Top 30 Songs of 2022

[Shrykespeare]

#20

JohnErle - Adia, I Do Believe You've Failed Me - JK. I kinda liked this, but I'm not sure why.

Leestu - Sprints Wireless - Quite liked this as well. Huh.

Six - Wu-Lu not HBO - Not for me.

Tranny - A Gravyhen - I just can't get over how much he looks (and sounds) like Dave Grohl. Which makes me like this.

[Shrykespeare]

SONG #19


JOHNERLE

Alt-J, I'm Happier When You're Gone

This is an Alt-Jam.





LEESTU

The Afghan Whigs, I’ll Make You See God

The Afghan Whigs come close to their previous highs with this banger that surprised me with how good it is. The stoner rock groove, the artfully noisy alt rock, and the skilfully constructed build makes this a wonderful track





SHRYKESPEARE

Soft Cell & Pet Shop Boys, Purple Zone

All the fleeting moments of beauty
You blinked and then they were gone
Now you're sitting there wondering
Just where it all went wrong
No glory, no glamour, too many confusions
Colouring all my delusions
Paralysed in the purple zone

For an 80s geek like me, this is a match made in heaven. Hearing Neil Tennant and Marc Almond in the same three minutes is pure gold. This song, which I interpret as growing older in a society completely saturated by technology, hits me where I live. I know most of y’all aren’t fans, but I feel honored to have lived on this planet at the same time as PSB.





SIX

Rosalia, HENTAI

Yes, like Shryke I’ve now hit an age where rather than retreat into my past, I’m now exploring with bemusement what the kids are listening to these days. Pop isn’t my thing, but Rosalia’s latest album demonstrates a restlessness, a desire to experiment. HENTAI may sound like a predictable piano tune, but it’s peppered with crunchy beats which break apart the perception of this being a romantic ballad (though the title does that by itself).





TRANNY

Fallujah, Duality of Intent

A couple of member changes and some fine tuning of the songwriting from founding member/lead guitarist Scott Carstairs allowed Bay Area progressive/technical death metal outfit Fallujah to return to form on their 5th LP "Empyrean". With its seamless transitions between punchy death metal and serene prog, "Duality of Intent" possesses all of the breathtaking speed and dream-like atmospherics that allowed Fallujah to become a fast favorite of mine nearly a decade ago.

[JohnErle]

19

Afghan Whigs – I would have liked this better if it had come out in the 90s when their recordings actually had dynamics. A song can't build when it starts out at full volume.

Soft Boys – Not my jam, but at least it had some decent production.

Rosalia – I may have been a tad distracted by the video, so I didn't notice much of interest in the song until the aforementioned crunchy beats showed up.

Falafel – I had a music teacher when I was a kid who had some sort of gadget on her record player that would cancel out the vocals and let the students focus on the music. I wish I had that record player when your shouty demons show up because there was some interesting stuff happening musically behind the laughable vocals.

[numbersix]

John: That was nice

Leetsu: I'd prefer to listen to the music from their heyday

Shryke: I'd prefer to listen to the music from their heyday

Tranny: That was tough to get through

[Leestu]

#19

John: Alt-J
I found this song and album a bit disappointing actually...I mean it is good but compared to them at their best it's just good

Shryke: Soft Cell & Pet Shop Boys
It is great to hear these two voices together on a song but apart from the vocals there is nothing I find interesting about the song itself

Six: Rosalia
Yes I've checked her albums out...I don't like all of it but there is some good stuff in there like this

Tranny: Fallujah
I can see why people would like this if they like this...it was pretty interesting (the drumming for example) if you can handle the vocals...I don't mind it

[transformers2]

#19
John: alt-j is an old musical nemesis of mine. While this didn't necessarily cause those past strong feelings of disdain to flare up again, it was still too slow and monotonous for me to get into.

Leestu: A bit too repetitive, but pretty decent overall. Good to hear they're still making respectable music at this stage of their career.

Shryke: Had zero idea that either of these groups were still around. Alas, this collaboration doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

Six: This was in the middle of the pack of my song rankings for this record. The verses aren't overly special, but the explosion of emotion in the chorus is very impressive.

[Shrykespeare]

#19.

JohnErle - Ctrl-Alt-J - This guy does have a song on my Top 100, but not this one. I'm not a fan of this one.

Leestu - Colonists of Kandahar - I remember "Debonair" from the 90s, but other than that, I couldn't name any other song by then. I doubt I'll remember this one either.

Six - Where Have You Gone, My Rosalia - Good for you, Irish. Embrace your inner lad. Push back fogeyhood as hard as you can. This isn't the direction I'd go, but hey, you do you, dude. (Raises fist in solidarity)

Tranny - The Boston of Iraq - Cutting and pasting. Love the guitars, hate the vocals. Done, done, on to the next one.

[Shrykespeare]

SONG #18


JOHNERLE

Yard Act, Tall Poppies

The album starts well and ends well, but there's often a moment in their songs where the singer comes off as a bit too smug and judgmental for my tastes. This song is the band's most empathetic, and also my favourite.





LEESTU

My Chemical Romance, The Foundations Of Decay

Talking about a return to form, this may be the best thing they have done since The Black Parade album.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kWUJkRvVs&t[/youtube]

ETA: I don't know why the video isn't showing... y'all will just have to click on it.



SHRYKESPEARE

Night Traveler, Late Night Radio

We could leave it, baby, like our hometown street
Straight up to Sedona where it's heavenly
We could take our time, we could go straight through
On a desert highway, under velvet blue
I'll take you anywhere

We could go state to state
Hotel to hotel
Some other place
Where the late night radio stays on always

This band (who was my very first post-pandemic concert experience) has consistently delighted me since I first discovered them. Their mellifluous tones and simple melodies, perfect for nocturnal listening, always seem to calm me down when I most need calming down. The duo of Hunter Glaske (the taller one) and Adam Fischer (the one with the beard) put out several songs this year, but this one is my favorite (and not just because it mentions Sedona, one of my favorite places to visit).





SIX

Cate Le Bon, Pompeii

Wales’s best musical export since the Super Furry Animals, she’s now on her 6th album and continues to develop her offbeat playful indie-pop style. Pompeii is a wonderfully woozy track, complete with curious and surreal lyrics.





TRANNY

Jack White, Fear of the Dawn

By using some of the distorted electronics that drove his ambitious yet uneven 2018 LP Boarding House Reach for some extra oomph, Jack White was able to craft the most in-your-face energetic and rifftastic song he's ever made as a solo artist.

[JohnErle]

#18

MCR – I didn't know they were still kicking round. I liked the Black Parade era but this fell flat. And this proves that bands with lots have money can have shitty production, too.

Night Traveler – Simplistic to the point of emulating Coldplay or Keane. Not for me.

Cate Le Bon – There were parts that were enjoyably interesting, and others that were interesting without being enjoyable. I might give it a few more spins to see if it sticks.

Jack White – That was so nice I listened to it thrice. Okay, four times. I like the Sabbath riff, and the way this is produced delivers exactly what's missing from 99% of heavy/hard guitar rock these days.

[Leestu]

#18

John: Yard Act
One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite albums of the year...I just get caught up in the tale every time, and in the music too...seeing them live in 3 weeks

Shryke: Night Traveler
pleasantly dull

Six: Cate Le Bon
One of the good songs on the album but overall I didn't like it as much as most of Reward

Tranny: Jack White
Love this song, and yes Boarding House had some great moments but this is a better album...top 20 of the year for me

[numbersix]

John: An excellent song, and for sure one of the highlights of their impressive debut (though shame they excluded The Trapper's Pelt). Leetsu, you're going to love them, they're incredible live.

Leetsu: Was never a fan of them, and this song didn't change my mind

Shryke: I can't remmeber anything about it

Tranny: It wasn't bad. Nothing particularly new or exciting from him, and not a patch on the peak of The White Stripes, but it was solid.

[Shrykespeare]

#18


JohnErle - Yard Act - Wanted to like this. Couldn't quite get there.

Leestu - MCR - not an MCR fan, but I quite liked this.

Six - Simon's Daughter? - Woozy is right.

Tranny - Jack Stripeless - This was cool. Right in Jack's lane.

[Shrykespeare]

SONG #17


JOHNERLE

Perfume Genius, Pop Song

I love the delicate fragility of this song. It floats in the air like a soap bubble, and if you listen too hard it just might break.
I suppose its status as a 2022 song is debatable, but it was released as a single last year so that's good enough for me.





LEESTU

English Teacher, A55

Another band I know nothing about. I discovered this song through the spotify algorithm (new release radar, or discovery weekly, or a daily mix…I can’t remember) and loved it immediately. This type of indie rock is definitely the style that I click with





SHRYKESPEARE

The Birthday Massacre, Stars and Satellites

I wished I could realign
Those words that had been said
Feels like another life
Time is only a concept
This is always our intent
True resurrection

(Time)
There is nothing to believe in
All our lovers discard their form

I don’t do a top albums of the year list (my life’s hectic enough), but if I did, TBM’s Fascination would probably be #1. FIVE songs from it made my Top 100, and three made my Top 30. I’ve discovered quite a few great darkwave bands in the last few years, but this band from Canada is the best by a mile. The stratospheric synths, paired with Sara “Chibi” Taylor’s voice just pours into my ears like sonic honey. I had a chance to see them live last March but was unable to… and I just found they are coming back to my town in May. No way I’m missing them this time.





SIX

Bob Vylan, Take That

One of the best gigs I’ve been to in years, was in a sweaty little basement venue in Camden where the body heat had the ventilators broken and leaking liquid all over us. Didn’t matter when the gig was so much fun. Bob Dylan blends punk outrage and grime aggression, with plenty of humour thrown in. Take That is one of his more hardcore songs, taking swings at everything from Elvis to cheap fried chicken joints, and it’s a load of fun.





TRANNY

Bad Omens, Like a Villain (but not Bob)

Alternative metal has become this bizarrely difficult code for bands to crack of late. Hard rock's slightly more sinister cousin has become populated with bands that don't care enough to honor the sole guiding principle of the genre: Write music that's somewhat heavy and has a big fucking hook. Enter Bad Omens. Their latest record "The Death of Peace of Mind" is a pristine example of what alternative metal should be while also being somewhat experimental with how it deploys guitar/electronics and incorporates some metalcore and electropop elements into the fold. "Like a Villain" - which was the record's 2nd single - is my clear top pick for the highlight of the record. Everything from the smoothness of the transition from the subdued verses to the huge chorus to the inflections vocalist Noah Sebastian's drops on the pivotal notes to the goofy industrial bounce of the main riff is executed to perfection and have contributed to this song being stuck in my head for much of the past 7-8 months.

[transformers2]

#18
John: There's some thoughtful, involved storytelling going on in the lyrics, but man oh man was I confused and off-put by the vocals.

Leestu: Have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I'm glad their back and an epic post-hardcore sound is an exciting change of pace for them that is especially welcome after the power pop blandness of Danger Days. On the other, Gerard Way's vocals have seen better days and the weird mixing here doesn't do them any favors.

Shryke: Hard pass. This bored me to tears.

six: Pretty solid stuff. Her voice reminds me a bit of St. Vincent and the muted guitar strumming and off-kilter keyboard gives it a uniquely dissonant sound.

[JohnErle]

#17

English Teacher – B-

Birthday Massacre – Sounds totally generic to me, like it could have been written by an AI. And I can't get past the rabbits on the artwork.

Bob Vylan – The swipe at Elvis is recycled from Public Enemy and didn't impress me much. Neither did anything else here.

Bad Omens – I liked the cinematography in the video, and the shouty demons were kept to a cameo appearance, so it had that going for it. Musically, I felt like I've heard it all a thousand times before.