Previously:
100-91,
90-81,
80-71,
70-61
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60. Wild Ones - Golden Twin
There are a couple things about this song that I'm infatuated with, in some order: the way the guitars shimmer behind everything, Danielle Sullivan's Portland-ized take on Cranberries vocals and the gentle, summery pop feel layered over the whole song. It's got a reminiscent tone while managing to never sound melancholy about it. All in all, it's just got all of the ingredients you need for an enjoyable indie pop song. Simple.
59. Mikal Cronin - Shout It Out
Mikal Cronin's music is this refreshing blend of rock, pop and punk that takes it easy in the verses before pressing the overdrive pedal for the chorus. It manages to mix those three genres easily, creating a punk-type song that more indie-leaning listeners can enjoy, and vice-versa.
58. Torres - Waterfall
By now on this list, the gist of Torres is clear; but on an album full of contemplative music, this is one that still manages to set itself apart lyrically. It's probably best enjoyed in the context of the album, where it stands in as closer, with a longer lead-in of the looped, reverbed, superfast guitar strumming that lies behind the entire track. It's not an uplifting track - little about the album is hopeful, really - but there's a sad beauty in the lyrics that let them stand out to me. The second half of the chorus especially: "From way up here it looks so calm / do you ever make it halfway down and think / 'god, I never meant to jump at all'" is sung at times in a heartbroken semi-wail, at other in a nearly-hushed whisper. It's a fitting closer to an album that deserved one.
57. Night Beds - Ramona
Slide guitar, twangy vocals, country feel. It's a song that sounds like the feeling you get when some sort of revelation hits you as you're walking home late at night, probably from a bar where the whiskey buzz hasn't quite left you yet. I don't usually go foraging on the country side of the property line, but every once in a while there's a tune that's accessible enough even for me. It's at its sweetest during the second chorus, stretched out and harmonized.
56. Chvrches - Night Sky
In a way, given the hype I had for this song after first hearing it live in June, placing it 56th feels like a disappointment. It isn't obviously, but it takes some mental course-correction to appropriately appreciate this rank when you had song-of-the-year aspirations for its studio iteration. It isn't the best song of the year, obviously, but it's still Chvrches doing more of what they do so well: hooky, memorable electropop.
55. Phosphorescent - Terror in the Canyons (The Wounded Master)
An emerging trend on this list is that, if your song has a great chorus, chances are it's ending up on this list somewhere. Matthew Houck's Phosphorescent outfit have a habit of making beautifully flawed music, in that it never sounds 100 percent cohesive; but that's part of the charm. Whether it's a vocal waver, an improvised piano cut-in, a trumpet interjection or a noodling guitar sort of messing about behind the scenes, there's a lot strewn about that isn't straightforward, but all comes together to make something beautiful in spite of itself.
54. Neko Case - Local Girl
Neko's voice has taken on a bit of fine grit as the years have gone on, at least to my ears, and that added texture adds a little extra warmth to supplement her still-powerful vocal ability. Local Girl is a wistful song, kicking off with a line that's either disdainful of youth or regretful that her own youth is gone: "I pass the light that the young people make / how joyfully it's wasted." Everyone's approach to the past is different. Some embrace nostalgia, some view it as final and not worth revisiting. Whatever the angle you subscribe to, there's a part of us that'll always remember the past as it relates to loved ones. So as the song closes with "god damn the time / god damn the miles / that take me away from you and change your face," it feels relatable. We lose memories - at least, their integrity - to time. And, as the ultimate lines say, it can change both the way you feel about the present and the way you think about the way you feel in the past.
53. The National - Hard to Find
I have to hand it to the person who decided to soundtrack this song over a condensed, edited version of the 1935 cartoon
Dancing On the Moon, because it's perfect. Hard to Find, the closer for The National's sixth studio album, continues in their tradition of strong closers by being rather emotionally jarring. It talks of distance, of how the separation of people (whether physically, emotionally or psychologically) over time frays whatever bonds they once had. The cartoon shows a parade of animal couples on their way to celebrate a romantic dance on the moon, as a pair of cats try desperately try to make it before lift-off. Only one does, and he's subjected to his own company as the other couples enjoy their time together. Separation is acidic: it gradually wears through every bond you have and can drive you crazy before you even realize it. Hard to Find is a song in the aftermath of said fraying, a song that can be emotionally jarring if it relates to something in your life. Bonus points to the beautiful Sharon van Etten cameo, too.
52. Vampire Weekend - Step
We're on sort of a roll with this theme of aging/time and all its collateral damage over the past couple of songs, and this isn't much different. "Wisdom's a gift but you'd trade it for youth" is the line that sticks with you, even if it's not something you'd necessarily do. It makes you wonder: if given the chance, would you exchange what you've learned and experienced for a chance to be younger again? Go back to a time when "potential" was still a thing? Honestly, I don't know that I would, but it's interesting to think about. Vampire Weekend don't get tribal in this one; it's a song that's about as accessible as about anything else they've done, and for once, it sounds
pretty, to boot.
51. Sky Ferreira - I Blame Myself
It takes a fair bit of self-awareness to record a track for a debut album acknowledging that you have something of a "reputation." Sky Ferreira's had her fair share of publicity - whether on her own or related to her boyfriend, DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith - but the deserved pub and reputation now should come from her music, which is plain-stated, heart-on-sleeve pop. But it avoids the top 40 pitfall of being overly sweet or trite, instead both sounding and reading like a defiant confessional.
