Another
year, another list. I’ve paired it down to a nice manageable 15 songs to
tickle your ears this holiday season!
15. Fast
Romantics – “Julia”
Coming off
their great 2013 album Afterlife Blues,
Fast Romantics hit it big this spring and summer with this memorable indie rock
track. Great guitar lines, a catchy chorus and rhythmic tambourines just make
you want to throw back your head and sing along.
14. Bad
Sounds – “I Feel”
It’s the
fat fuzzy bassline that keeps me coming back to this track. Cool falsettos and
funk style guitar licks just add to the beauty of that bassline.
13. Telekinesis – “Sylvia”
Electro-pop
blast from Telekinesis’s 2015 album Ad
Infinitum. I love the very simple piano chords that come after the chorus, a
cool analog juxtaposition to all the digital synths and big electronic drums.
12. Drake –
Back to Back (Meek Mill Diss)
Drake had
another big year, and this time I couldn’t just ignore it, especially given his
hilarious “Hotline Bling” dance moves. In mid-summer, when terrible rapper Meek
Mill accused Drake of using a ghost writer over twitter, Drake fired back in
true old school hip hop style with a pair of diss tracks. The first track was
alright, and definitely surprised people, but “Back to Back” REALLY shocked the
hip hop world; Drake was spitting bars. Using a super simple trap beat, Drake almost
drunkenly slaps Meek Mill with diss after diss. It’s gold. Almost as gold as
those Hotline Bling moves!
11. Tough Age – “50 Girls 50”
Great
surf/punk rock track from a Vancouver favourite of mine. The song really kicks
into another gear when the OOOOOOHHHHHS come out of nowhere. Talk about catchy.
10. White
Reaper – “Make Me Wanna Die”
I rate this
song almost exactly same as the Tough Age song. Excellent driving punk rock
with classic White Reaper keyboards that add special melodic flavour.
9. Kendrick
Lamar – “Black Friday”
Kendrick’s
2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly is
contemporary, aware, insightful, anthemic, and powerful. It says many of the
things that need be said about systemic oppression, racism, and white privilege
in the midst of Trump’s heinous campaign, Black Lives Matter protests, and more.
However, as a body of music, Kendrick’s album is challenging. Unlike his
melodic, trap-beat filled previous album Good
Kid, Maad City, TPAB is choppy, varied,
and wild. Instead of picking a track from the album, I have picked “Black
Friday,” a single released on that day of overconsumption in November. Here
Kendrick raps over another jerky, tricky beat from J Cole. Kendrick hits on all
the themes from the album with viscous intensity: race, consumerism, poverty,
the rap game, genres, Trump, privilege, and even Yeezy himself. It’s a
brilliant song and comes off as completely effortless, a sign of a rapper on
top of his game right now.
8. Viet Cong – “Continental Shelf”
This band
was on my radar forever, but I didn’t really give them a real listen until the
whole name controversy came up this fall. The band has since announced they
will change the name. “Continental Shelf” is a post-punk song grounded in
simple tension and release. The verses are grating, noisey, and irritating,
with lead singer Matt Flegel crooning, yelping, and straining. Just as you
think you can’t handle any more, the chorus floats in on a whim, complete with harmonious
and triumphant guitar riffs and angelic backing vocals. This juxtaposition
between verse and chorus is fascinating and keeps me coming back to this track
again and again.
7. Death Cab for Cutie – “Little Wanderer”
A subtle guitar
riff drives this longing love song from Ben Gibbard and the Death Cab boys. It
tells the story of a relationship strained by frequent separation, and is
probably-almost-for-sure-absolutely based in Gibbard’s divorce from indie
sweetheart Zooey Deschanel in 2012. Gibbard’s longing lyrics are the
centre-piece of the song, with a perfectly crafted catchy pop chorus straining
everyone’s heart strings just a little bit.
6. Mumford and Sons – “The Wolf”
Will
picking Mumford?!?! I know, crazy. But how could I not pick this song! What an
amazing driving, energetic track. Awesome riffage, awesome drumming, awesome
vocals. It’s that kind of song you crank when it comes on the radio and drum
madly on the steering wheel...or maybe that’s just me. The 2015 Mumford-genre
switch, from predictable banjo folk to heart pounding top 40 rock caught many
by surprise, and has been lamented worldwide. I say heck ya! Bring me more of
this and I’ll be a happy camper. Excuse me while I air drum!
5. Tame Impala – “Let It Happen”
Okay okay
OKAY. This track. Honestly, an eight-minute track is VERY daunting for me. But
as the song titles suggests, you just have to “let it happen.” It’s all about
the build in this song. The song begins with intriguing synth layers, a bouncy
and clappy drum beat, and a noodle-y little bass line that reverberates throughout
the track. Soon this part of the track melts into a full orchestra of strings,
which build into the grand climax of the song: the best riff of 2015. The riff is crunchy, listenable, catchy, UGH
so good. Great song if you “let it happen,” no skipping to the guitar riff (it's at 6:15 btw) !!
4. Mac Demarco – “No Other Heart”
There’s
something about Mac’s music that makes it very relatable. It’s the kind of
music that makes you want to pick up the nearest instrument, be it a guitar,
keyboard, drumset, or Peruvian pan flute, and write a little love ditty to your
sweetheart. Mac does exactly that on this track, layering jangling guitar licks
on top of simple piano chords and lovey-dovey lyrics like “come on give this
lover boy a try/I’ll put the sparkle right back in your eyes.” It’s cute.
3. Lord Huron – “Fool for Love”
Best song
from an album that all sounds the same. Love the carefree lyrics and fun
bah-bahs in the background of the lyrics. A groovy drum beat with a clappy
snare adds to the carefree vibes of this song. A fun one.
2. FIDLAR – “Stupid Decision”
I’ve liked
California band FIDLAR since their 2013 debut album, but with 2015’s album, Too, FIDLAR really grabbed my interest.
While the debut album was mostly skate punk tunes about partying, drinking, and
raising hell, Too is mature and
contemplative, yet retains enough fun punk vibes. “Stupid Decision” is a
perfect example of this. It’s an extremely heavy song about Zac Carper’s
lifelong struggle with drugs and alcohol. In 2013, while on tour with fellow
punk rock band Wavves, Carper’s pregnant girlfriend overdosed and died from
heroine use. Carper, a serious drug addict himself, was hit hard by the news,
and spiralled even further into addiction and depression. Since then, Carper
has recovered and sobered up; “Stupid Decision” tells his story. It isn’t very
often when punk is so personal, so Too breathes
a serious fresh breath of air into the genre. Some critics have attacked FIDLAR
for softening up, but I couldn’t disagree more. While no longer a thrashy punk
band, Fidlar more than makes up for that with melody and better songwriting. The
lyrics, playing, and album crafting is top notch, and will be an album I look
back on well into the future.
Song at 30:18
Song at 30:18
1. Courtney
Barnett – “Depreston”
Courtney
Barnett writes songs like a photographer. In “Depreston,” she takes us into a
photograph of a “Californian bungalow in a cul-de-sac” in suburban Australia. With
her deadpan sarcastic tone, Barnett conveys the overwhelming sense of grey
emptiness of suburban life. Her writing, combining with a simple guitar part,
immediately instills a nostalgic feeling deep in your gut. At its heart, “Depreston”
is a coming of age song; it’s about the sudden, depressing realization that “real”
adulthood means giving up a life of socializing in coffee shops for a glum existence
in the suburbs. Yet the song is redemptive; if you have “a spare half a million/you
could knock it down and start rebuilding.” While Arcade Fire advocates for “Suburban
War,” Barnett’s message is much simpler: get rich or die trying.
