‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ by The Postal Service

It’s been an intense month for HATW so we apologise for this playlist coming a little late in the month! First up, we moved into a new office space in Cardiff Bay and The Postal Service have become an unofficial office band that we listen to whilst we develop content, plan new merch and sort out school workshops. For those who haven’t checked out this excellent, early 2000’s band, they have the enigmatic quality of only ever producing one album- a masterpiece that fuses vulnerable lyricism with emotive indie-pop. Absolutely fantastic.

‘Bored To Death’ by Blink 182

A triumphant return from HATW favourites Blink 182 (whether you agree with Tom Delonge’s departure or not!) We’ve included this because it’s really cool to revisit bands from your teen years, but also to hear them capture nostalgia and fun and make it relevant to you today. This song has been putting a smile on our faces every time we listen to it since the day it was released!

‘Four Simple Words’ by Frank Turner

You can’t go wrong with a bit of Frank! This song just encapsulates everything we love about the alternative community we’re apart of. Being a part of the scene and having the best time at gigs is a massively important coping technique for me so it’s cool to hear that it’s universal and helps others too. And sometimes you do just want to dance!

‘Sink Or Swim’ by Pentimento

Although the lyrics to this song by Buffalo’s Pentimento are actually kinda depressing, there’s something about this song we find totally uplifting. It’s a good refrain to carry around with you too… “Should you sink or swim?” You should definitely swim, and keep fighting that good fight.

‘Steal My Sunshine’ by Len

Total throwback jam and a major shout out to all our Seasonal Affective Disorder Pals out there. Please can we just have some sunshine now?! Roll on Summer!

‘Work In Progress’ by Set Your Goals

Singing “MY LIFE!: A constant work in progress and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” is probably one of my favourite things to do! Such an uplifting track from one of my ultimate favourite bands- we absolutely cannot wait to catch them at this years Slamdunk festival. If you haven’t checked them out before we strongly recommend the 2006 album ‘Mutiny!’

‘Crossbreaker’ by Powertrip

Another thing that happened to HATW this month was that we lost Alex, a good friend of ours, who many of you may have met helping out at our pop up shop in Cardiff or seen modelling in some of our promo shots. He was so loved and respected by everyone that met him, and we are so thankful for the help and support he gave us especially over the last 6 months. This was one of his favourite songs so we wanted to include it on the list. Also it’s just great to have a mosh to or to put on when you need to let yourself feel angry. Of course music is great when it’s soothing or positive but it’s also awesome when it’s heavy and loud.

‘Skate’ by H2O

We suggest a lot of different coping techniques at HATW, skating being a cool one that we ourselves enjoy whenever we get the chance to. Now we’re in the bay we’re hoping to get to the skate park down here as much as possible. Skating has helped so many people, so if you’ve never tried it, borrow a board, get outside and have a go. Also H2O are the most PMA band ever and it was a real struggle to pick just one song of theirs for this list!

‘Everyday’ by Modern Baseball

Another album we’ve been loving at the office is Modern Baseball’s new release ‘Holy Ghost’. This album is an introspective but natural follow on from their previous releases and truly is the sound of being in your 20’s and growing up. The lyrics “Everyday is all about doing things you don’t want to do, But you’re rewarded, You get to wake up” resonates with us and makes us think about how lucky we are and not to squander our lives. Intense but thought provoking stuff.

‘The Real You’ by Muncie Girls

Mucie Girls are making quite the splash at the moment across the UK and if you haven’t heard this 3 piece from Exeter before then you’ve been missing out. This older track from their split (with another top band, Great Cynics) encapsulates their scathing lyrics, awesome heartfelt vocals and driving riffs. Also it’s just a rad song to listen to (especially eating ice cream in the park with your friends)

‘Dela’ by Johnny Cleg

Ok. Don’t judge us but we’ve been having a moment and re-watching all our favourite films from our childhoods. Obviously we put George of The Jungle on and when this song came on in the film we absolutely lost it! What a jam! It’s really cool to listen to fun and silly songs from your youth that transport you right back to being young and carefree. It’s good to remember that and hold onto it.

‘Rage Against The Dying Of The Light’ by The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die

Another office band that we’ve been really getting into. We picked this song because the title is from an awesome Dylan Thomas poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” which talks about not giving up. Although typically classified as emo, this band’s sound is expansive and all encompassing and we can’t wait to listen to more of them!

‘Aqueous Transmission’ by Incubus
I have always loved a good ‘Sleep Playlist’… Something you can pop on that relaxes you as you’re trying to nod off. This was one of my go-to sleep tracks for years as it’s so chilled out and mellow. I actually like to visualise the lyrics in my mind as a sort of meditation- to unwind to when I get into bed. And it’s always good to end a mix tape on a chilled vibe!