- PREMIERE: Eloah Jones – “Under the Bridge” - November 18, 2021
- PREMIERE: Highbeams – “Campfires” - November 10, 2021
- Tali Azerad Shines on New Album - November 5, 2021
Discover a great song you may have missed this year, courtesy of GroundSounds Editor-In-Chief Jake Craney’s list of the Top 50 Songs of 2013
50. Drake – “Worst Behavior”
49. Cairo Fire – “Bold & Beautiful”
48. Wallpaper. – “Drunken Hearts”
47. The Knocks – “Modern Hearts”
46. Twenty One Pilots – “Car Radio”
45. RDGLDGRN – “Million Fans”
44. Moderat – “Bad Kingdom”
43. Shout Out Louds – “Walking In Your Footsteps”
42. Shad – “Remember To Remember”
41. Ra Ra Riot – “Angel, Please”
40. Lydia – “The Exit”
39. The National – “Graceless”
38. The Front Bottoms – “Santa Monica”
37. Lovelife – “Dying To Start Again”
36. Pacific Air – “Move”
35. Fitz & The Tantrums – “Out Of My League”
34. Wale – “Vanity”
33. CHVRCHES – “Gun”
32. Polar Bear Club – “WLWYCD”
31. Tommy & The High Pilots – “Innocent”
30. Fall Out Boy – “Young Volcanoes”
29. Mausi – “Move”
28. The Wonder Years – “The Devil In My Bloodstream”
27. HAIM – “Days Are Gone”
26. First Rate People – “The Sweet Hereafter”
25. Capital Cities – “Safe and Sound”
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Sacrilege”
23. Shad – “Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)”
22. Los Campesinos! – “What Death Leaves Behind”
21. Andrew McMahon – “Synesthesia”
20. St. Lucia – “Elevate”
19. Prince Of Spain – “Away We Go”
18. Smallpools – “Dreaming”
17. The 1975 – “Settle Down”
16. Frank Turner – “Recovery”
15. Twenty One Pilots – “Semi-Automatic”
14. Saint Motel – “My Type”
13. William Beckett – “In My Blood”
12. The Front Bottoms – “Skeleton”
11. Caught A Ghost – “Sleeping At Night”
10. Portugal. The Man – “Modern Jesus”
An appropriate introduction to Evil Friends, “Modern Jesus” steps up and spits out a defiant manifesto to anyone who thought this would be a mundane, generic, or cloaked lyrical output from P.TM. “Modern Jesus” stands tall, providing a strong thematic backbone for the album.
9. Lovelife – “Midnight Swimming”
“We were alive, but we weren’t living.” Please tell me you’ve heard of Lovelife. As of June this year, I hadn’t. I was thankfully introduced to the band as they performed at a festival in LA. We subsequently interviewed them and watched as the UK boys released several EP’s, including the Stateless EP, filled with addictive tracks like “Midnight Swimming.” If you need me, I’ll be in a pool/lake/ocean somewhere.
8. Fitz & The Tantrums – “Last Raindrop”
“Last Raindrop” feels like some sort of decade-defying hit that you could have been written at any time from the 60’s all the way up to 2013. It may make you think “What exactly am I listening to?” or “What genre is this?” but this song is simply an instant classic (as is much of the album).
7. Lorde – “Team”
17 year-old Lorde, now a force in the music world, released Pure Heroine earlier this year. Full of youthful yet “beyond-her-years” type creativity and songwriting, PH made Lorde one of the year’s breakout hits. “Team” is the perfect snapshot of what she brings to the table. One of the breakout hits of 2013.
6. Sir Sly – “Gold”
This song is just so cinematic, dramatic, and kinda creepy. It’s incredibly transformative. From the first seconds, it’ll take you to a different place. This might be my most listened to song of the year. Amazing track.
5. Shout Out Louds – “Chasing The Sinking Sun”
Supremely catchy, yet deep and meaningful—this song sounds like an appropriate soundtrack to the end of a restless night. “Chasing The Sinking Sun” is a perfect representation of the songwriting quality of Optica, which is a perfect representation of Shout Out Louds in general. I hope everyone reading this who hasn’t been introduced to SOL yet will nod their head along with this track, then check out Optica. You’ll be hooked.
4. CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share”
Scotland’s dynamic trio has officially arrived. Their debut full-length is terrific. Full of hard-hitting tracks like “Gun,” and “Lies,” the album should be on many Top 10 lists this year. “The Mother We Share,” the powerful, beautiful, and emotive opening track on the album, just has something special that I can’t quite put my finger on. I’ll leave it at that. Listen for yourself below!
3. Tommy & The High Pilots – “Somebody Make A Move”
“Somebody Make A Move” is the song hundreds of bands try to create and fall short of. It is alt/pop at its best. Vocals, songwriting, melody, hook…every aspect is an A+
2. The 1975 – “Chocolate”
Try listening to this song and not singing along. Damn near impossible. “Chocolate” is the big hit in an album full of hits. It’ll be stuck in your head for days.
1. Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”
Chill out for a minute, get out of the “3 minute attention span” we all tend to adopt, and take a listen to “Afterlife” (better yet, watch the excellent video below). Not much I can say that I haven’t already said; I love this song and this album. Best song of 2013.
