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| Here's a picture of a jukebox, because I wanted a picture up at the top here. Also, I didn't write as much as I usually do for each song this time around, since I'm working the decade lists too, and also, have a new infant child and all that good stuff. |
"Bang My Drum" by Angel Du$t ... "Hey, Ma" by Bon Iver ... "Want You in My Room" by Carly Rae Jepson ... "1999" by Charli XCX ... "Young Enough" by Charly Bliss ... "Lemon Lime" by the Curls ... "Handyman" by Esther Rose ... "used 2 be a romantic" by Field Medic ... "Lottery" by Jade Bird ... "Dermatillomania" by Laura Stevenson ... "mother/HOLDS" by Le Butcherettes ... "Next Girl" by Lisa Prank ... "What the Fuck Is Up Tonight?" by Mean Jeans ... "You'll Need a New Backseat Driver" by the New Pornographers ... "Heat Rises" by Nilufer Yanya ... "Margaritas at the Mall" by Purple Mountains ... "Cheat Code" by Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats ... "Haunted House" by Sir Babygirl ... "Centaur's Song" by Spencer Radcliffe & Everyone Else ... "Fingerprintz" by Spiral Stairs ... "Chance" by Steve Gunn ... "I'll Be Back Someday" by Tegan and Sara ... "Grease Monkey" by Uranium Club ... "Everyday" by Weyes Blood ... "RNP" by YBN Cordae
Top 50 Songs of 2019
50. "Love Is Everywhere (Beware)" by Wilco
Wilco seemed a little more put together this time around. A little less ramshackle, I guess. Ain't nothing ramshackle about those tasty guitar licks.
49. "Ranch Style Home" by Strange Ranger
The vocals are terrific in their shakiness, the subject matter is banal, the half-time stomp power pop is unforgettable.
48. "Bad for the Boys" by Alex Cameron
I tried to describe Alex Cameron to Pam, and didn't want to use "funny" as a descriptor, even though I do chuckle at a lot of what he sings about. I guess "satire" is more accurate. This is a Steely Dan tune about #metoo, and it's a hoot. Hopefully the incels don't take it seriously.
47. "Father Mountain" by Calexico and Iron & Wine
Even in the face of mediocrity, Sam Beam can turn a goddamn pretty tune.
46. "Cemetery" by Brutus
Vocal cord shredding can be hit or miss, but when you're a female and you're the drummer and you're the one doing the shredding, count me in.
45. "Nobody" by Mac Demarco
I already moped enough about this song a few months ago, but the horn on "Nobody" is still the saddest music of 2019.
44. "All Some Kind of Dream" by Josh Ritter
Nope, not a dream. This is the reality we live in. Shout out to Josh Ritter for at least choosing to live in this reality, the opposite of what a lot of other Americans choose.
43. "My Life Alone" by Whitney
The very best Whitney songs in their relatively small discography are the songs that you can close your eyes while listening and just feel that highway breeze on your smiling face.
42. "EARFQUAKE" by Tyler, the Creator
Apparently this song was originally written for Rhianna. Can't imagine anyone but Tyler, the Creator singing it at this point.
41. "Turn the Light" by Karen O & Danger Mouse
As Tom Breihan continues to run through the '70s in his great The Number Ones column, I find myself falling deeper and deeper into the lure of disco. Karen O performs that modern day, sexy, after-hours disco that I so crave these days.
40. "Pressure to Party" by Julia Jacklin
Ironic that Julia Jacklin's song about not wanting to party is also Julia Jacklin's only song that actually sounds like a party.
39. "Tumult Around the World" by Titus Andronicus
"The world would be nicer if we could treat each other a little more decently as we fucking cook to death on our ruined planet." This may be the Patrick Stickles quote to end all Patrick Stickles quotes. I don't even know if I agree with the sentiment or even the intention 100%, but I know for a fact that, while yes, the world is in constant tumult, at least we have Titus Andronicus to enjoy.
38. "Strangers" by Sigrid
I listened to a lot of pop this year, and liked a lot more than I thought I would. But that little yelp that Sigrid gives toward the end of this song is really the main reason that "Strangers" gets propelled to 2019's Top 40. You know the one. "Think we got it, but we made up a dream / 'Cause we've got a pretty look of what we could be. / WHOOP!" Gets me every time.
37. "basking in the glow" by Oso Oso
I also listened to a lot more emo this year, and liked it all. Seriously. That Oso Oso can do it competently pretty much secures a spot on this list.
36. "Hope" by (Sandy) Alex G
I survey the ruins of my neighborhood from atop the Allegheny El station platform, and I can imagine that Alex G is feeling what I'm feeling.
35. "Sunshine Rock" by Bob Mould
Pam gives me shit for my irascibility when it comes to the Boomer generation. Maybe she has a point—Bob Mould was born in 1960 and is still rocking my fucking face off.
34. "Seventeen" by Sharon Van Etten
If you write a song about the bitter nostalgia of growing up, you're gonna find a place in my heart. Credit to Van Etten for actually writing a towering, swirling, powerful musical statement to go along with the Joe K*** pandering.
33. "Don't Be So Hard on Yourself" by Alex Lahey
I'll give a pass for a lame-ass Mighty Ducks reference when a song is this fucking catchy.
32. "Anna" by the Menzingers
It was made fun of in a Record Club review, and maybe Brian has a point. It's silly to like a song more because they say the word "Philadelphia." But I can't help it! I have never felt this way about an Anna, but love has made this city glow, and loss has made this city feel cold, and I fucking get it, man.
31. "My Teeth Hurt" by Ezra Furman
"This was our punk record." Yup.
30. "Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting" by the Twilight Sad
I have no idea what Dennis Hopper has to do with any of this. I can barely understand what the Twilight Sad are saying most of the time anyway, because the Scottish is so damn thick. I don't care. I love this band. This song is heavy as fuck.
29. "Revenge of the Nerds" by Jens Lekman
This was the high water mark for Lekman and Anna Norline's CORRESPONDENCE project, compiled this year. Did you remember the rape? I didn't either.
28. "White Onions" by Foals
This is the Foals that I would listen to all the time. Doesn't seem like Foals wants to be this Foals all the time. Oh well. Give me that sweet "White Onion" again.
27. "Dirty Laundry" by Danny Brown
I made a quadrant chart about my rap preferences already, and so you can guess which corner "Dirty Laundry" falls into.
26. "stay" by pronoun
What's the term for when you feel exactly what the author is writing about when you are actually reading it? I have no idea how to google that. But "Feels like I'm standing in the middle and an eighteen-wheeler washed over me" was a hook that hit me like an eighteen-wheeler.
25. "Valley to LA" by Bleached
Bleached can write the goddamn fun snotty hooks, so no, I didn't rank this song in the top 25 based solely on the fact that it has the line, "Operation Natty was our drug of choice," okay? I'm serious!!
24. "Stay in Touch" by Girlfriend Material
Girlfriend Material, a fun if occasionally middling pop punk band, hits above their weight when they tackle that very specific feeling of the distance that grows between friends as you reach adulthood, and how much that fucking sucks, and how there's really nothing you can do.
23. "Shy" by Local Natives
While Kanye is busy kissing demagogue ass and writing about religious chicken sandwiches and just in general being megalomaniacal asshole, the fucking Local Natives, of all goddamn bands, are over here dropping Yeezus-style horn beats under their harmonies. Music amazes me sometimes.
22. "Body Chemistry" by the Drums
The Drums list the four keys to a healthy relationship, and after hearing this song, I have to agree. They are: 1) Some good luck; 2) A good fuck; 3) A nice glass of wine; 4) Some quality time.
21. "Somedays (I Don't Feel like Trying)" by the Raconteurs
Yes, it sounds like "Tuesday's Gone." Why is that a bad thing? Yes, the coda is long and repeats the same mantra over and over. Why is that a bad thing? Yes, this is the Raconteurs. Why is that a bad thing? This song is filled with nothing but good fucking things.
20. "Star 18" by the Hold Steady
I hope Craig Finn and the Hold Steady keep writing this type of song until they are senior citizens. Even if it's only five new songs a year, I'll be content. The Hold Steady can never die.
19. "Rylan" by the National
Apparently this song was written by the National well before 2019, and they only now decided to put a proper studio version of it on an LP. You can kind of tell—it has that classic National sound. Now, the fact that this is the song from I Am Easy to Find that ends up on this list should NOT be an indictment of that album. The National banged out a bunch of wonderful, still very National-y sounding songs on that album. But "Rylan," whether because it sounds like the National of old or not, is the best. I've always been a sucker for this band.
18. "Wrestlemania VIII" by Martha
There will never be a catchier love song about the ghost of Rowdy Roddy Piper. P.S. Martha is such a fucking underrated band. I tend to underrate them too, and then they do this kind of shit. Love it.
17. "Paper Rings" by Taylor Swift
Look, I don't know Taylor Swift, either personally or musically. I don't know if we're supposed to take her seriously or not. I don't know if she is her own person or if she's locked down by the pop PR machine. I don't know if she's real or a fraud. I don't know. But I do fucking know a good song. "Paper Rings" is a good ass song. I listened to Lover once, and my love for this song was the only thing that came from that. I don't really care about anything else.
16. "Weathervane" by Dave Hause
That thing I said for #26 "stay" probably could've been used better here. I really do feel like the chorus here hits like a fucking hurricane. There's a reason this song is stuck in my head every time I'm riding my bike through the rain.
15. "Dylan Thomas" by Better Oblivion Community Center
Two of my favorite artists combining their talents to make music doesn't always guarantee success (like, that Barnett/Vile collaboration was just okay, right?) (also, I should say at this point that I am a total Oberst apologize, there's literally nothing he's done that I don't love). But, um, this shit rocks. Oberst lifts Bridgers' typically subdued (but still amazing) music into something that actually excites in an outward way; Bridgers grounds Oberst's occasional bombast.
14. "Sicilian Crest" by the Mountain Goats
I don't know why every goddamn indie artist doesn't have Owen Pallett on their payroll. The dude can do no fucking wrong. The cheesy '80s synths on this song are fucking everything.
13. "Light On" by Maggie Rogers
Yeah, alright, fine, this taped live version of the song is probably better. Sue me!!!!!!!
12. "The Stone" by Harry & the Potters
Ugh... this one is gonna be rough when I spread my Top 20 on the internet. I believe I made a good case for Harry and the Potters in my Record Club review over the summer, but I'll speak up for this particular song again. I am a Harry Potter fan, obviously, and so I was so taken aback from a song that (to me, anyway) spoke to the nature of being a Harry Potter fan. When all kinds of random fucking people start whispering "Thank you, Harry Potter" at the back end of "The Stone," they are specifically thanking the character for his sacrifice. But if you're a book fan, how can you not interpret it as all the fans saying "Thank you Harry Potter," i.e. saying thank you to the books for being there as we grew older? That's how I took it, anyway, and that's why it's sitting at #12.
11. "bedroom community" by Glass Beach
I previously mentioned that I listened to a lot of emo this year, and while I wouldn't necessarily call Glass Beach purebred "emo," I would say that it absolutely leans in that direction. And I'll say this about emo—I'm starting to take the abbreviation serious. "Emotional." Glass Beach is emotional. I'm emotional listening to it. It is so over the top that I can't help but get emotional. Glass Beach forever.
10. "Kids" by PUP
I guess PUP is an apostle of putting the album's best song second on the tracklist (look for "DVP" next month in the decade's best songs list). "Kids" is fucking powerful, man. Their particular brand of power punk definitely lends itself to songs like this, but they don't always hit the mark. "Kids" hits it over and over.
9. "Uncomfortably Numb" by American Football
I mean, clearly this is a Pink Floyd homage. And while "Comfortably Numb" is an all-time great song, I feel like "Uncomfortably Numb" somehow tops that. No one is comfortable as they grow up. Pink Floyd (Roger Waters) was coming from the perspective of an arena-sized rock star, doing drugs and trying to get away. We (me, American Football I guess) don't have that privilege. Shit's tough out there. We're all pretty uncomfortable with everything that's happening. Though... the presence of Hayley Williams helps, for sure.
8. "4AM" by Spielbergs
Compliment the Japandroids for being so damn good that even blatant knock-offs of their sound are still fucking phenomenal. I can't say that I spent too many nights that went till 4 AM this year, but the sentiment remains.
7. "Visions" by Strand of Oaks
I love that Strand of Oaks perfectly captures that nighttime-beachtime feeling (Wildwood represent!). I love that the backing band is My Morning Jacket sans Jim James, and that it very clearly sounds like a My Morning Jacket tune (besides, of course, Tim Showalter's equally distinctive vocals). I love that it's such a serious song, but still is able to inject some humor ("SHIT / I took an eighth").
6. "I Feel Emotion" by Operators
Dan Boeckner is usually grounded as a musician. I count on him for my heart-on-sleeve rock basics. But here we have him creating a song of epic proportions, with towering synths and gradually escalating drama and vocals with real fucking stakes. This is a song you can just picture the fog machine blasting during, and then the band breaking forth, getting right up in your face, telling you straight-up, this is it.
5. "Born to Stay" by Future Teens
"Future Teens" is probably a misnomer. I wasn't thinking this shit as a twelve-year-old. But 20 years old? Fuck yeah, dude. There's a time in your life when you aren't moving forward, and you know you can't move back, and you're just inside yourself, screaming. Future Teens capture that fucking perfectly here. The chorus here is an absolute monster. This is the best emo song of the year. I'm at least eight years past these feelings and yet the chorus completely knocks me over every single time.
4. "Drunk II" by Mannequin Pussy
Ugh. I wish I wouldn't have read that Marisa Dabice had written this song in a drunken depression. It's exactly the type of sentiment that I would try to express in a similar situation, and this empathy hurts like a bitch, man. Like "Born to Stay," there's a certain sense of bitter nostalgia here—I'm a little past the feelings being expressed, as far as I know—but man, when I hear "Drunk II," those feelings come back with a vengeance. "I drink to drown, I am alone." Whether it's actually true or not, it's all about how you feel. Me and Dabice, we're sad ass drunks. I get it.
3. "This Life" by Vampire Weekend
How can such a happy song cut so goddamn deep? There's plenty to celebrate on "This Life." There's the bouncing rhythm that recalls Graceland at Paul Simon's best (it's better than any Graceland song, for my money, but you can't deny the comparison is legit). There's that idea that "life" is grand and should be cherished and that you shouldn't stress the small things and, ya know, all those clichés. But then that line comes in: "Oh Christ! / Am I good for nothing?!" I can't get over that line. It makes me breathless, in a bad way. Yes, life is big and grand and none of us will ever understand it, and maybe we should appreciate it some more... but what if I don't? What if I truly am completely pointless in the grand scheme of things? Then what the fuck is the point? Why am I here? Why do I bother? Oh Christ.
2. "Drinkin' Days" by Pkew Pkew Pkew
I know it might seem like I’m exaggerating about how much this song’s chorus has affected me this year, but I swear to god I’m not. It goes like this: “There’s a hole in my heart ‘bout the size of a bottle, and I like to fill it every day.” A chorus like this is a bucket of cold water in the face. It makes feel like I’m staring into a mirror and seeing for the first time the creature that is staring back. It’s haunted me, dear reader. That’s the truth.
It’s crazy to believe that a fun, seemingly harmless pop punk song could do this to anyone, but here we are. But here's the craziest thing about it—I don't even know if Pkew Pkew Pkew is coming at it from the same angle that I am. They are a few years younger, and probably haven't reached the point yet where they are questioning the boozing. "I hope we never have to change" is actually the main lyric here, I guess, and that makes me think that they don't get it, or don't want to. That's fine. That doesn't mean this fucking song can't hit me the way it does.
1. "Boys in the Better Land" by Fontaines D.C.
Okay, alright, things are getting a little sloppy and a little sad on this list. Christ, when I said "good art affects me, positively or negatively," I didn't mean that every song had to make me sad to make me appreciate it. This is what "Boys in the Better Land" means as a statement #1 song. I am definitively not sad when I hear this song. I am fucking PUMPED.
And that's what I want music to make me feel. I'm not a glutton for punishment, for the most part. I want to feel like I am on top of the goddamn world when I hear a song. Fontaines D.C. make me feel that when I listen to this shit. Most good music makes me collapse upon myself. With this particular great song, I explode outward. I am invincible. Give me a fucking Guinness.
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