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.

Angela: On two opposite ends of the spectrum. I have Japanese House because after the show I just fell in love with her music even more. And her latest album is so great, particularly “Sunshine Baby.” It bounces between being happy and sad in a way that finds a healthy medium where you can feel both things at the same time. 

And on the complete opposite side: Tate McRae is coming out with an album and she's from Alberta, and her album cover is her wearing hockey pads. I think that's so iconic because her sound is very similar to Britney Spears. I actually think she’s gonna be the Canadian Britney Spears.

V: Is she a baby pop girlie? 

Angela: She’s a super pop girlie, but she’s also a really good dancer. I don’t listen to a lot of pop music, but I think she’s so talented. “exes” is the song I suggest. It’s insane. She’s gonna be Britney, I’m telling you right now. 

V: I’m a bit late to the train, which is how I always am with bands, but I started listening to Tommy Lefroy and vibing with them. It’s a Canadian singer and an American singer who both live in London and formed a duo. I’ve been listening to “Worst Case Kid” which is a sad bop. It’s winter, we’re all sad, it’s sad bop time. 

Angela: Are Tommy Lefroy together, or are they sisters? They look like twins. 

V: They’re just two people! They have Wet Leg vibes, I think. 

Angela: Maybe the more they performed together, the more they started to look like each other. 

V: I also always seem to pick a pop punk song to stay true to my roots. I’ve been listening to the Hot Mulligan acoustic cover of “MakeDamnSure” by Taking Back Sunday, which is just a blend of contemporary pop punk with old emo’s melodramatic emotions. I think it’s such a fun pairing, and kind of silly.  

Mike: Normally, for 11 months of the year, I start out every day by listening to Otep’s “Buried Alive”. But because it’s Christmas, I get to shift into a more positive headspace for five or six days. So in addition to a non-stop onslaught of Bing Crosby, I’m heavy right now on the Sufjan Stevens Christmas stuff. I would strongly suggest everyone check out “Barcarola”, which is utterly fantastic and very light. 

There’s also a great record called I’ll Stay ‘Til After Christmas, which is a bunch of alt bands. It’s extremely cringe-worthy when you hear the Dandy Warhols doing anything like this, but there’s a great song on there called “Festive Friends (Forever)” by Parenthetical Girls. 

Sara: You know when Spotify just feeds you things? I discovered—well, Spotify showed me—Goldie… Boutilier? [Editor’s note: Sara’s French is very bad] 

V: Nailed it. 

Sara: I’ve been vibing to her for maybe just the last day, so this is very recent. I feel like I say this every time, but it’s good work from home music, because I’m always looking for something that won’t distract me while I work. It’s… cute pop. [Sara puts on “Body Heat” by Goldie Boutilier.]

Mike: Sounds like a female Loverboy.

Stephen: Kinda, yeah. 

Sara: I’m really bad at talking about music. 

Angela: No one’s bad at talking about music! You like what you like. 

Sara: She’s also stun-ning. 

V: Okay, Steve, what’s your 1001 Album Playlist got for you? 

Stephen: I had Boston yesterday, which I’ve never actually listened to. Pretty good, gave it a four out of five. 

Sara: Phew, I thought you were going to say “out of 10”.  

Stephen: The song “Foreplay / Long Time” really rocked my world. But usually, I just move on from these things; I don’t really get stuck on anything. 

Did you guys see the whole Brian Jonestown Massacre thing that happened a few weeks ago? There was this huge fight between the band members, and they cancelled the show halfway through. Which was par for the course 20 years ago, but it flared up again. Anyway, it allowed me to dive back into that band. I’ve kind of gone back into their catalogue, which is vast, and a little bit hard to navigate, and all kind of sounds the same. But there’s a song that I didn’t know they had written that fucking blew my mind, called “Pish”, from 2015. 

V: What’s the vibe of the specific song? 

Stephen: Like ‘60s psych throwback. Also, the first real song off the L’Rain album is beautiful. “Our Funeral” is this elegy for humanity, basically, but really soulful and gorgeous and weird. 

V: What a cheerful note to end on.