DO PEOPLE even listen to albums anymore? Mostly they just get cherry-picked for their best tracks, because just like in the early days of rock, songs are king again. Here’s my playlist of top songs that were slightly off the beaten path this year.
1. “Do You Swear To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth, So Help Your Black Ass?”—Amanda Palmer: I wasn’t much of a Dresden Dolls fan, and I couldn’t care less about Palmer’s dramatic fallout with her record company. But I gotta say, this brutally frank take on her own life story really sold me on what fans of her songwriting have been saying all along—it’s smart and funny, a little sad on the surface, but ultimately mad for life’s most indescribable pleasures. I heard her play it at Channel 92.3’s OK Go show at Expressions College, where she was opening, and downloaded it from her website that night. Everything just works—the title ripped from NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police,” the stark acoustic arrangement that emphasizes her storytelling, the brilliant quality-of-life-as-measured-by-quality-of-cake metaphor, and the weird sea shanty bridge: “Yes, I come here often … sure, I’ll have another one … but I don’t have to talk to you.”
2. “I’m Gonna Change Your Life”—Thermals: This year’s album, Personal Life, from the Sunnyvale expats (turned indie stars) didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved, and this song is its best track. No longer shackled to the punk-rock blueprint, the trio chugs through three minutes of big, heavy guitar rock while delivering their typically trippy take on a love song. Sonically and thematically, it’s almost like an answer to the Breeders’ “Do You Love Me Now.”
3. “Love Lust”—King Charles: I guess this guy hasn’t quite caught on over here, but now that Edward Sharpe has made it cool to be a total weirdo again, perhaps people are ready for the British version. So there’s no better time to consider this amazing blend of ’60s psychedelia and 21st-century electropop (technically released at the end of 2009). I’m not even sure what he’s on about half the time (“never let a woman go even when you know she can always be replaced”?), but I didn’t hear a more striking ending to any song this year than his gentle “love will set your soul on fire.”
4. “I Think It’s Getting Better” (Seattle session)—Dave Smallen: This song from the Oakland singer-songwriter’s album last year should have been a single, damn it, but the closest it came was when he released this slightly more aggressive version this spring with another outtake from a session in Seattle with Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie. “I Think It’s Getting Better” isn’t exactly alt-country, but it is what alt-country ought to be: a catchy, shuffling tale of life and love, with a mean percussive kick. In that way, it’s not unlike the Old 97s when they’re firing on all cylinders. Now that I think about it, Smallen does sound a bit like Rhett Miller, and I’ve never seen them in the same room.
5. “Miracle Mile”—Kissed Her Little Sister: I can safely say I’ve never heard anything like this mix of lo-fi indie rock, soul and hip hop. The group is really just Jeffrey Morisano, who apparently created the whole thing—along with the rest of his record High and Low—in his bedroom in L.A. It’s the only album this year to leave me speechless, and I’m sure it’s not for everyone. But anybody who appreciated Beck early on for his ability to cut through giant swaths of musical genres on his way to making a brand-new sound will dig this.
6. “Internet Killed The Video Star”—Limousines: Okay, if you live in the Bay Area and ever listen to the radio, you probably did hear this. I’ve written enough about it at this point—if somehow it’s escaped your attention thus far, just go listen to it already.
7. “Kids”—Sleigh Bells: Again, if you listen to alt-radio around here, you may have caught this (or their other single, “Tell ‘Em”). But seeing Sleigh Bells at Live 105’s Not So Silent Night pre-party was an eye-opener. Took me forever to decide if I liked it or hated it—sheets of metal guitar over hard dance-punk beats and gorgeous female vocals? It’s nuts, but it’s grown on me. Plus, the noise attack is way toned down on record for extended listening possibilities. With Alexis Krauss’ delivery on this song, it’s not hard to see why M.I.A. signed them to her label.
8. “I Heart California”—Admiral Radley: I love a good California song, and with its creepy feel and lines like “drugs fall out of diaper bags while Midwesterners stare,” this new project from members of Earlimart and Grandaddy did the Golden State proud.
9. “Bloodlines”—Ugly Winner: Mixing the acoustic ambience of Calexico with a rock adrenaline rush, this tune is another South Bay export that deserves a wider audience.
10. “White Knuckles”—OK Go: I’ve noticed even people who liked the band’s earlier releases didn’t necessarily catch on to this latest single from OK Go (even though it had a cool video filled with cute dogs! Dogs!). But this was for sure my favorite tune off the new record, with its brazen attempt to re-create everything that makes a great Prince song, right down to the treatment on the vocals.
