Dirtbag Fall: A Playlist for the Slacker Season

Button up your flannel and unravel your wired headphones for an autumn of slacking and sauntering, all with a backdrop of sleazing anthems.

Written by Caroline McConnico

Courtesy of Pexels

As the weather cools and campus fills with waffle knits and half-finished coffees, it’s officially “Dirtbag Fall” — that awkward season where everything feels both a little nostalgic and a little unkempt.

“Dirtbag Fall” is a time to trade in polished summer playlists for something with more fuzz, edge, and emotional grime. The jangly detuned guitars of Pavement and loose-but-sharp songwriting of MJ Lenderman characterize this autumnal sound. Tracks like Pinegrove’s “Old Friends” give the season its reflective glow, evoking that bittersweet feeling of outgrowing places and people while still missing them. Counting Crows’ “Have You Seen Me Lately?” highlights the season’s rambling urgency, perfect for brisk, overstimulating walks. These songs turn ordinary days into cinematic plotlines, smudging the edges just enough to make the mess feel poetic.

It’s the season of letting things be slightly messy: Jeans that never fully dry in the dorm laundry room, journals with half-formed thoughts, and plans that end with “We’ll figure it out.” The distorted guitars of Ryan Adams override the sound of leaves crunching under dirty Converses. Muttered vocals from artists like Kings of Leon will vibrate through a cracked iPhone speaker as fellow slackers walk along Guad towards their classes or favorite coffee shops. This playlist embraces the under-caffeinated haze that marks the crawling end of the semester and leans into the flannel-clad, cigarette-dangling, vaguely poetic spirit of “Dirtbag Fall”.