A hearty thank you to friend of AH Kerry for her annual Deck Yr Dome party, the highlight of the Aging Hepster social calendar. I was pleased to be in several arguments tonight, since I won all of them. Middle class tax cuts rule. Score!
Last we spoke: 40-31
30. "I Found a Reason" - Cat Power (Covers Record, 2000) Only Chan Marshall could make a Lou Reed lyric sound plaintive.
29. "Vindicated" - Dashboard Confessional (Spiderman 2 Soundtrack, 2004) Why do emo bands hate that term so much? It's a perfectly good term, and the Get Up Kids wish they could have recorded a song with this much pathos. Oh, shit, did I just use the word "pathos"? I'm pretty sure that gives someone license to kill me. Am now going into hiding.
28. "Life Is Beautiful" - Vega4 (You and Others, 2006) I've written earlier about the Queening of the decade. This song is the apotheosis of the Coldplaying of the decade. It's cheesy as a cheddar cloth, but when I listen to it, I think of my girls growing up, and. And. Aw, hell.
27. "People Got A Lotta Nerve" Neko Case (Middle Cyclone, 2009) See, it's okay to love animals. But if they eat you, you really can't complain, right?
26. "Never Ever" - Shout Out Louds (Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, 2003) If Radiohead had any idea what they were doing on Kid A, they would have recorded a song like this. Not so much a guitar riff as a gentle reminder, not so much a rock song as a really loud testament.
25. "Slapped Actress" - The Hold Steady (Stay Positive, 2008) An epic song about the epic feeling of a rock show. We are dust in the spotlights. We're just kind of floating. Dropped a full five spots for mispronouncing Gena Rowlands's name, though. But then raised two spots for name dropping Ben Gazzara.
24. "Kids" - MGMT (Oracular Spectacular, 2008) I need someone to settle an argument here. Is the band called "M-G-M-T" or "Management"? And is post-irony an actual musical genre? And if so, is this post-irony? And is the new Jonathan Lethem novel unreadable, pretentious garbage? As far as Lethem goes, the main characters are named Chase Insteadman and Perkus Tooth, we are pretty sure that's a yes. But we aren't finished with the novel yet, and .. oh fuck, really, a character named Oona? Holy hell.
23. "Come Pick Me Up" - Ryan Adams (Heartbreaker, 2000) The breakup song of the decade. Cameron Crowe even tried to work his magic with this one, but put it in a movie no one saw (Elizabethtown). Put aside your feelings about Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, and give in to this song. The harmonica at the end will kill you. And I forgive you, Kirsten.
22. "Chelsea Dagger" - The Fratellis (Costello Music, 2006) This song is just as good, and just as snotty, as "God Save the Queen". But instead of the queen, this song is about a slut. Still. That last chorus: fucking ell.
21. "Barely Legal" - The Strokes (Is This It, 2001) This still sounds both retro and cutting edge almost 9 years later. What the hell happened to the Strokes? They should have had at least three more songs on this list.
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