Music is everywhere. Some of us enjoy it as background noise to listen to while working on what we need to get done, others may have a dedicated interest in it. No matter where you fall, you would still say there’s at least one (or two) songs, artists, or genres that you prefer, right? Well, today, I thought I would talk a bit about my opinions (or “headcanons” as they’re called) regarding what I think (some) of the 2003 series cast would enjoy!

I should note as a disclaimer, that for the purposes of this post, I will be (for the most part) pulling from my pre-existing Rolodex of songs I know. I did try my best to do some research into new songs, but ultimately most of what’s mentioned here are songs I’ve already known and enjoyed for quite some time. And as an obvious aside, these choices are just my opinion, and you’re free to disagree with my picks or general direction. However, I do ask that you exercise some level of respect– if you’re thinking of replying with something rude or unnecessary, consider putting that energy into making your own blog post! But if you do have some kind suggestions or thoughts, feel free to reply to this post or shoot me an ask.

2003 Series

For starters, let’s talk about the show as a whole. Obviously, I can’t in this context talk about listening habits, but I will talk about songs and artists I generally gravitate towards.

I find for the most part, what constitutes an AB related song is 90% lyrical content and 10% instrumental/musical content. Some songs may not totally fit in the lyrical department, but the instrumental is good enough that I still consider it a decent fit. Other times, I find that only 1-2 lines in a song fit AB, in those cases, I tend to save those songs for use in my design posters over at @astorinx. When a song is a perfect fit, though, you best believe I’m thinking of ways I could turn it into an AMV, even if I never get around to actually making it.

Artists I tend to associate with AB are (typically) Washed Out and Tame Impala, but there are some other single songs that I do think fit. I did already make a video listing songs I think fit AB (which you can watch here) but here are some other picks:

Lorde – Bravado

Possibly, one of the oldest picks that’s stood the test of time. I knew the minute I heard this for the first time, it was a perfect fit for AB. Perhaps some may argue this isn’t a 100% snug fit, and I do see where you’re coming from, but I couldn’t possibly pass up a song that literally has the lyrics “I was raised up / To be admired, to be noticed” and  “I want the applause, the approval / The things that make me go…”

A song with somewhat similar theme would definitely have to be “Patience” by Tame Impala.

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‍Daft Punk - Robot Rock

This is one of those songs I’m shocked I didn’t include originally. I mean, it has “robot” in the name, it’d be sacrilegious for me not to mention it! There isn’t much substance to this song from a lyrical standpoint, but I think that makes for a great fit because there’s less to get caught up in and more opportunity to daydream about whatever AB related thing you want. 10/10 would recommend for anyone just wanting a general vibe, or perhaps some good background music to accompany their fanfic writing.

Another song that isn’t plot-specific and relates to AB on a more general scale, I think, is “Dusk to Dawn On Lygon Street” by King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard.

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‍Crumb - Part III

For this pick, I decided to have it be a reference to my secret project (that I hope I’ll be starting on sometime next year, time, and psych knowledge be willing). Of course, I’m not going to spoil the entire plot, but all you need to know for this pick to make sense is that the fic basically surrounds/documents Astro’s time as a twenty-something in therapy.

What I like about this song so much is the lyrical content, especially with the lyrics “It’s just a feeling” repeated towards the latter half of the song. And of course, the painfully obvious “I could spend the day and think of all the ways…”. I guess you could argue that this song fits in with canon, but it’s those little details that really sold me on this being a great song for my project. It’s also a neo-psych song, so of course I couldn’t pass it up.

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Astro

Funny enough, I think Astro’s taste in my eyes has definitely changed over the years. Starting with Vivid Insomnia, my partner and I had written them off to be the most stereotypical pop punk emo fan there was. Then we had The Love Trilogy, where Astro infamously enjoyed quite a bit of artists like Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday. But the most ironic thing about it now, is that I don’t actually think Astro listens to music all that much! At least not compared to say other characters in the series, or even myself. This isn’t to say I don’t think they like it or anything, but for them, I think it comes down to what’s the best to have on while cleaning or getting work done. Essentially, I think they’re the perfect candidate for being the president of the “music as background noise” club.

Another thing to consider, is a phenomenon that while I can’t say without foolproof evidence exists/happens to everyone, I’m certainly employing it here. And that is the concept of inheriting your parent(s) taste. In my opinion, I think the things our parents listened to while we grew up can be instrumental in what shapes our music taste and opinion. Of course, as I mentioned, this isn’t a given, and I’m sure plenty of people out there would argue their taste is nothing like their parents. But, for the purposes of this blog post, I think a lot of what Astro enjoys does at times hinge a little on what I think Tenma and O’shay enjoy.

So, what examples do I have? Well, let’s see!

Duran Duran - The Reflex

It’s hard to condense an entire decade into 1 genre, or even 1 genre into a single song or artist, but there’s something about “The Reflex” that fits so well that when I first heard it, it made me think, “oh yeah, Astro would surely fuck with this.” To me, this just screams music to clean your apartment to, and is surely one that they’re bopping along to while doing the dishes.

Two other songs I think are well worth consideration are “1999” by Prince and The Human League’s “(Keep Feeling) Fascination,” both of which were actually my top 2 picks about a year ago before I discovered “The Reflex”!

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Crystal Waters - 100% Pure Love

One of the things I set out to not do while making this list, is to fall into clichés. So, for this pick, I decided instead of going with the obvious Daft Punk or Justice track, I’d pick something else, like “100% Pure Love.” What makes me think this would be a great pick for them is the fact that it’s (again) so gosh darn catchy, and falls well within the bounds of EDM that this second slot is meant to represent. Even though it is a bit… expected… lacking a better term, for Astro– a robot, to like EDM, I still can’t find a reason to suspect it wouldn’t be part of their Rolodex of genres they like.

“Do You Miss Me” by Jocelyn Enriquez and “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust are my 2 honorable mentions in this category.

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Coldplay The Scientist

Finally, for Astro, we go a little left field into the world of pop rock. Though there are many haters of this genre, I still find myself thinking this is the perfect fit for Astro. Sure, maybe artists like Nickelback and Imagine Dragons aren’t all that well regarded, but for this example I specifically chose Coldplay because for many they’re at least tolerable. As it pertains to Astro, however, any pop rock artist is fair game. I’d imagine if they couldn’t/didn’t fly and had to travel by car like the rest of us, this would be the soundtrack to the many a traffic jams they’d have to annoyingly sit through, thanking the stars that their morality prevents them from starting shit, fueled exclusively by road rage.

Of course, this isn’t the only pop rock song they enjoy, OneRepublic’s “Stop and Stare” and The Fray’s “Look After You” are part of the deal too.

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Reno

I gotta be honest, y’all. I have no idea how this happened. But I think Reno and I have the exact same music taste. Though, I would go out on a limb and say that unlike me, Reno can certainly expand upon what he listens to, whereas I tend to just stick to what I already like, too picky to introduce anything new to the mix. Regardless, Reno’s quite the music lover. And he loves talking about his love for music even more. He may not be the guy to go to for a rather straightforward and concise song recommendation, but he’ll at least clue you in on what’s popping left of the radio dial. When he gets his own lab, he’s sure to have it filled to the brim with music posters of all kinds. It’d be hard to walk in and catch him doing anything else than at least hearing something good on vinyl.

Speaking of vinyl, here’s (some) songs off (some) albums you may find him spinning:

Tame Impala - Apocalypse Dreams

Similar to how I can’t make a list about 03 related songs and can’t leave out music with “robot” in the title, I can’t make a list about songs I think Reno likes and leave out the biggest artist of them all: Tame Impala. Just like yours truly, Reno is for sure Tame’s #1 fan, even though I think he’d probably be very opinionated about which Tame songs are best. Originally, I had intended to make “Endors Toi” my pick, but after considering my honorable mentions, I thought “Apocalypse Dreams” was the better choice because of how anthemic it is. I should also state the obvious that though Tame is Reno’s favorite, he is not the only neo-psych artist he listens to. Some other examples would be Animal Collective, GUM and, King Gizzard (though it should be noted that KGATLW has made music in many genres, but they are most known for their neo-psych songs).

The honorable mentions that inspired me to pick “Apocalypse Dreams” are “Desert Horse” by Melody’s Echo Chamber and “Billabong Valley” by King Gizzard.

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Sleater-Kinney - What's Mines Is Yours

For the longest time, I had reserved this spot for pop punk, and while I can’t say I don’t entirely disagree with it still being a genre Reno likes, I’m more inclined to think that just straight-up punk rock is the vibe. In this case, I’m dipping into the archives of what’s known as “Riot Grrl” a genre many see as “female punk” or even “feminist punk.” It should be noted that this genre had its heyday back in the 90s and while it still exists today, it certainly is not at the same popularity level that it once was. Especially when you consider most of the acts that pioneered the genre have either moved on to other adjacent genres, or have quit their acts altogether. As it pertains to Reno, however, what drives me to think this fits him is just based off the general idea that Reno just likes rock. Music with killer vocals and driving drums like “What’s Mine Is Yours” I think appeal to him to such a degree that it was hard to not want to make it the second pick, even if it meant overthrowing perhaps an MCR or Fall Out Boy song.

Some other songs within this genre that I think he’d like are “Bruise Violet” by Babes In Toyland, and “TKO” by Le Tigre.

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Franz Ferdinand – The Dark Of The Matinée

Finishing off with our “Reno listens to rock” theming, we end with our final pick, indie rock. Something something indie rock is really catchy blah blah blah. At this point, I think it’s not hard to decipher why he likes it. I should stipulate, however, that when I talk about indie rock, I’m mostly thinking about it through the lens of the 2000s through acts like The Killers, Arctic Monkey’s, and The Strokes. Not to say that modern indie rock is trash, but I think for this blog post, it’s safe to assume he’s more likely to be playing El Camino as opposed to Half Drunk Under A Full Moon.

Even though I just mentioned The Fratellis’ latest record, their debut, Costello Music, is far superior and has my first honorable mention “Doginabag.” My second one would be “Whoo! Alright, Yeah…Uh Huh” By The Rapture.

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Uran

Even though I don’t know nearly enough about Uran compared to Astro and Reno, I still, however, felt it only made sense to include her on this list. In my opinion, I see her listening habits as being somewhat in the middle between Astro’s extremity of it being wallpaper, and Reno’s extremity of it being inseparable from his being and one of his (many) hyper-fixations. She does like what she likes, but it’s more than just “get ready with me” songs, it’s the soundtrack to her drive around the city, what consoles her after having a rough time, and presumably what she takes with her on vacation.

You already know how this goes, here are my song picks!

Mako Ishino – 光の中で振り向くわたし

I knew somewhat about city pop before making this post, but after getting recommended by the Discord server I’m in to make it a pick for Uran, I came to learn a bit more about it. Who knew it was so catchy! In my opinion, this reminds me a lot of the synth-pop that Astro enjoys, which I suppose makes this pick funny. Now, since I didn’t technically come up with this all on my own, I can’t say exactly why I think this fits, but if I had to guess, I’d say its popularity in Japan and just how good many of the songs are, is to blame. Overall, though, Uran… you have great taste.

2 other city pop songs I thought sounded great are “私達を信じていて” by Cindy and, Miki Matsubara’s “真夜中のドア/Stay With Me”

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Rina Sawayama – STFU!

Listen… who is doing it like Ms. Sawayama? I think everything off her debut Sawayama is precisely what Uran is looking for. Pop, but make it edgy, a little experimental, and hella, hella catchy. In fact, she’s doing it so well, I struggled to find songs that were similar that I thought Uran would like (actually that’s low-key a lie, but I’m not putting inappropriate songs on this blog post). Regardless, Uran and I both know Rina slaps, and this song is the perfect FU to people who commit microaggressions against marginalized people.

Even though it was hard, I did manage to find some honorable mentions, which are “Hole Heart” by Pyra and “PUNCHLINE” by Jaguar Jonze

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Franz Ferdinand – The Dark Of The Matinée

Hard to say what category this falls under. Some argue this is peak “tumblrina” (someone who’s a chronic Tumblr user) and others may say this is singer-songwriter at its best. Regardless, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, like Sawayama, is surely an album for [Uran’s] books. I think the driving pianos and lyrical content would strike a chord with her. But this genre as a whole can at times be a bit chill. I’m reminded of artists like Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles and can’t help but feel like they’re the perfect artists to play at work because the songs are generally inoffensive, and also relaxing enough to induce productivity. I say this to sort of explain, why I think this fits her because while I’ve talked a bit about more intense, rock-oriented songs, I’m not saying that’s all she enjoys, she can get into more “easy on the ears” stuff!

For a somewhat similar vibe and for the tumblrinas, I picked “Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart” by Mitski and Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing”

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To Conclude

Like I mentioned earlier, these are all just my opinions, and they aren’t stagnant either. The more I listen and expose myself to, the more my thoughts may change. Perhaps I might come back to this in a year from now and think, “damn, what was I thinking?” But that’s the beauty of having headcanons! The fact that you can modify or improve upon them at any time means they’re ever-changing and always leaving with something new and exciting to chew over. So with that being said, I hope these picks got you thinking about your music HCs, or even listening habits. Perhaps, maybe you even left with a new song to bop to, or just something to pass along. Regardless, this was really fun (though just as nerve-wracking) to make, and maybe I’ll follow up with a part 2 if I think of music HCs for more characters!

If you want any of these songs on Spotify or YouTube, you’re in luck! I’ll be leaving links down below to playlists for each character/ship/topic we discussed today, including even more songs and genres than what we covered today. Click below and give it a spin!

03 Series

Spotify | YouTube

Astro

Spotify | YouTube

Reno

Spotify | YouTube

Uran

Spotify | YouTube

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