#18
2009 - Sick Puppies - I Hate You
Album: Tri-Polar
It's interesting that "I Hate You" ended up being the song for this year. Tri-Polar is a tremendous follow-up to Dressed Up As Life, even if it's slightly less fucked up. Looking back on it, "Riptide" is the song I like the best, and "You're Going Down" is the song that probably has gotten the most play over the years. "I Hate You" is a good song, yes, and is super relevant to the relationship I had just escaped. It's just intriguing that it was the one at the time. It's just a shame that Sick Puppies disintegrated after this record and put out an extremely horrendous piece of safe garbage in "Connect" before firing Shim Moore. So much potential, but I guess I can lean on two really great records.
2010 - Rammstein - Frühling in Paris
Album: Liebe ist fur alle da
I mean, obviously there was going to be a Rammstein song in the 2010 Countdown, right? It took me a long time to really get into "Liebe..." but in the end it's really a great record. Like 2009, I had a couple of choices from the band for this, including "B*******" and "Mehr". "Frühling in Paris" just happened to be the jam that fit at the time. I was still riding pretty high off of what "Wo Bist Du" had done for me with my parents breaking up, so it only made sense that it would be a slower song that would catch my ear first. Sadly, it's been 8 years and we're still holding on for one last R+ record.
2011 - House of Heroes - Galveston
Album: Suburba (Re-Release)
Oh, I dunno. I think this song could've been a little higher on the 2011 list. Obviously Suburba came out in 2010 but in 2011 House of Heroes re-released it with a few bonus tracks that eventually made their way to their b-side album The Knock-Down Drag-Outs. Anyways, Obadiah played this song on the Riot after the re-release happened and I was instantly hooked. I remember that I was driving to pick up my (at the time) girlfriend and immediately had to find the song. The rest, as they say is history. Surprisingly, nothing off of their follow-up record made it to the 2012 but they did return in 2016 with... well, give me just a minute.
2012 - Santigold - Disparate Youth
Album: Master of My Make-Believe
Have I said before that 2012 was the best year for the J1 Countdown? It honestly doesn't get much better, top to bottom, than in that year. "Disparate Youth" was a song that I listened to constantly from the first time I heard it on CD101 until... well, just the past few years really. It's still one that immediately catches my ear and makes me want to listen to it six more times. Unlike the other 18's so far, this one is not from an artist I love and not from a record I enjoyed. It is, however, the best song Santigold ever released and is definitely one of my favorite songs from the Countdown Era (2009-current).
2013 - Biffy Clyro - Black Chandelier
Album: Opposites
Biffy Clyro has exploded in the rock scene ever since dropped Opposites in 2013. It was a really great record and the boys from Scotland are helping hold the flag for what rock music should sound like in the 2010s. I don't think either of their most recent records reach where they were on Opposites, but "Black Chandelier" was a wonderfully melancholy song in a year where I was either super high or super low most of the time. A breathe of fresh air, if you will, and another gem that fell to me from CD102.5 (which was still hard to say after the sudden frequency change).
2014 - Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
Album: Strange Desire
In retrospect, I'm somewhat surprised that I liked this album as much as I did at the time. I'm sitting here typing this while I listen to it again, and it's not... well, it's not terrible. It's not great but it is good, and it's certainly less poppy than the album Jack put out last year. If I had my way, I'd just put Fun. back together and not have the rest of them worrying about their overly poppy side projects. On the flipside, "I Wanna Get Better" is still lyrically brilliant and catchy, even if it is overly sugary and bubbly for what I wanted it to be. I'm gonna stop on this one because I feel utterly perplexed.
2015 - New Found Glory - Selfless
Album: Resurrection
Ah, New Found Glory. I was shocked that this album was so good, and I'm still somewhat caught off-guard that any band that I loved way back in the day is still worthwhile in the late 2010s. As it stands, this was the first song that made it onto the radar of the 2015 list (at the end of 2014) and that ended up being more of a curse than a blessing. The song just kind of fizzled out at the year went on after starting strong and slid back to #18 while bigger and better songs took its place. It's still a fantastic jam and a welcome addition to a great catalogue from a wonderful bunch of pop-punkers.
2016 - House of Heroes - In The End
Album: Colors
Oh, hey House of Heroes, there you are. I was just talking about you. No, it wasn't anything bad. But twice you've made it and twice you've been at #18. Isn't that special? I think it's great!
I've heard people say that this is the best House of Heroes album yet. I don't necessarily believe that, but I can also say that there really isn't a bad song off of this record. "God" and "Colors Run" would definitely be my other favorites, and it's almost shocking to listen to this record when you realize it was crowd-funded. Just a great effort and a great song from a great group of dudes doing Columbus, Ohio proud.
2017 - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Fire Escape
Album: Zombies on Broadway
It's 2017 and I'm still embarrassed for liking Andrew McMahon. He's the anti-Jester, truly, but he's made a few catchy songs and two of them have made their way into the Countdown. It is what it is, and I'm afraid that in 2018 there'll be another McJam from McMahon... (see what he's doing to me!?). Anyways, this one still has my favorite video of the year and is still a really fun and great song, I'm just glad it didn't end up as high as "Cecilia..." did a few years ago. The jury is still out on 2018... stay tuned!
Album: Tri-Polar
It's interesting that "I Hate You" ended up being the song for this year. Tri-Polar is a tremendous follow-up to Dressed Up As Life, even if it's slightly less fucked up. Looking back on it, "Riptide" is the song I like the best, and "You're Going Down" is the song that probably has gotten the most play over the years. "I Hate You" is a good song, yes, and is super relevant to the relationship I had just escaped. It's just intriguing that it was the one at the time. It's just a shame that Sick Puppies disintegrated after this record and put out an extremely horrendous piece of safe garbage in "Connect" before firing Shim Moore. So much potential, but I guess I can lean on two really great records.
2010 - Rammstein - Frühling in Paris
Album: Liebe ist fur alle da
I mean, obviously there was going to be a Rammstein song in the 2010 Countdown, right? It took me a long time to really get into "Liebe..." but in the end it's really a great record. Like 2009, I had a couple of choices from the band for this, including "B*******" and "Mehr". "Frühling in Paris" just happened to be the jam that fit at the time. I was still riding pretty high off of what "Wo Bist Du" had done for me with my parents breaking up, so it only made sense that it would be a slower song that would catch my ear first. Sadly, it's been 8 years and we're still holding on for one last R+ record.
2011 - House of Heroes - Galveston
Album: Suburba (Re-Release)
Oh, I dunno. I think this song could've been a little higher on the 2011 list. Obviously Suburba came out in 2010 but in 2011 House of Heroes re-released it with a few bonus tracks that eventually made their way to their b-side album The Knock-Down Drag-Outs. Anyways, Obadiah played this song on the Riot after the re-release happened and I was instantly hooked. I remember that I was driving to pick up my (at the time) girlfriend and immediately had to find the song. The rest, as they say is history. Surprisingly, nothing off of their follow-up record made it to the 2012 but they did return in 2016 with... well, give me just a minute.
2012 - Santigold - Disparate Youth
Album: Master of My Make-Believe
Have I said before that 2012 was the best year for the J1 Countdown? It honestly doesn't get much better, top to bottom, than in that year. "Disparate Youth" was a song that I listened to constantly from the first time I heard it on CD101 until... well, just the past few years really. It's still one that immediately catches my ear and makes me want to listen to it six more times. Unlike the other 18's so far, this one is not from an artist I love and not from a record I enjoyed. It is, however, the best song Santigold ever released and is definitely one of my favorite songs from the Countdown Era (2009-current).
2013 - Biffy Clyro - Black Chandelier
Album: Opposites
Biffy Clyro has exploded in the rock scene ever since dropped Opposites in 2013. It was a really great record and the boys from Scotland are helping hold the flag for what rock music should sound like in the 2010s. I don't think either of their most recent records reach where they were on Opposites, but "Black Chandelier" was a wonderfully melancholy song in a year where I was either super high or super low most of the time. A breathe of fresh air, if you will, and another gem that fell to me from CD102.5 (which was still hard to say after the sudden frequency change).
2014 - Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
Album: Strange Desire
In retrospect, I'm somewhat surprised that I liked this album as much as I did at the time. I'm sitting here typing this while I listen to it again, and it's not... well, it's not terrible. It's not great but it is good, and it's certainly less poppy than the album Jack put out last year. If I had my way, I'd just put Fun. back together and not have the rest of them worrying about their overly poppy side projects. On the flipside, "I Wanna Get Better" is still lyrically brilliant and catchy, even if it is overly sugary and bubbly for what I wanted it to be. I'm gonna stop on this one because I feel utterly perplexed.
2015 - New Found Glory - Selfless
Album: Resurrection
Ah, New Found Glory. I was shocked that this album was so good, and I'm still somewhat caught off-guard that any band that I loved way back in the day is still worthwhile in the late 2010s. As it stands, this was the first song that made it onto the radar of the 2015 list (at the end of 2014) and that ended up being more of a curse than a blessing. The song just kind of fizzled out at the year went on after starting strong and slid back to #18 while bigger and better songs took its place. It's still a fantastic jam and a welcome addition to a great catalogue from a wonderful bunch of pop-punkers.
2016 - House of Heroes - In The End
Album: Colors
Oh, hey House of Heroes, there you are. I was just talking about you. No, it wasn't anything bad. But twice you've made it and twice you've been at #18. Isn't that special? I think it's great!
I've heard people say that this is the best House of Heroes album yet. I don't necessarily believe that, but I can also say that there really isn't a bad song off of this record. "God" and "Colors Run" would definitely be my other favorites, and it's almost shocking to listen to this record when you realize it was crowd-funded. Just a great effort and a great song from a great group of dudes doing Columbus, Ohio proud.
2017 - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Fire Escape
Album: Zombies on Broadway
It's 2017 and I'm still embarrassed for liking Andrew McMahon. He's the anti-Jester, truly, but he's made a few catchy songs and two of them have made their way into the Countdown. It is what it is, and I'm afraid that in 2018 there'll be another McJam from McMahon... (see what he's doing to me!?). Anyways, this one still has my favorite video of the year and is still a really fun and great song, I'm just glad it didn't end up as high as "Cecilia..." did a few years ago. The jury is still out on 2018... stay tuned!
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