Feb 2022 indiepop indie-rock powerpop bubblegrunge
A couple of weeks ago I saw this tweet*, with a picture of the "pizza playlist" t-shirt design that the tweeterer had seen in a dream. I found myself thinking "if that was a band t-shirt, I'd listen to that band". Then I found myself wondering what they'd sound like. Then a couple of weeks later I wrote a song trying to capture what they'd sound like, singing a song also called Pizza Playlist, about a pizza joint ALSO called Pizza Playlist. But in the end it just sounds like me instead. And now I want pizza.
That's the original voice memo concept at the start.
* https://twitter.com/yellowcardigan/status/1484668945621790722
in our small town
we made the most of what we got
I guess that’s why this pizza joint
became our favourite meeting spot
I can’t say that the food was good
or that the place was clean
but the jukebox was the greatest thing
that we had ever seen
there was grease on the walls
it had sticky stairs
the music was so good
that we acted like we didn’t care
we were tuned in to the
pizza playlist
every song that played
was sure to set the mood
but the owner didn’t get
why we ordered so little food
we would try to be polite
and blame our lack of appetite
we really didn’t want to fight, but
he couldn’t get the pizza right
(chorus)
the place was a disaster
finally they shut it down
and we all scattered
to better food in bigger towns
to this day there are certain songs
that I just cannot hear
without craving a slice of bad pizza
washed down with warm beer
there was grease on the walls
it had sticky stairs
the food was fucking awful
but we acted like we didn’t care
we were tuned in to the
pizza playlist
@chipwithrow Mar 2022
I listened to this awesome song, wrote my comment, but it didn't save. So I get to listen again!
You put me right back in hang-out joints of my youth. Anthemic, memorable, catchy ... and big guitars (sweet bit of synth, too)!
@elainedimasi Mar 2022
"he couldn't get the pizza right" has long deserved to be aline in a song, and now here we are, thanks to you.
Now I want a Pizza Playlist t-shirt too.
@dancrook Mar 2022
this is cool man, reminds me of being 19 and sitting listening to The Rocket Summer
great imagery painted through the lyrics.
@mosley Feb 2022
Totally killer first piece to kick off the month with! The lyrics are great in this one and the music is cool and catchy too!
@karenin Feb 2022
Sweet! Love the keyboard lines. Wonderfully evocative colorful lyrics! Awesome and catchy…yup, that’s a solid one. Congrats man!
@bigmood Feb 2022
holy shit dude, I love your sound. However you manage to get that tone on your guitar, keep it up! The topic of this song is so on point too, it's fun - reminds me of all the songs I loved when i was growing up.
@chriddof Feb 2022
Why do I feel so sad for the fate of this closed down imaginary hapless pizza joint that was inspired by someone else's dream? Very good!
@hanley Feb 2022
So much to love about this. Great sense of nostalgia, even though I don’t know this Pizza joint, the picture of it and the time are very vivid. Love it!
@jacobwakeup Feb 2022
This makes me so happy for so many reasons.
@splittybooms Feb 2022
The little synth lines here and there are magic weaving through the guitars and complimenting the vocals. Love that.
Man, I feel like I'm actually IN this joint, I can smell the old pizza boxes mixed in with the smell of fresh pizza, can feel those sticky stairs under my shoes...and I love it all.
I love that this place didn't have good pizza, but you all just kept coming anyway, even though you didn't order food much.
The overall feel and style of this was great for the scenes your lyrics paint. Nice upbeat happy poppy rock with catchy vocals.
Fun track!
@zecoop Feb 2022
Truly inspiring hearing the gritty pop guitar and that lead synth. Everyone can probably relate to this song, though… mine is a Mexican food place from college. Very fun and just a joy to listen to
@elesimo Feb 2022
Oh, man! Such fun a song! So good... amazing production, awesome concept, and I really want to go to that place!
@isaacq Feb 2022
a hooky song inspired by a t-shirt from a dream.... it's literal Dream-Pop!! can't get enough of the portamento lead synth :D i'd listen to this while eating fucking awful pizza any day
@katbasie Feb 2022
I love the fuzzy sound to super clear!
The production sounds amazing <3 I love the energy progression it makes me want to dance
@nobodyofficial Feb 2022
Ah this sounds really good and professionally produced!
@sailingmagpie Feb 2022
So far behind on my listening!
Love how meta the story behind this track is and it ticks all the boxes - proper catchy, witty music, chiming guitars. I like how when you say the food was fucking awful, you really sound like you mean it!
@theawkwardsleep Feb 2022
I love that this is about a pizza joint ha
It all makes so much sense somehow. Great vibes.
@iwilleatyou Feb 2022
This is so happy! Makes sense since it's about PIZZA. You should do a depressing tune about liver. Great production and love the extra cheese (compliment of course).
@balancelost Feb 2022
I appreciate your ability to pick a lyrical subject matter and focus on it for the entirety of the song. I don't have that kind of attention span. The meter in the way you deliver the "acted like we didn't care" line is great, cos it rhymes but the rhythm subverts the couplet. This smashes the genre I have just decided to dub "Vower Vop".
@wobbiewobbit Feb 2022
i love that chorus. so catchy, especially the pizza playlist hook. the food was fucking awful made me laugh. really great feelgood song. what a winner!
@majormajormajormajor Feb 2022
Including the original hummed idea to start is great- the song just blasts off from there like a rocket to the moon. And your lyrical instincts here are on point. The rhythm in how they fall is so natural and compelling, and the chorus is a real fist pumper. It brings to mind another musically enshrined pizza joint, the Philly Pizza Comany, complete with jumping on the table and shouting "anarchy!" Same energy here, even if our protagonists are slightly better behaved.
@fonte Feb 2022
Great song! Lovely 90s indie vibe. Possibly my favourite liner notes so far, thanks for sharing that thought process!!
@debrandio Feb 2022
We had a pizza joint in a college town I lived in with a really good music scene that nobody could make it in unless they worked at this place. We got our drummer to get a job there and we started getting gigs. Last time I went through there it was a UPS store. Crappy pizza as well, but how do you get gigs working at UPS?
Anyway great, great pop song that would make EC miss the Attractions early days.
@roadreg Feb 2022
NICE! Anchoring everything to the "We were tuned in to the Pizza Playlist" hook makes for a very, very catchy and well structured song. Absolutely love the melody and the meandering synths. It takes me back to secondary school, where we'd all end the day crammed in a McDonald's because that was the only thing around for miles hahaha.
@kanttila Feb 2022
Pizza Playlist is a great prompt for a song, and indeed that tweet inspired a great tune!
I love the lyrics! Getting sentimental about something that wasn't great but was memorable anyway. It's true to life, sometimes there are those other factors that make for a great overall experience. The tune is so fun as well, great combo with the guitars and keyboards, fits perfectly. Nice vocal.
@mikedebenham Feb 2022
This is a thorough delight. Warm and fuzzy. Reminds me of a cheap but terrible pizza place I used to go to as a student. We reluctantly stopped going after the third listeria outbreak.
@captainvulpine Feb 2022
As the chef de cuisine at Pizza Playlist, you will be hearing from my lawyers. We serve an honest, affordable product, and we're getting a Ninja Turtles arcade machine in next month which you will never experience, because you are now banned for life.
That being said, this is a lovely song. Any chance you're putting it out on 45's so we can include it in the jukebox?
@izaakalexander Feb 2022
Nice write! I get retro vibes, like something by The Clash, and then it's all reminiscent of the Rat House Pizza Parlor in Moscow, Idaho circa 1995 -- but of course the Rat House is long out of business and we've all scattered to better food in bigger towns. Here's to an outstanding FAWM! One down, thirteen to go!
@starfinger Feb 2022
really good.. tight structure and cool sounds! now i want pizza too!
@cleanshoes Feb 2022
Sunny and nostalgic. Fun from start to finish, with just the right amount of sincerity. I love the inspiration!
@loveonamixtape Feb 2022
I love the sunny throwback feel to this, and how the melody bounces and ends on that up note on "pizza playlist" at the end of the chorus. The synth is so fun on this, too. A fine addition to the band origins song/musical memories from "better days" genre, ala "Hey Hey We're the Monkees" and "Joe's Garage" and "Summer of '69!"
@kissinginpublic Feb 2022
Well this brightened up hump day. I think everyone has/had a pizza place like that! Dirty takeaway food is still a greasy guilty pleasure…
@rayboneor Feb 2022
You are a one man BIAB. This hits the power pop sweet spot for me. I love the chiming guitars and the way it chugs along. The chorus is sublime. It takes me back to a crappy pizza place in Indianapolis that had punk bands at a time when Indiana was a hot bed of classic rock. Good times!
@caterwauler Feb 2022
There is some odd preset on one my synths called "ambient pizza". I never dared to try it :D
Delightful song, colorful and catchy. I'm not quite sure how to explain how it makes me feel ; "it has a soul" would be the closest - as if it had been there for years and was listened to by enthusiastic fans, inspiring and comforting them on a daily basis. Maybe your lyrics play a part in that feeling. I don't know, but I love it!
@lymonster Feb 2022
You re-created the perfect pop-rock sound for what does really matter : pizzas ! I like the thought process behind the song
@ayehahmur Feb 2022
What a brilliant origin story. And a brilliant song to get out of it too. It's a great slice (sorry) of back-in-our-young-days pop and I really get the vibe of going to a terrible place for one good reason.
Love the chorus. Instantly, foot-stompingly chantable. And special shout out to that little synth melody, which adds perfect seasoning to the whole thing. Ace!
@frenchcricket Feb 2022
What a great chorus that is. Powerpop at its finest. That ascending Casio (I assume? Your reputation precedes you) bit sounds amazing under the melody as a kind of harmony for it. And I agree with Jed that inclusion of the voice memo was inspired!
@adforperu Feb 2022
Good to know your voice notes sound as silly as mine do. This is a slice of lovely jangly indie-pop. There's a slight melancholy in that progression, only slight, but it's there. Was the pizza cold or something? The chorus is so triumphant, you're very good at knowing exactly what's needed to set it apart from the chorus (in this case, the BV and change of beat). That little synth solo after the 2nd chorus with the bass going for is excellent.
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
Those synth lines are so good, and the guitar is so jangley! I see you remembered how to play bass again given some of those awesome runs. The bar has been set.
@dreamscuba Feb 2022
Oh, nice catchy melody in the guitars.
Vocals are really solid.
Really good song with a cool story.
@circle Feb 2022
fun, bright, sunny song! the cute little synth lines buzzing around really make this sound to me like some kind of Nintendo game music. a Mario pizza level, perhaps
also reassuring that you do exactly the same kind of voice memo thing that I do
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
I love when you get a tiny bit of inspiration and something like this comes out of it. It's kind of magic, really. The voice memo at the start is cool touch, and then it just bangs - those guitars sound great. It rollicks along, punching the air as it goes. Love it.
@beat Feb 2022
Hahaha… so funny, and well designed. Great joy to listen to. Thx.
@owl Feb 2022
This is great! Excellent start to the month! I love the origin story/voice memo and the lyrics are such a perfect dive-nostalgia story, music is fantastically catchy as always. I like the drum sound a lot, what kit are you using?
@robheron1 Feb 2022
Really enjoyed that. Tight rhythm and instrumentation. Best I heard in the first dozen listens I've done. Congrats!
@ndavies Feb 2022
This is great! I would listen to a whole album by Pizza Playlist. Maybe the members of the band are all working at the pizza joint?
@celineellis Feb 2022
proper catchy indie pop choon!!! and i love the story of how this came to be. great starter for this year!
@judypie Feb 2022
Lol at @shortdan’s comment. This is all kinds of fun man, am I little upset you didn’t ask me to cuss over the top of it? No, not at all :p
What a bopper of a start!
@jimdgreen Feb 2022
PS. Also now slightly intimated in doing the 4 track challenge with you.
@jimdgreen Feb 2022
Liking this there is an MJ Hibbert vibe but I suspect your cut from similar cloth.
@shortdan Feb 2022
Lots of the familiar VV toppings here for sure. My ear always particularly hones in on your synth lines - they always work brilliantly. A nice slice of indie pop with extra peppperoni (or summat, I'm sorry!). Lovely stuff :)
@thelowestbitter Feb 2022
love the voice memo intro. That chorus is super catchy, love the extra lower vocals and I really like the synth work in this one. Great start!
@lonelyrobot Feb 2022
This is head-boppingly glorious! I love the melody on the "we acted like we didn’t care" line in the chorus. Also, I want pizza.
@seemanski Feb 2022
This is the 2nd song I've seen that mentions pizza. The other one was just a little one liner at the end. Somebody is trying to tell me I need more pizza. Love the poptastic synths and your lyrics are witty as always. Great start.
@fourzeroes Feb 2022
Wow! This is REALLY GOOD. It's like a proper record. How did you do that so fast? Needs more microphone stand time in the third verse but that's the only fault I can find.
@johnfahres Feb 2022
Well I quit. Right out of the gate you nailed a wicked power-pop song. Quit setting the bar so high! LOL!
@bradbrubaker Feb 2022
Well, this is a damned delight. Laughed at "we all scattered / to better food in bigger towns." You capture the hometown dive and excitement of being young and out with friends very well.
@karlsburg25 Feb 2022
Big up the matlock massive. i love the melody and progressions in this one. Its got such a happy pizza vibe to it. The underlying guitar throughout actually sounds like its doing shed loads and the clarity in the mix is superb. Can i ask what DAW you use? Drum wise they actually sound real... but surely not. Top start young man and keep em coming
@sorby69 Feb 2022
AARRGH! This is too good @vomvorton!
Love that line ... "to better food in bigger towns"