Formed in 2018, Black Pumas is an American band based in Austin, Texas, fronted by singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada. Their music has been described as psychedelic soul, R&B and neo-soul, with strong blues and funk influences, and their distinctive sound alternates between a visceral rawness and smooth soulfulness, and everything in between. They’ve already earned six Grammy nominations over a three-year period for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, American Roots Performance, Album of the Year, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Album. Their beautiful soulful single “More Than a Love Song”, from their second album Chronicles of a Diamond, takes over the top spot on my Weekly Top 30, after spending four weeks at #3. The song, which has an arresting gospel quality, recently spent six non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart.
“Now and Then” by the Beatles (which has dropped completely off the Billboard Hot 100 after just two weeks, but is #2 on the AAA chart) and “Atomic City” by U2 enter my top 10. Two high-energy songs make their debut this week: “Blame Brett” by Toronto, Canada-based all-female indie rock band The Beaches, at #29, and “Pretty Vicious” by British glam rock band The Struts, at #30.
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (3)
HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (1)
ONE MORE TIME – blink-182 (2)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (5)
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS KILLING ME – Green Day (8)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (6)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (7)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (4)
NOW AND THEN – The Beatles (11)
ATOMIC CITY – U2 (13)
THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (14)
ANGRY – The Rolling Stones (15)
YOUR SIDE OF TOWN – The Killers (16)
ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (18)
EVICTED – Wilco (10)
RUN AWAY WITH ME – Cold War Kids (17)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man ft. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (9)
GOOD OLD DAYS – The Revivalists (19)
MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (20)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (12)
WILD – Brian Lambert, Harmoni Kelley & Marc Schuster (22)
The boisterous “HONEY (ARE U COMING?)” by Italian rock band Måneskin remains on top for a second week, while “ONE MORE TIME” by blink-182 holds at #2 for a second week after spending four weeks at #1. “More Than a Love Song” by Black Pumas spends a fourth week at #3, while the Foo Fighters‘ “Under You”, Western Jaguar‘s “Darling”, The 23s‘ “My Kinda Girl” and Bad Omens‘ “DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND” all advance a notch. Green Day enter the top 10 at #8 with “The American Dream Is Killing Me”, while The Beatles‘ “Now and Then” moves up one spot to #11. The song debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 but plummeted to #76 in its second week, indicating that it was heavily streamed upon its release, but that the public seems to have quickly lost interest, which is really too bad.
As we enter the final month of 2023, five terrific songs make their debut on my chart this week. First up is the gorgeous “White Horse” by Nashville-based country-rock artist Chris Stapleton, entering at #26. The lead single from his fifth studio album Higher, “White Horse” was actually released this past July. Next up is “Modern Girl” by alternative pop-rock band Bleachers, headed by singer-songwriter and producer extraordinaire Jack Antonoff. The rousing song, which features some marvelous sax, took a while to grow on me but finally enters my chart at #27. Entering at #28 is the soulful “What Now” by American singer-songwriter Brittany Howard, who possesses one of the more powerful and interesting voices of any artist today. The song is the lead single of her forthcoming second album of the same name. Bringing up the rear are two wonderful dance singles, the first of which is the delightful “How Did You Get Here?” by talented young British singer-songwriter Antony Szmierek, which I learned about from fellow blogger Andy Peterson (who has a great blog titled The Voice Of Unreason). And last, but certainly not least, is “Houdini”, the latest single by impossibly beautiful English-Albanian singer-songwriter Dua Lipa.
HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (1)
ONE MORE TIME – blink-182 (2)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (3)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (5)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (6)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (7)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (8)
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS KILLING ME – Green Day (11)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (9)
EVICTED – Wilco (10)
NOW AND THEN – The Beatles (12)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (4)
ATOMIC CITY – U2 (16)
THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (17)
ANGRY – The Rolling Stones (18)
YOUR SIDE OF TOWN – The Killers (19)
RUN AWAY WITH ME – Cold War Kids (20)
ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (21)
GOOD OLD DAYS – The Revivalists (22)
MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (24)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (15)
WILD – Brian Lambert, Harmoni Kelley & Marc Schuster (25)
What an exciting chart we have this week, with a new #1 song and new debuts by two legendary acts. Since winning the Eurovision Song Contest two and a half years ago with “Zitti e Buoni”, Italian rock band Måneskin have amassed enormous commercial success and legions of passionate fans, if not always critical acclaim. Formed in 2016 while still in high school, the irrepressible and charismatic foursome consists of Damiano David (lead vocals), Victoria De Angelis (bass), Thomas Raggi (guitar) and Ethan Torchio (drums). I love their bombastic rock extravaganza “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?”, which takes over the #1 spot on my Weekly Top 30 chart after spending three weeks at #2.
Released on September 1st, the song is the sixth single from their most recent album RUSH (previous chart-topping singles from the album include “SUPERMODEL” and “THE LONELIEST”). Though generally favorable, reviews for RUSH were mixed, with Sam Law of Kerrang! writing that Måneskin are “still utterly unstoppable when they tap into the youthful exuberance and fiery eccentricity that got them here in the first place“, whereas Jeremy Larson of Pitchfork called it “absolutely terrible at every conceivable level: vocally grating, lyrically unimaginative, and musically one-dimensional. It is a rock album that sounds worse the louder you play it.” While I think the album is a bit too long (it features 18 tracks, but was reissued on November 10th as RUSH (ARE U COMING?) with a whopping 22 tracks), I love the band’s explosive energy and enjoy most of their songs.
The two very notable debuts, both of which were released on November 2nd, enter my chart quite high this week. The first, entering at #11, is “The American Dream Is Killing Me” by California pop-punk trio Green Day, released alongside “Look Ma, No Brains!” as the lead single from their forthcoming 14th studio album, Saviors, due out next year. Never afraid of making a socio-political statement, band front man Billie Joe Armstrong told Stereogum that the song is “a look at the way the traditional American Dream doesn’t work for a lot of people—in fact, it’s hurting a lot of people.”
Debuting right behind at #12 is “Now and Then” by The Beatles. At first I had mixed feelings about the song and how it came to be, but I’ve come to like it. Released as a double A-side single along with a new stereo remix of their first single, “Love Me Do”, they serve as a kind of “bookends” to the band’s history. “Now and Then” was written and recorded by John Lennon in 1977 as a solo piano demo on his home tape recorder, but was never finished. After his death in 1980, the song was considered for inclusion along with “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” for The Beatles’ 1995–1996 retrospective project The Beatles Anthology, but shelved due to its poor audio quality. Paul McCartney later remarked that George Harrison disliked the song, calling Lennon’s demo recording “fucking rubbish“. (Wikipedia)
Fast forward to 2023, McCartney and Ringo Starr were able to use the machine-learning-assisted audio restoration technology – originally commissioned by Peter Jackson for his 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back– to successfully extract Lennon’s vocals from the original demo. They then added their new vocal overdubs, Harrison’s 1995 guitar tracks along with a new slide guitar solo by McCartney, Starr’s new drum parts, and a string section written by Giles Martin (son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin), McCartney, and Ben Foster, to complete the new version of “Now and Then.” The result is a song that’s, in the words of Benjamin H. Smith who wrote about it for the website Decider, “underwhelming at first, due to its minor key verse and stately tempo, [but] repeated listens pull you in with its its artistry and gravitas“, which was exactly my own personal reaction.
The song has generally been well received by many critics who felt it was a worthy finale for the Beatles, however, some have been less generous, with a few bloggers I follow bitterly denouncing the entire project. Be that as it may, “Now and Then” has already topped the music charts in the UK, Germany, and Austria, and last week debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest-charting song by the Beatles since “Free as a Bird” reached #6 in 1995.
Also worth noting on this week’s chart is the 10-point jump of U2‘s anthemic “Atomic City” (another song I was initially ambivalent about, partly because the chorus sounds a lot like Blondie’s “Call Me”), which is currently #1 on the Billboard AAA chart. With songs out now by both the Beatles and Rolling Stones, as well as veteran acts U2, Green Day, Wilco, Foo Fighters and blink-182, one can be forgiven for wondering what year we’re in!
HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (2)
ONE MORE TIME – blink-182 (1)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (3)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (4)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (6)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (8)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (9)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (10)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (11)
EVICTED – Wilco (12)
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS KILLING ME – Green Day (N)
NOW AND THEN – The Beatles (N)
RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (5)
WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (7)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (15)
ATOMIC CITY – U2 (26)
THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (20)
ANGRY – The Rolling Stones (21)
YOUR SIDE OF TOWN – The Killers (22)
RUN AWAY WITH ME – Cold War Kids (23)
ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (24)
GOOD OLD DAYS – The Revivalists (25)
DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (13)
MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (27)
WILD – Brian Lambert, Harmoni Kelley & Marc Schuster (28)
It’s been quite a while since a song has spent four weeks at #1 on my chart (the last time was two years ago this month with Two Feet’s “Don’t Bring Me Down”), but “ONE MORE TIME” by blink-182 still strongly resonates with me. “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” by Italian rock band Måneskin holds at #2 for a third week, and in fact, the entire top 7 remains unchanged from last week.
The middle of my chart, however, has lots of movement, with several songs making big upward moves. Three songs enter the top 10: “Darling” by Canadian artist Western Jaguar; “My Kinda Girl” by British synth-pop trio The 23s, and “THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND” by American metalcore band Bad Omens, all of which advance six spots. The biggest climbers this week are “Summer of Luv” by Portland-based alt-rock band Portugal. The Man featuring Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and “Evicted” by Chicago alt-rock veterans Wilco, each jumping seven spots to #11 and #12, respectively. The bottom third of the chart is more sluggish, with all ten songs advancing one spot. Bringing up the rear is the lone debut, “Cool About It” by boygenius, a long-overdue addition to my chart.
ONE MORE TIME – blink-182 (1)
HONEY (ARE U COMING) – Måneskin (2)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (3)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (4)
RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (5)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (6)
WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (7)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (14)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (15)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (16)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (18)
EVICTED – Wilco (19)
DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (10)
OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (12)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (17)
BAD IDEA RIGHT? – Olivia Rodrigo (11)
PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (13)
FRANCESCA – Hozier (8)
WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (9) 21st week on chart
THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (21)
ANGRY – The Rolling Stones (22)
YOUR SIDE OF TOWN – The Killers (23)
RUN AWAY WITH ME – Cold War Kids (24)
ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (25)
GOOD OLD DAYS – The Revivalists (26)
ATOMIC CITY – U2 (27)
MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (28)
WILD – Brian Lambert, Harmoni Kelley & Marc Schuster (29)
blink-182 maintains a firm grip on the #1 spot for a third week with their heartwarming “ONE MORE TIME”, while Måneskin‘s boisterous gem “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” holds at #2 for a second week. I’ve fallen in love with Black Pumas‘ soulful “More Than a Love Song”, which jumps eight spots to #3 this week. The song has now spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard AAA chart. The sensuous “Loving You” by LA dream pop trio Cannons moves up two spots to #4, and Paramore‘s rousing “Running Out of Time” – which could be my theme song – moves up two spots to #5. Foo Fighters climb four spots to #6 with “Under You”.
Three songs debut this week: the ethereal beauty “My Love Mine All Mine” by Mitski, from her wonderfully-titled latest album The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We, at #28; “Wild”, the cool title track from the new album by prolific Texas singer-songwriter Brian Lambert, featuring contributions by Harmoni Kelly and Marc Schuster, at #29; and the enchanting “All I Die For” by Toronto, Canada indie rock trio SWiiMS, at #30. I was introduced to the song by fellow blogger The Alternative Mixtapes, a terrific blog worth checking out.
ONE MORE TIME – blink-182 (1)
HONEY (ARE U COMING) – Måneskin (2)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (11)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (6)
RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (7)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (10)
WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (8)
FRANCESCA – Hozier (3)
WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (4) 20th week on chart
DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (5)
BAD IDEA RIGHT ? – Olivia Rodrigo (12)
OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (13)
PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (14)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (15)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (16)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (17)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (18)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (19)
EVICTED – Wilco (20)
KISSES – Slowdive (9)
THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (22)
ANGRY – The Rolling Stones (23)
YOUR SIDE OF TOWN – The Killers (24)
RUN AWAY WITH ME – Cold War Kids (27)
ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (28)
GOOD OLD DAYS – The Revivalists (29)
ATOMIC CITY – U2 (30)
MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (N)
WILD – Brian Lambert, Harmoni Kelly & Marc Schuster (N)
On this week’s chart, the beautiful and poignant autobiographical “ONE MORE TIME” by Blink-182 remains on top for a second week, while Måneskin‘s bombastic gem “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” slides into second place. “Under You” by the Foo Fighters enters the top 10, and “More Than a Love Song” by Austin, Texas neo-soul duo Black Pumas leaps 10 spots to #11. Making their debut are “”Good Old Days” by New Orleans roots rock band The Revivalists, (which is currently at #1 on the Billboard AAA Chart) at #29, and “Atomic City” by legendary Irish rock band U2, who’ve been putting out music for nearly 45 years, at #30.
ONE MORE TIME – Blink-182 (1)
HONEY (ARE U COMING) – Måneskin (4)
FRANCESCA – Hozier (2)
WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (3)
DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (5)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (7)
RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (8)
WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (10)
KISSES – Slowdive (6)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (12)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (21)
BAD IDEA RIGHT ? – Olivia Rodrigo (11)
OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (13)
PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (14)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (16)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (18)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (19)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (20)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (22)
Though I’ve liked some of their songs, I’ve never really followed nor been a big fan of pop-punk band Blink-182. But like most people, I love happy endings, so even I am thrilled to see the original line-up back together again and still making music. Formed in 1992 by guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, the Southern California act was originally named Duck Tape, then Figure 8, then Blink. Unfortunately, an Irish pop-rock band already had that name, and rather than engage in a legal battle, the band agreed to change their name by adding the number “182” – which they’d picked at random – and from that point forward, they’ve been known as Blink-182. Rayner was dismissed from the band in 1998 and replaced by Travis Barker, who remains the drummer to this day.
Despite their commercial and popular success, they’ve had more than their fair share of ups and downs over their 30-year history. After releasing five albums, three of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, as well as scoring two number one songs on the Modern Rock/Alternative charts, the combination of family commitments (all three guys now had children), the toll of touring and increasing artistic differences were causing tension among the band members. Consequently, they decided to go on a hiatus in early 2005 that ended up lasting nearly four years, with the band members not speaking with each other until October 2008, after Barker was involved in a plane crash that killed four people, leaving he and his collaborator Adam Goldstein as the only two survivors. Barker sustained second and third degree burns which ultimately required sixteen surgeries, multiple blood transfusions, and numerous skin grafts, and also resulted in him developing PTSD. Barker’s brush with death prompted him, DeLonge and Hoppus to come together, which led them to put aside their differences and reunite as a band.
Following their reunion, the band toured extensively and in 2011 released their sixth studio album Neighborhoods, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. Nevertheless, tensions between the three persisted, with this period of Blink-182’s history characterized as dysfunctional by both Barker and DeLonge. Hoppus commented in a 2016 interview with Rock Sound: “Everything was always very contentious. There was always just a strange vibe … I knew there was something wrong.” DeLonge decided to leave the band indefinitely at the end of 2014, at which point Hoppus and Barker continued Blink-182 with Matt Skiba, of punk rock band Alkaline Trio, on lead vocals and guitar. That iteration of Blink-182 released two albums, California and Nine, the first of which reached #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart and earned the band a Grammy nomination. One of the album’s singles “Bored to Death” also became their third song to hit #1 on the Alternative chart.
In June 2021, the band was hit with yet another setback when Hoppus confirmed that he’d been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and had been receiving treatment in secret for the previous three months. This led to him, Barker and DeLonge coming together yet again in response to a crisis, and the three decided to reunite for a second time in late 2022. Both their latest album One More Time and its heartwarming and poignant title track touch on their history and the challenges that brought them back together. In a sense, “One More Time” is a kind of successor to their 2004 hit “I Miss You”, which they name-drop in the lyrics. “I wish they told us, it shouldn’t take a sickness, or airplanes falling out the sky. Do I have to die to hear you miss me? Do I have to die to hear you say goodbye? / I miss you, took time, but I admit it. It still hurts even after all these years. And I know that next time, ain’t always gonna happen. I gotta say, “I love you” while we’re here.” The beautiful ballad, on which all three members sing, is my new favorite and #1 song on my Weekly Top 30.
In other notable chart developments, “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” by Italian rock band Måneskin moves up two spots to #4, “When We Were Close” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit enters the top 10, and charismatic British pop-rock band Wild Horse debut with their sweet new song “Attraction”, which I think is one of their finest songs yet.
ONE MORE TIME – Blink-182 (4)
FRANCESCA – Hozier (2)
WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (1)
HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (6)
DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (5)
KISSES – Slowdive (3)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (8)
RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (9)
DAYDREAMS AND ALGORITHMS – Eleanor Collides (7)
WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (12)
BAD IDEA RIGHT? – Olivia Rodrigo (13)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (14)
OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (15)
PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (16)
GOOD VIBRATIONS – MISSIO (10)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (20)
OVERRATED – dwi (11)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (19)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (21)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (22)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (23)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (24)
Virginia singer-songwriter The Frontier holds the top spot for a second week with his beautiful and uplifting pop-rock gem “Walk Through the Fire”, while “Francesca” by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier moves up a notch into second place. Blink-182‘s “ONE MORE TIME” moves up three spots to #4, and “HONEY (ARE U COMING)?” by Italian rock band Måneskin continues its rapid upward trajectory, entering the top 10 at #6.
Three songs make their debut this week: Entering at #28 is “Angry” by TheRolling Stones, a pretty solid banger that shows the legendary rockers still have what it takes. Who would have ever imagined that Mick and Keith would still be going strong at 80 and 79, 60 years after they released their first single “Come On” in 1963.
The second debut is “Your Side of Town” by American alt-rock band The Killers, entering at #29. The synth-driven song was intended to be included on their next album, however, band frontman Brandon Flowers nixed that project. In an interview with British news publication The Sunday Times, he explained “Halfway through recording I realized, ‘I can’t do this’. I think this will be the . . . I don’t think you’ll see us making this type of music anymore. This is the crisis I’m in. The Killers are my identity, and our songs fill seats, but I’m more fulfilled making music like ‘Pressure Machine’ [their 2021 roots rock album]. I found a side of myself writing it that was strong. This was the guy I’d been looking for! I’m as proud of ‘Hot Fuss’ as you can be for something you did when you were 20, but I’m not 20. So I’m thinking about the next phase of my life.”
The third debut is “Run Away With Me” by L.A.-based indie rock band Cold War Kids (who I saw in concert in August when they opened for Tears for Fears), at #30.
WALK THROUGH THE FIRE – The Frontier (1)
FRANCESCA – Hozier (3)
KISSES – Slowdive (2)
ONE MORE TIME – Blink-182 (7)
DIAL DRUNK – Noah Kahan (4)
HONEY (ARE U COMING?) – Måneskin (11)
DAYDREAMS AND ALGORITHMS – Eleanor Collides (8)
LOVING YOU – Cannons (9)
RUNNING OUT OF TIME – Paramore (10)
GOOD VIBRATIONS – MISSIO (5)
OVERRATED – dwi (6)
WHEN WE WERE CLOSE – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (13)
BAD IDEA RIGHT? – Olivia Rodrigo (14)
UNDER YOU – Foo Fighters (19)
OVERCOME – Nothing But Thieves (17)
PULL ME THROUGH – Royal Blood (18)
ODYSSEY – Beck & Phoenix (12)
SAY YES TO HEAVEN – Lana Del Rey (15)
MY KINDA GIRL – The 23s (22)
DARLING – Western Jaguar (23)
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND – Bad Omens (24)
HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE – Fall Out Boy (25)
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG – Black Pumas (27)
SUMMER OF LUV – Portugal. The Man feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra (28)
EVICTED – Wilco (30)
THE SHAMEFUL – Amongst Liars (29)
PINEAPPLE SUNRISE – Beach Weather (16) 22nd week on chart
On August 1st, I saw legendary British duo Tears For Fears in concert at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California (where I saw the Eagles in February), along with their opening act, alternative rock band Cold War Kids. It was a fantastic double bill, as I love them both. It was my second time seeing Tears for Fears (I first saw them on their “Seeds of Love Tour” in 1990), but my first time seeing Cold War Kids. Officially titled the “Tipping Point Tour Part II”, it was the second round of touring by Tears For Fears in support of their 2022 album The Tipping Point, their first full-length record in 17 years. The tour began June 23rd in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and wrapped up on August 2nd at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show I attended was the second to last of the tour.
Opened in 2022, Acrisure Arena is a multi-purpose facility that’s the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds hockey team, but also used for large concert events, with seating for 11,000. The arena appeared to be close to full for this concert. Though we had decent seats, we were on the opposite end of the arena from the stage, so the performers were too far away for us to clearly see their faces. And unlike the Eagles concert, there was no jumbotron, so we never got any close-ups of the bands. The sound system, however, was superb.
Cold War Kids made their entrance around 7:40 pm, opening their set with the exuberant “Love is Mystical”, from their 2017 album LA Divine. Based in Long Beach/Los Angeles, the band consists of Nathan Willett (lead vocals, piano, guitar, percussion), Matt Maust (bass), Joe Plummer (drums, percussion), Matthew Schwartz (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, percussion), and David Quon (guitar, backing vocals), who together play a hard-driving and melodic style of rock, infused with elements of alternative, indie, blues and pop. Though they formed in 2004, I didn’t learn about them until ten years later when I heard their song “First”, which was a huge #1 hit on Alternative radio and charts. I’ve been a fan of theirs ever since, and both “First” and their 2017 single “So Tied Up”, featuring singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs, have topped my own Weekly Top 30. Since 2006, they’ve released nine studio albums, three live albums and numerous singles.
They played a pretty economical set, performing 14 of their songs in quick succession with relatively little banter. Their instrumentation and musicianship were tight, and Nathan Willett’s powerful vocals commanding and clear. Later in their set, Willett said a few words, thanking Tears for Fears for inviting them on their tour, as well as the audience for coming out to see them, and also introduced his fellow band members. Their overall performance sounded great. They closed their set with a rousing performance of their big hit “First”.
Cold War Kids setlist:
Love is Mystical
Complainer
What You Say
Can We Hang On?
Miracle Mile
Audience of One
Hang Me Up to Dry
Restless
Hospital Beds
You Already Know
So Tied Up
Double Life
All This Could Be Yours
First
I trust Tears for Fears needs no introduction, but to summarize, they were formed in Bath, England in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Over a six-year period, they released three very successful albums: TheHurting (1983), Songs from the Big Chair (1985) and The Seeds of Love (1989). After completing their “Seeds of Love Tour” in 1990, Smith and Orzabal had an acrimonious split. Orzabal continued to record under the Tears for Fears name as a solo project, releasing the albums Elemental (1993) and Raoul and theKings of Spain (1995). Thankfully, the two reconciled in 2000 and released an album of new material, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, in 2004. The duo have toured on a semi-regular basis since then, and released TheTipping Point in 2022, which became their most successful album since The Seeds of Love.
Tears for Fears touring band photo by Emily Orzabal
Tears for Fears appeared on stage around 9 pm, beginning their set with the stirring “No Small Thing”, the first of six songs they played from The Tipping Point. They followed with the title track from the same album, then launched into one of their most-beloved songs, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, to thunderous applause. (It’s my favorite of their many great songs, as well as one of my favorite songs of all time.) I thought their set was a bit unimaginative, though in all fairness, the band has never been known for glitzy production values or over the top theatrics, so it was all good.
They played a total of 18 songs, including their biggest hits drawn from eight of their nine albums, focusing most on The Tipping Point, from which they played six tracks, as I mentioned earlier. They played three each from The Hurting, Songs from the Big Chair and The Seeds of Love. While Orzabal and Smith’s vocal aren’t as perfect as they were back in the 80s, they still sounded quite good for two guys in their early 60s. Orzabal and Smith spoke to the audience a fair amount in between songs, telling brief stories about their early days and band experiences, as well as providing insight or background behind some songs. Here’s their magnificent song “Head Over Heels”.
They left the stage following “Head Over Heels/Broken”, then returned a few minutes later, whereupon Smith introduced his fellow touring bandmates. They then surprised us with a fantastic cover of the Radiohead classic “Creep”, followed by a spirited performance of their bombastic anthem “Shout” to end their show, leaving us all in a state of unabashed euphoria. Other than for the two rather intoxicated couples to my left who arrived late, got up and down frequently, then left early, it was a fabulous concert experience.
Not a lot of changes from last week’s list. Two Feet remains on top for a second week with his smoldering gem “Don’t Bring Me Down”, while Adele’s heartstrings-tugging “Easy on Me” climbs two spots to #2. The War on Drugs enter the top 10 with “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” and Band of Horses are the lone debut this week with “Crutch”, their first new music in five years.
DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (1)
EASY ON ME – Adele (4)
TAKE THE L – Roadkeeper (3)
NEVER LOOKED BACK – The Zangwills (2)
I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (6)
BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (10)
MINE FOREVER – Lord Huron (5)
CAN YOU HANDLE MY LOVE?? – WALK THE MOON (8)
SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (9)
I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs ft. Lucius (11)
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 