Glen’s Nominations: Top Songs of 2009

Correct me if I am wrong, but I’m pretty damn sure that nothing else noteworthy is coming  out in 2009! So I am going to proceed to figure out what the best songs of 2009 are…okay?

Almighty Defenders
– “Cone of Light” – Mark Sultan (vocals) and Joe Bradley (drums) make this song the beast that it is. Upbeat gospel!

Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes” – With a heart pounding bass line and incredibly catchy chorus, this is an all around fun psychedelic popper!

Arctic Monkeys – “Dangerous Animals” – Heavy and simple guitar bashing contrasted with Turner’s warm and inviting vocals.

Atlas Sound – “Walkabout” – Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) comes in the clutch here making this a surefire summertime psych-pop classic with unforgettable lyrics.

Black Lips – “Starting Over” – This track hit me way back in February as one of the BL’s best. Listening to it again, it’s not entirely clean-sounding, but might just be the band’s best attempt at garage pop.

Bobby Ubangi – “Back To You” – This Ramones inspired posthumous release exemplifies that basic instrumentation is sometimes best.

Box Elders – “Jackie Wood” – Like “Back To You,” this isn’t exactly revolutionary, but it sticks with you…for a very long time.

Cymbals Eat Guitars – “And the Hazy Sea” – A great opening track that seems influenced by the ’80s post-hardcore scene; it’s the loud-quiet-loud that attracts me to this 6 minute overture.

Editors – “Papillon” – Electro-pop at its finest, at least for this year. For Editors, it’s a change in direction, for me, it’s an impressive classic that makes ya dance.

Flashy Python – “Obscene Queen Bee” – This neo-psych song has been floating around for a while in Alec Ounsworth’s repertoire, but it’s most polished and “epic” when sung as Flashy.

Girls – “Lust For Life” – This song is messed up if you are straight-guy singing along and the video is even more screwed up, but the sound is no b.s instantly memorable jangle pop.

Handsome Furs – “All We Want  Baby…” – Back in the summer, this was the song that I consistently had on repeat; it has a fantastic drum beat and static guitar riffs.

Jay Reatard – “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” – Jay’s mellowed out a bit here, but essentially he incorporates all of what’s made him a perennial garage hammer in this tune.

Julian Casablancas – “11th Dimension” – Yeah, yeah, the rest of the album’s been getting a lot of hate, but this is Strokes + excessive synths + cowbell. Not a bad combination.

Kid CuDi – “Pursuit of Happiness” – Ratatat is to be surely complimented for providing great electronics, but CuDi transcends what is modern hip-pop and is it’s savior from being near-shit.

King Khan & BBQ Show – “Tryin'” – So many great songs on a fantastic album, it was tough to choose which one really is the best. I feel like this one is most like the songs I’ve grown to love by this duo.

No Age – “You’re A Target” – Sounds like it would belong on “Nouns” but is essentially even noisier (yet poppier) than much of what the duo embraced on Nouns.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Young Adult Friction” – Twee as fuck, as I remarked back when I did this review. This is the group’s chef-d’oeuvre, thanks in part to the clever “Don’t Check Me Out” ending.

Phoenix – “Lisztomania” – Another song of the synth-pop variety that has a very catchy bridge “it’s show-town…” and overall is a complete listening experience.

Rifles – “Sometimes” – A real British tune that plays the post-punk card quite well. The ending is awesome!

The Strange Boys – “No Way For A Slave To Behave” – A ghetto country-punk classic that definitely sounds like a lo-fi best-of leftover.

Uninhabitable Mansions – “The Speed Is Deceiving” – Too many freaking good ones on this, the hinthinthintwinkalbumoftheyearhinthinthinktwinkwink. The vocal harmonies on this one rule.

Wavves – “So Bored” – Snap, crackle, and pop lo-fi surf pop at its optimum level of noisiness.

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With over 20 songs in the running, it will be tough to decide, but decide I will. Stay tuned…

One thought on “Glen’s Nominations: Top Songs of 2009”

  1. Solid

    Black Lips- I’ll Be With You
    King Khan & BBQ- Anala
    Strange Boys- Woe Is You and Me
    Mika Miko- I Got A Lot (New New New)
    Bobby Ubangi- Greasers’ Lament
    Vivian Girls- Before I Start to Cry
    Sunset Rubdown- Idiot Heart
    Deerhunter- Disappearing Ink

    are some of my other favorites

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