stuff tagged with "summer of 'do the thing'"
Current Vibes - May 2026
I jumped head first into the punk/metal pool this month. Here's what's been bumping on repeat for me lately:
Less Than Jake - Anthem
I remember a friend of mine (whose birthday is today, ironically) playing this album in his basement on repeat as we tried to 100% Super Mario 64. Good, clean ska fun. Most of the albums on this list contain songs that I haven’t really listened to, but while chopping up the tree in the back yard these last couple weeks, I’ve had time to immerse myself. And I gotta say, listening to the lyrics of “She’s Gonna Break Soon,” I found myself with a literal lol.
Neck Deep - Life’s Not Out to Get You
I was working out of a Starbucks near my parents house this week and listened to this album the entire day while coding. I reached out to them in the morning to see if they wanted to grab lunch, and sure enough, an hour later, we were at Snuffy’s Malt Shop where my dad peer pressured me into eating a malt. The album whales too.
Mumford and Sons - Prizefighter
My Current Vibes playlist contains albums for every mood, and this album fills the mood for “Sunday morning.” There are a couple of songs that hit right when I need them: Alleycat asks: “’Is this all there is?’ What do you mean, is this not enough for you?” Clover reminds me to “slow down.” Cannot wait to see them again this summer!
The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation
I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral came across KTIM while I was cleaning out my garage1, and I fell over myself to add this album to current vibes. It turns out that particular song combines elements from several other songs on the album. I dunno, I used to dog on myself for enjoying emo, but 38 year old Tim ain’t got time to dog on hisself anymore. I’m in my emo era.
Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance
I played an unreal amount of Madden ’04 as a kid, and that’s how I discovered Thrice. I think this album is classified as “post-hardcore”, but there’s hints of emo and pop-punk in there as well. So many of these songs bring me back to high school.
System of a Down - Toxicity
Again, brings me right back to high school. We’re working towards converting the garage into a music zone; as soon as that’s good to go, I’m gonna fill it with a drum kit and play this album front to back. Terribly, but enthusiastically.
The Rezillos - Can’t Stand the Rezillos
If I had to pick a number one album right now, it’s this one. Still makes me chuckle thinking about discovering this one from a “What’s in your Bag” segment at Amoeba Records with Tony Hawk. My favorite song right now is (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures, which makes me think of my wife every time I hear it.
Pynch - Howling at a Concrete Moon
Another one that’s been on the Current Vibes rotation for a couple years now. 2009 is how I discovered this band, but there’s really not a bad song on this album. Some of these albums are useful for processing how depressing our world can be, and Pynch has a natural ability to write lyrics that speak to finding your way in spite of the hardship. Put another way: listening to this album makes me feel less lonely.
Pynch - Beautiful Noise
This album is less cynical than its predecessor Howling at a Concrete Moon while maintaining the relatable storytelling. I get Post-Punk / New-Wave stuck in my head a lot.
New Found Flory - Listen Up!
I’m so glad these boys are still rocking as hard as they were back in high school. The lyrics in this album are chock full of uplifting messages (Laugh It Off reminds us to not take life so seriously, You Got This is self evident, 100% reminds me of the ‘Do The Thing’ theme of this summer).
Kisses - The Heart of the Nightlife
I burned this album to a CD-R back in college and listened to it constantly. It was another one that came across KTIM and it’s filled in the spot for “music to groove to while doing housework”.
I Prevail - Lifelines
I got to see my nephew play baseball last weekend. These 10/11 year olds have walk up music. Can you believe that? The high school one town over just got a jumbotron. Freaking wild. Anyway, someone’s walkup song was Chaos and I had to Shazam it. This album reminds me of Hybrid Theory: a genre-blurring record with screaming and melody, metal and electronic. I guess it’s “metalcore”.
The Cords - The Cords
Music that sounds upbeat and positive with depressing and hopeless lyrics is extremely compelling to me. I know I’ve said this about this album in the past, but I was hooked on this jangle pop album from the first 8 bars. October is my current favorite jam (“It’s not that it’s gone, it’s just not the same as it was” hits hard).
Cheekface - It’s Sorted
Similar to Pynch, I listen to this album and feel less lonely. Popular 2’s observations about everyone being the unwitting stars of several Ring camera movies makes me snort laugh every time I think about it. I also frequently get I Am Continuing to Do my Thing stuck in my head. Excited to see these guys in October!
blink-182 - ONE MORE TIME...
Everything I wrote about New Found Glory’s new album applies to this one. ANTHEM PART 3 continues to be the theme for 2026.
The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie
Everything I wrote about The Cords and Pynch applies to this gang as well. I saw them perform around my birthday last year, and I still often think about how the backing vocals aren’t actually Elizabeth, but rather the boys singing falsetto. If I were going to be in a band, I’d want to be a drummer for a band like this. Or The Rezillos. Or Cheekface. Or The Cords. Or System of a Down. Maybe blink, if I practice a lot.
If any of these albums or descriptions remind you of other albums, shoot them my way!
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KTIM is what I’ve decided to call “shuffle all tracks” on Plex. Turns out when you spend several years curating a music collection, you don’t need a big tech algorithm to surface new music: “shuffle all” works pretty dang well. And I call it KTIM because I have always wanted to be a radio DJ, and if I were to file for an FCC license, my radio station would start with a K instead of a W because of where I live. The more you know! ↩
I got a tattoo
It's not yet summer, but I'm declaring 2026 to be the summer where I "Do The Thing."
Shannon and I have been talking about getting tattoos for years now. We went to a friend's brewery's anniversary party this past weekend, and they had a tattoo pop-up stand. You could pick from one of roughly 30 tattoos.
Mine was a no brainer: skulls have been a big part of my aesthetic lately, and this one looked perfect. Slightly smiling, like I always seem to be.
Shannon's choice, a marshmallow roasting on a flame, was similarly the perfect fit for her.
I'm very motivated to make this summer memorable. We're off to a good start.
