The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2007 - Pt.4

IV.
As if you don’t already get it ---> today comes more great melodies, killer choruses, fucking-awesome-jamming-in-yer-ear hooks … the countdown continues! We’ve got shimmy shakes, gasps, drowning memories, keeping it alives, not enough enough enoughs, feeling alrights, free haircuts, confrontations, dahhhh-dah-dah-dahs, and switches. All I can say … well, let’s have Larry say it for me:



“Pretty good? Prettaaaaay-prettaaaaay-pretty-good!”

20. “Lips Are Unhappy” by Lucky Soul
There is something so captivating and uplifting when a song like this comes on. The vocals are absolutely perfect, the melody pushes-n-pulls at the perfect moments, the guitars have just enough crunch. And ---> when the lovely-gorgeous singer Ali Howard goes into her litany of "Shake shimmy shake shake"-s (note: variations of those words) for a minute and then launches back into the chorus, you melt.

19. “The Equestrian” by Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav return from a hiatus like they were never gone. Musically, the band picks up right where they left off on the great-stupendous-tremendous single, “The Sweat Descends” – roughshod guitars, plenty of idiosyncratic stop-start, pounding hard drums, and killer steady bass. The weird thing is the primal sexuality using horse terminology – “You made me shake, you made me shiver, you made me gasp when you grasped my withers” and “How many times did you think you could cantor past my house, before I called you to my stable for a little mouth to mouth?” and “Now you’ve got me in the saddle and you’ve got me chomping bit” and “Jet black boots, whip stiff crop, once we started we just couldn’t stop.” The music is as filthy and unbridled as the words. Whoa.

18. “Hop A Plane” by Tegan & Sara
Ah, discerning music listener, we’ve got pure stuttered-herky-jerky energy, not-so-quiet desperation, pleading-annoyance, and a startling hook. The melody, Tegan’s, is super-quick-step that recalls Bob Pollard when he is at his most clipped and intense. Yeah, it’s a cavalcade of words splatting and spitting in quick succession until the hook glides out with intensity. The track is a dance-around-the-living-tune ---> summarized: exuberant, desperate, addictive, tense, manic, and … just go listen to it.

17. “Section 32: The Championship” by The Polyphonic Spree
There are times when your day has been so bad, your psyche slapped around by the poop that the life-monkey flings at you that you need to be lifted up. Uplifting is exactly the raison d’etre of The Polyphonic Spree. This indie-choir-rock has never impressed me, but their new record, The Fragile Army – where this track is from – has to be the most refreshing and surprising record of the year (I’m jumping ahead). At the 3:18 mark the song pulls back hard, and a tinkling, somewhat sad piano comes in for a few bars … pause … then a super-glorious crescendo and the full band/choir launches into the chorus and your spirits rise to the highest level of belief and comfort and for just over two minutes you feel a confidence you didn’t know was there.

16. “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” by Manic Street Preachers
“Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” is a lovely wide-mouthed duet-of-sorts (at one point it becomes a trio-et with Cardigan hottie, Nina Persson) stuffed oh-so-right with jangle guitar, wild string swells, cascading guitar riffs, soaring bridges, tasty hooks, and a tight-catchy-sung-like-yer-life-depended-on-it chorus. The Manics waste no time pulling you into the song by culling one of the oldest tricks from the unwritten Pop Songwriter Book of Instant Success, “Start the song off with the hook.” This is done so deftly, that success is uber. As with all great power pop, the song moves between verse and chorus and bridge centered on those hooks; it’s unrelenting.

15. “Down In The Valley” by The Broken West
Today’s virtual indie scene is enamored with high-drama pop, electronic-experimental-sillies, and perceived-deep-thinking-folkies, so where does classic power pop fit in? Pretty much nowhere. “Down In The Valley” has that great summertime sing-a-long melody, high energy slow-fast execution, and nice-to-near-heavy nod to The Rolling Stones via The Replacements via Badfinger. The song has a ready-to-rumble looseness, the kinks shaken out by ringing distorted guitars, an insistent crashing ride cymbal, and a simple effective melody. The second best part of the whole song is the ending: the band launches a three-part harmony round on the word “Down”, holding it loooonnnnnggg, until singer Ross Flourney sings, “… in the valley tonight” and the song ends with that done-a-million-times-exaggerated-central-riff-thang and it’s awesome.

14. “Wasted Little DJs” by The View
Ahhhh here we go! The intro is one of those crazy extended classic punk rev-ups - heavy struming on a single chord; arbitrary cymbal crashes into the central riff, building to the opening verse. The song continues this upward trajectory well into the second verse. The mix of classic punk and nervous mod revival captures the lyrical sentiment perfectly: the record industry factory and the slimey DJs who are tools to get hack journalists to make lame proclamations of the "latest and greatest" (of which the UK press branded The View). Enter this song along side The Smiths' "Panic" and MxPx' "Next BigThing" as tunes that most effectively flip the bird to the Machine.

13. “Piss & Vinegar” by Against Me!
Keeping wth the theme on our number 14 song, Against Me! turn the aim at the copycat bands and insipid pop stars. Lead singer Mr. Against literally spits his disgust. He damns ‘em not as people but as artists. His indictment? “I would appreciate the honesty yeah! A little less professional, a little more upfront and confrontational!” At then end of the chorus he decries it all: “Just say what you're thinking!” Guitar riffs cascade down as hard as a boot stomping in anger, the bass lines rumble with blatant disgust, and the calvacade of drum rolls are violent and self-righteous.

12. “Whatever You Want” by Club 8
Labrador Records artist Club 8 craft one of the prettiest songs of 2007. The track is slightly ahead of mid-tempo with a melody that is smoooooth and a chorus that takes it all up a notch. “WTF are you talking about CMS, you hack?” Simmer down. I'll tell you: hints of synth pop lurv, rich acoustic guitar hugs, a sweet bouncy descending electric bass hook smile. The gorgeous female vocals all steeped in the Scandi pop tradition of infusing the song with lyrics that are slightly darker than the melody.

11. “Switch” by 1990s
These Scots (Glasgow represent! Ahem … yeah, sorry about that) lay down a hot slab of saucy boogie power pop. Dirty licks and a steady backbeat form the center for the high-stepping antics of singer Jackie McKeown as he snarls about an annoying yip-yapper who ruins his perfectly awesome day. The economy in the music and lyrics makes this a killer anthem – play this a few times for your friends and it will cause spontaneous outbursts of cheesy head-nodding and look-into-each-others-face-with-shit-eating-grins-singing-the-words goofiness (irony, if it makes you feel better). You have to love how the band uses the song as a conversation: “Is there a switch for that?” “Switch for that!” “Aw, switch it off!”. I like to apropriate the lyrical content and apply it to my life as a corporate blah-blah. When McKeown tosses disgust, "I'm tired of listening while you bitch it up" and then sneers, "Is there a switch for that? I get no kicks for that. Ahh, switch it off!" I say, “Preach it.”

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