Indie Music Madness: A Seven-Song Playlist for Fall Festivities | Philly Music Vocalizer

I love fall so much that every year one of my friends or I throw a "Fall Festivities" party. It's kind of like a New Year's party, except it's for fall. My friends and I do fun things like bobbing for rum-soaked apples, adult-themed pumpkin carving contests, and roasting marshmallows as we sit around a bonfire and BS in one of our backyards. During this party, of course, I put on one of my carefully curated playlists. Here are some fallish frolics I'll be playing at this weekend's fall festivities.

1. Wolf Alice — "Bros"

This is a super-catchy song about best friends, wild best friends, who are so wild that they seem like they were raised by wolves. This is such a funny topic to me, because when a few of my gal pals and I were younger, we liked to roam the woods near my house and pretend we were a pack of wolves. No lie. And yeah, I know — we were really cool back then. But we had such a fun time doing it last weekend that I think we're going to do it again this weekend too.

2. Parts & Labor — "Rest"

The opening lyrics to this autumn aural awesomeness are positively poetic: "And after all these spinning clocks have come to rest and done their best to throw us we’re still hanging on with both our hands." However, listening to "Rest" by Parts & Labor doesn't make me feel restful at all. It makes me feel exuberant, like I'm riding a runaway horse that's trying to race a train as leaves fall from above and whirlwind around me.

3. Snowden — "So Red"

Did somebody say "runaway horse"? Because this video features one. Though unlike the previous song on this playlist, Snowden's lead singer Jordan Jeffares directly addresses autumn. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Singing about my most favoritest season of all, fall, Jeffares proclaims: "When the room is ablaze just want to get out alive." But no matter what October colors happen to be enkindling the leaves — yellow, orange, or so red — flashy foliage never gets out alive. Who does? Later on, during the track's bridge, Jeffares claims repeatedly, "It's not that simple." But really it is. This song is amazing and so is fall. See? Simple.

4. Magic Giant — "Glass Heart"

Mixing sunshiney twang with a modern yet festive flannely folk feel, it's obvious that this electronic folk-rock band from L.A. knows how to have a good time. "Glass Heart" is a fun and jaunty rootin'-tootin' romper that'll make you want to grab a partner and dosey-doe around the forest floor. You won't be able to stop yourself from two-stepping along with the buoyantly bucolic banjo.

5. Lord Huron — "Meet Me In The Woods"

I would totally meet Lord Huron in the woods for a midnight gathering, and I'd take Strange Trails (2015; IAMSOUND) with me to get there. I'd follow the haunting and mysterious musical journey of clattery percussion and pensive plucking, as the shared themes of nature and geography wove themselves together and throughout a strummy singalong. The narrative arc of sound and story would conclude around a campfire, where an assemblage of adoring fans would be as equally enthralled with Lord Huron's rustic charm as they are with lead singer's Ben Schneider's textured timbre vocals.

6. Frightened Rabbit — "Swim Until You Can't See Land"

Speaking of wood, and not the kind of pitched tents, I swear I could get high off the scent of burning wood and leaf piles. Backyard firepits make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Or maybe that's the spiked autumn spirits. Or my oversized North Face fleeces. Or the effect of listening to rollicking and rootsy indie rock bands. What smoked cedar is to smell, Frightened Rabbit is to sound.

7. Pick a Piper — "Zenaida"

If I ever go on a hot air balloon ride, I'm bringing along my phone with portable speakers so I can play this polyrhythmic paseo the entire time. The first time I heard Pick a Piper, I thought to myself, "Hey, this music kinda sounds like Caribou." Which makes sense, since Pick a Piper is a collaborative project including Brad Weber, Caribou's touring drummer. Though you would never guess it upon first listen, the backstory of this celestial song swan is pretty sad. Both ceremonious and celebratory, the bittersweet bopper is about a girl coming to terms with the death of her close friend. In a way, I suppose that's what fall is about too. Wedged between life and death, the essence of the season — and life — lies within its transient beauty.