“Anti- Valentine’s Day”
Follow ChargerBulletin on Spotify

If you made it through the weekend without being flooded with the pink and red harbingers of Hallmark’s favorite made-up holiday, you deserve a round of applause.

However, for the rest of us who weren’t quite as lucky, I’ve constructed a playlist full of songs about breaking up and being mad at your significant other. Why? I don’t know—for fun, I guess. But don’t worry, I tried to steer clear of anything too serious or depressing; the majority of the songs are light-hearted and pretty funny.

So, I know that it’s a cover, but CAKE’s version of “I Will Survive” is essentially perfect. They took an already empowering song (originally performed by Gloria Gaynor) and turned it on its head by adding their own spin, as only CAKE can do. The twangy guitars, Spanish-sounding trumpet lines, all combined with the lead singer’s monotone, seemingly-uncaring vocals creates this hilarious environment that, to me, is incredible.

Another piece on the playlist is actually by an artist that performed at good ol’ UNH: Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties. The song, “Our Apartment,” borders on the sad side, but the composition, as a whole, is beautiful. What really sets this song apart from other generic songs about similar subject matter is the instrumentation. When he played here, West (or “Soupy” as he’s known in The Wonder Years), was solo, but on the record he is part of an 8+ piece band featuring horns, banjo, and pedal steel. All of these extra instruments add this brilliant texture and the juxtaposition between the southern/soul vibe of these instruments and West’s Pop Punk vocals create an incredibly interesting interplay.

Finally, the first song on the playlist is the short and sweet “Au Revoir (Adios)” by The Front Bottoms. It’s so simple; basically they just say “goodbye” over and over again, but I think that it’s understated to the point where it becomes humorous, and, for lack of a better term, cute. There is also the tasteful inclusion of some unexpected instrumentation, such as an accordion, vibraslap, and a very subtle synthesizer.

Hopefully, listening through all of these songs can truncate any lingering Valentine’s Day woes that you may have.