White Sea "Stay Young, Get Stoned"

"Stay young, get stoned." It's the kind of chorus Katy Perry would write, if she didn't have young, impressionable girls watching every move she makes. If it weren't for the PG-13 lyrical content, White Sea would have a bonafide pop hit on her hands. Well, not a let's-get-this-party-started kind of pop hit, but at least a solid deep cut.

Check out more from her here.

My Favorite Song About Robots Taking Over

Surprisingly, my favorite song about robots taking over is not The Streets' The Robots are Taking Over. (That's my second favorite.) The top spot is reserved for Citizens of Tomorrow by Tokyo Police Club.

This 2006 tune into the future--all the way to 2009--to imagine a frightening brave new world.

Let's take a look at some of the lyrics.

Our robot masters will know
How to clean this mess up
And build a better world
For man and machine alike
For the boys and the girls
Who are slaves building spaceships at night
In the fluorescent light.
That's 2009.

Child slaves building spaceships? Frightening indeed. But it doesn't stop there.

I have a microchip
Implanted in my heart
So if I try to escape
The robots will blow me apart
And my limbs will go flying
And land before the ones that I love. 

Man, 2009 sounds HORRIBLE!

But it sure makes for a great song.

And now back to The Streets. My favorite white British rapper (aka Mike Skinner) loved to rhyme about the wonders and ills of technology. (In fact, he wrote a whole album about it called Computers and Blues.) 

Here are a few lines from The Robots are Taking Over [VIDEO]:

We used to control it but now we let it control us
Made it to connect us but it turns it into loners
Now they double check our names and act like they don't know us
And one day they turn then they will certainly dethrone us.

Dang robots. 

But Mr. Skinner also writes a few nice things about bleeps and boops, including my number one favorite song about cell phones.

And who could forget Skinner's heartfelt shout-out to the ultrasound machine as he sings to his unborn child on Blip on the Screen [VIDEO]? Priceless.

But no list of robots and phones and computers is complete without Bad Religion's 21st Century Digital Boy. Greg Graffin wants to punch technology in the face!

Check out all these songs here. [VIDEO PLAYLIST]

Song of the Day: Midnight Hours by Wunder Wunder

If you're looking for a kind-hearted piece of pop, you're in luck. Midnight Hours by Wunder Wunder is a gentle, wavvy bit of ambient pop that feels like lying on the summer grass, just as the sun's starting to go down.


Their new album, Everything Infinite, comes out July 15 on Dovecote Records.

Cloud Nothing's Psychic Trauma

Another new Cloud Nothings single from their forthcoming album "Here and Nowhere Else." And another success. Check out "Psychic Trauma" below.

If I Had to Choose Just One Track from Streetlight Manifesto's The Hand that Thieves

I think I'd have go with If Only For the Memories. It makes me want to sing along, pump my fist, and eat a chimichanga...all at the same time.

Talk about an emotional trifecta!

The 10 Best Lyrics from In Utero

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since Nirvana released In Utero, one of my favorite albums of all time. There has been a lot of press around the album's anniversary and accompanying box set re-release, including some really great interviews with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. All of which has been making me pretty nostalgic.

I can still remember riding my bike to the record store to buy it and then anxiously putting it into my boombox. I sat on my bedroom floor and listened, with the cassette sleeve in my hand, so I could follow on along with the lyrics. (Up until that point, I thought the refrain to Heart Shaped Box was "Hey Wayne, I've got a new complaint." Which didn't make a lot of sense.)

Speaking of lyrics, here are my top 10 lines from the album.

10. You can't fire me because I quit, Throw me in the fire and I won't throw a fit (Scentless Apprentice)

Has there ever been a better song written about a baby born without the ability to smell--a literal scentless apprentice?

9. Angel left wing, right wing, broken wing (Milk It)

Along with Tourette's (which has no recognizable words), Milk It is the abrasive song on the album. Between howls of "Doll steak!" and "Test meat!" Kurt offers up some of his signature wordplay.

8. I own my own pet virus, I get to pet and name her (Milk it)

Loved this lyric so much that I named my very first band Pet Virus. We only knew about five songs: Nirvana's Polly, Today by Smashing Pumpkins, and a couple of Green Day songs.

7. I think I'm dumb, or maybe just happy (Dumb)

Simple. Perfect. But ironic, given Kurt was neither dumb nor happy.

6. She'll come back as fire and burn all the liars, leave a blanket of ash on the ground (Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle)

Frances Farmer was never a single, but it's one of the best tracks on the album. It's perfect Nirvana, totally heavy but completely accessible.

5. I miss the comfort in being sad (Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle)

Again, what a great song.

4. I love you for what I am not, I did not want what I have got (Radio Friendly Unit Shifter)

Obviously, the band was conflicted about being punk rockers who were wildly successful in the mainstream. This song--intended to be the opposite of a tune that would sell records or "shift units")--is catchy in spite of itself.

3. If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to ask someone else first. I'm too busy acting like I'm not naive. I've seen it all, I was here first (Very Ape)

Classic Nirvana contradictions. I'm naive, but I'm pretending I'm not. But I'm really not. I know more about this anyone else.

2. I've been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap, I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black (Heart Shaped Box)

Haunting.

1. Teenage against has paid off well, now I'm bored and old (Serve the Servants)

Best. opening line. Ever. Just about every article about grunge focused on Gen Xers' angst, ennui, and lack of motivation. Kurt turned it back around, happily implying that he'd cashed in on the stereotypes of the slacker generation...he'd moved on...and left everyone else behind.

Twenty years later, In Utero isn't as good as it was in 1993. It's better.

May I Recommend: GRMLN

Even though it's 2013, I spend a lot of time time thinking about 1992. Specifically about how much I love the 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray by the Lemonheads. I have yet to find a band that can construct a perfectly-crafted three minute pop/rock song quite like Evan Dando.

And then I got an email about GRMLN. The band is basically a 20-year-old dude named Yoodoo Park. He was born in Japan and moved to Southern California as a kid. The SoCal sun shines all over Empire, Park's lighthearted debut album. Ah, pop/rock. 

I can't get enough of the ultra-bouncy Teenage Rhythm. It makes me wanna dance. In fact, I think I will. 

Empire clocks in under 30 minutes. It's a great listen all the way through.