We had a crazy Round 1, in case you missed it this past Tuesday. The Hold Steady and the National both couldn't make it past the first round! Kendrick Lamar had two separate wins, despite a bizarre Tupac interview! Old 97's lost on a technical foul (apostrophe misuse), and Pulp won despite their technical foul (acronym misuse)!! Some wild shit!
For Round 2, the rules are a little stricter. I will be judging each song's absolute best moment or section head-to-head; whichever song's specific moment is better will be what pushes it to the next round.
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ROUND 2
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"Fade" by Sleater-Kinney VS. "Don't Call Upon Me" by Music Band
"Fade" has a truly strange middle section that switches from the powerful half-time rock ballad of the beginning to a twitchy, military-percussion samba. But then when it kicks back into that half-time, it feels epic. "Don't Call Upon Me" is more straight-ahead rock, doesn't deviate much from what it's designed to do. That chorus kicks ass every time, though. DON'T CALL UPON ME!!! Tough call.
WINNER: "Don't Call Upon Me"
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"Candle" by Sonic Youth VS. "Pale Green Things" by the Mountain Goats
One song features the line "I'm a cocker on the rock," and one features the line "She told me how you'd died at last / At last." Shit. "Pale Green Things" is the true dark horse of this tournament.
WINNER: "Pale Green Things"
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"Blue Eyes" by Destroyer VS. "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." by Pulp
That lone trumpet in the background of "Blue Eyes" is fucking great. Comes in at all the best times, hits just the right notes for just the right flourishes. But the Pulp song, when it finally kicks into gear, is just too good. Can't decide whether the best moment is those titanic drum hits at the 2:20 mark accompanied "WHAT!" and "IS!" and etc., or if the best moment is the backing vocals of the chorus spelling out the title. The answer is moot.
WINNER: "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E."
A guitar part that makes me feel like I'm playing Rock Band, or how the vocals in each verse play jump rope with the sparse piano/conga beat?
WINNER: "Waste Your Time"
I love how warbly and lo-fi the guitar riff is, and yet how catchy it remains in "Goodbye Weekend." But there's something so pure and innocent about the vocals in "Be Good." I like both songs, and both have a similar aesthetic, but I gotta give the win to the latter.
WINNER: "Be Good"
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"Shit Luck" by Modest Mouse VS. "Cold Gold (LA's Alright)" by the Gotobeds
"Shit Luck" is such an assault on the ears, but, kind of in a good way? Like, every time those scraggly vocals yell about some disaster, and those almost-metal guitars crash in, it's a thrill. I don't know if "Cold Gold" is a better song in general—they are actually quite similar, the more I listen to them—but the "bah-bah-bahdahdah" lines in this song are really endearing. I dunno man, fuck it.
WINNER: "Cold Gold (LA's Alright)"
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"Like Ice Cream" by Divine Fits VS. "The Execution of All Things" by Rilo Kiley
I love that "The Execution of All Things" slowly builds up to a legitimate climax, without even realizing what it's doing till we're there. "Like Ice Cream," on the other hand, is a great song, but lacks that standout moment. This will be its downfall in this round.
WINNER: "The Execution of All Things"
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"The Waiting" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers VS. "Northern Sky" by Nick Drake
How does Petty wring so much emotion out of singing the title of this song? He turns "waiting" into something like a seven-syllable word. It's cool. So cool that it knocks out a great and worthy Nick Drake song, "Northern Sky." Drake is a lot more expressive here then he is at his darker moments, and that's to this song's benefit, but shit, man, Petty.
WINNER: "The Waiting"
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"I Watched the Film The Song Remains the Same" by Sun Kill Moon VS. "Mystery Hours" by the New Pornographers
The lyrics are pretty great in a rambling sort of way on the Sun Kil Moon track, self-reflective and tinged with death. Why Mark Kozelek thought that he should follow up this album with around twelve different albums in which he sings about what he ate for lunch, I'll never fucking know. Anyways, the New Pornographers do the opposite in "Mystery Hours," leaning on their signature off-kilter pop rock maximalism, and I fucking love that too. Ah goddamn it, fine...
WINNER: "I Watched the Film The Song Remains the Same"
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"Beat City" by the Raveonettes VS. "untitled 05 | 9.21.2014" by Kendrick Lamar
The Raveonettes have a relentless tempo on their side, one that could almost be surf rock from the year 2119. On his side, Kendrick Lamar has a really, really fun bass line that he raps over with his typical finesse. This is another tough one.
WINNER: "untitled 05 | 9.21.2014"
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"Find Them Empty" by Woods VS. "Radio Silence" by Shearwater
Will the impossible falsetto on Woods songs ever get old? No. But they still meet their end here. The moment where "Radio Silence" finally releases the tension is just too good.
WINNER: "Radio Silence"
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"1000 Stars" by Big Country VS. "Etta James" by Brian Fallon
Scottish baritone breaking into a "HAH!" or New Jersey smoker's voice breaking because of the heavy emotion of it all?
WINNER: "Etta James"
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"Turned Out Light" by Thee Oh Sees VS. "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by R.E.M.
The aforementioned WOO! is still great no matter how many times I listen to "Turned Out Light" and every other Thee Oh Sees (or Oh Sees, or whatever they are called these days) song. As much as I love R.E.M., "Monty" isn't a song filled with big moments.
WINNER: "Turned Out Light"
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"Tombstone Shadow" by Creedence Clearwater Revival VS. "The Trip" by Kim Fowley
I love the symbols of death scattered through the CCR song, and I think they are more effective than the random-ass psychedelic imagery of "The Trip" (e.g. "silver cats" and "emerald rats" etc.). Both kick-ass rock songs, though. Fuck.
WINNER: "Tombstone Shadow"
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"Our First Fight" by Jens Lekman VS. "Queen of the Savages" by the Magnetic Fields
There's a lot to like in Lekman's "Our First Fight," but the part that endears me the most is the line "Another discussion about some TV show that never ends / No, I haven't seen season three." I empathize so very hard with that line. "Queen of the Savages" tries too hard to be cutesy and clever; it's not as effortless a task as Jens Lekman makes it look.
WINNER: "Our First Fight"
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"Mortal Man" by Kendrick Lamar VS. "White Crosses" by Against Me!
"When the shit hits the fan / is you still a fan?" is the most important part of "Mortal Man," and it's a question I'm still struggling with, years later. I like grappling with art, but for the most part, I'd rather pump my fist to a rallying cry I can fully support—"I WANNA SMASH THEM ALL."
WINNER: "White Crosses"
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ROUND 2 FINAL RESULTS
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Oh shit! Sweet Sixteen coming at ya, early next week!
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