2012: the songs (30-21)

Previously: 50-41, 40-31
Spotify Playlist Link

30. Daniel Rossen - Up On High

One of Grizzly Bear's band of musical masterminds, Rossen released a solo EP earlier this year that, much like Noah Lennox's Panda Bear off-shoot of Animal Collective, put on display just what it is Rossen contributes to the Grizzly Bear collaboration: the folky, sung-out-the-side-of-the-mouth tune that sounds unique only to his voice (which, remarkably, sounds exactly the same from record to stage). "Up On High" kicks off the "Silent Hour/Golden Mile" EP with something that sounds like it could have easily fit onto Grizzly Bear's "Yellow House." It's not like we're hearing some retread, though; the style may be familiar, but the novelty hasn't worn off.


29. Punch Brothers - This Girl

The year's sweetest song takes the form of a plea to a higher power, a pseudo-prayer spread across jubilant, swelling bluegrass notes, never sounding desperate or the least bit lacking in confidence (despite its inherent way of being so, asking for help and all). Besides, when it comes to love (or getting there), a lot of us know what we want. Sometimes, you need a little help, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's almost unabashedly sappy, but you don't feel like rolling your eyes. Really, there's no time to feel sappy with how catchy this song is.




28. Tame Impala - Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control

Much like the other Tame Impala song to make the list to this point, "Nothing..." is a song to get lost in, best enjoyed with headphones and without distractions. It's a song of self-affirmation with a message bluntly put forth in its title. Hey, if things aren't going perfectly, sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. And that's okay: "Eventually, there will be a time for clearer thinking / For now I weep, can't get to sleep, I try to hold a good feeling / I just get one: here it comes, there it goes / And we just might lose the fight, yeah but it's alright / It wasn't our decision," Kevin Parker sings before a sweeping, synthy breakdown and a partial reptition of the first verse before a fade out. It's a song full of mixed emotions, not completely sure if it's abandoned the bitterness toward whatever misfortune has befallen it, but damned if it isn't trying to accept.

27. Sun Airway - Close

Songs with a lot of layers can sometimes be overwhelming. Before the vocals even kick in, you're treated to what feels like 10 different tracks, all coats on a seemingly huge canvas. The great thing about a well-executed synthpop song, though, is that if the layers are arranged just so, you can float on the surface instead of drowning. "You give me teenage poetry / You think it comes across like Dylan, you see" is pretty relatable to me, given that I've shared a fair share of laughable writing with people...only I've thought it to be far better than it actually was. But more than cracking poetry jokes, frontman Jon Barthmus makes a pretty smooth statement in the song's chorus: "You've never known love like this before / I say you've never known loneliness like this / You've never known loneliness before / Because you've never been alone with my love." Again, it's oozing confidence, and when the chorus gets looped as the song exits over yet more layers, it's like the sun coming from behind a cloud to shine on your face as you float. It's blissful.

26. Jessie Ware - Taking In Water

Sometimes, we have to sacrifice things for the ones we love. The first verse of "Taking In Water" lays it all out: "Too heavy to swim / But too beautiful to lose." And so what do we do? We dive down to lend a hand, risking being bogged down under the weight and pressure and water ourselves. But we do these things often without much thought, because instinctually, we know to Just Do It when the situation arises, and an ode to such moments requires the soulful work that Ware puts forth here. All may be fair in love and war, but both seem to have their fair share of scarring.


25. Divine Fits - Like Ice Cream

This song was originally relegated to my "Best of the Rest" post, but after giving it a few more listens, it shot way up my charts. That's part of the fallibility of a list like this: things can change over time, and not necessarily a whole lot of time. Nevertheless, the Spoon/Wolf Parade hybrid makes its appearance on this list after all.






24. Passion Pit - I'll Be Alright

Much was made of the recent release of Michael Angelakos and Passion Pit, mainly as the album came following tales of Angelakos's personal struggles. What makes Passion Pit music so difficult to properly interpret is that it's inherently conflicted: lyrically, it's often dark and brooding, but musically it's anything but. Take "I'll Be Alright" as one of the plainest examples; from moment one, it's frenetically scored, with a pounding beat and chopped and skewered vocals adding something to the mix. Maybe it's allegorical and we're witnessing the musical composition of something Angelakos felt at some point in time, a bit of nuance amid lyrics like "I'm so self-loathing that it's hard for me to see." But, in the end, just like the title says, he'll be alright. A shame that "alright" is such a subjective term here.

23. The Walkmen - Heaven

Burying your album's title track and lead single in the 11-spot isn't exactly common practice, but then, there isn't much about the Walkmen that make you picture conventional rock band tactics. Hamilton Leithauser has always been more of a sensitive singer and lyricist, after all, so even as some past songs have been abrasive ("The Rat"), his lyrics always felt tinged with feeling, no matter how coarse they were in their own right. So when Leithauser sings "Remember, remember / All we fight for," he sounds a little weary, but he's singing the present tense. He hasn't conceded and doesn't believe he's won; life is an ongoing struggle, after all.

22. Grizzly Bear - Yet Again

The second single teased out ahead of the release of "Shields," Grizzly Bear's fourth full-length, "Yet Again" was familiar but still something of a revelation for those familiar with Grizzly Bear's prior work. Most of the dreaminess was gone from singer Ed Droste's vocals and the instruments were immediate and active. A lot of what made Grizzly Bear so great was their ability to make things sound so cared-for and adjusted to near-perfection, but they appeared to allow a bit of an edge here. As a follow-up to the first single released, "Sleeping Ute" and Daniel Rossen's agile guitar playing, it felt like confirmation that there was definitely going to be something new and different about "Shields." Devolving over its final minute into as close to a thrash as this band will ever get, that point could not have been hammered home harder. They allowed imperfection back into their lives, and rarely has it sounded better.

21. Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built

"When they love you, and they will / Tell 'em all they'll love in my shadow / And if they try to slow you down / Tell 'em all to go to hell." There are few things more joyous than a song off "Celebration Rock," but none has that "us against the world" mentality down quite like "The House That Heaven Built," the penultimate track on Japandroids' stunning second release. It's completely life-affirming, throw-it-all-away two-piece rock that barely stops for breath. And, really, when it does, you can't wait for it to start kicking your ass all over again. It's the first appearance by this band on this list, but it's far from the last.