Night Driving

I'm constantly consuming music, and one particularly convenient way to do that is to use my beloved 80GB iPod classic that I've had since the sixth grade. I may have outgrown it's capacity, but I can't afford anything else, so I have to make do. It's a great companion for the stressful, crowded Lextran rides on Lime in the afternoons and the perfect mood-setter for my walks in the woods. Though I may substitute CDs for my iPod while I'm in my car, I'd say that this idea of playlists transfers well to driving. For this assignment, I have selected 5 songs that are perfect for "night driving" as the title of this post suggests. Ever since I received my license this summer, I have found that some of my most enjoyable moments listening to music come from this very occasion.

1. "Breathe The Fire" // The Soft Moon
2. "ABC City" // Holograms
3. "End Times" // Weekend
4. "There Is No Food" // Have A Nice Life
5. "When You Sleep" // My Bloody Valentine

The Soft Moon is the kind of darkwave/goth rock band that puts me right behind the wheel no matter where I am, which stands to reason that it sounds even better when I really am behind the wheel. For me, this whole album sounds like the soundtrack to a serial killer's predatory drives at night in the '80s. Whenever I listen to it, I sort of imagine that I'm one of those terrible teenagers from The Toxic Avenger who drive around killing people. The whisper vocals, the reverb, and the pounding rhythm all add up to this wonderful creepiness.

Holograms are a relatively new post-punk band out of eastern Europe and their sound reflects the kind of industrial desolation that their lives consist of. They sound like a more energetic Joy Division, and this dark, angry strain of post-punk has always been some of the best night driving music of all time.

Weekend are a Slumberland Records band, and accordingly, they pump out music heavily inspired by classic shoegaze but with their own post-punk edge. The caked on reverb, guitar noise, and obscured vocals all add up to this colossal cloud of sound that is simply unforgiving. I once drove through a thunderstorm listening to this album, and it was a haunting experience. You don't even need to know that this song is called "End Times" to know that this sounds like the apocalypse.

Have A Nice Life have only released a single album, but they are easily my favorite band. This is because they are able to seamlessly fuse some of the best genres in underground music: shoegaze, post-punk, post-rock, drone, black metal, industrial, etc. Deathconsciousness is a double album that can only be described as crushing. It is dark, it is depressing, it is heavy, and it is oh so wonderful. This particular song is the end of the first record "The Plow That Broke The Plains", and it works extremely well as a closer to this and a transition to "The Future." It sounds like the band have just bleed out on the last six songs and are collapsing on themselves, but despite their condition, they still produce a bass-heavy slow-burner that crushes you like all of the rest. Since late night driving alone can often feel desolate, this song pairs with that very well.

Finally, I will end with a classic. My Bloody Valentine are the easily the biggest name in shoegaze and for good reason. Their 1991 album Loveless is a masterpiece my most standards and each song offers a thick wall of loud, effect-laden guitars and beautiful vocal melodies barely hidden by the music. "When You Sleep" has always been one of my favorite songs, and it feels like the perfect end to a night of driving. Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher are seemingly lulling me to sleep in this song, softly carrying me back home.