The July Sweatdown 100th Sweatdown is here on YouTube! You can find all other playlists on The Sweatdown

The Sweatdown has existed since April of 2018 as a monthly collection of music I’ve been listening to. Sometimes it’s old tracks but it’s usually new music. Everything from indie to synthwave to rock to alternative and more. Every December is a culmination of the music I’ve listened to. Originally posted to Spotify, these playlists can now all be found on YouTube where they will be updated monthly for YouTube Music.

Sweatdown 100

When I first started doing these it was just a way for me to keep up with new music. I started playing around with playlists on Spotify but started to get serious. It was originally just a collection of songs I was liking that month with no real rhyme or reason. I wanted to turn it into a gym playlist for when I worked out. That evolved into gym plus something to dance to. Now it’s a mix of that plus new music I’m enjoying. It’s my definitive statement now that I’m 41 that I’m not going to be the type of person who just sits around listening to the same shitty bands he listened to in high school. There’s great new music out there. The best part? These new bands? They don’t cost a mortgage payment on a home to see live.

I’ve decided for 100 I would do a monster playlist for the best songs since I’ve started doing the Sweatdown. Thank you to everyone who has listened and supported. This is just a hobby but it’s also the one consistent thing I’ve done in the past few years.

Excluded playlists due to being best of’s and not modern music:
September Sweatdown 2K18 (Best of College Years)
April Sweatdown 2K19 (Best of High School Years)
October Sweatdown 2K19 (Spooky Theme)
October Sweatdown 2K20 (Spooky Theme)
July Sweatdown 2K22 (Summer theme)
June Sweatdown 2K23 (Best of Playlist)
February Sweatdown 2K25 (Life Chronology Playlist)

I’ll sprinkle in some thoughts about each year of playlists.

2018: 0001 to 0009

This was when I first started these and didn’t even have the idea of cover photos until June. August was the most important of the Sweatdown’s since I did a trip to New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, and Chicago and picked music I wanted to listen to during it. Both Lies by Culture Wars and Walking Away by St. Lucia became all-time favourite songs for me due to it. Of course, Culture Wars changed “Lies” for their first album but I prefer the original.

April Sweatdown 2K18
Summer Love by Trevor Something
May Sweatdown 2K18
Love Stuck by Mother Mother
June Sweatdown 2K18
T-Shirt by The Beaches
July Sweatdown 2K18
Summer in July by Yukon Blonde
August Sweatdown 2K18
Walking Away by St. Lucia
October Sweatdown 2K18
Dressed to Kill by Strvngers
November Sweatdown 2K18
Funeral Show by WhoMadeWho
December Sweatdown 2K18
Lies by Culture Wars

2019: 0010 to 0021

2019 my playlists started getting a little corrupted by the music taste of my girlfriend at the time and at one point it was really hard to get the playlists out but I persevered. There’s some all-timers for me in 2019 like Real Thing by Stars, Ordinary Fools Pt. 2 by Chian Gang, and Gravity by W O L F C L U B.

January Sweatdown 2K19
Social by Smallpools
February Sweatdown 2K19
Falling in Love by Emily Blue
March Sweatdown 2K19
FEEL NOTHING by HEALTH
May Sweatdown 2K19
Real Thing by Stars
June Sweatdown 2K19
Ordinary Fools, Pt. 2 by The Chain Gang of 1974
July Sweatdown 2K19
Gravedigger by MXMS
August Sweatdown 2K19
Gravity by W O L F C L U B, Cadenti
September Sweatdown 2K19
Let’s Get Started on Doing All Those Awesome Things I Suggested by Strong Bad
November Sweatdown 2K19
Rearrange Us by Mt. Joy
December Sweatdown 2K19
American Spirit by Meg & Dia

2020: 0022 to 0033

I was a bit worried I didn’t have enough Battle Tapes on this since it is one of my favourite bands of the 2010s and now 2020s and I used to listen to them all the time. I wanted to sneak in a song like Sweatshop Boys or Solid Gold, two songs I’ve probably heard more than any other, but they really don’t fit the time period of the Sweatdowns. I decided to slip on Control from the Best of 2010s in January despite being one of the few songs off the Form EP I didn’t have on my 2018 Sweatdown’s.

All The Cool Girls by Hailey Whitters is a really great song and sadly the artist has seemed to dip into more conventional country than what she was doing early on. All Summer by Moonbeau is on the November Sweatdown but it became a staple for my summer jams.

Oh, and did I mention this is deep into the pandemic? Having Tonight (We’re Taking Our Own Lives) by Lovelife probably feels like a cry for help but really I was never that bad during the pandemic. Well, at least in 2020. 2021 on the other hand…

January Sweatdown 2K20
Control by Battle Tapes
February Sweatdown 2K20
All My Friends by Madeon
March Sweatdown 2K20
All The Cool Girls by Hailey Whitters
April Sweatdown 2K20
Gotta Get It by Kadeema
May Sweatdown 2K20
Tonight (We’re Taking Our Own Lives) by Lovelife
June Sweatdown 2K20
Twenty Something by Nightly
July Sweatdown 2K20
Indie Rokkers by Soccer Mommy
August Sweatdown 2K20
the 1 by Taylor Swift
September Sweatdown 2K20
lmho by flor
November Sweatdown 2K20
All Summer by Moonbeau
December Sweatdown 2K20
Lucky Me by Glowbug, Lourdes Hernandez

2021: 0034 to 0045

2021 was a very tough year, especially due to the pandemic. Some of the music here kinda help me going. Not that I’m a suicidal person but more sort of giving up on life kind of thing. Should be no surprise that there’s a lot of songs I wanted to keep on it but couldn’t in keeping the list a tight 100. Speaking Off The Record by Hotel Mira I was considering dropping from this but I listened to it, like, a lot, so it would be dishonest to. Much happier I also listened to the 6s to 9s remix just as much and that always put me in a great mood.

At one point I had a lot of Mom Rock on the playlist and had to pair it down. Be sure to check them out. Very good band.

January Sweatdown 2K21
Leave Me Alone by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
February Sweatdown 2K21
The Less You Know The Better by Icarus
teche by Culture Wars
March Sweatdown 2K21
RWLYD (Really Wanna Let You Down) by MONOWHALES
April Sweatdown 2K21
City Nights by DRYVE, FATHERDUDE
May Sweatdown 2K21
Others by Immortal Girlfriend
June Sweatdown 2K21
Boy Voyage by Arbi, Koethe
July Sweatdown 2K21
6’s to 9’s – Day Wave Remix by Big Wild, Rationale, Day Wave
August Sweatdown 2K21
Barbados by Lizzy Farrall
Speaking off the Record by Hotel Mira
September Sweatdown 2K21
Beacons by Foxing
Fool Anyone by Losers
October Sweatdown 2K21
Can’t Wait by The G, JJ Mist
November Sweatdown 2K21
if i had better friends by Mom Rock
December Sweatdown 2K21
better with you (stripped) by Chief

2022: 0046 to 0057

I have to give a shout out to Hearts on Fire by Dream Ceremony. It’s a track from 2019 but I couldn’t stop listening to it when I first heard it. It feels like one of those classic songs everyone knows and has driven around at night to but it’s not a well known song? I love it though. This Can’t Be Everything by Phantoms was by far my most played song but I honestly overplayed it to the point where I rarely listen to it anymore. Maybe I’ll feel differently years from now.

The reason there’s a lot of Immortal Girlfriend is I was really digging them for a year or two but they’ve dropped off since. They did one song that sounded nothing like their previous sound then just… vanished. There’s also a lot of Blue Stones who I got really into and enjoy supporting since they are a Windsor, Ontario band.

January Sweatdown 2K22
Life Goes By And I Can’t Keep Up by Dear Rouge
February Sweatdown 2K22
Blackberries by Emily Blue, OTNES
March Sweatdown 2K22
Seeker by Immortal Girlfriend
April Sweatdown 2K22
Love Nobody by Jenn Champion, OYSTER KIDS
May Sweatdown 2K22
Hearts on Fire by Dream Ceremony
June Sweatdown 2K22
This Can’t Be Everything by Phantoms
Out Here by Girls Who Care
August Sweatdown 2K22
Fever Pitch by Hotel Mira
Don’t Miss by Blue Stones
September Sweatdown 2K22
Brooklyn. Friday. Love. by The Midnight
October Sweatdown 2K22
What’s It Take To Be Happy? by The Blue Stones
November Sweatdown 2K22
Wild West by DEVORA
December Sweatdown 2K22
Love You To Death by Fickle Friends

2023: 0058 to 0069

Looking back this might be the best year for Sweatdown? Just because it’s one of my favourite years for music. Fickle Friends was a fantastic find. I got really into the new George Clanton album. Battle Tapes released Texture. I first got a taste of Social Order and I discovered Emi Grace for the first time. It was a very strong year for music I like and still listen to.

January Sweatdown 2K23
Not Okay by Fickle Friends
February Sweatdown 2K23
Porn Star by DEVORA
March Sweatdown 2K23
Birthmark by Dizzy
April Sweatdown 2K23
I Been Young by George Clanton
May Sweatdown 2K23
Feel It All The Time by Soccer Mommy
Perish the Thought by Battle Tapes
July Sweatdown 2K23
Justify Your Life by George Clanton
August Sweatdown 2K23
My Kink is Karma by Chappell Roan
September Sweatdown 2K23
I Used To Be Fun by Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
October Sweatdown 2K23
Boys by Social Order
Drift by 3TEETH
November Sweatdown 2K23
All We Ever Do Is Talk by Del Water Gap
December Sweatdown 2K23
Golden Days by Emi Grace

2024: 0070 to 0081

Another pretty decent year with discovering more new bands I really liked, like ALEXSUCKS, Sick Love, and discovering Fake Shark after I saw them live with Hotel Mira. I also started really getting into Pink Skies and Kanadia, who don’t appear until next year.

January Sweatdown 2K24
Don’t You Want to Sleep with Somebody Normal? by Love Fame Tragedy
February Sweatdown 2K24
bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo
March Sweatdown 2K24
Forever by Mother Mother
April Sweatdown 2K24
Save Me by Fake Shark
May Sweatdown 2K24
Burn Forever by Hot Water Music
June Sweatdown 2K24
Sometimes by Social Order
July Sweatdown 2K24
Return to Sender by talker
August Sweatdown 2K24
don’t rely on other men by JPEGMAFIA
September Sweatdown 2K24
Jacknife by Sick Love
October Sweatdown 2K24
Secret History by Foxing
November Sweatdown 2K24
Warm Beers by ALEXSUCKS
December Sweatdown 2K24
Girls by The Dare

2025: 0082 to 0093

This was honestly a pretty strong year overall. Not 2023 strong but not far off either. Fantasy by Fickle Friends was a song I kept going back to. Wired by Kanadia has some of my favourite guitar in any song. Day Drinking by Pink Skies reminds me of my 30s. Nine Inch Nails released an incredible song and got on this list for the first time. NIN is my favourite band growing up so it was weird I couldn’t fit them somewhere but the only other song released around the time of these I could go with was the song they did with HEALTH. Culture Wars finally released their first album, Tyler Childers made an album I really liked, and of course Hotel Mira putting out banger after banger.

January Sweatdown 2K25
Come Apart by The Blue Stones
March Sweatdown 2K25
America’s Favourite Pastime by Hotel Mira
April Sweatdown 2K25
Typical Ways by Culture Wars
May Sweatdown 2K25
Over & Out by LEAP
June Sweatdown 2K25
NOVOCAINE by little image
July Sweatdown 2K25
Nose on the Grindstone by Tyler Childers
August Sweatdown 2K25
As Alive As You Need Me To Be by Nine Inch Nails
September Sweatdown 2K25
Day Drinking by Pink Skies
October Sweatdown 2K25
Re: Valentine’s Day by Hotel Mira
November Sweatdown 2K25
Wired by Kanadia
December Sweatdown 2K25
Fantasy by Fickle Friends

2026: 0094 to 0099

The last of the list honestly? Good music, but the year will probably be dominated by me listening to specifically two songs: NOTHING ON THE LINE by George Barnett (which came out four years ago but whatever I heard it now) and Last Night in Paris by The Midnight featuring Carpenter Brut. I was tempted to get High Hopes 3000 by Role Model on here since I’ve listened to it a lot but I’m already getting the feeling that much like another song I got temporarily obsessed with and then lost all interest (in November of 2021 I was really into Bad Honey by Pandas & People to the point where I think I had it in my top spot for best songs of 2021 and quickly regretted it) so I’m just going to pre-emptively keep it off.

It’s kinda funny I got Pro Wrestling The Band (who I saw live!) as my top song in January and CQ Wrestling (from the UK) as my top song in June. I’ve recently dropped pro wrestling for the next bit because it wasn’t hitting me how it used to and here all of my pro wrestling love seems to be going to bands named after Wrestling who don’t even like Wrestling. Funny that.

January Sweatdown 2K26
Coke Blues by Pro Wrestling The Band
February Sweatdown 2K26
DISSOLVER by ROMES
March Sweatdown 2K26
Forever Your Star by The Chain Gang of 1974
April Sweatdown 2K26
Say It by Social Order
May Sweatdown 2K26
NOTHING ON THE LINE by George Barnett
Last Night in Paris by The Midnight feat. Carpenter Brut
June Sweatdown 2K26
Soft Top by CQ Wrestling

Thank you so much for being on this journey with me. 100 down, many more to go!