Spotify
Previously:
100-91,
90-81
80. Pure Bathing Culture - Clover
It's a step above bedroom rock, with finer touches in its production than you'd normally hear from an Ableton self-starter, but "Clover" still feels kind of intimate in its bubbly indie pop-ness. The ascending trebles of the rhythm guitar that essentially serves as a lead lay a bed upon which scattered drum kit hits pop and Sarah Versprille's voice lilts and coos. It's a toe-tapper; an aggressively...relaxing song to listen to.
79. Carly Rae Jepsen - All That
It was kind of a strange moment when I realized I liked Carly Rae Jepsen's new album. I had zero intention of listening to it after first hearing about its pending release, but then people started to rumble about it being good. Like, genuinely
good, not in a "man, I really like annoying the shit out of my friends looping 'Call Me Maybe 15 times," misanthropic good. It was after I first heard these rumbles that Pitchfork, the site slowly assimilating itself into the pop music business, slapped a Best New Track on this, a confident, sexy slow jam that evokes plenty of 90s diva-era nostalgia (the keyboard helps with that whole aesthetic). Jepsen's normally youthful voice sounds a bit more grown-up here, and her command of the slow-dance proclamation of love is just as deft as any of her other banger-types on
Emotion.
78. Beach House - Majorette
First thing's first: let's acknowledge
Depression Cherry. The first of the two Beach House albums to be released this year has no tracks on this list, and I found it mostly forgettable, too far removed from the feel of
Bloom that I'd come to fall in love with. Perhaps there's a rubber bad rebound thing happening with
Thank Your Lucky Stars that contributes to its placement above
Depression Cherry, but really, it just sounds like the album Beach House was meant to release this year. Here, on the album's lead-off, Victoria Legrand uses the airier side of her voice to glide above
Teen Dream-style guitars and
Bloom-fashioned synths and evoke more of a feeling of the classic 2012 album than anything I'd heard from them since.
77. Joan Shelley - Subtle Love
As with the Shelley track in the last installment of 10 songs, guitars and voice comprise the vast majority of the song's instrumentation - later on, a piano chimes in - emphasizing Shelley's lyrics and their delivery, especially during the chorus's lovely melody and syllabic outro. As throughout the rest of
Over and Even, simplicity reaps its rewards. Shelley is uncomplicated here; the first trip through the chorus refers not to "subtle" love in the title, but a "simple kind of love," something I think this track captures almost effortlessly. (This track is not on the Spotify playlist)
76. EL VY - Return to the Moon (Political Song For Didi Bloome to Sing, With Crescendo)
Matt Berninger is exploring his off-kilter side as he treks through his 40s and, as one half of EL VY with Brent Knopf, flexes some seriously perplexing lyrical muscle. It's entirely possible that the stories in this song are allegories to things only Berninger knows about; at least, I can't name a colorblind witch off the top of my head. The refreshing aspect of this song, coming from the perspective of someone who's drowned in National discography over the last few years, is how
happy it all sounds. Sure, some of that's relative, but this qualifies as dance rock for a guy who's shuffled through more sad ballads than any of us can count by this point. Nonsense lyrics aside - Didi Bloome doesn't even appear to a notable figure of any sort - this song clicks because Berninger's voice surprises with the flexibility to work within the parameters set by Knopf's keys and rhythms. It's an odd combo, but it works.
75. Foxing - Night Channels
There's little doubt in my mind that this song is a recollection of a very difficult time in the life of frontman Conor Murphy, or some character he's created. It details the struggles and travails of a couple, fractured but still not completely broken, still holding it together, somehow. The fry in Murphy's voice sometimes feels like it's wearing the cracks of that relationship as he paints a memory's picture. It's reminiscent of mid-2000s emo, but without any hint of melodrama; the song is forceful, poignant and emotional in the purest senses, and that genuine touch is very, very rewarding.
74. SOAK - B a noBody
Bridie Monds-Watson is a 19-year-old Irishwoman who seems to have a pretty worldly vision of just what it means to grow up in this time. This track, a rumination on feeling like the world is whipping by and rendering a previously comfortable fit uncomfortable, is a typical teenage concern, but framed so eloquently that it almost seems shocking to think Monds-Watson is only 19 (and younger yet when the track was written). To her credit, the song easily avoids campiness, with an angelic falsetto in the chorus playing against a brogue tint in the verses. Her voice stands out as unique, and helps make for a captivating listen, even if her problems might not be yours.
73. Beach Slang - Noisy Heaven
In what's becoming a Beach-y group of 10, Beach Slang reappear for the second time in eight tracks with a song that's yet more rah-rah than the one that preceded it. The Japandroids comparisons are again immediate for me, though with the added depth of a bass. James Alex's vocals have been sanded with a coarse grit, giving the track a feel more of revitalization than youth, of recapturing what once was and reigniting a passion. "Our heads are blurry / Our hearts are sure things / I bet on you to make me nervous, to stay dangerous," he croaks in the song's bridge, evoking memories of being in some smoke-filled room on a booze-injected high.
72. Telekinesis - Courtesy Phone
Containing arguably one of my favorite bass parts from this year, "Courtesy Phone" cruises along with that top-down, coastline drive kind of feel. The second straight track to clock in at 2:30 or shorter, "Courtesy Phone" gets right to the point and moves on before overstaying its welcome. It's a straightforward indie rocker without any real faults, aside from my wondering the heck happens to the vocals just before the second chorus.
71. The Tallest Man On Earth - Sagres
Kristian Matsson made a name for himself with stripped-down folk masterpieces, his Bob Dylan-esque voice giving him immediate American folk authenticity, despite being Swedish. Here. he's traded in the minimalism and opted for a larger scale, with a grand string section and reverbed vocals and layered guitar parts. It's a little unusual to hear him go so big - for some, maybe disruptive that he chose to do so - but his songwriting lends itself just as well to the new format. Maybe he'll never go back to the sparse sounds that got him to this point; maybe it doesn't matter.
