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Welcome back to the Headphone Bros' best of 2018 recap. I'm excited to share with you the 5 songs that I couldn't stop listening to last year. Typically, my preferred method of listening to music has been in album-length installments, and I would love to be presenting you with my top 5 albums of the year. Unfortunately, that would force me to exclude two of my favorite songs from last year, as they did not appear on any album. This modern, Spotify/YouTube age of music where nearly everything is available at any time has changed the way we consume music, and it has brought back the power of "singles" in a big way. As a result, I must change with the times, and the result is this list of Songs, as opposed to Albums.
As is commonly accepted practice, I will start with #5 in order to present this info in the most appropriately dramatic fashion possible.
#5) Old Man Saxon - "Stop Shooting"
How do you like that? Right off the bat, I'm pushing the boundaries of this list. "Stop Shooting" was released as a single on December 8th of 2017. "What is it doing on this list!?" you might ask. I justify its inclusion for 3 reasons. First, December 8th is so late in the year, most people's best-of lists have already been written at this point. (It certainly didn't qualify for mine, since I didn't even write one for 2017.) The vast majority of the time available to listen to this song after its release was in 2018.
Second, the single may have been released in 2017, but it appeared on Old Man Saxon's album The Pursuit, which wasn't released until April 27, 2018. That means that while it was technically possible to listen to this song during a brief window at the end of 2017, it was also technically part of a 2018 release.
The third, and most important reason its on this list is that it's a killer track. "Stop Shooting" is Saxon expressing the anxiety he feels in large crowds because of the increasing frequency of mass shootings. He used that anxiety to write a "call to action," as he puts it, for everyone to stop shooting, whether it's at a concert, at a club, or the police. It's refreshing to hear a talented artist put to music the same frustration and exasperation that so many of us are feelings.
And he does it very well. The song has an intense, pounding backing track that is unrelenting. His vocals build on the anxiety. The first verse begins gradually, with substantial pauses between the lines, which continues through the chorus. Halfway through the second verse, he switches to a triplet style that kicks the song into a higher intensity. Even the flute playing during the chorus creates a disorienting feel. Despite the tension, the song has a killer groove and I find it impossible to sit still while listening. The combination of meaningful, timely lyrical content and monster beats have made this one of the best hip-hop released of 2018(ish).
#4) They Might Be Giants - "Mccafferty's Bib"
You may think I couldn't have made a harder left-hand turn from "Stop Shooting" to They Might Be Giants, but these songs have more in common than you think. But before I explore the connections, I want to describe how this song creeped up on me last year.
They Might Be Giants' latest album, I Like Fun, was released January 19th, 2018. As a die-hard TMBG fan, I knew I needed to listen immediately. The problem with being a big fan of a band that's been putting out music consistently for over 30 years is that you pretty much know what to expect. Sure enough, I Like Fun was pretty much exactly what I was expecting. Their fun sound and the melancholy lyrics disguised by said sound are par for the course for a TMBG album. I enjoyed listening to it, but other than the killer "Insult to the Fact Checkers" and the hilarious "Lake Monsters," none of the songs really grabbed my attention.
Until one did. The first few listens to the album, "McCafferty's bib didn't stand out to me. It's a relatively quieter song, compared to the rest of the album, and the vocals are robotic and nearly monotone. When I finally paid attention, I was suddenly struck by the unsettling feeling that came over me. Everything about this song builds a feeling of foreboding.
Like "Stop Shooting," "McCafferty's Bib" is a song full of tension and exploration of group mentality. "Stop Shooting" explores the chaos that dominates behavior during mass shootings to the soundtrack of heavy drums and startling woodwinds. "McCafferty's Bib" describes the equally destructive, lemming-like behavior of groups, and also happens to have comical woodwinds and drums that seem to be a little too energetic compared to the rest of the song.
Lyrically, the songs clearly reference substance abuse and behavior-modifying prescription drugs, but the theme that lingers with me is that of irreversible consequences. Consider the closing line. “The toothpaste won’t go back in the bottle, since it granted our wish, and we will never be rid of McCafferty’s bib.” This isn’t just a song decrying the use of drugs to solve emotional problems. The song acknowledges that there is no going back. Pandora’s box has been opened, and nothing will ever be the same.
This hits me in an existential sweet spot that seems very relevant as a human living in the early 21st century, because we are dealing with at least two modern analogues to Pandora’s box: climate change and the internet. Climate change may have been reversible at one point, but we ignored our effects on the global climate for long enough that all we can do now is try and mitigate the damage. The internet is a different kind of problem, in that it’s not inherently negative, but nevertheless has permanently changed the way we behave as individuals, and as a species. Both of these aspects of modern life affect us all, alleviate some problems, and bring their own.
Listening to this song brings me a kind of cosmic dread as I consider the future. For some reason I really appreciate that.
#3) Shopping - “Discover”
At this point, I realize that none of these five songs are very upbeat. I have always been fascinated by art that has a darkness to it, but that seems to be especially true this year. I apologize if you were looking for something uplifting to listen to because apparently, in 2018, my musical taste was up to no good. That’s not to say none of these songs are fun. “Discover,” like “Stop Shooting,” is a song that always makes me want to dance.
Discover has the distinction of being from my favorite album of the year, Shopping’s The Official Body. The first time I listened to it, I was immediately on-board. Their sound scratched a very specific musical itch I didn’t even know I had; a modern band that sounds like both Gang of Four’s Entertainment! and early B-52’s. Shopping’s lyrics are politically- (and socially)-minded, and they play extremely danceable music that still reminds you how empty life can be.
It was hard to pick a favorite from The Official Body, but “Discover,” with it’s simple, repetitive, lyrics and sinister surf guitar was a groove I could not get enough of this year. I also highly recommend the opening track, “The Hype,” and the closing track, “Overtime.” One convenient way to listen to both of these songs is by listening to the whole album from beginning to end. Not a bad way to spend 30 minutes.
#2) Le Butcherettes - “spider/WAVES”
As much as I love The Official Body, I don’t think it would have been my favorite album of 2018 if Le Butcherettes had released a full-length album. Fortunately for Shopping, Le Butcherettes’ only 2018 releases were four singles, the first of which has been in my constant rotation since it was released last April.
“spider/WAVES” had my attention immediately, even though I had no idea what she was saying. “Injuries are slashed deep open. Messiah’s hold them still.” I’m still not sure what that means, but the way she sings that opening chorus grabbed my attention and held it for the whole four minutes and fourteen seconds.
I don’t think I can fully explain my love for this song, because I don’t think there’s anything cerebral about my response to it. Her performance, and the emotion she pours into it, captivate me. The song is haunting one moment, then blisteringly powerful the next. The fact that the lyrics seem to be mostly a stream of consciousness, for me, only adds to the mystery and appeal. There’s a surreal quality to this song that hits me right in the heart, and I say hit me again.
If you like this, their last single of the year, “father/ELOHIM” is also fantastic. Then listen to “strong/ENOUGH” and “struggle/STRUGGLE” while you’re at it. Le Butcherettes are my favorite band of the year, even with just four songs.
And just because I can’t share this video enough, please check out this video from 2016:
#1) Childish Gambino - “This is America”
Not only is “This is America” the most important song of the year; not only does it hold up a mirror to everything wrong with our country both past and present; not only does it have be most powerful, expertly crafted music video I’ve ever seen; but “This is America” is also a really damn good song.
I have been a fan of Donald Glover since he was a part of Derrick Comedy trying to sell the corpses of famous rappers, but I have not always appreciated his music. As a 35-year-old straight, cisgendered white guy, I’m not really who he’s writing music for anyway. Regardless of how I respond to the rest of his musical output, “This is America” wowed me from the moment the bass dropped.
As I mentioned above, Childish Gambino’s music is not for me, and I’m definitely not the best person to be dissecting this song or the video. Check out this article from last May that collects several tweets with much more informed opinions on this song than I have. One thread I’d like to single out is Justing Simien’s:
Thanks for reading! For more 2018 music takes from the Headphone Bros, check out Chud’s interview with Lana Shea, who’s album Duality dropped last year, and check out her track Thyself.