Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Louisville-based group, Wombo.
This Friday, Wombo is set to release their third full length album Danger In Fives via Fire Talk Records. As a three piece, made up of Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe and Joel Taylor, Wombo crafts complex structures with jagged intonations, straying patterns and foundational instincts that play out like the depths of a city skyline in full view. Forcing themselves into new territory, reshaping the writing process and traveling down paths of experimentation, the trio approached this album with a newfound excitement to their already existing strengths. As it unfolds, the band’s ability to make each riff and run feel like a conundrum, a means to observe the cause and effect of the most minor choices, Danger In Fives becomes one in and of itself as Wombo continues to embrace a world entirely of their own.
Syd’s picks songs 1-7, Cams picks songs 8-13, Joel’s picks songs 14-18. Listen to the playlist here;
Danger In Fives is set to be released this Friday via Fire Talk Records. You can pre-order the album now as well as on vinyl, cd and cassette.
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Chicago-based musician and recording engineer Seth Engel of the project Options.
When you put on an Options album, those songs are made for motion, fast and faithful, for sure. With a healthy blend of attuned fixations and a need to raise a ruckus, Seth’s most recent album Beast Mode is a tried-and-true pop joyride hurtling down the boulevard with the windows down and the booming wind forcing the hand of the volume knob. But as a collection, these songs live in moments, flashes of thoughts scribbled on the back of a cereal box to make a note before the feeling is running out the door. It’s a project that is littered with excitement, pipetted with passion and destined for glory.
Here are some songs that I love listening to in the car while driving, ideally with the windows down and on a long stretch of road. This is one of my favorite ways to focus on and connect with music. There’s a bit of an inherently predictable vibe with some of these choices, and perhaps some choices that might make you scratch your head… but all of these tunes are thoroughly driving-with-the-windows-down tested & approved by me. Enjoy!
Listen to Seth’s playlist, aptly titled ‘Driving (With the Windows Down’, HERE!
You can listen to Beast Mode and the full Options catalog out everywhere you find music!
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Oakland-based band Heavy Lifter.
Heavy Lifter describe themselves, in a rather perfect string of words, as “queer post-bubblegum slut grunge”. And for the Oakland-based band who so tactfully rear and sear with layered guitars, rhythmic blows and melodic prowess, there is always unconditional love for the sweetness that often gets encrusted in the center. Releasing their debut EP park n forth back in 2024, a collection that is as reactive as it is intuitive of its surroundings, the noises become a prod, a voice, a lending hand; a presence to hold tight as these songs gather in the harsh dichotomy of what life really is. But as they blast through sonic textures that melt and stream down your hands like an ice cream cone predestined by the sun, these songs stick to each and every surface they come in contact with while the band embraces the sugary mess with both moxie and purpose.
About the playlist, Ren said;
We did an exquisite corpse of sorts – starting with one of us sharing a song to the next and then that person picking a song that came to mind while listening and then sending that song to the next person and so on. I made a diagram before we started that may make it more or less confusing to understand the process (attached – feel free to include or not!). A random person who was retired from naming things for a living told AL we should change our name to heavy lifting, we aren’t gonna, but we thought it was funny and the idea will live on as a playlist. The songs are partly things we are listening to now and partly things that got pulled from our memory banks after listening to the song that was shared. It’s been a challenging month for a few of us in different ways but sending these songs back and forth and then listening to them all together has been something sweet. Hope it’s sweet for u too.
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Chicago-based artist Carter Ward.
The beings that live in a Carter Ward song are filled with a deliberate sense of belonging, playing with a type of storytelling that feels immediate, scrappy and incredibly sincere as they take shape in their own little worlds. With his rich instrumental voicings, tinkerings that become fixations in his stories, each CW track ripples in the immediate pond that we all wade through; reactionary to the minor moments, the disorder, the celebrations, the heartbreak, the moments we work towards and the pieces of us that have fallen behind all become a reflection point of immunity and community. Although his last official release was 2023’s Try Again, a collection that lingers in our ears with each melodic infatuation, each conscious sound that breaks the facade, brimming with a type of casualty that is both compassionate and committed, Carter is continuously looking ahead at what is next.
Listen to Carter’s playlist here!
You can listen to Carter Ward everywhere you find music! Check out his latest album Try Again or catch him playing lead guitar in Chicago’s own Girly Pants.
Written by Shea Roney | Photo Courtesy of Carter Ward
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a dj mix put together by San Diego-based project Kan Kan.
Kan Kan revels in the scruffy intermediates; a type of rock n roll that’s not one to weigh the empathetic with the obscure, but to be the one fighting the revolution through community hubs, interior plots and definitive charm as the band has so seamlessly blended the two together. Playing to the lackluster scribes that float through their day-to-days with holy prowess, Kan Kan makes any type of formality a bit sweaty and finds engagement a bit bolder when their altruistic form of guitar rock hits its audience. As a three piece, Kallen, Joe and Cameron, Kan Kan released their last bit of music in 2024, an EP called two thousand and whatever. But as they push on, Kan Kan continues to play show after show, finding space beyond their home of San Diego, and becoming a conversational piece, a connecting thread when this band is brought up, “oh, yeah, Kan Kan? They rip.”
About the mix, Kan Kan shares;
This is a mix of selections by the band. Some to dance to, some of joes hidden YouTube gems, I also tried to pick songs of our friends that have been a constant source of peace in these dark times.
Madrone, Californias oldest friendship over everything band new album “Eponymous Debut Masterpiece” is out now.
Oldstar on tour last summer in Detroit in a dingy old bottle club. These young chaps just might save rock n roll
Crush23, Kellan and Joe also play in this band. a super group live band now of sorts.
threw in an unreleased Outwest song called “Cameron says” produced by Kraus. plus ! a new Kan Kan song “she goes by another name” mixed and mastered by Will and Jack Kraus ! Out soon on a 7inch split with Pocket Full of Crumbs out on Cherub Dream Records!!
Track listing
Monitors – Madrone Blushin (not!) – Charles The Durutti Column on the review show On The Way Home (Neil Young) – covered by David Roback Upstairs (212) – First Day Back The Mixer – The Fall Spring – Edaline How About Hero – Kelley Deal 6000 York Blvd – Acetone Skyskrape – Idaho Vivea – Ariel M Self Ignition – Silver Jews chairs in the backyard with Parke – Kan Kan Wallflower – Bob Dylan Pop Song/She Liked Horses – Oldstar “Broken Hearted At The Bottle Club” Live In Detroit (2024) Silver Shoes – Ampersand She Goes by Another Name – Kan Kan Locket – Crush23 Twins – Calla Ward Any Day – Bizarre Anyones Style – Daisies Slowfire – Sciflyer Can’t be Bothered – Idle County To Be Rich Should Be a Crime – Cola Boyy Cameron Says – Outwest Four – Elm
Listen to Kan Kan’s mix here !
Listen to all things Kan Kan everywhere now!
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo Courtesy of Kan Kan
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Burlington-based artist Lily Seabird.
Earlier this year, Lily Seabird released her third LP titled Trash Mountain via Lame-O records, which found the songwriter developing a more tender sonic display of acoustic laments, warming textures and melodic meanders. While building from the bare bones, these songs embrace the simple and worn in, like knowing how far you can lean back in the old porch chairs before it’s too late or noticing the outline of foot markings on a doormat that is familiar with its responsibilities. Seabird so instinctually illustrates the connections that we share with what’s around us, and whether or not it’s clear from the beginning, that search for understanding becomes the heart within her writing and the sincerity that drives her performance.
About the playlist, Seabird shared;
“This is a playlist I made before the tour. It’s a mix of songs I found on the numero group playlists and songs by friends.”
Listen to Lily Seabird’s playlist here!
You can listen to Trash Mountain out everywhere now!
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo by Eliza Callahan
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Portland-based artist Saia Kuli of the project Guitar.
Guitar’s most recent release, 2024’s Casting Spells on Turtlehead, leans into a level of unpredictability, coming upon a post-punk antiquity and kicking it further down the road, Kuli creates a free flow of sound unhindered by its brutalist edge. Throughout the project’s catalog, Kuli has shown that there is a method to the madness, switching gears so casually it feels natural to the first-time listener and consequential to the longtime fans who are excited for what’s next. But through it all, while still grasping to melodic fixations, what fills a Guitar song is almost a pity towards silence – not that it needs to be filled for silence’s sake, but rather offers the possibility of something new that can’t be refused.
About the playlist, Saia said;
When it comes to playlists I’m very heavy on feeling it out. I just start throwing stuff on and then look for that that flow. This playlist has some songs that came out really recently and some songs that I’ve revisited year after year for many years. Some of the tracks on here come from very very deep in my YouTube likes. I tried to use making this playlist as a reason to go find old stuff I used to love and put it beside new stuff I love.
Listen to the playlist here!
Listen to Casting Spells on Turtlehead and other projects from Guitar out everywhere!
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Philly-based artist Carmen Perry.
As a member of the beloved band Remember Sports, Perry’s songwriting became a crucial part of many people’s lives, establishing rich, cheeky melodies with a type of emotional intensity and vulnerability that has stuck with so many. This week, Perry is releasing her upcoming solo album Eyes Like a Mirror via Mtn. Laurel Recording Co. It’s an album of intuition and curiosity, finding Perry embracing the simple things around her in order to help clear up life’s more complicated paths.
About the playlist, Perry said;
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of the mirror, and everything it is often used to represent lyrically: self-reflection, identity, discovery, and transformation. I like the idea of a symbol that gets used by all different kinds of writers to mean essentially the same thing, but in a multitude of different ways. These are some of my favorite songs that take on the mirror, and the act of reflection, by artists that have really inspired me throughout my life. I tried to structure the playlist so that it takes the listener through a journey, and brings them back to where they started, but changed in some small way.”
You can listen to Perry’s playlist here as well as on apple music!
Eyes Like a Mirror is set to be released this Friday via Mtn. Laurel Recording Co. You can pre-order it now as well as on vinyl.
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo by Catherine Dwyer
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Eli Raymer of the Asheville-based project Good Trauma.
Along with playing in other bands such as Powder Horns, Tongues of Fire, Idle County and Trust Blinks, Good Trauma is Raymer’s place to be fully enveloped in his own little world. Releasing his latest album In Succession last year, where he embraced more broken folk structures, Raymer’s writing is where tension and intuition link arms and sincerity and distrust break the hold, beautifully capturing that triumphant feeling of making it through another rough day while still looking forward to whatever is next.
About the playlist, Raymer shares;
Here’s a playlist I curated for you! I tried to capture my daily listening perspective from morning to night, Breakfast to the bar, sensible to foolish.
Listen to Raymer’s Playlist here;
Listen to In Sucession and other Good Trauma releases out everywhere now! Tapes available at I’m Into Life Records.
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Francie Medosch of the Philly-based project Florry.
This Friday, Florry is set to release their sophomore album Sounds Like… out via Dear Life Records, establishing the group in its fullest, and quite naturally, most rockin’ form yet. The music of Florry is pronounced in simplicity. Not of musical structure or emotional depth, but rather the way in which these songs stick to you and your surroundings with such ease; the simplicity of what can be the true pleasures in life. With rowdy guitar work and bona fide melodies, Florry plays like a shoot-the-shit with your closest friends, a pile of beer cans from the night before, a scenic route with good company, or a full tank of gas and no destination ahead.
the ugly hug 