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…
