Sounds Good is a monthly roundtable where we ask Straight staff what their ears are plugged into during one of our morning meetings. We’ve got a pretty diverse set of tastes, so there’s absolutely no cohesion here: just good vibes. And honestly, that sounds good.

This month, we cheated, and everyone answered over Slack like the cowards we are.

V: I’ve been on a big ’80s kick recently, since seeing Sasha Colby absolutely body “Like A Prayer” last month. There’s something about synths that does the damn thing to me! Billy Idol’s classic “Rebel Yell” has found its way back into my regular rotation, with its spiky riffs and vocals that straddle punk and glam.

And in a different direction, I finally got around to listening to Death Cab for Cutie’s 2022 record Asphalt Meadows. Although Ben Gibbard has truly had too many projects to count at this point, his stuff with Death Cab remains the most complex and captivating. Though not the strongest song off the album, I feel compelled to shout out “Wheat Like Waves” for being a solid slice of Canadiana. Despite the fact that the band is from Seattle.

Sara: All my faves are releasing new music these days, so I’ve been listening to the singles “Canopy” by Charlotte Day Wilson and “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other” by Orville Peck (with Willie Nelson!), as well as Tigers Blood, which is the latest album from Waxahatchee. “Evil Spawn” is an early favourite from the album: twangy, upbeat, and full of folksy bite. 

I am going to all three of these artists’ shows when they hit Vancouver stages in the coming months and am BEYOND STOKED.

V: Nobody is channeling Brokeback Mountain (2005) like Orville Peck is channeling Brokeback Mountain (2005). Who knew gay cowboys would be such a cultural touchpoint in 2024?

Vicki: I am really going to tell on myself right now, but I am one of those annoying fucks doing the BMO half marathon. You can tell because it’s consumed every part of my life, including what I’m currently listening to. 

As someone who took up running later, in my thirties, I make it easier for myself by listening to what I call “head-empty” music. Think of singles like “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Illusion” by Dua Lipa, and “SHEESH” by BABYMONSTER. Kim Petras’ Slut Pop Miami EP also has an embarrassing amount of plays for me. I am not looking to be challenged, but I will draw the line at listening to Jojo Siwa. 

Angela: I’m listening to Maggie Rogers’ new album, Don’t Forget Me. I saw her tease a couple of songs from this record when I saw her in Seattle last summer, and the whole album is so comforting—it feels like coming home. When I heard “So Sick of Dreaming” and “If Now Was Then”, it reminded me so much of Joni Mitchell’s songwriting. 

I’m also listening to Hozier’s EP Unheard. “Too Sweet” was trending on TikTok for the longest time. “Empire Now” has an orchestral score; there are so many instruments and voices. It kind of sounds like an uprising on a song; it’s really guttural and hits you in your heart. And “Wildflower and Barley”, with Allison Russell, is also so great. 

Mike: Ever do a road trip with two confirmed music snobs, a Police fan, and one person who refuses to cue up anything but will loudly proclaim that anything new and loud—Water From Your Eyes, Hit Bargain, Mannequin Pussy, Otoboke Beavers—sounds like it’s “something from a car commercial”?

I just did, and as much as the scenery outside the small Argentinian town of Tilcara was insanely beautiful, the car rides sometimes got exhausting, especially since one of the snob’s automatic default is the (admittedly great) Dean Blunt, and the Police fan can listen to “Spirits in the Material World” 20 times in a row without getting sick of it.

To keep the peace—and avoid having to listen to Zenyatta Mondatta on endless repeat—we finally agreed to putting an old-school 160GB iPod and its 17,051-song library on shuffle. That made for some magic, if unlikely moments: the drive through towering rust-coloured mountains and barren desert valleys soundtracked by Mariachi El Bronx’s “48 Roses”, Rage Against the Machine’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, Kendrick Lamar’s “These Walls”, and Bembeya Jazz National’s “Ah Kani”.

Great as all that was, nothing hit harder than “Mojo Man” from Japan’s hypnotically assaultive Zoobombs, making one wonder why the hell 1997’s Welcome Back Zoobombs! is impossible to find in record stores and streaming services today. Luckily, you can find it on YouTube until someone rectifies that. Crank it, hit the gas pedal, and then hang on, the best part of an impossibly great song coming at the 2:37 breakdown. Sometimes, when you’re trapped in a car with three lunatics, noise is the best way to drown out, well, everything.