Street Sounds: Playlist

All semester, STREETSOUNDS has provided you with a soundtrack of notable, local bands that tear up the town every month with their impassioned performances at some of Philly’s best venues. With this playlist, we decided to make all our Philly music favorites a little easier to digest.

“The Same Mad Part” – Blood Feathers
Philebrity Label’s darling rock ‘n’ rollers unleashed their second album, Goodness Gracious, in January. It’s a foot-stomping, feel-good collection of timeless tunes, including the snappy opener, “The Same Mad Part,” which features lead vocalists Ben Dickey and Drew Mills sharing warm vocal harmonies over catchy guitars.

“Slow Burning Crimes” – East Hundred
Electro-rock quintet East Hundred has worked tirelessly to find the perfect sound that works for each member of the band. Together, they combine warm guitars, soaring keyboard melodies, meandering bass and unpredictable drums. On “Slow Burning Crimes,” the first cut from last year’s Passenger, vivacious lead singer Beril Guceri cries, “We walk up through rivers of fire / High tides try to kill off desires.”

“Blackberry Song” – Kurt Vile
Philly’s psyche-folk genius showed off his mystic songwriting on last year’s critically acclaimed Childish Prodigy. “Blackberry Song” features layers of acoustic and electric guitars that intertwine to form an ethereal musical collage.

“When I Tripped Into You” – Toy Soldiers
“When I tripped into you, my heart grew wings and flew,” Toy Soldier’s frontman croons on the uptempo, bango-twinged number. The now eight-member band combines its collective musical chops into a wild euphoria of roots rock.

“Shadow People” – Dr. Dog
These beloved Philly rockers have gradually found their way into the national spotlight over the course of six LPs – including this month’s long-anticipated Shame, Shame – and for good reason. Their unique brand of vintage guitar rock and fun melodies is easy to embrace. From the new record, “Shadow People” is no exception. It’s a warm acoustic sing-along the builds to a colossal jam.

“She’s So Blonde” – Illinois
“Look at that girl / Now look at me / She’s so blonde / And I’m so ugly,” laments Illinois’ singer and guitarist Chris Archibald on the stomping, guitar-driven “She’s So Blonde.” The Bucks county-based alt-folk quartet has been busy the last few years, recording a massive multi-part album, The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe, touring, performing at festivals and recording a pair of Daytrotter Sessions. 

“Lovers Play Dead” – Drink Up Buttercup
The burgeoning eclectic quartet Drink Up Buttercup draws from wide influences ranging from folk sensibilities to psychedelic wanderings. Vocal harmonies abound over a sweetly minimalistic acoustic progression on “Lovers Play Dead” from the group’s latest album Born and Thrown on a Hook.

Kevin Brosky can be reached at kevinbrosky@temple.edu.