1. Colin Hay - I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You
   The underrated lead singer from one of my favorite underrated 80’s bands (Men at Work) turns up with a really beautiful song, the second on this compilation from the Garden State soundtrack.
2. Razorlight - Golden Touch
   Razorlight seem to cop much of their sound from The Strokes, and you could easily mistake Johnny Borrell’s voice for that of The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. A throwaway track, but one that does its intended job pretty well.
3. Caviar - Lioness
   This track is exactly the kind of power pop that I can’t get enough of. If I didn’t realize how futile it was, I’d be really disappointed that this song wouldn’t get at least some airplay.
4. The Libertines - Can’t Stand Me Now
   This song seems to be a very honest (and harmonica-heavy!) summary of Libertines co-front man Pete Doherty and his well-publicized tabloid antics. Still a fun song to get in your head.
5. Longwave - Everywhere You Turn
   Another track that wouldn’t seem lost on a Strokes album, though the bassline seems a little more like Interpol. It’s definitely derivative, but it’s still catchy.
6. Ambulance Ltd - Primitive (The Way I Treat You)
   Ambulance Ltd are five guys from Brooklyn with some wide-ranging influences and styles. This track is low-key and dreamy, almost to the point of sounding like shoegaze.
7. The Thrills - Not for All the Love in the World
   The first single from the Thrills’ follow-up album to their excellent So Much for the City sounds a lot less Beach Boys-via-Grandaddy and a bit more melodramatic, but it works very well.
8. The Veils - The Tide That Left and Never Came Back
   The Veils’ singer, New Zealander Finn Andrews, wrote this entire (very solid) album at 17-years old. What is it about that part of the world that produces rock singer/songwriters at such an early age?
9. The Mooney Suzuki - Alive & Amplified
   This song is my early (and runaway) favorite to be played over thousands and thousands of SportsCenter highlights over the next twelve months. You can see LeBron James dunking just by listening.
10. William Shatner - Common People
    Words fail me. Shatner. Ben Folds. Joe Jackson. A power-pop cover of one of the more underrated British singles of the 90’s (by Pulp). Surely you already think I’m crazy, but it’s fantastic and the rest of the album is surprisingly great.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 31st, 2004 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Tracks. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.