Judd Apatow has always had a way with picking music for his shows and films. Freaks and Geeks was always great at this. Underrated Apatow show Undeclared had many memorable music-related moments – and in fact is responsible for my interest in Graham Parker well before he’d feature as a plot point in Apatow’s film This Is 40. So it’s no surprise that the music would be a strength of the second season of LOVE, the Apatow-created Netflix show that just launched its second season.
The show stars Paul Rust as movie-set tutor Gus and Gillian Jacobs as radio program manager Mickey and the show is set in Los Angeles. It lures you in by making you believe it’ll be about relationships but it ends up being an excellent show about addiction and co-dependency. It uses music admirably throughout the 12-episode second season. I binge-watched it the last few days after the new season dropped March 10 and a number of moments stuck with me. The music supervision for the show is provided by SuperMusicVision, a Los Angeles-based company that also selected the music for favorites of mine like Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul.
The show shared a Spotify playlist featuring all the music from the second season and can be found below. There’s the epic use of Flume and Freddie Gibbs’ “Holdin On” when Gus, Bertie and Randy are egged on to dance by Mickey while they wait for some magical mushrooms to kick in during the fourth episode aptly titled “Shrooms.” Shit – even Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” finds a perfect fit in the show.
The show mixes in hits from major artists like those two along with indie favorites like The Bird and The Bee, BRONCHO, and Night Riots. Shit, I discovered quite a few new jams, like Compny’s “Lovers,” Caveman’s “Never Going Back,” and Brighton MA’s vintage sounding “Bet You Never Thought.” I love how these indie jams are mixed in with older classics like “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” from Richard and Linda Thompson, Fleetwood Mac’s “Need Your Love So Bad,” and Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street.”
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC FROM LOVE: SEASON TWO BELOW:
