The Dunce Cap, Vol. 14: I like the face you make and when you dance with me. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “Factory” – Band of Horses
2. “Boyfriend” – Best Coast
3. “She’s Electric” – Oasis
4. “You Always Make Me Smile” – Kyle Andrews
5. “Doctor My Eyes” – Jackson Browne
6. “Get You Back” – Oh Mercy
7. “Can You Tell” – Ra Ra Riot
8. “Fireworks” – Tender Trap
9. “Be Here Now” – Ray LaMontagne
10. “Rainbow Everywhere” – Wavves

Sorry this one’s coming oh-so-late, folks. It’s been a hectic week.

This week’s mix is a grab bag of songs n’ handclaps. We start off with the first single from the killer new Band of Horses album, Infinite Arms. Band of Horses is a band I’ve really been digging for a while now. They have a really reverb-y sound that allows for these soaring choruses and rushing guitar lines (see their excellent track “Is There a Ghost?” from 2007’s Cease to Begin), and they manage to convey emotion without sounding too heady. Then there’s a really terrific diddy from L.A.’s Pitchfork darlings Best Coast, an adorably cheeky song reminiscent of early girl groups. There’s my favorite Ra Ra Riot track (for the Duckster, of course), a cool Tender Trap track (say that five times fast!) and an entirely endearing song from Oh Mercy, a band I stumbled across while watching – like every other preteen in America…oh, wait – ABCFamily’s “Pretty Little Liars.”

It’s a playlist with a lot more sappy emotion than I usually permit, but, I suppose, I’m missing a certain someone, and it’s starting to show in my recent mixes. You’d like him too, y’know. Try not to gag; it’s really not too totally saccharine. Nothing with Wavves can really ever be marred – even by Jackson Browne.

Happy listening.

(editor’s note – this photo comes from Ryan and Brooke Cook. Happy Fourth. Stay safe and enjoy some of the Dunce Cap while you’re grilling out!)