2008 Year-End List #1: Top 10 Songs by Local Bands

This year Jay Carroll of the Detroit music blog Eat This City asked me to a submit a top ten whatever list for his year-end post. I wanted to unveil my favorite records on my own accord, so I decided to list my ten favorite songs by local (mainly Detroit or Ann Arbor area) bands. After spending a couple hours on it, I emailed it to him the day it was due, and a few days later when it was posted, I found that I had been omitted from the post (he had asked more then ten different people involved in some way with the local scene). Either not playing drums in his favorite band ever (Deastro) anymore makes my opinions completely irrelevent, or this list is too Suburban Sprawl heavy. I don't know, but REAL COOL.

Anyway, I'll stop bitching. Here is my list of ten favorite songs by local bands, plus three honorable mentions.

HONORABLE MENTIONS


"Venom Bowl, Kids Guts" Child Bite (from Fantastic Gusts of Blood)
What a way to open your record. Weird, fast, loud, abrasive, almost but not quite obnoxious. The high pitched guitar makes my ears hurt in the good way, and the bassline during the chorus is SO catchy.

http://www.myspace.com/childbite


"Great Lakes" Prussia (from Dear Emily, Best Wishes, Molly)
Prussia seem to be Detroit's new "IT" band, at least locally speaking, and I just don't get it. I wasn't really impressed the only time I've seen them live (granted it was in the Garden Bowl and the sound was so shitty), and on the record, the band seems to be trying a little too hard to be weird. "Great Lakes," however, is a truly great pop song. I love everything about it, except for the fact that with two drummers, it seems like the percussion is hardly even there.

http://www.myspace.com/prussiamusic


"Ropes" The Silent Years (from The Globe)
My main complant about The Globe (and believe me, there are few) is that all the good songs are on level playing field. Nothing really sticks out above the rest. In my opinion, this is an awesome characteristic for an album to have, but makes it hard to pick a favorite song. After much deliberation, I have chosen "Ropes" due to its rhythm, mood, smart instrumentation and awesome melody.

http://www.myspace.com/thesilentyears

TOP 10


(10) "Couch Surfing" Friendly Foes (from Born Radical)
This might be my favorite Ryan Allen (Thunderbirds Are Now!) song ever. The vocal melody is perfect, the guitar part is pure 90s indie rock nostalgia and Brad Elliott's drumming here is spot on.

http://www.myspace.com/friendlyfoes


(9) "Selfless Devotion" The Dead Bodies (from Cock Cock Cock Cock Xanadu Xanadu EP)
On every other song but this, I feel like The Dead Bodies might be Detroit's answer to The Flaming Lips. Here, they remind me of mid-to-late 80s The Cure with the drum production, guitar jangle and subtle synth line. These guys are masters at what they do.

http://www.myspace.com/thedeadbodies


(8) "Unicorn Bible" Champions of Breakfast (from Pleasure Mountain)
If you take away the novelty of this act (synthy fantasy programming, fake identites, fake instruments on stage) then this song is probably even better than it already is. It is catchy as hell, and has some of the greatest melodies all year.

http://www.myspace.com/thechampionsofbreakfast


(7) "Winning Prizes" The Word Play (from How I Became Illustrated)
Somewhere between Television, Pavement, Modest Mouse and Q and Not U, "Winning Prizes" (and The Word Play in general) is truly my type of indie rock. And with how great this whole record is, the band shouldn't go unknown or overlooked any longer.

http://www.myspace.com/thewordplay


(6) "Cherry Tree (Suite Cherry pt. 2)" Pas/Cal (from I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke and Laura)
On an album that is overflowing with a boastful mix of poppiness and complexity, Trevor Naud's (Zoos of Berlin/Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship) contribution, "Cherry Tree (Suite Cherry pt. 2)" is both a nice break (it's under two minutes long) and a subtle breath of fresh air. And it is exactly what I would imagine a straightforward pop song from Naud would sound like.

http://www.myspace.com/pascalgoespop


(5) "You've Won the Lottery" The Pop Project (from Stars of Stage and Screen)
The band is exactly what their name suggests: pretty much an accessible as all get out (in a great way) experiment of various sub-genres of pop music. I consider this their "A Day in the Life." Epic and brilliant.

http://www.myspace.com/thepopproject


(4) "Latest Journey" Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship (from Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship)
Another Trevor Naud ditty, this time with his new project. I don't know how to describe this except that it is a wonderful cut and paste experiment featuring some slight and smart drumming and Naud's spectacular croon.

http://www.myspace.com/hiddenghostballoonship


(3) "Spritle" Deastro (unreleased)
A live staple from back when I was playing drums in this project. My inclusion of this on my list might seem a little shady, but whatever. This jam is synthy shoegaze heaven, with the catchiest chorus I've heard all year.

http://www.myspace.com/deastro


(2) "Heavy Meadows" Javelins (from Heavy Meadows)
This title track is the best song on my favorite Detroit area album since Red Shirt Brigade's Home of the Cannon Saints. It might be the band's smartest track: Matt Howard's guitar odes to The Smiths and Talking Heads (but weirder). rhythm section Matt Rickle and Julian Wettlin (both also of Thunderbirds Are Now!) showing restraint but keeping things interesting (Wettlin is especially genius on the choruses) and the mixture of Rickle's voice with Anathallo's Erica Froman. The strings add a nice amount of quirk and all of these things combined make for this subtle but key song from the local album of the year.

http://www.myspace.com/javelins


(1) "Friends" Lightning Love (from November Birthday)
The perfect pop song, this one right here. Simple, quirky and CATCHY. I don't know what else to say. It is flawless.

http://www.myspace.com/lightninglove