Your New Favorite Band's Favorite New Bands

Say that ten times fast.

When I published my guide to discovering new music, I foolishly left off one of my best tricks. Thankfully,

George Henderson

, who writes the excellent Songs from Insane Times, reminded me, and now I’ll share with the class:

Find your favourite artists' personal playlists!

New Music Discovery 101

Just imagine if you could ask your favorite band what music they stumbled on recently, or who inspired them, or what bands they’re friends with who you haven’t heard of yet.

Of course you can read interviews, but let’s not pretend that instant gratification isn’t enticing for even the biggest lovers of longform content among you.

I can think of no better antidote to a disappointing algorithmically-generated playlist of near-misses than hand-selected picks from a band you love.

Shitty as it is for artist royalties, Spotify does have some benefits. Music discovery is one of them, and artist playlists are one of its hidden gems.

I picked a handful of my own personal favorites, which you can find (way) down below.

But first, I have a special treat for you. I just need to set the stage.

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SPRINTS - Letter to Self, Playlist for All

At this point, it’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of SPRINTS. But since this is New Bands for Old Heads, I don’t like to make too many assumptions, so let’s do a little overview.

January is a tough time for record releases. By the time we get around to racking up our favorites at the end of the year, I always get nervous that the best of the firsts will get swept under the rug.

Luckily for SPRINTS, who dropped their debut LP Letter to Self just five days into the new year, they are still looming large in our short memories and attention spans.

If you haven’t listened to them yet, I’ve described them as a mix of Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Pixies, The Distillers, and PJ Harvey. Because they’re Irish, you’ll often hear about them in the same breath as Fontaines D.C., too.

I think that’s a lazy comparison, though, especially after the release of Romance (though I’m not sure anyone is still making it, to be fair). They are making their own brand of angsty, emotional post-punk.

@meandtimoryThe first (formal) entry into the 2024 #newbandsforoldheads pantheon hits all the nostalgic-but-not-derivative buttons for me

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SPRINTS’ star has risen dramatically since they released their debut. They’ve skyrocketed from relatively unknown local band to international festival mainstays, supporting big guns like IDLES, Pixies, and Gossip on tour.

They’re kind of a punk rock fairytale, if you think about it.

So when I hassled asked them if they would send me a list of their favorite new bands, especially considering they have at least four such lists already available, I was thrilled that they agreed.

Yeah, I know I’m cheating. I made a music curation TikTok account, posted a bunch of videos, got the attention of a band I liked, slid into their DMs, and suckered them into responding to me. Then I made their list into a playlist.

And let me tell you…

Do you know what you get when you ask a great new band to give you their own great new band recommendations? That’s right, ace. You get a perfect fucking playlist.