Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis? - The Gaslight Anthem

Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis? - The Gaslight Anthem

3:02

Señor And the Queen, 2008

Written by Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz

Fallon's Springsteen fixation is on full display on this song, which is no bad thing.  If you're going to follow in the footsteps of others, you might as well pick one of rock's great storytellers. Like Springsteen, Fallon writes in vivid, cinematic fragments of highways, prayers, summer nights, desperate hopes, all charged with the yearning of a young man trapped between romance and economic frustration: "I need a Cadillac ride, I need a soft summer night / Say a prayer for my soul, Señorita." Fallon has always worn his influences on his sleeve, and other master songwriters he admires pop up too: "Between the minor chord fall and the fourth and the fifth / It's a broken Hallelujah and a pain in my fist" gives the song a Cohen-like scriptural gravitas.  Fallon provides his own backing vocals here, double-tracking "ba ba ba" on his main song, giving his urgent, gritty bellow even more power.

Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker

Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker

4:58

The Tip Jar Volume One, 2008

Written by André Benjamin, 2003

It's Cover Time! 

Normally, I'm not a great fan of white artists doing acoustic covers of rap; it's either a bit too much like whitewashing — Pat Boone cleaning up Little Richard's wild genius for bigoted suburbanites — or too winking and ironic: "Look how transgressive I am!  I'm a rich white person singing urban lingo!"  But Parker seems to mean every syllable of this Outkast classic.  He doesn't slow it down as a joke; he's reflecting the broken heart at the core of the song.  His impassioned vocals pull the song's buried sadness into the open, revealing the fragile emotion that was always there beneath the celebratory performance.

Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.

Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.

3:24

Accelerate, 2008

Written by Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe

This is an energetic, forceful song with big crunchy guitar, rare for late-period R.E.M.  Apparently, the lyrics are inspired by a humiliating experience that Stipe remembered from his time working as summer camp counselor: "At the summer camp where you volunteered / No one saw your face, no one saw your fear."  The details are of course only hinted at: "From the seance where you first betrayed / An open heart on a darkened stage."  Of course, the song isn't just about one bad memory, but can be interpreted as encouraging people to cast off old selves and enjoying who they were meant to be.

Where I'm Calling From - American Princes

Where I'm Calling From - American Princes

4:20

Other People, 2008

Written by American Princes?

I can' help but be reminded by the song's title of the famous Raymond Carver short story of the same name. There's a tenuous thread of similarity, at least.  Carver's nameless narrator, stuck in a rehab facility, longs to leave the drunk tank of his life and reconnect with someone who still matters, while the narrator of this song is trying to reach out to an unnamed love to escape the horrors of life in general: "The stories and the views all point to madness / There's no way of knowing / But darling, I'm still hoping / That you and I can navigate the sadness."  Musically, the band fuses '80s synth textures with alt-rock and singer-songwriter sensibilities, creating a warm but slightly haunted backdrop for the vocal performance. There’s a yearning tremor in the delivery that recalls Okkervil River, earnest without tipping into melodrama.

Who Needs To Dream - Bob Mould

Who Needs To Dream - Bob Mould

3:57

District Line, 2008

Written by Bob Mould

Aside from drums, Mould plays all the instruments on this song (and the whole album).  The song describes being in an unhealthy relationship, giving your heart, and having the door closed in your face.  "Hope the presentation will catch his eye / And it did, and then he saw the string / He grabbed it and leads you on your leash."  Over buzzy but unhurried guitar lines, Mould sings of feeling invisible and just wanting to make it through another day.  It's the quiet resignation of an elder statesman, not the bristling punk anger of Husker Du.  

The Rocky Road To Dublin - The Tossers

The Rocky Road To Dublin - The Tossers
2:40
On a Fine Spring Evening, 2008 

traditional

Honestly, the Pogues have a lot to answer for.  Ever since MacGowan and company's whiskey-sodden snarl broke through to indie lads and college hipsters alike, every heavy-drinking gravel-voiced Irishman (or Irish-adjacent American) has fancied himself the next great Celtic punk prophet. Cue the tin whistle, strike up the bodhrán, and off we go.  But to their credit, The Tossers are among the better inheritors of that legacy.  They roar through a raucous take on this great uptempo ballad about a hapless Irishman who looks for work and meats with disaster and mistreatment in England.  Still, no one does it better than the Clancy Brothers, in my book.

I Thought I Saw Your Face Today - She & Him

I Thought I Saw Your Face Today - She & Him

2:50

Volume One, 2008

Written by Zooey Deschanel

Boy, Zooey Deschanel sure can sing.  There's some whistling in this frothy, twee, starry-eyed lost-love song, too.  The narrator catches a glimpse of a former paramour and finds herself dreaming and loving all over again.  It's dreamy, charming and wistful, the kind of fragile pop whose beauty can mask banality.  Luckily, here, at least, Deschanel's songwriting is engaging and profound, not banal. "I somehow see what's beautiful / In things that are ephemeral / I'm my only friend of mine / Love is just a piece of time."

Frankie's Gun! - The Felice Brothers

Frankie's Gun! - The Felice Brothers

4:06

The Felice Brothers, 2008

Written by Ian Felice, James Felice, Jeremy Backofen, Josh Rawson, and Simone Felice

This song evokes the Band in its ramshackle, careening, sloopy Americana.  This story-song concerns an small-time outlaw, picking up an unspecified cargo, along with his partner Frankie.  Somehow, the narrator gets shot.  "I could have swore the box said Hollywood blanks but / If you see my mama please tell her / I left a little rock in a box in the cellar / That's for her to wear till kingdom come."  With accordion, drunken "sha na na" choruses, and handclaps, the whole track sways around with lurching abandon, perfectly mirroring this tale of the unlucky palooka who only tried to make a little dough for his girl and his mom.

Us Of Lesser Gods - Flogging Molly

Us Of Lesser Gods - Flogging Molly

3:19

Float, 2008

Written by Dave King

I'd say this is an almost archetypical Flogging Molly track: a slow-burning Celtic rock with traditional instruments blended with electric, backing Dave King's off-brand Shane MacGowan voice.  The lyrics convey anger, but are rather abstruse: something about how life is a hell on earth now because of, possibly, acid rain, coastal erosion, sex on TV?  But whatever King's shouting about, this post-punk with an Irish lilt makes it sound great!

Old Becomes New - The Real McKenzies

Old Becomes New - The Real McKenzies

2:13

Off the Leash, 2008

Written by the Real McKenzies

I'm a sucker for fast Celtic punk with bagpipes!  It doesn't really matter what Paul McKenzie is singing — one of my favorites is about the Loch Ness Monster.  This song is a cry to carpe diem, a rumination on how the pendulum of time swings back and cultures refute then embrace the past.  "If you hang around long enough / You'll see that everything starts to rust / Then shine it all up til it's tip-top /And old becomes new again."  This belief, of course, is an old one, dating to even before Ecclesiastes ("there is nothing new under the sun").  Hey, that's what the song is saying!

Having a Party - Lee "Scratch" Perry

Having a Party - Lee "Scratch" Perry

4:40

Scratch Came, Scratch Saw, Scratch Conquered, 2008

Written by Tagati, Mafia & Fluxy, Mad Professor, Baby Dread & Lee "Scratch" Perry

Perry was 72 when he recorded this, and his voice is a papery rasp.  Yet age has done nothing to diminish his greatest gift: the ability to ride a groove as if he were channeling transmissions from another dimension.  Perry was reggae's premier eccentric long before eccentricity became fashionable, and this track finds him in full extraterrestrial shaman mode. "This is a skeleton from outer space, having a party / It gonna last all night," he declares.  Who's coming to this party?  "Shotgun will be there / Pop gun, jazz gun will be there."  Well that clears things up!  Also, there will be ganja, but I guess that's understood.  This is the kind of song you don't decipher; you just feel it.

The Love Me Or Die - C.W. Stoneking

The Love Me Or Die - C.W. Stoneking

3:54

Jungle Blues, 2008

Written by C.W. King

Stoneking is a modern artist mining the old, old delta bluesy jazz traditions.  In his vocal pitch and delivery in this song, he reminds me a bit of James Mathus, who obviously draws from the same well.  This track's also got a Calypso vibe.  I was somewhat bemused to find out that not only is Stoneking white, he's Australian!  But genre is free, and Stoneking rides that freeway like a gothic riverboat captain.  In this song, amid a primal beat and swaying trumpets, the narrator performs a bad hoodoo on a hapless lady named Matilda, and she dies.  "I studied evil, I can't deny / Was a hoodoo charm called a Love Me or Die / A fingernail, a piece of her dress / Apothecary, devil's behest."  

Sommertag - Gisbert Zu Knyphausen

Sommertag - Gisbert Zu Knyphausen

2:42

Gisbert Zu Knyphausen, 2008

Written by Gisbert Zu Knyphausen?

What a name!  I've never heard of this German singer-songwriter, but this song is a great blend of melody and rock.  The lyrics, as far as I understand them, seem to be about how life can be overwhelming with all its heartache and noise, but it's fleeting and it can be beautiful ("es ist ein wunderschöner Sommertag"), so all we can do is try to grasp at togetherness, take a breath and move on.

Jocasta - Noah and the Whale

Jocasta - Noah and the Whale

2:49

Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, 2008

Written by Charlie Fink

Fey indie-pop, heavy on the twee and the harmonies.  But as light as the music is, the lyrics are heavy.  The song touches on themes on sin and redemption — Jocasta as Oedipus' mother must be the source of the title, though it's not explicit — and some of the imagery is pretty harsh: "When the baby's born / Oh let's turn it to the snow / So that ice will surely grow / Over weak and brittle bones / Oh let's leave it to the wolves / So their teeth turn it to food."  Hey, that's not precious and twee!

Strange Overtones - David Byrne & Brian Eno

Strange Overtones - David Byrne & Brian Eno

4:16

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, 2008

Written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Leo Abrahams

O listen!

Backed by a mix of instruments and electronica, Byrne croons his typical quotidian yet quirky lyrics in a soft falsetto.  It begins with waking up in the morning and hearing someone in the next apartment and then gets more abstruse.  Is it about isolation?  Hard to say.  Byrne approaches most subjects like an alien dissecting a human to see how it ticks.  "I see the music in your face / That your words cannot explain."  The electronica backing makes the song cold and aloof; I read that this collaboration was done almost entirely through email, and maybe it's missing a human warmth that Byrne famously doesn't have, and which his old band provided.  It's got a nice beat and if its intent is to make us feel removed from humanity, it succeeds.   

5 Years Time - Noah And the Whale

5 Years Time - Noah And the Whale

3:34

Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, 2008

Written by Charlie Fink

Listen for the silent E!

It's a love song, a stars-in-your eyes-thinking-about-how-great-love-is song, it starts with whistling, it's got handclaps, it's sweet and catchy, it has beautiful female vocals by Laura Marling echoing Fink's lead.  This was a top ten hit in a handful of countries and was used in an ad, but I'm not really tapped into that kind of impact music has.  I don't watch the charts or ads or shows that feature the newest hit.  So I'm always last to everything.  I really love this song.  It's adventurous in that it's not afraid to be vulnerable and cute.

The '59 Sound - Gaslight Anthem

The '59 Sound - Gaslight Anthem
3:10
The '59 Sound, 2008
Written by Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz

These guys are the last bastion of heartland rock music forged by the 1950s and the Boss.  (Well, maybe the Hold Steady, too.)  This title track is a tribute to a friend who died too young in a car accident.  It's simple, it's raw, it's true, it has power.  This is the sort of rock music a man would play.  This song and its album were almost universally acclaimed when it came out.  Where was I?  Being ignorant of the greatness.

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

3:51

Fearless, 2008

Written by Taylor Swift & Liz Rose

Catchy country-rock anthem for pick-me girls.  Girl declares she's just one of the guys, the perfect one for you, but you're distracted by the cheerleader princess.  Of course, as a songwriter, Swift can sing from any point of view she wants (you don't have to pilot a boat to write "The Downeaster Alexa"), but some might be struck by the vast disparity between the pretty, popular, talented Swift and the person she's inhabiting in the song.  If the script was flipped gender-wise, this would be about one of those guys who pretends to be a girl's friend, resenting her boyfriend the whole time and seething that she won't give him "a chance" despite his refusal to engage in the sort of self-improvement that might catch her eye.  For that reason I find this song just a tad off-putting.  But it is a nice singalong.

Ted Fucking Williams - The Baseball Project

Ted Fucking Williams - The Baseball Project

3:04

Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, 2008

Written by Steve Wynn

I love Steve Wynn, one of the all-time overlooked indie greats.  Just a brilliant songwriter.  I love this whole album.  Written from the point of view of Ted himself, as he resents the praise Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider (whom I've never heard of) and wanting more glory heaped upon himself.  "I gotta give the Duke a hand / But there's nothing that he can do better than I can."  Only someone of Wynn's talent could take this simple idea and turn it into something catchy, a fun singalong, rather than a throwaway.