But this week really reminded me why I love living in NYC. I lived in Buffalo, NY for a long time… Sometimes cool stuff would come into town, but most of the time when that happened, it was because of me and my ex-beau’s efforts to bring more pop music to the area (ironically, The Hive Dwellers are playing there at Sugar City tonight; so awesome). But I don’t even have to leave town to see amazing bands now. In fact, sometimes I have to choose between amazing bands, like how I had to choose between Chickfactor and Pulp, which really took hours of self-reflection and honest internal-debate. I also have a lot of rad friends here who share my enthusiasm for this stuff.

That’s why this week’s Friday Dance Jam is none other than “City” by my favorite Swedish dance bros, Lo-Fi-Fnk. I saw these dudes open for Architecture in Helsinki years ago, and they were so good, Architecture in Helsinki seemed like a waste of time, and I walked out half way through their set (seriously, true story). I hope you enjoy, whether you belong in a city or not.

LO-FI-FNK, “City”

Events happening tonight that I am probably too lazy to attend:

Small Factory
Air Waves
@ Cake Shop
152 Ludlow
New York, NY
8pm, $10

The Secret History
Summer Fiction
The Smittens
Adam & The Amethysts
@ The Rock Shop
248 Fourth Ave
Brooklyn, NY
8pm, $8

This track is fresh as fuuuck somehow, even though this totally could have been from like 1989, like Ronika could have been the musical guest on America’s Funniest Home Videos during a time when people would have actually watched such a thing (hosted by Bob Saget, of course). It’s making me so ready for summer. Puerto Rico was like this dirty tease. I need to even out this tan, sun! Come on out!

My review of this song, in short: This song makes me wish I had a convertible so all the bitches could hear me listen to it.

But I don’t. And this weekend I’m not up to much exciting, I guess. I have a good friend from thee olden days in Buffalo in town. We are going to see Guitar Wolf this weekend at the Knitting Factory. Looking forward to sleeping in and chillin’ as hard as I’ve been partying which is harder than you even know.

Ms. Clarkson is so tuff.

When I say I’m super into pop, I don’t just mean the kind that you can only find on obscure CD-R labels run out of a remote corner of Sweden or even stuff on Matador. No sir, I love pop in all of its forms, both respectable and shameful. That means my car radio is sometimes on Z100, and I find myself being laughed at on McGuinness Blvd for not realizing my windows were down when screaming Britney Spears lyrics (“I Wanna Go” is SUCH a jam).

There’s a few songs that are making the rounds on the top 40 radio that I am especially digging lately.

Fun. is a band from NYC that Wikipedia thinks is “indie pop.” I don’t really know about that. I guess they are indie in that they are on an independent label, but their song “We Are Young” is seriously everywhere. I had to use one of those song recognition app to figure out who they are (so obscure) because this song is so catchy and so uplifting and makes me feel less bad about turning 27 in a few months. Apparently this song is featuring Janelle Monáe, but her vocals seem to be super duper buried and I only knew when it was her singing after watching the music video, so it’s a moot point in my opinion. Anyone know of any remixes of this song? I feel like this could be a sick dance jam, no?

Fun. feat Janelle Monáe, “We Are Young”

Can I be for real right now and say you forfeit the indie status when your music video is an obvious plug for the Windows phone? The goddamn MICROSOFT phone, y’all. Sell outs. Real alts obviously only use iPhone or Android, but Blackberry is acceptable in the case of a shitty wireless plan or if you’re seeking a vintage feel*.

You know who is not a sell out? Kelly Clarkson. You heard it here first. Kelly is so adverse to selling out, she refuses to change her formula out of fear that someone will misconstrue it as a way to garner more record sales. Clearly she is sticking to the same formula because she is a Woman of Integrity. Fun. take note as you continue on your mainstream career. But really, Kelly Clarkson comes out every few years with a new “Fuck that dude!” jam. No complaints from me, as I can be a bitter, bitter woman, and Heavenly only gets me so far when I need a little uplifting in the dating department. “Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson’s latest fuck that dude hit**, is my favorite since “I Do Not Hook Up” (I don’t even know if she’s had anything out since then). I particularly like to listen to this jam when reading He’s Just Not That Into You.

**Not to be confused with fuck that dude hits, which we leave to Nelly Furtado here at PopMinx.

Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger”

Is Kelly mainstream riot grrrl incarnate? I don’t know.

Speaking of riot grrrl but not at all, did you know that Katy Perry says her new record is gonna be shoegazey? I feel like I need to sit the girl down. Shoegaze does not a broken heart mend, and she’d probably feel better if she listened to some Kelly Clarkson instead. Also, I’d love to make her a mix. I think she’d really dig The Blanche Hudson Weekend.

The Blanche Hudson Weekend, “Crying Shame”

*I really hope y’all know I’m being facetious.

I’ve decided that on Fridays I’m gonna post a dance jam and honor the week and anticipate the weekend. This week I’m deciding on Alphabeat’s new single “Vacation” because this song has been stuck in my head like crazy. I plan on cuttin’ a rug to this for the rest of the day.

For real though, this track is crazy catchy and is like a more up to date, slightly more mature Junior Senior (never thought I’d be old enough to say that).

So, this weekend seems okay. Tonight, if you are in the NYC area, Mondo, my favorite dance parties ever, is having a special mid-month party. I will be there. You can get details on Facebook. Tomorrow night I’m gonna have some chill drinks in Gowanus, and Sunday I have a hot date. All things to reflect on even though it’s gonna be rainy and icky.

Spring break is a state of mind.

Alphabeat, “Vacation”