40. Georgia - Never Let You Go
Sometimes you've just gotta indulge your industrial-goth dance-rave side. I'm not even really sure if that comes off as unkind, but like every other adjective I'm using in these lists I promise it's meant as a compliment.
39. I Break Horses - I'll Be the Death of You
And...maybe you could call this one industrial-goth too? While it's decidedly less dance-y and more shoegaze, it aims high and hits some really massive peaks. The stretch from 1:20 through 1:45 in particular just feels like it's demanding you to listen with the volume way up, and that's before going up another half-notch for the following chorus. After all that, it makes the slow outro feel like a chance to exhale.
38. Andy Shauf - Neon Skyline
There's something so captivating about Andy Shauf's voice, clearly one of the most unique and distinct not just on this list but anywhere, really. It's gently lilting, heavily accented in a Canadian way I can't quite pin down, and manages to lend both fragility and credence to the stories he tells in his songs. In this one, the first and title track off his LP from this year, he sets the stage for what's essentially a concept album. It works separate from the rest of the story for its effortless hook (just try and get that piano lick and do-do-do out of your head quickly) and wry humor. It's the first chapter of a pretty sad story, but Shauf still comes across as the kind of guy you'd want to be friends with and cheer up anyway.
37. Caribou - Home
It takes a special kind of talent to chop and scramble other sounds and phrases and still manage to make them sound beautiful in their disfigured state. While maybe that's a bit too brutal of an adjective for a song like this, because this sampling feels far less hack-and-slash and way more surgical, with loops and hits trimmed down to what feels like the exact right millisecond. And Dan Snaith's voice barely has a jagged edge to it. As one of those "sum is greater than its parts" tracks, it risks being engineered to death, but stays comfortably clear of that danger.
36. Doves - Carousels
In like a lamb, out like a lion. An unassuming, cloudy intro of the phrase "the universal want" (the album's title) in what sounds like a bunch of different languages soon gives way to skittering, nervous drums and what I imagine the tougher older brother of the guitars on Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing" would sound like. It's arena rock for an arena-less time, but it doesn't feel any tougher to imagine the big venues this sound could fill with ease.
35. I Love Your Lifestyle - Align!
I'm a not-so-secret stan for Swedish rock. I love what they're doing over there (and that they're bringing it here). What's more surprising is how firmly I've latched on to the emo revival movement. This is stuff I never would've touched when I was younger. Maybe this one feels more accessible because it's more post-rock than Taking Back Sunday, with its call-and-response chorus/bridge thing feeling more like an echo of itself than a battle cry for the sad. And it all swirls together for a big build and release in the song's second half, with a swooping guitar-led breakdown into a more propulsive take on that call-and-response. It's one you'd fire up your phone's flashlight for (but don't actually do that when we all go to shows again please).
34. Dogleg - Cannonball
This is not the last Dogleg song on this list, but it is almost definitely the hardest. This song is crushing, dealing less in blast beats than it does in wave crashing stop-and-gos that get more and more urgent until Alex Stoitsiadis unleashes an unholy snarl that just chills me every time I hear it. It can overpower you with sheer brute force, but the character and emotion in Stoitsiadis's voice just feel like they add to the stakes. It's supercharged even as a midtempo punch dance. It's knives.
33. White Reaper - Walk Idiot Walk (The Hives Cover)
You can't hear this unless you buy the Save Stereogum compilation. It's worth buying just for this track alone (but you'll get so much more), and fans of the original have to admire just how perfect a fit this is for both band and song. Listen to it and you'll understand (and also help keep Stereogum independent in the process! Google it).
32. HAIM - Up From a Dream
When this group does it right, they can really nail it. It's not afraid to get a little messy (that solo is about as frantic a cut as I've heard from the group in three albums now) when it's not ambling along atop a giant rubber band ball of a bass line. The harmonies are really nice, too. Maybe every production choice isn't needed, but the vast majority of what's there works as a catchy, summery jam.
31. Hamilton Leithauser - Cross Sound Ferry (Walk-On Ticket)
Something I will not bother to fact check holds the top spot on my list of favorite factoids from songs on this entire list: That the person providing backing vocals on this song is a teacher from the school Leithauser's kids attend. I don't care if it's not actually true, I believe it and want it to be true. Can you imagine if you were a teacher and you had to teach the kid(s) of an indie rock legend? The guy who sang "The Rat?" And then he learned you can sing and invited you to sing on his next album?? It's too awesome to not be real, keep it to yourself. Also, this song is great. It actually feels like a ferry ride at points, a bit gray, misty, and windy on the top deck. Don't let that get lost beneath that factoid that is definitely true.
