Songs for the long haul.

March 12, 2008 11:39 AM

Please help me be a superhero to my wife, who is in need of some specific music.

My wife is currently training for a bike race and she is in desperate need of some consistently rythmic rock to push her through her workouts.

Unfortunately, my suggestions of Grindermans' 'No Pussy Blues', or Jeff Becks' 'Shape of Things' are not doin' it for her. Her current faves are 'Are you gonna be my girl' from Jet and Radioheads 'Bodysnatchers'.

So, I think she needs some guitar driven, not too hard (Think QOTSA), not too pop (think Franz Ferdinand), music that's gonna make her want to go!

Popular, Obscure, Indie, whatever. Any song suggestions would make my searching a whole lot easier and fulfilling. Thanks.

posted by repoman to sports, hobbies, & recreation (35 comments total)

Uh, I think I needed this in Media & Arts. Sorry.
posted by repoman at 11:41 AM on March 12

Taken from another Apple ad, The Fratellis' stuff may work.
posted by kcm at 11:41 AM on March 12

(Pandora is great for this as usual.)
posted by kcm at 11:42 AM on March 12

I don't know if it'll work out for her, but my go-to running tune is Maroon 5's "Harder to Breathe". The ideal biking tempo probably isn't the same as for running, but it might work, and that song definitely gets me going. Also, I always get a kick out of the title - because by the time I need to play it, it's pretty appropriate. :-)
posted by captainawesome at 11:46 AM on March 12

AC/DC -- "Rocker"
Queen -- "Tie Your Mother Down"
posted by dondiego87 at 11:52 AM on March 12

The Vandals - Hitler Bad, Vandals Good.
posted by The World Famous at 11:53 AM on March 12

I dunno, "not too hard, not too pop" is kinda goldilocks. Any particular range of tempos in mind?

Here's a not-too-far past dump of songsfrom my "trainer" playlist that I use when I'm riding indoors. They pretty much all have rock-steady beats and cover a good range of tempos that you can actually pedal too. Most of them are on the heavy side and she won't be interested in Children of Bodom, presumably, but there's a lot that's just hard rock or not even very hard rock.

The most recent Nightwish has good driving rock in the right tempo range, too.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:54 AM on March 12

Anything by Wolfmother, The Trews, and Sam Roberts.
posted by BridgetR at 11:55 AM on March 12

She may not like Techno... but you should definitely give a listen to any of 'The Crystal Method's three albums. For what its worth, NIKE chose The Crystal Method to record "Drive", the first album in the NIKE+ Original Run project. This isnt your typical cliche shallow techno tracks held together by repetitive bass thumping. Its rich, layered, rhythmic, powerful techno with sounds very "full". If it doesnt make you wanna get up and move,.. you might be dead ;P
posted by jmnugent at 11:56 AM on March 12

Rockin in the Free World - Neil Young
Beautiful Day - U2
Fortunate Son - CCR
Die All Right - The Hives
Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Blue Monday - Orgy

Seconding The Fratelli's also.
posted by xena at 11:57 AM on March 12

None of these will ever appear on a Jock Jams compilation, but they keep me going during my workouts:

"Need You Need You" and "Like a Vibration" - The Whigs
"Rebellion (Lies)" and "Antichrist Television Blues" - Arcade Fire
"The Underdog" - Spoon
"Sly" - The Cat Empire
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 12:01 PM on March 12

(Sorry for the double post; I thought of the first two off the top of my head and now I'm actually going through my library. I'm trying to get a sampling from several sub-genres of "rock" because I don't really know what she likes.)

All-American Rejects: "Swing, Swing"
Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Guy: "Hadacol Boogie" (from the JLL duets album "Last Man Standing")
Steriogram: "Walkie Talkie Man"
Flogging Molly: "Seven Deadly Sins"

I know you want specific song suggestions, but AC/DC has a whooole lot of applicable tunes.
posted by dondiego87 at 12:04 PM on March 12

I have logged millions of kilometers on a Concept II Ergometer listening to the entire Dixie Chicks repertoire. For some reason any of their four primary albums are the perfect exercise music for me - you could try any of them, but if you need a name try Wide Open Spaces or Fly
posted by thomas144 at 12:15 PM on March 12

I've been liking "Thrash Unreal" by Against Me! - I don't know any of their other stuff though.
posted by davey_darling at 12:19 PM on March 12

LCD Soundsystem's 45:33 is 45 minutes and 33 seconds of awesomeness. Part of the Nike+ Original Run series, so it's perfect for exercising. Actually, anything by LCD Soundsystem, especially their album Sound of Silver would be good, especially if she's a Radiohead fan.
posted by ms.v. at 12:21 PM on March 12

queen: don't stop me now
bloc party: this modern love
clap your hands say yeah: is this love?
parts & labor: the gold we're digging

lots of stuff by jimmy eat world will probably work

anything by girltalk
anything by the darkness
posted by ncc1701d at 12:25 PM on March 12

Built to Spill - "Sidewalk", "Carry the Zero"
Cap'n Jazz - "Little League"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Raisans"
Drive Like Jehu - "New Math", "Caress"
Fugazi - "Break", "Cassavetes", "Ex-Spectator"
Led Zeppelin - "The Song Remains The Same", "Achilles Last Stand", "Bring It On Home", "Immigrant Song", "The Wanton Song"
The Misfits - "Hybrid Moments", "Ghouls Night Out"
Party of Helicopters - "Fire Eaters of Tomorrow", "Reduced to Rubble"
Piebald - "Location is Everything", "American Hearts"
Polvo - "Tragic Carpet Ride", "Bridesmaid Blues"
Sebadoh - "Got It"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Geek USA"
posted by saladin at 12:28 PM on March 12

Audioslave's first album is awesome for this.
posted by Roach at 12:31 PM on March 12

Juliette and the Licks
posted by swordfishtrombones at 12:33 PM on March 12

Television - Marquee Moon
Rhythmic and driving, and possibly very addictive.

I consider this my pinball music, because it allows me to 'zone out' and really get into a groove, something that might help in a workout.
posted by schyler523 at 1:06 PM on March 12

I Know Kung Fu by Shitdisco
posted by 23skidoo at 1:16 PM on March 12

I used to like to workout to The Black Keys. Also there's a lot of white stripes that's pretty driving. AND I love Otis Redding Live at the Whiskey.

You'll have to pick and choose but there is a lot of energy in all of those.
posted by sully75 at 1:20 PM on March 12

Luka Bloom- "Acoustic Motorbike"
posted by sarahnade at 1:39 PM on March 12

Jet has another great song that gets me going when running: Cold Hard Bitch. Alias used it once in an opening where Sydney Bristow is running through the streets of Shanghai (I think). It makes you want to be as kick-ass as Sydney is.

You might also want to try Podrunner, which is designed (obviously) for runners, but probably still applicable here. It's pretty constant, repetitive, electronic beats that matches a certain heart rate (150 bpm, 138 bpm, 191 bpm, etc) which locks you into that consistent heartbeat and keeps you going. It's available on iTunes as a podcast.
posted by pised at 1:40 PM on March 12

Oh The Darkness Permission to Land is Pretty awesome for this kind of thing.
posted by sully75 at 3:23 PM on March 12

Foo Fighters!
posted by platinum at 4:18 PM on March 12

Anything from either the Ramones or the Clash usually works for me.
posted by chicainthecity at 4:55 PM on March 12

Bloc Party - Banquet
The Walkmen - The Rat
Foo Fighters - The Pretender and many more. I'll second that one.
Interpol - Slow Hands and The Heinrich Maneuver

Seconding Against Me! - Thrash Unreal
Also, going along with JET, try Rollover DJ.

Some other possible songs that may/may not fit
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Muse - Knights of Cydonia

and why not...
Modern Lovers - Roadrunner



If it were me I would put on Daft Punk's Alive 2007 album.
posted by clearly at 7:41 PM on March 12

Banco de Gaia
Nortec Collective
Mint Royale (first album)
posted by hapax_legomenon at 10:08 PM on March 12

Delta 5 definitely fits the bill.
posted by ethel at 2:40 AM on March 13

sleater-kinney's the woods is my gym guitar album
posted by unless I'm very much mistaken at 8:00 AM on March 13

Off the top of my head...The Hives' "Hate to Say I Told You So" has got to be my first choice.

And I'd second ncc1701d's suggestion of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".
posted by mehum at 9:37 AM on March 13

Run Lola Run soundtrack.
The Red Sparowes. (Kind of metal-y. Instrumental, good, driving (usually). One of my most frequent weight-lifting tracks.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 10:40 AM on March 13

Seconding the Ramones (I Wanna Be Sedated has pretty much the perfect tempo for any fast-paced, repetitive activity) and the Run Lola Run soundtrack.
I also like Sneaker Pimps w/Portishead, Spin Spin Sugar (starts out slow but it's long and really keeps you going).
I like to run to Rob Zombie, "Living Dead Girl", it's very energetic and much more listenable than I had expected.
If she's not averse to hip-hop, there's a lot of old-school hip-hop that has a great beat ("The Message," "It's Like That")
Ozomatli has some energetic songs (Saturday Night)
posted by Oobidaius at 3:53 PM on March 13

also check out the band "morningwood." especially the song "nth degree."
posted by ncc1701d at 7:43 PM on March 13