Top Rock Tracks of 2019

Is rock OK?  I've had a few conversations with people recently wondering where all of the good rock and roll has gone.  I think those concerns are overblown - rock's still there it just isn't the cultural juggernaut it once was.  And how many times has the culture sang the swan song of rock and roll?  In my lifetime, I know it was lamented as dead when hair bands took over, pre-grunge.  And then again when nu metal took over.  And now people are saying it again as rap takes over.  But no, it ain't gonna die.

But I also see many reasons for the perception that it is dying or doing poorly.  First, the overabundance of choice.  Having a Spotify system with a zillion songs available at your fingertips, makes it hard to make your own choices.  And then you try to rely on algorithms to find new rock music, and they end up feeding you shit like The Score.  So you just go with those algorithms, or the radio, and maybe rock doesn't seem so strong.  

Second, rock has been fractured, like all other genres, into a million different little sub-genres of music.  Wikipedia lists more than 40 subgenres, and those don't even include the weird stuff that Spotify files things into like Vegan Straight Edge and Black Sludge.  For real, those are legit genres.  Country sounds more like Skynryd than George.  Panic! at the Disco sounds straight pop.  Ozzy just appeared on a Post Malone song.  Cats and Dogs!  Living together!  Mass Hysteria!  But it makes it harder to find a good new rock band because they may have decided to make drone math rock and you can't find them, whereas everyone used to be lumped together and the cream would rise to the top.

Third, one of the key reasons rock seems less present is that it's freaking hard to do well.  For the Black Keys' new album, they needed multiple, very skilled instrumentalists to come together and create a layered song where all the players have to be spot on.  On the other hand, the currently most popular genre is rap, where some dude in his bedroom can just create a simple beat on his laptop, spit some mediocre lyrics about being rich, and put the song out into the world for consumption.  And rappers are bloating their albums in a major way with excess tracks, because they're generally simple to create.  Don't get me wrong, good rap is out there, and it's hard to create, but I'll argue all day that most of the current rap is simple and terrible.  So, you end up with less rock because it isn't as simple and profitable.

I'm sure there are 90 other good reasons that rock seems to be dying, but ignore that shit and gather round while I talk about why it isn't dying and instead is doing just fine.

I was at a graduation party for a friend the other night when a neighborhood friend asked me if I had seen his post about his favorite rock and roll songs of 2019.  Because I refuse to look at Facebook anymore, I had not, but I committed to going and checking it out because his musical taste is solid and pretty well jibes with my own (except that I can see on Spotify right now that he is listening to the terrible Jay-Z 4:44 album, so maybe not?).  Anyway, I like the idea, so I'm also going to provide you with some thoughts about the RAWK in 2019.



I also had a text conversation with another neighborhood friend the other day who texted out of the blue to ask if rock and roll was dead.  He said "I need you to tell me 3 or 4 bands I need to be listening to - pronto - or a part of ME is gonna die."  I sent him a few thoughts that will be included in my list below, but we also had a good discussion about the current status of rock and roll in the musical landscape.  

First, some commentary about Adam's list:

• Sturgill Simpson - "Sing Along."  This track wouldn't be my pick off of this album, but I fully agree with Adam that Simpson created a very fine rock album.  This song is good - the guitar work in it is legit.  I found myself driving home on Mopac last night, boogieing in my seat to the funky weirdness of this tune.  My main beef is a very ticky tacky item - something about the weird bass drop near the end of this song is off-putting to me.  Why is that in here?  I want less disco and more rock.
• Of Monsters and Men - "Alligator."  I never got around to this album this year, but this track is freaking great.
• The National - "Rylan."  Man, I just can't get on board with The National.  Adam calls them the best band working today, and I just can't do it.  Sooooo moooooopey.  Every time the singer starts I wanna die.
• Brittany Howard - "13th Century Metal."  Another album I need to dig in to, but this track is good.
• Sharon Van Etten - "Seventeen."  I do not endorse this pick.  I tried her music the last time she came to ACL, and it ain't for me.
• New Pornographers - "The Surprise Knock."  Another album I missed from a band that I like.  Dope song.
• The Black Keys - "Eagle Birds."  Love this whole album, although (spoiler alert!) I'd pick "Go!" and "Lo/Hi" before this one.
• The Raconteurs - "Help Me Stranger."  Good tune and good album.  Saw them live two days in a row this October, and it was the loudest freaking thing ever.  I'm all for volume, but you lose some nuance and style when everything is at 11.
• Courtney Barnett - "Keep On."  Love her so much.  Hadn't caught this single yet, but its more good stuff.  Kind of a Sticky Fingers unreleased demo vibe.
• Tyler Childers - "Whitehouse Road."  Absolutely great track (although it came out in 2017, and is country, so it seems weird on this list, but whatever.  It's awesome.).

He also gave consolation prize shouts to Beck's "Chemical," which I find lacking, as well as a few others that were fun to try out.  I now dig PUP and plan to listen more to that band.

So, enough about Adam!  It's all about ME!!!  Here are the best rock songs I noticed this year - and you can jam them in the playlist up above.  I'm not limiting myself to ten, either.  The rock cannot be contained, bro.

• The Black Keys - "Lo/Hi."  Single-handedly brought classic rock back to the masses on all terrestrial radio stations this summer.  Such an amazing groove and swagger to this, all fuzzed out guitars and strolling drums and brawny guitar solos.  Money.  Also in the running for this spot, "Go" is high-octane rock fun.
• Vampire Weekend - "Harmony Hall."  For a minute, I wasn't sure if I wanted to disqualify this from the "rock" discussion because it strays from the simple guitar/drums formula, but the song is too fun.  When I sat it down to discuss leaving it off the list, it grabbed me by the wrists and started jumping up and down until I laughed out loud and agreed that it could stay.  From the intricate guitar trills at the start, to the bouncing Brit Pop synth at the jump, this tune swings.
• Catfish and the Bottlemen - "Longshot."  I was considering giving this to "2all," another great track from their album this year, but this was the one that caught my attention at the start of the year.  Catchy as all get out, with a great chorus and a tuneful swagger. Both are excellent tracks.
• Reignwolf - "Black and Red."  Unhinged guitar thrasher smacks it around on this bluesy piece.  I saw him at ACL a few years ago, and the wild and weird ways that he tortured his axe were legendary.  If you don't want to bang your head just a touch at this one, then you need more of the rock in your life.
• cleopatrick - "sanjake."  Crush this one up, soak it in ether, and inject it straight into my veins.  Another discovery from ACL this year, and this gives me all of the perfect aggression and power and truth that I need in life.  When he sings "didn't fuck with me in high school, now you're acting like my friend" I feel that down to the tips of my nerves and back again.  When they played this one at ACL, where I was holding tightly on to the metal barrier at the front of stage, I just about levitated out of my body with the fury.  SO GOOD.  Still, after no less than 50 listens, I just got goose bumps again.
• Gary Clark, Jr. - "This Land."  The first time I heard this one was a revelation - the burning, righteous anger simmering in the lyrics for this track, along with the fact that its based on a true story of Austin boy Clark getting racially profiled by his new neighbors at his hill country ranch, make this one an instant classic.  I only wish it didn't use the N word quite so much.
• Amyl and the Sniffers - "Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)."  Next to "sanjake," this one may be the rock song of the year for me.  Violent, unhinged, thumping, raw, wild, unrestrained, pure fist-pumping rock and roll built to help you get a speeding ticket or punch someone much larger than you. Fuck and yeah.
• Ty Segall - "Every 1's a Winner."  Tasty, fuzzy psych rock with a stone cold groove embedded down in the basement.  I think this one came from KUTX.  Its a good respite from some of my harder tendencies to settle into this warm, gooey sensation.
• White Reaper - "Might Be Right."  Saw these guys a few years ago and they were loud and silly and awesome.  This track smells like Weezer and is more polished than prior albums, but its as catchy as rock and roll songs come.  A little shot of bubblegum pop rock tastes sweet.
• Briston Maroney - "Freakin' Out on the Interstate."  Another find from ACL, this song stuck with me long after I finished listening to him and writing him up.  It's got good guitarwork, plus a laconic and longing sense of sadness in the vocal and lyrics that really appeals.  Also, I can't stop singing the chorus.
• Sam Fender - "Hypersonic Missiles."  Who needs the new Bruce Springsteen album when you can get a young British dude who knocks it out of the park?  This guy was one of my favorite new finds on the ACL lineup, but then sadly had to cancel at the last minute because of health issues.  Which was a bummer, but this song is catchy and saxy and I dig it.
• Foals - "Black Bull."  I wanted to pick one of the tracks from these two albums Foals tossed out this year, and I think this one is my favorite of them.  Very propulsive, a little angry, polished but still feeling a little raw.
• The Amazons - "Mother."  Another ACL find - and their lead singer is a tall redhead, which means that he is actually the finest lead singer in all of the land.  This one has Royal Blood DNA in it, with a very fuzzed out heavy guitar sound once it kicks in, but then it also has some falsetto woohooo! bits and handclaps to bring it back towards pop rock.  I enjoy singing the chorus at high volume.
• Temples - "Hot Motion."  I love these dudes - they sound like the psych rock weirdos that Tame Impala used to be before they discovered the ability to loop synth rips for hours on end.  Trippy, and at alternate ends both tight and then loose, taking you for a slippery ride through the spectrum of reverbed-out rock and roll.  When the solo jam starts spiraling out of control near the end, I need to move my body.
• Sturgill Simpson - "Remember to Breathe."  I listened to this album a few more times in the past few days, and its really freaking good.  My brain is still having to row upstream with it because its so outside the norm for what he should be playing, but regardless of the genre sound he's living in now, the dude can jam.
• Coldplay - "Orphans."  Its got a heavy dose of world-y sounds, including a bass line that would feel at home on Paul Simon's Graceland and hooting and hollering borrowed from the bushmen, and then a sunny, bright chorus that is tailor made to be yelled along to at their next concert.  I know you may be out on Coldplay after their last foray into EDM pop, but this track makes me feel very good inside.
• The Raconteurs - "Help Me Stranger."  The Raconteurs are a perfect way to digest Jack White.  Adam had a good take on them and the usually overwrought tendencies of Jack White, and I wholeheartedly agree.  Adding in a pop-centric guy like Brenden Benson helps to soften some of the edges of White and churn out interesting rock songs with superlative guitar moments.  This one has a funk to it that is very appealing.
• Strand of Oaks - "Weird Ways."  This one has a great kick - you spend about a minute wondering if its just a folky lament over a simple acoustic, and then the electric and drums pile in and it converts from a beautifully sad poem into a driving (but still sad) rocker that takes flight at about 3:30.  By the end, it feels less like you've been hanging with a friend in a cabin in the smoky mountains and more like you just finished a massive arena rock show.

Things that I either wish I liked but they can't honestly make the list, or haven't gotten around to really digging into - the new Tool album, the new Sleater-Kinney, the Brittany Howard album, the new Fontaines D.C., weird shit like Slipknot, the new blink 182, Cage the Elephant, or whatever.  There is a lot of music out there!

I can't consider it rock, but Maggie Rogers' "Light on" is an absolutely killer song.  Makes me want to cry and yell and hug and dance all at the same time, and just about nothing feels better than feeling all of those things at the same time because of a song.

Also ineligible, because it actually came out in 2018, is Jealous of the Birds - "Plastic Skeletons," which is a funky ass jam of epic proportions that I only discovered this year.  

Whew!  Like I said, rock ain't dead.  Still pulsing along, churning out great things that my wife doesn't want to hear.  Rock 4 LYFE!