Look, I know what you're thinking. Rocky ran to "Gonna Fly Now." Inspirational horns, Philadelphia streets, raw eggs. This playlist has none of that. What it does have is Radkey screaming "Victory" while you're still tying your shoes, followed by fifty minutes of garage rock, noise punk, and Australian psychedelic chaos that sounds like someone fed the Stooges through a wood chipper. Yo Adrian, this ain't your training montage.
Here's the thing about running playlists that nobody tells you: the first mile always lies. Radkey through MONSTERWATCH makes you feel invincible, like you could punch sides of beef all day. Raw, immediate, three-chord perfection. Then Psychedelic Porn Crumpets shows up with "Nootmare (K.I.L.L.I.n.G) [Meow!]"—yes, that's the actual title—and suddenly you're in Australian psych-punk territory where time signatures are suggestions and your stride pattern becomes a philosophical question. Mr.phylzzz follows with experimental jazz-punk that sounds like a house plant's funeral dirge. You wanted straightforward motivation? Wrong playlist. This is the weird mid-'90s Touch and Go catalog running through Philly at 2 AM.
The YHWH Nailgun double-shot arrives exactly when your body starts asking uncomfortable questions. "Sickle Walk" and "Iron Feet" are Chicago noise rock that understands something fundamental: dissonance can be structure if you commit hard enough. This is Steve Albini lineage, Big Black's industrial clang filtered through post-punk architecture. It sounds like it's falling apart but never does. Your legs feel the same way. Perfect synchronicity.
Then "Gift Horse" drops. Joe Talbot and IDLES showing up at minute 20 is the playlist's smartest move, the moment when manic energy threatened to become exhausting noise. Nick Launay's production—the guy who made Nick Cave and Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound intentional—gives you anger with purpose. The aggression stays but the intelligence increases. You stop running away from something and start running toward it. This is the pivot point, the moment Rocky stops being a bum and becomes a contender.
Wine Lips and THE BOBBY LEES deliver garage rock redemption with Stooges-descended fury and power-pop hooks that gave up on love but not momentum. Dead Tooth's "Sporty Boy" is what happens when skate punk grows up bitter but stays fast. These tracks understand that the last third of a run isn't about inspiration—it's about controlled spite and forward motion because stopping would be worse.
The finish is pure chaos. Spoon Benders' "Dichotomatic" into Rickshaw Billie's "Doom Wop" is controlled pandemonium becoming actual pandemonium. Experimental noise that sounds like your cardiovascular system feels. You're done. You survived. No raw eggs required.
This playlist won't make you a champion. But it'll get you through the miles when horns and strings feel like lies. Sometimes you need a cheesesteak and Chicago noise rock instead.
