PTJ Playlist: January 30th, 2026
Hello and welcome! I’m glad you’re here.
It’s been almost two years since I’ve sat down and composed a PTJ playlist and I figured it was about time I got off my butt and did it again. After the first round in ‘24 I had plans of doing them more often but then life happened and got in the way of everything else, as it does some times.
I don’t know about y’all, but lately this thing call life has felt like the equivalent of a raccoon riding on top of a dumpster that’s on fire as it floats down a flooded street. The world is a little scorched and for me, music has been one of the few comforts getting me through. Well, that, AND Heated Rivalry, but we’ll talk about that later.
I wanted to do something to add some lightness into whatever timeline we have now stumbled into. Someone please, I’m begging you, put the infinity stones back where they belong!
Ok without further ado, let’s get into the music blarring from my currently on fire dumpster.
I’m starting with a song that came out 30 years ago this February. It’s probably been one of my favorites since then too. However, last year was the first time the band went on tour in 15 years. It’s also served as a great reminder from the universe of how to move on from the year I never want to speak of again known as 2025.
1: Don’t Look Back In Anger by Oasis
If you would have told me five years ago the fate of the free world depended on the brothers Gallagher getting back together and going on tour in ‘25, I would have said well it’s been nice knowing you. I would have been wrong too. Oasis’s reunion tour stop was in Chicago the day before the My Chemical Romance show I was in town for. Seeing how excited everyone was and Oasis gear all over town for next three days, just proved how much the world needed Liam and Noel to make up.
I think I also needed the reminder that the unexpected can bring great things too, not just anxiety and fear of the unknown.
https://youtu.be/cmpRLQZkTb8?si=gvQCrmi5Te_UT_SE
2: All The Things She Said by T.A.T.U/Harrison
OOOOOOOHHH HEATED RIVALRY has entered the chat. What an amazing, beautiful, obsession you’ve become. And just at a time when I needed you the most. Any way, all of us who share this obsession know the exact reason why this made the list. Episode 4. The SCENE. Now, if you are one of the few people who have yet to watch Heated Rivalry, I do not want to ruin the most dramatic beautifully filmed scene in recent tv history for you, so I will just say Jacob Tierney is simply brilliant for the way this is shot. The musicality, the angles, the point of views, the looks, the heartbreak, the feelings invoked, all so damn good, eh. So good in fact that when I hear this song now, (and I was around when it was originally popular) that all I see in my head is this scene. Well done Mr. Tierney and crew, well done. I included Harrison in here as well because the remake is so fire and the way it is mixed in the show, why do we not have the mashup version available to download yet?!?! So so good.
On a personal note, I wanted to say that Heated Rivalry has become my recent comfort show. I rewatch some episode almost every night before bed. I didn’t watch it when it first came out in November but it was always on my HBOMAX watch list, and then there was a death in my family and I needed to escape life for a few hours and Heated Rivalry was there. It is so exquisitely executed and comforting in moments that I just can’t explain, it’s very human and all that implies, which I think is why it’s such a big hit. It’s been such a wondeful distraction to help get through a rough time so, if any of you ever happen to see this, a massive thank you to Rachel Reid, Jacob Tierney, Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, and crew for all giving me the eyes that provide sunshine right now.
(I’ll Believe in Anything by Wolf Parade is also amazing. The entire soundtrack is)
but for now, you need a T.A.T.U fix
https://youtu.be/8mGBaXPlri8?si=dbE6BnA5pNwMJpDs
Harrison’s version here:
https://youtu.be/hJ17Dq9TxWQ?si=nj9sX8J0FRF4nWPl
3: Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
Do we need or want to talk about ANOTHER book super fandom turned into a silver screen super fandom, cause we’re gonna. If you didn’t automatically think of vampires playing baseball when you read the song title, then you absolutely have no idea what I’m talking about. Way before Heated Rivalry existed, there was a little fandom called Twilight. I never read the books with this one, but I did watch the movies (Team Jacob for life, sup, Taylor Lautner) and there is a very specific scene in which the Cullen’s and Bella play baseball in a thunderstorm in a field while this song plays in the background. Again, epic cinema set to music. All that aside, Black Holes and Revelations is a great Muse album and I just discovered it again and have had this song playing since. It doesn’t have the skin of a killer, Bella, but it does have some killer lyrics and beats.
I also wanted to send my thoughts out to my friend Erin who enjoys a Twilight marathon and is going through life stuff right now. Keep your head up girly, and get well soon!
https://youtu.be/Xsp3_a-PMTw?si=eKWr7kA-5L-1EG93
4: Somewhere To Hide by Shiny Toy Guns
There’s a whole part of my life that I don’t talk about. It was the early 2000’s and I was young and directionless. One day a former friend convinced me to go with her to Chicago to see a band, Shiny’s was not that band, however, like a year or so later, STG opened for that band, we both fell in LOVE with their sound and the rest is history. I spent the better part of the 00’s going anywhere with in a 2-8 hour drive to see them. Their lighting/sound engineer turned into one of my all time favorite humans who unfortunately we lost in 2011. I also just spent the better part of 9 years looking for their first album We Are Pilots on vinyl because it reminds me of some of the best times of my life. This tune is from what turned out to be their third and final album III and it randomly just popped into my head a few weeks ago. It made me smile that day and has continued to do so and I wanted to share it with everyone else who could use some dance music these days. Also, check out their other two albums, We Are Pilots and Season Of Poison. Both excellent. If you need song suggestions, You Are The One, Starts With One, LeDisko, and Chemistry Of A Car Crash off of Pilots… Ricochet, Ghost Town, and Blown Away off of Poison.
https://youtu.be/S_MHWc44yxY?si=jwBqzjWZLdBunOv7
5: Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac
It’s all over social media mixed with Piano Man by Billy Joel in those POV one day some one will ask you to do something it’s very important you do so videos but what you need to see, is their 1997 live performance of this song. Watch it and read the comments. Stevie Nicks is still the Queen of everything. Be a Legend, Y’all.
Actually, here’s the link for the 1997 performance, thank me later.
https://youtu.be/eDwi-8n054s?si=MZqsligaAGC77BK5
6: Almost Doesn’t Count by Brandy
Before the Bieb’s there was Brandy and her album Never Say Never. It’s probably one of the best albums of 1998. I bought the vinyl last year and it just reminded me of youth and the power of music. I’ve always loved this song. The line, “I can’t keep on lovin you one foot outside the door” still hits hard almost 30 years later, I kid you not. I’m sad I didn’t get to see her and Monica on their tour last year. I hope they do it again.
https://youtu.be/is9b77WXqmY?si=ddblyrEmhhmKRHmY
7: Babe, I’m gonna leave you by Led Zeppelin
There’s another show that I rewatch ad nauseam because again, it’s one of my top comfort shows. It is also a cult classic known for the music on the show which is part of the reason why I fell head over heels when I caught it for the first time in reruns on the SOAP network. It’s based around the lives of people in a little town in North Carolina. Nope, not that one, the other ONE. One. Tree. Hill. Have you seen it? Do you know the scene on the bridge after the Naley wedding? Yeah, this song.
https://youtu.be/X791IzOwt3Q?si=59tYjX6qhY7Nyyqc
Pink also does an amazing cover of this one. Like goosebumps.
Pink’s cover is here:
https://youtu.be/iP8f5r67scA?si=sCZKBgfvOMfRnqXX
8: Heaven by Niall Horan
1D was a little past my time so these next two are super surprising. I know it came out a couple of years ago but I heard it again at lunch the other day and it hit the right nerve at the right time and it has stuck.
https://youtu.be/4G9LwTTnn_k?si=E-m2NVJhovSHE3Wy
9: Aperture by Harry Styles
It lets the light in. Thank you Harry for using the word properly and reminding us all in times of despair we need to fix our aperture to let more light in. Simple as that.
https://youtu.be/7sxVHYZ_PnA?si=_MqUiozmDPwr2PYs
10: Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance
Long live the Black Parade, long live EMO. 19 years after the album came out, I went into the city, to see an Emo band. This song still lives on in my heart and I still think about the same person I thought about in 2007 every single time I hear it. Music is powerful, I swear.
https://youtu.be/8bbTtPL1jRBeis?si=xWysYCoN9P9Sx3rK
11: Race The Dream by Kill Hannah
If you read the paragraph that came with number 4, you know that a former friend convinced me to go to Chicago to see a band, Kill Hannah was that band. The same rule applied to seeing them as it did STG, anywhere in a 2-8 hour drive, we’d be there. There was one summer I saw KH more than I saw my family. Being around the guys and the live music scene at their shows is what made me want to get into the music business. Best years ever. Last year marked the 10th anniversary of their final show and nostalgia hit. Race the dream is probably one of their lesser known songs, but if you’ve ever watched the aforementined One Tree Hill, you’d know Kennedy which was featured on an episode in season one and is probably one of their bigger songs. Lips Like Morphine off of their Until There’s Nothing Left Of Us album was also pretty big. For Never and Ever is the album this one is on if you want to check it out too.
https://youtu.be/oM1QUaFIgZU?si=ydcZ8rOyC3Exq1wH
I feel like ending this edition of the playlist with two emo bands/songs kind of sums up my state of mind these days. I know there is alot going on in life right now and so if turning up your music on a sad day makes you feel better, I’m all for it.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed the playlist and who knows, maybe I even turned you on to something new!
Here’s hoping 2026 changes your aperture if so needed!
Until next time!
Peace, Love, and Don’t Look Back In Anger, I heard you say.
