Archive | December, 2022

Top Five Songs of 2022

31 Dec

2022 was a stellar year for singles. There was a lot of bold, exciting music and culling this list was particularly difficult. At the end of it, I ended up with five songs and one that I could not bring myself to keep off.

Special Mention: “Mother I Sober” by Kendrick Lamar feat Beth Gibbons

There is some overlap between Kendrick and the indie rock of a band like Portishead, but I never expected the two to fuse so well. Kendrick’s introspection works beautifully over a simple piano loop and a swirling chorus from Beth Gibbons. This was only one part of an album filled with interesting ideas and surprising thoughts, but I personally hope that some young rapper takes this song and runs with it. I want to hear a lot more in this vein. I want to hear rap-rock from the indie side instead of Aerosmith. Let’s see where this can go.

5. “Wet Dream” by Wet Leg

Speaking of indie rock, this is as a top tier example of one of my favorite subgenres, riot grrrl. Wet Leg are brutal and hilarious. “Wet Dream” is ruthless, incisive and exceptionally clever and does it all with explosive, energetic, pure rock. The sneer of “What makes you think you’re good enough / to think of me when you’re touching yourself” is flawless and the shift of “It’s enough to make a girl blush” to the chant of the abbreviated “it’s enough” is sublime.

4. “psychofreak” by Camilla Caballo feat. Willow

“psychofreak” hits exactly my intersection of mainstream and interesting pop. The basis of this song is nothing but straightforward and the lyrics are honestly short of par. However, her voice complicates the song wonderfully. The pauses in the chorus are enough of a tease, but she adds a little bit of disharmony too and it’s classic pop. She pushes her voice to breaking through the entire song and the roughness plays very well against the shiny structure of the song. This was easily the most perfect pop of the year.

3. “Simulation Swarm” by Big Thief

This is easily the most beautiful song on this list. It’s exquisitely textured and strongly grounded in a classic folk-rock tune, but shockingly intelligent, slightly askew and endlessly compelling.

2. “LA FAMA” by Rosalía feat. The Weeknd

Did I think that the best Rosalía song of the year would be a Weeknd collaboration? I did not. Did I think that the best Weeknd song of the year would be in Spanish? Absolutely not. They work wonderfully together though. The beat somehow fits perfectly on MOTOMAMI and wouldn’t be the least out of place on a Weeknd single. Their verses flow wonderfully from each other and they harmonize well together. Also, The Weeknd flopping around after being stabbed is the best thing that I’ve seen all year.

1. “Munch (Feelin’ U) by Ice Spice

Ice Spice has figured out what drill needed to get to. She has the flow,she has the lyrics and she most definitely has the attitude. The future is here and it looks amazing.

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Ethel Cain – Preacher’s Daughter

25 Dec

Preacher’s Daughter is very lush pop, sometimes to the point of being purple. At it’s best, it feels like an exciting detour into a particularly maximal kind of mainstream pop. At it’s worst, it’s slightly insipid, rather overdone, fairly predictable pop.

For instance, “American Teenager” is too classic pop for my tastes. It needed more complication and this is where the unsophisticated lyrics that run through the album come up short. It’s kind of exhausting to get through and the subthemes of the song simply reinforce it as tired.

Similarly, “A House In Nebraska” just doesn’t have enough in it. It tries to go over the top with some very large sounds, but it’s not quite good enough and the lyrics are just uninteresting cliche. Her belting the song out grates a lot more than it impresses.

She does better in the mix of lush and louche of “Gibson Girl.” The more understated and evocative “Western Nights” also does better. The very personal “Hard Times” is heartfelt and has a couple of very sharp moments.

The opener of “Family Tree (Intro)” is also incredibly promising. She has a fantastic voice and there’s some truly excellent dream pop in this album. There’s also a strong cinematic streak in her music that I greatly appreciate. It’s just that there are songs that are clearly meant for broad consumption, and while there’s nothing wrong with being mainstream, these songs are just boring and given how prominent those songs are, they drag the whole album down with them.

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Wet Leg – Wet Leg

9 Dec

When Wet Leg hits, they are as good as indie rock gets. Whether it’s the warm beer of “Chaise Longue” or the scream in “Ur Mum”, it is just stellar indie rock. Aggressive, clever lyrics and aggressive, clever music elevate each other and the result is some of the most memorable music of the year. In particular, “Wet Dream” brings the entire package. It’s incredible, ruthlessly funny storytelling with a top-tier riot grrl chorus and a spectacular chant in the middle.

Unfortunately, there’s also plenty here that doesn’t quite reach the same bar. “Piece of Shit” is clever lyrically, but lacks complication in the sound and something like “I Don’t Wanna Go Out” feels like something left on the cutting board of a Long Blondes album.

Overall, Wet Leg skews more to filler than to hits, but the good songs are too good to be denied. They bring resonant, danceable music with serious jokes and impressive intelligence and end up with tracks almost without parallel.

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