playlist: the best punk songs of april 2024

The launch month for see/saw has been an overwhelming and deeply positive experience. Thank you for reading, for subscribing, and for telling people about this new project. There was this period at Pitchfork right before my son was born where I felt wildly energized as a writer. I was on this prolific streak where all I wanted to do was interview artists and write about bands like Abi Ooze and Phil & the Tiles and Palánta. 

It’s almost like I’m back there, but honestly the feeling is so much bigger this time. I’m more excited, I’m writing more, and I feel way more engaged with readers than I ever have before. This playlist is gonna feel special to me for a long time because of the month it represents.

The first month of see/saw has included a Q1 best of list, interviews with Enemic Interior and Jonah Falco, a playlist inspired by the great new Cindy Lee album, an essay about a Marked Men reunion show, and three “Punk This Week” round-up posts. Before we get into the playlist itself, I figured this is as good a place as any to share a few updates:

• If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a new logo in the top left corner by the great Ian Teeple (Silicone Prairie, Natural Man Band, Warm Bodies). I almost cried when I first saw it. It is cooler than my wildest dreams led me to believe it would’ve been. Living in a Chemical World remains one of my favorite records of all time, so I’m still in disbelief.
• The great Tyler Nickell made some truly unbelievable flyers. If you want to put up flyers in your community, please hit me up: eminsker@gmail.com.
• There’s an Instagram account for see/saw now. Follow along if you want to see exceptional pull quotes or my absurd vlogs promoting this project.
• I’ve enabled a reply-to feature for the newsletter, so you should be able to just respond to the emails if you wan to send me some questions or comments going forward. Please do! Maybe we’ll do a mailbag from time to time, who knows. I don’t wanna step on Electric Nebraska’s toes.
• Paid subscribers now have access to a comment section, so that’s another way to engage.
• The paywall goes live for “Punk This Week” posts starting Friday, so if you’ve been enjoying those recommendations, please do upgrade to a paid subscription in an effort to grow this reader-supported endeavor.
• If you’re uneasy about paying the $4/month or $40/year but still want to read “Punk This Week,” hit me up! We’ll work out a deal through the bartering program (and yes, I am serious about that).

I have some crazy dreams about where see/saw goes from here, and it only happens with you reading, sharing, and throwing some time and money behind it. Like maybe it’ll be the kind of thing where I pay my friends to write for this. Maybe a zine? We’ll see. Slow and steady.

The playlist begins fun and ends intense, from rock to hardcore. (I guess that Abe and the Shits goes pretty hard, but it’s a playlist, gotta start strong.) Skip to the middle if you need a kick in the pants, but this entire thing is good. Thanks again for reading. The playlist is linked here or available to hear as an embed in the browser version of this post.

see/saw: the best punk songs of april 2024

Abe and the Shits: LOVE
Bermuda Squares: Car Accident
Parsnip: Turn to Love
Diode: Card Dealer
CRAN: Rejet
Billiam: Where Is Jackson Reid Briggs?
Busted Head Racket: Girl Anymore (I Don’t Wanna)
Sex Germs: Crocodile
Shruggy: Eliminate It
Woodstock 99: Hotter Than a Half-Fucked Fox in a Forest Fire
Sooks: Library
Lambrini Girls: God’s Country
The Dogs: We Are the Dogs
Program: Sparks
Soup Activists: Chaos Girls
Liquid Lunch: John’s in Trouble (Again)
Spoonful: Robot Hell
Cervix: Compliance
Osbo: FC
Cruciform: Chunky Was Here
Rouge: Hungry Ghosts
Pork Belly: Lucky Start
Laxity: Mój Sen
Balta: Ideg
AMØR: Lagrimas Negras
Prisāo: Cárcere
Alienator: Buried Alive