It’s Friday, and I can treat it in one of two ways: wind down the work week with a carb-inspired nap, or end it with a bang of work and energy that launches a productive weekend. Sounds cornball, but we don’t always require deep, meaningful motivators to achieve. This Friday’s motivator: “rocker chicks” who either went out on top or started (solo) with a bang. My choices: Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods, with tracks I sometimes find comforting (like a sonic warm blankie) and Amanda Palmer’s punk cabaret Who Killed Amanda Palmer. I’ve had both of these albums since they were released, and haven’t tired of them yet. (Although overplaying them guarantees I’ll be waking in the middle of the night with one lurching round my skull like a lopsided antelope, so I also handle with care.)

Not that these are the only rocker chicks in my playlist (which is as varied as the business signage along Portland’s SE 82nd Ave). They’re just getting play today. Why is that important to you, the reader? It’s not, unless you’re looking for something new and haven’t heard of either (they’re easy to find on YouTube and other spots that play music and/or videos). And if you need a bandaid after listening, try Bach’s suites #1-3 on cello by Peter Wispelwey (you can find him on YouTube playing Hadyn’s Cello concerto in C Major with Violons du Roy–yes, they rock, too–in a lively performance Soames Forsyte would find most improper).