Yadda yadda Trump yadda yadda music escapism yadda yadda. Here’s my top 15 tracks for 2017:
15. Jay Som - “Bus Song”
A delicious emo-pop tune from 2017 standout Jay Som.
14. TOPS - “Petals”
As pretty as the title suggests, TOPS hits back with a dreamy number here.
Love the female harmonies in the choruses and the weird vocal effects on the verses.
Love the female harmonies in the choruses and the weird vocal effects on the verses.
13. The Courtneys - “Silver Velvet”
The Courtneys returned in 2017 polished and refined
with their album II (echoing buddy Mac Demarco with the album title).
Silver Velvet was the standout track with a catchy chorus, teenage love story lyrics,
and a solid garage rock backing track.
with their album II (echoing buddy Mac Demarco with the album title).
Silver Velvet was the standout track with a catchy chorus, teenage love story lyrics,
and a solid garage rock backing track.
12. Kane Strang - “My Smile is Extinct”
A catchy rock song from New Zealand artist Kane Strang.
“My Smile is Extinct” is about a hysterical overblown teenage reaction to a lost high-school love.
Quirky and unique, I expect big things from Mr Strang.
“My Smile is Extinct” is about a hysterical overblown teenage reaction to a lost high-school love.
Quirky and unique, I expect big things from Mr Strang.
11. New Swears - “Dance with the Devil”
Ottawa-based punk rock party animals New Swears had a big year.
Signing to Dine Alone records, they embarked on multiple cross-Canada tours
and unleashed an awesome road trip album, And the Magic of Horses.
I caught them at their Edmonton show with about 6 other people in the audience (one being my dad).
They still brought it like the place was packed.
“Dance with the Devil” embodies the New Swears sound best:
slightly twangy, with killer riffage and crowd sung vocals.
Signing to Dine Alone records, they embarked on multiple cross-Canada tours
and unleashed an awesome road trip album, And the Magic of Horses.
I caught them at their Edmonton show with about 6 other people in the audience (one being my dad).
They still brought it like the place was packed.
“Dance with the Devil” embodies the New Swears sound best:
slightly twangy, with killer riffage and crowd sung vocals.
10. Portugal. The Man - “Feel it Still”
**Obnoxious Hipster Sentence Incoming**
I’ve been a big fan of Portugal The Man since pulling their album Church Mouth out of the $1 CDs bin
at Zulu Records in Vancouver in 2014. It’s unlikely you’ll find them there again after the smash success
of this tune. 75 million plays on youtube, grammy nominations, AMA awards, what a year of this band
had on the back of this funky jam.
I’ve been a big fan of Portugal The Man since pulling their album Church Mouth out of the $1 CDs bin
at Zulu Records in Vancouver in 2014. It’s unlikely you’ll find them there again after the smash success
of this tune. 75 million plays on youtube, grammy nominations, AMA awards, what a year of this band
had on the back of this funky jam.
9. Clairo - “Flaming Hot Cheetos”
Clairo’s magic lies in “micro-melodies” (coined by me, 2017).
Her ability to sculpt multiple different melodies over a simple 4 bar loop is captivating,
and keeps me coming back to this track time and time again.
Heartfelt lyrics and a beautiful voice don’t hurt either.
Her ability to sculpt multiple different melodies over a simple 4 bar loop is captivating,
and keeps me coming back to this track time and time again.
Heartfelt lyrics and a beautiful voice don’t hurt either.
8. Faith Healer - “Try ;-)”
The title track from local Edmonton artist Faith Healer (Jessica Jalbert)
marked a major clear change from her excellent last album, Cosmic Troubles.
Clean, confident vocal delivery, and a poky fun bassline drive this track forward,
and completely disregard the washed out tones of the previous album. Nonetheless,
washy guitars remain whimsical and pysch-y with faders and flangers messing with
the tone all over the awesome breakdown midway through the song. A mix of old and new.
marked a major clear change from her excellent last album, Cosmic Troubles.
Clean, confident vocal delivery, and a poky fun bassline drive this track forward,
and completely disregard the washed out tones of the previous album. Nonetheless,
washy guitars remain whimsical and pysch-y with faders and flangers messing with
the tone all over the awesome breakdown midway through the song. A mix of old and new.
7. Sam Tudor - “Holiday”
My smelly and annoyingly talented former roommate returned in 2017 after a long few years
since the release of his first major record, Modern New Year. While the album Quotidian Dream
is packed with new experiment sounds for Sam (electric guitars!? Saxophone?! Yelling!? Driving
drum beats?!), I always return to “Holiday,” a mid-tempo folk tune directly in Sam’s wheelhouse.
That said, “Holiday” is not a boring folk song.
Driven along by a Simon and Garfunkle-esque drum pattern courtesy of Sam’s brother Harry,
and accented by plucked electric guitar and heavily layered vocals, “Holiday,” to me, tells the
story of our household of students. Many of us lived somewhat monotonous lives in rainy grey
Vancouver, saving our money for vacations away to brighter climes. Melancholy, yet triumphant,
“Holiday” is the perfect capstone to an excellent album. He still smells though.
since the release of his first major record, Modern New Year. While the album Quotidian Dream
is packed with new experiment sounds for Sam (electric guitars!? Saxophone?! Yelling!? Driving
drum beats?!), I always return to “Holiday,” a mid-tempo folk tune directly in Sam’s wheelhouse.
That said, “Holiday” is not a boring folk song.
Driven along by a Simon and Garfunkle-esque drum pattern courtesy of Sam’s brother Harry,
and accented by plucked electric guitar and heavily layered vocals, “Holiday,” to me, tells the
story of our household of students. Many of us lived somewhat monotonous lives in rainy grey
Vancouver, saving our money for vacations away to brighter climes. Melancholy, yet triumphant,
“Holiday” is the perfect capstone to an excellent album. He still smells though.
6. Arcade Fire - “Everything Now”
I like ABBA. I like Arcade Fire. I like this.
5. WOOLWORM - “Sun Rock”
WOOLWORM was the big musical discovery for me this year.
They’ve been on my radar for years as they are a local Vancouver band, but I’ve never
given their music a chance because I thought they were a hardcore band. So I was surprised
when I gave their 2017 album Deserve to Die a listen-through and found a noisey, dissonant rock
band with real pop sensibilities. Coincidentally, their record label, Mint Records, calls them a “hardcore
band who have decided to play pop music.” While “Sun Rock” is more of a head-banging rock tune
than some of the more melodic cuts from the album, I keep coming back to this track because of its
soaring chorus and excellent vocal delivery from lead singer Giles Roy. He transitions from high pitched
pop tones to a deep throaty snarls with ease, keeping the listener enthralled. The chorus echoes some
of the more intense shoegaze artists like My Bloody Valentine, before dropping back into thrashy verses
a la Sonic Youth. An awesome genre bending track that catches your ear and brings you in.
They’ve been on my radar for years as they are a local Vancouver band, but I’ve never
given their music a chance because I thought they were a hardcore band. So I was surprised
when I gave their 2017 album Deserve to Die a listen-through and found a noisey, dissonant rock
band with real pop sensibilities. Coincidentally, their record label, Mint Records, calls them a “hardcore
band who have decided to play pop music.” While “Sun Rock” is more of a head-banging rock tune
than some of the more melodic cuts from the album, I keep coming back to this track because of its
soaring chorus and excellent vocal delivery from lead singer Giles Roy. He transitions from high pitched
pop tones to a deep throaty snarls with ease, keeping the listener enthralled. The chorus echoes some
of the more intense shoegaze artists like My Bloody Valentine, before dropping back into thrashy verses
a la Sonic Youth. An awesome genre bending track that catches your ear and brings you in.
4. Japandroids - “Near to the Wild Heart of Life”
After a long period of near-silence from Japandroids following their massive 2013 Celebration Rock tour,
many fans assumed the worst: Japandroids were done. Not so! “Near to the Wild Heart of Life” was the
first single from their triumphant return and serves as an explanation for the long silence for fans of
Vancouver’s favourite duo. It tells of lead singer Brian’s move from Vancouver to Mexico City,
following the love of his life, and leaving behind his bandmate Dave, the city he embodied, and
“all he had.” This high-energy blast of a song echoes the sentiment of 2012’s “The House that Heaven
Built:” go out, follow your dreams, be “bad.”
many fans assumed the worst: Japandroids were done. Not so! “Near to the Wild Heart of Life” was the
first single from their triumphant return and serves as an explanation for the long silence for fans of
Vancouver’s favourite duo. It tells of lead singer Brian’s move from Vancouver to Mexico City,
following the love of his life, and leaving behind his bandmate Dave, the city he embodied, and
“all he had.” This high-energy blast of a song echoes the sentiment of 2012’s “The House that Heaven
Built:” go out, follow your dreams, be “bad.”
3. Kendrick Lamar - “Humble”
Kendrick Lamar cemented himself as the greatest rapper of all time with 2017’s DAMN.
“Humble” illustrates everything that puts Kendrick far above any other rapper out there right now.
His ability to swap flows on a dime and rap in a multitude of voices is on full display on this swaggy track.
Mike Will Made It’s simple piano-riff-focused production is a perfect platform for Lamar to launch off
from, straddling the line between technical rap flow and a pop-friendly hook that made
this a huge hit for the Compton rapper. In a world full of people thinking they have the right to speak
over and silence others, Lamar’s request to be “Humble” is refreshing and hit a chord across the globe.
“Humble” illustrates everything that puts Kendrick far above any other rapper out there right now.
His ability to swap flows on a dime and rap in a multitude of voices is on full display on this swaggy track.
Mike Will Made It’s simple piano-riff-focused production is a perfect platform for Lamar to launch off
from, straddling the line between technical rap flow and a pop-friendly hook that made
this a huge hit for the Compton rapper. In a world full of people thinking they have the right to speak
over and silence others, Lamar’s request to be “Humble” is refreshing and hit a chord across the globe.
2. Cloud Nothings - “Enter Entirely”
Long-time Continuous Thunder readers will remember that Cloud Nothings took the top spot
on my Tracks of the Year 2014 with their song “I’m Not Part of You.” In my write up, I called
that track a “celebratory break-up track” with lead singer “Dylan Baldi coming to terms with
the past and rejoicing what lies in his future.” 2017’s “Enter Entirely” serves as the epilogue
to that song. In the years since 2014, Cloud Nothings saw both critical and popular success,
playing all the major music festivals around the world, and Baldi’s songwriting reflects this
with the album Life Without Sound bringing a refined, poppy, guitar focused sound.
“Entire Entirely,” with its memorable opening guitar riff, is the epitome of this new sound.
Baldi’s vocals are clean and easily heard, Jayson Gerycz’s always awesome drumming sits
further back in the mix, and multiple undistorted guitar solos add a different pop-rock feel to
this traditionally noise/punk/emo band. Lyrically, Baldi returns to a similar theme to
“I’m Not Part of You.” While he proudly proclaims “my world looks like I had only dreamed,”
part of him is still stuck in the past; “Moving on but I still feel it / You're just a light in me now.”
Resignation? Maybe. But an awesome rock song nonetheless.
on my Tracks of the Year 2014 with their song “I’m Not Part of You.” In my write up, I called
that track a “celebratory break-up track” with lead singer “Dylan Baldi coming to terms with
the past and rejoicing what lies in his future.” 2017’s “Enter Entirely” serves as the epilogue
to that song. In the years since 2014, Cloud Nothings saw both critical and popular success,
playing all the major music festivals around the world, and Baldi’s songwriting reflects this
with the album Life Without Sound bringing a refined, poppy, guitar focused sound.
“Entire Entirely,” with its memorable opening guitar riff, is the epitome of this new sound.
Baldi’s vocals are clean and easily heard, Jayson Gerycz’s always awesome drumming sits
further back in the mix, and multiple undistorted guitar solos add a different pop-rock feel to
this traditionally noise/punk/emo band. Lyrically, Baldi returns to a similar theme to
“I’m Not Part of You.” While he proudly proclaims “my world looks like I had only dreamed,”
part of him is still stuck in the past; “Moving on but I still feel it / You're just a light in me now.”
Resignation? Maybe. But an awesome rock song nonetheless.
1. Alvvays - “Saved by a Waif”
I went back and forth on which Alvvays song to choose for this list. Any number of tracks from
their standout 2017 release Antisocialites could have taken this number one spot. In the end,
I’m going for “Saved by a Waif.” Fast paced, guitar lead, with killer harmonies, this song ticks
all the boxes. Antisocialites saw Alvvays return in the best way possible. “Saved by a Waif”
sees lead singer Molly Rankin grab the bull by the horns; her vocals are powerful, pitch perfect,
and more aggressive than ever. Driving keyboards in the verses and arpeggiating synths in the
pre-chorus add a refined and layered sound that we didn’t hear on their 2013 self-titled debut.
Yet, this new sound is so exactly Alvvays: Alec O'Hanley brings his Two Hours Traffic guitar chops,
Brian Murphy adds his plucky bass line, the drum pattern is exactly as required, and Rankin pulls it all
together with her distinct vocal tone.
As a perfect live set opener, “Saved by the Waif” just screams: “LET’S GET GOING PEOPLE!”
It’s my number one song of 2017.
their standout 2017 release Antisocialites could have taken this number one spot. In the end,
I’m going for “Saved by a Waif.” Fast paced, guitar lead, with killer harmonies, this song ticks
all the boxes. Antisocialites saw Alvvays return in the best way possible. “Saved by a Waif”
sees lead singer Molly Rankin grab the bull by the horns; her vocals are powerful, pitch perfect,
and more aggressive than ever. Driving keyboards in the verses and arpeggiating synths in the
pre-chorus add a refined and layered sound that we didn’t hear on their 2013 self-titled debut.
Yet, this new sound is so exactly Alvvays: Alec O'Hanley brings his Two Hours Traffic guitar chops,
Brian Murphy adds his plucky bass line, the drum pattern is exactly as required, and Rankin pulls it all
together with her distinct vocal tone.
As a perfect live set opener, “Saved by the Waif” just screams: “LET’S GET GOING PEOPLE!”
It’s my number one song of 2017.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST LINK (NOT IN ORDER)
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