Let’s count ‘em down from 10 to 1:
- 10. Chicken Payback by Band of Bees – The first time I heard this song, I hated it. Now it’s completely growing on me. It has a very 50′s type bluegrassish up-tempo beat to it. It will stick in your head if you listen to it more than once, and after a while it’s not a bad thing. Very fun song.
- 9. The Comeback by Shout Out Louds – Another solid effort from one of my favorite new bands of 2005. This is a pretty simple song, but it’s done solidly by this new band.
- 8. Your Little Hoodrat Friend by The Hold Steady – This song tells a story in a “nowhere near as annoying as that R.Kelly Soap Opera song crap” way. This song will go down as one of the indie rock hits of the summer.
- 7. Superman by The Steriophonics – Here’s another band that I’m really taking a liking to this year. Ever wonder why we never hear songs about other superheroes?
- 6. Side 2 by Dressy Bessy – Pretty sure I’d know nothing about this song without Sirius Satellite Radio. Female group, a little bit of an upbeat Sleater-Kinney type sound. I can’t help but start tapping my feet when this song starts.
- 5. Sweet Troubled Soul by Stellastar* – Stellastar* was a band I really liked when I started hearing their stuff in 2004. This is off their upcoming 2005 release. If you don’t know this band and you liked the B-52′s, go find their songs now — they have a very B-52-ish sound.
- 4. El Capitan by Idlewild – Cruising toward clinching a spot in my ‘top 5 bands of 2005′ list, Idlewild’s latest song has a great catchy chorus. This will be a favorite at their live shows, I’m sure. These guys are a little bit Deathcab for Cutie in the tempo of their songs — I wonder if this means they’re as mellow as Deathcab in concert… I kinda hope not.
- 3. Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire – Another band that is a likely ‘top 5 of the year’ band, I saw Arcade Fire at Lollapalooza and took an even greater liking to them. For a multipiece alt-rock-mini-orchestra-ish band, Rebellion (Lies) is probably their most pop/rock accessible song.
- 2. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! by Sufjan Stevens – Here’s another entrant in the folksy-alt-rock genre. I don’t think I’d like this entire album at all, but this particular song is just catchy enough that I’ll find myself singing it to myself throughout the day.
- 1. Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers – Thanks again to Sirius Satellite Radio, this was the one band who had been around for a while but who I had never heard of that I totally fell for in 2004. This song is off of their upcoming release and is yet another of their ultra-catchy alt/pop/rock style tunes – a very good thing.
Go here to view the entire countdown with links to Amazon to purchase!