My goodness, there’s so much great music out now, including numerous songs by some of my favorite major acts of the past 20 years. One of them is American rock band Cage the Elephant. Originally formed in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 2006, the band currently consists of Matt Shultz (vocals), his older brother Brad Shultz (rhythm guitar), Nick Bockrath (lead guitar), Matthan Minster (guitar, keyboards), Daniel Tichenor (bass), and Jared Champion (drums). They relocated to London in 2008, shortly before their self-titled first album was released, then later settled in Nashville, though I can’t find any dates as to when that occurred. They followed with four more albums, Thank You, Happy Birthday in 2011, Melophobia in 2013, Tell Me I’m Pretty (produced by Dan Auerbach) in 2015, and Social Cues in 2019, the latter two winning Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album.

I first learned about them in the fall of 2013 when I heard their brilliant song “Come a Little Closer”, from Melophobia, and after listening to more of their music, I became a fan. I grew even more fond of them when they followed me on Twitter (now X) in 2017. Now they’re set to release their sixth studio album Neon Pill on May 17, and its wonderful lead and title single “Neon Pill” ascends to the top of my latest Weekly Top 30.

In other notable chart developments, “My Golden Years” by The Lemon Twigs moves up a notch to #3, and “Dilemma”, by another of my long-time favorite bands Green Day, climbs six spots to #4. I’m thrilled to have a new song by yet another of my favorite acts, twenty one pilots, make its debut this week. Their latest single “Overcompensate”, their first new music in three years since their last album Scaled and Icy, enters quite high on the chart at #9. The song is the lead single from their forthcoming seventh studio album Clancy, scheduled for release May 17 (on what appears to be a big day for new album releases). It looks to be another ambitious concept album by the highly creative Columbus, Ohio-based duo.

The other debut this week, coming in at #30, is “Wanting and Waiting” by long-time Atlanta, Georgia-based blues rock band The Black Crowes, giving us three bands with ‘Black’ in their name on the same chart. The song is the lead single from their tenth studio album Happiness Bastards, their first new music since 2010.

1. NEON PILL – Cage the Elephant (2)
2. BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (STAY HIGH) – The Black Keys (1)
3. MY GOLDEN YEARS – The Lemon Twigs (4)
4. DILEMMA – Green Day (10)
5. WINTER COWBOY – Frank Joshua (3)
6. THE TOWER – Future Islands (5)
7. MOTHER NATURE – MGMT (6)
8. LOVIN ON ME – Jack Harlow (8)
9. OVERCOMPENSATE – twenty one pilots (N)
10. NORTHERN ATTITUDE – Noah Kahan feat. Hozier (7)
11. BLAME BRETT – The Beaches (9)
12. BLUSH – Vazum (15)
13. LUNAR ECLIPSE – The Vaccines (16)
14. DIAMOND AND THE MISSING SON – Unquiet Nights (17)
15. BICYCLE AWAY – Sam Rappaport (18)
16. KOOL AID BLUE – The Sylvia Platters (19)
17. I’M IN LOVE – Jelani Aryeh (20)
18. NICE TO KNOW YOU – lovelytheband (12)
19. FIND MY WAY – Ships Have Sailed (21)
20. EVERYTHING WE NEED – Mojave Grey (22)
21. ALIVE! – Bakar (11)
22. TIME – MISSIO (29)
23. GOOD PEOPLE – Mumford & Sons, Pharrell Williams (23)
24. WATER UNDERGROUND – Real Estate (24)
25. LANDMINES – Sum 41 (25)
26. YOUR WORLD NOW – Marc Schuster (13)
27. ICE CREAM (PAY PHONE) – Black Pumas (28)
28. DARK MATTER – Pearl Jam (30)
29. NORMAL PEOPLE THINGS – Lovejoy (14)
30. WANTING AND WAITING – The Black Crowes (N)