2015

[11] The Phoenix Foundation, ‘Give Up Your Dreams’

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Hopelessly unfashionable bands, we got ’em. New Zealand’s Phoenix Foundation are unspeakably great without even seeming to try – certainly without picking up much attention. I like ‘Give Up Your Dreams’ because of its droll resignation to these solid facts. They’re “thinkin’ ’bout getting a job” and there’s no truck with aspirational talk about the world being your “oyster”.

On the contrary, “the world is a cold dark planet falling through space on an infinite journey to its own destruction – and all that we can do is get on with things and be all right about stuff.”

The best advice you’ll ever hear. Somehow it’s still life-affirming, and it gets Junior air-drumming. A motorik rhythm, you see. “Does that mean it goes through the whole song?” That’ll do.

[12] My Morning Jacket, ‘Compound Fracture’

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“What colour is it?” She’s talking about the jacket, and really – these are the big questions we take for granted when a band like My Morning Jacket have been around for donkey’s years. “Oh, I know this one,” she adds. “It sounds cool.”

Well, I wonder about that. What it does sound is rather like a Toto record, which is the kind of thing that might be cool every now and then when everyone has their guard down. ‘Compound Fracture’ lives and dies by a couple of crescendos that count as chorus and hook; bursting feelings in the chest cavity that might well be all you need.

[13] Little Mix, ‘Black Magic’

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A few words from our resident poptologist:

“It’s probably the best video I’ve watched this year.”

“They’ve changed. They look different.”

“I knew they’d be so popular.”

“It’s probably the only Little Mix song I like.”

[14] De Lux, ‘Oh Man The Future’

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Speaking – a bit – of Talking Heads, here’s LA’s De Lux being all David Byrne and itchy disco. Junior reckons it’s a “bit annoying when he says ‘oh man the future’ again and again… It seems to go on forever. He’s a chatterbox.”

Sean Guerin does rabbit on, shoehorning as many words as possible into each ranting verse, but then he’s got a lot to tell us. The future’s a big place and plenty of stuff is going to happen. Oh man. It’s happening now.

[15] Carly Rae Jepsen, ‘Run Away With Me’

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“The intro’s cool.”

“It’s upbeat.”

The NME should revive their singles column, shouldn’t they?

Anyway, here’s the least successful pop sensation of the year, an artist stymied by her record label’s extraordinary, foot-shooting release policy. It’s a moot point whether Carly Rae Jepsen would have done better over here if her album hadn’t already been out across the world six months earlier, but it couldn’t have done any harm. ‘Run Away With Me’ has 1989 confidence and appeal, and all for nothing.

[16] Love Ssega, ‘Minds’

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Love Ssega wins the battle of the former Clean Bandit vocalists with this chunk of new-wave dance, a bit Talking Heads, a bit LCD Soundsystem who are a bit Talking Heads. It’s a good song that feels a little underwhelming here, and Junior likes it at first but then says, “It gets boring.” Pop careers flash by in a moment these days, don’t they?

[17] Jess Glynne, ‘Hold My Hand’

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Give or take a week, Jess Glynne was No.1 in the charts all year, which is quite a feat for one of the blandest pop stars in recent memory. ‘Hold My Hand’ is pick of the bunch for its joie de vivre and that bit where Jess’s voice goes way too high at the start of the final chorus. These are the tiny margins that make a smash.

Junior lights up. “Does this mean the others are going to be really great?” The jury’s out.

[18] Gardens & Villa, ‘Fixations’

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In good news for The Go! Team, Junior thinks this should be 19 and Waxahatchee should be 20. In faint praise news for Gardens & Villa, she likes the end of this song, but she does manage a grin at the solo.

And in not sure if it’s good or bad news, she also reckons this is “a bit Beach Boys?” Hands up, that’s obviously why I like it. It’s also why I like Fixers, Miracle Fortress, Panda Bear, ad infinitum through the harmony glass.

[19] Waxahatchee, ‘La Loose’

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“She’s got a weird name,” is the verdict. Plus, “No offence to her but it’s a bit dreamy.”

I doubt Katie Crutchfield would take offence. I think that’s where she was going with her Casio bop and shed-made synth pop.

[20] The Go! Team, ‘What D’You Say’

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We’ve been doing this for 10 years now – Junior was 20 weeks old; I was, well, a younger man. It used to be a daily thing but now it’s pretty much annual, what with the demands of homework and CBBC.

She’s busy too.

The Go! Team were actually in our very first year-end top 20 and this is their first return since, so is it time to call it a day, all wrapped in a neat bow? Let’s see how we go.

In 2015, The Go! Team are just Ian Parton and guests. Frankly that’s all anyone thought they were in the first place and the good thing is they’ve lost none of that old runaway-motorbike exuberance. Can’t say that for all of us. “It’s got a nice melody,” says Junior, in an exuberance-free monotone. That’s how we’re going.