Illustrations by Ramisha Sattar.

Illustrations by Ramisha Sattar.

The songs on this playlist are so left-field that they feel like dares to be your most expansive, contradictory, weirdest self. In its own way, each made me think, “You can DO that?,” when I first heard it. I remember listening to Television Personalities’ “Smashing Time” thinking, You can write a song about walking in the park eating ice cream with your cousin? Hearing Richard Hell, asking myself, You can make those sounds with your mouth and a guitar? Hearing Shamir and deciding, “You can be so totally femme and high-pitched and be so badass—such a boss without being butch?” There aren’t enough heart emoticons in the world.