The cutoff date this year was December 14th, 2023. Any single with an accompanying music video released after this date is eligible for the 2024 Top 40 countdown. As always, eligible songs for this list NEED TO HAVE A MUSIC VIDEO RELEASED BETWEEN mid-December 2022 and mid-December 2023. (Apologies to "A&W" by Lana Del Rey, "The Black Seminole" by Lil Yachty and "Vampire Empire" by Big Thief)
Here were the nine hardest songs for me to cut out from the Top 40 this go-round...
Countdown Contenders
Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?
Bleachers - Modern Girl
Danny Brown ft. Kassa Overall - Jenn's Terrific Vacation
English Teacher - Song About Love
Feist - Borrow Trouble
Indigo de Souza - Younger & Dumber
Jeff Rosenstock - Doubt
Jessie Ware - Begin Again
Sipho. - Paranoia
Starting things off in the club, "Modern Jam" might possibly be the most accurately titled song on this whole list as the Gaspar Noé-directed music video is a perfect encapsulation of the disoriented feeling it is to hear this song pop up on a Travis Scott playlist between a whole bunch of trap bangers. It's a totally different side of Scott musically from anything off of his previous three albums although it does fit in line with his history of experimental beat choices. Inspired by his work along with Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel on Kanye West's 2013 album Yeezus, this song was a natural fit into my hype-up playlists and that was even before I heard 2023 breakthrough artist Teezo Touchdown's off-kilter vocal runs kick in at the end of the song like a modern day Bootsy Collins. Teezo's an acquired taste and even if this feature didn't capture someone's interest, his quirky debut album from this year (How Do You Sleep At Night?) was definitely worth the listen as it is one of the more entertaining albums I heard all year.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The immediacy of the "I Am A God" rejected beat does not fuck around.
Janelle Monae's 2018 material deserved more attention and even though I'm not the hugest fan of her fourth album that came out this year (The Age Of Pleasure), it's still refreshing to see some of the more obscenely talented people we have in the modern day gain some recognition as the album received three Grammy nominations. "Lipstick Lover" was one of the few songs off the album to actually grab my interest with it being the closest thing to a reggae song on my countdown in years. This song is also decidedly horny so, maybe put the kids to bed before they start asking where exactly the "sticky hickey" is going". Definitely put the kids to bed before popping the music video on also, as Monae (someone who was decidedly open and free on 2018's Dirty Computer) has fully embraced her sexuality in full in the R-rated video for the otherwise laid-back second single from The Age of Pleasure.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The layered vocals around the pre-chorus stating "I want to feel your lips on mine, I just wanna feel a little tongue we don't have a long time".
Chris Farren first grabbed my attention through his marketing himself as something of a comedic figure in promotion for his 2019 album, Born Hot. Even though Farren's been doing this punk rock thing for 20+ years in some form, "Cosmic Leash" is the first time he's grabbed my attention enough to where I should probably go back and check out his previous work prior to joining Polyvinyl Records. The music video showcases his comedic chops as he pokes fun at behind-the-scenes videos and how low-budget and seemingly disinterested the director is with the whole process. It's a very fun addition to a song that stuck in my head as way more than the novelty of the video itself. It's the post-breakup song for the person that never wanted the breakup and wants to rage in their melancholy.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The crunch of the guitars kicking in around the chorus make this a headbanger that must kill in a live setting.
There hasn't even been an official album released with this track on it yet (watch out for February 16th's Tangk, the latest LP from Idles that likely contains this track) but much like Caroline Polachek's "Welcome To My Island" last year, the lead single for the latest Idles project has solidified a spot in my rotation despite the wait. The song is a total anticipatory thumper of a rock song with definite dancefloor aspirations, a more commonly found thread among LCD Soundsystem songs and wouldn't you know it... they're on this thing too! Yes, as Idles lead growls at us about "DANCING: HIP TO HIP" and "DANCING: CHEEK TO CHEEK", the listener can make out the more faint yet still apparent repetition of "collide us as we work it out" by a chorus of mysterious voices, revealed to be Nancy Whang and James Murphy of New York rock legends LCD Soundsystem. It's a bit chaotic with the two different choruses seemingly colliding but, it works in unison as a uniquely catchy tune that perhaps signals a more mainstream pivot in the works for the British rock band, Idles.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "Shoulders back, chest out, I'm poised like a goddamn ape"
The most universally agreed upon Miley Cyrus hit since 2013's "Wrecking Ball", "Flowers" is a perfect little pop song that was overplayed to death in 2023 but that doesn't tear away at the fabric of what is an extremely quality smash hit. I've enjoyed the revisionist history of the 2013 VMAs performance with Robin Thicke and "Used To Be Young" is the best song by a mid-50s singer released by a 32-year old this year but, "Flowers" runs away with being the biggest Miley moment of 2023. The song is a kiss-off to her former ex who once upon a time dedicated the Bruno Mars song "When I Was Your Man" to Cyrus, a song that claims "I should have bought you flowers" and that "(he) should have taken you to every party when all you wanted to do was dance". Miley's response now that they're broken up? "I can buy myself flowers" and "I can take myself dancing". It's a perfect self-love anthem for the lone wolves of the modern day over a naturally catchy bass line. Grammy bait? Sure. Quality song? Of course!
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: Is it a cop out to just say the chorus? If so, I'll take the strings that kick in and get progressively louder as the song carries on.
Every year there is a holdover from a stellar album of the previous year that only gets a music video with renewed interest (or in this case, a deluxe re-issue of said album) the following year. This year, that video was for "Troglodyte", a highlight from Viagra Boys' stellar 2022 album Cave World. This song shares the danceable punk rock vibes that could also be said of Idles' "Dancer" but, this song has a deeper meaning than just giving it your all in the moshpit or channeling 2009-era Killers' music. The second song in two years from the same album to make my countdown, "Troglodyte" mockingly calls out a character who seemingly loves his guns more than life itself and has no social skills whatsoever. In other words, it's describing that one guy that we all know but stay on the good side of in case they crack and end up on the news one day. It's a very bold song that brushes on a serious topic (gun control) and takes it not so seriously at all with lead singer Sebastian Murphy claiming that things would "play out much different back in the time when we were apes". In other words, Murphy thinks that any threats of violence from the antagonist in the story would have been instantly taken care of by the guy getting his ass beat. It's a fun and tremendously unique song that hits as hard this year as it did last.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: There might not be a more attention-grabbing lyrical opening to a song than the hint of a threat of workplace violence insinuated before we even know where the song is headed.
'Tis the year of the rated-R music video. Both of these Chicago-born artists were first introduced to me through Chance The Rapper on both his cult-classic Acid Rap mixtape from 2013 and my personal favorite, Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment's 2015 album Surf. Over the past decade, we've been given three solid Saba albums and this year, a third Jamila Woods album that quite frankly is the best project from either artist to date. This single is a callback to the days of Allen Iverson's classic "We're talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. But practice." rant from May of 2002. Woods takes this turn of phrase and makes it a personal promise that instead of focusing on the long-term potential of her relationships going forward, she just sort of takes things one day at a time and cherishes living in the moment with her partner. This is also one of the cooler music videos of 2023 that has flown under the radar.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: I really think the song gets elevated by all of the background "ooh ahh's"
Boy, I sure hope anybody reading this and/or listening along to the playlists really likes Boygenius. If not, then Emily I'm sorry. The Phoebe Bridgers sound has become overdone in 2023 by copycat artists all over the place, some very good like Lizzy McAlpine and others not so good and decidedly boring in fact. At the end of the day there can only be one... or maybe three depending on your ability to differentiate the Boygeniuses. "Emily I'm Sorry" is the Bridgers-led single that sounds like it would have fit perfectly on 2020's Punisher, which is somehow Bridgers' last solo album to date still despite her sound become unavoidable in the years since. The vocal harmonies are *chef's kiss* as they are on most of this year's The Record and it's a welcome addition to each member's catalog but don't get it twisted, this is absolutely a Bridgers song at the end of the day.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "I'm 27 and I don't know who I am, but I know what I want" hit kind of perfectly for someone that was 27 when they first heard the song (me).
In a total 180 from the previous couple songs, "Dumbest Girl Alive" is one of the louder, more potentially obnoxious, autotune-laden songs I've ever put on one of my countdowns. It's fucking awesome. 100 gecs' 10,000 gecs is the musical equivalent of putting Mentos into your Pepsi for the generation that grew up watching those clips as they were released onto YouTube. If this hyperpop/rock crossover banger doesn't get you fired up, you might want to remember to do your stretches this morning (says the guy who pulled a back muscle two weeks ago). Unlike their introduction to the internet masses back in 2019, it doesn't seem like hyperpop is going to be the future of music but, Laura Les and Dylan Brady are going to keep breathing life into it and every other long-forgotten genre of the 2000's in as entertaining a manner as possible.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "Put emojis on my grave"
Speaking of niche scenes that have gained momentum in recent years, it seems like the hyperpop revolution of 2020 was immediately followed by the more sustainable post-punk/art punk scene of the UK that has reached the United States by way of Geese. The natural migration of the subgenres was not done by Geese alone of course but, they did the best job at making a forward-thinking, classic-sounding rock album with instrumental breakdowns and casually wacky vocal deliveries throughout each song on their second album, 3D Country. There's even hints of classic rock on this album that would now be referred to as country-adjacent just because people in 2023 can't admit that Chris Stapleton is more of a rock artist in a world where genre really shouldn't matter as much as past generations imply. "Cowboy Nudes" is one of the country-er sounding songs both in terms of instrumentation (twangy guitars) and title (It's literally "Cowboy Nudes"). Geese certainly don't sound like all of the previous Brooklyn-based bands that I'm used to (see: Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, TV On The Radio) but, they are of a similar, even more initially refined quality. A band to be on the lookout for moving forward.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The little bongo drum breakdown where the band shouts "New York City! Underwater!"
The Julien Baker-led rockier single off of The Record, "$20" is a casually fun song reflecting on more reckless times growing up and the little road trips that probably aren't the most feasible idea but you only live once I guess. Baker claims to have only contributed the riff of the song before Bridgers and Lucy Dacus crafted the bones of a story around the instrumental. It's pretty vague but works out nonetheless and any excuse to get Bridgers screaming at the climax of a song, even only faded into the background was a good enough reason for this more upbeat Boygenius song to exist.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The loudest, most explosive part of the instrumental immediately dropping out to just the riff and drums at the very end.
It might seem hard to believe but 2023's Lahai was the first music Sampha had dropped in six years since the all-timer piano ballad "(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano" highlighted his debut solo album. As somebody who's been following Sampha's music since I was in high school and he was only known as a featured artist on SBTRKT songs, I can say that the wait is well worth it every single time for this man. The 35-year old English singer filled in the gap years with songwriting credits all over the place for Solange, Kendrick Lamar and more. "Only" is the catchiest of his two eligible singles this year and despite experimental cuts all over his latest record, this one fits in nicely as something that could have also fit on Victoria Monet's Grammy Nominated album from this year. Here's to hoping that Sampha gets similar recognition in the coming year as the eligibility window closed just prior to Lahai's release.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The horns carry this song from good to great.
Don't worry, there's only one more after this one. The lead music video and apparently the fourth(?) single from The Record sees all three singers come together with a verse each and a chorus channeling Sheryl Crow's 1994 hit "Strong Enough". It's a song of self-doubt where each of the three Boygeniuses gets a chance to share their interpretation of how toxic self-loathing can be. Phoebe seems too exhausted to even bother fixing anything (TOXIC), Lucy has an intrusive thought of ending it all while driving (TOXIC) and Julien is there to carry the instrumental and vocal harmonies as their similarities as soloists all come full circle on this track, tied together neatly as a hit.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The "Always an angel, never a god" refrain doesn't do much for me until they cut right back into the chorus and there's this voila moment where the song seems fully realized.
One of the most inescapable earworms of late 2022, the second single from Doja Cat's Scarlet heavily samples Dionne Warrick's 1964 single "Walk On By" (RIP Burt Bacharach). I'm not exactly interested in whatever the narrative is at the moment with Doja Cat and her fanbase considering I wasn't really a fan until this project really grabbed a hold of me for whatever reason. It appears that America wasn't overly concerned with whatever is going on with Doja Cat either since I guess she isn't full on Kanye-ing herself out of radio airplay and this song still reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks. Much like Lil Nas X in 2021, this song flirts with the whole "celebrities selling their souls for fame" idea and it's all very innocent tongue-in-cheek fun that might spook the deeply religious types. What is a great song without a little controversy? This might be the guiltiest pleasure of my 2023 to the extent that guilty pleasures are still a thing in the modern day.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The contradiction of stating "I don't need a big feature" on a song where she wasn't exactly crate-digging for a 58 year old sample isn't lost on me.
In the same way that #28 was all over the topic of toxic self-doubt, "Tiny Garden" appears like the light at the end of the tunnel as a self-improvement anthem that I hope to carry into my rotation headed into 2024. The lead single off of Woods's 2023 album Water Made Us reminds me of a less-acoustic India.Arie. This song talks about Woods' reluctance to dive into the most lovey-dovey of feelings as soon as a relationship begins yet she still promises to feed into those goals of a stronger connection on a day-by-day basis. It's a nice, healthy response to all of the other music out there that catches artists at their most intense or down-bad moments that grabs our ears more naturally. This is a pure vibe boost that has the bubbly yet muted atmosphere to fit perfectly with the story it tells.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: Duendita's poetic contribution.
Very rarely does a deluxe version of an album do anything more for me than add in filler tracks. Alas, the 2021 Tyler, The Creator album Call Me If You Get Lost didn't have a real standout single for me that was worthy of a Top 40 spot with his Flower Boy single "See You Again" getting tons of attention for whatever reason in 2023 (it was probably TikTok, a platform I don't personally engage with) despite finishing just shy of my 2017 countdown. All of that aside, Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale was a rousing success with each track adding depth to an already lengthy tracklist. Personally (as all of this is), CMIYGL could have been the best or second best Tyler album with tracks like "Dogtooth" part of the original release. Instead I sit here eyeing up my original CMIYGL vinyl, only able to recollect the lyrics to "Dogtooth" in my head and via streaming because I'm too cheap to go out of my way and buy the same album plus eight tracks.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "She can ride my face I don't want nothing in return". Tyler, The Creator: Open Munch in a post-Ice Spice universe.
As I've grown older and my tastes have shifted a bit, I find myself growing more accustomed to strong lyrical performances by artists with voices that could widely be described as an "acquired taste" (picture: Courtney Barnett, Alt-J's Joe Newman or even Danny Brown). Wednesday lead singer Karly Hartzman definitely has one of those voices and quite possibly a stronger pen than anybody else on this countdown. "Quarry" fully showcases the band's ability to make mundane daily happenings seem wilder or at least far more interesting than our everyday neighborhoods. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a trailer park in the Appalachia vibe to the picture painted in the band's second single off of 2023's well renowned Rat Saw God. Descriptions of cocaine busts, accidental fires and contradictory behavior from the community at large can all ultimately be summed up at the end as "Hey, we're all human and come from somewhere", even if our neighborhood isn't kitty (or in this case, "caddy"?) corner from the quarry.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The narrator's unfazed reaction to all of the happenings in this song gives the listener a deeper realization of how typically shit goes down by the quarry.
This year started off with a bunch of veteran EDM acts like Nothing But The Girl, Four Tet and Skrillex returning to prominence after years of silence. Though the peak EDM days of the early-2010s are far from back in the mainstream, it was refreshing to see all of these musicians re-up their games and sound as quality as ever. One band that has both stuck around since the late 1980s(!), performed at every festival under the moon since then and hasn't lost a step despite my own lack of ever really vibing with them is The Chemical Brothers. Something they've made famous over the years is making sheer ear-splitting noise into a beat or beat drop that sounds unlike anything else in the dance music sphere. I think the song "Goodbye" off their tenth studio album For That Beautiful Feeling perfectly encapsulates what still makes EDM a valid genre after all these years. It's pretty standard fare for English Electronica duo but once the drums kick in, it's like I'm hearing Omar Hakim all over Daft Punk's Random Access Memories ten years later and I'm near tears in awe.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The drums, real or not.
I'm proud to report that there was no sophomore slump for 20-year old pop singer Olivia Rodrigo. The second single from Guts may not have been her strongest output this year (spoiler alert) but, it was still very indicative of how she kept her sound fresh by getting even brattier after "Good 4 U" and harder-rocking after "Brutal". Listening to this song, it makes perfect sense that she would let The Breeders open for part of her tour even though their peak occurred ten years prior to Rodrigo's birth. "Bad Idea Right?" sees Rodrigo contemplating returning to an ex out of loneliness, boredom, self-sabotage, perhaps even all of the above because if it's just one night it's fine.... right? In a scenario far too many can seemingly relate to, she battles with the idea in her mind and back and forth with her friend before she "tripped and fell into his bed". We'll never know what happens immediately following this rekindling of past flames but at least there's a cute, fun pop rock song made from all of it.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The phone call before the chorus, asking "Seeing you tonight, it's a bad idea right?"
I first heard this song before the TERF (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist) allegations were presented to the internet discourse around Ms. Murphy (something that I never would have guessed coming into 2023). With that said, this song still holds up as the finest in the 50-year old experimental Irish pop singer's career and I'm giving a ton of credit to DJ Koze who mixed and mastered the entirety of Murphy's sixth album, Hit Parade. I've been very disappointed by both Murphy's misguided viewpoints and the media at large just burying her at-the-time acclaimed single and record that have been absent from every single end-of-year list I've seen. That includes Pitchfork, who can't just pretend they never gave her an 8.2. Moving forward, publications can handle this however they want and we all have our tipping points with separating the art versus the artist. Perhaps it's shit of me to go out of the way to praise this track but very rarely is a song made by the credited main artist alone and by attaching DJ Koze's tremendous production (featuring looped vocals, uplifting strings and at times a soft approach) and name to "Fader", I'm willing to say the initial few times I heard this song were among some of the most blissful I heard all 2023. It's a shame this is probably the last time I'll give someone I once thought so seemingly quirky and artistic the time of day.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The warbled "When it comes to this song, you can't play it too long" that sounds like a mistake made on the record but no, you're just supposed to feel like you're going insane or descending into hell for half a second.
For lack of a better term, this song was the first time in a recorded setting where Doja Cat really grabbed my "Attention". Prior to Scarlet, I had seen the potential of Doja through her 2022 Coachella set (a highlight of the weekend) but the singles like "Get Into It (Yuh)", "Say So" and "Kiss Me More (ft. SZA)" just never fully clicked as they all sounded like standard pop music that I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid or listen to. To reiterate my sentiments from "Paint The Town Red" (#27), I have no clue what's going on between Doja Cat and her fans and I really don't care. I just know that she's pissed off at something, comes about as close to Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes as anyone from the past twenty years as far as the female face of the pop/hip hop crossover is concerned and unlike some of the more forgettable bars from 2021's Planet Her, she can spit. Boldness and brashness are two traits that I love in my pop music (or just music in general) and now that she's got the right producers on her side, starting off a song rapping about her shaving her head (which is relatively mild compared to when Britney Spears did it 16 years ago) was all I needed to hear to get fully invested in the musical Doja Cat experience. She isn't just the girl that did "MOOO!" anymore, she's a serious artist.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "Lost a lil' weight, but I ain't never lost a tushy
Lookin' good, but now my bald head match my-"
Lucy Dacus doesn't have the most exciting instrumentation or best voice of the Boygeniuses but, holy shit can she write. This is the Dacus-led track from the trio of singles they released as one short music film in the spring. It's standard fare for a Boygenius song which is why they bring such lofty praise headed into award season. "True Blue" has Dacus describing coming to terms with herself and the type of person she aspires to be after a fresh restart away from home. In a song full of quotables, she states it herself "you fuck around and find out". It's an overused phrase in the present day but, this is the most apt usage of those last five words, truly not knowing what will become of the day or one's self after said "fucking around".
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "I can't hide from you like I hide from myself" is a beautiful sentiment for someone having a rough time dealing with their own self-doubt.
When I first heard the lead single off of Sufjan Stevens's tenth solo album, Javelin I knew we were in for another classic. Originally, I naively believed that "Will Anybody Ever Love Me?" was actually a song of triumph as I was swept away by the grand instrumentation and despite clearly hearing the sadness in Stevens' voice (to be fair, when there not a tinge of shaky sorrow in Sufjan's vocals?), I believed that the song was past tense. Perhaps that is still ultimately the case as we do not know when Sufjan wrote or recorded this track as it sounds one-half Carrie and Lowell and the other half Age of Adz. Once the album was released and got a round of applause from fans and critics alike for a week and a half or so, our mystery man from the Midwest broke his silence and hearts everywhere by sharing that his longtime partner Evans Richardson had passed away in April. It was clear to me now that this song was confirmed past tense as he had found and known his love for a while and god forbid he ever felt the sentiments of this song again knowing now that somebody did ever love him and he'll still always have that comfort moving forward. What a blessing this man's music is to exist in our timeline.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: Isolated banjos are a tough sell... unless Sufjan Stevens is involved.
Between 2021's Sour and this year's Guts, Olivia Rodrigo had at least one relationship that she got a whole bunch of new material from. The lead single for her second album "Vampire" seems to take over from where "Driver's License" (still the best OR song probably) left off with a piano ballad vibe that seems to be building up to something and wait a minute... Olivia Rodrigo expanded her vocal range? Ok, that's a new level of pop stardom that she has unlocked. Also, woah boy does she love throwing the easily edit-friendly curse into her choruses. I really don't know whether I prefer "dream crusher" to "fame fucker" but it's pretty clear what her intent was with that line and that was stick a knife into her ex's chest. Job well done since I still don't know who this guy was or is so I hope he enjoyed his fifteen seconds (I need to have heard of you for it to be fifteen minutes of fame). The song coalesces into a loud, somehow "I Love It" by Icona Pop & Charli XCX-sounding banger by the end and she gets as deep into the details as she can without coming off as the one in the wrong by being as vocal about what a d-bag this guy was (though she does mention her original doubt into his ex's claims). It shouldn't work as well as it does and it does work because her and producer Dan Nigro are damn good at crafting a pop hit.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise"
There has been a noteworthy rise in quality alt-rock songs that could pass as country in the past year and "Chosen To Deserve" is the best example I could think of from a band that sounds like Drive-By Truckers without actually incorporating Jason Isbell. Much like on "Quarry", Karly Hartzmann still sounds like a mumbling Jewel meets Sharon Van Etten (Ok, I'm sort of just pulling names from a hat here but that's just how unusual her voice is!) except on this song, we've got one of the most memorable guitar riffs of 2023. Considering the music video for their lead single from Rat Saw God came out in January and I thought "ehh sure, I'll put it on the cut-down list", I think this song grew on me the most throughout the year of any other on my countdown. The song is really the sweetest, most unfiltered track where Hartzmann describes to her significant other some of her worst moments just so that they know what they're getting into. It's the best encapsulation of the "If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best" bumper sticker that the worst possible people tote as part of their personality. The fact that Hartzmann's worst tends to be more about passing the times where she feels loneliest with a few bad choices here and there and potentially even worse friends to me means that there might be hope for these lovebirds after all.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "I'm the girl that you were chosen to deserve"
Very recently major music publications seem to be catching up to the fact that despite going relatively quiet for about thirty years, the shoegaze genre has never been more popular thanks to a multitude of things like 1. Innovation and the invention of electronic software that adds layers of instrumentation to the already fuzzed-up mix of a classic shoegaze song. 2. The isolation created by the Pandemic among today's population that has carried over as people are more glued to their devices than they are in-person, individual relationships and the lack of connections that occur on a day-to-day basis leading to a more depressed and introspective, self-aware sound in music (see: the uprising of the sad folk girls and a ton of complicated feelings expressed in past shoegaze anthems) and 3. TikTok. I've always been more partial to dreampop (see: Beach House, Cocteau Twins and Grimes to an extent) but shoegaze has definitely grown on me as well lately with lesser known musicians like Yeule, sign crushes motorist, Jane Remover and the late bl4ck m4rket c4rt DIY'ing their way into a niche movement that has picked up where hyperpop seemingly left a void on the internet the past year. "Census Designated" is the lead single and title track off Jane Remover's second album and first under that name. 2021's Frailty was absolutely rock-adjacent but still poppy with enough glitches in between tracks that the phrase "grunge is back!" never really crossed my mind. The song is supposed to be about her rise in the ranks and how she's had to overcome music executives wanting to sign her, just to polish her sound into something she wouldn't recognize as being her own music anymore in a borderline abusive working relationship. Of course, the lyrics read like they were about a romantic relationship to early listeners but Jane clarified that was not the case and hasn't loved that people got that sense from the aggressively loud track. Props to Quadeca for directing a video that somehow perfectly fits this song despite doing so... little? being just eerie enough to disconcert viewers.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The minute-ish of fuzzy reverb at the end that has an eerie voice from seemingly beyond our world whisper in an outdoor voice, "EXPLOSIVE".
The song that did the most damage critically and commercially on this entire list. I simply cannot believe anybody avoided this song as it got played everywhere, making it Solana Rowe (AKA: SZA)'s biggest song to date in a decade-long career as Top Dawg Entertainment's biggest non-Kendrick Lamar money maker. In a lot of ways, SOS (her second album) was THE album of 2023 while Taylor Swift stole the headlines with old material and I'm not sure if SZA is the household name that an artist of her yearlong dominance typically would be. Enough about the death of mono-culture though, "Kill Bill" is the perfect song for people angry at their ex, sad about their ex, joking about their ex... one could essentially speedrun through the five stages of grief over a failed relationship in the four minutes this song takes to play out. It's also one of the catchier tracks of the year, obviously leading to it's Billboard chart dominance and the truly down-bad lyrics of this song like "rather be in jail than alone" and reacting to seeing her former lover with a new beautiful woman by planning a home invasion make it a wonderfully wack adventure in revenge storytelling. You might not want to date Taylor to avoid ending up in a song and having your reputation ruined and you might not want to date SZA to avoid ending up having your whole life ruined.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "I'm so mature, I got me a therapist to tell me that there's other men."
The rare band that came on a year or two too late to experience the alt-rock, blog-rock boom of the late-00's, Daughter has held onto me as a fan by only intricately tinkering in new ideas to a tried and true formula of making music that is perfect to vibe out to or just plain fall asleep to depending on one's age and attention span. This trio has always filled in a gap for me between the aforementioned dreampop of Beach House and the moody, more grandiose alternative rock sound of Wolf Alice (a band that had my 2021 in a chokehold). Elena Tonra and company crafted another beauty of a track in "Be On Your Way" that could have fit on either of their two previous albums since 2013 and much like other bands in their same milieu, figured to throw a few synths on a track and voila, I'm able to rediscover my love for a band that has remained underrated in their seven-year absence. It might not have the radio-friendliness that "Youth" had or the crushing video that "Doing That Right Thing" was gifted but, "Be On Your Way" strikes an emotional chord all the same.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The synths kicking in around 2:00 into the track.
Quirky in a way that totally rules in a totally different DEVO-esque manner (they have a song dedicated to whips, Yard Act has a song dedicated to trench coats... okay, it's a reach) from how #35 Viagra Boys' "Troglodyte" conjured up memories of that DEVO sound. I fucking adore the way this band presents themselves which is entirely English, cocky as hell and self-aware at just how ridiculous and fun their music can be. They somehow made an eight-minute song about a type of jacket that devolves into an instrumental in the second half that sounds straight out of a Need For Speed video game or a Fatboy Slim album. They sneak in the occasional sample of lead singer James Smith screeching over said beat and even though he's still the lead singer and he isn't rapping, there's certainly a lot of speaking and lyricism going on here. The man drops facts about the history of the trench coat, makes the listener picture a trench coat in descriptive detail and then puts in a line or two about climate change to top it all off. What the hell is the goal of this song? I don't know but I had fun listening to it and as somebody that doesn't know how to swim, I guess I'll need to buy a life vest before I invest in the trench coat that suits me the best.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "You can't ban a coat can you? Can you ban a coat?"
If there were two phrases I could use to sum up my 2023 Top 40 Songs countdown, they would be "the guitar is back!", even though it never left and the phrase "vocal modulation". I'm not even sure what 23-year old April Harper Grey (AKA: Underscores)'s natural singing voice sounds like and I am unbothered by this. The layering is heavy on nearly every Underscores song, begging the listener to just get used to what sounds like the future. Even though she has been made her name through the internet, riding the hyperpop wave to her more rock sound nowadays, "You Don't Even Know Who I Am" is like "Census Designated" for people that were way more into Smashing Pumpkins than My Bloody Valentine. Both of these tracks feature no drums whatsoever, completely contradicting The Chemical Brothers' EDM track "Goodbye" at #23 and I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are so many ways to do this music thing and very few that get anywhere do it incorrectly. "You Don't Even Know Who I Am" is part of the concept album that Underscores put out this year titled Wallsocket. Without getting into the backstory and complicated details surrounding all twelve tracks, just know that this song revolves around an obsessive character breaking into somebody's home and pretending to be her. It's fucking creepy (kind of like when you hear Billy Corgan's voice for the first time) and unlike anything else I heard in 2023 with the Underscores producer tag of motivational catchphrases being played on an endless loop in the background. Everybody has bad days, don't worry, it's not the end of the world, there's always tomorrow. Okay worst guidance counselor ever, thanks for the pep talk, I'm going to go lock my doors and hide now.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The falsetto singing "Today is the worst day of my life" and oh yeah WHAT IS WITH THAT FUCKING PHONE BEEP? This song is creepy.
Of a more standard pop fare, "One Of Your Girls" is one of the standout highlights on Sivan's third studio album, Something To Give Each Other. The third single off that album never fully erupted the way that the meme-able "Got Me Started" did and with the hype of the lead single worn off by the time of release, Sivan's marketing team needed something to grab the attention of the internet for longer than a couple of hours which is no small task in 2023. In walked Ross Lynch from the Disney Channel's mid-2010s show Austin & Ally (for what it's worth, I had only seen this show on my cable guide and never saw any episodes personally) and that alone could have given this LGBTQ+ anthem some good press. Of course, director Gordon Von Stier had another idea up his sleeve and Sivan and Lynch were both down for it so Sivan got into drag and gave Lynch a lapdance. It was Sivan's first time in drag and it really helps drive home the entire point of the song, which is all about the forbidden longing that happens behind the scenes by plenty of trans people that have relationships with straight-passing men on the down low. The song really stood out to me as unique in it's perspective on first listen despite being such a seemingly common thing in that community and it's just another take on the "forbidden love story that will never work". Mashing the two ideas together just works perfectly.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The synths at the end added by an uncredited Max Martin.
While we are on this little run of complete unpredictability and "WTF could possibly come next???" ---
Nobody should pass me the aux cord without prior specific instructions. The lead single from the duo of rappers' collaborative album with the same name is one of the more perfectly titled tracks of 2023. It's often been said that modern experimental music is "Scaring The Hoes" music even before this song existed. This is absolutely the case on this free-form saxophone beat-featuring experimental hip hop track. JPEGMAFIA has made a name for himself as one of the more innovative musicians around both in terms of hilarious, outsider lyricism and off-the-wall production that is only really rivaled by Death Grips and like... Bjork I guess? It's such an industrial, playful track that starts off with an isolated clapping beat that could easily be mistaken for something far more lewd (has to have been the intent based on these two's penchant for making their listeners laugh at the most outrageous of choices mid-song). The drum beat and distortion pull this whole thing together in a fascinating manner and though "we don't want to hear that weird shit no more", I would be against passing the aux cord on such a short curveball of a track to hear in a public setting.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The first time those drums kick in, is it blasphemous to call this a rock song?
Little Simz's December 2022 album No Thank You was a better album than SZA's SOS and I'm not budging on that opinion. Simi hasn't received the same recognition for what should have been her peak shining moment of critical acclaim because there wasn't a mainstream American hit on the project and has maddeningly been left off most publications' year end lists. Oh well, if these major blogs/websites/magazines actually still paid any attention to music videos, they would have had "Gorilla" as one of the year's best without a doubt. Admittedly, this is probably the one song on my countdown that really benefits from their visual element as director Dave Meyers (one of the three best music video auteurs period) goes absolutely apeshit with references to Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes, Brockhampton and more hip hop historians. Little Simz has never lacked any confidence and her flow here sounds so effortless that it would almost feel like a throwaway were it not so original and produced so magnificently. Inflo needs to branch out and produce more gems like this one because this is his third partnership with Little Simz to grace my Top 40s (2 in 2021) and outside of his own band Sault, I'd love to hear what he could bring to R&B.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The opening horns are one hell of an entrance and a now common theme in the UK rapper's discography.
Another semi-humorous, anthemic chorus of a bitter ex-girlfriend done right by Olivia Rodrigo, only this time the verses in between feature spoken lines describing how annoying her former beau really was that bring to mind the Butthole Surfers' 1996 hit "Pepper". Rodrigo and producer Dan Nigro really fully embraced that alternative rock of the 1990s meets modern singer/songwriter sound on Guts and we are all more lucky for their coexistence bringing these sounds back. This isn't what Paramore was doing 15 years ago nor is it what Avril Lavigne was doing 20 years ago, it's more retro with a modern flair and she's arguably bigger in the moment than any of these previous acts were in their retrospective peaks because there's a big gap out there for both up-and-coming pop stars (It's really just her and Billie Eilish doing any numbers consistently) and rock-ish music on pop radio. She is the past, present and future (Taylor Swift won't get played forever... right? please?).
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "I wanna meet his mom, just to tell her her son sucks".
I've only spent a few days of my life outside of Wisconsin (Don't cry for me, Argentina) and I had no idea Black Earth, Wisconsin was a real place until I googled it after hearing this song for the first time. In fact, just now I am putting two and two together and realizing that the tornado footage spliced into the video must be from the F5 tornado that killed nine in the Black Earth and Barneveld regions of Wisconsin back in 1984. Admittedly, I'm not sure what's going on with the lyrics on this one but in the whole eight-and-a-half minute long song, only a minute or so is dedicated to singing. Otherwise, this is the closest thing to a jam-band song I've probably ever had on a countdown because of my Wisconsin bias, the small-town feel associated with the song and the shredding guitar solo that leads into a chorus of "la da, lada, la la"'s (or something in that ballpark). On this song in particular, Julia Steiner leads a band that sounds like a higher fidelity Alvvays that leans way more heavily on the rocking end of the pop-rock label.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The harmony of la's about five minutes in.
It's the Village People ("YMCA") meets Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch-era club music ("Good Vibrations"). In other words, it's a goddamn banger with the fun sexual innuendo of early-nineties Madonna tracks. Dedicated to the brand name of poppers, this song is accompanied by one of the best choreographed music videos of 2023, calling back to the era of both Madonna and Janet Jackson where things like that still mattered on a grander scale. Troye and video director Gordon Von Steiner really put all of their energy into this era of Sivan's most openly celebratory gay bops. Even with all of the wordplay, Sivan and his co-writer Leland made a completely clean-sounding pop masterclass and yet... where was the mainstream radio airplay? why did this song fall out of favor so fast? Is it truly still too much of a niche topic targeted at a minority audience in our ever-changing culture? How often is the average person even paying attention to the lyrics of a The Weeknd song on mainstream radio? Because his The Idol co-star is all about the sex, drugs and rock-and-roll lifestyle that we still promote so heavily. Much like his 2018 classic "My My My", his post-"Youth" songs have fallen victim to a very hetero-normative double-standard in the post-Obama media atmosphere. That's a whole lot of hyphenating to say that even with three Grammy nominations, I find this song incredibly underrated.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The gloryhole shot, the linked-arms dancing, the crotch-less pants... basically the whole music video.
On a more serious note, here's Mitski lying to waste all the uninspired sad-indie women of the 2020's with an acoustic song about loneliness, depression and its eventual path to alcoholism. In a way, almost every Mitski song gives the listener another original way to look at loneliness in the same way that every Pusha T song gives Pusha T another original way to describe selling cocaine. "Bug Like An Angel" may have been outshone as "My Love Mine All Mine" took over TikTok but trust me, this is the more emotionally moving song. She's come to terms with being destined to drink on occasion and though she hasn't let it control her life, it's always there in the way any type of addiction is. She justifies any overindulgence by believing that god made both good and evil so, who's to say that they aren't equally valid responses to one's urges? It's a dark, haunting question that I'm going to go ahead and take a stance on by saying typically, you should trust the angel on your shoulder instead of the devil on the other but hey, you do you Mitski. This song is like a philosophy class.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: The first time the choir hits the listeners ears, it's almost a jump-scare.
The most unavoidable ear-worm of 2023. Coming into the year, I knew I liked the pristine vocals of Pinkpantheress being used to push forward the renaissance of drum-and-bass music thanks to internet hits like "Break It Off" and "Just For Me". What I was not prepared for was the already bumping track "Boy's A Liar" getting an early remix featuring "Munch (Feelin' U)" 2022 breakout viral star Ice Spice and that remix being one of the most irresistibly likable pop hits of the decade so far. Ice Spice's dry vocal delivery perfectly juxtaposes the airy, borderline-AI Pinkpantheress vocals and this shit just sounds like the future when you combine it all over a Mura Masa 8-bit-inspired beat with how popular video games (both retro and new) are in today's world. It seems obvious now that this song was both sent to deliver life into the music business and destroy what we thought we knew about the future of pop. It never overstays its welcome at just over two minutes and is a completely unique relic that will define this year in the annals of history.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "That boy isn't good enough, grabbin' my duhduhduh"
Alright I'll admit it, I had not heard of Ratboys until 2023. It's hard to imagine an indie rock band on their fifth album from the Midwest (Chicago to be exact) could fly under my radar in the past decade of my album over-consumption era. The only hesitancy I had in giving their second single off of The Window the #1 slot was that I felt the song's main story is sadly too reminiscent of my reasoning for handing the top spot to Alt-J's "Get Better" two years ago. The title track from their underrated album is a tragic story that sees lead singer Julia Steiner writing from the perspective of her grandfather at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The further time removes us from 2020, the more heartbreaking this story gets as he was forced to spend the final days of his wife's life at her hospital window, never able to assist, hug or even say a proper goodbye to someone he promised "Til death do us part". I'm not sure how I'll view this year in retrospect for album quality but song quality? I can probably count on one hand the number of years where this song falls short of the top spot.
Most Memorable Lyric/Moment: "How could I have known that you wouldn't come back home?"
#1 songs of year's past
2006. P!nk "Stupid Girls"
2007. Amy Winehouse "Rehab"
2008. Kanye West ft. Dwele & Connie Mitchell "Flashing Lights"
2009. Santigold "L.E.S. Artistes"
2010. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Skeletons"
2011. Adele "Someone Like You"
2012. Santigold "The Keepers"
2013. Arcade Fire "Afterlife"
2014. St. Vincent "Birth In Reverse"
2015. Courtney Barnett "Depreston"
2006. P!nk "Stupid Girls"
2007. Amy Winehouse "Rehab"
2008. Kanye West ft. Dwele & Connie Mitchell "Flashing Lights"
2009. Santigold "L.E.S. Artistes"
2010. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Skeletons"
2011. Adele "Someone Like You"
2012. Santigold "The Keepers"
2013. Arcade Fire "Afterlife"
2014. St. Vincent "Birth In Reverse"
2015. Courtney Barnett "Depreston"
2021. Alt-J "Get Better"
The #1 Song of 2023
At a certain point in our lives, we reach a level of maturity where every bit of media no matter how unorthodox or enjoyable ultimately reminds us of something from the past. As I have been reviewing albums mostly in private for over a decade now and making these countdowns, it's special when I find something like the hyperpop-phase brought on by PC Music and Sophie or when JPEGMAFIA comes along and produces a beat that samples a 1996 Japanese anime soundtrack. Things like these help keep me coming back to this year-long endeavor of a project because it's so thrilling to find truly 100% authentically weird yet creative art no matter what year it is. Another thing that's kept me making these end-of-year song countdowns for EIGHTEEN YEARS now is just loving good music that reminds me of some of the finest tracks from years past, whether it be something as recent as Wolf Alice's 2017 soft-spoken beauty that was "Don't Delete The Kisses" (my #3 song of that year) or a universally agreed upon all-timer like The Verve's 1997 worldwide hit "Bittersweet Symphony (my #N/A song of that year). It's no coincidence that I didn't know Ratboys or George Clanton existed before this year and take up the top two here.
Vaporwave is a genre that frankly, I was only halfway aware of when it made some noise in the mid-2010s by way of rapper Yung Lean (who I promise I'll check out more of his past in 2024) and some seapunk aesthetics that made their way across my Tumblr before I let that social media gather cobwebs soon after. Just like with Ratboys, I totally missed the uprising of now 35-year old electronic musician George Clanton (not to be confused with Parliament-Funkadelic's lead singer George Clinton) but I'm here now and holy shit, what a find. This song to me, it's a combination of the unique aspect of that Wolf Alice song's emotional core and delivery plus The Verve's stellar production. Even though I'm late to the party, the party being experienced on "I Been Young" is one that I feel like I don't want to end. The music video is ripped straight from the 1990's yet there's no direct influence whose style he's jacking and with the patented light blue, purple and pink shading over the whole video, the seapunk vibe is there. It's pretty damn close to my own ideal personal version of that Black Mirror "San Junipero" afterlife. Clanton had a clear vision of this project and the lyrics basically match my life mantra of progressively growing a bit every day at your own pace while never fully accepting the label of "washed", though that day will come in due time (whenever I end up in a home at the very end and my grandkids write an all-timer about my demise). At 28, I'm still not sure how I fit into the world as adult Andy Todd but I'm owning up to mistakes more than I used to, honest enough to admit there's still stupid ones being made on the daily. Much like Mitch Hedberg's old drug addiction joke, I've been young... I'm still young but I've been young too.
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| Peggy Thank you for reading and tune in next week for my Top Albums of 2023! |
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