Top 10 Songs of 2011

Tom Dozois'
Top 10 Songs of 2011

10. fucked Up – Queen of Hearts: This track took me by surprise because I fucking hated the first half. I can’t stand screamo music. BUT the second half of the song drops the grunt, adds a girl vocalist and the result is sublime. Don’t rush to a judgment on this one; listen to the whole thing.

9. Givers – Ripe: I love the structure of Givers’ songs because they keep me on my toes. Ripe is all over the place and I love it. Great harmonies. Great guitar work. It’s just fucking - GREAT. Everybody should be listening to this band.

8. Cass McCombs – County Line: There are two things I like in music: a warm sounding organ and shuttering falsetto. This song has both. McComb’s voice is as smooth as BUTTAH. Listen to that vibrato! Is that really his voice? I swear someone in the studio is repeatedly turning up and down the volume knob on that vocal track.

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – We Almost Lost Detroit: I don’t know much about Jr. Jr., but I know a fucking great chorus when I hear it. And when I hear this chorus my ears release a sticky gel-like substance. ‘Nuff said.

6. Phantogram – Don’t Move: Got some girl/guy action going on here with a little trumpet tantalization. No, it’s not the latest Urban Dictionary definition, it’s Phantogram. The EP they released last month is one of the year’s best and Don’t Move is the EP’s best track.

5. TV Girl – Benny and the Jetts: Tim and Joel warned me about Del’s recommendations when I came aboard SYFFAL, but they’re not all that bad. Case and point: Benny and the Jetts. I love the lo-fi-ness of this song and when that over-drive kicks is at the 23 second mark you have no choice but to be hooked.

4. Holy Gost! – Some Children: Awwwwwz YEA! I wish this could be my soundtrack for a day and everybody could hear it. I’d strut down the street in a light blue blazer with rolled up sleeves and be like ‘Sup muthaFucks? Yeah, that’s Michael McDonald ya hear.’

3. Dum Dum Girls – Coming Down: Okay, so what if the Dum Dum Girls sound a little too much like The Pretenders AND so what if Coming Down sounds a little too much like Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You? These are both good things, right? If a song makes you feel good then it can’t be wrong.
2. Black Books – The Big Idea: This song is paralyzing….like I’m in a disconcerted dream and my legs don’t work. I’ve never taken heroin, but the feeling I get when listening to The Big Idea must be similar to that euphoric high portrayed in Tarantino films.

1. Girls – Vomit: How can such a beautiful song be named Vomit? Christopher Owen was inspired by the biblical verse "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Yes, it’s hard not to give into an unrelenting temptation that always leads to disappointment. For Girl’s front man Christopher Owen it’s his ex, for me it’s Taco Bell. Good thing I'm not the one writing music.

Del LeFevre’s 
Top 10 Songs of 2011

10. The Teddybears - No More Michael Jackson: It took awhile but MJ finally got a fitting send off. RIP King of Pop.. And long live the Teddybears.

9. Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know: I'm fairly certain that in the future when we wax poetic about one hit wonders of the twitter decade we'll look back lovingly at this killer kiss off jam. Nothing wrong with that.

8. Purity Ring - Belispeak: 2012 will be the year of Purity Ring. Mark my words. I'm in love. Glitchy stuttery love.

7. The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines: If and when I harness my wiffle gas face and turn it into a career as a closer for the mets the second half of this track will be my entrance music. So Badass.

6. Active Child - Playing House: Retro R&B married to choirboy vocals and harp playing in theory should never work. Theory is for pussies. Pat Grossi and Co have no time for your talk of theories. They were too busy killing it with Playing House.

5. Cults - Abducted: Any doubt that this band was a product of the internet hipster hype machine was washed away at the 39 second mark of the opening track of their debut album.

4. The National - Think You Can Wait: I have still yet to see Win Win, the movie from which this song was featured...but who wants to focus on Paul "Pig Vomit" Giamati's face when you can focus on the strong steady dead sexy baritone of Matt Berninger

3. fucked Up - Queen of Hearts: fucked Up was always a tough sell for people. This song changed all that. So intense, yet so smooth.

2. M83 - Wait: M83's "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" is my album of the year. This track is its heart. It floors me every time.

1. Cold Cave - The Great Pan is Dead: The title track that also acts as the lead for the album engulfs your mind and heart in darkwave passion. You feel overpowered right from the start and it never stops.

Joel Frieders’
Top 10 Songs of 2011

10. Onry Ozzbourn - That Good (Feat. Sapient): I fucking love OnOzz. His disinterested flow is as fucking endearing as a deer staring at my car's headlights. The hook on this track is fucking TITS.

9. Matt Lowell – Calling: Starts off childish, ends with me pounding my chest while watching taxi cabs almost crash into each other in the rain. SOMEONE PUNCH THIS PRICK IN THE DICK.

8. Duologue - Get Out While You Can: I don't remember putting this in my *Best Tracks of 2011* playlist in iTunes, but it's raunchy and intense and the only track in my "Songs To Bump While You Decide To Flee Zombies" playlist.

7. Sevonica - Broken Light: Unbelievable tension and beauty. Sevonica are one of my new favorite bands of the fucking decade. I will blow them in person using origami and Gardetto's rye chips.

6. Serengeti – California: The only song on my top ten that I've listened to in my shower spinning in circles with my arms out and my head tilted back. Yes, I shower at the YMCA.

5. Active Child - Hanging On: This dude is fucking insane: classical harp, classical choir voice, insane amount of ear candy. This is another artist I've told a shitload of people about.

4. The Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once: Triumphant and precise, this is what I assume all drunken Irishmen listen to before they follow William Wallace into battle.

3. City and Colour - We Found Each Other In The Dark: This was one of the songs that convinced me Canada wasn't all bad. I have since changed my mind again, but this song is fucking perfectly introspective and vulnerable.

2. The Dears - Omega Dog: The guitar on this song as it starts is one of my favorite things ever to have had shoved in my ears. The rest of this album was boring, but this is perfect.

1. Black Books - The Big Idea: This song is by far my favorite song of the year. Larger than life while being delicately emotional, I've probably played this song for more people than on my own.

Dick Richardson's
Top 10 Songs of 2011

10. Jesse Ruins – Sofija: This was a relatively random track I managed to stumble across by the mysteriously up-and-coming Jesse Ruins. I physically cannot stop listening to it and thus I want to share my burden with you.

9. Alarum - Non-Linear Parallels: It was rather difficult picking a track from the new Alarum record that really stood out (tip: BECAUSE IT IS SO FLAWLESS AND VARIED), but this should give a good sampling of everything that the new album has to offer.

8. Beastie Boys – OK: The new Beastie Boys album was (much to my relief) absolutely awesome and this track just goes to show that even grizzled Jewish brahs can put together stimulating hip hop.

7. Obscura - Vortex Omnivium: Proof that death metal can be stimulating and listenable whilst being played by guys that look like your college thermodynamics teacher assistants.

6. Cynic - Carbon-Based Anatomy: Paul Masvidal pretty much already transcended our commonly recognized realm of existence long ago and this is the one relic he left behind to indicate the world water supply needs to be laced with LSD on a bi-monthly basis.

5. Liturgy – Generation: Ignore everything you've heard about the pretentiousness and inaccessibility of both Liturgy and the black metal genre in general. Just listen to this fer Pete's sake.

4. Zombi - DE3: Zombi's latest record was a step in a new direction and paid off in spades. I don't mean no David Spades, neither.

3. Krallice - Telluric Rings: Since I couldn't put every Krallice song as the "best of" for 2011, this one will have to suffice. Listening to this is like watching the director's cut of the Lord of the Rings trilogy packed into a solid 12 minutes worth of sound.

2. Capillary Action – Phanatical: I cannot fathom why this band hasn't been exposed to a greater degree and it is my hope that you'll be overcome with concurring rage after hearing this.

1. World Under Blood - Under the Autumn Low: Anything this technical and/or fast is probably breaking some sort of international law by being so damned catchy, but, alas, here we are.

Tim Baker’s
Top 10 Songs of 2011

10. Santah - Cold Wave: Santah made a damn near perfect pop album, beautiful and infectious hooks, melodies that linger in your head and an emotional anchor that leaves you hooked floating around in their dirty sea. Cold Wave is the best song of the bunch.

9. 1,2,3 - Confetti: what a fucking monster you hear those drums? It sounds like Kong is coming for our white women. Add in those driving guitars, the rhythmic vocals and you have an anthem that can Fuck with Freddie Mercury's mustache and ample teeth.

8. Luke Temple - So Long, So Long: make no mistake about it, Luke Temple is the best song writer of our generation. This dirty son of a bitch nails it every time. Every emotion is pitch perfect; and every song fits any mood or scenario. So Long, So Long captures all of the beauty Luke Temple has and smells like hot cocoa.

7. Paleo - Over The Hill and Back Again: Paleo is one of those love him or hate him dudes, I fucking love him. Over The Hill and Back Again is so quirky and off kilter, yet so centered that it makes it impossible to argue that Paleo isn't something special.

6. Imaginary Cities - Temporary Resident: Catchy, warm, clever, tantalizing and amazing are all words I would use to describe Temporary Resident. I fell in love with Imaginary Cities this year and this song is a big part of the reason why.

5. Wu Lyf - Spilling Blood: I have no idea what this mumbly muthafucker is saying and honestly I don't give a shit. Spilling Blood is epic, the guitar haunts me, the bassline cops a feel and the drums outright threaten my manhood. Everything about this track is fucking exhilarating.

4. Dear Lions - Out of Body: this is the song that took Dear Lions from cool local band to potentially epic band. The song writing matured, Ricky Lewis' voice makes sweet love to the guitar and rhythm section and the way it builds and builds into this explosion of greatness and then silence kicks the shit out of me every time I hear it.

3. Danny Brown - Pac Blood: this is really the only rapper/rap song I need right now, Danny Brown tones fown his energy and just straight murders the track with a relentless flow, a solid mix of street smarts, regular smarts and fucking rawness. As my friend paWL said "when you sample Nautilis you win." Amen you fury little hobbit, amen.

2. White Denim - Street Joy: god damn these fucking guys, they are just so good it hurts. Street Joy is the best song on arguably the best album of the year. It is slow cooked and sensual fall off the bone tender. It aches in all the right ways, makes all the right calls. With Street Joy they dial it up just enough to let the tip tingle but not enough to make you burst. It is a delicate and difficult trick but these dirty pricks are masters at their craft.

1. Vanaprasta - Self Indulgent Feeling: Good god Vanaprasta is something special; with Self Indulgent Feeling they nailed it on every level. If this song doesn't make you wanna get all Ferris Bueller and put on a giant song and dance number in the crowded downtown streets well they you are probably a dick with no pulse. It is a perfect song that cups your boys just right while telling you all the secrets of the universe. Behemoth hooks, a voice that makes my chest sweat and a musical bed that I want to conceive many childrens on.

Brandon Backhaus’
Top 10 Songs of 2011

10. Caitlin Rose - Shanghai Cigarettes: The unhottest girl I have the total hots for. Don’t get me wrong, Caitlin Rose is cute as a button, but I feel like I’d run away with her to a cabin in the mountains or something, only coming down for breakfast at the Omelet Parlor in Venice, and indie flicks at Laemmle’s.

9. 1,2,3 - Confetti: I’m not sure if this song was included in a previous release or not, but I didn’t hear it until after New Heaven dropped. The one song that I put on single track repeat in my car… ever! That’s saying a lot.

8. Gajah – Sponge (feat. Open Mike Eagle): Sick, dark track marrying the rapid-fire talents of Acid Rein’s Gajah, and the conversation flow of Open Mike Eagle. This should go down as an LA classic.

7. Bleached - Think of You: In the vein of The Descendents, “Hope,” this track takes me back to skateboards and Lucky’s parking lots.

6. TV Girl - Benny and the Jetts: Addicting song about another addicting song. TV Girl gets it right here, and god what an awesome band name combining the two things that might fight to the death for my affection; second to music, television and girls.

5. Serengeti – California: Reinvent yourself, California! In his own talkish way Serengeti is a gawdamned genius! And this song is an anthem!

4. Gold Lion - Wonderful Tonight: Gingerrific Eric Clapton cover. Nuff said.

3. The Loose Salute - Happy I Don’t Count: And the award for coolest use of a rabbit suit in a video goes to…

2. The Bots - I Like Your Style: These fucking babies! Punk rock, virtuoso children! Apparently they are from my back fucking yard, Glendale, Ca. I think great musicians grow in some hidden magic field here harvested by illegal immigrant farmers and sold on street corners below market price. Where to Fuck does this talent keep coming from?

1. Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know: Gotye, Australian for heart break.