Music Monday: 10 Faves from 2023
"Will it work? I don't know - let's find out."
Happy new year and welcome (or welcome back) to Thoughts and Playlists - your friendly neighborhood Substack for music recs, reviews, writings, and musings! Today we’re sliding in here with one last look back at my favorite tracks from 2023 and playing around with writing a regular Music Monday column. To quote one of the tracks below from the band Pool Kids: “Will it work? I don’t know - let’s find out”.
I’m an overly enthusiastic music listener, I’ve been collecting an annual playlist of my 50 favorite songs every year for more than a decade now. While found myself listening to music more narrowly in 2023 (lots of modern and semi-modern, female-led rock), there were still tons of great singles and tracks that hooked me throughout. Below are just my top 10, check out the Spotify playlist for the full 50. And if you find something you like, go ahead and share or subscribe!
10. NewJeans - ETA
With a stellar sophomore year, NewJeans cemented themselves in 2023 as the best new group in KPop. With elements of the drum-and-bass shown on "Super Shy" and "Ditto", "ETA" is a full banger that shows off the group's vocal dynamism and playfulness - all over a killer horn sample.
9. Chappell Roan - Hot To Go
My favorite track from queer pop "if you haven't heard of her you will soon" icon Chappell Roan. In a year of moody and angsty hits, "HOT TO GO!" is a blast of fun. When a line like "baby do you like this beat? / I made it so you'd dance with me" hits you can't help but oblige.
8. SZA - F2F
SZA? On a pop-punk banger? It's more likely than you'd think. And it's the center of about five venn diagrams of my music taste. SZA reportedly reached out to Hayley Williams' before adding "F2F" to her latest album, so by all means rock on.
7. Boygenius - Not Strong Enough
The indie-rocker trio of Julian Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus ascended to a bona-fide supergroup in 2023 with their full album "the record". At the center of the record is "Not Strong Enough" - an anthemic arena rock track that shows the eponymous boys trading expertly penned verses and layered harmonies, before Dacus leads a scream-along bridge. Seeing this song live was a true highlight of my year.
6. 100 gecs - Hollywood Baby
From the first seven seconds of guitar hooks, I was headbanging along. No matter how many times the internet's favorite hyperpop/pop-punk/ska/glitch/meme/who knows duo screams "you'll never make it in Hollywood baby", you can't help but feel like a rockstar.
5. Soccer Mommy - Soak Up The Sun
I just love the way Soccer Mommy (the rock act of Sophie Allison) does music. With the right dose of of shoegaze pedals, shimmer, and melancholy, she takes Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" into deep deep yearning. Instead of a whimsical, joyful look to the skies, Allison sings as though she already knows that fleeting sunshine won't help her mood. And yet she and her guitar stretch out for it anyways.
4. Troye Sivan - Rush
Bringing high art to the club floors, Troye Sivan is liberated, at the top of his game, and ready to party on his third album "Something To Give Each Other". While the whole record is immaculate queer pop, "Rush" is a masterpiece. The subversion of his high falsetto against the football-chanting chorus; the evocative, coy, and adamant lyricism; the best pop production I heard all year. Had I had a more party-heavy year, this would be a shoe-in for my number one.
3. Olivia Rodrigo - bad idea right?
Bad idea sounds great tbh. Olivia Rodrigo's sophomore album GUTS had a lot going for it, including my favorite track of hers yet - "bad idea right?". A so-dumb-it's-genius careening through young bad decisions, Olivia and producer Dan Nigro (also on Chappell Roan's album) crank out all of the stops - fiery guitar licks, sing-song taunts - while never interfering with her electric vocal performance.
2. Boygenius - $20
In January, boygenius formally announced their imminent 2023 dominance with a tight three tracks off their upcoming album. There was the Bridgers' led rainy ode to an ex in "Emily I'm Sorry", and the beautiful love song "True Blue" from Lucy Dacus. But it was Julen Baker's burning rocker "$20" that truly knocked my jaw open.
"It's a bad idea / and I'm all about it". A raucous testament to life on the road and life on the edge, I don't think I've heard a song quite like "$20". The song fully eschews time signatures - jumping from 3:4 to 2:4 to 7:4 like a waltz crashing into a moshpit crashing into a Guy Fieri cutout. The world is on fire and boygenius is going to scream us all through it in asynchronous rounds and a whirlwind of pure star power.
1. Pool Kids - Arm's Length
This year was less a rollercoaster, more a broken washing machine clunking its way through a spin cycle. Enter "Arm's Length": a deep cut from snarky southern rockers Pool Kids (and quietly from 2022). Making minimum wage? Losing your job? Losing your friends? Stuck in a group chat spiral, or can't get out of bed? Is it all your fault? Have I got a track for you.
I could go on and on a while cathartic banger about dragging yourself through the bottom of modern 20-something life - but I'd recommend turning up your speakers and giving it a listen. It's a fuming notes-app rant belted expertly over cascading and slamming guitars, and it's my favorite song of 2023.