Written By: Sadie Tresnit
You know those days when you’re wearing a perfectly comfy flannel shirt and your hair is low maintenance and you feel like you should be riding a skateboard? Those are the days when I feel like the effortlessly cool main character in a 90s movie, and obviously that feeling comes with a long list of songs. If Kat Stratford from 10 Things I Hate About You would be your best friend, this is the playlist for you.
1. Saints - The Breeders
It would be a crime to start this playlist with anyone but Kim Deal. I’m picturing this song playing during the opening credits while the main character of the movie (you, if that’s what you’re imagining) is leaving a building and boldly walking out into cold weather while wearing Doc Martens and some kind of edgy sundress. Summer is ready when you are.
2. If You Should Try To Kiss Her - Dressy Bessy
I listened to this song a lot last fall because I had just discovered the album and I still love the fun, lighthearted sound of this song especially. I usually listen to it when I’m on my way to class, so that’s what I would do in a 90s movie too.
3. Tomboy - Bettie Serveert
This song just rules. In my grand designs for this imaginary movie, I’m trying to avoid the “not like other girls” trope. Rest assured that this song will not involve the main character dressed in ripped jeans walking past a group of girls in dresses and laughing at them. Instead, I’m imagining this as a moment where she’s dressing up more than usual. Maybe she and her friends are putting on a play and her costume is a princess or something similarly feminine.
4. I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar - Jonathan Richman
A popular song for a reason, this track from Jonathan Richman would play during (what else?) a dancing scene at a bar or club. This is the perfect excuse for a really fun dancing outfit in your daydream. This is the part of the movie where we would meet the main character’s friends.
5. Awful - Hole
The main character hosts a party that’s fun initially but starts to become overwhelming. She shows off her dance moves and contemplates running away from everyone and everything she knows.
6. Help Me Mary - Liz Phair
Liz Phair is the queen of 90s cool girls and I would be completely remiss not to include her on this list. This song would be perfect for the latter half of the aforementioned party when the problems have hit their peak. Everything is too loud and crowded and she would do anything to get rid of the 30 people she didn’t invite.
7. Good Disaster - Veruca Salt
This song would play the morning after all the craziness. It’s a softer, more mellow song than the others on this list but still captures the feeling of everything falling apart.
8. Fall Down - Throwing Muses
I love this song and think it pairs perfectly with cold, dry evenings. Based on the title, this might play while the main character walks home, holding her skateboard after experiencing some kind of defeat. Did she literally fall down too many times or is it more figurative? You decide.
9. Wild-Thing (Girly-Sound Version) - Liz Phair
The main character would play this song during a quiet night at home because of course she would have the Girly-Sound bootleg tapes. She’s just that kind of person. Maybe she would try to play along on her guitar, but only absentmindedly for now.
10. I Am Decided - The Amps
Here, the main character makes important decisions about her life and we see a montage of her taking the steps she needs to achieve these goals. She’s moving forward with her life, and the quick pacing of the song reflects that forward momentum.
11. Kiss Off - Violent Femmes
This isn’t a 90s song, but every good movie soundtrack draws something from the past. This one should play close to the end of the movie when the main character is leaving behind an old phase of her life. Maybe she’s graduating from school or leaving a job she can’t stand. Regardless, she’s doing alright on her own without all that. She’s a cool girl, she’ll be fine.
12. Cannonball- The Breeders
Here’s an end credits song with a lot of energy to really gear the audience up to leave the theater. The movie would end with the main character and her friends forming a band and playing their first show together. They would play this song for a packed audience and the screen would fade to black.
13. Go West - Liz Phair
As the credits roll, we see the main character packing her bags and guitar into a beat-up van and driving away from her home with her friends in the band. Where are they going? No one knows, but the highway is endless and they have countless cool girl adventures ahead of them.