Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. We’re back with another Geekly Tunes post for July 2025. This post is where our writers share the music they’ve listened to over the past month. You’re part of the Geekly Gang, too, so feel free to share what music you’ve been listening to over the last month. I’ll kick off this month’s tunes.
Kyra’s Tunes
I view The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in a similar light to The Beatles’ White Album. To be fair, The Smashing Pumpkins were partially inspired by The Beatles’ Self-Titled (White) Album. Both albums are bloated. The bands could’ve trimmed some of the songs to create a tighter album, but we’d be deprived of more music. The Smashing Pumpkins, and more specifically, Billy Corgan, had to get the songs out, and the firehose of music that is Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness oddly works. And Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness works within the context of The Smashing Pumpkins’ early catalogue.
Gish has plenty of moody soundscapes interdicted with killer guitar solos and crashing percussion. “Rhinoceros” would feel right at home with an extended Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness set list. The Smashing Pumpkins famously experimented with orchestral accompaniment in Siamese Dream’s “Disarm.” And “Soma,” also from Siamese Dream, featured the layering of hundreds of guitar tracks. Talk about commitment.
No wonder The Smashing Pumpkins kicked off a massive double LP with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ title track and “Tonight, Tonight.” The title track is a somber piano solo, and it leads perfectly into “Tonight, Tonight.” Even when I don’t listen to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in its entirety, I still listen to those two tracks back-to-back. They go together like peanut butter and chocolate.
I’m not going to go into all of the album’s twenty-eight-plus tracks (some versions include extra songs). Needless to say, the singles are brilliant. “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Zero,” “Tonight, Tonight,” and “Thirty-Three” show Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’s range. For years, I thought “Thirty-Three” would’ve made a great single, not knowing it was the album’s final single, released over a year after Mellon Collie’s original release. Compared to previous Smashing Pumpkins albums, Mellon Collie had a democratic way of songwriting, and it shows in its eclectic musical arrangements.
Some of my other personal favorites (that aren’t also singles) include “Jellybelly,” “Love,” “Galapagos,” and “Porcelina of the Vast Oceans” from the first LP, and “Tales of a Scorched Earth,” “We Only Come Out at Night,” “Beautiful,” and “Lily (My One and Only)” from the second LP. Yep. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness has a ton of great songs. Thank you for the extra music, Pumpkins.
Wet Leg is the most exciting rock band of the past five years. Fun fact: Wet Leg is slang for someone who crossed the Solent and relocated to the Isle of Wight; they still have a “wet leg” from crossing the strait. Wet Leg combines various influences like The Strokes, The White Stripes, and especially PJ Harvey. I love PJ Harvey. She has an eclectic sound that refuses classification. Wet Leg continues that tradition.
Wet Leg’s 2022 self-titled debut album was a shot of adrenaline. It modernized many of Wet Leg’s influences’ sounds. I’ve listened to Wet Leg numerous times, so when the group released their follow-up album, Moisturizer, on July 11, 2025, I gave it a similar treatment. Moisturizer builds off the success of the previous album, and it makes sense. During the debut, Wet Leg’s only full-time members were Rhian Teasdale (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Hester Chambers (lead guitar, backing vocals). Henry Holmes (drums, backing vocals), Josh Mobaraki (rhythm guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals), and Ellis Durand (bass, backing vocals) became full-fledged members with this album, and it shows. Wet Leg is a completely different band. These songs have more texture.
I recommend listening to Moisturizer with a set of good headphones. “CPR’s” bassline is far more intricate than most of the debut’s tracks, and it sounds great live. I’ve caught a handful of live videos for “CPR.” The band nails each performance. The lead single, “Catch These Fists,” showcases the band’s new attitude. Wet Leg became overnight indie darlings; “Catch These Fists” is them owning the label. The third single, “Davina McCall,” is gorgeous, featuring layered swaying guitars and vocals, and driving percussion. Moisturizer has many other highlights.
“Mangetout” is another great live song. If you’re interested in Wet Leg, check out their NPR Tiny Desk Concert from July 9, 2025. Get ready to headbang to “Mangetout.” Since the NPR Tiny Desk Concert was released a couple of days before Moisturizer’s release, it marked my first time hearing “11:21,” and this live performance does the haunting song justice. “Don’t Speak” is one of the rare tracks that features Hester on vocals, and it’s another joy of a listen. In short, Wet Leg didn’t rest after their debut. They blazed a different path with Moisturizer, while still sticking to their roots. I can’t wait to hear more.
That’s all I have for this month. Let’s see what Season and Skye have been listening to.
Season’s Tunes
What can I say? I’m a soundtrack girl. Lately, I’ve been listening to the entire Spyro the Dragon soundtrack on repeat, mentally playing through the levels tied to each score in my mind. I’ve listened to it so much that I like to guess which level each song is from without looking at the title. “Magma Cone” has been my jam. Seriously. The sounds in the original “Magma Cone” track were never recreated for the Spyro Reignited Trilogy variant.
Stewart Copeland composed all three Insomniac Spyro the Dragon games. He played through each level to get a sense of what the music should sound like. Insomniac reused some tracks across multiple levels, such as the “Idol Springs” track being used in “Colossus,” but most of them had unique tracks.
That’s all from me. Skye, what have you been listening to?
Skye’s Tunes
My mother grew up with Jim Croce and suggested Croce’s Photographs and Memories: His Greatest Hits. At first, I didn’t think I’d be that interested in Photographs and Memories. I enjoyed it. Photographs and Memories saw repeated plays this month. There are several songs that I recognized on both sides. Several more got stuck in my head for days, even weeks. I feel at home listening to these songs. Croce’s style has a down-home feeling. Even though I didn’t personally grow up with Jim Croce, my nostalgia kicks in every time I play Photographs and Memories.
The Beatles were always going to show up. I knew that as soon as I started doing this Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band would make one of these lists. Sgt. Pepper’s is an album I’ve become familiar with in a roundabout way over my childhood. I’ve never owned the vinyl (until now), so I wasn’t familiar with the song order and deeper cuts on the album. Now that I own Sgt. Pepper’s, I’m more connected with the music. I’ve been humming some of these songs since I was a kid like the title track “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “Fixing a Hole,” “Getting Better,” and “A Day in the Life.”
I never had any intention of owning Room on the Porch. In fact, I had never heard of Room on the Porch or Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’ until I took a trip to Barnes & Noble a couple of weeks ago. The store was having a sale on specific kinds of vinyl, so I thought, “Why not?” After hearing Room on the Porch for the first time, I’m a fan. It’s a low-key jazz/blues album, which I needed more of in my collection. Room on the Porch gave me the need to dance on several occasions, which is a great music quality.
Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle again. Those are our writers’ music highlights over the past month. Feel free to share your music highlights, too, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
jkgeekly.com 