2024 YEAR IN REVIEW: Our Annual Mixtapes Ft. Our Favorite Songs of the Year, Pt. 2 (Songs 052-001)
OK, you've read the first half of our list, right? If not, go back. You'll miss some great songs if you don't. If you can't wait, here are our Favorite 52 Songs of 2024. The countdown starts now...
MIXTAPE #2: PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS 052-027
SIDE A
052 TAYLOR SWIFT | "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"
Blurb: As most already know, Tay is a longtime Pickled Priest reader. If you knew that, you also know she can be a bit demanding. (See our post earlier this year for a brief summary of our run-ins with the global superstar.) Sure as Santa is Satan, our readers know she gets especially ornery during list-making season, throwing her considerable resources around to lobby for preferred positioning of her albums and songs on year-end lists. We find her shameless hustling a bit much, to be honest, not to mention overkill. When she asked about our intentions for year-end 2024 we spoke truth to power as we usually do—'Your album's first half was great, but its second-half bored us a bit. Hence, no spot on our Top 50 Albums list'—she was so pissed, she could've kicked a 60-yard field goal through the posts at Arrowhead Stadium if a ball was placed in front of her. Her disgust was tempered somewhat by the news that the fabulous "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" made our year-end mixtapes. Until, of course, we noted under out breath, that nobody breaks their least favorite toys because those don't get played with very often and that it should be some consolation to have been played with so much to begin with and perhaps a little preventive maintenance could've prevented the toy from breaking at all. At that point, she hung up the phone. But we don't hold grudges—a great song is a great song—and she made one of them.
Moment of Conversion: Skybox seats to future Chiefs game in exchange for place in Top 52 Songs list.
051 ANGELICA GARCIA | "El Que"
Blurb: "El Que" is a slow-building fire, crackling softly upon lighting then erupting skyward mid-song only to repeat that pattern throughout the song. Gemelo means "twin" in Spanish, and just as twins can look the same and have different personalities, so does this song.
Moment of Conversion: 0:48 when the chants kick in.
050 ROBERT VINCENT | "The Hard Way"
Blurb: In one of the biggest surprises in Pickled Priest history, Liverpool's relatively unknown (at least in America) Robert Vincent came out of nowhere to make our Top 25 Albums list in 2020. Now, he's finally back four years later with Barriers, another stellar LP of heartfelt, Americana-styled songs from across the pond. He continues to beat us at our own game, too. I learned last album to let his songs settle in for a spell before writing about them, but it took one listen to realize "The Hard Way" was something special. After last album's political slant, this one is clearly a more personal affair—you can feel the depths of his heartache whenever he leans on the title's refrain, extending the word "hard" for an agonizing, uncomfortable duration almost like he's stuck and can't find his way beyond it. A riveting performance.
Moment of Conversion: ...the haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrd wayyyy
049 THE CURE | "Drone:Nodrone"
Blurb: Mid-level Cure fans at best here at the Priest offices. Softening to all, dig many of the hits, delving into off-tracks occasionally rewarding, but still not full-throttle investment. Not a bad balance sheet, but no corporate takeover in the offing. After a shocking Top 25 finish for Songs of a Lost World, the next task was picking a track to represent. Not easy, what we liked was the album's patience, it's desire to create great art by letting each song have as much time as needed to come to fruition, which means pulling songs out of context is difficult. Fuck it, we said, just pick the song that rocks the most.
Moment of Conversion: Foreboding chug.
048 J. ROBBINS | "Last War"
Blurb: A prominent presence in D.C. punk in the 90s, Jawbox's music has stood the test of time. Their singer and guitarist J. Robbins is one of those post-hardcore lifers, respected and celebrated in certain circles and a pretty reliable recording artist, too. I'm cutting out much of his musical history here, but suffice it to say he's got serious credentials. His first record in a while is Basilisk, which came out earlier this year and again proves that Robbins hasn't lost his desire to create muscular and meaningful rock music with an alternative edge. "Last War" has emerged throughout the year as my favorite, a compelling alt-rock song in the same tradition of his past work, albeit even more accessible this time. Stay for the lyrics, too, if you want some poignant social commentary that hits home considering the global clusterfuck in progress at the moment.
Moment of Conversion: Great lyrics like... a carnival for carnivores and saboteurs
047 PARTY DOZEN | "Money & the Drugs"
Blurb: I hate it when a good song finds its way onto my radar by a band with a terrible name. Party Dozen is objectively a stupid band name. It's made even worse when the album from which the song comes has a cool title, one that would make a far better band name in the long run. Such is the case with Party Dozen's new album Crime in Australia. I would definitely listen to a new band named Crime in Australia just to hear what they sounded like. I know this because I initially thought it was their name. That's what lured me in in the first place. Upon realizing my error, I had already heard the song, which is spectacular. And watch the video above because if you haven't seen someone sing directly into their saxophone mic, you're about to. It's rare I see something I haven't seen yet, but Kirsty Tickle (that's her name?...for fuck's sake) does just that, and it's electric. Talk about riveting stage presence. She's got it.
Moment of Conversion: Distorted saxophone vocal reminds of Lightning Bolt and/or Zen Guerrilla.
046 THE JOY | "Amaqatha Amancane"
Blurb: Earlier this year, I said this just might be my favorite 1:38 of 2024 so far. I stand behind that claim at year-end, too. I've never stopped going back to it in order to relive the moment at the 0:18 mark where these five young South Africans harmonize together fully for the first time. It made my heart soar with, uh, joy again and again.
Moment of Conversion: 0:18 harmonies get me every time.
045 POPULATION II | "Hélène"
Blurb: Just a few months after landing a song on our Top Songs of 2023 mixtapes ("C.T.Q.S."), Quebec's Population II returned with an absolutely magnificent EP titled Serpent Échelle (Snake Ladder). There's not a bad track on the four-song, nineteen-minute trip, but "Hélène" is something special, bringing the band's post-punk sound, French vocals, and otherworldly psych reverberations into a soft/loud tension-building maelstrom packed with tons of razor-sharp guitar riffs. The band is onto something here. If they get any better it'll be scary.
Moment of Conversion: All of the above.
044 FUTURE ISLANDS | "The Tower"
Blurb: Fair or not, I listen to every song released by Future Islands wondering how singer Samuel T. Herring will present it in a live setting, be it on a late-night talk show (like his career-breaking Letterman performance) or a concert stage. He has a way of transforming the band's pulsating, synth-based songs with his intensely magnetic presence and "The Tower" is a prime target for another similar breakthrough. In a way, I see the song as a sequel of sorts to the band's biggest smash "Seasons (Waiting on You)" from 2014 (our #1 song from that year). This time, Samuel is still waiting for a distant love, an ocean between them now, but this time the details of their separation are beginning to emerge: When a boy who played with razors / Met a girl who opened cages / All the birds flew through the graveyard / And their laughter was contagious. I said details, I didn't say clarity. That you're never gonna get.
Moment of Conversion: Sam turns in another vocal classic made for TV.
043 SHEILA E FT. GLORIA ESTEFAN & MIMY SUCCAR | "Bemba Colorá"
Blurb: An unlikely superstar collaboration between "The Queen of Percussion," Sheila E., Cuban-American pop chart dominatrix Gloria Estefan, and Peruvian dynamo Mimy Succar was one of our most played songs of our summer. This lively percolator is an old-fashioned backyard party starter, a wedding dancefloor ignitor, and a domestic mood recharger all in one. As if anything else is possible when Sheila positions herself behind three giant conga drums.
Moment of Conversion: Duh, the congos.
042 EMILIANA TORRINI | "Black Lion Lane"
Blurb: "Black Lion Lane" is a great song on its own, but it benefits from having one of those rare videos that actually accentuates your connection to the music. It visually complements the song without ruining the listener's personal interpretation—a nice trick. In the video, we find Iceland's Emilíana Torrini flipping through some vinyl at a local record shop. She's suddenly carried away by a song playing on a crappy little turntable in the corner. Soon, we follow her out of the shop and out into the world, the song still playing on her headphones, and as music can, it brings her the kind of joy that you just can't get elsewhere: "Put your shades on, as I am aglow / I feel like dancing, dancing down the road." The rub, of course, is that it's her song playing all the while, and even though she/we know the euphoric feeling will only last for a few minutes, we want to bottle the feeling forever so we can tap into it whenever we need it. Thankfully, this song does just that.
Moment of Conversion: Effervescent positivity.
041 PILLOW QUEENS | "Like a Lesson"
Burb: Irishwomen Pillow Queens released one of the best records of 2020 (In Waiting was our #23 album of that year) and then suffered a slight dip with 2022's Leave the Light On (individual tracks still fantastic). Now they are back to form with this year's new LP, Name Your Sorrow. "Like a Lesson" is one of their best songs ever despite the fact it's performed under a figurative black cloud. And you can feel it, too, but like the person in the song, you retain some hope that thing will work out. But they don't call them life lessons for nothing.
Moment of Conversion:
You treat me like a lesson, you treat me like a test
I thank my lucky stars you don't treat me like the rest
040 ELBOW | "Things I've Been Telling Myself for Years"
Blurb: Not an Elbow fan in general, but every once in a while they pull me back in with a great song. On the surface, they've always seemed a little boring to me, but I've also found their songs grow on me over time and some of them even make my heart soar or double-clutch a bit. The band's new album, Audio Vertigo, smartly pushes their sound outward, to the point I sometimes don't even recognize them anymore. Quite an accomplishment for a band over a quarter-century old. This track, about the lies we tell ourselves to keep functioning, hits almost too close to home, especially now that I'm getting to the age where past decisions, bad habits, and reckless behaviors are starting to sort themselves out and not for the better. But there's more than all this that put this song on this tape. It just has a super cool vibe that sounds amazing coming out of my speakers.
Moment of Conversion: Detective noir vibe.
SIDE B
039 LIAM BAILEY | "Disorder Starts at Home"
Blurb: "Disorder Starts at Home" is a highly personal song Liam wrote about his parent's dissolving relationship. It's a sad state of affairs, yes, but its sinuous reggae rhythm manages to make even this difficult moment seem strangely hopeful. There's a lesson here that we all should heed, with a subtext reflecting modern American politics and global unrest in general, and Liam delivers it to us with just the right amount of earned wisdom.
Moment of Conversion: Only the bare essentials included.
038 JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN | "Oh Joan"
Blurb: "Oh Joan," carried along by an absolutely killer bassline by Meshell Ndegeocello (who plays on the entire album), is one of those songs about trying to escape from your own darkness and features Joan trying to talk herself into doing just that. And she sounds kind of sexy doing it.
Moment of Conversion: Meshell.
037 X | "Big Black X"
Blurb: If only this song could talk, would it have a story to tell. Instead, we get an edited montage of random "had to be there" fragments taken from the group's illustrious forty-seven year history. I must say, when they sing about a big black X on a white marquee, I get a little verklempt. It's not only a great minimalist visual, it's also all you needed to know a legendary band was in town for the night. The fact the band is going out in style on their latest two albums makes me smile wider than Billy Zoom during a guitar solo.
Moment of Conversion: Everyone clicking on all cylinders one final time.
036 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | "Pull the Rope"
Blurb: Coming off our #5 record of 2022, Ibibio Sound Machine are back and they are inclined to dance this time. "Pull the Rope" is nightclub gold, a modern dance craze for the taking with Eno Williams as your guide to the new moves, which I'm thinking I could execute right now without so much as a lesson. Every amateur mime worth his or her salt knows how to pull an invisible rope, but somehow the ISM make it sound like it was just invented yesterday. But this is far from just a mindless dance number, there's an important subtext to it all—let's all work together to solve our problems and not resort to violence or hateful slogans to get our own way. And if that ain't worth dancing about, nothing is.
Moment of Conversion: Rubberband rhythm.
035 CHICANO BATMAN | "Era Primavera"
Blurb: On an album with such a wide swath of sounds, influences, tempos, and moods, picking a song to represent the group is a futile effort. "Era Primavera" won out in the end because it introduces a gorgeous new sound for the band, complete with a wordless chorus and coda that makes me feel like all is going to be fine with the world soon enough.
Moment of Conversion: Aforementioned wordless coda.
034 PARIS PALOMA | "Labour"
Blurb: From Derbyshire, England, hence the British spelling of labor, is Paris Paloma, a singer of some Tic Toc renown thanks to the initial dropping of "Labour" back in 2022. Well, it is now out officially and some songs that go viral are worthy of such an enthusiastic response. A pretty scathing look at a sexist society and a partner who wants to follow a strict menu of stereotypical roles, the song also has enough large-scale power that it easily could've found its way onto a Florence + the Machine record at some point. It's big enough for an arena, and as it rolls downhill it gathers more and more steam, plowing over everything in its way while it lays down a wide path all her own. You best get on board or get out of the way. Also, good timing with the first Labour PM taking office in 14 years only a couple months prior to Paloma's album, Cacophony, being released, although Keir Starmer hopes that title isn't indicative of his time in No. 10.
Moment of Conversion: Overall feeling of dark clouds.
033 ROGÊ | "A Rã"
Blurb: Two years in a row for this Brazilian samba-sation! It goes to show the importance of having some exotic rhythms mixed into just about any mixtape for variety. We're not that easy though, the song has to make us feel like there's not a care in the world and this does just that.
Moment of Conversion: It's time for the percolator!
032 DUCKS LTD. | "Train Full of Gasoline"
Blurb: Well, my attraction to this song, about how a bunch of little failures can eventually lead to one massive, cataclysmic explosion, would be a little bit unsettling if it was autobiographical (if it is and I don't realize it, please someone let me know), but I like to think I'll listen to any song if it has such a pleasing jangle as its hook.
Moment of Conversion: Tremelo.
031 JACK WHITE | "It's Rough on Rats (If You're Asking)"
Blurb: First off, great song title. Jack's parenthetical game is on point (Also see "Tonight (Was a Long Time Ago)"). It's not quite "You're Pretty Good Looking (for a Girl)" but it's pretty amusing nonetheless. If you do happen to be asking, yes, the rats have it rough. Unless they find a slice of pizza in the NY subway system or a lapse in security at a Manhattan Taco Bell, it's rough all day every day. I'm spending so much time on other things in this write-up because nobody needs a lot of information about Jack's new album other than "Is he on his game or not?" And this time, the answer is he's not just on his game, he's running the game.
Moment of Conversion: We're members of The Village Green Parenthetical Appreciation Society (If You're Wondering).
030 JOY OLAKDOKUN | "Dust/Divinity"
Blurb: Joy's new album, Observations from a Crowded Room, has a powerful sense of purpose. If you want to know what that is, listen to "Observation #1." I'm not normally a supporter of interludes and the sort, but this one is particular well said and very powerful. It sets the theme for the whole record. So does "Dust/Divinity" one of the best songs Joy has written, which says a lot because she's a fabulous songwriter who rarely if ever misses. The song deals with spirituality and a struggle with religion. The chorus clarifies: "Though it hurts me to believe, it kills me not to / And I am trying to find my way through the middle." Amen, Joy, amen.
Moment of Conversion:
Oh, to be a man of faith
Never asking questions, never changing your ways
I'm a skeptic who still prays
If death leads me to Heaven, they'll recognize my face
029 MIKO MARKS | "I'll Cry For Yours (Will You Cry For Mine)"
Blurb: From the best tribute album in some time, My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall, this song aided in celebrating the songwriting talents of the titular songwriting legend. Yup, long before Tracy Chapman made news for topping the charts as the songwriter of Luke Combs' #1 cover (meh) of her classic "Fast Car," Alice Randall was the first Black female to co-write a #1 country song, Trisha Yearwood's 1994 smash, "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)." And she didn't stop there, publishing songs regularly with other well-known artists for years. For this album, all of Randall's songs are covered by Black female performers, where the original versions were predictably all white, all the time. This is the rare tribute album where just about all the new versions are considerably better than the known versions. My biggest revelation was Miko Marks' "I'll Cry for Yours (Will You Cry for Mine)," a song about forgiveness and empathy that will inspire you—and worth the price of the album alone. A soul/country crossover of the highest order.
Moment of Conversion: When I realized what it was about.
028 SLEATER-KINNEY | "Say It Like You Mean It"
Blurb: "Say It Like You Mean It" is perhaps Corin Tucker's crowning achievement with Sleater-Kinney Part II: The Later Years. This kind of song wasn't in her repertoire on those classic early albums—the life experience just wasn't there yet. Nor was the maturity or the need to find different ways to preserve her voice. The song is positively gut-wrenching, beyond the understanding of someone much younger. It captures one of those moments when you need some acknowledgement, but just can't get it. I don't watch these videos in most cases, but this one lured me in. It features Succession's brilliant J. Smith-Cameron (Gerri), who captures the emptiness of not being seen, appreciated, or understood with a subtle, but emotionally crushing performance. Watch it now.
Moment of Conversion: Corin's convincing vocal, that of a method actor.
027 NADINE SHAH | "Twenty Things"
Blurb:
You're supposed to love the sinner
and hate the sin
I loved them all
-Nadine Shah
"Twenty Things," whose conceptual hook is "Twenty of the worst things that I can think" is the product of an artist unlike any other in that she'll go places with you that she, and possibly you, don't want to go to. But I love that she's open to the challenge. The song is so cool, you might not even realize what's happening.
Moment of Conversion: Drums propel the narrative.
MIXTAPE #1: PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS 026-001
SIDE A
026 COLIN STETSON | "The Love it Took to Leave You"
Blurb: It's no wonder Colin is an in-demand artist for movie soundtracks. His playing is otherworldly, providing a background of origin-defying sounds that set an eerie mood without distracting from the on-screen action. If you're making a creepy horror movie, there are few other choices that make as much sense. Will it work for a Martha Stewart documentary? Depends on whom you ask, other than Martha herself, who wasn't pleased with his contributions. Like we couldn't have sniffed out that possibility a mile away, especially based on Colin's new solo outing. "The Love It Took to Leave You" is a sonic masterpiece, a sense of eternal sonic wonderment for me, one that traps me in a continuous loop (literally, through Colin's 'circular breathing' technique) whenever I opt to descend into his self-created artistic world.
Moment of Conversion: Not understanding how it was made.
025 THE MESSTHETICS FT. JAMES BRANDON LEWIS | "Emergence"
Blurb: I listened to "Emergence" once and immediately got on my horse to the record store to secure a vinyl copy. Love at first listen. Thankfully, my record store has a hitching post.
Moment of Conversion: Shifting into high gear at 1:43.
024 TORRES | "Collect"
Blurb:
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked, and behold a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him
"When the Man Comes Around"—Johnny Cash
Torres, aka Mackenzie Scott, has always had the ability to conjure raw intensity seemingly out of thin air. "Collect" is a song about poetic justice and here she sounds like nothing short of the Grim Reaper ready to hunt down her next victim for being selfish, narcissistic, and deceitful. Sound like anyone you know? When she rides in to "collect" her next soul during the last 30 seconds, I guarantee you you'll get the same satisfaction you got when Charles Bronson finally got his revenge for his wife and daughter in Death Wish.
Moment of Conversion: Ominous tone.
023 AMY SHARK FT. TOM DELONGE | "My Only Friend"
Blurb: It’s official. Australian indie-pop star Amy Shark has completed her Blink-182 bingo card with this duet featuring the band’s Tom DeLonge (All day long / On the Tom DeLonge). In 2018, she did the same thing with Mark Hoppus on single “Psycho” and in 2020, her song “C’mon” featured Travis Barker on drums. So what do the boys in Blink know that most Americans do not? That Amy Shark is an undervalued songwriting talent, that’s what. She’s a 38-year-old pop star that has had much success in her homeland, but not enough in the States. I hope her new album changes that. This killer track, which sounds exactly like a Blink-182 song, is a logical launching pad. It’s just got to turn into a hit. How could it not? I wonder if she intentionally wrote it in Tom’s style or if he just makes everything sound like his band? Either way, killer tune on a really smashing new record from Ms. Shark.
Moment of Conversion: It makes me double-clutch every time I hear it.
022 JOHN GRANT | "All That School for Nothing"
Blurb: Not the ideal subject matter for a guy with two kids in college, but we’re nothing if not realistic. The lead single from John Grant's new album, The Art of the Lie, is a total 180 from anything he's done before. An electro-funk workout that basically informs us that everything we've done to try to improve ourselves or the lives of our kids has been money flushed down the toilet. Now isn't that refreshing? What's great about Grant is his sense of humor makes the message go down easy, no matter how true it may be.
Moment of Conversion: Finding some levity in spending massive amounts of money on a fruitless pursuit?
021 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF | "Colossus of Roads"
Blurb: A gorgeous song even if you don't know what it's about, but an essential song about social safety within a harsh world if you do.
Moment of Conversion: Say goodbye to America / I wanna see it dissolve
020 THE THE | "Some Days I Drink My Coffee By the Grave of William Blake"
Blurb: It's no surprise Matt Johnson feels a kinship with 18th century British poet William Blake, a guy who also had an underappreciated take on our mad world during his time in the spotlight. Makes me wish I was a fly on the tombstone during one of their coffee talks.
Moment of Conversion: Scathing political indictment, UK-style.
019 FAITHNYC | "Love Is a Wish Away"
Blurb: My sleeper addiction of 2024 from a local NYC favorite that deserves more attention from the rest of the world. Riding a pushing groove all the while, there's a lot to get swept up by as this song progresses. Give this the song the attention it so deserves and I think you'll see what I mean.
Moment of Conversion: Felice Rosser's bass.
018 ENGLISH TEACHER | "Nearly Daffodils"
Blurb: "Nearly Daffodils," is a song about lamenting the lost promise of a once blooming relationship. It's one of many songs on this band's stellar album, This Could Be Texas, that carves out its own distinct identity. In other words, despite being new to the game, they've already got many appealing split personalities to pick from.
Moment of Conversion: Lily Fontaine in general.
017 QUEEN OF JEANS | "Books in Bed"
Blurb:
Build a wall of books
Between us in our bed
-Tegan and Sara
I don't pay attention to charts, but when I first heard "Books in Bed," by Philly's Queen of Jeans, I assumed it had to be a big smash already and that I was the last one to find out about it. Had it already been licensed to some TV drama or slapped on a Rom-com soundtrack? The song's tearful breakup of its two main characters, with drama heightened by a majestic chorus, was more powerful than anything I'd heard from Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo lately. Rarely has a breakup sounded so exhilarating, the process of packing up your shit so triumphant. Take it from me, who has moved box after box of records from location to location during my life, it might be better to stay together than throw out your back hauling ass up and down stairs all day. Book, records, same thing. All heavy stuff.
Moment of Conversion: 2:50... "They said it wouldn't hurt so bad!"
016 THE SECRET SISTERS | "Paperweight"
Blurb: Effortless harmonies are a hallmark of this band of not-so-secret sisters. I mean, everybody knows that by now, don't they? Nonetheless, these gals know how to charm with their genetically-bestowed chemistry. And for once, they actually seem content, too, a blessing and a curse for the album as a whole, but nothing short of heaven on "Paperweight," a sweet little love song that'll charm your Aunt Connie's socks off.
Moment of Conversion: Sisterly harmonies on chorus.
015 BETTE SMITH | "Goodthing"
Blurb: "Goodthing" sums Bette (pronounced Betty) up for me in one tight, funky package right out of the box. But don't stop here—the whole record is loaded with sizzling soul of all flavors and tempos.
Moment of Conversion: Bette busts out.
014 HINDS FT. BECK | "Boom Boom Back"
Blurb: Wonder why they didn't call it "Boom Boom Beck" instead? Hmmm. Anyhoo. Don't come at me with the 'Song of the Summer' bullshit until you've heard this song by a couple of cool girls from Madrid. They've got you beat.
Moment of Conversion: With this title, the drums have to add the commensurate boom boom. They do.
SIDE B
013 CLAIRO | "Sexy to Someone"
Blurb: There's someone for everybody goes the old saying and that's what Clairo (Claire Cottrill) is counting on in "Sexy to Someone." All it takes is one. By the looks of her album cover—sexy to almost everyone—she's not going to have much of a problem in that department. She's really come into her own on Charm, her latest, and her subtle brand of pop-soul is only that much tighter thanks to her work with the Dap-Kings of Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse fame. The song has a sultry, seductive backbeat that shuffles tastefully underneath her pure, understated vocal track. She knows exactly what she's doing and I like that.
Moment of Conversion: Sexiness.
012 BILLY JOEL | "Turn the Lights Back On"
Blurb: I don't think the haters even know why they are supposed to shit on Billy Joel, just that it's somehow cool to do so these days, but I come to his defense here and always. Did it all begin because of "We Didn't Start the Fire"? If so, people haven't done their homework. Yes, he's been outed as a bit of a dick over the years, but if you're going to piss on rock stars on those grounds, you're going to need to drink a shit ton of Sunny D because it's a long list. That said, I was fine with him shutting down his songwriting career for 17 years to focus on other things than selling records. There's nothing more impressive than someone knowing when to call it quits. Instead, he's played a steady gig at MSG, banked a bundle, lived off the interest, and took up underwater pumpkin carving on the side (not confirmed). This year, he finally emerged from his self-imposed sabbatical to give us a genuine Billy Joel classic, "Turn the Lights Back On," a return to form I feel comfortable placing next to my many favorites from his prime-time period. The main reason is because this isn't just another vacant pop song—it has a purpose, and a multi-faceted one at that. On the surface, it's about a neglected relationship, but there's also a career subtext, too. Will we take him back after all this time? Throughout the song, he's turning the metaphorical lights back on one lamp at a time, seeing what is gone forever, what is salvageable, and what has never left. He sings this as if there's something on the line for him and that drama comes through loud and clear. They always say showing up is half the battle, and as Billy sings "I'm late, but I'm here right now," I can't help but picture his round puppy dog face trying to make things right again after years of holding out on us.
Moment of Conversion: 2:46...one last plea for redemption.
011 DELGRES | "Á La Fin"
Blurb: This song is the first song my iPhone plays when I plug it in anywhere, so I've heard it a lot. And I never tired of it. Starting your day with a French Quarter groove is rarely a bad way to improve your mood.
Moment of Conversion: Creole spice.
010 MDOU MOCTAR | "Funeral for Justice"
Blurb: While I'm not in love with picking the first song from a record or even the title track, in this case both—it just oozes laziness doesn't it?—the opening licks on Mdou's latest scorcher, Funeral for Justice, destroy from moment one, so here it is. This is raging rock and roll, so if you've been looking for a guitar record supreme, get the fuck over to Africa. Or just buy this record and have it brought directly into your home.
Moment of Conversion: Opening crunch.
009 DEHD | "Alien"
Blurb: There's nothing better than a band with so many good songs on one record that you could throw a dart at almost any one of them and put it on a mixtape of favorite songs.
Moment of Conversion: Chopped vocal interplay.
008 NILÜFER YANYA | "Like I Say (I Runaway)"
Blurb: If you want a pop song that doesn't pander to every fucking trope and stereotype under the sun, try "Like I Say (I Runaway)." You won't be disappointed.
Moment of Conversion: Skittering rhythm.
007 MJ LENDERMAN | "She's Leaving You"
Blurb: I was all "Wristwatch" until I was taken over by this melancholy wonder. I haven't felt this much ennui since the Beatles gave us "She's Leaving Home" back in the 60s.
Moment of Conversion: If you "believe Clapton was the second coming" you deserve to be dumped!
006 PERNICE BROTHERS FT. NEKO CASE | "I Don't Need That Anymore"
Blurb: Joe Pernice has one of those warm, sleepy voices that just calms you from the inside out. I've been soothed by his music one minute only to be snoozing the next multiple times. It's not his fault—it's just what he does. On his new album, Who Will You Believe, he returns in fine form with another batch of downcast, mid-tempo gems. The song choice for me was easy, though, because ten times out of ten I'm going to pick the song featuring a Neko Case cameo on it and "I Don't Need That Anymore" ranks among her finest guest contributions ever. I am absolutely in love with this duet. I love when an untested combination of voices turns out to have just the right balance and chemistry.
Moment of Conversion: Neko, as always.
005 NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS | "Wild God"
Blurb: Nick has stated in The Red Hand Files that the song comes from an "album of secrets," which means, like most Cave songs, it was never intended to be fully understood. Nobody writes songs quite like Nick Cave. Who would have the hubris to even try the things he gets away with here? Answer: almost nobody. As always, some parts are impenetrable, pending a Cave commentary track, and some parts seem downright penetrable, but even those are subject to interpretation. "Wild God" itself provides us an outlandish plot to chew on that seemingly tracks the movements of a reckless deity, untethered from its original mission perhaps, apparently suffering from early-onset dementia. A day in the life of Nick Cave, in other words. Only from his pen could this moment crystalize:
Once upon a time, a wild God zoomed
All through his memory in which he was entombed
It was rape and pillage in the retirement village
But in his mind he was a man of great virtue and courage.
I've read much about Cave's relationship to God over the years, but there has been nothing written to date that prepared me to interpret this specific passage. I have discerned his engagement with religion, like everything else he does, rarely follows conventional forms, but even with that awareness this is a lot to reconcile. Thankfully, there's a moment in the song's second half that ties the piece to a more conventional idea of religion, when we hear a gospel choir summon the wild god back to Earth in dramatic fashion ("Bring your spirit down!"). It's a thrilling moment, one sure to be a concert highlight.
Moment of Conversion: Choir beckons the spirit down.
004 JAPANDROIDS | "Chicago"
Blurb:
Sorry, baby
We call it like we see it in Chicago
I've not hidden that Pickled Priest is a Chicago-based operation, so anytime a new "Chicago" song appears on our radar, we get abnormally excited. They don't always pan out, but most of the time they do, defying all statistical probability in the process. Why is that? Because, like New York and L.A., Chicago is just one of those cities that inspires, one of those towns that brings out the absolute best in bands. You want to bring it with a little extra oomph when you play Chicago. I'm not making this up, either. Bands have repeated that sentiment countless times. So, when word arrived that one of our favorite bands of this century, Vancouver's Japandroids, announced the first single, "Chicago," from their new album Fate and Alcohol (their last), needless to say the Pickled Priest offices went into full froth mode, like a bunch of bulldogs under a hot August sun. After a brief moment of worry, instigated by our naive intern, over the possibility that the song wouldn't live up to its title, one listen proved what we knew all along. That Japandroids would never let Chicago down. And they haven't. We call it as we hear it, and "Chicago" is not only worthy of our city, it takes its place alongside the greatest Chicago songs ever. Addendum: in that same Chicago spirit of "calling it like we see it" we regret that, with a couple other exceptions, Fate and Alcohol turned out to be one of the year's biggest disappointments and it reaffirmed that their decision to call it quits was a wise one.
Moment of Conversion: Captioned chorus.
003 WAXAHATCHEE FT. MJ LENDERMAN | "Right Back to It"
Blurb: Partner Kevin Morby would've worked just fine on this duet, but bringing in Wednesday's MJ Lenderman, a breakout star this year, was an inspired choice. He has just the right casual ache in his voice to perfectly augment the song's fraying albeit still functioning chorus, like he was recorded singing along to the song unaware that anyone else was around.
Moment of Conversion: Duet chemistry.
002 IRON & WINE FT. FIONA APPLE | "All in Good Time"
Blurb: Whenever I see a collaboration like this, I immediately worry that it's going to be less than the sum of its parts. Especially when two of my favorite and most respected artists pair up. I'm genetically hard-wired to protect myself from disappointment. No worries this time, though, because the song is set up perfectly for the two to trade verses. Sam Beam's status as one of America's best songwriters continues with the track and his new album was more of the same. I only wish Fiona had hung around for the whole record.
Moment of Conversion #1: Fiona
Moment of Conversion #2: The charming video, which features Park Ridge, IL's Pickwick movie theater, a place that still looks like it did when it was built. It holds a special place in my personal history, too. A literal step into the past.
001 LADY BLACKBIRD | "Like a Woman"
Blurb: Man, I feel like a woman! Actually, I don't, but pretty fucking close, especially after listening to Lady Blackbird absolutely rip this song to shreds. From her 2024 masterwork, Slang Spirituals, it's a classic soul track from second one, listen one. I spent zero time warming up to it. It was hot to the touch right out of the record sleeve. If you do one thing today, fire this song up at full volume and let it do its work.
Moment of Conversion: Every second of it.
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If you read songs 052 to 001 first, click to go to songs 104 to 53. You're a bad, bad boy/girl, but we understand. You couldn't help yourself. It happens.
See you next week with our Favorite Albums Covers of 2024.
Cheers,
The Priest