100% JULY 2026
please pretend the above says July 2026
It’s Gannon again with a JULY 2026 playlist! A Lot of hardcore on this one. I’m kind of sorry about that in a way, because I know that kind of super abrasive punk is REALLY not most people’s cup of tea. However, I am desperately, hopelessly obsessed with the genre. One day, I’ll try to put into words and convince you why I think it’s the most exciting thing happening in guitar music. Not today though. Give these tunes a try!
1. Baby Blue - Badfinger
There was a bunch of music lists going around Twitter this month - lots of guys ranking the best power pop songs of all time. Power pop is such a sick, largely overlooked genre - I LOVE medium-rocking songs with massive love-lorn hooky choruses.
Anyway, I saw this Badfinger song featured on a few of these lists. Now Badfinger is a band I’ve HEARD OF but never really listened to. This one’s a heater. There are totally devastating melodies from the start - that bit where he sings “a special love i had for you/my baby blue”: holy shit, what a magical sequence musical micro sequence! What the fuck is up with that? How and why does it sound THAT good?
It’s kind of crazy there really ins’t much of a power pop scene these days, because this kind of songwriting is so elemental to the rock and roll tradition. I do have a theory that explains this - power pop has been subsumed by emo: the subject matter and the hooks of power pop are all there, and that scene is BUSTLING. I guess to prove this theory, I will need to hear what a noodley midwest emo cover this track. @algernoncaldwell GET ON IT!!!!!
2.Kayleigh (Live in London) - Marillion
Earlier this month, I was watching HardLore’s great interview with Patrick Walker of the band Warning. Warning specializes in heart-rending doom metal;, so I was surprised to hear Patrick talking about falling in love with music through the band Marillion.
Back in 2014, I worked at a video game/movies/record store, and for some reason, or vinyl shelf was always brimming to the gills with Marillion albums. They have these REALLY egregious album covers - super romanticized handpainted images of this really goofy Commedia dell'arte-looking clown enduring the tragedy of day to day life. CRAZY over the top - looked like bad second wave prog.
I judged a book by its cover and assumed it wouldn’t be my thing. Hearing this stoic doom dude talk about how he became obsessed with this band made me go “I gotta put this on.” This song is killer! Goofy in the way a conceptual arena rock act with is goofy, but the earnestness and passion they deliver this song really won me over. And again, massive love-lorn hooks. This one rocks.
3. Two Girls (Live) - Townes Van Zandt
If you haven’t heard Townes Van Zandt’s Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas, put it on RIGHT NOW. It’s a recording of Townes playing solo in a packed Houston bar on a sweltering Summer night. But the moment he plays, the room goes dead silent. It’s an incredible recording, you can feel the heat of the room. It’s an absolute testament to the power of just guitar and vocals.
One of the greatest country records ever, and one of the greatest live records to boot. Transcendently great.
4.Baby I’ll Change - Fiddlehead
For my money, Fiddlehead is one of the best bands going these days. I love their sound - on paper, they’re hardcore adjacent, but the sound is lyrical, rocking indie rock, and mature, melody-forward emo. This new song is one of their best - anthemic and gutting, written in memory of a fixture of bost hardcore ficture Jimmy Flynn. It’s a heartbreaking, beautiful tribute.
5. Armed With a Mind - Have Heart
Appropriate to follow up the Fiddlehead track with their frontman’s former band, the legendary Have Heart. I love a stomping mid-tempo punk track like this. That chorus is nasty. You can just feel the kids going crazy to this one. Another straight edge track so good, it’s got me considering taking up the lifestyle.
6. Outcast - Trapped Under Ice
I’ve just come to the realization this month that Big Kiss Goodnight by Trapped Under Ice is a 10/10 album. A triumph beyond the standards of hardcore - an insanely rocking hardcore masterpiece. There were a few weeks this month where this song was ringing through my head all day.
7. Born into Ruin - Ethic
Fucking nasty guitar on this one. Not for the feint of heart.
8. On GP - Death Grips
Lot of sad songs on this playlist this month. This one’s the heaviest. Listener, be warned.
I love Death Grips, but the first time I heard this song, I didn’t return to it. I found the subject matter to be too heavy - it’s all about MC Ride’s intense suicidal ideation. I came back to this song this month after listening to the Jokerman podcast ep on Jenny Death. The way they were taking about this song as Death Grips’ masterpiece made me reevaluate. The thing I find incredible listening to the song now is how it sends a triumphant message of hope: the beauty of endurance, and the power of love for our friends and family. A shattering, difficult, but beautiful song.