I posted my rankings of my top 100 songs of 2018 and my top 18 albums of the year in mid-December, so this monthly playlist is a little shorter than normal – plus artists tend to release less new material during the holidays. I still found fifteen songs worth sharing, though, a few of which were out in time for my year-end list. As always, you can access the Spotify playlist here if you can’t see the widget below.
Are We Static – Weight of Water. A new single from these British alt-rockers who draw on equal parts Britpop, new wave, and classic British psychedelia, this time featuring guest vocals by Sussex-based folk singer Talitha Rise.
White Lies – Finish Line. A middling follow-up to the strong lead singles ahead of the group’s forthcoming record Five, due out February 1st.
Blac Rabbit – Seize the Day. I was sure this was a new Tame Impala track the first time I heard it, but I suppose that’s a compliment, especially since I love that group’s ventures into psychedelic rock. Anyway, Blac Rabbit is a Brooklyn quartet whom Wikipedia tells me often draws comparisons to … Tame Impala.
Sleeper – Look At You Now. All the Britpop icons are getting back together; Sleeper reunited in 2017, and their first album in 22 years, Modern Age, will drop in March. I didn’t realize that in the interim lead singer/songwriter/seductress Louise Wener had written four novels. She still sounds the same, and this track has that same sort of slightly off-kilter riff that Sleeper’s best hits (“Delicious,” “Inbetweener,” “Nice Guy Eddie”) had.
Swervedriver – The Lonely Crowd Fades In The Air. Speaking of ’90s British bands making comebacks, this makes two good songs in three singles ahead of Swervedriver’s upcoming album, Future Ruins, their second since they reunited.
Lauren Ruth Ward – White Rabbit. Ward has put out two covers of classic rock tracks in the last month, this one, which I think is pretty strong and plays well to her vocal strengths, and a cover of the Doors’ “Break On Through (To the Other Side),” where she’s oddly restrained on a song that calls for a bit of bombast.
whenyoung – Given Up. Singer/bassist Aiofe Power looks like Riley Keough and sounds a lot like Dolores O’Riordan, which makes the band’s cover of the Cranberries’ “Dreams,” found on the same EP as this indie-pop track, eerily authentic to the original.
Anteros – Fool Moon. I think this is the most danceable song so far from this London quartet, who seem to dabble in all corners of indie rock.
Hinds – British Mind. A new single just a few months after this Spanish band released their second album, I Don’t Run, which featured one of my top 100 songs of the year in “Tester.”
Ten Fé – Echo Park. A bit of a change of pace from these guys, who specialize in ’70s-tinged soft rock that still manages to feel modern.
Lady Bird – Reprisal. These British punks made my top 100 this year with “Spoons,” and capped off their year with this single, more of the same with spoken lyrics and a catchy guitar riff beneath it.
The Raconteurs – Now That You’re Gone. A new song from the Jack White-led supergroup that accompanied a reissue of Consolers of the Lonely and will also appear on a (surprise!) new Raconteurs album in 2019.
Wheel – Vultures. Another one from my top 100, one of only two metal songs on the list (along with Ghost’s “Rats”), from a new Finnish prog-metal act who have promised a debut album in February.
Teeth Of The Sea – Hiraeth. Teeth of the Sea’s 2013 Master made my list of the best albums of that year, but they’d been quiet since 2015’s Highly Deadly Black Tarantula before this new seven-minute opus appeared last month, with more of the same experimental post-rock stylings, showing their ability to create eerie soundscapes is completely intact.
Children Of Bodom – Under Grass and Clover. I liked 2013’s Halo of Blood, especially for the track “Transference,” which is one of the best melodic death metal songs I’ve ever heard, but the 2015 follow-up I Worship Chaos went too far in the commercial direction (and then the silly death growls sounded even more ridiculous than ever). This track is the first single from their forthcoming album Hexed, due out in March, and I’m cautiously optimistic that they’re not going full In Flames on us.