Spotify
Previously:
100-91,
90-81,
80-71,
70-61,
60-51
50. Yeasayer - I Am Chemistry
There's something strange about nearly every Yeasayer song, something that sounds just
off enough for it to avoid resembling anything generic, but never repulsive and always more of a curiosity than anything else. You could pick a couple of those things from within this track, from the slightly seasick guitars in the intro to Chris Keating's supervillain-in-his-signature-armchair delivery or the children's choir singing about oleander, you're really never left short of things to leave you wondering if you heard that song right the first time. It's something endearingly consistent about Yeasayer throughout their whole catalog, and the lead single from this year's
Amen & Goodbye fits snugly in that armchair shaped like an upturned hand that your weird aunt Dominique has in her living room for some reason.
49. Pinegrove - New Friends
Pinegrove's
Cardinal starts with a song called "Old Friends" (#67) and ends here, with "New Friends." There's a journey the album takes you on to get from A to B and here, at the end of that trip, we have a declaration, a statement of intent that past fuckups are what they are and the future should be experienced with as much of that baggage cleared as is possible. Sometimes, relationships and friendships decay. It just happens. And Evan Stephens Hall owns it - "I resolve to make new friends / I liked my old ones, but I fucked up so I'll start again" - and punctuates himself with a simple question: "What's the worst that can happen?" Sometimes, you just have to find out for yourself.
48. case/lang/veirs - Best Kept Secret
A sweeping bit of Americana led by Laura Veirs's honey-sweet vocals and an overwhelming sense of adoration and appreciation for someone who exudes
goodness. Maybe there just aren't enough people like that in all our lives, but the characterization of this guitar-teaching, emotionally available wonderperson as a hidden gem or diamond in the rough means he or she is something of a rarity. That much of the subtext here is a shame, but that's about it; the rest of the track is unadulterated feel-good grandeur in the towering strings and orchestration above high-note bass rhythm and brightly twangy guitar.
47. Okkervil River - Call Yourself Renee
From one set of strings to another, this next song slows things down considerably, taking its time to unfold layers of violins and cello as a piano falls like a gentle snow. It isn't until the song is nearly two minutes old that Will Sheff decides to start telling his tale of a South Dakotan and a missing man, weaving it into thoughts of reincarnation and universal purpose. "I'm not scared to die, as long as I know that the universe has something really to do with me," Sheff breathes out after rapid-firing words across his verses, a tired coda to this metaphorical fable that carries an incredible amount of beauty across its seven-minute runtime.
46. FM-84 - Everything
Songs that embody feelings - whether one alone or a swatchbook of all the shades you can imagine - without uttering a single word are nothing short of wonderfully impressive things. This intro track to FM-84's chillwave/retro/synthpop album is exactly that: An instrumental track that hits all the right notes of nostalgia, love and urgency, letting all of those things mix together and crash over you like a wave on the surf at sunset, bubbled, frothy and roaring.
45. Maggie Rogers - Dog Years
You might know Maggie Rogers as the young women who bowled Pharrell Williams over during his
guest appearance at her NYU music class. That song, "Alaska," was a bouncy bit of...post-folk?...that caught Pharrell's ear and provided Rogers with lots of praise. "Alaska" was later released as a proper single ahead of some sort of future release. And it's a fine track. Her follow-up single, "Dog Years," is the real star of the Maggie Rogers show so far. It's got more of a mainstream sound than "Alaska," but is filled with this youthful feeling of hope that the former never really puts out there. "Dog Years" is a toe-tapper with a full-throated chorus whose final line - "We will be alright!" - lands like a rallying cry for your heart. You feel it, and you believe her.
44. Tegan and Sara - U-Turn
Straight-up, in-your-face, no-apologies pop with an edge that manages to play off both Sara Bareilles and St. Lucia in the same breath. The Quin sisters' full-hearted foray into modern pop music after years in folk/singer-songwriter land could have gone any number of ways; with 2013's
Heartthrob, they had a smooth transition, and here on "U-Turn" they've found something very close to perfecting that move. Eminently danceable with an earworm of a chorus, the song is a pure winner.
43. Martha - Precarious (Supermarket Song)
A fun snot-rocker laced with heavy Northeast England accents and a "love is love" message told in a story about a supermarket cashier and a patron with a crush. The lyrical message is love-positive ("I'm a person, you're a person, nothing else is really certain") and the punk chorus beat of "Oh-oh, when ya gonna get off work?" almost makes you look around to see if a skanking circle has starting forming anywhere.
42. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Close
There's some sort of danger nearby. Maybe it's around the corner, maybe it's a few blocks away, maybe it's out on the edge of town, but you
feel it approaching. This lingering sense of wrong, of impending doom, hovers over "Close," just one of the many massive, slightly proggy rockers on
Pretty Years. Maybe it's the whooshing way the song starts, or the damaged chorus, or the flayed guitar solo before Joe D'Agostino's wounded "It's as much of a declaration of love as I'll ever muster" swells into an acidic chant of "locked out, we are free" as the world proceeds to end and a demon of a solo of what could easily just be distorted guitar feedback takes over. And that may be what it
is, but it
feels like audio doom, imposing and all-consuming.
41. Frightened Rabbit - Lump Street
Much like FM-84's "Everything" told a story without words, here is a story told with many plain words with a thematic turn aided by an abrupt musical about-face, turning what was nearly a dirge about a ramshackle town that's down on its luck and morale into vintage National-esque peppering of drums and bass, spotted with cleaner guitar hits and a healthy helping of hope. The gear shift is what makes this song special. It neatly complements the lyrical theme of the track and enhances the entire production, busting through the dreariness with a necessary dose of sunshine.
Next:
40-31
