Songs of 2017
I'm getting old suddenly can't list anymore |
| 1 | He Is Legend
Air Raid
Piston-pump guitar tone on chunky Southern engine rock, not without its woozy verses but cocks an extra 45 degrees to the headbang angle both in half-time and beefy breakdown.
"And I don't know why // she's out of breath at the door of death" |
| 2 | IDLES
Mother
Bristling Bristol noise punk featuring a crack-rock heartbeat bassline and a lead that's little more than ornamental squalls, the lyrics barked in triple-reps like a training regimen before a solemn straightforward sexual violence statement
"MOTHEEEERRR...FUCKEERRRRRRR" |
| 3 | Kendrick Lamar
HUMBLE.
Braggadocio lead single from the massive hype machine, basking in the glow from the sun in his own ass and soaking in a sour piano n' drum beat you might actually be forgiven for calling it a "banger" out loud
"My left stroke just went viral // right stroke put li'l baby in a spiral" |
| 4 | The Menzingers
Black Mass
Merely a representative of the skull-'sploding 1-2-3-4-ka-PUNCH of "Midwestern States" heartrending narration on late-20s suicidal escapism, into the comically catchy ex-boyfriend spat-song "Charlie's Army" before the infectiousexistential whoa-ohs of "House On Fire" and finally this sun-stained delay and light prairie twang
"We used to get high and stare at the moon // and wonder how long it would take to walk to // but now that's like the distance between me and you" |
| 5 | The Mountain Goats
Rain In Soho
Early to call, but already heavily favoring this track. Darker in mood and in tone, as well as thicker in arrangement than the Goats' relatively sparse acoustic stylings, and full of (my personal Kryptonite) rumbling vocal harmonies, it's an elegant cowled cape for Darnielle and Co. to sport
"The river goes where the water flows // but no one know where the Batcave closed" |
| 6 | Perfume Genius
Slip Away
Rich with tones so psych-warped they become fat with unidentifiable juices, a short but sweet song to swim in where the vocals skim hardly noticed across the surface, perfectly in ironic tune with their own words
"Baby let all them voices slip away yeah" |
| 7 | Pharmakon
Transmission
Leaps and bounds better than the rest of the smegma-stain that is "Contact". The backbone beat is, as cliche as it is, throbbing, like an incorrect keystroke sound playing indefinitely in an adjacent dimension. Meg's normal feral shrieks are here feedback-flooded bleats and for once form some semblance of rhythmic pattern. Not the strongest track from Pharmakon or even on this list, but made me think I wouldn't hate this album when I heard it first and I still listen to it
lyrics? what? |
| 8 | Royal Thunder
April Showers
Chamberbelain called this "heavy metal Fleetwood Mac" and I find that too accurate to ignore. The plucky 70s-aping riffs are able, but serve only to hold up Mlny Parsonz voice, which has its own set of knuckles but is a better torchbearer to Ann Wilson's power growl than Stevie Nicks' curled-lip snarl
"You were never really innocent // but you were given the gun" |
| 9 | Xiu Xiu
Hay Choco Bananas
I don't even know what to say about this I'm tired. It's Hay Choco Bananas it's really fkn good but Hay if you're listening in the car the next song has a really loud, realistic horn honk that will make you pee yourself
"To bash through paradise // the skull that is your heart // the skull that eats ones heart" |
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