A Femme Fatale’s Soundtrack: Macy Rodman’s “Blonde, Asymmetrical, Bob” Playlist

Welcome to SOUND ADVICE, Interview’s weekly home for playlists crafted by our friends, enemies, and lovers. In past weeks, we’ve shared mixes from Zach Cregger, Jim-E Stack, and PinkPantheress. This time, the spotlight is on Macy Rodman, a mainstay of New York’s underground nightlife for the past decade, who is stepping into her boldest era yet with SCALD, her first album since 2021’s Unbelievable Animals.

Rodman delivers a 45-minute “movie trailer” made of alt-pop, rock, and warped digital textures. She pairs infectious pop melodies with dark, cinematic wit, using Hitchcock blondes, bootleg DVDs, and femme fatale figures as stand-ins for a chaotic world on the brink. To celebrate the album’s release this Friday, she put together a playlist that brings The Vaselines, Tina Turner, and The Blood Brothers into the same orbit, a reminder that even when everything else feels uncertain, the right soundtrack can make sense of it all.

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Where do you dance? Beverly’s! It’s tiny and sexy and they play fun music with lyrics.

Name a song that reminds you of your childhood: “Strawberry Wine” by Deana Carter.

Dream collab, dead or alive? Dead.

What song on this playlist do you wish you wrote? Oh all of them, imagine the royalties, probably a whole 90 bucks a year combined from Spotify! But there’s something especially perfect to me about “Son of a Gun” by The Vaselines. It has these repetitive, sphinx-like lyrics and strikes this amazing balance of sweet and ugly and I think it just contains a universe of its own.

What song on this playlist makes you cry? I’ve definitely cried while listening to “You’re The Dream Unicorn!” by The Blood Brothers. It’s a rush. It reminds me of The Holy Mountain for some reason.

What song on this playlist makes you horny? Hate the word “horny.” But “Sex With Strangers” has sex in the title. That gives it an erotic charge in my book.

Describe Scald in three words: Blonde. Asymmetrical. Bob.

Who is your style icon? I’m always ripping off Courtney Love in one way or another. Those early grunge looks are so fantastic, the glamour of the Celebrity Skin era is divine, her “Kook” period was fab, present day she’s devastatingly chic, it’s just all good. Right now I’m doing a big time ode to her look in the movie Trapped.

What did success solve for you? Not trans rights, that’s for sure!

Fuck, Marry, Kill—New York nightlife venues: I’m not sure if it totally counts as a nightlife venue, but I’d like to marry The Odeon. I’m at an age where I value martinis and caesar salad—a great deal. I’m gonna fuck Singers because it’s debaucherous and overflowing with energy and it’s always so much fun. And for kill, I think sadly NYC venues are being killed all too frequently by sky high rents and Eric Adams without any of my help.

Who’s your all-time favorite femme fatale? Michael Caine in Dressed To Kill.

What do you need to have with you in the recording studio? “Pine Bros” glycerin drops. And a microphone. It just doesn’t feel the same without one.

What’s wrong with your generation? Oof, you tell me. Let’s ask Adam Curtis.

The world is ending. What are you wearing? Scuba gear.