One would be tempted to bid 2021 a less-than-fond good riddance ... if we hadn't already done that with 2020. So let's just appreciate the new music that our seemingly endless pandemic brought us. Including three albums (which happen to contain the first three songs on my list) that could have filled out the Top Ten all on their own.
1. Stop Making This Hurt by Bleachers.
"But if we take the sadness
Out of Saturday night
I wonder what we'll be left with
Anything worth the fight?
I wanna run from the darkness
Wanna shout at the light
It's coming over me now
Two, three, four, five oh God we barely survived!"
I went back-and-forth a lot between this and number two on the list for much of the second half of the year. Stop Making This Hurt, however, was the one song that I never skipped on any device throughout the year, and it's the one that compels me to crank up the volume more than any other. And so, here are the Jersey boys, with their horns and Jack's goofy dancing. Long may they rock. I also recommend giving a listen to Don't Go Dark and How Dare You Want More from the LP Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (along with the already nominated Chinatown).
2. Not Dead Yet by Lord Huron.
"I've been out way too long
Heading right for the edge
If she asks about me
Tell her I'm not dead yet."
The boys from Michigan return to their western/rockabilly roots on their new album Long Lost and I for one am glad for it. I believe that Lord Huron now holds the distinction of having two Number Two songs on my list through the years (Until the Night Turns was second in 2015). So close ... I also recommend to you Mine Forever, Long Lost, Love Me Like You Used To, and I Lied from their 2021 offering as well.
3. Hot & Heavy by Lucy Dacus.
"You knew that I wanted you to bend the rules
How did I believe I had a hold on you?
You were always stronger than people suspected
Underestimated and overprotected."
The above lyrics are perhaps my favorites of the year. If not them, then the ones I will gift you immediately below. Lucy's latest album Home Video (which, as the title suggests, is based on memories from her past) is chock full of them. Check out VBS and Brando from that LP as well, at the minimum. The video's fun too and consistent with the Home Video theme. I'm sure it was made in RVA (but didn't look it up to confirm).
4. Family Farm by The Hold Steady.
"When she was combing through the carpet I could not resist her charms
She brought me to a fortress she called the family farm
Out along the towers there were guards with heavy arms
I guess there was some tension with the neighbors."
So do you prefer Lucy's wry observation or Craig Finn's deadpan understatement? Tough call for me. The boys from Brooklyn (by way of Minneapolis - the midwest is the setting for many of their tracks) are back with another set of lyrically brilliant songs courtesy of Mr. Finn in their new album Open Door Policy. Give Lanyards a listen as well.
5. Empire Builder by Typhoon.
"You and I know we both know that
Everybody's angry
Everybody's lonely
Maybe it's hopeless
And maybe love is not enough
But let's not rule out the possibility."
Definitely a pandemic song. Perhaps an apocalyptic song. At least Kyle Morton's still got a bit of hope. Typhoon recorded their album Sympathetic Magic remotely, no small feat for a notoriously large ensemble. The entire LP is very good, especially (in addition to Empire Builder) And so What if You Were Right.
6. Fire and Brimstone by Sean Rowe.
"I had a dream
Last night
When I was lying
On my bed
And the whole world
Was standing still
And the moon
Was turning red."
My New Year wish: that, for one day in 2022, I can sing like Sean Rowe.
7. Dino's by Gordi and Alex Lahey.
"There was a greatest hits on the stereo
There was a nun drinking her doubt
There was a young boy making promises
To a Dolly Parton cardboard cutout."
A pretty ode to ... a Nashville dive bar (okay, I admit that I looked up the location). Both Gordi and Alex hail from Australia. I'm glad that they found their way to Tennessee, at least for one evening.
8. Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender.
"I was far too scared to hit him
But I would hit him in a heartbeat now.
That's the thing with anger
It begs to stick around.
So it can fleece you of your beauty
And leave you spent with nowt to offer
Makes you hurt the ones who love you."
A song of teenage rage (and an abusive father, I'm guessing). But with the redemptive vision of someone who "got out" reflecting on the person he was, the one he could have become, and the one that he became instead.
9. Questions by Middle Kids.
"And I got questions
And you got answers
And I'm not sure
if they're fact or fiction
And I got questions
And you got answers
And I'm not sure
if they're even worth asking."
The Kids are back with another stellar effort, part of their 2021 album Today We're the Greatest. Not much doubt where they stand with regard to whomever this song was written about. Cellophane (Brain) is also worth a listen from their newest LP.
10. Faith Healer by Julien Baker.
"Faith healer
Come put your hands on me
A snake oil dealer
I'll believe you if you make
Me feel something."
The third member of boygenius didn't quite make the top of my list, unlike her cohorts Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers. But her 2021 album Little Oblivions was well regarded by people whose opinions count more than mine (in other words, just about everyone's). This is my favorite song from that effort. We're all searching for something, aren't we?
11. New Fragility by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
"On a holiday, you said you just need to get away
Taking some midnight ride out to Long Beach Island
Stranded, half-naked on a strange man's couch
No hearts are broken when there's no one to let down."
All the low notes of a break-up (or, more exactly, post-break-up) song. That last line gets me everytime.
Here's to (hopefully) seeing some live music in 2022 - that would be a good way to restart, wouldn't it?
