The 5 Best Songs Of The Week

5 Best Songs Of The Week

The 5 Best Songs Of The Week

5 Best Songs Of The Week

It’s been a long and crazy week over here, and the number of worthy nominations for our 5 Best Songs Of The Week far exceeded the number of slots contained by such a format. I mean, Nothing Was The Same has 13 tracks! How the hell do we fit that into a list of 5? Nah, I’m playing; you’re safe, this is a Drake-free zone. But if no Drake, then what? Find out for yourself below …

5. Sky Ferreira – “You’re Not the One”

Sky Ferreira’s sad-eyed, strung-out take on ’80s pop was so expertly defined from the beginning that we can call songs from her debut album “classic Sky.” And that’s what “You’re Not The One” is. Even as it forgoes the muted chillwave traces of “Everything Is Embarrassing” for something bigger and brighter, it never gives up those downcast underdog undertones — call it Breakfast Club-core. A single like this makes the promise of a full album seem like a delight, and it’ll sound great on some hypothetical Sky Ferreira singles collection someday. –Chris

4. Yuck – “Memorial Fields”

If you told someone grooving to Yuck’s debut album back in 2011 that a few years down the line the frontman would quit, they’d discover their soft and sensitive side, and drop a song with trumpet flourishes, they’d probably think — well they’d probably think that was pretty cool, actually. That’s the thing about what’s happening with Yuck right now — everything that went down was unexpected, but has there really been any doubt in what they’ve done recently? “Middle Sea” and “Rebirth” were fantastic songs, and this new one is the best yet. Those horns fit the lushness of the guitar which in turn compliment Max Bloom’s vocals just right, and that My Bloody Valentine-style coda? That might be the best part on here, it’s where Yuck sound not like they’re aping on ’90s tropes (which, let’s face it, has been said of this band constantly) and more like they’re following what feels right, what’s the logical conclusion to the song. While at the beginning of the year some may have worried this new album might be an awkward post-script to a short lived band, “Memorial Fields” has me thinking that this is just the next chapter in an exciting career. –Miles

3. Sun Kil Moon – “Richard Ramirez Died Today Of Natural Causes”

Mark Kozelek has been talking up his Modest Mouse fandom for years now — hell, the second Sun Kil Moon album consists entirely of Modest Mouse covers — but nothing he’s ever done (including that second Sun Kil Moon album) has ever actually sounded anything like Modest Mouse. Till now. “Richard Ramirez Died Today Of Natural Causes” — the first song from SKM’s forthcoming LP, Benji — almost altogether does away with the swooning dolor we’ve come to expect from Kozelek’s singing in favor of a pugilistic assault via which his rapid-fire, super-specific lyrics are given an especially Isaac Brockian quality. The new flow puts a new focus on the words, which are (as they’ve always been, coming from Koz) transfixing and haunting. It’s been 21 years since the first Red House Painters record, and Kozelek is still experimenting, growing, and getting better. When we look back on his career — hopefully five or six decades down the line — we’re not gonna see many equals. Long may he run. –Michael

2. Schoolboy Q – “Banger (MOSHPIT)”

There can never be enough rap songs about moshing, but title aside, this isn’t that. Instead, it’s Q leaving the entire concept of lyricism behind so that he fume and splutter and promise death on you. He might be crewed up with Kendrick Lamar, but Schoolboy Q is a rapper who cares more about the sound of his voice — multitracked here, snarling and rasping and fake-patois buddy-bye-byeing over a humid organ lope — than he does about he words he’s saying. But even at his most instinctive and violent, Q is still, almost despite himself, the type of rapper who rhymes “flammable” with “antelope” and “cameltoe.” He just can’t keep that inner word-nerd buried. –Tom

1. Charli XCX – “SuperLove”

Charli XCX’s biggest hit is the one she gave away, and she’s not going to make that mistake again. On her own songs, the young London dance-popper has always shown a certain slinky, atmospheric restraint — something that’s totally absent from “I Love It,” which she wrote for Icona Pop and which has since, of course, gone on to pop-juggernaut status. So now here she is with her own big, bold, plastic, primary-colored EDM-pop bounce, a song that bulldozes its way past any notion of subtlety. But even here, there’s a giddy playfulness that remains Charli’s greatest asset. There’s still nothing forced about her fun. –Tom

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