Tag: Bad Omens

Top 30 Songs for October 8-14, 2023

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's2 Comments
Jake and his faithful sidekick Atlas

A long-time favorite artist of mine, on both a professional and personal level, is The Frontier, the music project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jake Mimikos. Based in northern Virginia, the talented, gracious and hard-working guy skillfully blends elements of pop, folk, rock and electronica to create memorable and pleasing songs about love, relationships and loss. Delivered with comforting pitch-perfect vocals, Jake’s lyrics are honest and relatable; there’s just something about his songs that makes them so addictive, and I’ve found that they continue to grow on me more with every listen.

Since 2015, he’s released an impressive number of songs, and I’ve loved them all. Three – “Dark Places”, “Can We Go Back” and “Closer” – have reached #1 on my Weekly Top 30 charts, while “Sleep” and “It’s You” both reached the top 4. His latest single, “Walk Through The Fire“, now becomes his fourth single to top my chart. Serving up three minutes of infectious toe-tapping grooves and beautiful jangly guitar notes, the song is a plea to a loved one for a second chance: “Everyone falls sometimes. Dying to stay alive. Everyone has their fight. It’s how we walk through the fire.”

In other notable chart developments, the beautiful “Francesca” by Hozier moves up three spots to #3. A whopping four songs enter the top 10, the first of which is the poignant auto-biographical song “ONE MORE TIME” by pop-punk veterans Blink-182, which is also the highest-debuting song this week, entering my chart at #7. The other three, all of which advance 4 spots, are “Daydreams and Algorithms” by British artist Eleanor Collides, at #8, “Loving You” by L.A. dream pop band Cannons, at #9, and “Running Out of Time” by Tennessee pop-punk band Paramore, at #10. For a second week, “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” by Italian rock band Måneskin, is the biggest upward mover, jumping 10 spots to #11. And finally, besides Blink-182’s new song, the other debut is the wonderful “Evicted” by Chicago alt-rock band Wilco, which enters at #30.

  1. WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (2)
  2. KISSES – Slowdive (1)
  3. FRANCESCA – Hozier (6)
  4. DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (5)
  5. GOOD VIBRATIONS – MISSIO (3)
  6. OVERRATED – dwi (4)
  7. ONE MORE TIME – Blink-182 (N)
  8. DAYDREAMS AND ALGORITHMS – Eleanor Collides (12)
  9. LOVING YOU – Cannons (13)
  10. RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (14)
  11. HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (21)
  12. ODYSSEY – Beck & Phoenix (7)
  13. WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (16)
  14. BAD IDEA RIGHT? – Olivia Rodrigo (17)
  15. SAY YES TO HEAVEN – Lana Del Rey (8)
  16. PINEAPPLE SUNRISE – Beach Weather (9) 21st week on chart
  17. OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (18)
  18. PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (19)
  19. UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (20)
  20. CALL ME WHAT YOU LIKE – Lovejoy (10)
  21. FORGIVING TIES – Deer Tick (11)
  22. MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (23)
  23. DARLING – Western Jaguar (24)
  24. THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (25)
  25. HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (26)
  26. CANNONBALLERS – Colony House (15)
  27. MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (28)
  28. SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (29)
  29. THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (30)
  30. EVICTED – Wilco (N)

Top 30 Songs for October 1-7, 2023

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's11 Comments

It’s hard to believe we’re now into October, as 2023 continues to speed past at a dizzying pace. British dream rock band Slowdive holds the top spot for a second week with their bewitching song “kisses”. Sliding into the #2 spot is “Walk Through the Fire” by Virginia singer-songwriter The Frontier, with “Good Vibrations” by Texas duo MISSIO right behind at #3. Otherwise, the top 10 songs remain the same, albeit with a bit of shuffling around. The biggest upward mover this week is “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” by Italian rock band Måneskin, leaping nine spots to #21.

For the second week, there are three new songs making their debut, though truth be told, there were seven or eight I wanted to add, but that would have meant dropping more off, which I couldn’t do. “More Than a Love Song” by Austin, Texas-based neo-soul duo Black Pumas (currently the #1 song on the Billboard AAA chart), enters at #28, “Summer of Luv” by Portland, Oregon-based rock band Portugal. The Man, featuring New Zealand psychedelic rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, at #29, and “The Shameful” by British hard rock band Amongst Liars (which I reviewed a month ago today), at #30.

  1. KISSES – Slowdive (1)
  2. WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (3)
  3. GOOD VIBRATIONS – MISSIO (4)
  4. OVERRATED – dwi (2)
  5. DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (6)
  6. FRANCESCA – Hozier (9)
  7. ODYSSEY – Beck & Phoenix (7)
  8. SAY YES TO HEAVEN – Lana Del Rey (8)
  9. PINEAPPLE SUNRISE – Beach Weather (5) 20th week on chart
  10. CALL ME WHAT YOU LIKE – Lovejoy (10)
  11. FORGIVING TIES – Deer Tick (12)
  12. DAYDREAMS AND ALGORITHMS – Eleanor Collides (13)
  13. LOVING YOU – Cannons (14)
  14. RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (15)
  15. CANNONBALLERS – Colony House (11)
  16. WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (18)
  17. BAD IDEA RIGHT? – Olivia Rodrigo (19)
  18. OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (20)
  19. PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (21)
  20. UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (24)
  21. HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (30)
  22. WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? – Billie Eilish (17)
  23. MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (26)
  24. DARLING – Western Jaguar (27)
  25. THE NARCISSIST – Blur (16)
  26. THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (28)
  27. HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (29)
  28. MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (N)
  29. SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man ft. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (N)
  30. THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (N)

Top 30 Songs for September 24-30, 2023

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's5 Comments

Without question, one of the prettiest songs of 2023 is “kisses” by British dream rock band Slowdive. Though they formed way back in 1989, I’m embarrassed to admit I was not familiar with them until hearing “kisses” this past June (which may partly be due to the fact they’ve never had a single chart in the U.S., and only two of their albums have appeared on the Billboard 200 Album chart). Consisting of Rachel Goswell on vocals, guitar and keyboard, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass guitar and Simon Scott on drums, they rose to prominence in the British shoegaze scene in the early 90s. (In a recent NPR interview with Scott Simon, Halstead explained that the term “shoegaze” originated in the early 90s when a journalist from the British music magazine Melody Maker coined it to describe bands such as Slowdive who didn’t have much stagecraft and spent a lot of time looking down at their shoes as they frequently turned their guitar pedals on and off.)

While their second studio album Souvlaki (1993) initially received mixed reviews, it has since been recognized as one of the best albums of the 90s and one of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time by Pitchfork, NME and PopMatters, among others. (Wikipedia) Slowdive broke up soon after the release of their third studio album Pygmalion in 1995, but reunited in 2014, and released their fourth studio album, the self-titled Slowdive, in 2017. They dropped their stunning fifth album Everything Is Alive on September 1st, which became their first top 10 album ever, reaching #4 in the Netherlands, #6 in the UK and #7 in Germany. Though I think it’s one of the best albums of 2023, it only peaked at #63 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. Unbelievably, “kisses” has not appeared on any singles chart, however, it’s the new #1 song on MY chart! About the gorgeous album and song, Halstead told NPR: “A lot of the album is sort of about time passing. And I suppose, seeing as we’re all getting on a bit now, that’s one of the things we’re writing songs about… and ‘kisses’ is about having a second act, having a different chance in life.” Those dreamy synths, shimmery chiming guitars and sublime harmonies are simply breathtaking.

In other chart developments, “Walk Through the Fire” by Virginia singer-songwriter The Frontier, and “Good Vibrations” by Texas duo MISSIO move up two spots to #3 and #4, and Irish singer-songwriter Hozier enters the top 10 with his magnificent “Francesca”. The biggest upward movers are “Loving You” by L.A. dream pop band Cannons, and “Running Out of Time” by Nashville alt-rock band Paramore, both jumping 6 spots to #14 and #15, respectively. Debuting this week are “THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND” by American metalcore band Bad Omens, at #28, “Hold Me Like a Grudge” by American rock band Fall Out Boy, at #29, and “HONEY (ARE YOU COMING?)” by Italian rock band Måneskin, at #30.

  1. KISSES – Slowdive (2)
  2. OVERRATED – dwi (1)
  3. WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (5)
  4. GOOD VIBRATIONS – MISSIO (6)
  5. PINEAPPLE SUNRISE – Beach Weather (3)
  6. DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (8)
  7. ODYSSEY – Beck & Phoenix (9)
  8. SAY YES TO HEAVEN – Lana Del Rey (4)
  9. FRANCESCA – Hozier (11)
  10. CALL ME WHAT YOU LIKE – Lovejoy (7)
  11. CANNONBALLERS – Colony House (14)
  12. FORGIVING TIES – Deer Tick(15)
  13. DAYDREAMS AND ALGORITHMS – Eleanor Collides (17)
  14. LOVING YOU – Cannons (20)
  15. RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (21)
  16. THE NARCISSIST – Blur (10)
  17. WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? – Billie Eilish (19)
  18. WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (22)
  19. BAD IDEA RIGHT? – Olivia Rodrigo (24)
  20. OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (25)
  21. PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (26)
  22. PUPPET SHOW – Beck Black (12)
  23. BONES – Healer (13)
  24. UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (28)
  25. LAST TIME EVERY TIME FOREVER – Grian Chatten (16)
  26. MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (29)
  27. DARLING – Western Jaguar (30)
  28. THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (N)
  29. HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (N)
  30. HONEY (ARE YOU COMING?) – Måneskin (N)