mikestrikesback - Tumblr blog

[mikestrikesback]

The best songs of 2022

Hell of a year for music, huh? Paramore and MCR are back, Phoebe Bridgers and Samia are still devastating teens (and 33-year-old men) across the world, and tons of incredible, diverse bands are rising up in the punk/emo circles that I follow the most. I had initially started making a top albums list, but that doesn't tell the full story of all the music I loved this year — after all, there were plenty of great tracks from albums that otherwise didn't click with me, as well as no shortage of fantastic EPs and one-off singles from artists I love. With that in mind, here's a list of my favorite songs this year — one that I definitely spent too much time pondering and re-ordering over several weeks. I hope you find something you enjoy. 

25. Eventually - State Champs

A surprisingly mature standout on an album filled with some of the purest, most fun pop-punk in years. Good luck getting that hook out of your head.

24. Five Years - The Early November

This song immediately takes me back to rushing out to Best Buy to blow my allowance money on "The Mother, The Mechanic, The Path" as fast as I possibly could. And while it captures the same energy as the Jersey emo group's 2005 behemoth (TEN's new album "Twenty" is largely a re-recording of old deep cuts), it still feels fresh and relatable in 2022.

23. This Is Why - Paramore

Both a natural continuation of the dancey, fearless "After Laughter" and an exciting taste of what's to come. The best in the game are back.

22. The Foundations of Decay - My Chemical Romance

Speaking of scene legends making their grand return without pandering to nostalgia, this 6-minute opus has hints of Revenge and Black Parade-era MCR — but it's mostly just a great, gigantic rock song.

21. Go To Hell - Bayside

Whereas Paramore and MCR constantly reinvent themselves, Bayside just get better and better at being Bayside. An absolute fist-pumping anthem with some adventurous rhythm section work and some of Anthony Raneri's best lyrics yet, Go To Hell teases what should be an exciting 2023 of new Bayside music. 

20. Computer Exploder - Oso Oso

There's a charming lo-fi quality to Oso Oso's quirky new record "sore thumb" (these tracks were initially meant to be demos, after all), but that doesn't mean it's not filled with huge, hooky choruses — ones that can somehow have you cheerily yelling out "Yeah it's fine if the love and the money run out, if the drugs run out I'll die." 

19. High Hopes - Sweet Pill

I was a bit late to Sweet Pill and their booming debut LP "Where the Heart Is," but I was immediately grabbed by the way Zayna Youssef's commanding vocals soar over the band's mathy, meaty riffs — especially on this song. 

18. The Altar/Mary - Silverstein

Canada's screamo legends are at their best when they go high-concept and heavy, and The Altar/Mary does that tenfold. A three-part epic that'll have you banging your head and digging through Genius to piece together its anti-capitalist narrative all at once.

17. Sidelines - Phoebe Bridgers 

Between her guest spots with Kid Cudi and SZA and her one new song of 2022, Phoebe continues to prove that she can dive into full-on radio music while still absolutely ruining us with her unmistakable lyricism and delivery. Big shoutout to Marshall Vore for his work on this one too. 

16. If You’re a Lifer - Cataldo

This song completely knocked me on my ass while I laid in a small bed somewhere in Maine while recovering from an ill-timed vacation sickness. An incredibly sweet indie love story that's both mysterious and direct all at once, complete with some fun pop culture references and a hook that will stay with you for weeks.

15. You’re the Reason I Don’t Want the World to End - The Wonder Years 

Very few bands know how to write a closer like The Wonder Years, and the Philly pop-punk powerhouse may have delivered their best yet on a masterful album about navigating love and fatherhood in a world that seems uninhabitable. By the time Dan Campbell yelps "I don't want to die"  — calling back to the record's intro — the chills are unavoidable. 

14. Runner’s High - MUNA

MUNA's self-titled record is the group's most diverse and biggest-sounding yet, offering everything from twangy country songs (Kind of Girl) to pop bangers that would have dominated TRL in the 90s (What I Want). But MUNA are still at their best when they find that perfect balance of danceable and devastating, and the stop-start, fist-bumping techno heartbreak of Runner's High is a prime example of that.

13. Entropy - Beach Bunny 

A perfect power-pop song that's made even better by the way it's called back to at the end of the record. Also, bridge of the year. 

12. Grey Veins - L.S. Dunes

In many ways, L.S. Dunes' debut record "Past Lives" sounds exactly like what you'd expect from a group of dudes that come from bands like Thursday, My Chemical Romance and Circa Survive. But the quintet's chiseled post-hardcore muscles build something elevated and unique on Grey Veins, which is simply a great rock n' roll song with an instantly memorable chorus that sees Anthony Green defying the dark indifference of pandemic life.  

11. Swear - Tigers Jaw 

Tigers Jaw have a knack for songwriting that very few of their emo peers do — every track sounds warm, accessible and familiar, yet no one can do it like them. If someone asked me what kind of music I like, I'd probably just show them this song. 

10. Gold Chain Punk - Soul Glo

A uniquely immediate and overwhelming hardcore romp that kicks off one of the most important albums of the year. Pierce Jordan's relentless rapid fire lyricism is vulnerable, fearless and leaves a lot to unpack, but even before you dig in, it's impossible to not yell along as he growls the question: "Who the fuck's gonna beat my ass?" 

9. Tough Love - Arm’s Length

If Arm's Length is this generation's The Hotelier, Tough Love is their Your Deep Rest. Provocatively bleak and instantly anthemic all at once, this is the sound of a band that have truly found their style — one influenced by their emo elders, but not beholden to them. 

8. Really Big Shrimp - Carly Cosgrove 

"Really Big Shrimp" is the kind of sprawling emo anthem that some acts twice Carly Cosgrove's age wish they could write. Despite their band name and song titles being entirely inspired by a Nickelodeon show, this young Philly trio have a lyrical maturity and musical muscularity that is well beyond their years.

7. BYOB - Future Teens 

Leave it to Future Teens to make "feeling best when I feel nothing" into an irresistible singalong. Much of this Boston bummer pop act's new album deals with frontperson Amy Hoffman's journey to sobriety, and the details are laid unapologetically bare here — complete with sugary melodies and an absolutely explosive full-band crescendo.

6. Mulholland Dr. - Bartees Strange 

A direct response to his newfound fame following 2020's "Live Forever," Mullholland Dr. sees Strange lamenting his first taste of life in Los Angeles — perhaps ironically, because this is as glossy and huge as the eclectic indie star has ever sounded. Like much of 2022's "Farm to Table," this track masterfully combines twinkly emo guitars, soulful vocal melodies, modern indie rock sheen and hip-hop bravado in a way only Strange can. 

5. Kill Her Freak Out - Samia 

If her recent singles are any indication, Samia's upcoming album "Honey" is going to make the crushing "Is There Something In the Movies?" seem like child's play. An instant sad girl classic, KHFR tells a vivid and frank story of lost love — one that plays out like the TV-MA version of Olivia Rodrigo's Driver's License. This is a song bound to end up quoted in subtweets and Instagram Stories for years. 

4. Growing Up Song - Anxious 

This song's big singalong ending rivals anything Taking Back Sunday or Saves the Day did in the early 2000s. It's wild to think how good these hardcore-rooted emo punks are for their young age, especially when they've already followed up their January 2022 debut with two new tracks that hint at some serious pop songwriting chops.

3. American Teenager - Ethel Cain

American Teenager is a bit of an outlier on Ethel Cain's otherwise slow and brooding "Preacher's Daughter," trading spooky synths for glittery guitar rock. But despite its sunny melodies — and what's possibly the chorus of the year — Cain's lyrics about the dark side of the American Catholic dream are every bit as biting as what you'll find on her slow-burners. 

2. Think Nothing - Sydney Sprague

This song takes everything I loved about 2021's relentlessly hooky "Maybe I Will See You At the End of the World" and cranks the volume (and guitar distortion) to the max. It's a fiery rock anthem for overthinkers that's impossible not to get swept up in by the time Sydney's vocals soar up an octave during the chills-inducing outro. Sprague is one of indie's best new songwriters, and her 2023 LP can't come soon enough.

1. That’s Physics, Baby - Pool Kids

When I first fired up "That's Physics, Baby," — my introduction to Pool Kids at the time — I had no idea I was listening to what would become my new favorite band. Two live shows and many, many spins through the group's excellent self-titled LP later, I'm a full-blown Pool Kids stan, and this lead single remains my favorite. A flawless blend of swirling math-rock guitars and radio-ready hooks, this track perfectly encapsulates Pool Kids' ability to combine so many genres I love — and package them into cohesive, addictive anthems that I can't stop raving about to anyone who'll listen.

[mikestrikesback]

Pool Kids - "Pool Kids" Album Review

I often describe Pool Kids as “Paramore with math rock riffs,” but that’s mostly just to get my friends to listen to them. In reality, the Florida emo quartet are much more than that — and they make it explicitly clear on their incendiary, emotional and appropriately self-titled sophomore album. 

Hayley Williams (who famously shouted the band out in 2019) has certainly never wailed lines as bitingly specific as “I don’t think I have the energy to make it out of my bed today / it’s not even a bed, I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress with a hole for almost three months” like vocalist/guitarist Christine Goodwyne does on “Arm’s Length,” an exuberant anthem about pushing people away. And while Goodwyne, guitarist Andrew Anaya, bassist Nicolette Alvarez and drummer Caden Clinton can go note-for-note with any of their mathy scene contemporaries, there’s a level of mature restraint in their performances that makes this a record of great rock songs first, and shredfests second. Whereas debut record “Music to Practice Safe Sex To” — written solely by Goodwyne and Clinton — has moments that seem to throw as many notes at the listener as possible (“$5 Subtweet” is an absolute ripper, but still), new songs like “Swallow” see the band’s entire lineup channel their aptitude into focused, triumphantly big riffs and even bigger choruses. 

Fiery album opener “Conscious Uncoupling” perfectly encapsulates Pool Kids’ evolved songwriting, as Goodwyne softly and bluntly mourns a past relationship (“I bet I’m never gonna clean this house again / I bet I’m never gonna see your mom again”) before the whole thing bursts into the swirly, harmonized guitar work that the band does best. The quartet fearlessly journeys through different musical palettes from there — experimental standout “Almost Always Better” blends electronic waltzes and sudden, industrial-tinged key changes, while “Further” flirts with dancey indie rock. Bouncy emo banger “That’s Physics, Baby” and moody alt-rock rager “I Hope You’re Right” are both begging for radio play, and “Talk Too Much” does pop-punk better than some bands that are dedicated to it. It all culminates in closer “Pathetic”, which starts off with a folky vulnerability that would be right at home on Williams’ recent solo effort “Flowers for Vases.” That is, of course, before the whole thing explodes, with Goodwyne pleading “What can we make of this?” — ending the breakup story that began on the intro track — while her bandmates create a crushing wall of sound. 

It’s all immaculately produced by Mike Vernon Davis, with enough gloss to fit in on the rock charts but still raw enough to preserve the four-piece’s lively performances. The band aren’t shy about layering on extra instrumentation — including some chorus-boosting pianos and an awesome vocoder moment — but the real stars of the show are Anaya’s shreddy guitars, Alvarez and Clinton’s airtight, adventurous rhythm section work and Goodwyne’s vocals, which are equally captivating whether she’s quietly crooning or letting all hell break loose. 

A self-titled record is a bold proclamation of confidence — especially when it arrives as early into a band’s career as “Pool Kids” has. But this is a band whose prodigal pop songwriting and punchy prog shredding belies their relative youth. It’s wild to think they’re just getting started.