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My Life In 35 Songs, Track 26: “Song for the Road” by David Ford

My Life in 35 Songs
Craig Manning

Now I don’t lightly use words like ‘forever,’ but I will love you ‘til the end of today…

Do teenagers today still make mixtapes?

I’m using that term loosely, mind you. I know there can’t be more than a few living souls on the planet who still go through the painstaking steps of cobbling together handmade cassette tape compilations to tell their crushes how they feel. Hell, I can’t even say that I’ve ever made a true mixtape, in that classic analog sense. But I came of age long enough before the streaming era that I still experienced the sensation of trading music in physical formats – usually on burned CDs, though occasionally via USB thumb drives, and sometimes even by way of data DVDs.

Does the mixtape live on in any form today? Is it a Spotify link? A YouTube playlist? A collection of TikTok videos? I ask because “Song for the Road” by David Ford is a classic, all-timer mixtape song, and I wonder if classic, all-timer mixtape songs can even still exist anymore.

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of the mixtape. In a lot of ways, this entire series is just an ambitious, life-spanning, 35-song mixtape. It doesn’t hurt that three of my four favorite artists of all time – Butch Walker, Andrew McMahon, and Jimmy Eat World – have all written songs about mixtapes. “You gave me the best mixtape I have” Butch sings in his, before adding “And even all the bad songs ain’t so bad.” “This is my mixed tape for her; it’s like I wrote every note with my own fingers,” goes the punchline of “The Mixed Tape,” the first-ever single from Andrew McMahon’s Jack’s Mannequin project; and in the Jimmy Eat World song, the note is pure regret: “Maybe we could put your tape back on/Rewind until the moment we went wrong.”

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Interview: Foreign Air

Foreign Air
Adam Grundy

This past month I was able to schedule an in-person interview with Foreign Air before they played a headlining show at The Atlantis (venue directly next to the 9:30 Club). In this interview, I asked the band about the writing and recording process of their excellent third album, Such That I May Glow, that recently came out, and how they stay grounded given all the “noise” that’s dominating today’s news cycle. Such That I May Glow is up on all streaming services here.

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Review: Silverstein – Pink Moon

Adam Grundy

When I first got wind of Silverstein deciding to release two albums in 2025, the fan in me was excited to see what the band would cook up during these sessions. The band worked closely together during the recording sessions in Joshua Tree, where they would look at the vastness and emptiness of the desert to put the framework behind the first part, Antibloom. On the second part of this ambitious double album project, Pink Moon resolidifies the fact that Silverstein are doing the whole post-hardcore, emo, and screamo genres a big favor by releasing such dynamic music during this era of the band that surpasses my wildest expectations from their debut in 2003, and is taking a well-deserved victory lap in their 25th year of existence. Pink Moon was first described to me by vocalist Shane Told, as having “a couple songs on the record are really kind of a throwback sort of sound where they could have been on Discovering the Waterfront.” This immediately piqued my interest in the second half of the project as a whole, and when I finally wrapped my ears around it for the first time, it solidified my feeling that Antibloom and Pink Moon are some of the band’s best and most urgent works of art to date.

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Interview: Indecent Behavior

Indecent Behavior
Adam Grundy

This past month, I was able able to schedule a Zoom call with Henrik, the lead vocalist/guitarist of a German pop-punk band called Indecent Behavior. In this interview, we chatted about the band’s forthcoming new LP, Sick, that will be released on September 26th via Long Branch Records. Henrik shared the meaning behind the album title and artwork, plus key lessons the band have learned from touring with punk veterans Zebrahead and Neck Deep.

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Review: The Fray – How To Save A Life

The Fray - How To Save A Life
Adam Grundy

We all know the song by heart by now. “Step one, you say we need to talk / He walks, you say, ‘Sit down, it’s just a talk’ / He smiles politely back at you / You stare politely right on through,” are the lyrics fully ingrained in my head from the debut studio album from The Fray and their break-though single of the same name. How To Save A Life got a bit of an unfair shakedown from critics upon its release nearly 20 years ago today. Some critics went as far as saying the band “lacked originality”, but you have to remember what was going on in the Alt Rock scene at that time. Coldplay had already solidified themselves as major players with their first two records, Radiohead were releasing game-changing records left and right, and The Fray were coming onto the “soft rock” scene budding with promise and starry-eyed vision for their piano-laced music. How To Save A Life has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA, and it also became one of the all-time best-selling digital albums of that decade.

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My Life In 35 Songs, Track 25: “Miles Apart” by The Dangerous Summer

My Life in 35 Songs
Craig Manning

This is where days feel more complete, living here with you.

I was a failure.

That’s what I found myself thinking in late June 2013, two months removed from my college graduation. It turns out that landing a good job right out of school is hard, especially when you graduate in the middle of an epic economic recession. Heck, I didn’t even need it to be a good job: I was sending out dozens of resumes and cover letters a day, and most of the jobs I was applying for sounded like soul-sucking nightmares that would have quickly squeezed my zest for life out of my body like I was a tube of toothpaste. But I was desperate, and I was demoralized, and I was starting to panic, and I would have taken damn near any life preserver thrown my way.

I didn’t want to feel this way (understatement), especially not at the dawn of a new summer (historically, my favorite time of year), and especially not with a brand-new album from my favorite band of the moment (The Dangerous Summer) burning a hole in my laptop’s hard drive. During two of the most consequential summers of my life – 2009, between my high school graduation and my first semester of college; and 2011, when I needed to reboot after a dreadful sophomore year – The Dangerous Summer had been there to provide the soundtrack. Those summers had both proved glorious, and having this band’s music in near-constant rotation was a big part of the reason why. With The Dangerous Summer set to release a new album, called Golden Record, in the summer of 2013, I hoped I’d be all set for another glorious season.

Golden Record wasn’t due out until August 6, but I got my hands on an advance stream around mid-June. The first single, opening track “Catholic Girls,” had blown the roof off my brain when it dropped early that month, and I couldn’t wait to hear what The Dangerous Summer had in store for album number 3. On their first two albums, 2009’s Reach for the Sun and 2011’s War Paint, this pop-punk band from Baltimore had delivered quintessential coming-of-age music, full of romantic yearning, aching nostalgia, twentysomething malaise, and ambitious optimism for the future. Their music was catchy enough to be ideal for windows-down summer drives, but emotional enough to deliver deep, meaningful catharsis when I needed it most. It’s another understatement to say that I hold both of those albums near and dear to my heart.

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Review: Boys Like Girls – The Homecoming (Live From the MGM Music Hall at Fenway Park)

Adam Grundy

The Boston-based pop-punk band, Boys Like Girls, released their first official live album yesterday called The Homecoming (Live From the MGM Music Hall at Fenway Park), and it has just about everything you’d want from a live recording. Hit-filled setlist, check. Stadium-ready anthems from an adoring crowd, check. Surprise cover songs that reflect on the band’s humble beginnings to being major acts today, check. My first spin of the record left me with a big smile on my face as I couldn’t help but think about how far this pop-punk band has come, and re-solidified themselves as major players in the music scene as a whole. The repeat spins of the album reminded me of the magic that happens when a band leans further into that trademark sound that made me fall in love with their music in the first place, and delivers all over a career-spanning collection that is filled with over 30 tracks that clock in just under the two-hour mark, yet breezes by like no time has passed at all. It’s that enjoyable of a live record, and I’m so happy that Boys Like Girls have released this set.

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Review: AJR – What No One’s Thinking

Adam Grundy

Shortly after the release of their excellent fifth studio album, The Maybe Man, the three brothers that make up experimental pop band AJR were dealing with some writer’s block. It’s an understandable feeling for an artist that has quickly pumped out so many noteworthy radio hits over their career. What No One’s Thinking is the result of what came out of these sessions after the band wrapped up their comprehensive and ambitious arena tour in support of their previous LP, and is a nod to AJR’s third EP of What Everyone’s Thinking. The sound that comes through the speakers on this latest effort is a bit of a departure from the slick experimental pop that the band has been come to be known for. Thematically, the EP tackles the topics of loss, fractured relationships, and saying goodbye to those we never thought we’d have to. While it’s great that AJR are trying new things at this stage of their career, it’s hard to not feel like a key element of their brand of music is missing on this EP.

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Interview: American Television

American Television
Adam Grundy

This past month, I was able to schedule a Zoom call with DC-based punk rock band, American Television, to discuss their upcoming EP, You Are Not Alone. In this interview, I asked the band members about their writing process, what to make of DC’s current political situation, their past touring experience, and much more. The band is playing a record release show at Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia next month, and tickets are on sale here. Also, pre-orders are on-going for You Are Not Alone over at Smartpunk Records.

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Interview: Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace

Our Lady Peace
Adam Grundy

Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom call with the lead vocalist of Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, Raine Maida, for an in-depth discussion largely around the topic of mental health awareness. Our Lady Peace recently reissued and re-recorded a version of their fan-favorite song, “Whatever,” that was originally used as a theme song for a former WWE wrestler. In this interview, Raine and I chatted about how Our Lady Peace “reclaimed” this key song in their discography, and what’s coming down the road next for this legendary rock band. If you’re looking to stay connected with Our Lady Peace, please consider joining their Discord here.

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My Life In 35 Songs, Track 24: “The House That Heaven Built” by Japandroids

My Life in 35 Songs
Craig Manning

It’s a lifeless life, with no fixed address to give/But you’re not mine to die for anymore, so I must live.

“Last Call at 301.” That’s what my college roommates and I called the final party we threw at our apartment, one week before we graduated.

Over the course of our junior and senior years, the place my roommates and I shared had become something of a de-facto hangout spot among our friend group. That was partially because of our habit for hosting Super Smash Bros battles on weeknights, but mostly because my roommate Danny would just invite people over for impromptu dinner parties all the time, or study sessions, or movie nights, or cocktail hours. On any night of the week, there was a good chance of finding 2-6 guests in our living room. And so, while we had college bars that we loved – special shoutout to the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, the coolest beer bar I ever frequented – it ultimately made the most sense for us to have our last big college hurrah at our place: Apartment 301.

My big responsibility for that party, other than chipping in for booze, was putting together the perfect party playlist for our big sendoff. I was absolutely up to the task. In a lot of ways, I’d been training for this moment my whole life. As this series attests, I have a habit for very carefully and deliberately soundtracking the big, climactic moments of my life, and this party was surely going to be one such moment. And while I knew most of the songs on the playlist had to be shared touchstones – tracks that would get a group full of college kids laughing, vibing, dancing, reminiscing, and singing along – I made sure to save one slot on the playlist just for me, so that I could play the Japandroids song “The House That Heaven Built” as loud as fucking possible in a room full of elated drunk people.

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Review: Dijon – Baby

Dijon - Baby
Adam Grundy

The sophomore album from Baltimore, Maryland-based R&B artist, Dijon, Baby feels like a force of nature. The record is equal parts a concept record, since it largely reflects on him becoming a first-time father, as much as it is an exploration of the power of soul/gospel, all put on blend in a stunning concoction. The LP was largely self-produced by Dijon, with a few collaborations from Andrew Sarlo, BJ Burton, and a frequent Dijon collaborator in Mk.gee. Dijon intricately weaves in old school hip-hop samples, stellar production, and a soulful, almost-gospel esque approach to his vocal performance that transcends genre lines along the way. Baby was released with no preceding singles, and is meant to be listened to from front to back to fully absorb what Dijon created here. Sophomore albums typically don’t blow away the competition as much as what Dijon has accomplished here, and the widespread critical acclaim of Baby is 100% justified. Dijon offers a mesmerizing combination of experimental hip-hop, rap, soul and R&B, in one of this year’s best albums to date.

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Review: Have Mercy – The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been

Adam Grundy

There’s something to be said when you can feel a beating heart behind a band’s music. That raw, emotional connection to the material is hard to come by these days, especially in the AI-era of music. Maryland’s own Have Mercy have returned with their most immediate material to date with The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been, that is packed with ultra-personal lyrics. “We’ve been waiting so long to show our fans what we’ve been working on. This feels like a new journey has started for our band. There’s no better way to kick start this album than releasing a song like ‘august 17’. It is an incredibly personal song that carries a lot of weight. It’s about loss and the continuing pain felt after someone is gone. It may hurt less over time, but it never stops hurting,” shared Brian Swindle, lead singer/guitarist of Have Mercy. By delving even deeper into stories of loss and trauma, Have Mercy simultaneously crafted their most personal, urgent, and best work to date on The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been.

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Review: Pinkshift – Earthkeeper

Pinkshift - Earthkeeper
Adam Grundy

It’s easy to see why Pinkshift were so happy for their sophomore LP, Earthkeeper, to see the light of day. This record is brimming with hopeful messages, and is paired with an ambitious and dynamic take on what punk music is and can sound like today. An “Earthkeeper” is “a reflection of universal consciousness and a protector of existence,” and the spacey artwork showcases the band’s lofty ambitions on taking their music to the next level. While their Hopeless Records’ debut, that was called Love Me Forever, was a raucous punk rock romp of a good time, Earthkeeper is a direct reaction to the world around this young three-piece band that has a lot on their minds. Singles like the abrasive “Anita Ride” and the punk rock energy found on “Evil Eye” are wisely stacked back to back in the early-going of the album sequencing, while vocalist Ashrita Kumar finds lightning in a bottle in a dynamic vocal performance. Earthkeeper is absolutely packed with heavy political themes, while still remaining true and authentic the band’s core values and spiritual beliefs that there is a bigger power at play.

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