Est. 2026 · No hits allowed

We don't do hits.

Songs that never charted, by people who absolutely should have. Mostly hip hop, a lot of disco and R&B, and the occasional rock band that found a bass player who could actually play. If your aunt knows it, it's not in here.

Put me on The rules

What's in the drawer.

Six series, named after stuff in your actual junk drawer. You know the one.

Series 01Peak-time

Loose Batteries

Boogie and electro with some juice left in it. Yes, you can lick it to check.

Series 02Slow burn

Spare Keys

Slow jams. For when you finally figure out what this one opens.

Series 03Bounce

Rubber Bands

Funk and go-go with the bass wrapped around it twice. Breaks your favorite producer already took.

Series 04After 2am

Matchbooks

Instrumentals for 2am, from a restaurant that closed in 1994.

Series 05Crossover

Mystery Cables

Rock bands that plugged into the funk by accident. Nobody knows what this cord does. Don't throw it out.

Series 06Guests

Somebody Else's Drawer

Guest mixes. We went through their stuff. They said it was fine.

The rules

We made rules so we can't cheat.

01
Never Top 40.If it went Top 40, it's dead to us. Every track comes with its chart history, like a Carfax.
02
Feel over genre.We don't care what aisle it was in at Tower Records. Does it move? Great.
03
Credit everybody.The bass player has a name. So does the engineer. We're going to say them.
04
No skips.If we'd skip it, you would too. It's out.
05
No grandpa speeches.They still make them like they used to. They just didn't promote them. We'll tell you why it got buried and skip the rest.

Why this exists

Every record collection has a junk drawer. The B-side nobody flipped. Track nine on the album the label gave up on. The white-label promo that went to four DJs and a dumpster behind a Sam Goody.

We go in the drawer so you don't have to.

Junk Drawer Night

Records only, once a month in Boston. Do not request "Mr. Brightside." We will know it was you.

Date's coming. Email people find out first. Put me on →