A Playlist Of Songs To Freak Out To
Andrew WK makes freak out songs. (He pretty much built his career off of them.) So does Japandroids. So does Titus Andronicus.
I’ve written about types of songs on this site before. Pretty songs, to be specific. And while I’d love to promote this image of me as the sensitive, brooding writer who sits at home all day listening to Nick Drake and staring out the window at the yellowing autumn leaves, I have to admit that pretty songs aren’t actually my favorite type of songs. They’re important. But they aren’t my favorite.
My favorite songs are what I like to call freak out songs. Yes. I’m a bit of a spaz at heart. I get excited. I love to head bang. I know this isn’t exactly cool, and I should probably tell you all that I only listen to really minimalistic Nordic music or some such shit, but I can’t get down with that. I like music that causes me to do headstands and run laps around my apartment until my girlfriend sighs and tells me enough with it already.
(The freak out song is slightly different than the pump up song. Same phylum, different species. The pump up song can be inspirational. It can give you chills. “Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky is an amazing pump up song. But it isn’t a good freak out song. Freak out songs have one purpose and one purpose only… to make you freak out.) (Duh.)
These are songs for the last half mile of a five-mile run, when you need something to get you home. These are songs to play when your boyfriend breaks up with you and you want to pry the wallpaper off the wall. These are songs to blast when your neighbor has kept you up with their loud sex for four nights in a row and screw them they’re just going to have to listen to these guitars for a while. These are songs to lose your shit to.
Andrew WK makes freak out songs. (He pretty much built his career off of them.) So does Japandroids. So does Titus Andronicus.
But they aren’t all punk songs, though. The greatest freak out song of my lifetime, for my money, is Outkast’s “Bombs Over Baghdad.” M.O.P.’s “Ante-Up” is another killer. So is Busta Rhymes’ “Break Ya Neck.”
The Isley Brothers’ “Shout” is a pretty amazing freak out song. Much as it pains me to say this, because I’m a terrible music snob, but LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” is another great freak out song. So is whatever that fool Skrillex is doing.
So I’ve started us off. The Spotify playlist is available here. In the comments below, though, I want more. We did this for the Prettiest Songs of All Time and got a hell of a playlist. I want bigger. I want better.
(And let’s get creative with this. I don’t just want punk. I want country. I want R&B. I want rap. I want house. I want Zef. I want Dance Hall. I want Basque traditional music. (I see you, Kepa Junkera.) I want Gbedu. I want opera. I want K-Pop. Let’s get wild with this thing. That’s the whole point, right?)
Again, the Spotify playlist is here. Put your songs in the comments below, and I’ll add them as the day goes along. COME ON! 
