I don’t know how to say this, y’all. We’re entering some shitty months. Nothing signifies that more than Daylight Savings Time. No, we aren’t gonna educate you on that nonsense. I’m not gonna diginify it with a Google. I think there’s some old timey farm reason for why they do this. This time of year reminds me of that weather forecast from GroundHog Day. “It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”

That said, we have good news.

You can rage against that malaise. You wanna feel alive? Try wearing a t-shirt outside right now. You’re blood is gonna be pumping. It’s dark at 5pm? Cool, you don’t have to feel weird about gettin’ your buzz on and playin’ some pinball. To quote another great poet, Fieldy of Korn, “The freaks come out at night.”

This playlist has no Korn… or Ground Hog music. What it does have are solid gold hits that will wake you the fuck up so you can , grab that GC, get more multipliers, etc. For real. Get them headphones on weirdo, we’re going on a hit parade.

Nudge 8

Do not go gentle into that Daylight Savings Time

What’s on here? Great question. We’re all over the place, but if there’s one common feeling represented here, I guess it’d be melancholy? Don’t get us wrong, these songs still whip ass — but they aren’t brash. They recognize that their body’s are failing, their relationship’s are fading, their friends are dying. You know what? They keep going. That’s what an actual badass does. Keep ‘er moving. Even though it’s dark before dinner, we don’t care. We’re gonna drink deep from the chalice of life. We’re gonna score big. We’re gonna sit in the Captain’s chair EVERY GAME of Star Trek, minimum. That’s what we do.

Feeling Like I do - Superdrag

Superdrag existed during that time when bands were absolutely PAINFULLY earnest. This was the golden era of the internet, before social media made us all self conscious of our horrible personal aesthetics. You could wear a sweater and a knit hat and like sing about how sad you are to not be able to have hangovers with your ex anymore. That’s what this song is about, and it rules. I listened to this song right before I ripped off a cool 800 mil on Godzilla, and I’m not exagerating when I say that it was a completely surreal experience.

Getting a Godzilla multiball hits different when you’re hearing someone wail over wavy guitars. I just wanna sleep it off with you. Dayum. Gritty.

And like just to reiterate: These truly are the best guitar tones you’ll ever hear. Blue Oyster Cult could never.

Access - R.M.F.C.

R.M.F.C. gets better with every single they release. When I say they, I mean Buz Clatworth (helluva name), the writer/producer/and instrumentalist on all his albums. What kinda music? The perfect kind to get you pumped for pinball. This one especially carried me through a couple intense games of simpsons. There’s something cool, young, and badass about Access. It sorta feels like Bart smoking a cig and rolling thru Springfield like the biggest gangster of all time. Kinda pissant energy — in a good way. Did it help me at all? No, this Simpsons whipped my ass up and down Eau Claire Games and Arcade. They have it set up as a pretty, pretty sadistic game. No posts on the outlanes at all. Sheesh. Release the hounds.

Sad Tomorrow - The Muffs

Speaking of geniuses, is there a more underrated songwriter than Kim Shattuck? She wrote some of the best sneering pop songs of the late 20th/early 21st century. None better than the hit of all hits, Sad Tomorrow. It’s like if Nirvana wrote a song that, you know, actually had fun a little bit. Plus those harmonies. Unfortunately, Shattuck passed a couple years ago. Big loss, but you know what? It’s kinda bad ass to go back and listen to this “fuck you, I’m young” energy. You know? That’s a pretty badass legacy to leave to the world — and man, this carried me for like all of September. Tons of The Muffs, but also specifically this song. Did it help me understand the rules to Breakshot? Kinda, in that channeling the spirit of Kim, I decided to not give a fuck and just have fun. In that way, it was a resounding success.