Infinite Playlist #10

1. GFOTY – “Influenzer” (2025)

Few figures associated with P.C. Music had quite as divisive a reputation as GFOTY. While a lot of this is due to how she acted with her collaborators, it was also because she was the most indebted to the gimmick. Short for Girlfriend of the Year, her act was a parody of the vapid, soulless party girls that populated night clubs and would hop online to clout chase. While “GFOTY Bucks” would prove to be an infectious cornerstone of hyperpop, a lot of her follow-ups were lacking the punch that mixed humor with a cleverly chopped and screwed take on dance music. As someone who still awaits whatever Hannah Diamond’s next move is, I’m not totally above giving her a listen in an age where A.G. Cook has moved on to define Brat Summer with Charli XCX.

The brisk running time of “Influenzer” plays like the chaotic cousin of Slayyyter that she doesn’t talk to much. Unlike the more fine tuned tendencies of her peer, GFOTY is still willing to bring the wrecking ball to her sound with a mix of autotune and lyrics about poor dating choices. The single “GRWM (eww)” is an early highlight of 2025 with the way it mixes camera ready confessions about her shallow dating life with some retro metal beats and a conclusion that’s plenty absurd. While many in the hyperpop genre are currently obsessed with toying their sound to be more complex, there’s something refreshing with GFOTY still wanting to be a complete caricature. She may not appeal to everyone, but you know what you get when you press play.

For what it’s worth, the album is not without stabs at nuance. “Hidden Gems” and “CONGRATS.” add some heartache to her outbursts as she yells through a distorted microphone “You’re a fucking slut!” and wonder why she’s always the bridesmaids. It’s not enough to make her sympathetic, but the trashiness reveals the type of flawed archetype not often celebrated. For all the vanity and desire to be accepted, GFOTY can’t get over her own ego. Whereas other P.C. Music artists have moved away from hallmarks of novelty, there’s something refreshing about a well-produced breakdown of the tropes the genre was founded on. If you want a sugar-fused record ripe with uncertainty, few feel as carefree in their punk rock spirit quite like this.

2. Screeching Weasel – “Boogadaboogadaboogada!” (1988)

When I was in high school, I remember going to Second Spin and searching through record bins to beef up my pop-punk collection. Key among them was Screeching Weasel who, despite their divisive reputation, quickly became a favorite following my purchase of the “Weaselmania” compilation. They were a nice mix of hardcore with more melodic decisions that rivaled the more upbeat The Mr. T Experience or The Queers with their feisty energy that captured the youthful rage of having so much to be angry about and not necessarily anything to shake your fist at.

Listening to this record encapsulates a perfect time capsule to how I felt as a teenager seeking anything fast and loud. Every song was done before it could outstay its welcome. Given the 26 present on “Boogaboogadaboogada!,” it’s amazing how quickly they push through the subjects with blunt force. Even if “We Skate” and “Mad at the Paper Boy” have a sarcastic undertone, it’s delivered with a necessary thrashing directness. For those wanting a pure shot of adrenaline, few records do better than this early hit from Screeching Weasel. What it lacks in deep introspection it makes up for with throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.

With that said, “Hey Suburbia” ranks as one of the best record closers that I’ve heard for a handful of reasons. Following such angry diatribes as “Nicaragua, “I Hate Led Zeppelin,” and “Supermarket Fantasy,” ending with the declaration that they won’t change creates the perfect punk motto for a career that will only grow more irritable. The joke is that they’re trying to appeal to suburban audiences who “don’t give a shit about tomorrow.” Thankfully, the lyrics swing with the best of their work and Ben Weasel’s gleeful takedown plays well with the snark. Most of all, it proves that somewhere in their more metal-driven tendencies is a knack for pop hooks. The fact they found the formula without selling out speaks to a passion many have outgrown but will never not be a little nostalgic for.

3. Various Artists – “Passion: A New Musical” (1994)

A few years ago, I filled in my gaps of Stephen Sondheim-penned musicals. Few composers have meant as much to me as him. His best work spoke to a lyrical complexity that I craved with his unique ability to embrace intellect alongside emotion. While some could argue that this is never an equal balance, I’m one of those who looks at shows like Company, Merrily We Roll Along, or Assassins and find an artist in control of his craft. The one show that escaped my appreciation at the time was Passion, which would be his final Tony winner for Best Musical. Having watched the pro-shot during this time, I knew that I wasn’t missing context. Everything I needed was there… so why was it not appealing to me?

The simple answer is that it’s not trying to do what his other musicals were achieving. Gone were the overtly surprising lyrics. There’s few moments where I was caught off guard by the turns of phrases. What I didn’t realize until a second listen was that it was more designed as a vulnerable study of two people deeply in love. Like his other shows, it experimented with form, this time by delving into directness. My understanding is that the score is meant to be understood as a single lyrical passage where ideas come and return like a meditation on the themes.

Because of this, I’m able to see the themes better and even have found traces of humor that escaped me the first time around. While this has yet to be considered one of my favorites, there’s so much that I love about it. The way the characters bond over silly interests is so endearing. I love the big, sincerity of the aching pain that the singers perform with. There is a longing that feels real, reflecting an artist who is putting aside his need to complicate with internal rhymes and pep by understanding what we look for when we seek passion. It’s more than an emotion. There’s something about feeling less alone in the world. I’m curious to see how this grows on me, especially as I revisit alongside the excellent podcast Putting It Together. If you haven’t given it a chance and love Sondheim as much if not more than me, I encourage you to do so soon.

4. Marie Davidson – “City of Clowns” (2025)

In general, dance music is a genre that I want to be more appreciative of but often feel too focused on substance. Having grown up in love with the written word, I hate my tendency to look down on music that’s not always lyrically provocative. Things have gotten better, but there is something absent about just giving into repetitive beats and having a good time. There has to be something greater and I’ve found that’s often been done in music that’s closer to a deconstructionist sound that finds the nerds among the medium trying to make us reconsider why the sounds move us in the first place.

One of the latest discoveries is Marie Davidson, who may as well be classified as a satirist alongside an excellent musician. In terms of lyrical substance, she reminds me a lot of New Wave artists like Buggles or Gary Numan who actively tore apart the synthesizer sound and inserted commentaries about the world around them. What once sounded futuristic now sounds dystopian and makes Davidson’s take a little more haunting. Her emphasis on reducing humanity to computers who consume information and materials to survive is a fantastic take that is elevated by her monotone vocals that make it feel like we’re about to enter a sci-fi story and come out mindless automatons. How willing you’ll likely be to accept the message is up to you.

For me, this is a dance record that may not fully win over those wanting a great time, but I imagine for those wanting to dance while thinking about every problem going on in the world, then this will be a necessary record to check out. Despite being cold and robotic at times, there is this subversive search for emotions that culminates in the back half and manages to sound rebellious, even working as a pushback on the pleasures that Davidson seemed initially attracted to. Over the course of 50 minutes, she asks why we dance not only on the floor but through life. The answers may cause you to freak out, but thankfully you’ll be having too good of a time to know just how anxious you truly are. 

5. Charley Crockett – “Lonesome Drifter” (2025)

Sometime last year, I first heard Charley Crockett’s song “America.” It had a frankness that attracted me immediately to his sound. He was concerned for the nation that he lived in and wanted to see it improve. Since that day, I’ve gone on to listen regularly to his new releases and find that he’s become one of those chummy artists I love having in my life. He’s not necessarily the most versatile or challenging, but he has this ability to make you believe he’s stopping by for an afternoon chat and sharing stories about his travels. As a touring musician, his observations are appealing and find compelling reconsiderations of the cities that I haven’t spent much time speculating about.

With “Lonesome Drifter,” he not only finds himself moving towards a major label sound, but it finds him elevating to the next level. He hasn’t forgotten his roots and the lyrics are still his strongest element. The way he sings about working late (because he’s a singer) have this emotional ache to return home to the loved ones in his life. For as thrilling as it is to see the world, he’s still attracted to the simple things, and in the process makes every song full of sentiment and humor that makes him sound closer to a pal than a country bro shill for beer and pick-up trucks. Crockett seems genuine, or at least desiring to connect his sound to the genre’s roots of storytelling and find an America full of adventure.

As far as sound goes, he’s done an amazing job of discovering small ways to tweak. The orchestration has improved with the harmonies allowing the yearning to come across clearer. As someone that's heard three records at this point, the growth is admirable and finds the retro charm coming across with brilliant warmth. I’d argue this is his most accomplished record yet if for no other reason than there’s a maturity that finds him envisioning a country sound that is more authentic and ambitious than the guitar and hums that have gotten me on board. I’m not sure that his sound is diverse enough to make me ever fully differentiate his albums, but so long as he stays true to his sound, I’ll be coming back to see how he’s doing.