"First Winter" by Sunturns
No sense in burying the lead- the highlight of 2024 was the birth of my son! I then heard this song on the "Too Much Rock" podcast for Xmas songs and it just happens to coincide with HIS first winter. I look forward to getting through the seasonal affective disorder with my new partner in crime :) So yes my First song has First in the title too.
"If It's Gone" by Good Looks
I guess I like that this song doesn't "try too hard", which has been a theme in recent years for me. It doesn't have any jarring surprises in it, just a nice little song that probably works well as a road trip song.
"Warm Beers" by ALEXSUCKS
This song was a nice diversion from what I am calling the "whisper reverb" sounds of the indie rock scene these days. Of note though was that I heard this song for the FIRST TIME on December 31st, so it was a last minute add and I'm not totally sure if I won't regret that down the road, but for right right now, I like it.
"Death Valley High" by Orville Peck & Beck
A song about Las Vegas will always catch my attention. I've always liked Beck's style of music as well. This song has a nice little retro-Elvis sound too and makes me want to get back out there for another vacation.
"Messy" by Lola Young
This one was close to being "too mainstream" as it did hit #5 on the rock charts. It's definitely catchy although pretty dark, but if music is about expression then this basically hits it on the head.
"girlfriend .." by Johnny Yukon
Totally chill song that probably found it's way onto my "Songs that I just can't NOT bob my head to" playlist. Also seems like a total deviation from everthing else Johnny Yukon has done, guy should lean more into this sound imho. Just wish this song was a little longer. (also what's with the trailing two periods thing?)
"Strong" by Romy & Fred again..
Ok so this technically came out in 2022, but I only first heard it as menu music for the eFootball game. Yes even though I don't really enjoy watching soccer, I will play the heck out of soccer video games at times. This song was just nice and soothing and I heard it like 1,000x so it grew on me.
"Stock Photo Girl" by Nerf Herder
I was a pretty big Nerf Herder fan back in the day- yes they have some really juvenile songs and such but man their stuff was catchy. I heard "We Opened for Weezer" through a suggested song and realized they released some more recent albums... so I checked it out. Yes it's 2016 so I'm eight years late to the party but this song completes the "Girl Trilogy" along with Nosering Girl and New Jersey Girl. Had to throw it on this to cap off the list in style.