Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, and today, our writers share what they’ve been listening to over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been listening to, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. I’ll get things started with what I’ve been listening to over the past month.

Kyra’s Tunes

I listened to Sarah McLachlan’s Surfacing (1997) from beginning to end for the first time in years, maybe a decade. My spouse and I listened to this album on repeat when it was first released. We happened to get married two months before Surfacing was released, so this album holds a special place. Music is one of those things that can trap a moment. Surfacing captures the early days of my marriage.

And this album is loaded with hits: “Building a Mystery,” “Sweet Surrender,” “Adia,” and “Angel.” There are so many memes with Sarah McLachlan and a dog. That stems from an ASPCA commercial where “Angel” plays and images of suffering dogs play. I can’t hear “Angel” without a Sarah McLachlan meme popping into my head. It was always my least favorite of Surfacing’s hits.

Of the Surfacing hits, my favorite was always “Sweet Surrender” or “Adia.” Those two showcase McLachlan’s vocal range. And I like some of “Building a Mystery’s” lyrics. “You come out at night. That’s when the energy comes. And the dark side’s light. And the vampires roam. You strut your rasta wear and your suicide poem. And a cross from a faith that died before Jesus came.” McLachlan shows the facades people can wear to hide their insecurities. Lovely.

My pick for Surfacing’s best deep cut is “Witness.” This soulful song screams sing-along. “Will we burn in heaven, like we do down here? Will a change come, while we’re waiting? Everyone is waiting.” Ah! I love the guitar solo, make it cry. “Witness” sounds nothing like any of the other Surfacing tracks, and yet, it fits.

I won’t spend as much time on Sarah McLachlan’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (1993). The title track is excellent, “Ice Cream” is fun, but “Possession” takes center stage. By the early nineties, McLachlan already had her share of deranged fans/stalkers. Two of them wrote McLachlan, and their letters inspired “Possession.” “And I would be the one to hold you down/kiss you so hard, I’ll take your breath away, and after I wipe away the tears/Just close your eyes, dear.” Haunting.

Knowing that someone wrote these words–or something akin to these words–to McLachlan gives me the ick. “My body aches to breathe your breath/your words keep me alive.” Restraining order. I’d never want to leave the house. If you ever want to feel like you need to sleep with the lights on, listen to “Possession.” But the vocals here are amazing. Love the harmonies.

Butthole Surfers are unapologetically weird. They may be one of the oddest Nineties bands to ever have a Top 40 hit, “Pepper,” and we’ll get to “Pepper” soon enough. I liked most of what Butthole Surfers was willing to produce. Independent Worm Saloon contains some non-traditional bops. “The Annoying Song” is just that, annoying, but I can’t help but bob my head along with the jam. I could Google “The Annoying Song’s” lyrics, but I like to interpret them as best I can. Looking up the lyrics is cheating.

Butthole Surfers’ cover of “The Hurdy Gurdy Man” (two years before Independent Worm Saloon) caught the attention of Capitol Records. I liked Butthole Surfers’ trippy rendition of “The Hurdy Gurdy Man.” They out-Donovaned Donovan. In the early Nineties, everyone was looking for the next Nirvana, so Capital signed Butthole Surfers. Independent Worm Saloon was the first album with all-new tracks under Capital. “Who Was in My Room Last Night?” was the lead single and received some play on MTV. But it wasn’t until the release of “Pepper” that Butthole Surfers exploded.

I always liked “Pepper,” but it sounded nothing like Butthole Surfers’ typical sound. Heck, Butthole Surfers don’t have a “typical sound.” What makes “The Annoying Song” and “Who Was in My Room Last Night?” great is that the tracks don’t sound like anything else. “The Annoying Song” is a chaotic noise-scape. Despite liking Butthole Surfers’ earlier work, “Pepper” is catchy. I love the line “You never know just how you look through other people’s eyes.” Brilliant. Honest. Haunting.

Butthole Surfers would be haunted by the ghost of “Pepper.” Capital wanted another hit single. Butthole Surfers weren’t into that and planned an odd follow-up to their 1996 breakthrough album. The new album was supposed to be After the Astronaut. Capital didn’t hear a single on this new album and refused to release it. Butthole Surfers released a doctored version of the already completed album and called it Weird Revolution. I wish I were lucky enough to have snagged a bootleg copy of the original After the Astronaut. It was a complete album. It never released. Not until later this month.

That’s right. After over three decades, After the Astronaut will be released in its original state. I’ve been listening to “Jet Fighter,” the album’s lead single, on repeat. The song is trippy. The video is equally trippy. Both deal with extremist Christians and how they love to go to war. Singer/songwriter Gibby Haynes worried at the time that the United States would return to war with the Middle East and largely Islamic nations. “Jet Fighter” was originally written in the mid-to-late Nineties. Turns out, Haynes was right to be worried. Led by extremist Christians, the United States has been in a consistent state of war against predominantly Islamic nations for almost as long as After the Astronaut has awaited a proper release.

I can’t wait to listen to the rest of the album. That’s all I have for what I’ve been listening to this month. Looks like Season and Skye don’t have anything for this week. They have both listened to plenty of tunes this past month, but life be lifing. What have you been listening to? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.