Top 30 Songs for March 20-26, 2022

Mitski‘s bouyant but lyrically compelling dance-pop single “The Only Heartbreaker” remains at #1 for a second week on my latest Top 30, while Two Feet‘s darkly beautiful and sultry “Caviar” closes in at #2. Entering the top 10 are “I’ll Call You Mine” by young Norwegian artist girl in red (aka Marie Ulven Ringheim) and “Broken Hearts” by L.A. pop-rock duo Ships Have Sailed, who’ve had numerous songs appear on my Weekly Top 30 lists over the past three years.

The biggest upward movers on this week’s chart are “What, Me Worry?” by Portland-based alt-rock band Portugal. The Man, which jumps seven spots to #13, and the haunting James Bond-esque “Deception”, by British producer/composer Noodle Beard, with captivating vocals by Hannah Reem, which climbs eight spots to #20. After 10 songs having made their debut over the previous three weeks, there are no new entries this week.

  1. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (1)
  2. CAVIAR – Two Feet (5)
  3. CHAPSTICK – COIN (4)
  4. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (3)
  5. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (2)
  6. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (8)
  7. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement (9)
  8. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (10)
  9. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (11)
  10. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (12)
  11. B-SIDE – Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (13)
  12. OH MY GOD – Adele (7)
  13. WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (20)
  14. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (17)
  15. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (16)
  16. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (6)
  17. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (19)
  18. BLACK SUMMER – Red Hot Chili Peppers (21)
  19. LOVE BRAND NEW – Bob Moses (23)
  20. DECEPTION – Noodle Beard featuring Hannah Reem (28)
  21. WAKE ME UP – Foals (14)
  22. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (15)
  23. IF YOU EVER LEAVE, I’M COMING WITH YOU – The Wombats (22)
  24. BROKEN HORSES – Brandi Carlisle (24)
  25. ONCE TWICE MELODY – Beach House (25)
  26. CHEER UP BABY – Inhaler (26)
  27. I LOVE YOU – Fontaines D.C. (27)
  28. SLEEP – Gooseberry (29)
  29. CHASING TRAINS – HULLAH (30)
  30. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (18)

Top 30 Songs for March 13-19, 2022

Another week, another new #1 song, as there are so many great ones to choose from right now. Mitski‘s exuberant dance-pop gem “The Only Heartbreaker” takes over the top spot on my latest Weekly Top 30. From her latest album Laurel Hell, the brilliant track was co-written by Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, marking the first time she’s ever teamed up with another songwriter. She told Apple Music that her collaboration with Wilson came about because she’d been struggling with the track for ages: “I was just sitting on it forever. I have so many iterations of it. Nothing felt right. He helped me solve so many of the problems and kind of lead me out of the labyrinth of it. And yeah, I’m really glad that I took that chance with him.

Mitski wrote most of the songs for Laurel Hell in 2018 before finishing the album during the covid lockdowns, and she struggled to find a coherent theme for the overall album. In an interview for Rolling Stone, she explained: “This album has been a punk record at some point, and a country record. Then, after a while, it was like, ‘I need to dance.’ Even though the lyrics [for ‘The Only Heartbreaker’] might be depressing, I need something peppy to get me through this.” For the recording of the song, she programmed synths and keyboards and her longtime producer Patrick Hyland played guitar and percussion.

Holding at #3 and #4 are “One and the Same” by British alternative psychedelic rock band Future Theory, which features some of the most stunning guitar work I’ve heard recently, and the sexy “Chapstick” by Nashville pop-rock band COIN. And speaking of stunning guitars, Two Feet‘s sultry “Caviar” jumps five spots to #5. Entering the top 10 are songs by three acts I’m particularly fond of: “Head in the Clouds” by Australian soul-funk band Thunder Fox, “Just Like Always” by British alt-rock band Oli Barton & the Movement, and “Redchurch Street Blues” by London singer-songwriter extraordinaire Philip Morgan Lewis.

Four gorgeous new songs make their debut this week at #s 27-30: “I Love You” by Fontaines D.C., “Deception” by British producer/composer Noodle Beard, featuring breathtaking vocals by Hannah Reem, “Sleep” by talented and charismatic Brooklyn four-piece Gooseberry, and “Chasing Trains” by British artist HULLAH. I learned about Noodle Beard/Hannah Reem and HULLAH a week ago when I heard their wonderful songs as a guest moderator of Fresh On The Net.

  1. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (5)
  2. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (1)
  3. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (3)
  4. CHAPSTICK – COIN (4)
  5. CAVIAR – Two Feet (10)
  6. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (2)
  7. OH MY GOD – Adele (9)
  8. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (11)
  9. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (12)
  10. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (13)
  11. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (14)
  12. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (15)
  13. B-SIDE – Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (16)
  14. WAKE ME UP – Foals (6)
  15. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (7)
  16. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (17)
  17. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (19)
  18. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (8)
  19. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (20)
  20. WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (21)
  21. BLACK SUMMER – Red Hot Chili Peppers (22)
  22. IF YOU EVER LEAVE, I’M COMING WITH YOU – The Wombats (25)
  23. LOVE BRAND NEW – Bob Moses (26)
  24. BROKEN HORSES – Brandi Carlisle (27)
  25. ONCE TWICE MELODY – Beach House (28)
  26. CHEER UP BABY – Inhaler (30)
  27. I LOVE YOU – Fontaines D.C. (N)
  28. DECEPTION – Noodle Beard featuring Hannah Reem (N)
  29. SLEEP – Gooseberry (N)
  30. CHASING TRAINS – HULLAH (N)

Top 30 Songs for March 6-12, 2022

After a long, steady climb, the wonderfully ebullient “Two Car Family” by Leeds five-piece Apollo Junction has reached the pinnacle of my Weekly Top 30. The song is from their latest album All In, which is so full of great songs, I could just as easily have chosen some of its other tracks to place at the top of my list. I love their melodic, high-energy brand of electro pop-rock, and so do thousands of adoring fans. I’m so happy to see their star continue to rise.

In other major chart developments this week, the captivating song of unrequited love “Caviar”, by my favorite artist Two Feet, leaps 10 spots to #10. I love the sultry vibe and gorgeous Latin-flavored guitars. Counting both his solo tracks and collaborations with SubUrban and grandson, Two Feet has continuously had a song on my Weekly Top 30 every single week since early November of 2020! Portugal. The Man‘s “What Me Worry?” and the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ “Black Summer” both climb six spots to #21 and #22, respectively. Finally, there’s so much great new music out now, I wanted to add at least eight new tracks this week. But that would have required dropping eight from my list, which I just could not do. So, I had to settle for only three stellar new additions: “Broken Horses” by Brandi Carlisle, “Once Twice Melody” by Beach House, and “Cheer Up Baby” by Inhaler.

  1. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (3)
  2. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (1)
  3. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (4)
  4. CHAPSTICK – COIN (6)
  5. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (8)
  6. WAKE ME UP – Foals (5)
  7. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (2)
  8. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (7)
  9. OH MY GOD – Adele (10)
  10. CAVIAR – Two Feet (20)
  11. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (11)
  12. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (13)
  13. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (14)
  14. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (16)
  15. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (17)
  16. B-SIDE – Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (19)
  17. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (18)
  18. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & the Imposters (15)
  19. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (21)
  20. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (22)
  21. WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (27)
  22. BLACK SUMMER – Red Hot Chili Peppers (28)
  23. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (9) 19th week on chart
  24. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (12)
  25. IF YOU EVER LEAVE, I’M COMING WITH YOU – The Wombats (26)
  26. LOVE BRAND NEW – Bob Moses (29)
  27. BROKEN HORSES – Brandi Carlisle (N)
  28. ONCE TWICE MELODY – Beach House (N)
  29. WON’T STAND DOWN – Muse (30)
  30. CHEER UP BABY – Inhaler (N)

Top 30 Songs for February 27-March 5, 2022

Though they’ve been around since the mid 1990s, I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I didn’t come to fully appreciate the music of Spoon until 2017, with the release of their fantastic album Hot Thoughts. I love their distinctive sound that incorporates elements of rock’n’roll, art rock, post-punk revival and experimental rock, not to mention the raspy vocals of frontman Britt Daniel, who at 50 is still going strong. The Austin-based rock band’s gnarly stomper “The Hardest Cut” has been around awhile, and finally reaches the top of my Weekly Top 30. The song is from their 10th and latest album Lucifer on the Sofa, which was written by Daniel during lockdown.

Adele’s “Oh My God” enters the top 10, and both “B-Side” by Khruangbin & Leon Bridges and “Caviar” by Two Feet leap eight spots to #19 and #20, respectively. Three new songs debut this week: “Black Summer” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Love Brand New” by Bob Moses, and “Won’t Stand Down” by Muse. Though I really like Muse, most of their songs take a while to grow on me. I often dislike them upon the first few listens, but almost always end up liking or even loving them, and “Won’t Stand Down” is no exception.

  1. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (2)
  2. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (1)
  3. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (4)
  4. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (6)
  5. WAKE ME UP – Foals (7)
  6. CHAPSTICK – COIN (8)
  7. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (9)
  8. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (10)
  9. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (3)
  10. OH MY GOD – Adele (14)
  11. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (13)
  12. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (5)
  13. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (15)
  14. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (16)
  15. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & The Imposters (17)
  16. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (22)
  17. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (20)
  18. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (21)
  19. B-SIDE – Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (27)
  20. CAVIAR – Two Feet (28)
  21. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (24)
  22. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (26)
  23. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (11)
  24. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (12)
  25. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War On Drugs feat. Lucius (18)
  26. IF YOU EVER LEAVE, I’M COMING WITH YOU – The Wombats (29)
  27. WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (30)
  28. BLACK SUMMER – Red Hot Chili Peppers (N)
  29. LOVE BRAND NEW – Bob Moses (N)
  30. WON’T STAND DOWN – Muse (N)

Top 30 Songs for February 20-26, 2022

British psychedelic pop/rock band Solar Eyes retain a firm grip on the top spot on my latest Weekly Top 30 for a second week with their beautiful track “I See the Sun“, and Spoon’s “The Hardest Cut” slides up to #2. Entering the top 10 are twenty øne piløts’ “The Outside” and Mitski’s “The Only Heartbreaker”. Sometimes it takes a while for a song to really grow on me, and after a slow start, Adele’s “Oh My God” leaps 10 spots to #14. Four great songs by artists I love make their debut this week: “B-Side” by Khruangbin & Leon Bridges, “Caviar” by Two Feet, “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You” by The Wombats, and “What, Me Worry?” by Portugal. The Man.

  1. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (1)
  2. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (3)
  3. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (2)
  4. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (5)
  5. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (4)
  6. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (8)
  7. WAKE ME UP – Foals (9)
  8. CHAPSTICK – COIN (10)
  9. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (11)
  10. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (12)
  11. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (6)
  12. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (7)
  13. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (15)
  14. OH MY GOD – Adele (24)
  15. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (18)
  16. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (19)
  17. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & The Imposters (20)
  18. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs feat. Lucius (13)
  19. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (14)
  20. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (26)
  21. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (27)
  22. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (29)
  23. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (16)
  24. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (28)
  25. U&ME – alt-J (22)
  26. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (30)
  27. B-SIDE – Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (N)
  28. CAVIAR – Two Feet (N)
  29. IF YOU EVER LEAVE, I’M COMING WITH YOU – The Wombats (N)
  30. WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (N)

Top 30 Songs for February 13-19, 2022

There’s lots of movement on this week’s Top 30. One of the downsides of curating a weekly list is that all songs must eventually move down, then off. I hate dropping songs I still like, but it must be done in order to make way for new ones on their way up. I’ve loved the music of British psychedelic pop/rock band Solar Eyes since first learning about them last summer, and have written about two of their singles, “Naked Monkey on a Spaceship” and “I See the Sun”. Inspired by the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, “I See the Sun” is a glorious cinematic gem, highlighted by gorgeous spaghetti western-style guitars that would make Ennio Morricone proud. The stunning song takes over the #1 spot on my Weekly Top 30.

Spoon’s “The Hardest Cut” climbs three spots to #3, British band Apollo Junction’s “Two Car Family” moves up two spots to #5, and three songs enter the top 10: “One and the Same” by British alternative psychedelic rock band Future Theory, “Wake Me Up” by British alt-rock band Foals, and “Chapstick” by Nashville pop-rock band COIN. After a sluggish few weeks, twenty øne piløts’ “The Outside” and Mitski’s “The Only Heartbreaker” leap eight spots to #11 and #12, respectively. Debuting this week are “I’ll Call You Mine” by girl in red and “Give a Little Lovin’” by Jamie Alimorad, which enter at #29 and #30.

  1. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (2)
  2. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (1)
  3. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (6)
  4. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (3)
  5. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (7)
  6. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (4)
  7. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (5)
  8. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (13)
  9. WAKE ME UP – Foals (14)
  10. CHAPSTICK – COIN (17)
  11. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (19)
  12. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (20)
  13. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs feat. Lucius (8)
  14. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (16)
  15. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (18)
  16. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (9)
  17. SMILE – Wolf Alice (10)
  18. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (22)
  19. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (23)
  20. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & The Imposters (24)
  21. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (11)
  22. U&ME – alt-J (12)
  23. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (15)
  24. OH MY GOD – Adele (26)
  25. INDUSTRY BABY – Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow (21)
  26. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (28)
  27. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (29)
  28. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (30)
  29. I’LL CALL YOU MINE – girl in red (N)
  30. GIVE A LITTLE LOVIN’ – Jamie Alimorad (N)

Top 30 Songs for February 6-12, 2022

I’m a long-time fan of disco and dance music of all kinds, so it’s a given I’d love the sleek earworm “Starts With You” by Canadian born, and now L.A.-based, singer-songwriter Shimmer Johnson. The song is actually a departure from her more typical adult contemporary style and repertoire of heartfelt ballads, and I love the sultry dance groove and funky Nile Rodgers-style guitar. After a long, steady climb, the song has finally landed atop my Weekly Top 30.

Sliding into second place is the spaghetti western-esque stunner “I See the Sun” by British psychedelic pop/rock band Solar Eyes. Entering the top 10 is Spoon’s rousing and gnarly “The Hardest Cut”, which jumps five spots to #6. And like last week, I wanted to add at least five new songs to this week’s list, but that would require eliminating five songs, which I could not do. Thus, the lone debut this week is Foo Fighters’ “Love Dies Young”, which I probably should have added to my list weeks ago.

  1. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (4)
  2. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (5)
  3. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (1)
  4. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (2)
  5. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (3)
  6. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (11)
  7. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (8)
  8. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs feat. Lucius (6)
  9. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (9)
  10. SMILE – Wolf Alice (10)
  11. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (7)
  12. U&ME – alt-J (13)
  13. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (14)
  14. WAKE ME UP – Foals (16)
  15. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (12)
  16. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (18)
  17. CHAPSTICK – COIN (19)
  18. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (20)
  19. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (21)
  20. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (22)
  21. INDUSTRY BABY – Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow (23)
  22. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (24)
  23. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (25)
  24. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & The Imposters (26)
  25. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (15)
  26. OH MY GOD – Adele (27)
  27. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (17)
  28. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (29)
  29. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (30)
  30. LOVE DIES YOUNG – Foo Fighters (N)

Top 30 Songs for January 30-February 5, 2022

There’s not a lot of movement on my latest Weekly Top 30, as the top seven songs from last week remain in the top seven this week, albeit with a bit of shuffling of the ones at #s 2-7. Band of Horses’ beautiful song of unrequited love “Crutch” remains at #1 for a second week, and dwi’s “Good Friend” switches places with Kings of Leon’s “Time in Disguise” for the #2 and #3 spots. Canadian-American singer-songwriter Shimmer Johnson’s wonderful dance-pop song “Starts With You” moves up a notch to #4, followed close behind at #5 by the marvelous spaghetti western-esque “I See the Sun” by British psychedelic pop/rock band Solar Eyes.

There are at least six new songs I wanted to add to this list, but only had room for two: L.A. pop-rock duo Ships Have Sailed’s breathtaking “Broken Hearts” enters at #29, replacing their song “Love in October” after its 14-week run, which itself replaced their previous single “Take My Money”, meaning they’ve continuously had a song on my Weekly Top 30 since mid-August of last year. Welsh artist Secret Postal Society’s uplifting couplet “Something From Nothing/Points of Light” enters at #30.

  1. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (1)
  2. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (3)
  3. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (2)
  4. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (5)
  5. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (7)
  6. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs feat. Lucius (4)
  7. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (6)
  8. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (9)
  9. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (10)
  10. SMILE – Wolf Alice (12)
  11. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (16)
  12. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (13)
  13. U&ME – alt-J (14)
  14. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (15)
  15. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (8)
  16. WAKE ME UP – Foals (17)
  17. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (11)
  18. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (19)
  19. CHAPSTICK – COIN (20)
  20. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (21)
  21. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (22)
  22. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (24)
  23. INDUSTRY BABY – Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow (25)
  24. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (26)
  25. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (27)
  26. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & The Imposters (28)
  27. OH MY GOD – Adele (30)
  28. BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (18)
  29. BROKEN HEARTS – Ships Have Sailed (N)
  30. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING/POINTS OF LIGHT – Secret Postal Society (N)

Top 30 Songs for January 23-29, 2022

The poignant and beautiful “Crutch” by Band of Horses takes over the top spot on my latest Weekly Top 30. It’s their first song to ever top a Billboard chart, recently spending two weeks at #1 on the Adult Alternative Chart. It was a tough decision knocking dwi’s wonderful song “Good Friend” down to #2, as I still love it so much. Finally entering the top 10 are three great songs – Solar Eyes’ “I See the Sun”, Apollo Junction’s “Two Car Family”, and a million rich daughters’ “Left Behind”. Debuting this week are Elvis Costello & the Imposters’ “Magnificent Hurt” and Adele’s “Oh My God”. It took a while for “Magnificent Hurt” to grow on me, because I can sometimes be a real idiot when it comes to music (as well as many other things, unfortunately). But after reading two recent posts about the song and Costello’s new album by fellow blogger Christian’s Music Musings, I finally realized what a terrific song it is. 

The video for “Crutch” is odd but sweet, and features lots of cute cats, so please watch.

  1. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (2)
  2. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (1)
  3. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (4)
  4. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs feat. Lucius (3)
  5. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (6)
  6. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (7)
  7. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (11)
  8. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (5)
  9. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (12)
  10. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (13)
  11. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (9)
  12. SMILE – Wolf Alice (14)
  13. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (15)
  14. U&ME – alt-J (16)
  15. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (17)
  16. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (19)
  17. WAKE ME UP – Foals (18)
  18. BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (8)
  19. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (20)
  20. CHAPSTICK – COIN (21)
  21. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (22)
  22. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (23)
  23. LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (10)
  24. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (25)
  25. INDUSTRY BABY – Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow (28)
  26. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (29)
  27. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (30)
  28. MAGNIFICENT HURT – Elvis Costello & The Imposters (N)
  29. DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (24)
  30. OH MY GOD – Adele (N)

Top 30 Songs for January 9-15, 2022

I’m thrilled to place the lively but poignant song “Good Friend” by Canadian artist dwi at #1 on this week’s Top 30. The music project of insanely creative and talented Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Dwight Abell, dwi was one of my favorite new music discoveries of 2021, and his brilliant debut album Mild Fantasy Violence is among my favorite releases of the year (read my review here). “Good Friend” is about discovering after the fact that a friend had been going through some hard times, and wishing you’d known more at the time so you could have helped them through it. I love the song’s infectious hard-driving melody, colorful guitar work and dwi’s expressive vocals lamenting about his shortcomings as a friend: “Had I known you were broken inside. Had I known you were empty inside. If I was a good friend, I’d a known better. If I was a good friend, I’d have done better./ I’m done with the drugs, but there’s still some left inside.”

In other chart developments, “Crutch” by Band of Horses jumps four spots to #3, Tears for Fears’ “The Tipping Point” enters the top 10, and Mitski debuts with “The Only Heartbreaker”, her first-ever appearance on my Weekly Top 30 chart.

  1. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (2)
  2. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs featuring Lucius (1)
  3. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (7)
  4. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (4)
  5. BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (3)
  6. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (6)
  7. LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (8)
  8. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (9)
  9. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (10)
  10. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (12)
  11. DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (5)
  12. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (13)
  13. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (14)
  14. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (15)
  15. SMILE – Wolf Alice (16)
  16. JUSTIFIED – Kacey Musgraves (11)
  17. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (19)
  18. U&ME – alt-J (20)
  19. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (21)
  20. WAKE ME UP – Foals (22)
  21. KALEIDOSCOPE – Soda Cracker Jesus (18)
  22. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (25)
  23. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (27)
  24. CHAPSTICK – COIN (28)
  25. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (29)
  26. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (30)
  27. ALL TOO WELL (10 Minute Version) – Taylor Swift (17)
  28. SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (23)
  29. EASY ON ME – Adele (24)
  30. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (N)