-emily.