Good night sweet princes and princess of heavy, hard and glorious party rock.ġ5. “Don't You Get Lonely,” Mellow Bravo - I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday with Mellow Bravo (“C'mon Jeffery, show 'em how it's done…!).
Here his narrator boozes with the ghost of Hank Williams.ġ4. “Haint Blue Cadillac,” Joe Fletcher - On Fletcher's new (and best yet) record, “You've Got the Wrong Man,” the Nashville-by-way-of-Providence songwriter spins yarns like a hobo Shakespeare. Pair this with Grave Mother demos and you've got some definitive alternative rock.ġ3. Still, this is the best use of an upsidedown G chord I've heard all year. “I Stand Corrected,” Hallelujah the Hills - It's obvious, sometimes painfully so, that Jah Hills' new stuff stands on the shoulders of Boston indie rock gods the Bee Wolfs, Emmy Loud Harris and the Multiverses. Bonus: The title references philosopher William James and infinite regress.ġ2. “Turtles All the Way Down,” Sturgill Simpson - He sings about Jesus and devil, but also crows about Buddha and love being the only thing that has saved his life in a country song straight out of a '75 Willie Nelson's drug binge. The offspring confirms Lamar went from 2012 Rookie of the Year to 2014 allstar.ġ1. “i,” Kendrick Lamar - After a million attempts to cross breed hip hop and funk, Lamar gets the two to get busy. “Break Free,” Ariana Grande - My jam! My justification: An obvious Max Martin production with a catchy Zedd hook, “Break Free” succeeds because Grande doesn't blow the song out with squeaks and squeals - Mariah Carey would kill the song with affections Britney or Katy wouldn't have the chops to elevate the song. Bonus points for worshiping at the same alter Marvin Gaye and Al Green did in '73 (read: the bedroom).ĩ. “Take Me To Church,” Hozier - See “Stay With Me” re: the power of the song. “Sheezus,” Lily Allen - Allen skewers the regicide the music industry forces female pop singers to engage in: “Second best will never cut it for the divas/Give me that crown (expletive) I wanna be Sheezus.” The perfect comeback for a songwriter whose triumphs mock celebrity culture and contain cheeky self-deprecation.Ĩ. Funky, flashy, so-fun-it-makes-me-giddy “Tie Me Up” crashes into the freaky, climatic knockout punch of “Mama Was a Teenage Rocker.” The best seven minutes of the year.ħ.
Like maybe only the Cars before them, the Boston four-piece see new wave (and disco) as flavors of rock. “Tie Me Up” and “Mama Was a Teenage Rocker,” Animal Talk - Young bands use new wave to get dark (Interpol) or dance-y (La Roux), Animal Talk use it to rock. “We belong in the rock world/There is so much left to do/If we die in obscurity, oh well/At least we raised some hell.” Sometimes a rock song is just a rock song.ĥ & 6. “Back to the Shack,” Weezer - Interpreted as cheeky, “Back to the Shack” strikes me as an honest pledge of allegiance to rock. In a city with talent for days, most nights I think she's the best thing we have: voice, lyrics, looks, style and swagger.Ĥ. “Die Pretty,” Ruby Rose Fox - Oh, Katy, you think that's a roar? Miss Fox howls like an animal (an animal! an animal!) over a half Motown, half “Horses” sweaty stomp of a song. “Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars - Tell me this doesn't equal any chart topper from James Brown's '60s, Chic's '70s or Prince's '80s ? Go on, listen again, I'll wait. If it isn't, Katy Perry will be what's left of pop.Ģ. Smith's hit reconfirms this and hits me like “Tired of Being Alone,” “One More Try” and “Someone Like You.” The fact that blunt-but-beautiful songwriting can still succeed in 2014 - “Stay With Me” is up for three Grammys - needs to be celebrated. “Stay With Me,” Sam Smith - The song matters most. (Because not everybody loves Spotify - thanks Taylor Swift! - I've embeded links to songs not on the streaming service. For the people who complain rock is dead, pop is done, and there's been no good music since Nirvana or Woodstock or the death of Marvin Gaye, I present the Top 214 Songs of 2014!!!