Select Frequency #1

Your first dose of carefully curated chaos

Welcome to Select Frequency, the first in a recurring series where the fine degenerates at gatekeep! assemble a 10-song playlist exclusively for you. It might be the week’s earworms, forgotten bangers, songs to upset your grandma, esoteric nonsense, deep cuts you should be ashamed you don’t know… you get the idea. We hope that you’ll come with us for the ride- we halfheartedly promise you can trust us with the aux cord. So, here’s a selection of random yet lovingly handpicked tunes that I’ve been rinsing this week. Don’t listen in one sitting unless you want some serious whiplash (not joking- we’re a new publication, we can’t afford a lawsuit quite yet). Strap in, nerds.

1. Jawbreaker - Indictment

2. Zheani - Lava

3. Dead Players - Gasoline Sazerac

4. Honningbarna - Festen Som Aldri Stopper

5. Yung Lean - Red Bottom Sky

6. Big Bud - A Way Of Life

7. Moonsorrow - Unohduksen Lapsi

8. Rome Streetz - Lick Da Toad

9. Lola Young - One Thing

10. Black Tongue - I’m So Tired Of Sighing, Please Lord Let It Be Night

Jawbreaker - ‘Indictment’

from 24 Hour Revenge Therapy // 1994 // punk

If ever there were a band that felt lyrically completely in-step with, but musically removed from their own name, it’s Jawbreaker. ‘Indictment’, taken from their third full-length album 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, is a feathery punk number that nonetheless manages to slice with a razor-sharp edge. While the band has flirted with both pop-punk and alternative rock (frequently in the same song, because why not), this track exemplifies the heart of their best work: catchy riffing, anthemic choruses, and an infectious groove that pulses with fretful energy. Despite this affable vibe, at its core ‘Indictment’ is a straight-faced broadside against the music industry, sarcastic and vitriolic in feel, but startlingly relevant in message. Its tone is equal parts bathroom graffiti and raw vulnerability: a confessional, confrontational monologue spiked with a kind of wounded romanticism that suggests heartbreak and eye-rolls in equal measure. There’s a desperation mired in the pits beneath its surface exuberance- one that bleeds through every shout and off-kilter rhythm with an indignant, white-knuckle conviction. Two decades ago, I barely noticed this one. Now, it’s essential; a sleeper standout in Jawbreaker’s catalogue, and one of the most nuanced tracks they’ve ever written. A punk toe-tapper, yes, but also a bilious showcase of everything they did best. An anthem for clenched fists; a cultural critique you can shout along to.

Zheani - ‘Lava’

from The Zheani Sparkes EP // 2020 // emo rap - art pop

Good news, everyone: cunt’s back on the menu, and Zheani’s serving it with a slingshot aimed at your face from 3ft away. Some may call ‘Lava’ discordant, others experimental; I call it pure, audible serotonin. The Australian singer-rapper, who blends hip-hop, trap metal, pop and R&B (a signature style she dubs ‘fairy-trap'), has never been quite so cute or quite so lethal as on ‘Lava’: a chipper, psychedelic hip-hop candyfloss tumble that radiates with the cosmic charm and glint-eyed bravado of a pouncing tiger. On a sugar high. Rawr! It’s cheeky, sharp and surprisingly accessible, the warped, summery music and borderline falsetto delivery dancing the divide between sickening sweetness and thinly veiled aggression. Zheani’s a certified badass, and as honeyed as this little ditty is, it possesses a keen edge to cut through the candy coating like lightning through an azure summer sky.

Dead Players - ‘Gasoline Sazerac’

from Faster Than The Speed Of Death // 2024 // UK hip hop

UK urban music is often synonymous with grime, a dominance that’s somewhat overshadowed the country’s fast-growing traditional hip-hop scene. Labels like Hi-Focus and Blah! Records have been quietly but firmly pushing back on this trend, however, carving out a convincing space for artists who favour more traditional flows and heavyweight beats over the genre’s better-known, more frenetic cousin. The comeback record from underground collective Dead Players, Faster Than The Speed Of Death, is both a bold reminder of that legacy, and a fantastic starting point for those unfamiliar with the Shivering Isles’ homegrown hip hop scene. Single cut ‘Gasoline Sazerac’ is an album favourite, oozing a slow-burn menace anchored by an elastic, wobbly hook, backended by chest-rattling bass that’s as murky as it is magnetic. The flows, courtesy of members Jam Baxter and Dabbla weave like smoke through a concrete maze, their lyrics mixing humour, threats and caustic wordplay with an assured, impressive finesse. There’s a memorable chemistry between the duo (one of the many reasons it’s such a joy to see them working together again), with pressing yet unhurried deliveries ground in deep against the intensity of Ghosttown’s dark, stank-face heavy mix. This is UK hip-hop at its dirtiest and most deliberate- brooding, clever and as close to a pure distillation of the brick-and-mortar gritty city sound as you’re likely to find.

Honningbarna - ‘Festen Som Aldri Stopper’

from Soft Spot // 2025 // hardcore punk

Norwegian punk outfit Honningbarna deserved to make far more of a splash with their 2025 record Soft Spot than the moderate surface disturbance that instead transpired. Seriously, if you like punk, hardcore…. pop, even, and don’t mind a bit of aggression, go listen to it right now- it slaps like a vegans-only mosh pit. This track in many ways is a shining example of what makes it so great: breakneck and incensed, but endearingly multifaceted and full of great ideas, laden with catchy riffs and playful texture. Though thoroughly raw and unapologetic, its impressive swings between poppy mischief and hardcore riotousness keep the song consistently interesting- something that elevates the act above many of their contemporaries (cough cough Turnstile). As far as modern hardcore goes, Honningbarna are one of the most accessible outfits around, offering something that feels both unique and familiar to genre fans, while also being entertaining enough to draw in the uninitiated.

Yung Lean - ‘Red Bottom Sky’

from Stranger // 2017 // R&B - Cloud Rap

Depending on who you ask, Yung Lean is either a visionary hip hop artist and a trailblazer for the sadboi movement, or he’s an abject waste of space coasting by on autotuned vocals, repetitive beats and immature themes. Although reasonable arguments can be made for each side, what is undeniable is just how rich the sound of so much of his work is, with the sophomore track from his third full-length a standout in this regard. It leans (haa haa) into the hip hop gradient of his sound with heady bass and metronomic drum loops, but the vocal delivery is pure R&B smoothness, imbuing the moseying instrumental with a yearning affability. Weepy synth melodies waltz as wind instruments flutter in the foreground of pitter-patters whilst a disarmingly graceful landscape consumes Lean’s vocal like a big snuggly duvet. Simultaneously mellow and stirring, it’s an immaculately produced, shimmeringly absorbing spell, downbeat yet vibrant in the most beguiling way.

Big Bud - ‘A Way Of Life’

from Infinity + Infinity // 1999 // drum & bass

There’s still this tired perception that drum & bass is only for those with locked jaws and banging heads; a brand of electronica engineered exclusively for the hairy earholes of Stoney-clad cretins who loiter all night outside McDonald’s with their tinny Bluetooth speakers. Utterly ridiculous stereotype- I can’t even afford Stone Island. ‘A Way Of Life’ is a fine example of middle-finger defiance to that ignorant attitude; it honours the genre’s roots while offering something much more than the usual meat-headed anthems made just for gurning along to. Lushly textured and hypnotically structured, this atypical roller worms into your brain with its crisp, clipped beats, but weaves into your heart thanks to its soaring, unexpectedly uplifting melodies and samples. It’s a tune that can be played at redline levels through a 10-ft rig or at muted volumes at a trendy lounge bar, and more or less anything in between. Still, make no mistake, it deserves — and demands — to be played LOUD, offering an enveloping quality that is both warming and rousing, full of life and vibrancy, and charged with adrenalised emotion. Somewhere in the underbelly of London, cutting about the sticky floor of a filthy clandestine motive, wide-eyed and sipping lukewarm bottled water, I’d have killed to have known a d&b banger as rapturous as this.

Moonsorrow - ‘Unohduksen Lapsi’

from Kivenkantaja // 2003 // black metal - folk metal

This song invades my most-played list more often than I lie about reading the terms and conditions. It’s an anthemic black metal epic with a wellspring of folksy melody coursing through at whitewater speed, all contained by furious BM abrasion and consistently ravenous, snarling vocals. The amount of instrumental facets to the song is one of its greatest strengths, with a choir, chimes, strings, accordion, mouth harp and even an acoustic interlude breaking up the Nordic grandness, casting a spell of whimsical beauty even as it marches on with fierce purpose. Yet, for all its rabble-rousing aggression, the song still manages to be absurdly catchy; a tempest in six strings married with an undeniable buoyancy that nestles amongst the blast beats and phlegmy growls, and that’s without mentioning the bass widdling away in the background. A wonderfully broad, exciting piece of music- a storm-worn saga that presents like rolling thunder around snowy valleys.

Rome Streetz - ‘Lick Da Toad’

from Kontraband // 2020 // hip hop

Rome Streetz’ surge in popularity following the release of Kiss The Ring was both justified and long overdue, his back catalogue an extensive collection of varied hip-hop minerals that glaze both the experimental and traditional sides of the coin. ‘Lick Da Toad’, a highlight from his earlier work, and one he cites as a personal favourite, is a deep, uncompromisingly serious heater. Warped bass and a skittering drum loop build an imposingly trippy atmosphere, punctuated by a piercing siren sample to add a gritty urgency that offsets the psychedelic edge. There’s an immediacy to Rome’s delivery that underscores the comparatively considered tempo of the instrumental, creating a tension that feels both chaotic but controlled, the vocal gripping the beat in an unyielding stranglehold. It’s boom bap hustle meets junkie swagger, street corner confession meets flex anthem, streetwise eloquence meets righteous fury. A choice cut from a still underappreciated rapper.

Lola Young - ‘One Thing’

from I’m Only Fucking Myself // 2025 (Upcoming) // pop - R&B

Following the success of her second full-length and the relentless airplay of its lead single, ‘Messy’, Lola Young is very much the heir apparent to the crown of British R&B. The markedly more risqué direction of this follow-up single, and the provocative title of her upcoming third LP I’m Only Fucking Myself, is indicative of an artist who is through cutting her teeth and ready to start seriously chomping those grillz down- an exciting prospect considering previous release This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway was hardly the most bashful beast. ‘One Thing’ is catchy, personal and unapologetically bawdy, Young’s sexual appetites laid bare in a refreshingly candid study of desire vs. attachment. Its lyrics are unrefined, but in much the way her rough-around-the-edges aesthetic cushioned the blow of the emotionally heavy topicality found on Anyway, as audacious as the content here is the style glosses it with an enduringly human sense of vulnerability. Listenable, naughty and a promising portent of things to come from the current bestselling British female artist of the year.

Black Tongue - ‘I’m So Tired Of Sighing, Please Lord Let It Be Night’

from The Unconquerable Dark // 2015 // deathcore

You know that cliché about metal being ‘the devil’s music’? Well, this is that song your parents warned you about. It’s alright guys, I found it- that song about human sacrifice that’s a borderline ordeal to listen to? It’s here. Why, yes, it is British. Black Tongue’s apocalyptically heavy downtempo deathcore shenanigans reach new depths with this flat-out EVIL-sounding monstrosity; a punishingly heavy gem that combines palpitation-inducing junz, haymaker percussion and some of the filthiest vocals you’re likely to hear within the genre. A mid-song break in which vocalist Alex Teyen, furious and foaming, demands a sacrifice be brought to the altar, and a subsequent build roared entirely in Latin are some of the more deliciously macabre delights of this lumbering beast, all of which are dripping with a production as thick and suffocating as treacle. Even by Black Tongue’s demonic standards, this is a seriously punishing listen. The mix is dense and syrupy like molten tar, and the bass tone? Good grief, the bass tone. Unholy. I’d marry that bass tone if I weren’t absolutely terrified of what would happen on the wedding night. Apoplectic, theatrical, dummy hard- this song doesn’t just slap, it smashes skulls with a hammer in each hand.