Earworm

Published on 11/10/2024.

I thought I had escaped the dreaded work commute, but after a few years of freedom, I am back to five days a week behind the wheel. Driving at 25 miles per hour on the M60 motorway in the UK, crawling in eco mode, is not exactly what I would call a good time. As such, the three-hour round trips require a lot of tunes to fuel me through the journey.

Although the drives tend to be much the same, the music I play always changes. Some mornings I want to hammer my nostalgic 2000s pop punk playlist, belting out Blink-182 and imitating (with the usual exaggeration) Tom Delonge’s American drawl.

Other mornings I need a little bit of James Brown’s soul power in the form of People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul. Something about each astrological sign being encouraged to ‘get up’ just works for me whilst I am waiting for my morning coffee to kick in – and, of course, ‘Pisces, holler!’ gets an acknowledging woo! There is also a fantastic trombone instrumental at around the two-minute-forty mark from Fred Wesley which takes me back to my days in high school playing in the swing band. I even still have my saxophone lovingly stored in my attic to this day.

There was also a morning recently full of Sum 41, hurling out their album Fat Lip as I meandered through the bands of my younger years. The energetic Canadian punk rock band were great for their iconic sound, incorporating thrash metal elements and angsty teenage lyrics. They were huge in 2001, and I remember how often MTV used to cycle through All Killer No Filler.

Origins of My Music Taste

There were two major eras for me that influenced my music taste over the years: school and university.

School

My trip down Memory Lane with all of the pop punk beats of the 2000s got me thinking of my difficult teenage years. Halfway through high school, I ended up moving from a general comprehensive to a public school. It was a weird transition because I was used to walking to school with all of the ‘grebs’ wearing Green Day hoodies over their slouchy school uniform. Going from that to having to wearing a formal uniform with blazer, tie, crisp white shirts and knee-length skirts left me feeling like a fish out of water. Let us just say that there was a period of adjusment.

That is not to say that it was all bad. At weekends, I would attend house parties that played diverse ranges of music. I remember one particular party which the police shut down due to a noise complaint from a neighbour, leaving us to seek out a local ‘alternative’ music night. On the bus on the way was the first time I heard Rancid’s Roots Radicals. The lyrics seemed poignant for the moment:

I started thinking,
You know I started drinking
You know I don’t remember too much of that day.
Something struck me funny
When we ran out of money,
Where do you go now when you’re only fifteen?

At 16 years old, I moved into the school’s sixth form. My friend’s brother had a pal named Ben that I used to see around from time to time. He was quite a quiet soul, but you could see him coming from a mile away: he had a mohawk and had self-tattooed the word ‘punk’ on the inside of his lip. Ben used to make me CDs of old school punk bands like Misfits, and I would reciprocate with modern day punk rock mixes of my own. This was my first introduction to Die, Die My Darling.

University

I spent a lot of my evenings during my university years listening to music and dancing. About three months into my degree, I got my first bar job working at the famous Leadmill. The wage was somewhat questionable, but that was all compensated by all of the awesome indie bands that I saw. It was like getting to go to gigs for free and getting my taxi ride home paid afterwards.

On one of the more eventful nights, I remember turning up to work and being told Arctic Monkeys, in their Favourite Worst Nightmare era, were performing a secret gig that night. The queue of people outside thought it was going to be an ordinary night, but little did they know that Alex Turner and his pals were in the building. I messaged my friends on my battered iPhone to tell them: Come down ASAP. Monkeys are here!

The gig was great musically, but my gosh, I thought they were one of the most boring bands I have ever seen live. There was no interaction with the crowd; they were awkward Northerners just wanting to play music. Still, the young Sheffield lads managed to get the whole club singing along to Mardy Bum.

I attended as many club nights as I could when I was not working. The night always started in my student house, usually ending up with my friends and I pumping our first in the air to the iconic Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis. Then we would head to Leadmill. They would often play slower songs like Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, so I would often slink into one of the smaller rooms to find something like Kings of Leon’s The Bucket blaring out of the speakers to 400 people.

Later Life: Adventures with Billy

After university, I met my partner, Billy. He is a Northern lad who is now the love of my life. He was a breath of fresh air, and we bonded over our shared music taste. Attending gigs is our passion, and we have been lucky enough to see some great artists in the 15 years we have been together.

In Manchester

One of my favourites was Pixies. We had tickets to see them at the Opera House when we lived in Sydney, but it was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. Thankfully, we got to see them in Manchester a few years later. Hearing Where Is My Mind? live was epic at the outdoor arena. It was a warm evening, and all of the audience swayed and sang along.

The Cure also performed at Manchester Arena a few years ago, and I remember the Cheshire-cat smile on Billy’s face when they played Just Like Heaven. We both agreed that if we ever decided to get married, this will be our song of choice.

In Oslo

We recently travelled to Norway to see Blink-182 in concert at the Spektrum Arena because we wanted to see them in a smaller venue and wanted to combine this gig with our love of travel. The set list was immense, covering all of my favourite tracks. I even got to hear Dammit from Dude Ranch!

Recent Years

In recent years, I have become quite the fan of indie-folk music. I have seen Kurt Vile perform three times, and he seems to get better every time. His collaborative album with Courtney Barnett, interestingly titled Lotta Sea Lice, is one of my all-time favourite albums. It takes me back to living in Australia, my favourite place in the world and where I hope some day to return. The lyrics to Over Everything take me back to walks along the coastal route from Coogee to Bondi.

When I step outside to a beautiful morning
Where the trees are all wagging, my hair-flag waving,
The scenery raging.

Final Thoughts

I look forward to my annual update on Spotify, which tells me my top tracks of the year. It usually highlights how diverse my music taste is, but also points out how often I become obsessed with great new songs. I am not a gambling woman, but if I had to guess my top track for 2024, I reckon it is going to be Marinade by Dope Lemon as it has had hundreds of plays already.

However the Spotify list turns out, at least I know it will give me plenty of ideas for my car journeys next year. The commute itself will not shrink any time soon, but at least I can count on my favourite tunes to get me through the ordeal.

About the Author

Jennifer Brown