Fall Out Boy remain at #1 for a second week with their monumental “Love From the Other Side”, while British band The Zangwills inch up to #2 with their cinematic “Backpatters and Shooters”. Entering the top 10 are “Tropic Morning News” by The National, jumping six spots to #6, “You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do” by Darksoft, moving up two spots to #9, and “Pepper” by Death Cab for Cutie, which climbs three spots to #10.
Three great songs make their debut this week: “I Want You Dead”, a duet by blog and chart favorite Two Feet, along with his fiance Allie Cabal, entering at #26, “Kid” by New Orleans alternative/roots rock band The Revivalists, at #29, and “Paid Off” by another favorite of mine, London-based alternative pop-rock band Oli Barton & the Movement, at #30.
LOVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE – Fall Out Boy (1)
BACKPATTERS AND SHOOTERS – The Zangwills (3)
TROUBLE WITH THIS BED – Beach Weather (2)
PAGES – White Reaper (5)
TRANSMITTER – Sea Power (6)
TROPIC MORNING NEWS – The National (12)
JUST BEFORE THE MORNING – Local Natives (9)
NIGHT BUS – Caitlin Lavagna (4)
YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO – Darksoft (11)
PEPPER – Death Cab for Cutie (13)
SUREFIRE – Wilderado (14)
NEW GOLD – Gorillaz, Tame Impala & Bootie Brown (16)
GHOSTS AGAIN – Depeche Mode (17)
WILD AS THE WIND – HULLAH (7)
MAYFLY – Callum Pitt (8)
THE LONELIEST – Måneskin (10)
SLEEPWALKING – All Time Low (15)
SOFTEN – Alex Southey (19)
EVERGREEN – Mt. Joy (18)
EYEZ – The Arcs (22)
WEIGHTLESS – Arlo Parks (23)
FLOWERS – Miley Cyrus (27)
MODERNISE – Slow Readers Club (28)
THE WALK HOME – Young the Giant (29)
BLUEBELL WOOD – Frank Joshua (30)
I WANT YOU DEAD – Two Feet & Allie Cabal (N)
SHADOWS IN THE DARK – The Star Crumbles (20) 21st week on chart
The first time I heard “Love From the Other Side” by rock band Fall Out Boy, I knew it would be a number one hit. And sure enough, in just four weeks it’s reached the top of my weekly chart (it’s also currently #1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart). I love hard-driving rock songs with symphonic elements, so “Love From the Other Side” is right up my alley. It’s their first song to ever top my chart (as well as any Billboard chart), and I can say with certainty that it’s already my all-time favorite song by them. Their first new music release in four years, the song is the lead single from their forthcoming eighth studio album So Much (for) Stardust, due for release on March 24th. The song marks a return to Fall Out Boy releasing music under the Fueled by Ramen label.
The lyrics are filled with meanings open to interpretation, but overall, they seem to address the band’s internal struggles with their own stardom and success. According to a comment on Genius Lyrics, “The song [and] music video have a general theme of a new beginning. The last release from the band was ‘Mania’ from 2018. ‘Mania’ didn’t resonate very well with the audience, and the band didn’t release anything after 2019 outside of some collaborations. The ‘apocalypse’ is the failure of Mania and the following silence, with the new album being ‘the other side’ and a new beginning for their career, popularity, and music style.” ‘The apocalypse” can also likely be construed as a reference to the Covid pandemic. The imaginative video features band member Pete Wentz as an old man, reading a fantasy story to his granddaughter.
In addition to “Love From the Other Side”, there are so many fantastic songs out now, many by veteran artists and bands. The gorgeous “Transmitter” by Sea Power climbs four spots to #6, “Tropic Morning News” by The National rises five spots to #12, “New Gold” by Gorillaz, Tame Impala (who’s now recovering from recent surgery to repair a broken hip), and Bootie Brown jumps seven spots to #16, and “Ghosts Again” by Depeche Mode leaps 13 spots to #17.
Four songs make their debut this week: “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus finally enters my chart at #27 after having just spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though I think she has a pretty good singing voice, I’ve never been much of a fan, as some of her slutty antics really turned me off. But after giving the song a careful listen the other day, it finally clicked with me and I have to concede that it’s a good song. With “Flowers”, Cyrus makes her very first appearance ever on my chart. The other three debuts include the boisterous “Modernise” by English rock band Slow Readers Club, at #28, the beautiful “The Walk Home” by one of my favorite American pop-rock bands Young the Giant, at #29, and the enchanting “Bluebell Wood” by English singer-songwriter Frank Joshua, at #30.
LOVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE – Fall Out Boy (3)
TROUBLE WITH THIS BED – Beach Weather (1)
BACKPATTERS AND SHOOTERS – The Zangwills (4)
NIGHT BUS – Caitlin Lavagna (2)
PAGES – White Reaper (5)
TRANSMITTER – Sea Power (10)
WILD AS THE WIND – HULLAH (7)
MAYFLY – Callum Pitt (8)
JUST BEFORE THE MORNING – Local Natives (9)
THE LONELIEST – Måneskin (6)
YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO – Darksoft (13)
TROPIC MORNING NEWS – The National (17)
PEPPER – Death Cab for Cutie (15)
SUREFIRE – Wilderado (16)
SLEEPWALKING – All Time Low (14)
NEW GOLD – Gorillaz, Tame Impala & Bootie Brown (23)
GHOSTS AGAIN – Depeche Mode (30)
EVERGREEN – Mt. Joy (20)
SOFTEN – Alex Southey (22)
SHADOWS IN THE DARK – The Star Crumbles (11) 20th week on chart
Beach Weather maintain a firm grip on the #1 spot for a third week with their languid and sultry “Trouble With This Bed”, while their monster hit “Sex, Drugs, Etc.” also spends its 25th week on my chart. Both songs are featured on their wonderful new debut album Pineapple Sunrise. Welsh singer-songwriter and actress Caitlin Lavagna‘s “Night Bus” holds at #2 for a second week, and Fall Out Boy‘s hard-driving cinematic gem “Love From the Other Side” continues its rapid climb, moving up five spots to #3. Entering the top 10 are the beautiful “Just Before the Morning” by Local Natives, at #9, and “Transmitter” by Sea Power, at #10.
The lone debut this week is “Ghosts Again” by legendary electronic band Depeche Mode, which now essentially consists of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore. The song is their first new release since the death of co-founder and keyboardist Andy Fletcher last May. About the song, Gahan said it “captures this perfect balance of melancholy and joy“, while Gore noted it has “such an upbeat feel to it“. The duo has intimated in interviews that the song is a sort of tribute to Fletcher, touching on the fragility of life and the possibility of an afterlife, namely, that everyone will eventually turn into “ghosts again”. (Wikipedia) With “Ghosts Again”, the duo leave no doubt they can still deliver a stellar song after more than 40 years.
TROUBLE WITH THIS BED – Beach Weather (1) 3rd week at #1
NIGHT BUS – Caitlin Lavagna (2)
LOVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE – Fall Out Boy (8)
BACKPATTERS AND SHOOTERS – The Zangwills (4)
PAGES – White Reaper (5)
THE LONELIEST – Måneskin (3)
WILD AS THE WIND – HULLAH (9)
MAYFLY – Callum Pitt (10)
JUST BEFORE THE MORNING – Local Natives (11)
TRANSMITTER – Sea Power (12)
SHADOWS IN THE DARK – The Star Crumbles (6)
THIS IS WHY – Paramore (7)
YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO – Darksoft (15)
SLEEPWALKING – All Time Low (16)
PEPPER – Death Cab for Cutie (17)
SUREFIRE – Wilderado (20)
TROPIC MORNING NEWS – The National (21)
ANTI-HERO – Taylor Swift (13)
DANCE FOR ME – Sam Rappaport (14)
EVERGREEN – Mt. Joy (22)
SAIL AWAY – lovelytheband (19)
SOFTEN – Alex Southey (25)
NEW GOLD – Gorillaz featuring Tame Impala & Bootie Brown (30)
EYEZ – The Arcs (27)
WEIGHTLESS – Arlo Parks (28)
SEX, DRUGS, ETC. – Beach Weather (23) 25th week on chart
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 