A friend once hypothesized that the music at Wiggin Street Coffee is chosen by creating a playlist with your eyes closed, pressing shuffle, throwing it violently at the back wall, and hoping for the best. Another friend said, “Whenever they put Sarah Barreilles on, I leave.” I spent an afternoon in Wiggin, straining my ears to see if I could make sense of their musical taste.

Love Yourself 

This song is a post-2015 coffee shop mainstay, and at Kenyon, it’s great background music to listen to while glaring at the ex-lover who is somehow always sitting in the booth in front of you. I enjoyed this song because it made me remember listening to Justin Bieber when I was 12 and ugly, and it reminded me that I don’t look like that anymore which is nice.

Riptide

I don’t have much to say about Riptide besides the fact that it’s standard fare caucasian human noise. I would really rather not listen to this song, but worse things could be happening to me. It’s a bold choice by the Wiggin staff, considering how many people hate it. Listening to Riptide made me want to put on my headphones, but it did not make me want to leave. That says enough.

Ho Hey

This was my favorite song at one point. I remember listening to it while my brother threw up from car sickness on the way back from the Hampton’s.

Domino

Domino was exactly the pick-me-up I needed after finishing my online French homework. It really revved me up, and I found myself enthusiastically humming all of Jesse J’s “Ooh ooh ooh ooh’s!” The sexual innuendo in this song is strong, so I was engaged throughout. I admire this choice because it’s shitty in a sort of okay way. I definitely couldn’t listen to Jesse J for more than 4 minutes per day/week/month, but I didn’t really mind it this time around.

Boom Clap

No thanks

Not About Angels

I’m down with this song to a certain extent. I once listened to it on an airplane through the free music selection available on the screen embedded into the seat back in front of me. It was fine then and it’s fine now. Birdy’s soothing voice isn’t bad background-study music, so Wiggin did okay on this one.

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

An interesting choice for sure. Everyone can get down with a Beatles song, but Maxwell’s Silver Hammer is an acquired taste. It was a telling song to end my review on, so for that, I am grateful.