The 2024 Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown - #18

 #18. Badflower - Teacher Has A Gun

 

Title: Teacher Has A Gun
Artist: Badflower
Album: Teacher Has A Gun single

Do I like Badflower because they hit it big with a song called "The Jester"? No, although that was a decent song. Actually I don't really care for their music at all, which is why I felt really surprised that this one immediately latched onto me. It's a curious fantasy about how things could be if everyone in your life was violent enough to shoot you... and who's to say that they aren't?

Favorite Line: "No I don't wanna spend forever on the run - if I wanna stay alive, I need to get a gun"

 

 

Last five #18s:

2023: VNV Nation - Before the Rain

2022: The Foxies - Overrated
2021: Daymare - Control
2020: Little Hurt - Alaska
2019: James Truslow - Overwhelmed

The 2024 Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown - #19

#19. Vampire Weekend - Capricorn

Title: Capricorn
Artist: Vampire Weekend
Album: Only God Was Above Us

Another year, another Vampire Weekend song on the Top 20 Countdown? Yep. That's 3 in a row, although they releases have been spaced over 11 years. "Harmony Hall" landed at #20 in 2019, while "Diane Young" made it all the way up to 13 in '13. If we're being honest, I'd say I liked "Harmony Hall" better than "Capricorn", it just happened to be the song that stuck with me this year. My other favorite from this album was "Hope", which rings in at a balky 7:57 with a repetitive piano that eventually wore down on me, while "Capricorn" kept chugging along. What interesting about this band is I wouldn't say I'm a big fan of any of their albums outside of Contra, but every album has 1 or 2 songs that I really enjoy.

Favorite Line: "Too old for dyin' young, too young to live alone. Sifting through centuries for moments of your own"

 

Last five #19s:

2023: Switchfoot - On Fire (Ingrid Andress version)
2022: Bad Omens - Like A Villain
2021: Royal Blood - Typhoons
2020: The Broken Relics - Goodbye Tennessee
2019: Sigrid - Sucker Punch

The 2024 Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown - #20

 #20. Courtney from Work - Superfun!

Title: Superfun!
Artist: Courtney from Work
Album: In Urinal EP

I've been following Courtney from Work since they were a baby band, and their ascension in the local scene (and beyond) has been amazing to watch. There's no real way to capture their live energy in audio form, but they keep releasing great singles and records and have finally cracked the Countdown. "Superfun!" has one of the best chorus riffs I've heard this year. Plus, who doesn't love shouting "Super fun fun!" along with lead singer Jacob Fournier??

Favorite Line: Superfun fun, super fun fun fun!

Last five #20s:

2023: Dreamers - Wallow In It
2022: Halestorm - The Steeple
2021: Grabbitz - Pigs in the Sky
2020: Seether - Dangerous
2019: Vampire Weekend - Harmony Hall