Favorite Songs of 2021 - Songs 1-11

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?

Favorite Songs of the 2010's - Songs 1-25

I have to admit, I tinkered quite a bit with the top of this list, and even as I publish it am not convinced, that numbers two, three, or four in particular shouldn't be number one. But, hoping that you understand that the differences are minute and that while obviously I truly appreciate all of the songs on this list, I'm going to go with my heart. As with the last version, the * indicates artists I've seen in concert (in some cases multiple times).

1.  Swim Until You Can't See Land by Frightened Rabbit*.

"Up to my knees now, do I wade? Do I dive?
This sea has seen my like before, though it's my first and perhaps last time.
Let's call me a baptist, call this the drowning of the past.
She is there on the shoreline, throwing stones at my back."

I suppose those who follow the list won't be surprised by this choice. Hearing Frightened Rabbit for the first time (on the t.v. show "Chuck" - remember when we watched network t.v.? and it was good? and had great curated music?) in 2010 in many ways shaped my musical decade. While it might be easy to read "Swim" as yet another song where Scott Hutchison contemplated suicide, I find that, quite the opposite, it is a song of hope, as Scott the baptist cleanses himself of a relationship gone bad (while she throws stones at his back, of course). While Hutchison's passing was incredibly sad, I'm grateful that he lives on in music like this, my favorite song of 2010, and, as it turns out, the entire decade. Other FR songs on my list throughout the 2010's were "I Wish I Was Sober" (number five in 2016), "Holy" and "Late March, Death March" (seventh and twenty-eighth in 2013), "State Hospital" (number 12 in 2012), and "Nothing Like You" (number four, also in 2010).

2.  Young Fathers by Typhoon*.

"When you're young you're hot
You have your whole life before you
Everyone will adore
You'll grow up, you'll be an astronaut
(or anything you want)."

Typhoon's dawning of adulthood lament/cry for clarity has everything I love about a song - multi-percussionists, smart lyrics, group-shout choruses, and of course a horn section. Young Fathers was number one on my list in 2013, followed up by "Common Sentiments," which was eleventh in 2014. Also one of the best concerts I've ever seen. 

Typhoon at Cat's Cradle, March 2014 (photo by me)

3.  Old Friends by Pinegrove.

"My steps keep splitting my grief
Through these solipsistic moods
I should call my parents when I think of them
Should tell my friends when I love them."

Stripped down simplicity compared to Typhoon, Pinegrove's style is equally appealing - even to someone who is separated by many years from Gen Zers. Pinegrove has admirably soldiered on despite the social media uproar surrounding front man Evan Stephens Hall. And, in my opinion, we are all the better for it. The band from Jersey also appears on the list in 2019 ("Darkness" was 33), 2018 ("Easy Enough," number 14), and 2017 ("Then Again" was number 16, while Old Friends topped that year's list).

4.  Calamity Song by The Decemberists*.

"Hetty Green
Queen of supply-side bonhomie bone-drab
(If you know what I mean)
On the road
It's well-advised to follow your own path
In the year of the chewable Ambien tab."

If this were a list of my favorite artists of the decade, surely The Decemberists would be number one. But, alas, it's not. Calamity Song remains my favorite of the decade (it was number one in 2011) among all of those issued by our intrepid balladeers from the Northwest (although "Ben Franklin's Song" came pretty darn close). I usually like to include live versions of songs through the videos, but the above for Calamity Song so perfectly captures Colin Meloy's dark perspective and whimsical humor that I had to use it instead.  Joining Calamity Song in my catalogue of tunes were: "Down by the Water" (number 11 in 2011), "A Beginning Song" (number three in 2015), "Ben Franklin's Song" (number four in 2018), "Once in My Life" (number 11 in 2018), and "We All Die Young" (number 18 in 2018).

5.  Night Shift by Lucy Dacus.

"I feel no need to forgive, but I might as well
But let me kiss your lips, so I know how it felt
Pay for my coffee and leave before the sun goes down
Walk for hours in the dark feeling all hell."

Perhaps my all-time favorite breakup song because it starts as a lament (don't they all?) but ends with the "I think I'll be fine" sentiment conveyed by the lines: "In five years I hope the songs feel like covers; dedicated to new lovers." Along with Night Shift, my favorite song of 2018, my new "teacher's pet" (as one friend has described her) also had "Nonbeliever" (number 12 in 2018), "Forever Half Mast" (number 18 in 2019), and her cover of The Boss's "Dancing in the Dark" (number two cover song of 2019) on my lists.

6.  Bloodbuzz Ohio by The National*.

"I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love when I thought about home
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
The floors are falling out from everybody I know."

Along with Sprawl II, the other song (not surprisingly also from 2010) that didn't make a list previously, Bloodbuzz Ohio is the perfect representation of The National's musicianship and Matt Berninger's great voice and inscrutable lyrics. Other songs by The National on my lists throughout the decade were "Quiet Light" (eighth in 2019), "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" (ninth in 2017), "Humiliation" (second in 2013), and "Don't Swallow the Cap" (twenty-third in 2013).

7.  Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales by Car Seat Headrest*.

"It's too late to articulate it
That empty feeling
You share the same fate
As the people you hate."

Again, a song to which I can only vaguely relate, through Car Seat Headrest mastermind Will Toledo, to my ear, captures perfectly the angst of younger folk these days. Drunk Drivers was my second favorite song of 2016, and, since my top song that year is twenty-eighth on this list, that's a pretty good indication that it's grown in my estimation over the last few years (or I got that year's list really, really wrong).  CSH's "Bodys" was also number two on my list in 2018, and "Fill In The Blank" was number eight in 2016.

8.  Die Young by Sylvan Esso* (Echo Mountain Sessions version).

"I had it all planned out before you met me
Was gonna leave early and so swiftly
Maybe in a fire or crash off a ravine
People would weep, 'How tragic, so early.'"

A twisted love song, the studio version is very good, but the Echo Mountain version is sublime. My second favorite song in 2017.

9.  Chocolate by The 1975.

"Now we run, run away from the boys in the blue
And my car smells like chocolate
Hey now think about what to do
I think about what to say, I think about how to think
Pause it, play it, pause it play it, pause it."

The 1975 has had more popular songs since they announced their presence (to me anyway) with this one, my third favorite song of 2013, but it still remains my favorite. They also made the list in 2018 ("Give Yourself a Try" was twenty-eighth that year).

10.  All Your Favorite Bands by Dawes.

"Now I’m just waking up and
I’m not thinking clearly so don’t quote me.
With one eye open, I'm writing you this song
Ain’t it funny how some people pop into your head so easily
I haven’t seen you in there for so long."

One of the songs I believe I seriously under-appreciated when it first debuted, ranking it ninth in 2015. Now it's only one place down for the entire decade. Just a beautiful song about about fondly recalled lost love.

11. Sister Cities by Hop Along*.

"See the old man on the bridge?
He's hauling up a sagging net.
It's full of eels twisting through
The eye sockets of a horse's head
And this fiend has no family
So he will outlive you and me."

Not exactly the sweet sentiment of "All Your Favorite Bands," now is it? Regardless of how real life "Sister Cities" is or not, front woman Frances Quinlan's lyrics and singing can't help but grab our attention. It was my favorite song of 2015, followed by "Waitress" (number 15 in 2015), and "How Simple" (number 20 in 2018). 

12.  Getting Ready to Get Down by Josh Ritter*.

"And now you come back sayin' you know a little bit about
Every little thing they ever hoped you'd never figure out
The Red Sea, The Dead Sea, the Sermon on the Mount
If you wanna see a miracle, watch me get down!"

Even though she "didn't like him then [and] probably won't like him now," Josh is entitled to take a shot, isn't he? Ritter's quick wit and sly humor shine through in Getting Ready ... a sort-of updated "Footloose" without John Lithgow's incredibly bad southern-Oklahoma accent. This was my sixth favorite song in 2015 (which, as I previously noted, was apparently my favorite year of the decade as far as music goes),  joined by "Homecoming" (number 14 in 2016), Ritter's cover of Frightened Rabbit's "Old Old Fashioned" (seventh on my 2019 covers list), and "Old Black Magic" (number 13 in 2019).

13.  Bros by Wolf Alice.

"I tell you all the time
I'm not mad
You tell me all the time
I got plans."

A great song about friendship, remembrance, and how things can never be the same, but memories can. Number seven on my list in 2016.

14.  Until the Night Turns by Lord Huron*.

"I got a helluva view for the end of the world
I've got a bottle of booze and a beautiful girl.
If I'm a'­goin' to die I'm gonna go in style."

Lord Huron went from cowboy-tinged rock to alt noir during the decade. But of course my favorite song from the boys from the Mitten State was their apocalyptic "Until the Night Turns," my second favorite of 2015. Also on various lists: "Ancient Names (Part I)" (twenty-fifth in 2018), "Fool for Love" (twenty-third in 2015), "Time to Run" (fourth in 2013), and "The Man Who Lives Forever" (twenty-first in 2013).

15.  Let Me Down Easy by Gang of Youths.

"Honey, it’s no secret that I’ve been losing my way
In the weirdest of moments and the stupidest of ways
But hey, I’m still young and it’s gonna be okay
I got solipsism, baby, and I brought lemonade."

One of several artists on this list that I regret having not (yet) seen live. Let Me Down Easy was my third favorite song in 2018, and the boys from Down Under had another song farther down the list that year ("The Heart is a Muscle" was number 13), and in 2016 ("The Diving Bell" was number 31).

16.  Fast Talk by Houses.

"So if you’re guilty and you know it, put your hands up.
Cause karma’s just a different word for bad luck, and
What if death is just another pair of handcuffs.
Well then we’d better run."

I should probably be too old to appreciate Houses. But I do nonetheless. Fast Talk was number nine in 2018, while "Left Alone" was seventeenth last year.

17.  Living the Dream by Sturgill Simpson.

"That old man upstairs, he wears a crooked smile
Staring down at the chaos he created
Said son if you ain't having fun just wait a little while
Momma's gonna wash it all away
And she thinks Mercy's overrated."

My, my what's happened to our man Sturgill the past few years? He went from an obscure country singer to a full-on one man industry. While Living the Dream (number 16 in 2015) remains a favorite, based on the above lyrics if nothing else, check out his new effort ("Sound and Fury") as well, kind of Lynyrd Skynyrd meets ... I dunno, Led Zeppelin? "Mercury in Retrograde" (fifteenth last year) made the list from that excellent album.

18.  Pompeii by Bastille.

"But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like you've been here before?"

Pompeii has over half a billion views on YouTube. So much for my eschewing popular songs ... It was number five in 2013, followed by "Good Grief" (eleventh in 2016), and "Quarter Past Midnight" (32 in 2018).

19.  a million other things by pronoun.

"Remember the night?
Even though we were sad
That we cried so hard that we started to laugh
Cried so hard that we started to laugh."

pronoun has gone from mysterious artist dribbling out a few songs to full on alt presence in the past year. But this is still my preference from the artist otherwise known as Alyse Vellturo. a million other things was my seventh favorite song in 2017, followed by "everybody knows" from "i'll show you stronger" (number 16 in 2019).

20.  Cleopatra by The Lumineers.

"The only gifts from my Lord
Were a birth and a divorce.
But I've read this script and the costume fits,
So I'll play my part."

I read somewhere that Cleopatra is based on a conversation that The Lumineers' lead singer Wesley Shultz had with a taxi driver in the Republic of Georgia. It was number three on my list in 2016, followed by "Ophelia" (twenty-first that year), and following "Ho Hey" (fifth in 2012).

21.  Depreston by Courtney Barnett.

"Then I see the handrail in the shower
A collection of those canisters for coffee, tea and flour
And a photo of a young man in a van in Vietnam."

Ms. Barnett's observational lyrics, chronicling what appears to be but certainly is not the mundane, are most brilliantly demonstrated (in my estimation) in Depreston, my tenth favorite song of 2015.

22.  Someone New by Hozier.

"I wake at the first cringe of morning,
And my heart's already sinned.
How pure, how sweet a love, Aretha,
That you would pray for him."

"Take Me to Church" was a bigger hit, but the contrary Someone New was my favorite Hozier song of the decade. this was number 12 on my list in 2015; others from the Irish crooner (how's that for music journalism cliche?) were Take Me to Church (number 29 in 2014), and "Nobody" (number seven last year).

23.  Blown to Bits by Charly Bliss.

"Your mom in the yard
Your dad's favorite team
Poised to fail,
Then somehow suddenly win."

My favorite song of 2019. I'd love to see them, and particularly lead singer Eva Hendricks, live some day soon.

24.  Love Is Mystical by Cold War Kids.

"Oh, can't you hear the future is calling

For heaven's sake

It's either hell or high water

Let's get outta this place."

A Little Richard-esque piano and "Woo hoo ho" to boot? Oh yes. Love Is Mystical was my third favorite song of 2017.

25.  Little Trouble by Better Oblivion Community Center.

"Well, tell me, baby, what’s your biggest conceit?

Is it that you did it, or you did it with me?

I can't imagine what the problem could be

You found one song that you like, and you just play it on repeat."

Phoebe Bridgers is the only artist to appear on this list more than once, first solo with "Motion Sickness" and now with Conor Oberst as part of Better Oblivion Community Center. Little Trouble was my second favorite song in 2019.

Favorite Songs of 2014: Songs 11-20

11. Common Sentiments by Typhoon.

"o what am i waiting for
a spell to be cast or for it to be broken?
at the very last
some wild ghost from my past come to split me wide open?
no. if i hold out my hand there is nothing at all because nothing's the token
i will be good though my body be broken."

Typhoon's Young Fathers topped last year's list, but I hadn't really had the time to appreciate the whole White Lighter album until this year. I listened to it front-to-back more than any other cd in 2014, and this is my second favorite song on it. And it sounds great live as I learned at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC in March.

Kyle Morton and some of Typhoon's band members.

12. Start Again by Bishop Allen.

"Summer, summer and the sun is settin' later than late.
I try to stop you, but you say it isn't worth the wait.
If I could give away the keys to the kingdom I would.
I'm sorry sorry but I think you may have misunderstood."

A break-up song, sounds like to me. But of a romance, or a friendship?

13. Simple and Sure by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

"I know we live in complicated times;
and it's so difficult to decide:
Who should be our king and how low we should bow
to lick the boots of the sacred cow."

One of those songs that sounds like a simple, poppy love song. But isn't.

14. Say Goodbye by Beck.

"See the sleet that rests upon
the quiet street we're standing on.
Is it time to go away,
and try again some other day?"

A song of love lost by one of the most influential artists of his generation. And still going strong.

15. Teenage Wasteland by Wussy.

"Yeah, we heard you, Pete.
Real loud and clear on the last one.
And we were pullin' for you a thousand times a day.
It don't take much
to sound like a sleeping prophet.
When your misery sounds so much like ours
so far away."

An ode to The Who and Baba O'Riley (according to an article that I read in Spin).

16. Someone to Love You by Andrew Ripp.

"Oh now I'm tryin'
Fightin'
To be the one I know you need.
I'm gettin' closer every day."

Just a straightforward pop love song. And that's just fine by me. And, with apologies, the first song on this year's list without a complete video.

17. Even the Darkness Has Arms by The Barr Brothers.

"People will raise a whole lotta hell.
About the water and the windmill.
And although I stab chaotically,
it hurts no one but me.
Even the darkness has arms,
but it ain't got you.
Baby I have it,
and I have you too."

Another beautiful, slightly mysterious song from the Brothers, adopted Montrealers like Arcade Fire.

18. Gimme Something Good by Ryan Adams.

"I was playing dead. Didn't make a sound.
Holding my breath, going underground.
So I can't talk. I got nothing to say.
It's like there's no tomorrow.
Barely yesterday."

This album is on many "best of" lists for 2014. Again, coincidence.

19. Scream (Funk My Life Up) by Paolo Nutini.

"Unload, reload, eyes back swinging.
Sweet thing, knows things, Jeff Beck sings.
Roundhouse, going down … Let's go!
And the girl's so fine makes you wanna scream Hallelujah.
Hallelujah!"

A little Scottish brown-eyed soul for y'all. This one's kinda R rated kiddies. Make sure mom and dad say it's okay to listen. If it is, turn it up, get up, and dance around. Now!

20. Rent I Pay by Spoon.

"Everybody knows just where you been going.

Everybody knows the faces you been showing.

And if that's your answer no I ain't your dancer.

And if that's your answer no I ain't your dancer."

Another solid effort by another veteran act. A nod to T Rex in that last stanza perhaps?

Favorite Songs of 2013: Songs 1-10

And the conclusion. Or the beginning, depending on how you want to look at it.

1. Young Fathers by Typhoon.

"When you're young you have …
You have your whole life before you,
everyone will adore you,
grow up, you'll be an astronaut.

(Or anything you want).

What goes up, goes up in flames.
And now your choices surround you,
indecision confounds you.
And you're pacing around the place.

(Shows you everything you're not)."

It took a really great song to knock what is now #2 off its perch. And this is it.

2. Humiliation by The National.

"All the L.A. women;
Fall asleep while swimmin'.
I got paid to fish 'em out;
and then one day I lost the job.
And I cried a little.
I got fried a little.
Then she laid her eyes on mine,
and she said 'Babe you're better off.'"

My favorite song from when I first heard it this spring until … White Lighter came along. The above stanza is my favorite from any song all year, still.

That's The National's Matt Berninger, as he makes his way
through the crowd during the encore of their show at
The Filmore in Charlotte. Yep, he was that close.

3. Chocolate by The 1975.

"Run run away from the boys in the blue.
Oh, my car smells like chocolate.
Now think about what to do,
think about what to say,
think about how to think.
Pause it play it, pause it play it, pause it."

The video looks like a London-esque version of West Side Story. But the song has to be about very non-1950's drug use.

4. Time to Run by Lord Huron.

"I've no regrets.
I will not ask for your forgiveness.
Lower your defense,
run away with me and it'll all make sense.
I did it all for you,
don't spurn me after all I've gone through.
No time to rest,
gonna find me a life, baby, way out West."

What exactly did he do for her that makes him have to run?

5. Pompeii by Bastille.

"And the walls kept tumbling down
in the city that we love.
Great clouds all over the hills
bringing darkness from above."

Pompeii as a metaphor for our current cities/civilization? Or just one in particular (London? L.A.?). Whatever, it's a really catchy song.

6. Unbelievers by Vampire Weekend.

"See the sun go down.
It's going on down, and the night is deep.
Want a little light,
but who's gonna save a little light for me?"

One of the irreligious songs that I referred to in my first part of the list. Hard to see this song as anything but an indictment of organized religion. But it's a great tune, and certainly has some validity to its assessment.

7. Holy by Frightened Rabbit.

"While you read to me from the riot act
way on high, high.
Clutching a crisp new testament,
breathing fire, fire.
Will you save me the fake benevolence?
I don't have time
I'm just too far gone for a telling,
lost my pride."

I promise it is coincidence that this song follows Unbelievers, other than the fact that they were among my favorite songs this year. Still, the lyrics and particularly the video of Holy suggest that it may not be directed against the Church. Check out the "bible" in the video - it's got FR's "Pedestrian Verse" symbol on it.

8. The House that Heaven Built by The Japandroids.

"It's a lifeless life with no …
fixed address to give.
But you're not mine to die for anymore,
so I must live.
Born of a bottle from
heaven's hand.
And now you know,
and here I am."

Actually the best lyrics are Oh-oh-oh-ohohohoh-oh, but that doesn't translate too well. Amazing that just two guys can make this much noisy great music.

9. Goodbye by Rocket & The Ghost.

"Hide yourself behind the stairs.
Set the fire to your daddy's chair.
For me.
For me."

I honestly don't know how I first came across this song (perhaps on BIRP), but obviously I like it a lot. The group reminds me of Seryn, who graced the list in 2011.

10. Lightning Bolt by Pearl Jam.

"Always something and never nothing.
Isn't that the way we're taught to be?
Flipping through the worn out pages,
and stages when you knew not who to be …
'Til the lightning strike sets you free."

Eddie Vedder, sans ukulele, can still rock.