February Records: 6 Albums for the Shortest Month

Continuing my series of monthly lists of albums I love and want to share with you. Now, a half-dozen February records from the Dozen.

 

Some folks call me that: “Dozen.” It’s a riff on Adam 12. I don’t mind it; it’s creative. It’s just weird because “Adam 12” is a nickname of sorts. Can you make a nickname out of a nickname? Would you call it a nick-nickname? I mean, my actual name–my government name, if you will–is Adam. So Adam 12 wasn’t that much of a stretch. But Dozen? Now we’ve completely abandoned my actual name.

 

Anyway, there are a dozen months in the year, and I’m aiming to give you a short playlist for each one. I started this last month with my January Records short list, which you can check out here if you missed it. It call comes from me spending the better part of last year organizing my personal music library and making a whole bunch of monthly playlists.

 

February Records: 6 Albums for the Shortest Month

You see, I’m a big seasonal listener. I have certain albums that I’ll only revisit once per year, during a certain month or a certain time of year. Maybe it’s on the date of that album’s release. Maybe it’s because the music on the album has a certain sound to it. Some albums are summer albums, other albums are autumn albums, still others winter albums. I can’t explain it; I just know it.

 

So here’s a half-dozen of my February faves. Since this is ROCK 92.9, I’m keeping my picks in the rock realm, for the most part. But that doesn’t mean I’m not hunkering down with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago when the days are shorter and darker and everything’s cold and covered in ice. But let’s not get bummed out. Let’s rock all the way to Leap Day.

• ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead 'Worlds Apart'

  Trail of Dead formed in Austin, TX in the ’90s and were signed to Interscope Records in the early ’00s. They used to trash their gear at the end of every set because they had that major label cash to spend and replace everything. They stopped doing that after awhile, but never stopped releasing sweeping, high-energy rock. Worlds Apart dropped in late January of ’05. It’s like an indie rock Sgt. Pepper’s.

• Delta Spirit 'Into The Wide'

  Delta Spirit formed in San Diego in 2005. They’ve since gone on to release a handful of exceptional rock albums. Their sound is difficult to describe so I’ll just say this: I do a lot of driving to and from the White Mountains every winter. And this Delta Spirit album sounds like something you’d be listening to on a winter drive to the Whites.

• Interpol 'Turn On the Bright Lights'

  Interpol dropped their debut album in August of 2002 and instantly made a name for themselves along side the big NYC names of the early 2000’s, like The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But Interpol’s sound was much more moody and sparse. Less a Brooklyn block party and more windblown snow on an empty Manhattan street. That’s why this is a winter album for me.

• Local Natives 'Hummingbird'

  Local Natives were one of the first “new” bands I played for my kids when they were little in the late ’00s that they actually liked. So when they dropped their sophomore album in January of 2013, it was a perfect snow storm. Hummingbird became our winter soundtrack–in the car, at home–and it’s one we continue to revisit a decade on.

• Mogwai 'As the Love Continues'

  Scottish post-rockers Mogwai are my favorite band. I’ve been a fan since they came on the scene in the late ’90s and I played them on my college radio show. As the COVID-19 pandemic approached the year-mark in 2021, they released one of their greatest albums to date. It gave my stir-crazy self something to look forward to, something to listen to. It gave me hope.

• Shame 'Drunk Tank Pink'

  Another 2021 essential, British post-punkers Shame released their sophomore album in January of that year. I don’t know what you were doing during that first, long pandemic winter, but I was collecting and listening to records. Lots and lots of records. Drunk Tank Pink was a jumpy, jagged stand out and now it’s become a February rotation regular.