WMSC Music Picks: Pride 2024

Welcome to WMSC Music Picks, a collaborative collection of WMSC’s music recommendations and reviews. In this installment, members of our station celebrate pride month with favorite songs relating to, or created by those within the LGTBQ+ community!

 

“Coming Clean” – Green Day

Review by Lee Ramrattan

From (in my opinion) Green Day’s BEST album “Dookie” is the song “Coming Clean,” which is essentially a minute and a half about lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong realizing he’s bisexual. When I started listening to Green Day, I was younger and while I loved “Dookie,” this song stuck with me as I was too trying to come to terms with my own bisexuality. Lyrics such as “Seventeen and coming clean for the first time / I finally figured out myself for the first time” really made me feel seen and helped reassure me that everything would be alright. If Green Day could be as huge of a band as they are and be openly queer, it really wouldn’t be the end of the world if I liked girls. 

Green Day has never been quiet about their queerness. They have quite a few other songs of the sort, like some of my favorites: “Bobby Sox” which is about loving whoever you want to love, and their song “King For A Day,” a ska-influenced song about crossdressing (not to be confused with the Pierce the Veil song!) Even though I’m kind of biased in my reasoning, this is one of my favorite tracks on the album and it will always be such an important song to me.

 

“Telephone” – Waterparks

Review by Lee Ramrattan

Did you really think you would get through at least ONE month without seeing a Waterparks song in Music Picks? Because you would be very wrong! Waterparks is one of the most supportive bands I’ve seen out there and their song “Telephone,” from their third album “Fandom,” was featured in the widely loved queer Netflix series “Heartstopper!” Fun fact: in one of the Heartstopper books, it’s also mentioned that this is one of the characters’ favorite songs. 

Waterparks’ “Property Tour” went underway the year after this series came out, and since “Telephone” was on the setlist it became the tour’s unofficial pride flag song! This was the song that fans would throw pride flags on stage for that the band proudly displayed and it means the world to me that my favorite band has so much love for the community.

MORE STREAMS IN “GAY TIMES” THAN OUR OWN ESSENTIALS PLAYLIST, I KNOW THATS RIGHT BABY

— WATERPARKS (@waterparks) April 27, 2024

 

“Moscow” – Autoheart

Review by Lee Ramrattan

In 2013, self-proclaimed “Gay Angst” band Autoheart released what I think is one of the most beautiful songs about queer love that I’ve ever known. Written as a protest against anti-gay laws in Russia, “Moscow” is an upbeat song about how being in love helps face the hardships that come with it. According to Genius, the lyrics “When in Moscow I just want to fold you up / And keep you warm” alludes to the cold of Russia, representing the prejudice the couple faces. Still, the warmth represents the singer and his partner’s love for each other, surviving the cold. 

My favorite lyrics in the song are “Let’s get a dog, an Irish red setter / It’s all we need to get better,” and while a pretty standard thing to do in a relationship is to adopt a pet together, it shows that they still have hope for a better future where they can just be a normal couple like everyone else and do something simple as raise a pet in a society that doesn’t want them together. It’s all around such a sweet song and I have literally never heard a song that makes me feel this much.

 

“Picture You” – Chappell Roan 

Review by Katherine Garcia

The first time I ever heard Chappell Roan I was at work with a co-worker and she had put this album on, I was basically in a trance. “Picture You” comes off her album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which was released back in September 2023. Listening to this song is truly one of the most heartfelt and beautiful ways of encapsulating the feeling of wondering if someone feels the same way you do. Between the layers of harmony she puts in, the rise and fall of the beats and melody, and the iconic vibrato on her “Ah” note towards the end of the song, it gets me every time. I tend to lean towards those “gut-wrenching” songs that are filled with emotion and this one perfectly fits that. Chappell has said that this song is about the online relationship she had when she was younger, she gave the song a “Tim Burton” vibe to give an eerie feel which is what she says that the online relationship felt like, fantasizing but something feels off. She has also mentioned how she made this album for those girls, which she used to be a part of, who try to tell themselves that it’s a phase, to give those girls a true outlet to be themselves. 

 

“LOVE U ANYWAY” – Stand Atlantic

Review by Amber Bintliff

From their upcoming fourth album “WAS HERE,” “LOVE U ANYWAY” is one of the softer, more vulnerable singles from this new era of Stand Atlantic. The pop-punk quartet’s lead singer, Bonnie Fraser, is openly bisexual, and this track serves as the first proper love song written and released by the band. The song draws inspiration from her personal experiences in relationships, and she believes that despite their ups and downs, they can persevere. The chorus holds this message true, with Fraser singing, “Don’t think she knows she’d never lose me,” and “I’m sick of looking at you, but love you anyway.”

 

“Sensitive” – Honey Revenge

Review by Amber Bintliff

This LA pop-rock duo rose to instant stardom with the release of their phenomenal debut album, Retrovision, last summer. With killer vocals from Devin Papadol and catchy guitar riffs from Donny Lloyd, Honey Revenge has been making their mark on the scene and proving themselves to be one of the best in the game right now. Lloyd identifies as non-binary and has continuously stressed that they and Papadol want their shows to serve as a safe, inclusive space for their fans to enjoy. Although choosing a favorite from the band seems nearly impossible, “Sensitive” is a clear standout in their discography. It’s a heavier, pop-punk track that deals with being fed up with a partner who’s not meeting your needs or expectations.

 

“ZONED OUT” – Hot Milk

Review by Amber Bintliff

Hot Milk has had one of the biggest years of their career, with their debut album “A CALL TO THE VOID” released last August and now, playing their first set of stadium shows as they support Blink-182 in the States beginning at the end of June. If there is one band in the scene that has been incredibly vocal about their support and love for the LGBTQ+ community, it is this British duo. Their message has always embraced uniqueness and inclusivity, and not caring what anyone else thinks. My favorite from their debut record changes monthly at this point, but lately, I’ve been particularly loving “ZONED OUT.” This song explores the current state of our society, where everyone is glued to their devices and stuck in their stubborn ways of thinking. The chorus sees both Han Mee and Jim Shaw feeling isolated from the rest of the world and begging for an escape.

 

“she knows it” – Maggie Lindemann

Review by Amber Bintliff

I like to think of this song as the gay version of “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne. Serving as the first single from her 2022 debut record SUCKERPUNCH, “she knows it” is your classic guitar-heavy pop-punk track about wanting what you can’t have. In Lindemann’s case here, it’s some dude’s girlfriend. She gets to the point as soon as the song starts, with the pre-chorus even professing, “I think that you should leave him / And stay with me.” She continues to navigate this frustration she has with the girl who’s leading her on and is unwilling to leave her toxic boyfriend as “she knows it” continues on.

 

“Space Girl” – Frances Forever

Review by Mia Savidge

“Space Girl” is a song that blends elements of indie pop with descriptive lyrics and space-like imagery. The song is told from the perspective of someone who admires and describes this girl who is otherworldly in more ways than one. I remember first hearing this song a couple of years ago and absolutely loving it. It ties in fun tunes with themes of sexuality and expression. Overall, this is such a creative and unique song that is always a wonderful listen. 

 

“Edge Of The Earth” – The Beaches

Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack

I cannot get enough of this song. It’s about someone who is so madly in love with another woman, nervous about if her feelings are reciprocated because she needs her more than life itself. The chorus includes the lyric “Spin me like a globe and drop your finger on me,” which I interpret as the longing to be somebody’s number one person. Of all the billions of people in the world, I want to be the one who is wanted by you – that sort of thing. While this can certainly be a universal experience regardless of gender or sexual orientation, there is an added nervousness to a potential wlw relationship, worrying if the other person is into the same gender at all… but desperately hoping she may be. The rest of the chorus sings: “You push me in circles / To the edge of the Earth / Where I can’t go any further / Till I start coming back to you.”

I need to highlight what is probably my favorite line of the song, which is also the opening lyric: “She’s a fire sign / And I don’t really know what that means.” This one makes me laugh, because it’s stereotypical that lesbians (perhaps most of the LGBTQ+ community as well) are really into astrology and can judge the character of others based on their astrological sign. The narrator references their crush’s sign, but doesn’t know what to do with this information in the least. Are they compatible? Does this mean they’re a good person? A bad person? The singer has no idea – and I have been in this situation one too many times. I know know what our compatibility is based on the stars, but I know that I like you!

 

“Sweater Weather” – The Neighbourhood

Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack

Funny thing about this song… I noticed this bisexual-anthem wasn’t yet covered in this article, and it got me thinking: Why is this song claimed as said bisexual anthem? The lyrics aren’t explicitly about bisexual themes or a bi-specific relationship of any sort. So I did some digging so you don’t have to. While there is mention of a male narrator singing about a “she,” the majority of the song speakers on a generic relationship that could be relatable to anyone in/looking for a monogamous romance: “One love, two mouths / One love, one house / No shirt, no blouse / Just us, you find out” There’s this sort of intimacy that is described that isn’t applicable to gender-specific couples. 

Some sources (I particularly enjoyed Unpublished Zine’s interpretation of this topic) point out some other stereotypical things, like high-waisted jeans being a staple in bisexual wardrobes, alongside sweaters in general. This song also describes a deep, human connection beyond all else: Non gender-specific nicknames, experiences, or dress. One of the most interesting points was how this song is synonymous with the height of social media platform Tumblr, and its aesthetic of soft-grunge, Arctic Monkeys. Most notably, this was a space where many bisexual identifying people came to as a safe space and to exist alongside others with similar identities. Perhaps this association is what got this beautiful song sown into the fabric that is the B in LGBT. (Some people on TikTok have even come out to their followers by doing something so simple as using this song in their videos!)

Regardless of the exact reason, if someone asks you if you’re a “Sweater Weather” person, now you know what they are most likely really asking you!

 

Photos from Amazon.com; Honey Revenge “Retrovision” from Genius.

You can check out Alternative Through the Decades – WMSC’s 57th Anniversary Music Picks here!