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20. Cloud Nothings - I'm Not Part of Me
Cloud Nothings released this song on YouTube in late January, helping round off what might have been the strongest music month of the entire year. Those familiar with Cloud Nothings know what they're getting: punk sensibility out the ears and a really great chance of a chorus that'll spontaneously spawn a mosh pit in your living room. Dylan Baldi - whose nasal voice has become directly associated with this age of punk music for me - sounds great here, snidely cruising through verses before spitting "I'm
not / I'm
not you / You're a part of me." It's a little obtuse lyrically, but feels like it's about accepting one's past as permanent, even as we try to move on, or something along those lines. For all his vigorously sung lines, Baldi still sometimes sounds vulnerable and human, and that gives the song an emotional quality not usually expected from Cloud Nothings, or even punk in general. It's still plenty loud and brash, so those boxes are ticked, but it's more...listenable...than those words alone might indicate. (Side note: the video for this is pretty terrible. You're probably better off just playing it in the background.)
19. Jessie Ware - You & I (Forever)
I'll start writing here by acknowledging the one thing that bugs me and kept this song from possibly being top 10 or higher: that strange, bird-like sound in the beat for most of the song. I don't understand it and it bothers me. That said! Everything else about this song is wonderful. A more pop-oriented Jessie Ware is a great, great thing when songs like this are the yield. For the song's music video, linked above, a slate with a quote from Ware leads us into the main event: "For me, 'You & I (Forever)' is celebrating the person you love being by your side." It's one of the toughest feelings to put into words and feel like you're doing it justice. Concepts like love, reciprocation, eternity, acceptance, individuality; everything meshes here into a song that conveys it competently and admirably. That might sound like selling it short, until you really consider just how tough a task that is.
18. Owen Pallett - ---> [1]/The Riverbed
Led in by an instrumental interlude that sounds like it's taking place as a distant rainstorm makes a fuss in the early morning hours of some flyover territory state, "The Riverbed" crashes onto your ears and through your consciousness like an express train. Foreboding violins dash and dart as the drums throw your heart off its regular beat. Something feels very ominous about this track, as the music seems to portend some kind of doom and Pallett's voice is far less joyful than on other parts of
In Conflict.
17. The Antlers - Palace
I've always found artists who include lyrics - whether in liner or in lyric music videos or on
Tumblr posts, as we have here - do their cause a great service. I love being able to hear every word as intended. In this track's particular case, Peter Silberman is telling a heartbreaking story of seeing a loved one destroyed by an abusive relationship from afar, and that's the kind of thing where every word needs to be digested and taken to heart. There's talk of heaven and hell, light and dark, and reassurances of better futures ahead. Sometimes, when you feel helpless about the plight of another, what more can you offer? The conflicting emotions of hope and despair play against one another here, and after countless listens, I'm still unsure myself which one I hear more of.
16. The War On Drugs - Burning
I'll never profess to being the biggest Springsteen fan. I don't know most of his catalogue, have only been to one show and rarely ever listen to his stuff voluntarily. That's less a note of disparagement than one of apathy; something about his music just never really clicked for me. Odd, then, that one of my favorite songs from this year sounds like something the Boss himself could've cranked out 25 years ago. I'm not sure if this'll eventually lead to my opinion of Bruce tunes softening, but that and he are actually irrelevant to the song at hand: an invigorating piece of 8-track rock with an anthemic feel that's easy to follow and get caught up in.
15. Real Estate - Crime
"I remember when this all felt like pretend / And I still can't believe." How old were you when you realized you were a capital-A "Adult?" You were completely in charge of your own decisions, capable of living a life that was fully yours and, regardless of those you knew or came to know, existed independently? I'm not sure when that point was for me, but I do remember one of the other realizations that came with it: as much as our lives are standalone things, there's an underpinning desire to not stay that way forever. With some exceptions, we all thrive on interaction and relationships, and the thought of going without these things is scary. You never really consider the possibility of solitude when you're younger, because everything is taken for granted when you're an adolescent. Now, though, Martin Courtney is right there with you: "I don't wanna die lonely and uptight / Stay with me." The time is more easily passed when you're walking the path with company.
14. Alvvays - Party Police
Uncertainty, waffling, insecurity. How do we know when we can be fully comfortable in a relationship? How can we learn not to second-guess everything sooner, to trust ourselves and our hearts and actions to project our true selves to one another? The underlying theme of "Party Police" feels like just that, an internal monologue about Molly Rankin's uncertainty with her own emotions about someone: "I see you every day, it's hard to figure out what happens next / I cannot decipher conversation in your head," she sings, obviously wishing she were a telepath but is instead relegated to the restrictions of being a regular ol' mortal. Parts of the song make her seem like she's resolute in what she feels and what she wants to say, but the song's portrayal of all this as words inside her head as opposed to spoken professions make this sound a little heartbreaking. You root for Rankin as the narrator here, and wish she were able to speak her mind more freely.
13. Lake Street Dive - You Go Down Smooth
Rachael Price is a budding star - you might remember her as the anthem singer prior to Francis Underwood's first pitch at Camden Yards in the U.S. House of Cards, if you didn't already know about the band - whose vocal talent is so far beyond "undeniable" as to be almost comical. There are some artists, while still being supremely gifted and talented, whose voices on record don't fully capture the grandeur of their ability. Price is one of those, but that's selling the recorded versions of Lake Street Dive's music short. Sure, having finally seen the band live earlier this year, I get why people say their performances transcend their records. They truly do. But that still doesn't detract from band-wide stellar performances here, a raucously soulful, jazzy good time. Harmonies, vocal personality, deft bass, key and drum playing; all the ingredients are there for a track that bends your ear from the first strummed chord and won't let go until it's well and ready to do so.
12. Tycho - Montana
Without even a word, Tycho once again conjures images in your mind over the course of a track. The title guides you: imagine a place with fields and wide expanses, room to breathe and stretch your arms, grass to glide your fingers over and a horizon everywhere your turn. As I find myself slowly assimilating my being with city life, things like this become flights of fancy: ideas of places and areas I'm certain exist, but have gone without seeing for so long all I'm left with are my thoughts. What does it mean to be in open spaces? What does the freedom associated with it feel like? For me, these are questions this track tries to answer, and the closest I can get to explaining that feeling.
11. Fickle Friends - Play
This group were not, as I'd hoped, the Chvrches of 2014. All we have from Fickle Friends so far are this and one other track, "Swim," with no proper album or even EP having made air yet. That's not a complaint, but instead an acknowledgement that this group is an egg yet to hatch, a dance-y electropop contingent with Masters degrees in Hook Creation and Catchiness. They're certainly a group I'm eyeing for 2015, but in the here and now, they've produced "Play," a bouncy jaunt that inspires feelings of summer and 20-something fun. It's a song of the moment for some, or a bit of youthful nostalgia for others. Whatever point you're at right now, there's some emotion contained in this song you'll be able to relate to, with a 100% chance you feel better on the other side.
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10-1
