#chippypants

Hey guys, I wanted to put a little bit of a spotlight on a band that I don’t believe many people have heard, although they more than deserve the recognition. Cheap Time, a punk garage rock band that started all the way back in 2006, is most likely not around anymore. In fact, they haven’t released anything since they were featured in the 2014 video game “Sunset Overdrive.” However, their music is timeless. With songs such as “Ginger Snap” and “Too Late,” it almost feels like you’re a teenager in some dry, dingy garage listening to your buddy’s band as they’re just getting started. Even though their music was made in the late 2000s, Cheap Time has a sound that belongs to the late 80s and early 90s, when garage punk first started picking up speed. 

I would have to say that my favorite album of theirs is, without a doubt, the self-titled “Cheap Time.” With short, fast paced songs like Back to School, Glitter and Gold, and Permanent Damage, the album fits right in in any playlist. However, Exit Smiles is a close second. Made in 2013, it is their last full album, not counting the work they did with Sunset Overdrive. The two best songs from here are 8:05 and Same Surprise. While “Exit Smiles” bears a sound that shows the growth of the band over its seven-year exhibition, it still holds that same teen angst, garage band feel that makes Cheap Time’s music so unique. Their ability to create a mental image with such ease is why I still listen to them today, and why I think you will too. 

  Hope you guys enjoy the music, 

Oh do I have a special treat for you. As I rolled out of bed this morning, I could have expected nothing more than what has dropped into my Apple “New Music Mix” from the heavens above today. Yellow Days, the artist who released such songs as A Little While and Your Hand Holding Mine, has released a new album titled “A Day in a Yellow Beat.” First of all, let’s start out with the album art. It is incredible. Right in the middle is a classic style seen by this artist, in which he places a picture of him and a guitar with a blurred out face. But looking around you can see he has added an array of instruments situated in a field of hummingbirds and geese. Starting out with the intro, we have a cut from an interview between a talk show host and a musician discussing how young musicians struggle to enjoy successful longevity while blocked by the control of their producers. The whole conversation is underscored by a harmony of instruments which transitions perfectly into the second song, titled Be Free. Counting the intro and a few interludes, the whole album has a riveting 23 songs, but I’d say the best are Be Free, Getting Closer, Come Groove, ! (feat. Bishop Nehru), The Curse (feat. Mac Demarco), and Love is Everywhere. A Day in a Yellow Beat mixes Yellow Day’s unique style and voice with a newer fusion of upbeat, psychedelic funk. This album is meaningful and sounds pretty, but it’s also the kind of music that you could blast in the car with friends. A Day in a Yellow Beat marks a unleashed creative style for Yellow Days, and I am excited to see where it takes us next. 

Has this ever happened to you? 

You, walking down the street: “Wow what a perfect day. I’m seeing all my friends and doing all my favorite things. You know what would make this day even better? Some music playing in the background that fit every action I was doing as if I were in a movie.” 

Well now, thanks to the power of Playlists, I bring you 10 songs that make you feel like you’re in a movie. 

1. Peace Blossom Boogy by the Babe Rainbow  Turn on the lights, pan the cameras, and play this song. Here we find you, the main character, driving your convertible with the top down along an unadulterated stretch of beach road. Dressed in bright colors, the sun reflects off of your yellow sunglasses as the wind rolls through your hair. A great introduction scene like none other. 

2. Chapstick (Demo) by Hippo Campus  You know those summer days when you’re with a few close friends, you’ve got no worries, and you feel like things could stay that way forever? Well boy have I got a song for you. 

3. Dedicated To the One I Love By The Mamas and The Papas This one is for Quarantined Lovers, separated by a pandemic that has forced them to be apart from one another. The screen would split between the two, each in their different rooms, trying to distract themselves from thinking about each other.

4. Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan  This song is perfect for a day when you’re just running around with a million things on your mind, you have a million things to do, and there’s more caffeine running through your body than blood. It’s one of those songs that says get out of my way, I don’t have time for chit chat, there are things to be done. 

5. European Vegas by Mac Demarco  To set the scene: you’re sitting at a bar, late at night, drink in hand. You’re nicely dressed but in a bit of a distressed state. This would be the part of a movie where the main character has had enough. Maybe they risked something and lost it all, or maybe they just had their heart broken. But whatever the case, they’ve somehow found themselves in this dimly lit, antiquated bar, thinking about all the mistakes they’ve made. 

6. Weak Hearts by Felly  Perfect for a time in your life when you, the main character, are going through some major changes and you’ve finally come far enough to look back on how you’ve changed and the decisions you’ve made. You can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

7. Heroes by David Bowie  This song would totally be in the climax of the movie, where the main character realizes their true potential and finally faces whatever was troubling them. 

8. Ooh La La by Faces This would be a great ending scene song. Similar to driving through a pretty place and looking back on a long week, the main character looks back on everything that has happened throughout the movie and realizes how they have grown. 

  Well there you have it, eight great songs perfect for their respective situations, that really make you feel like the main character in a movie.