4 days in LA

city of staaaaaars....sorry, i've been watching la la land clips since i got back and it's stuck in my head. sort of like last year's trip to charleston, i'd only been to LA once before in 2006 with my family. while it was fun, i didn't really like it then (and i still kind of don't, in general??) but i was in the mood for a glitzy glammy los angeles vacation and it completely delivered. i had such a good time and it was the perfect warm-weather winter getaway. let's get to it!

DAY 1:

my flight got in a little before noon but it took me almost two damn hours to get to my airbnb because i decided to avoid the supposed craziness of the LAX rideshare lot and save some bucks by taking the flyaway shuttle to union station and then hailing a lyft from there. pretty sure it ended up taking the same amount of time, though, so...don't do that.

i knew it was gonna be good when, on the lyft ride, we passed by the hybrid donut/chinese food shop featured in the starcrawler video for "i love LA," a video i've inexplicably watched like 20 times at this point because its retro imagery is permanently lodged in my brain.

anyway, my airbnb—a cozy little studio attached to a spanish-style hillside home—was so freakin' cute! highly recommended if you're a solo traveler or couple planning a trip to LA.

those views, tho!

i know there are a lot of airbnb horror stories floating around lately, but i maintain that you can have some incredibly cool experiences (much cooler than a hotel) if you do your homework. like, sorry, but why would you spend $200+ a night for a sterile hotel when you can stay at this house's studio for DIRT CHEAP?

i set out to explore the neighborhood for the rest of the afternoon. silver lake is known as a funky haven for creative types: musicians, writers, indie actors, etc. etc., so i was excited to roam around. i grabbed an iced anise cookie latte from lamill coffee boutique, a beautiful cafe, to fuel my stroll, and embarked on a self-guided tour of the many *secret staircases*. they were really cool and provided amazing views, but god dang, they were steep!

after about an hour, i had enough of that and popped over to the thirsty crow to plot my evening over a half-priced old fashioned (happy hour, holla!). unpretentious with a relaxed neighborhood vibe, this was already seeming like my kind of bar. and when they started playing letters to cleo and the donnas, i was totally sold.

silver lake ended up being the perfect neighborhood for me to stay in. it was such a vibrant, cool area with all of these charming houses tucked into the hillside, friendly people, and lots of great restaurants, bars, and shops. also, they love elliott smith; not only did he shoot his famous figure 8 album cover here, but there's also a mural that pays tribute to musicians connected to silver lake, including him, beck, and silversun pickups.

for dinner, i had my sights set on l&e oyster bar, but they didn't open 'til 6 and ain't nobody got time for that (ok, only i didn't), so i sidled up to the bar at an intimate bistro called alimento, where i had a delicious spaghetti dish with dungeness crab, tomato, basil, and bottarga breadcrumb.

then, i decided to take my chances and head over to the first night of mandy moore's residency at the bootleg theater. you couldn't buy tickets in advance, the theater was tiny, and it was first come, first serve, but it was still an hour and a half before doors, so i felt like i might be okay. and i was. and once i got inside, my stupidity led to the coolest celebrity encounter!

the way the theater's set up, there's a really small bar room in the front (also with a stage) and the main room is through a doorway that seems like it's just for the bathroom. so, not having ever been there, i just assumed the small front room was where the show was taking place and sat down. like, there was even this display behind the stage:

i picked up a lucky penny on the ground...something that ALSO happened right before i met josh homme from queens of the stone age in new orleans and walked by c.c. deville from poison during my first trip to LA, WTF. as i'm sitting and wondering why there's only like, two other people in this room so far, i spot a blonde woman walking back toward the line from the bar. "she's pretty," i think to myself. then my brain processes her face and i realize holy shit, it's hilary duff! not only was i a huge lizzie mcguire fan, but younger is legit one of my favorite tv shows. so, i'd consider myself a fairly big hil stan.

of course, i didn't want to bother her, but....you best believe i was going to bother her!!! only 8 hours in, this was definitely going to be the best celebrity sighting of the trip and i wasn't throwing away my shot, dammit. running on pure adrenaline, i walked up to her and spewed something dumb about visiting from boston and being a huge fan and asked for a picture. the guy with her, who i didn't identify as her husband matthew koma until the next morning, offered to take it for us. not for nothing, but he sings on the only EDM song i really really like ("spectrum" by zedd), his new band, winnetka bowling league, was on my spotify playlist last month, and his jam with RAC, "cheap sunglasses," was on the playlist i made for this trip! so that was kind of exciting too.

oh yeah, and mandy moore was super fun! weirdly, i saw her twice in one day in 2007 when she did a couple of free concerts in boston, and this was her first show since that tour. crazy. her husband, taylor goldsmith of dawes, and power pop legend mike viola joined her, and she brought up some friends to perform at points, too. good stuff.

DAY 2:

sunday morning was spent in venice. on the way, my lyft driver regaled me with tales of seeing ben affleck and jennifer garner fighting in their car in front of a chipotle, ben walking by my driver's car while dramatically vaping, and my driver blurting out "you're even more handsome in person than i expected!" lolol. 

i had breakfast at gjusta, a big and airy bon appetit-recommended bakery and deli where i waited a million years to order. but it was so worth it, mainly because i actually heard one of the cashier dudes say "gnarly" without a hint of irony and i felt as if all of my dreams were coming true in that moment. check out my multigrain porridge waffles with berries and rhubarb:

then it was on to the beautiful venice canals, and bougie abbot kinney street, and venice beach, which is officially my new happy place. skateboarders and surfers and beggars with signs that read "feed me weed" and day-glo graffiti, it was a dream.

though i could have easily spent all day there, i walked up to santa monica and had lunch at dogtown coffee. if you know me, you know i'm obsessed with all things '70s skateboarding/z-boys/lords of dogtown, so what a freakin' treat it was to eat in a cafe housed in the old zephyr shop!! i had a kale salad with cheese, walnuts, and mushrooms, which was surprisingly delicious but too boring to bother taking a photo of, reminisced about my favorite heath ledger scene, took in the memorabilia that adorned the walls, and chuckled at the barefoot man sitting near me. there's also a fairly new mural that pays tribute to the late, great jay adams on the back of the building.

took a quick ride over to beverly hills, and in the approximately 15 minutes i was there, i walked past david spade (who i also LOVE) in sweats. at this point, i'm feeling like this trip is just #blessed. it happened too fast for me to bug him, which was probably for the best.

last year, i saw these crazy colorful lattes all over instagram that i traced back to the butcher, the baker, the cappuccino maker in west hollywood, and just had to get one for myself, so i met up with one of my longtime twitter friends, heather, for the first time in person to chat and try one. i wish that it was a bit sweeter, but would you look at those colors! we had a fab time and i was so glad we got to meet IRL.

and then began one of my favorite experiences of the trip. for some reason—maybe it was my good mood because i was on vacation—totally magical shit just seemed to keep happening from the minute i arrived in LA and didn't let up. note to self: try to be in vacation mode ALL the time.

i strolled the sunset strip, past the legendary hair band venues like the roxy and the rainbow bar and grill and the viper room, and down to dan tana's, my top dinner choice. i would not recommend this walk by yourself at night—it was only 15 minutes or so, but halfway through, i was like "well, shit. it is dark and this road is DESERTED and i should not have done this." people aren't kidding when they say LA is a driving city, but that just doesn't jibe with me and i couldn't get that through my thick skull, only taking lyfts when i absolutely had to. which was still a lot. anyway, the bar was packed at dan tana's, so i hoofed it over to nearby craig's and boy, i'm so glad i did!

i ordered the chicken paillard, which was absolutely awful and flavorless, but no matter. it was worth it for the fellow patrons at the bar. i began talking with a woman, joyce, who had been talking with two guys next to her, tom and jimmy. we became fast friends and when i mentioned that i was going to grab a drink at the chateau marmont before checking out a show at the comedy store, joyce said she wanted to join me. the boys got wind and were all "we're coming, too!"

sadly, the chateau was having a private party or some bull and we couldn't get in, so we strolled to the sunset trocadero lounge down the street and got happy hour martinis and had a grand ol' time together:

the next morning, still groggy and lying in bed, i googled tom, who mentioned he was a producer and had worked on i, tonya but didn't say much more. uhh, he's THE producer of i, tonya...and MARGOT ROBBIE'S FUCKING HUSBAND! i thought back to the night before when he stepped away to take a call from "his wife" and shortly thereafter had to leave...which suddenly all made sense because it was the night of the SAG awards. and also how he pointed at a billboard we saw for birds of prey and was like "we worked on that!" this town is wild, man. never know who you're going to go boozing with! such a cool, quintessentially LA experience. jimmy told me he wanted me to send him this blog post, but i'm not going to send it now that i have discovered his friend's identity. muahaha.

oh, and the comedy store show was great. i got to see erik griffin from workaholics, plus a bunch of other really funny dudes like chris spencer, adam ray, jay larson, and rick ingraham.

DAY 3:

i still cannot get over the truly insane law of attraction experience i had on monday morning. probably the craziest one yet. as i was walking from my airbnb to get some cold brew and almond coffee cake at dinosaur coffee, i decided to listen to this band, everybody else, who i loved back in the rooney/phantom planet era and whose sunny power pop always brings back fond memories of my first visit to LA. so i'm strolling along, bopping to EBE, get to the coffee shop and hang for a bit. as i'm leaving, i make eye contact with one of the FOUR other patrons in the entire place, and it's the fucking lead singer. what on god's green earth?! i seriously had to restrain myself from gasping in his face and/or saying "STOP IT" aloud. i'd love to see someone explain that away as coincidence 'cause ya. just. can't. absolutely bananas. can you imagine how freaked out he'd be if i was like "hey, i'm from boston and was just listening to some of your songs from 2005!" hahaha. that, my friends, is what i like to call a wink from the universe.

next up was a laurel canyon music history hiking tour, which was such a special experience–especially after recently watching the documentary echo in the canyon. it was a beautiful day and i was joined by three other people. our guide, joseph, lives in the canyon and is clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about all of the past and present happenings there. he also brought along his little yorkie pup, graham!

we saw the old residences of neil young, slash, john lennon, stephen stills, jim morrison, and a bunch of other '60s/'70s folks, and the current residence of steven tyler and some lesser-known musicians. while i'd never ever want to live in LA, if i ever fell into massive wealth, i could be persuaded to live up here. the vibe was so different than in the city and i really dug it. the canyon country store, where mama cass famously lived and jennifer aniston famously worked, was super cool, too.

jim morrison's house

she actually lived in the basement of the store!!

i grabbed lunch at joan's on third, a sleek cafe and bakery that would have been the perfect setting for a scene on the hills or in a nancy meyers movie, then wandered the original farmers market and the grove for a bit. 

idk what happened to the photo i took of joan's but this is the vibe

...did some vintage browsing on melrose, including at wasteland, from which i bought clothes 14 years ago that i still wear. no such luck this time, but it was fun to look!

because i felt like i haaaad to, i walked all the way up to the cesspool that is hollywood boulevard to stare at the chinese theatre and the stars on the walk of fame and was reminded of perhaps my favorite photo ever, from the previous LA trip (it's tom cruise's star hahaha):

please note TMZ HQ, bottom right

hehe

after like 20 minutes i needed to rid myself of the grossness of LA's times square and sought refuge right around the corner at a bar my friend recommended, lost property (thanks, sean!). so damn great. there was barely anyone in there, and i let the bartender, dan, whip up a bourbon-y concoction on the spot for me that involved amaretto, chartreuse, maybe scotch? i forget, but it was delicious. i also talked his ear off and got his whole backstory. again, can i just do this for a living? it's so fascinating to hear about how people ended up where they are and pick their brains about life. he also let me charge my phone. score!

ugh ugh ugh another disappointing dinner was had at delphine because all of the good places, including musso and frank's, were closed on monday/because of the holiday. it was extremely forgettable so there's no point in spending any time on it.

buuut then i went to this dope late-night bohemian coffee shop called the bourgeois pig and got the bourgeois latte with chocolate, hazelnut, and espresso and sat in this dark back room that looks like an enchanted forest and i forgot all about the bad dinner. :) :) :)

DAY 4:

basically everyone told me i had to go to sqirl (and that there was always a long line), so i headed over there for breakfast and i lucked out with a short wait, probably since it was a tuesday morning. i ordered the breakfast porridge with straus milk, toasted hazelnuts, blueberry rhubarb jam, and assorted fruit—apparently LA is very into porridge right now which is cool because SO AM I—and a cold brew. it was great! creamy and hearty and fruity and perfect.

from there, i lyfted into downtown to browse the last bookstore...

and OBVIOUSLY some (500) days of summer filming locations:

the bradbury building, where tom meets autumn

the million dollar theater, where they watch vagiant

i also stalked the park bench but it was all fenced off now. womp.

downtown LA is weird and mostly blah, but the broad is a super cool contemporary art museum i'd recommend. while the galleries were neat, i'd be lying if i didn't say my primary reason for visiting was to get a photo in that insane mirror room. unfortunately, i didn't realize that you had to put your name in and come back when it was your turn, so i'd already explored the entire museum and had nothing more to do by the time i got added to the queue. but because this trip was magic, the universe was all "i gotchu, girl," and this younger dude plops down next to me on the bench and asks me how long i'd been waiting. "just 20 minutes, and they told me it would be an hour and a half," i groaned, mentioning that i was getting nervous because i had to be up in burbank for the conan taping in a couple hours. "i think they're about to let me in," he says, just as he gets the text that it's his turn. "come on. we're getting you in!" he says. beckoning for me to tag along with him. and he did!! what an angel. done and done.

for lunch, i stopped into a huge food hall, grand central market, and dug into this incredible fried chicken sandwich at lucky bird. after a couple really bad meals in this city, i was so thankful things were turning around on the final day!

then it was time for conan! the whole experience was really smooth and fun, from the friendly warner brothers staff members to getting a little unintentional tour of the WB lot while walking to the studio. the taping went by so fast, but i'm so glad i went. i'd been to one talk show taping, live with kelly and michael at disney world some years back, and it's always so fascinating to see how things play out behind the scenes.

also, the guest was jeff freakin' goldblum, and i could literally watch him and conan shoot the shit for hours on end. i was so happy that pretty much everything we saw made it into the broadcast:

i booked it to the griffith observatory and caught the tail end of the sunset and pretended i was in la la land or whatever:
 

i closed things out with a glass of pinot grigio and a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs at little dom's, a classic italian spot in the los feliz neighborhood. i loved the cozy atmosphere and oooh-wee, those meatballs just hit the spot. this restaurant is also known for its celeb sightings, but i was already gluttonous with my good fortune thus far, so i was okay not spotting anyone.

while there were a few more things i wish i had time to fit in (the getty, dinner at musso and frank, and that drink at the chateau) i had a total blast and LA is such an exciting place to visit. i'm bound and determined to make sure that another 14 years doesn't pass before i return!

20 things to do in 2020 and 2019 in review

all in all, 2019 was really good—much, muuuuch better than 2018, that's for damn sure. i wrote an extensive summary of my decade over on medium, but i still had to look back on my favorite parts of the year...and come up with some to-dos for the coming one. cheers!

2020


1. get another tattoo
2. have a drink at the chateau marmont
3. renew my passport
4. attend a writing residency
5. host a dinner party
6. visit one new state (28 down, 22 to go)
7. get a photo taken with a celebrity
8. check out an open mic
9. pay for someone else's coffee
10. try axe throwing
11. meet an internet friend IRL
12. book my next international trip
13. spend a weekend in philadelphia
14. publish 10 7 humor pieces/articles/essays
15. take a candlelight yoga class
16. <strike>make pizza from scratch</strike>
17. buy myself flowers
18. crack the new yorker’s daily shouts
19. do a tarot/fortune telling card reading for someone (i just bought this dope "gypsy witch" deck from 1903 and learning it is FASCINATING/slightly terrifying)
20. find a used book with a message in it and buy it

2019

favorite books:

on writing by stephen king

comedy sex god by pete holmes

trick mirror by jia tolentino


favorite articles (interestingly and unintentionally, all by women): 

"the most gullible man in cambridge" by kera bolonik

"let's meet again in five years" by karen b. kaplan

"do you have a not-so-stranger?" by caroline donofrio (AND THE COMMENTS!)

"dating terms inspired by catfishing"by sara k. runnels

"rihanna's "bitch better have my money, repurposed for freelancers" by riane konc

"i think about this a lot: justin bieber's "call me maybe" lip-sync" by melinda fakuade

"a perfect, preemptive obituary for my ex-boyfriend" by danielle kraese


favorite songs: HERE

favorite albums:

djo - twenty twenty
catfish and the bottlemen - the balance
cherry glazerr - stuffed & ready
girlpool - what chaos is imaginary
oso oso - basking in the glow
the drew thomson foundation - the drew thomson foundation 
starcrawler - devour you
harry styles - fine line 

concerts (favorites bolded):

cherry glazerr
the cadillac three
girlpool
dandy warhols
greta van fleet
rooney
catfish and the bottlemen
jimmy eat world and third eye blind
damone
the struts
phantom planet
incubus
tegan and sara
ben kweller
twin peaks
hanson

favorite tv shows: 

shrill
russian doll
stranger things
modern love
home for christmas

favorite movies:

knives out
booksmart
little women
five feet apart
blinded by the light
someone great

goals:

1. do 1 activity per week that allows me to meet new people: DONE

...because i obviously kept track. highlights included a '70s punk rock photography talk, "buy me boston" old advertising/music scene talk, board game speed dating (because half the guys didn't show up), a drag queen disco bash, the opening of time out market, and the grand opening party for the citizenm boston hotel.

2. take 2 classes: DONE

did an extremely unhelpful summer writing workshop and just finished a pottery class. not for me, but at least i tried!

3. bake 3 desserts (or breads, whatever): DONE

white chocolate lucky charms cookies, atlantic beach pie, and pear tart!

5. place 5 humor pieces or essays: DONE

1.  little old lady comedy: barry manilow rewrites “copacabana” after visiting lohan beach club

2. points in case: i am the woman who bakes brownies for her coworkers on a weeknight, and my life is definitely not crumbling before my eyes

3. mcsweeney’s: i’m an adorable romper, and i’m about to make your life a living hell

4. little old lady comedy: welcome to dating app ninja warrior 

5. weekly humorist: announcing the ex-boyfriend reunion tour

 
6. take 6 trips (at least 1 international): DONE

charleston, new york (3x), provincetown, peru


7. watch 7 new tv shows: ALMOST...6!

shrill, russian doll, tales of the city, modern love, breakfast, lunch & dinner, home for christmas

(carryover from 2018) get my aura photographed: DONE 

stuff i didn't do: volunteer 4 times, take 8 dance classes (only 1), try 9 new dinner recipes (only 5), read 10 books (only 6)

my 19 favorite songs of 2019

you can listen to the full playlist here.

honorable mention:

oso oso - "wake up next to god"
gender roles - "hey with two whys"
niall horan - "nice to meet ya" 
PUP - "morbid stuff"

19. battles - "fort greene park"




somehow, in seven years, this is the first totally instrumental song i've ever had on the list! kinda crazy. "fort greene park" came into my life at the 11th hour and i was absolutely captivated. in nearly six minutes, we've got math rock, we've got prog rock, we've got groovy riffs, we've got electronica, we've got melancholy moments, sinister moments, happy moments, and sonic combinations that make you want to run a marathon. and there's not a single lyric. what a time to be alive.

18. the drums - "626 bedford avenue"



that melody, tho. and the subtly hilarious lyrics: "i should have left when you laughed at my shoes," "take your head out of your ass/and take a good look at yourself," "you might be a psychopath/you might wanna check that." ha!

17. the drew thomson foundation - "a little more time"



i swear that everyone is sleeping on this man. i hadn't really been paying too much attention myself until he kept appearing on my discover weekly playlists and i thought "hey, i like this song!" "wait, i like this one too!" in fact, his entire self-titled debut album is excellent, but this one stood out in particular as *the* jam of all the jams. it's such an earworm.

16. washington social club - "first things first"



the fact that this absolutely perfect power-pop nugget has less than 1,000 plays on spotify is criminal, so i'm doing my very small part to change that. for context, i'll set the stage: it's july of 2004 and my friends and i are enjoying our final very carefree summer in new hampshire before we leave for college. we drive down to boston to see phantom planet at a tiny club called axis (RIP). the opener, a band we'd never heard of from d.c. called washington social club, take the stage. we were instantly and totally obsessed. the songs were insanely catchy, the lead singer was charismatic and weeeeird as hell, making dramatic orgasm faces and (i think) writhing on the stage at one point. we wandered over to the merch table after the show and each bought a copy of their album catching looks. it provided the perfect soundtrack to the rest of the summer, and we even trekked to see them at warped tour a month later.

i still listen to the album at least a few times every year, so i recently decided to see what they were up to. after a long hiatus, they're back with new music, and this is my favorite of the bunch. from marty's distinctively casual delivery in the verses to the wisdom-filled chorus ("we all should get a lot more fucked up/we all should be a lot less fucked up"), it's been in very heavy rotation for me the past few months.

15. lil nas x f/ billy ray cyrus - "old town road (remix)"



okay, so it's less of a favorite song and more of a favorite pop culture moment, but what's not to love? young rapper gets kicked off the country charts for not being country enough, washed-up country singer billy ray cyrus comes to the rescue to return the song to the charts, and all is right in the world again.

hating "old town road" is equivalent to hating dancing at weddings. both represent unfettered, goofy joy and everything good and pure in life, so if you dislike either, we have a fundamental difference in philosophy (and yours is wrong :)). i mean, the goddamn grinch could watch that viral video of the elementary school kids going HAM to this song and his heart would grow three sizes, am i right?

14. beabadoobee - "apple cider"



there's just so much going on here that i love. the twinkly, jangly early '90s indie vibe, the very juliana hatfield quality of bea's voice, the extremely cute and earnest lyrics, and that playful little solo. it's totally the sound of having a crush on someone.

13. the rocket summer - "morning light"



i've truly lost count of how many times i thought i'd ~outgrown~ the rocket summer, and then came crawling back because of his uncanny knack for wonderful melodies that make my brain tingle with happiness. dare i say that this one even gets a little math-rocky in spots? bold, bryce. bold. and that sassy ending, too.

12. billie eilish - "bad guy"



i'll admit that it took me a little while to arrive at the billie eilish party, and many of her songs still make me feel too old to be listening to them, if that makes any sense. that being said, "bad guy" is so strange and compelling that you can't help but be intrigued by it. the contrasts are fascinating: in the video, she hands a guy her invisalign, then proceeds to whisper about seducing your dad, then reminds us that she's 17 by going "DUH," then goes back to whispering about wearing some dude's cologne. it's a reeeal journey...and an excellent little pop song to boot.

11. column - "I"



the chill, hippie jam of my dreams. i was very grateful for column this year (the project of cadien from twin peaks and all the dudes from post animal) because i'm not into the new twin peaks album at aaaall. like, they sound like a band that smoked too much weed in the bad, steely dan way, and column sounds like a band that smoked too much weed in the good, brian jonestown massacre way. ya dig?

10. clairo - "bags"



i *almost* missed this one, which would have been totally tragic. it's the sonic equivalent of a moody tumblr post, and i mean that in the absolute best way. it's like, the song you turn on when you're on a long train ride and it's raining and you're like "i'm going to pretend i'm in the protagonist in a dramatic teen movie." just me?

9. muskets - "violent paradise"



when i wrote about this song earlier in the year, i said that it made me want to smoke it and play it loud and stage dive onto my bed and skateboard off my roof, and i still very much feel this way. one really nice night this summer, i had drinks on a patio with a friend, then got banana-cinnamon ice cream at christina's in cambridge and i took a super long walk from inman square to harvard square at sunset with this blasting through my headphones and it felt so right.

8. jonas brothers - "sucker"



i'm lukewarm on approximately 90% of jobros songs, but when i'm in, i'm aaaall in, baby. while "burning up" remains my fave, "sucker" is so undeniable. like, it's almost at "cake by the ocean" status in terms of the hook, which is no small feat. if your toe isn't tapping when it comes strutting in, you're probably dead. i also had the privilege of watching the reaction of all of the fabulous gay men at the provincetown tea dance this summer when it came on and it was absolutely JOYOUS. p.s. how adorable is it that they had their wives star in the video?! is it weird that i sort of want to be a jonas wife now?

7. beast coast - "left hand"



beast coast's sound completely embodies how walking through new york city feels to me (much like the lemonheads are the sound of walking through boston). it's gritty, cinematic, aggressive, and a little mischievous. which, y'know, makes sense, since it's a collab between a bunch of new york rap groups: my faves flatbush zombies, pro era, and the underachievers. their album escape from new york was definitely one of my favorites this year, but this track stood out. i mean, who else besides meech can utter the words "i think LSD be my best friend/dick so big, use it as a kickstand" completely unironically and sound badass as hell doing it? anyway, my favorite thing to do is pick whose verse is my favorite in each song since it changes with every one. here, i'm partial to CJ fly's at :47. "got the tech, i stay connected like it's best buy!"

6. cherry glazerr - "ohio"



now this is how you start an album. CG's first single from stuffed and ready, "juicy socks," made my list last year, but i was totally hooked within the first 10 seconds of this tune. it starts off tame enough—she's quietly humming the melody and you're like "oh, this is nice"—then those drums come in and kick you square in the face. then you're headbanging to the drums, and that massive, gnarly '90s riff drops and sets you completely on fire. ayyy! i always replay it before the song's over to hear that part again.

5.  lizzo - "juice"



confession: i....don't like "truth hurts" at all and find it super grating, tbh. but i LOVE "juice" and i'm absolutely obsessed with lizzo's confidence, energy, and message! we all needed her bad bitch presence in our lives this year.

4. SWMRS - "trashbag baby"



garagey power-pop that just makes you wanna dance, man. SWMRS, a quartet of gen-z berkeley punks (two of whom are brothers, and one of whom is billie joe armstrong's son) topped my 2016 list with "figuring it out." that's still my favorite, but "trashbag baby" is a rifftastic bop that plays off of the becker brothers' unique voices. 

3. the paranoyds - "girlfriend degree"



"girlfriend degree" really crept up on me this year. i loved it, but i didn't realize just how much i really loved it until i was putting together this list. i'm here for all of it: the kinks-esque melody, the spooky-sounding '60s horror movie synth, and the cheeky lyrics ("trust me, i know i'm happy/i'm not just a girl with low self-esteem").

this also has to be my favorite music video of the year (the dream with the ken doll had me roooolling!) and i've absolutely been trying to bite this style lately when it comes to my wardrobe.

2. christelle bofale - "origami dreams"



dreamy, dreamy, dreamy. i first heard this song in a semi-unlikely place: while waiting for pete holmes to take the stage at WBUR cityspace. shazam came to my rescue and i fell completely and deeply in love immediately. my song of the summer fo' sho. it's one of those tracks that make you feel nostalgic, contented, and sad all at once.

1. djo - "personal lies"



i typically start thinking about my favorite songs of the year toward the end of the summer, and i was getting a little nervous when september rolled around because i wasn't *quite* sold on anything as my #1 yet. that is, until i decided to check out twenty twenty, the album joe keery aka steve harrington from stranger things casually dropped under the pseudonym djo.

the first, ohhh, five times i listened to it, every song gave me chills and i kept actually mouthing/saying aloud "why is this so fucking good???!" it's the first album in such a long time—probably since kurt vile's wakin on a pretty daze in 2013—that i just wanted to LIVE in, y'know; grab a blanket and curl up and indulge in a jazz cigarette and drink some hot cocoa and browse etsy and stay for a few days.

the production is warm and lush, the instrumentation takes all these delightfully surprising turns, and the melodies are fun, psychedelic, and ever-so-slightly familiar without falling too far into trope territory (even if they did, i honestly wouldn't care in the slightest). long story short, i went from "yeah, ooookay, let's check out this album that steve from stranger things did" to "holy shit, this is my favorite album of 2019" in approximately 10 minutes.

while there are several standout tunes ("just along for the ride," "flash mountain," and "tentpole shangrila" are up there for me), this one just gets me going, man. i cue it up and the beatles-meets-tame impala vibe jumps out, my hair automatically extends to cher-in-the-'70s length, daisy dukes appear on my body as if by magic, and i'm roller skating under a blacklight. at 2:10, when i tell you i SCREAMED! joe keery might just be the first person whom i'd actually encourage to quit their day job because i need more of his music immediately.