What I am listening to: Billiam & Valentine's Day

I used to every year in February write about great anti-love songs. These days I write mostly about recent(ish) releases. I will split the difference today on this one Some great anti-love songs Soft Cell- Say Hello Wave Goodbye- maybe the best bitter song ever but Marc has hidden gems in his career like “I’m Sick of You Tasting of Somebody Else” Type O Negative - Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity (I Know You’re F*cking somebody else) - because you usually can’t beat shock rockers for titles like this Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel- I Will Meet You in Poland Baby- Love using the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as a metaphor Lucinda Williams - do you go with “Changed the Locks” or “Come On” both are great Joe Jackson - Happy Loving Couples- another great bitter song hidden in a new wave anthem Marvin Gaye- Hear My Dear - a song with a story behind it The Seeds - Can’t Seem to Make You Mine- a plaintive side from the “Pushin so Hard” garage band. The Divine Comedy - Our Mutual Friend- a great story and all time favorite The Velvet Underground- The Gift - which everyone should hear once X- Your Phone’s Off the Hook (But you’re not). One of the many great X relationship songs John and Exene did so well Oran “Juice” Jones - The Rain- A template for plenty of “you did me wrong” songs Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty - “You’re the reason our kids are ugly”. Self-explanatory Todays pick may not be a classic but it is recent. Billiam from 2022s Steakhead Breakbeats Not to be confused with the British boy band, Billiam is a Sonic the Hedgehog obsessed Australian If you listen to streaming services, it seems like there are a lot of people making this kind of music - (I have heard the scene described as “Egg Punk” bit I’d leave that to someone more expert on that than me). I’d call it “bedroom indie” or Lo-fi synth-punk or some combination that may or may not include the word “DYI” “looping” “90s indie”, “drum machine” and “garage punk”. But as if anyone can do it, there is something special, I think about Billiam in the way he hears a melody and in his unique style an production.