I listened to and reviewed all fifty albums in SPIN's "Best Rock Bands Today" article
I promise to tell the truth even if it's not fun
Before the preamble, a preamble. This is a piece I threw together six months ago to break out of some of my lazy writing habits. Within two weeks of its publication, personal events upended my life and I had to scramble to put my head back on straight, move into a new home, and so forth. I’m crawling back to writing again, and rereading this piece today relit a fire that was temporarily reduced to mere embers. I hope you’ll find a nugget of joy in either my writing or in the bands highlighted. Thanks for being here.
—-
I'm beginning the composition of this brief piece on July 30th. Today, music twitter found itself up in arms about a list of the "50 best rock bands today" according to SPIN Magazine. Setting aside the fact that it's impossible to make such a list without knowingly starting a few small fires, my initial impression is that the list spans a relatively broad range of music and I appreciate that even if I know this means that most of the bands I'd love to see excel will be excluded out of space and necessity. I also realized that, while I have a deep love for rock music and many of its subgenres and independent scenes, I tend to have a blanket unfamiliarity with bands that make it to the major labels. It's not out of disdain in the slightest; I love rock music in many of its forms but when a band grows big, they probably don't need the help of a writer on my scale.
Out of love for myself and the music that inspires me, I've been trying to take in more music that isn't expressly for the purpose of my own writing, which has mostly manifested in explorations of small scenes I've never dug into before and a lot of "classic" albums from before I was born. Today, I guess I should also do myself a favor and dig into these bands that SPIN listed. I'm positive I'll find a few new things to enjoy, and I also am sure there will be a handful that simply aren't for me. That's cool and okay. That's what loving music is all about. We explore. If we only go for curated music that we know will suit our narrow tastes, we never do ourselves the favor of challenging the parameters of our own artistic universe.
With this goal of growth and understanding in mind, I'm going to click on the single song attached to each artist on SPIN's list and make an assessment. I know some of these artists have deep catalogs that span over a decade, but I have neither the time nor the capacity to embark on something of that scale. Instead, I'm going to go in without a map here and see how SPIN's attempt at guiding me works out. Thanks for taking the time to join me. I hope you'll dig this (or at least learn why you can't stand anything I recommend to you). I'll be examining these in the order presented (from 50 to 1) and listing which song I'm basing my thoughts on so you can tell me how I'm wrong and if I only listened to a different song I'd feel differently.
Hum- "Waves"
I've always kept Hum at arm's length. Their breakthrough hit "Stars" didn't wow me, and wasn't really my thing, so I never explored further. Their sudden reappearance this year had many of my friends thrilled, which made me confused. I never thought they were bad, but my recollection is that the vocals kept me away from a band I'd otherwise probably find pleasant. Listening to "Waves," I see the appeal in the shifting, textured guitars that open it up and serve as a lovely backdrop. I could still do without the chunky, almost Deftones-esque riffing that accompanies it, but it's not criminal. I also seem to have warmed up to the vocals more. Is this one of the best rock bands right now? Maybe, sure. This is pleasant and gave me enough interest that I'll probably listen to Inlet and give these guys another shot.
Spanish Love Songs- "Brave Faces, Everyone"
I'm apprehensive about this. I just saw the phrase "Springsteemo" in the paragraph accompanying this band and I think my brain just melted. I know precious little about Springsteen, but I recently was exposed to a song of his and it kinda just sounded like Billy Joel for people who like guitars instead of pianos. Please don't hurt me. Anyway, I'm going to treat this as something fresh and new regardless. Maybe I shouldn't read the descriptions before I click play? Hard to say. Okay, I don't hate this, but I'm not the target audience for this. I feel like the state of pop-punk now is less offensive to my ears than when I was a teenager. Is this even pop-punk? Like, I'll take this over Good Charlotte or whatever else was dominant circa 2001, but this sort of heart-on-sleeve punk-adjacent music doesn't move me, whether it's low-brow and juvenile or if it's the arty angle from bands like Alkaline Trio or whoever else. I'm going to venture a guess that this is some of the best the genre has to offer, so cheers to that. If you're into pop-punk, this may be the group most likely to win over your friends who are averse to the sound.
Coriky- "Too Many Husbands"
I'm curious about how many husbands are too many. Is one the right amount, or is that too many? Coriky is an interesting name for a band, and it seems they're made up of a bunch of people who are famous for being in bands I know in name. Again, skewer me if you'd like, but I've never heard more than a couple songs from anything Ian MacKaye has done. I didn't dislike them, I just haven't given in to that curiosity wormhole yet. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect coming into this, but the succinct yet skronky (scronky?) bursts of guitar and bass instantly appeal to me. I like the singing, which feels confident and soulful but still has a sense of playfulness to it. Like, I'm all for earnest music but I think a lot of people forget to enjoy what they're doing as they strive to create Great Art. It sounds like Coriky is having fun, especially near the end, right when it sounds like they're about to build up to a big jam but instead call the whole thing off. Clever. This is the first one of these I've heard and loved right out of the gate. I hope there's more!
The Voidz- "Permanent High School"
When I read that a band has three guitarists, I sure hope they're going to have some rad Maidenesque purpose for it. When that band is fronted by the dude from The Strokes, I know I'm probably not getting that. I have nothing negative to say about The Strokes, despite what some may expect, and actually really enjoy their first record. I've heard nothing really since then and I'm sure it was all quite grand, but I've never kept my eyes on that scene and perhaps it's been to my own detriment, as it seems we can't shake off the collective ghosts of the early aughts no matter how good or bad their current output may be. It's nice to hear that Julian Casablancas still leans into a solid distortion effect to carry his dry yet charming vocals. Some things never change, even though the backdrop for his crooning and lyrical matter have shifted greatly. It's weird hearing this. Like, it fits into some strange zone where it could be something I like or something I really don't like, depending on the day and the setting. There's enough nods to classic pop and rock in composition for me to understand this, but it's also got that weird sunny sound that most popular music of the last 13 years or so seems to have. It's a production characteristic, not a compositional one, but it just makes a lot of things feel as though they're meant to be played on the in-store speakers of a Best Buy in order to move a few extra copies. I feel that does this a disservice, as this sounds like a fine song, possibly more my speed live than on a record.
Bad Moves- "Spirit FM"
These folks are described as the catchiest band to bear the Don Giovanni legend, which reads like gibberish to me. Google has informed me that Don Giovanni's a record label and I'll admit I'm marginally aware of a couple of their artists, but I'm going into this one without real context. In a way, that makes me more excited to discover what they're about. I'm pretty sure I see NPR music writing legend Lars Gotrich like twenty seconds into this music video, which has me instantly biased in this band's favor. To be fair, this feels like a modern take on the sort of power pop that lives somewhere between the sunnier songs from The Ramones and the more upbeat rockers from The Go-Go's, which fulfills some sort of childhood nostalgia for me even here. Like that Coriky song a couple spots up, this one ends right as it heads towards a nice little rocker section. Is that t he new way of doing things? We abandon the build-up instead of letting it become more ecstatic? I kinda appreciate that even if it defies what I've come to expect.
Body Count- "No Lives Matter"
Okay, this is a band I already know. I think it's hard to be an adult who listens to rock or metal music and not know Body Count. We're going to set aside the song title and all that here, because I don't really feel like nitpicking Ice-T's take on the "--- Lives Matter" rhetoric. I actually haven't listened to any of the newer Body Count material, so it'll be interesting to see where they're at in the modern age. Okay, and in the song's preamble he's picked apart the anti-BLM thing and made it clear that his point is against the "All Lives Matter" types and I'm relieved. This video is pretty cool. I like that the bass only has three strings. As far as rap-metal goes, this is a cut above the rest but is anybody surprised to hear that? Rap music has often been political and it's great to hear that tradition continuing here. I'm into it. I like that they've got solid guitar leads in the chorus and that the lyrics are cutting. I don't listen to music like this much in general but if I gave into the nostalgic need to hear this sort of music, I very well may gravitate towards a recent Body Count album instead of my embarrassing high school favorites.
2nd Grade- "Velodrome/My Bike"
Here's another one where the description just highlights how much there is to learn even when you're a lifelong music geek. I know of Alex Chilton and Big Star, but describing a band as sounding like them tells me absolutely nothing. I think that's jangle-pop of some sort, but given my fear of that entire sound, I haven't bothered. Perhaps the adorably named 2nd Grade will tell me if my anxieties were on the mark. I think this is the first song I've felt allergic to before I've hit the twenty second mark. Is it the vocal delivery? The entire composition? I can't tell. It sounds like it's trying to be cute instead of just letting cute happen naturally, perhaps. I'm determined to sit through all...five minutes(!) of this. I like things that are cute and simple sometimes. I think The Magnetic Fields has its share of that, although it's far more dark and witty than just being twee. I think this goes back to a point I've made elsewhere: earnest music can be great but I love when it's tempered with a little more sense of humor and self-awareness. It's interesting though, since this video is for two short songs rather than one long song, the second track is more digestible for me. Maybe it's just the upward inflection in singing in the first track, because this second one reminds me in a way of the open-heart honesty of that first Harvey Danger album. I don't think this will endear itself to me the way that did, but I'm so glad I didn't impulsively click out of it. Is this emo? This might be actual emo, like, not pop-punk emo but just emo emo. I think it is.
Otoboke Beaver- "Don't Light My Fire"
Okay, this band falls under the "heard of but not heard" category for me. I've got a lovely friend whose personal musical obsessions seem to be "bands featuring Justin Broadrick" and "bands from Japan." Otoboke Beaver doesn't have anything to do with Justin Broadrick, I don't think, but they're from Kyoto and I see my pal post about them from time to time. Like the bad friend I am I've never clicked on their music until today. I know Japan has a tradition of taking rock music and flipping it on its head, so I tend to love what I hear from their most oddball artists, but I have no idea if this will follow suit. This is hyperactive punk rock and it definitely suits my love of the weird. Yes! The bass line stands out wonderfully and this is playful in the best way. This is probably the coolest thing I've heard in this list so far. I think I've got motion sickness from watching this video but it was well worth it. It fits in with my overlapping loves of bands like Mr. Bungle and Dillinger Escape Plan alongside less metallic things like Erase Errata, if that makes any sense. Spastic, dizzying, and lots of starting and stopping. This is fun if you like your fun to be a little ugly too. Definitely spending more time with this band once I'm done with this list. Wow.
Foxing- "Nearer My God"
I'll be honest, I have such a love/hate thing with gerunds as band names. Some of them seem to be really cool names that I like (Missing comes to mind), but I have an instant negative response to the name Foxing. Maybe it's because I associate it with fox hunting (which is not what "foxing" is but I think it anyway)? I can't tell, but I'm seeing comparisons to Radiohead and American Football in the description here, so my experience could go any direction at all. I'm going to drop my preconceptions and just go in with the hopes that Foxing is my new favorite band. I think I've been learning a little more about what I do and don't like in songs and why I feel the way I feel about things from this exercise already. The rumbling distorted bass in this song is very cool, but the weird falsetto singing is very uncool. The net outcome of this should be neutral but I think it's mostly forgivable, which probably surprises me more than anyone else.The build-up towards the song's second half is simple and predictable but is some really nice pounding radio rock. I think the melodrama here feels sincere enough to work. Like, I'm not sure who made me the arbiter of sincerity but when I hear a song that I'm probably not inclined to like and still think "yeah this is true sad bastard stuff" then I hope that part of me is still functional. I'm probably not going to give this band a deeper listen but if you like the whole post-rock crescendocore thing thrown into your heart-on-sleeve pop-rock, this is pretty well executed.
Pearl Jam- "Dance of the Clairvoyants (Mach III)"
I saw my mom in January when I went back west for a friend's funeral. It was the first time I'd seen her in a couple years, and in true "meeting with family" fashion she was eager to fill me in on the tiniest details of her life while we danced around darker, larger subjects. One thing she was sure to share with me was an entire channel on her car's satellite radio that was dedicated to Pearl Jam. I guess it plays...Pearl Jam, from album cuts to live recordings to some of the band's favorites from other artists? I don't really remember. What I do remember is that it was the first time I'd heard Pearl Jam in years. I don't have any sort of ill will towards them, but they're a band whose reign in the nineties was so unavoidable that I didn't really think that I needed to know more. I've probably spent more time in my life hearing "Even Flow" and "Alive" on the radio than I have listening to some of my favorite albums, so I kinda left them at that. Truth be told, I didn't even know Pearl Jam was still an active band. Do I need to pay attention or care? SPIN thinks so, so I guess I'm going to listen to them today and see if they've changed in the thirty or so years since their last recorded material that I know. It seems they've developed a bit of a groove, but it's hard to think of calling this dance or funk-related. It's still music that feels aggressively white, but it's also a surprising change of pace. I'm glad for it. I imagine they're all nice people and I'd rather see these guys as the elder statesmen of radio rock than a lot of the less interesting heavyweights of my childhood, but this newfound knowledge doesn't inspire me to dig for more new Pearl Jam. Still, I'm relieved it's not so throaty or stuck in a single era as I'd have envisioned.
Skeleton- "Catacombs"
I know of the existence of Skeleton solely because of the internet presence of my friend Andy O'Connor, whose music writing is far more consistent (and high quality) than mine. He also wrote the piece on them for SPIN, which is good because nobody else should have such an honor. Andy's an evangelist for his local music scene and Skeleton has always received his top marks, which is exactly why I've avoided listening to them. I mean, do you really want to run the risk of not liking something that somebody you respect so clearly thinks is the absolute best? I'm about to take that risk, and I'll fully admit I'm afraid. Fellow Texans Iron Age and Power Trip are mentioned in Andy's post and for all my delight at seeing those bands achieve success, I really don't like what they do musically, but this song kinda blossoms up in a way I didn't expect. They spend nearly a minute building a nice melodic structure before the double-bass drumming begins and it's just full on metal claws at the sky time. Consider me delighted when I expected modern thrash/punk and got something far more blackened, with nods to first and second wave sounds but a bit of modern muscle. Thank you Skeleton for the song, for the calcium, and for the Andy O'Connor byline. I don't often see eye to eye with the rest of the metal press but this is an instance where the hype didn't let me down. Thank goodness.
Flasher- "Material"
SPIN mentions The Breeders, XTC, and uses the term "bubble-punks" which confuses me but also sounds like something I'd dig. I dig XTC. I dig The Breeders. I like bubbles and sometimes I even like punk. Their description of this band is oddly unhinged, and I'm eager to dig in, but also hope they haven't given me unwarranted high hopes. I love a strong bass line, and this one certainly has it, and the rest of the music mercifully rises to meet it. The format for this music video doesn't do it as many favors, even though it's incredibly clever. Like, it's a truly great video and I still got a feel for the song, but it's shot in a way that intentionally interrupts and alters the song to suit the video, so please watch this but also maybe look up the song elsewhere to get a more direct idea of what they sound like. This is up there with Otoboke Beaver for bands on this list that I hadn't heard before but am instantly into now. I just added their album to my bandcamp wishlist. You might want to do the same, seriously.
Dumb- "Club Nites"
We're not even 15 songs in and I've learned of like a dozen bands I need to look up because of comparisons I don't get. This time around it's Danger Mouse and Parquet Courts. These sound like fake bands to me, but I'm sure they're good and fine. I guess I'll listen to those two and a handful of others after I listen to like 38 more songs from this list. You'd think this is speeding by, but it takes a while to go through this. Kudos to anybody that endeavors to listen to a whole 50 song list like this. On its own that eats up a few hours, but I made the mistake of committing to writing about all these songs and this is my penance. This kinda feels like a piss-take on bands I like but also...sounds like bands I like. It's art rock that doesn't want to be art rock and hides that reality by making fun of art rock...which is like the most art rock thing to do, low-brow as it may be. I like how high school A/V club this music video is. It's really fun, and I feel like it's the sort of thing where this band will either change and become high concept or they'll implode in the next two years. I hope it's the former but maybe the latter would cement a cult classic legacy? Hard to say. I'm anything but an underground music prophet. I just like songs and having fun, okay?
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- "Cars in Space"
Was this song written and released before or after the weed-smoking billionaire tech clown launched a sports car into space? I'm not sure if it changes anything, but the title went quickly from evoking images of a wild future where interstellar travel is common to thoughts of eating the rich...maybe that's just me. This is very strange to me in that it's such a normal sounding song but I can't think of anything that sounds like it either. It's upbeat and tense, but in no way dark at all. It's got a pop sensibility but it's far too indie rock to be pop, but like...I don't know much about indie rock and I can't think of anything I've heard like this even though I know exactly what this is at the same time. Perhaps this is what happens when one listens to enough music of pretty much just one or two genres and then tries to workshop their own version of it. The band's white shirt/black pants coordination reminds me of Worship-era Glassjaw, but without any of the intensity or aggression, and these guys sure love to go on an instrumental tangent unlike a lot of the other bands here, so I'll give them props for pushing against the tide at least. This is pleasant, inoffensive, and if I remember this in 24 hours it'll only be because I can't figure out if I've heard anything like it before, not because I'm enamored.
Algiers- "Dispossession"
I'm not even sure if there's much for me to say here, but I've committed to writing about each of these and I'm going to do just that. I love Algiers. I did before this list existed, and I'll continue to do so whether or not the press validates it. It's nice to see them here though, so cheers to that. This band is powerful as a studio outfit, and the live footage I've seen shows them even more potent (seriously). On "Dispossession," the band pairs soulful singing with a pulsing piano line and a rhythm that is simultaneously taut and free-form somehow. A lot of metal fans seem drawn to the slightly bluesy vocal lines of Zeal & Ardor (whose work does nothing for me, despite my wishes otherwise), but this strikes me as what that group wishes it could be: triumphant in the face of darkness, political in an artfully poetic way, and seamlessly fusing many disparate styles in a way that makes something equally new and familiar. I do regret that the reason 2020 is so bleak is because Algiers are so powerful that when they named their new album There is No Year, the universe was forced to make it so. Listen to this band, seriously. It's timeless music. I could see these guys touring with everyone from Nine Inch Nails to whatever top 40 act is bold enough to bring out a band that will surely upstage them.
L.O.T.I.O.N.- "ICBM"
Two bands in a row that I already know and like? I can live with this arrangement quite happily. L.O.T.I.O.N. is a band with a name that's a pain to type out but a sound that's total fun. Like, it rips hard and is also for dancing. What could go wrong? These guys are local to me but I haven't seen them yet, which is probably criminal and I should be ashamed of myself. "ICBM" has that gloriously grindy post-punk sounding bass with vocals so blown out they sound like they were borrowed from somebody's home rehearsal demo tape. It's like the sleaziest intersection of cool smooth New York and grimy DIY New York with a detour to the goth club on the way to the late night techno party. It's music that probably could come from any major city but feels uniquely regional all the same. It's gross but you'll feel pretty good about it any way.
Wolf Alice- "Beautifully Unconventional"
Even though I'm listening to this right after I've had my morning coffee, I still had to read the band name like three times before I stopped reading it as "Wolf Eyes." Old habits die hard, I guess, and also Wolf Eyes rips. Listen to Wolf Eyes. In a few sentences I'll tell you if the same can be said for cousin Alice. There's a fair bit of bounce to this song despite its strict smoothness, with a buoyant bassline carrying much of the song's verse, allowing guitar to make the chorus feel bigger even though it's not particularly loud or intense. Despite what the song's title would have you believe, this doesn't feel particularly unique or out of the ordinary anyway, although I guess it's beautiful by some standards. The write-up accompanying this mentions noise rock but calls this song "bar rock" like Arctic Monkeys (who I've never heard despite them being a huge name act), so perhaps this is an outlier, but we're playing by the arbitrary rule I established here and unfortunately this song doesn't pass muster for me, but perhaps you might want to look up other material and see if it's more raucous and vibrant.
The 1975- "Me & You Together Song"
Okay, I've heard of The 1975, which is saying something. I have a feeling these guys were probably not alive in 1975 anyway, which really is probably the only way it would sound like a good idea to name your band after a year. Anyway, all I know about this band is that I feel like there singer once had a haircut that made him look like Jimmy Urine from Mindless Self Indulgence, again that might be because they're probably in their early thirties like me. Maybe I'm wrong--maybe they've got that LCD Soundsystem late bloomer thing going for them, the same thing I'm hoping will happen for me so that I can become wildly successful around the age of 38 or so. Within the first ten seconds the guitar feels like a jangly homage to Johnny Marr, which I know most people would think is a good description but The Smiths are really the only band that sounds like The Smiths that are worth a damn, and even they've gone and ruined their own reputation thanks to Moz. Wow, and now that the singer's come in this feels even blander. I'm honestly shocked. I thought this band was possibly subversive or arty, even if it's only in the contrived way that comes with youthful arrogance, but this doesn't even seem to stretch beyond just simply dreamy shimmery pop-rock. There's nothing wrong with this on paper, but I think sometimes that's the worst crime of all. I want a song to evoke something in me even if that's disgust. This felt like music to play in a Pacsun or other generic mall store around the late '90s or early aughts: all background and saccharine sweet with nothing of real substance pushing it forward. Is this really one of the biggest bands around right now? I'm honestly shocked. I thought it'd annoy me more or impress me somehow, but it didn't do anything at all.
Meet Me @ The Altar- "Garden"
I haven't even read the description of this band yet and I hate them. I hate them with a fiery passion. I know that I was a teenager when the band !!! (Chk Chk Chk) rose to fame so I can't say it's about the symbol usage entirely, but there's something about the name of this band and the fact that the word "at" isn't even long enough to justify such shorthand. Like, it's not like an ampersand where it's understood and appreciated equally to the word it substitutes. The @ symbol just looks like internet shorthand even if it's got a broader meaning than that. Clearly this band knows how to name a song, because "Garden" is a completely acceptable title, but I'm going to stop hating because every band I've had any part in naming has had an utterly horrible name and I can't really pretend I'm above it. The rhythm section seems to be doing some sort of rolling subtle nod to tech-metal underneath this emo or pop-punk song. It's like an even more emo obnoxious version of whatever it was Protest the Hero did, but they're actually a decent band. This is probably going to be a massively famous band, so really what do I know? This is what you get when you have the black metal, post-punk, and ambient music enthusiast reviewing popular rock music. For what it's worth, I made up my mind in the first thirty seconds but let this all run its course because I'm a professional even if I can't stand something.
Vampire Weekend- "Sunflower"
Ahhhh, Vampire Weekend, I thought we left you behind a decade ago in some sort of commercial for a compact car or an airbnb or mustache wax of some sort. There was a brief period maybe in 2010 or 2011 where even my reclusive self couldn't leave the house without hearing "Horchata" or "Holiday" but I really hoped that the too-cute strains of whatever the fuck they were doing wouldn't endure. Still, here we are in the year of our (clearly very absent) lord 2020 and I'm about to listen to what I presume is a brand new song from these beachy indie pop clowns. I guess they've got a guest named Steve Lacy on this one, so I'm hoping this guy picks things up and makes it bearable. The song starts with the band running some sort of weird little scale and then letting it climax into a "chill backdrop" for them to gently croon over, so I mean, I guess it's less perky and annoying than I expected and I'm glad for that even if it feels rather collegiate and corny to me still. The chorus to this, when the band opts to be mellow and fluid instead of bubbly and bizarre, is almost enjoyable, which is higher praise than I thought I'd ever give these guys, so maybe growth is possible. Whether it's me or Vampire Weekend that's grown? That's up for debate. I really hope I'm not getting old, but I think I probably am.
High on Fire- "Spewn From the Earth"
Matt Pike, I love you, I really do, but that doesn't make "spewn" a word. Seriously dude. I'm going to give myself a pass on this one. It's High on Fire. I know them, you know them, chances are even that person you know who "loves metal" but only listens to the radio knows them. They rip, they're fun, and I honestly can't tell half their albums apart but I will always go back to Blessed Black Wings for a damn good time. This is punchy, punky upbeat metal, and Pike sounds as wild as ever. I think this band is probably one of the most fun live acts on earth, but the one time I went to catch them my ride ran late and I showed up just in time to watch their last song. It was still a blast.
tricot- "「右脳左脳」"
Can you tell I had to copy and paste this song title? I'm kinda glad to see my first purely non-English song here. Hope there's more to come! I'm really into the international music community and I love when bands don't cave to the pressure to sing in English just to achieve some sort of success. There's a lot of great extreme metal that's sung in bands' native tongues, so this is a good omen. This band sounds like they really know how to play together. Like, their sense of groove is fantastic, and even though this feels like a kind of music I don't really put on or dig much, I'm just really enjoying hearing the individual components and seeing how they line up together. I think the poppy chorus vocals may be what's turning me off from fully committing to this, but I also like this fine enough as it is. I just think it'd be really interesting to hear this band go full math-pop (if that's a thing) and really get weird with it. It's compelling enough in this form, but the weirdo in me just wants to dive all in and hear the implied meltdown (or even just the jams that took place before they became the finished songs).
Big Thief- "Not"
I'm instantly joyous about this band. My useless brain just offered up the obnoxious two syllable chorus of Coal Chamber's "Big Truck" to appease some part of me and changed the words to "Big Thief" and I'm giddy at the stupidity of it all. I'm sure this band is going to be good to me even if they're not good, simply because I'm immature. I'm not sure what I expected going into this, as the description kinda turned to mush in my mind the second I clicked play, but this is strangely spectral and eerie for a song that doesn't seem heavy on effects pedals or synths or anything. This is very not my thing but also I think I kinda love it somehow, and I swear it has nothing to do with the first two sentences of my little write-up here.There's a weariness and determination here that really hit home for me, and the fact that I can't put my finger on what Big Thief is going for really makes it work for me. It's minimalist yet subtly rich, and emotive without feeling melodramatic, just...really hitting the mark. Everything I'm seeing likens this to folk rock but I'm not hearing that comparison unless folk has changed dramatically since I last took note of it. Is this what a guilty pleasure feels like? I think if I shared this with my friends it'd be met with eye roll, but I think this is really clever. The fact that this song is basically just one gigantic build-up without a real verse-chorus structure makes it feel like a ride you can't get off of, but in the good way. Consider this an exception to whatever rule I had, because this is really hitting something for me right now and I don't think there's a genre for it or anything, but I'd see the shit out of this band live.
The Paranoid Style- "The Thrill is Back!"
I'm expecting a real party time hit with a title like "The Thrill is Back!" with its exclamation and everything, but also like I could be in for a real bad experience with a name like The Paranoid Style, so this should be fun. The write-up here basically says they're a garage rock band with very good lyrics, but the lyrics they cite sound pretentious as hell, so I guess it's there's truly something for everyone, even those unimpressable record store and music critic assholes. I love garage rock though, so we'll see how it goes. Is this really garage rock? I mean, I see some of the retro sound, but this reminds me more of Pavement (or at least the three Pavement songs I've knowingly heard) than any garage band I've come across. Not a bad thing, just not quite what I expected. I can't tell if this band is aware they're uncool and are having fun at the expense of "pretending to be cool" or if they're convinced they're cool and are so invested in their own image that they haven't noticed. I'm not sure if my enjoyment would be improved either way, as this just feels a little too much like a band that is knowingly trying to say "hey, we're music geeks, look at us giving winks and nudges." I'm sure it has a purpose, but a band that wants to be loved this badly loses whatever it was that should've made them lovable in the first place.
Neighborhood Brats- "Dear Angelo"
Okay, I'm inherently skeptical of a band that's from "the bay area" and not a specific town who call themselves "neighborhood brats." Like, rich kids from Pleasanton and Marin will claim Bay Area just as much as scumbags who live eight to a house and just do their best to thrive. It took a minute of searching around to see this band is from Oakland, which is fair and trustworthy but I'm going to give a firm side-eye to SPIN for making me have to search myself. I shouldn't be so eager to do the "where you from" cred check, but this matters to me as someone who spent my first 23 years of life primarily just north of the bay (Sonoma County, thank you very much). Anyway, I'm seeing this band described as Go-Go's gone surf-punk and I'm SO here for that, so here's hoping it rips as much as it should. There's definitely the punk energy and a singalong sensibility, but perhaps I'm too emotionally attached to The Go-Go's to allow such comparisons to stand. Not because this is bad--it's super fun--but because it takes something really magical (and surprisingly complex in terms of composition) to earn that title. This is a little more straightforward but also has the same free spirit and energy that I appreciate. I don't know if it's much different from a lot of other Californian punk bands that veer towards the melodic and "rock music" side of the genre, but it's a fun sound and probably even more fun to see live.
Young Fathers- "In My View"
I just saw the writer of the SPIN blurb assign like four genres to this while saying it isn't any of them really, because of reasons, so I'm going to just take this at face value instead of diving in with any sort of ideas in advance. I'm sure these young fathers are responsible folks, what with letting it be known that they're fathers. I hope they take pride in their work of raising the next generation. What comes after Gen Z? Only young fathers know. This doesn't really feel like rock music, but I don't know enough about modern pop or anything to say if it fits that criteria. There's a kinda woozy subdued electronic beat and these folks sing over it in something more resembling R&B than anything else, but that's kinda cool anyway. I feel like this is just a pop band that's too arty to be proper pop stars so the rock community is meant to embrace them, maybe? It's good and fun. I can't tell if this is a sad song or an upbeat song with a sad sounding chord progression, because I'm a total ding dong. This is a strong candidate for "most likely to get stuck in my head," but I'm not sure if I actually enjoy it.
Low Cut Connie- "All These Kids Are Way Too High"
I keep thinking the band names can't get worse, but they do. Like, I'd get it if Connie was a member of the band and this was a distinction of some sort, but I'm starting to feel really vindicated about some of the band names I've come up with that I previously felt embarrassed by. This is proving to be great for that small fraction of my self-esteem, at least until I realize that any one video by any one of these bands will rack up more plays than anything I'll ever write or record. Oh well. We all grow old and die, regardless of how much our art connects with others. Low Cut Connie apparently honors the true classics of rock'n'roll just as much as modern hits, but that kinda means a little bit of nothing to me since lots of shit bands love the greats. There's definitely a hint of that "working class rock" imagery and boogie sound here, but I kinda hate those things. I feel like true rock music connoisseurs might like this, but I'm not going to pretend to hold that purity of taste. I appreciate that their frontman alternates between prancing and posturing and playing the piano, but I just simply don't care about music like this. It makes me think of Billy Joel, and I loathe Billy Joel. Shit. I just re-read the description and they even mention him in it. Well, there you have it. I got my hopes up when I saw Little Richard's name but this has none of the barely contained chaos of Little Richard and all of the "my dad would probably like this" of Billy Joel. Listen at your own risk.
Sumac- "Clutch of Oblivion"
Thank fucking goodness for the placement of Sumac after that last song. I'm not sure where this band ranks for me in the kingdom of "good bands featuring Aaron Turner" because all of his bands are unique and lovely, but I'd even take his worst output just to give me a palate cleanser. Like, I don't expect to enjoy every second of this but I do want to at least maintain the illusion that SPIN respects its readers (and for the most part, it's clear these are good bands even if they're not for me, I'm just being mean). Have you heard Sumac yet? They're probably the most overtly vicious Turner project, depending on the song, but they're still capable of majesty and brilliance. I once spent five minutes talking bout cats with him at a Mamiffer gig and not more than a couple sentences about music. It was lovely. Sumac is lovely, and the song presented here from 2016's What One Becomes shows them at their most towering and nuanced. It's fucking rad, just check it out. Do you really want to be the last person still considering him "the dude from Isis" instead of grasping at the full spectrum of his work? Didn't think so. Listen to this and then let's talk about how fucked up the bass tone is and how we should start a band like this, yeah?
Trap Girl- "Transwomen and Chokeholds"
The potential slur in the band's name set of bells and whistles for me for about five seconds before I clicked down and realized that Trap Girl is a band of trans women. Thank goodness. Reclaiming terms can be tough, but it's not for me to judge, I'm just here for the trans community being loud and defiant in the face of a world that shits on them constantly just for the crime of existing. Hell yes. The first ten seconds alone have that sort of awesome Misfits-inspired punk intro that just gets you so pumped, and the messy, sparse rock that follows is super fun. This is the sound of sweaty DIY shows and fury meeting up. Like, there's both joy and pain, which I love. It goes from upbeat and catchy to just filthy at the bat of an eye, but never loses its energy or tension. This fucking rips and I'm buying it on the next bandcamp Friday for sure. THIS is the kind of underground radness I want to see celebrated on bigger platforms like SPIN. Like, even if Pearl Jam were great, they have a platform. Give it to bands like Trap Girl instead, thanks.
Not On Tour- "Therapy"
I'm unironically a sucker for ironic band names that reference gigs/fliers/music industry stuff. I love to tell people about a band from my hometown who were called Free Cowboy Hats. I'd see their fliers around town, but they broke up before I ever got to see them. Truly a shame, even if no cowboy hats were present at the shows. It's only marginally amusing to be that a band from Israel would be called "not on tour" since so many artists are advised not to tour Israel until they begin treating Palestine with respect, but that's a few thousand words of my thoughts for another time. These folks can't help where they're from, and I'll throw them a bone or two for making "fun punk" that I don't hate. Is this pop-punk? It feels more anthemic than that, but it definitely has the "made for teenagers" energy to it all the same, like a lot of those whoa-oh-oh bands from the '90s just before Blink 182 showed up to ruin the fun. The fact that this song just bursts in and wraps itself up in like a minute and a half while still managing to fit in like three or four choruses is pretty damn impressive. I'll give them good marks and think a lot of my friends would dig this, but I'm not sure I'm a convert on the first listen.
Couch Slut- "Funeral Dyke"
THIS IS WHAT THE FUCK IS UP. Couch Slut are friends of mine, or at least their singer Megan is, so I can't pretend to lack bias, but also I have plenty of friends in bands that I don't praise regularly, so take that into account. Do you follow me here and not know Couch Slut? I mean, seriously, not as a mockery of any sort but Megan is like heavy metal twitter's sweetheart and she's more up front about shit than any of us are, so I assume everybody knows her. If you don't, that's cool, this song is a great place to begin even though they've released a new album since this song came out. "Funeral Dyke" is absolutely feral noise rock with a few riffs that fall into black metal melodies without leaving behind their roots. Megan's voice sounds like it's clipping it's so loud and the whole band sounds like they're coming apart. It's a ripper and you need it in your life. You need Couch Slut in your life.
Sheer Mag- "Hardly to Blame"
Ahhh, yes, Sheer Mag, one of those bands whose name always crops up with comparisons to another famous older band. Much like poor Ghost and their constant "Abba/Blue Oyster Cult" thing, Sheer Mag has never once appeared on my screen without the accompanying phrase "Thin Lizzy," which has 100% kept me from clicking play. Not because I'm afraid of them sounding like Thin Lizzy, but because I already know what Thin Lizzy sounds like and I have a strong feeling Sheer Mag won't fit the bill, which is fine. It's not a band's fault when the discourse (capital D Discourse?) surrounding them takes on the "FFO" rhetoric, but lord knows it turns me off instantly. Anyway, they seem like lovely people and I'm either about to feel really foolish or...maybe I won't. Okay, so is any band with catchy guitars and a couple leads a Thin Lizzy clone now? I thought there was more to it than that. This is fun and probably would be super rad to sing along to at a show, but I don't know if I'm the target demographic for it. This isn't by numbers or anything, but it also feels a bit too blocky for me somehow, as if there were boxes ticked and put into place and just assembled. I think this goes back to my previously mentioned aversion to certain bluesy boogie-heavy things and classic rock. Like, keep in mind that I've taken fire online for mentioning my disdain for AC/DC and ZZ Top. I'm not here to impress anybody or say I'm proud of what I do or don't like, but I may as well be honest since posturing doesn't help anybody. This is probably a classic in the making and you can laugh at me when we're in our fifties and these folks are getting inducted into the rubble that remains of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.
Yawners- "La Escalera"
More multilingual bands! Yes! Yawners are described as a power-pop group, which may not really be a great indicator for me, but I'm over here cheering my international friends on all the same. I've never been to Spain, but I've always wanted to visit (or live there), so maybe getting to know their best exports will give me an idea of what I'm looking at. The opening riff has all the spark and shine of the best of the mid-90s, when the radio still felt like a beacon of newness and hope for me. The vocals in this rule but are a bit dominant in the mix to the point where the rest of the verse sounds muddled beneath them, but in the chorus they're mixed in perfectly. I wonder why that is. This seriously would've fit in perfectly somewhere in that territory between the Foo Fighters and the Gin Blossoms, but more on the side of the former. Oh, childhood nostalgia, you're just a major chord pop-rock song away.
The Goon Sax- "Make Time 4 Love"
I'm sure you're thinking, "oh here we go, Ben's going to make fun of this band's name," but you're dead wrong. The Goon Sax is a fucking brilliant band name. I want this to be the best thing I've ever heard and I'm going to take deep personal offense if I don't love this. Please, Goon Sax, don't let me down. Don't break my heart. This is a little strange to me. I didn't know what to expect with the song or band name, but this is another song that feels like it's in a genre I don't like but the song kinda works for me anyway. The bass line is really nice, and the subtle depth added to the song in the chorus by strings works in a really nice way. I'm not usually a big fan of acoustic guitar in a rock song but, again, it works. I'm kinda reminded of some of The English Beat's more "rock" rooted songs like "Save it for Later" here. Is it just me? This is one I'll be coming back to, and not just because of their name, thankfully. If anybody understands this though, tell me, because I don't. Not yet. But I will.
Mannequin Pussy- "Drunk II"
Once my girlfriend sent a meme to our band's group text which included the phrase "clussy," meant as a portmanteau of "clown pussy," and my life has been a bleak, nauseating experience in the years that have followed. The name "Mannequin Pussy" has the same effect on me. I have a visceral reaction of disgust and perhaps mild amusement, but not enough that I want to hear this. I really don't want to find out I actually like a band whose name makes my skin crawl, but I signed up to play this game and now it's time to roll the dice. The body of the song hits the '90s alt-rock energy I dig, but the singer's delivery hits that sort of reaching, yearning tone that I just can't sit with, where it feels like she's hit a high place and then just forced it up a notch somehow. I've got a weird thing about singers pushing into their upper register as a means of conveying emotion, and it doesn't work any better here than it does when outright emo bands do it. (Am I seriously the only person that had instant nails-on-chalkboard reaction to the dude from Fallout Boy?). When her voice drops to a gentler, more fluid delivery it works quite well, but that's not frequent enough to save the song for me. This sounds like they're probably a good band, but the deal-breaker for me in most bands is the singer, and this deal is definitely broken I'm afraid.
Primitive Man- "The Lifer"
Another band I already know and love. Primitive Man isn't a rock band, really, but neither were Sumac or Skeleton and I still was happy to have them on the list. If you want to get crushed by doom in the nastiest way, they're for you. They tune so low I'm surprised humans can hear it. I could say more, but I really don't need to, do I?
Beauty Pill- "The Damnedest Thing"
I'm surprised to see Beauty Pill on the list, but it makes me so happy! Not that I'm surprised about them deserving it, but much of this list seems to focus on either youth and newness or on bands that are already legendary. (Again, why on earth are we giving Pearl Jam a slot that could actually impact the career of an excited smaller act?). "The Damnedest Thing" is a great song, just as all Beauty Pill songs are great. I only first heard this band about six months ago but I quickly fell in love. This song is from their newest, Please Advise, and it's the kind of curious that encourages you to come closer in the longer you listen. It's busy yet not so complicated that it would scare you away, with percussion (I'm not about to guess what type) that rumbles and rolls with a delightful melody in the verse and lends a little light to the weight of the song's ominous, booming chorus. It almost reminds me of Ulver's "In the Red" but in an entirely different form and context. Just as good though, trust me! As main member Chad Clark sings, "I don't pretend to understand it." It's more poignant in the context of the song, but I also enjoy that Beauty Pill works on a level that pleases my brain while still defying my sense of understanding. It's like the childhood thrill of believing electricity is magic. Beauty Pill's ghostly compositions float in the same sort of place for me and I'm so grateful they exist.
Generación Suicida- "Unidos"
Let's see. We've got LA punks singing in Spanish and they're described as Cramps-y. It sounds tailor-made for me, to be honest. I'm clicking play at that, seriously, that's all I need. And sure enough, there's an instant sort of desperation and urgency to this. This song is barely a minute and a half long and it's got me sold by the twenty second mark. Post-punk, surf, garage, whatever the hell is going on is good here. The singer's voice kinda reminds me of that throaty but melodic quality that dude from Murder City Devils has going on, which I love, and this feels like crowd-surfing singalong music that I can see a whole room circle pitting to. This fucking rules. Again, instant bandcamp wishlist and I'll be purchasing it on Friday. Wow. I don't have more to say, just love it.
that dog. - "Just the Way"
I love every dog. Every dog. Except the band Dr. Dog. They kinda sucked when I tried to listen to them like seven years ago. Maybe they're good now or maybe I've grown. But anyway, we're not listening to dogs with any sort of qualifications, we're just listening to that dog. No caps, add a period. There we go. Apparently that dog. broke up like 22 years ago and got back together. So now they're not kids making music, they're adults coming back to it. Older and wiser? Or just mid-life crisising? I'm not sure it's either? It's not bad, really, but it's a certain sort of alternative rock that isn't particularly memorable for me either. Like, if this came on or if this band was on a show I was at, I'd enjoy it, but I'm not eager to go buy their record. I wonder if I'm partially swayed against this by the band having two famous comedians in their video, which indicates to me on some level that they're calling in favors and shit which just doesn't sit right for me. Maybe that's it.
Black Midi- "Of Schlagenheim"
I already know Black Midi rather well and I'm so conflicted by them. From footage I've seen, they seem like one of the most exciting bands on earth in the live setting. For some reason, their album struggles to capture some of the energy they have, but the songs are still brilliantly written. If I had only heard the record, I'd probably be enamored, but there's part of me that had it spoiled by seeing footage of shows first. It's since grown on me in this format, but I definitely had some initial disappointment in the way it translated. I think it's quite literally impossible to capture that special something that a band like Black Midi has at their shows, so take it with a grain of salt. This fucking rules and any hype you've heard about it is true, just...it's just even better experienced in a place where you can see the sweat on the band's brow and smell the drink some asshole spilled nearby. If you've made it this far without looking up live footage, don't look that stuff up until after you've absorbed and grown to love this record. If you hear a "FFO" sort of thing in reference to them, it's probably true, but this band is good enough not to need those. Just enjoy it and let's hope that more post-punk type bands get experimental and adventurous like this because it's far more rewarding than another dour band with no rhythm and an uninspired Ian Curtis would-be on vocals.
PUP- "Free at Last"
Look, I know this isn't going to be a cover of one of Today is the Day's most accessible songs, so I'm not getting my hopes up too high. I've seen some younger music writers singing this band's praises on social media, which I respect, but I also see that this is a pop-punk band and I'm going to retain both respect and cautious skepticism until I press play. I want them to be good, I really do. I'm not old enough to worry about "the youth" just yet but I also want to have my points of connection with them and what they like, so I'm banking on bands like PUP to keep me hip. I appreciate the charming intro of people trying to play the song before hearing it. I guess this band really has a following. I also am grateful dude's vocals are more of the shouty singing rather than the whiny snotty pop-punk thing. I can appreciate it far more without having to cringe through that, and this is clever enough for the genre that I can let it slide. They've got some nice guitar leads and even though I'm usually pretty firmly anti-guitar solo (fucking fight me), it's a fun change of pace for this genre. As with a few of these, I'm not about to run out and buy this album but I was pleasantly surprised and maybe my Grinch heart is growing a size or two.
Charly Bliss- "Young Enough"
Apparently Charly Bliss is a band of local heavyweights to me here in Brooklyn, so I should be careful what I say lest the scene gods strike me down for heresy, but luckily the pandemic means I'll probably never play a show ever again. This band sounds like they could do a pretty solid cover of "I Love You Always Forever," one of those unavoidable (yet awful) earworms from my mid-90s adolescence. I don't like this at all but I'm sure it's good because apparently all my local favorites are struggling in relative obscurity but this is what the world wants. Man, I fucking hate the world sometimes. Why can't some local rippers get whatever kind of financial backing this has? Like, I hope this is an industry plant of some sort or just a bunch of really rich kids, because the thought of pure talent being what got this to its place strikes me as far more offensive. Sorry folks.
TØRSÖ- "Grab a Shovel"
This band has an umlaut, a line through an O, AND their name is in all caps. Serious shit and I'm treating it as such. I've heard the name a bunch before and this is exactly the kind of grinding menace I'd hoped for. Powerviolence to cheer me up after Charly Bliss? Hellllllll yes. This is the sort of shit that you just know has a message without even understanding the lyrics. When I was like 19 I used to go see shows of bands like this at Gilman and I miss that feeling. I don't miss having white people with dreads punching me and all that, but this sort of music just makes me feel alive. Does it do the same for you? I sure hope so. There's so much spirit and anger here that it's infectious. I'm writing this at night and I was sleepy but now I'm pumped. Give me more.
X- "Alphabetland"
I was raised on X. Their first three albums are just straight up in my blood. I probably have three or four X shirts. I've seen them live twice, and had a great time the whole time except for the awkward moment when the (mostly white) crowd loudly sang along with that line of their hit "Los Angeles." They released a new album this year, and that might be why the world is ending. I'm torn on supporting them after Exene's absolutely ridiculous endorsement of Sandy Hook truther bullshit, but I know she's come around a bit considering some of the lyrics on their new record mock right-wing thought and she's apologized for her conspiratorial posts and videos. Maybe John Doe is in charge of the lyrics anyway, I can't tell. What I can tell is that they still sound great. I'm aware that's a really personal line for you to figure out and I'm not going to tell you what to do either way. Both my parents liked Alphabetland. I listened once and liked it, but then somebody reminded me of Exene's nightmarish use of her public voice and it kinda soured me on the whole thing at the time. I'm not quick to cancel a band, but if my own association with something I enjoy is altered, I can't really help it personally. It was a delight to hear a resurfaced "Cyrano De Berger's Back" and every other track works just as well, it just feels weird. The title track linked here may be the album's brightest moment anyway, so I guess let that experience guide you. I'll probably try again with this soon. I want it to feel right.
Dogleg- "Fox"
The review accompanying this band, placed in the lofty sixth spot on SPIN's list (yes, that's right, just six more of these and you can finish skimming my writing for hot takes and get back on with your life) opens with the phrase "Nothing about Dogleg's exhilarating debut makes any goddamn sense." I'm going to have fun with this and leave it at that instead of reading the full thing like I've been doing. I want to just see how it works out for me. It's got a classic post-hardcore sort of build into the song before moving into something more punky. God I hope the vocals don't end up sucking. Okay, they don't suck. This is another band where it could've been ruined by the singer but instead they go for the shouty Murder City Devils thing and I'm so relieved, because this one's actually pretty damn fun. It's high energy and probably shouldn't be good to me, but I'm digging it. It makes pretty reasonable sense to me as a post-hardcore song with a little bit of emo sneaking in maybe, but sure, it doesn't have to make sense to everybody. You're young, the world is huge and terrifying, and you don't need to classify music for it to matter. Enjoy it.
Cloud Rat- "Zula"
Of the couple bands on this list I've seen live, Cloud Rat's the one I've seen the most. I've loved them since their self-titled LP dropped in 2010 and I'm stoked to see them on this list. Don't you know this wild ass grindviolence trio? I'm sure you do. Last year they dropped a full record and then a weird accompanying album with everything from darkwave jams to acoustic songs on it. Both absolutely ruled. Cloud Rat are evidence that even a genre with as strict parameters (in theory) as grind has room for experimentation and unrestrained expression. I love the shit out of this. You've got 45 seconds to hear this song, right? Maybe you've even got a couple minutes to jam it like three or four times. Do it. You'll love it.
Chubby and the Gang- "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
I'm going to get crucified for this. I tried to listen to this album earlier this year at a friend's recommendation. Everybody I know loves them. I thought I might given the people I knew who recommended it. I didn't like it. I've dipped my toe in with a bit of oi and some of it's good and rad. I just don't happen to enjoy this album. It's like a lot of bands I've seen live and they're no better or worse at it than any of the numerous bands I've drunkenly shaken my body to at a show, but I don't really fuck with this stuff on record. A lot of people do, and maybe they can tell the difference between Chubby and the Gang and some random bunch of dudes in Brooklyn, but I can't. God, I'm going to lose all my Patreon supporters for my bad taste and bad takes.
Paramore- "Hard Times"
I've made it this far in life without hearing Paramore and I honestly really don't want to click play but also I'm really excited to click play because I'll learn something new and maybe even find my expectations crushed in some way? Could be fun. I hope it is. They're an emo band, right? That's what I've been told, but this weird pseudo-tropical rhythm they open with has me thinking of new wave bands that maybe had heard a ska record once. The chorus is full on "Heart of Glass" worship, so that's kinda neat but I also don't like it the way I liked the verse. This is far too produced and polished for me, but it's also a lot more fun-spirited and free than I'd anticipated, even if it's pure pop schlock. Maybe this is my reward for waiting until a band had been around for like 15 years to check them out. I get to catch them at their "writing for the love of it" phase instead of whatever they'd been before. Who knows, maybe the other stuff will be good? This isn't blowing my mind or anything, but it reminds me of a lot of jobs I had in my twenties. You know the kind of retail job where most of the music sucks horrendously and suddenly mid to low-tier indie pop suddenly sounds like freedom? This totally would've been played at the thrift store I worked at when I was 24 between Two Door Cinema Club and that Gotye song (yes I googled lyrics to look up the names of both of these bands). Although I hated both of those, I don't hate this. I'm as shocked as you.
Control Top- "Office Rage"
Here's another band with a name I really like. I don't have a clue what it means, but it sounds like the antithesis of power bottom so I'm here for it. I guess they're a politically left-leaning dance-punk band and I'm seeing Siouxsie Sioux's name thrown around in the write-up, so I really hope this rules as much as I want it to. Like, if Paramore can surprise me like that, surely Control Top can pull through for the greater good. And yeah, they've come through wonderfully. I'm not sure if I need to liken this to anybody though, like...Siouxsie's an ocean of an artist and I don't want to drown in that comparison. This is just wild and punky and it's got the raddest grinding bass with a super fun guitar part and the music just stopped so the singer could yell "service with a smile...eat shit." Hell yes. I wish shows could happen again because these folks are only a couple states over and this is the sort of band I'd kill to open for (or even just see live, but let's be real here). Another rager I'm glad to know from this list.
Haim- "The Steps"
Jesus, here we are at the end and the band they're giving me is the bass face band? I love it. I haven't heard a note of Haim's music yet, but as an avid Galder devotee, I approve of the gloriously demented bass face. I'm going to pretend I didn't see a song described as some sort of Fleetwood Mac meets Sheryl Crow thing (why would anybody do that to Fleetwood Mac???) and I'm going to assume this song is very much not like that. It's not like that, but like, maybe it is? I'm not about to argue with SPIN on the band they've decided is the most important band in the world. This doesn't feel like manufactured music or anything, it's just a little more Americana than I like and maybe a little too pop-rock for me. Like, is this like Everclear? I'm trying to remember what it was in the '90s that was like this, but this definitely feels like something that would've been on the "adult rock" (but not soft rock) station in my hometown in like 1998. It's not terrible, but I realize I'm not meant to be moved by this. If young women find this empowering, that's truly great. I'm here for it, I just personally don't enjoy songs that sound like this.
---
And with that, we've made it to the end of this article. Have you learned anything? Have I? Do we hate ourselves? Do we love ourselves? I'm burned out from this, but I've also found a few new bands I really dug and I'm so excited by that. How often do you listen to fifty bands in like two days and find a few new bands to enjoy? Probably not very often. I know I consume new music constantly and it's still usually like a dozen bands in that same time frame at the most. I've certainly got a few picks of my own that should've been on the list (why are we ignoring Boris even though they got name-checked here? Why isn't Spiritual Cramp being hailed as the next big thing when they surely are? Where's Protomartyr? I thought they were so critically adored they'd be a shoo-in. How can that incredible Special Interest album go ignored like this? Where are the goths?) but this painted a relatively broad picture of music in 2020 and even though I'm shocked to find some of the metal I love here in a list about rock, I'm glad to see those bands getting love. Overall, I think even the bands I didn't like here were probably pretty damn good, but we can't all like everything. I'm also getting a bit better at trusting my intuition in writing from doing stuff like this. I'm not about to become a great rock critic, but since I usually second guess myself until I just delete what I've written, it was very freeing to throw this together and just allow myself to write whatever came to mind. I try to never use comparisons to other bands, but often it felt right here, and I just let it happen. Does this make my writing better or worse? I don't know, but I did it. I just did whatever I could. And it felt okay. I feel okay. What should I do next? This was long as hell, but fun. Thank you for sticking with me.