I’ve been a fan of British alternative psychedelic rock band Future Theory since early 2017, and love their intelligent songwriting and ace musicianship. Comprised of Max Sander on rhythm guitar and vocals, Chris Moore on lead guitar, Jacob Brookes on bass and Rohan Parrett on drums, they blend alternative and progressive rock, psychedelia, grunge, shoegaze and funk to create arresting songs characterized by complex melodies and arrangements, lavish instrumentation, and Max’s distinctive mesmerizing vocals. I’ve written about them and their outstanding music many times on this blog, and it’s been gratifying to see them mature and grow as artists. One of their singles “One and the Same”, from their 2022 debut album Future Theory, spent 18 weeks on my Weekly Top 30 and ranks #42 on my 100 Best Songs of 2022 list. They began releasing a series of new singles this past April, the first of which, “Why”, is a dramatic and beautiful song about a dysfunctional relationship that’s breaking apart. They’ve since dropped two more great singles, “Rage” and “Too Bad”, but “Why” remains my favorite. Now, in its 14th week on my Top 30 chart, it reaches the top at last.

In other notable chart developments, the top 10 contains the same 10 songs for the third week in a row, albeit in different positions. Lana Del Rey‘s “Say Yes To Heaven” is the biggest upward mover, climbing five spots to #11. Two songs make their debut this week: Entering at #29 is the captivating “kisses” by longtime British dream rock band Slowdive, which I learned about from Andy Peterson, a superb writer with great music taste who writes his own blog The Voice Of Unreason. Bringing up the rear at #30 is “Dial Drunk” by Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, who’s also represented on this list by “We’re All Gonna Die”, a duet with American singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun that sits at #14.

And now for a special rant about the Billboard Hot 100 and the questionable music tastes of the American public. Two weeks ago, Olivia Rodrigo’s “vampire” debuted at #1, which led me to believe she would enjoy a long run at the top. But I was terribly wrong, and her song has already fallen to #7. Meanwhile, the top songs on the chart are a catchy but throwaway pop song from Junk Kook, one of the members of South Korean K-pop boy band BTS, who sings about fucking his beloved seven days a week, accompanied by rapping by female rapper Latto. That is followed by three Country songs – Jason Aldean’s awful “Try That in a Small Town”, Morgan Wallen’s tiresome “Last Night” (which spent 12 weeks at #1), and Luke Combs’ remake of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”,  which I concede isn’t bad. The song at #6 is the horrific “fukumean” by American rapper Gunna. Whatever…

Here’s my far superior song list:

1. WHY – Future Theory (5)
2. ESSENCE – Refeci & Shimmer Johnson (1)
3. RESCUED – Foo Fighters (2)
4. THE NARCISSIST – Blur (7)
5. PINEAPPLE SUNRISE – Beach Weather (6)
6. PSYCHOS – Jenny Lewis (8)
7. VAMPIRE – Olivia Rodrigo (9)
8. LEAVING – Au Gres (3)
9. RESCUE ME – Dirty Heads (4)
10. NOT STRONG ENOUGH – boygenius (10)
11. SAY YES TO HEAVEN – Lana Del Rey (16)
12. STUCK – 30 Seconds to Mars (14)
13. PUPPET SHOW – Beck Black (15)
14. WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE – Joy Oladokun & Noah Kahan (13)
15. IN MY HEAD – Mike Shinoda & Kailee Morgue (11)
16. HELLO – GROUPLOVE (12)
17. SPELLBINDING – The Smashing Pumpkins (20)
18. BONES – HEALER (21)
19. WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (22)
20. ORBIT – Gooseberry (23)
21. OVERRATED – dwi (24)
22. LAST TIME EVERY TIME FOREVER – Grian Chatten (25)
23. CALL ME WHAT YOU LIKE – Lovejoy (26)
24. GOOD VIBRATIONS – MISSIO (27)
25. DAYLIGHT – David Kushner (28)
26. KID – The Revivalists (17) 20th week on chart
27. EAT YOUR YOUNG – Hozier (18)
28. I DON’T BELIEVE IN YOU – Brian Lambert & Jr Moz Collective (30)
29. KISSES – Slowdive (N)
30. DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (N)