20. Nation of Language - September Again
While Introduction, Presence could be marketed as "what The National would sound like as a new wave band," this track is probably the one that fits that description least. Sure, there are the baritone vocals and the general lingering sense of dread and unease in the backing music — that keep that in common — but the sickly dance floor vibe on display here is novel enough to give the song its own identity separate from the star band comparison.
19. Bartees Strange - Mustang
With nods to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and The Antlers and "Beasts of the Southern Wild" all by the time the first chorus break rolls around, it seems like "Mustang" is a song indebted to influences while also sounding nothing like them. At least, not the namechecked ones. This track is a rocker in 4th gear throughout, releasing tempo build-ups only to immediately re-spool them and do it over again.
18. Fiona Apple - Heavy Balloon
There's just enough echo on Apple's voice here to make it sound like this track was recorded in a sprawling, totally empty concert hall. The responding backing vocals in the chorus sound like they're coming from 15 rows away from the microphone. The timpani and jingle bells(??) also feel like they're chiming in from just offstage. There's so much space in between every element of this song that it sometimes feels like it's barely held together, but through it all is Apple's growl, the doomsaying voice that dares to fill those empty spaces with yelps of apparent nonsense like "I spread strawberries / I climb like peas and beans ... and I'm busting at the seams" that frame the more lucid lyrics about depression and managing moods.
17. Jeff Rosenstock - State Line
Announced by a morse code guitar transmission, "State Line" consistently builds on itself across its barely-three-minute runtime from an expanding chorus, to rah-rah backing vocals, to a shreddy, pummeling breakdown outro. It barely matters that Rosenstock doesn't have the "best" singing voice, and honestly its the genuine edge that that voice provides to his songs that also elevates "State Line" from a Decent punk song to a Really Good one.
16. Dogleg - Kawasaki Backflip
I'm not convinced this year's little taste of post-punk/post-grunge what-have-you that's more prominent this year than in others is going to last for me, but if it doesn't, man what a ride. "Kawasaki Backflip" wastes absolutely no energy, efficiently cramming hooks and transforming verses and choruses enough to make every second feel different from any that came before it. There's no truly no segment longer than, like, two seconds that sounds exactly like any other part of the song. It's great, and leaves zero feelings of monotony that a song under two-and-a-half minutes could really ill-afford to have anyway. It just leaves you with one question: You gonna be the fire or the wind?
15. Pottery - Texas Drums Pt. I & II
A delightfully weird group jam sesh that, yeah, features drums high in the mix. Were you expecting a xylophone or something? Well, if you were, at least you get some cowbell. You could tell me that the first half of this song is the result of someone leaving a mic hot during a riff and getting inspired, and that the second half is the same...except with a little bit of shrooms involved. The haunted house megaphone vocals are sometimes barely even understandable, but it doesn't feel like it matters. This song's got a little bit of everything, and if its two halves both click for you, it might even feel like the same big weird party.
14. Vundabar - Jester
When I was younger, I wasn't the biggest fan of bands that were "genre-bending" or who made big jumps in style between albums. I'm not sure if the latter applies to Vundabar so much, but I do know they're real tough to pin a genre label on. In the same way, I have a hard time putting a name to what "Jester" is. I mean, it seems straightforward enough, and doesn't stray into the fringe like something off Merriweather Post Pavilion or whatever. But it's not really "rock" and it's not really "emo" and it's not really one of anything; it's a blend of styles, of hooks, of jams that make a seemingly "normal" indie rock song into something that feels more subtle and complex. I could just be projecting, but even at its most basic, stripped of my subjectivity, this is a song that oozes cool confidence...alright yeah maybe we can't do away with every scrap of the subjective after all. The vibe is too powerful.
13. Laura Marling - Fortune
From here on up, there are a number of "pretty" songs. "Pretty" is a good way to earn points with me. But there might not be a more "beautiful" song than this one. Marling's voice is crystal clear and basically flawless, cooing and lilting above a single acoustic guitar and an occasional swell of strings. It self-edits, keeping things simple so as to let Marling be the star of this lullaby, exclusively to its benefit. It's transfixing.
12. Fleet Foxes - Sunblind
An alternate take on "pretty." There's far more production here than in Marling's lullaby, but instead of feeling excessive or crowded, "Sunblind" unfurls like a sky above an open field that stretches to the horizon. Like most of the best Fleet Foxes song, Robin Pecknold's paid incredible attention to harmonies and layers, gently piling one atop the other, each one filling the gaps left behind by its forebear. It's a song of sunshine and clean air, comfortable and carefree.
11. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Cars In Space
If the drumbeat chugs relentlessly, if there is a minimum of three guitars operating at once, if the breakdown is fire, and if your whole foot taps up and down reflexively, you're listening to a RBCF song. Specifically, you're probably listening to this one, even if the lot of those conditions applies to many, many other RBCF tracks. "Cars In Space" trades lead vocals, which actually doesn't happen all that often despite the band having three lead vocalists, but each verse and chorus inhabits the same headspace. Nothing feels compartmentalized. And it all leads up to the grandest breakdown in the band's catalog from 2:45 on. It rips, slaps, jangles, bops, all the best bouncy verbs.
