Best Song Ever: April 2013 (Round 2)

Tokyo Police Club, "Frankenstein" vs. The Exploding Hearts, "I'm a Pretender"
Winner: "Frankenstein"

Richard & Linda Thompson, "Shoot Out the Lights" vs. The Who, "Substitute"
Winner: "Shoot Out the Lights"

Jack White, "Blunderbuss" vs. Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"
Winner: "Once in a Lifetime"

Tokyo Police Club, "End of a Spark" vs. my bloody valentine, "Only Tomorrow"
Winner: "only tomorrow"

Deer Tick, "The Bump" vs. The La's "I Can't Sleep"
Winner: "I Can't Sleep"

Zeus, "Kindergarten" vs. The Who, "Behind Blue Eyes"
Winner: "Behind Blue Eyes"

Round one was a bit of a learning experience. For obvious reasons, I had to learn the decision-making process: how do you judge two songs, sometimes completely different, against each other? Is one form of song inherently better than another? Do old songs, with decades of weight and a lifetime of listening, take precedence over recent favourites? Are originals inherently better than covers? On that last point, I find it very regrettable that none of the covers in the competition made it to round two. Those were some very tough calls.

I was pretty sheepish about the message I wanted to send about the nature of this exercise. In one sense it's an idle musing, the equivalent of sitting around in your basement with your buddies and going, "Who or Zeppelin? Floyd or Queen?" I don't mean to insult any song by voting it out. These are all songs I listen to, that I choose to have with me at all time. This is all quality music and worthy of recognition. But in a real sense, they are competing against each other. They're competing for your dollars and your time. The question at the heart of each of these matchups is: Which song would I rather be listening to? Which song could I listen to all day, and which song would I eventually turn to something else? Yes, some of the get by on personal attachment, or legacy, or being more ambitious works (here's to you, "Behind Blue Eyes," which carries all three) but when we listen to music this are factors, they are called up in our heads time and again when we click on these songs. The nebulous qualities a song needs to be better or best, to one man's ears, are all fair game.

The other learning experience was of course that I set way too much of a pace when it came to the literal verbal content of the article. I can't expect myself to write up an entire summary for each matchup, simply because I will end up re-writing the same virtues about each song until they are gone. A lot of these weren't easy, but they were definitive in the end: Talking Heads beating Jack White was one I had to double and triple-check to make sure I felt. Putting "Frankenstein" ahead of "I'm a Pretender" looks, on paper, like I'm putting a somewhat arty, somewhat fancy indie pop composition over a really good ragged pop-punk/power pop song just because one is more serious. -- The Tokyo vs. MBV matchup only seems to confirm this. I don't want it to be true, but maybe it is. But those songs that won had a lot of heart and a lot of great scenery, instead of the raw muscle exhibited by their opponents.

At the end of the round there were only two matches I really agonized over, because in a way both songs in each combo were similar, neither really had the edge:

Gin Blossoms, "Hey Jealousy" vs. Joel Plaskett Emergency, "Written All Over Me"

The Gin Blossoms bring their A-game to this gem, a frothy slacker anthem for the 90s. It's jokey and pleading, a great double-meaning, a song for all seasons. It's basically everything I love about 90s music, and I think that guitar break in the middle is rad. Oh, but Joel. This song has all the heart and humour you could want. His guitar slips from a muscular riff to a acrobatic, even playful, solo. A great example of his mastery of form.

Winner: "Written all Over Me"

Aerosmith, "Moving Out" vs. Arcade Fire, "Ready to Start"

I'm "biased" in the sense that Aerosmith is my on-the-record favourite band, so every song from them is going to get serious consideration. And this is a pretty good song, despite its early place in their discography. I've heard few riffs like it, and its lyrics abstractly amount to, if not philosophy, then certainly a certain kind of poetry. It's dusty, stoned gypsy rock, and it gets absolutely everything right.

That said, I'm not biased, in that I have no stake in the the competition. There's nothing to gain if I advance "Movin' Out" without convincing myself, properly, that it beats a key track from the great Suburbs album, Arcade Fire (or was it the other way around?) From the getgo, "Ready to Start" is a dynamic, gripping track that does a great job drilling directly into your chest. Neither's lyrics are totally straightforward. Once is a call to nature and isolation, one is a reflection on art vs. commerce.

It would be easy for me to pick Aerosmith just because I've been listening to it for decades. It would be easy for me to pick Arcade Fire just to satisfy the need to show that newer songs are on the same level as classics and personal faves. I'm moving Arcade Fire forward to let them fend for themselves against exceptional competition. I know they deserve it. This is a great song, and it's a very lucky thing it wasn't up against "Sweet Emotion."

Winner: "Ready to Start"

Best Song Ever: April 2013 (Round 1)

I've been going a little stir crazy lately. The little elves inside my brain that write my reviews have been fatigued since the new year: despite being flush with great new releases by the likes of Hollerado and David Bowie, not to mention finally getting into Husker Du, it's a little tough getting anything going, as far as writing for this site. I'm reluctant to return to the grind. Then an idea hit me. A really stupid idea, but maybe a fun one.

About a year ago, the entertainment site Vulture ran a series of articles designed to determine the best TV drama of the past 20 years. They used a tournament bracket setup and a panel of esteemed judges. It made for a really entertaining bunch of articles. Every now and again I have thought it might be interesting to find a way to incorporate something like that into SOTW.

So what has happened is that I had iTunes select 32 random tunes from my (active/checked) library: some are things I've covered on SOTW, some are my old personal favourites, some are objective classics and some are recent gems. And maybe some suck but I just happen to have them. Although the idea of pitting entertainments against each other is inherently an incorrect way of looking at it (I cannot stress that enough,) I am nakedly admitting that I'm just doing this for shits and giggles. The song that wins this tournament (be thankful I'm not doing full albums) can't possibly be the literal best song ever. By necessity, it's something that I listen to anyway, and I loves me some music so I'm not going to be too harsh on any of these songs. In doing this, hopefully, it will spotlight a lot of great tunes that haven't come up in regular conversation lately. Let's speed through the first half of our opening round:

Tokyo Police Club, "Frankenstein" vs. Japandroids, "Fire's Highway"

Tokyo was one of the first albums I truly, completely loved after starting this blog, and "Frankenstein" is a fantastic closer to that album, acting as a comedown from the jittery, hooky synth-power-pop, with its mellotronic tones and quivering guitars, and that staggering drumbeat. It's very odd that this competition begins with something that wraps up its original album so completely and satisfactorily.

It's an old favourite versus a new one, though, because Japandroids was one of the best albums of 2012, and "Fire's Highway," with its splashing riffs and thundering drums sums up its qualities succinctly. It's got those echoing, anthemic "oh's" and coarse vocals. "Fire's Highway" is definitely a great piece of an excellent whole, but "Frankenstein" is a complete listening experience on its own. It gets the nod.

Winner: "Frankenstein"

David Bowie, "Love is Lost" vs. The Exploding Hearts, "I'm a Pretender"

In one corner, a dense, pulsing, organ-fueled, moody track from David Bowie's great new album. In the other, a snotty, brash piece of mid-2000s pop punk. You might think you know the answer, but you don't. All things being equal, and the Bowie album being great, its newness works against it, and I haven't had enough time to become as attached to it, especially not this particular song, as I have to the perfectly raucous Exploding Hearts.

Winner: "I'm a Pretender"



Joel Plaskett Emergency, "Penny For Your Thoughts" vs. Richard & Linda Thompson, "Shoot Out the Lights"

Oof. This bracket is a killer. "Penny" is a key part of the terrific concept album that is Ashtray Rock, a cheeky, playful and catchy as hell ode to young love. And "Shoot Out The Lights" is a lumbering, towering freefall of depression and despair. It just hits that sweet spot. I've got to give it to RT, who bring one of my favourite guitar solos ever to this track. I feel like Joel would understand.

Winner: "Shoot Out The Lights"

The Who, "Substitute" vs. Japandroids, "For The Love of Ivy"

The BC Duo face tough competition for the second time tonight, going up against major-minor Who fave, "Substitute." Not the most beloved Who song, but also not my favourite track off Celebration Rock -- if it swapped places with "Fire's Highway" this would be a running battle. In the end, The Who's original takes it over Japandroid's cover. The best Who songs are quirky and weird and hard rocking all at once, and this is no exception.

Winner: The Who



Jack White, "Blunderbuss" vs. The Eels, "The Longing"

Not the closest matchup of the tournament so far, but definitely the most downbeat. The shimmering Nashville Skyline-esque beauty of White's solo debut title track goes up against a free verse poem set to a ghostly waltz by Mark Oliver "E" Everett. And make no mistake, as part of El Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire (which I'm totally gonna review soon) it's a key track, bringing a deep dimension of pain and despair in its refrain ("Surely there are other things to life / But I can't think of one single thing / That matters more than just to see her...") but "Blunderbuss" is one of the best tracks on one of the best albums of last year.

Winner: "Blunderbuss"

Arcade Fire, "Wasted Hours" vs. Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"

This seems to be a recurring theme: matching songs that are great as part of a complete package against songs that can be listened to at any time in any situation. The Neil Young-tinged "Wasted Hours" is a great part of the overarching sound of The Suburbs, with its dusky-lazily strummed twang. But "Once in a Lifetime" is fucking "Once in a Lifetime!" I don't even need to tell you why it wins.

Winner: "Once in a Lifetime"

Nirvana, "Sliver" vs. Aerosmith, "Movin' Out"

Holy shit, this is regrettable. I have actually said "Sliver" is my favourite Nirvana song. Not always, but I have. It just sums them up so perfectly, their power and poppiness, their angst and perverse humour, writing a punk-grunge song from the perspective of an angsty child forced to stay with his grandparents. "Grandma take me home" is maybe one of the most surprisingly awesome rock lyrics ever (up there with the Pixies' "it's educational!") But look who they're up against. Much to the chagrin of many of my bemused colleagues, I have professed my lifelong love for that band time and again. And "Movin' Out" is not minor Aerosmith, it's got that sinewy riff, those hippie hangover post-psychedelic philosophy class lyrics that are utter nonsense but work better because of it. Rip the heart right out of my chest why don't you.

Winner: "Movin' Out"



Arcade Fire, "Ready to Start" vs. Lit, "My Own Worst Enemy"

Arcade Fire makes its return appearance coming up against one of the biggest rock hits of the 90's. And I love me some 90s rock, but with one of the most dense, subtle-yet-rocking tracks off The Suburbs, the 2011 Best Album Grammy winners take it. That lyrics, "I would rather be alone than pretend I feel all right" just does it for me, man.



Talking Heads, "Take Me To The River" vs. Tokyo Police Club, "End of a Spark"

I think Talking Heads' reading of Al Green's sexual-angst-via-religion "Take Me To The River," as a tightly-wound plastic funk explosion is one of the greatest covers ever committed to tape. And "End of a Spark" happens to be one of my favourite tracks off Champ and a terrific piece of 2010 alt-power-pop. And with both bands already having a slot in Round 2, it's an interesting scenario. If the Heads didn't win, it would be because it's not the even-better Stop Making Sense version but the original recorded version. Or perhaps because there's an inherent push against covers in this contest.

Winner: "End of a Spark"

Aerosmith, "Lightning Strikes" vs. my bloody valentine, "only tomorrow"

Two more different tracks from my iPod, you could hardly find. On the one hand, sludgy early-80s hard rock from Aerosmith's redacted era. On the other hand, a track from My Bloody Valentine's 2013 comeback album, the gauzy, low-fi, moaning, squealing, sighing, shoegaze epic mbv. It's bad enough I gave 'Smith the nod over Nirvana, I know James Leask would flay me if I passed over mbv for this one. Or at the very least, he would cancel my scheduled appearance on his podcast next week. Luckily for him, and mbv, this is minor Aerosmith we're talking about: Joe Perry wasn't even with the band for this album, and while I think it happens to be underrated, it's still not in the same league as one of the best tunes from this terrific album, mbv: I love the way it builds and culminates in that staggering, beautiful riff.

Winner: "only tomorrow"

The Hives, "Hate To Say I Told You So" vs. Gin Blossoms, "Hey Jealousy"

Now here's a matchup: the razor sharp garage punk of early-2000s Hives and the warm fuzzy aw-shucks self deprecation of the Gin Blossoms. It's not an easy win for the Blossoms, but it's a clean one.

Winner: "Hey Jealousy"

Joel Plaskett Emergency, "Written All Over Me" vs. Arctic Monkeys, "Brianstorm"

Joel! So glad you're back. Here we see the opening track from his "Truthfully, Truthfully" album paired against the opening track of Arctic Monkeys' second disc. For me, Favourite Worst Nightmare takes a few tracks to really hit its stride, and "Brian" is an only-okay holdover from the Whatever People Say I Am era. "Written All Over Me," meanwhile, exudes all the charm and wit that permeates all of Plaskett's music, a mischievous, down home chunk of riffage that always gets me going. Great curtain raiser.

Winner: "Written All Over Me"

Deer Tick, "The Bump" vs. Deer Tick, "Chevy Express"

Now here's a wild card. I had never even listened to Deer Tick before a few weeks ago, when someone showed me A.V. Club's Undercover series, featuring a terrific take on one of my all-time favourite songs, Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta." I got the album, Divine Providence, and I liked it, and then moved on. Then my random playlist generator sat these two songs, neither of which I could recall from memory, right next to each other, the only instance in round one of a band going up against itself. So I left it in - and revised my proposed "only one song per band" rule, just to see how it played out. "The Bump" is them at their bar band best, and "Chevy Express" is a more intimate ballad. Both great and for different reasons, but I've gotta give it to the former.

Winner: "The Bump"



Matt Mays, "Indio" vs. The La's "I Can't Sleep"

Matt Mays released a great album in 2012, which I will review soon, and "Indio" is a terrific intro to it, with its dusty, mystic southwestern feel. Against weaker opposition, it might have won, but "I Can't Sleep" is The La's at their peak power, right up there with "There She Goes." Life's not fair sometimes.

Winner: "I Can't Sleep"

The Vaccines, "Wetsuit" vs. Zeus, "Kindergarten"

"Wetsuit" brings to mind tunes like "Favourite Food" from Tokyo Police Club, or Joshua Tree era U2, the way it builds modestly to ignite a towering inferno. It's maybe not as grandiose as all that, but it's a good listen. The first Zeus record was one of my favourite records of 2010, and here's some high spirited madness from them. They edge out the win.

Winner: "Kindergarten"

The Animals, "House of the Rising Sun" vs. The Who, "Behind Blue Eyes"

It could be the case that this entire tournament is a contest to see who gets to come in second to the winner of this match. Based on reputation alone, these might be the two heaviest hitters of the lot, and they are up against each other in round one. "House of the Rising Sun" was my favourite song as a kid: Eric Burdon's voice is so dour and enigmatic and gloomy, and that guitar is just so perfect, as the organ bubbles under the surface before overtaking it completely.

Both these songs have their mystical qualities. The Who has already advanced in this tournament, but not like this. That was early Who, this is mid-Who, Who's Next, post-Tommy, circa Pete Townshend completely losing his marbles in the Lifehouse debacle and coming back with one of the most phenomenal records of all time. "Behind Blue Eyes" is the hypothetical villain song, building to that great climax, this is that band at nearly their best (besides "Baba O'Riley," for sure.) This is the hardest call of the night. What's more, it comes back to that same dilemma: a great single, or a great album song.

Really listening, really thinking about it, hearing the individual strings of Pete Townshend's guitar, the crawling of John Entwhistle's bass, one of Roger Daltrey's best vocal performances, and then that moment when Keith Moon's drums come in. Songs like this are what you're really thinking of when you think of the Who. And it's not even 8 minutes long. It's actually shorter than its hit single opponent. If I could only hear one of these songs ever again, I don't know if I'd pick the same, but tonight, it has to be.

Winner: "Behind Blue Eyes"



So maybe I do have a bias against covers (although "Rising Sun" may as well be an original.) It's quite a selection I have for myself in Round 2. Place your bets and get ready to get disproportionately mad... if you're not already.

Tokyo Police Club: Champ

What a welcoming sound is Tokyo Police Club's Champ. Good, simple rock seems increasingly hard to come by lately, and all too easily dismissed by the critics. It seems like a minor moment in music, and to a certain degree it is, but not because it's not a grandiose, profound statement. It's just hard to escape the stigma of being merely good rock. It feels like it's been about a year since the last time I heard a rock record that didn't desperately want to be something bigger. Those records sometimes succeed and sometimes get overblown and obnoxious. An album like this is fated to be seen as an underachiever, all-too-familiar and not overly ambitious. Whether you think it's important to be ambitious or not, this works for me: I've listened to it about eight times since I opened the package yesterday.

This is probably not because it's an intensely life-changing listen. It's just so immediate and in-the-moment that it seems to rush by unexpectedly, so when it's done, I want to start again. "Favourite Food" (hurray for Canadian bands using Canadian spelling) is an ideal opening track, easing the listener in with a few abstract keyboard flourishes (the album isn't utterly devoid of ambition and thoughtfulness, after all, they use their keyboards deftly throughout) and slowly unpeeling a downtempo strumming tune into an anthem. Acoustic guitars and soft keyboard tones give way to drum fills and jangly REM type riffs and away we go.

Sometimes they're a little punky, like on the blistering "Wait Up (Shoes of Danger)," or on "Big Difference," which has the relateable chorus of "That's why I can't send you Christmas cards / It's why I have to keep you in the dark / Less big words and more exclamation marks." Sometimes they sound like irresistible pop, like on "End of a Spark," or on "Not Sick," which is led by a great drum beat while the keyboards deploy the main rhythm to match it. And "Gone" echoes The Coral, which is a sentence I never thought I'd write, since not even The Coral echo The Coral. It's fun and a little drizzly.

I don't want to go the "sound of a generation" route with this: it's really just a nice record. Even so, I know my generation does disaffection the way Lennon's did rebellion and Cobain's did angst. But we still like to rock, so I'm all for the chorus of "Favourite Colour," which manages to hook an anthemic riff around what is essentially first-date small talk. This album is sorta the sound of many small moments collected over time, little observations preserved, deliberately recalling a time when staying up late was key. I think it's something my generation picked up by listening to Pinkerton over and over and watching Wes Anderson films and Garden State too many times, but it could just be me. Not that this sounds like the soundtrack to Garden State: it's too lively for that. And "Breakneck Speed" wraps all of that detachment and resignation up in a Coldplay or Kings of Leon-sized riff, shines it up real good, and shoves it in your culture hole, reaching for the epic while knowing they're stuck on Earth. In those moments where the band creates a sound that could fill a stadium, they never fail to provide a solid percussive base for their rock that many MOR arena-size groups neglect.

"I remember when our voices used to sound the same / Now we just translate." Dave Monks' voice has that detached sigh, wistful on one hand, optimistic and sincere on the other. All this uncertainty comes out on the final track, "Frankenstein" which brings the chorus of that song back by asking "Tell me it's good to be back" and tying the request to a watery synth riff worthy of Phoenix. It all comes together so smoothly, you'd think it was too easy to be so good, but I doubt it.

Now all of this is well and good, but like I said, this album is not some grand statement, it's just a good rock record. All of this generational business is put in the service of some deft hooks and cool choruses. It's interesting, but it's straightforward enough that the sound will particularly appeal to high schoolers learning there's such a thing as good rock, but aren't yet looking for Broken Social Scene or Arcade Fire. For some kid born in 1995 or 97, he might pick Champ up today and come back to it in 5 or 10 years and think, "This was the first really good CD I ever got," the same way I think of Green Day's Dookie or Offspring's Smash (note: I had older brothers, so this age is shifted way down for me.) It's good music to be a teenager to, or to feel a bit more like one. You could just lie on your bed with your girlfriend and listen to a song like "Hands Reversed," and wonder where you're headed.

Buy this album from iTunes now!