PHOTO BY ALAN LAWRENCE (VIEW SET)
This week, we are featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss, host of Sonic Reducer, KEXP's punk show. Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004, and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. No standards are played, only original songs, most with a humorous bent. Hear him this holiday season from Noon to 6:00 PM on Monday, December 25th, and get even more seasonal songs on his 13th annual Punk Rock Christmas show on Sonic Reducer, Saturday, December 23rd.
Brian's pick for today is "Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again)" by Superchunk frontman/Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan, a 2016 self-released single.
Says Brian...
Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan walks a perfect line between emotion and outrage, and once I heard this I played it over and over again.
Mac's long-running band Superchunk are releasing their 12th album, What A Time To Be Alive, on February 16 via Merge Records (natch), and they'll be bringing the new songs to Neumos on Tuesday, February 27th. Revisit Mac's most recent visit to KEXP below, performing songs from his first solo album under his own name ("the artist formerly known as Portastatic"), Non-Believers.
Finding good new music can be a full time job, so let KEXP help! In Our Headphones brings you five song recommendations every Monday, straight from KEXP’s DJs and Music Directors. Join hosts Janice Headley and Isabel Khalili on this never-ending journey of music discovery.
Host Emily Fox and KEXP’s editorial team talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.