Wrapped Rundown: #90-81

Part 2. Some weird ones and some classics here.

#90: I Ran (So Far Away) – A Flock Of Seagulls

The weird one in question. This is a direct product of Dick’s Sporting Goods; once you’ve spent countless hours at the footwear desk on a random Wednesday night, you gain an appreciation for any song that doesn’t sound like it belongs in a department store. I have such a vivid recollection of the spacey guitar-synth-y sounds echoing through the empty store. I’m not even sure I would call this a “good song”, but it sure did occupy a lot of my listening for a few weeks over the summer.

More relevant is the band name, though. Here’s a crazy pull for you: in Weird Al Yankovic’s most popular original song, “Albuquerque,” Yankovic refers to the person who knocks on his hotel door as having a “Flock of Seagulls haircut” and I am only just now making that connection. Look up “A Flock Of Seagulls haircut” and you’ll quickly understand why that’s memorable. 

#89: Uberlin – R.E.M.

The only Collapse Into Now representative (thankfully), but a deserving one nonetheless. Uberlin was the song of the end of first semester for me, a sentimental, bittersweet song that feels almost too full of emotion. I don’t say this often, but Michael Stipe lays it on a little too thick here. 

If you’re in the right headspace, though, Uberlin is a fantastic track. A bit repetitive, sure, and catered towards a different target audience. That doesn’t change the quality of a song that comes all the way at the end of a wildly successful music career, and the quality of an album that probably should have been a trainwreck based on their trajectory up to that point. Nothing crazy here, no deeply effective lines or impressive instrumental choices, but a few lines that everyone can probably live by.

I will make it through the day and then the day becomes the night

I will make it through the night

Sure, this can be on my Top 100 – everyone needs one of those songs that hits just right every third listen. 

#88: Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll – The Killers

This is far from the last Hot Fuss track on this list. The Killers made their way to #15 on my list of most-listened-to artists entirely on the merits of Hot Fuss and one track off of another album that we’ll discuss later. 

I can credit one of my roommates for getting me into Hot Fuss, but it was once again Dick’s Sporting Goods and the boredom that came with it that forced me to listen to the album, front to back. I was pleasantly surprised, but this track – Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll – was one of my least favorites. Brandon Flowers’ voice is always fun, but he really flies high in this track, testing the limits of the listener’s patience. There’s basically nothing else happening on the track; you get some slow drums, an occasional bass line, and a super soft, staccato guitar line. The song is all about Flowers, who wails at full tilt for the entire track. 

Eventually, I came to appreciate the overcommitment – I love this song, and I love it more than most songs on the same album. It has more dynamic swings, more energy, and more fun. That just speaks to the quality of Hot Fuss, which boasts several tracks that are significantly better. 

#87: Please Pardon Yourself – The Avett Brothers

I could talk about most Avett albums for hours at a time. Mignonette is not one of them. 

I actually couldn’t tell you what songs are on this album. I listen to exactly none of them, an anomaly in my Avett Brothers listening. I heard it live way back in May 2023, and I guess it made its way onto my Avett playlist and into my Top 100. 

I’m pretty sure I didn’t queue it this much. Spotify definitely knows what I want to listen to better than I do, because Please Pardon Yourself is one of my favorite discoveries of the past two years. It’s Avett at their rawest, just straight bango, string bass, and acoustic guitar. Scott and Seth harmonize over a simple melodic structure, and it’s as simple as that. It’s also an unwavering declaration of perseverance, and a plea for the listener to do the same.

As i turn my head to your side of the bed

While you wake, what’s on your mind?

To this awful news, try not to hold on

The day will come, the sun will rise and we’ll be fine

The last line is somewhat of a rallying cry for diehard Avett fans, who like a lot of songs that I have no affinity for. On the quality of Please Pardon Yourself, though, we can agree. 

#86: Sold out of Love – The Nude Party

Another band I keep to myself, mostly because I don’t like having to explain why they’re called The Nude Party, or clarify the content of their songs. The way I would explain it is if The Rolling Stones did less cocaine and more marijuana, and I think that gets the point across. 

This is the only Nude Party track off of their newest album, Rides On, which has not captured my attention. It lacks the edge of their self-titled album (which we’ll get to shortly), but doesn’t add any degree of complexity or musical development that significantly improves their sound. 

This song isn’t exactly an exception, but it is their best showing on the album based on my limited listening. It’s very spacey, a sound you don’t get in their earlier work. Still, I’ll take every self-titled album track over this one. They appear primed to release new work soon, so hopefully they return to form. 

#85: Superman – R.E.M.

I’m trying to keep the lower R.E.M. track blurbs relatively short, but I’ll talk a bit about this one because it’s a cover, and R.E.M. never does covers. Superman was released in 1969 by, and I quote, “Houston pop-psych band” The Clique. It’s a horrendous track, featuring some terrible vocal inflections that ruin an otherwise-inoffensive but generally uninteresting instrumental track. 

R.E.M. covered Superman in 1986, giving it the full alt-rock treatment and layering in the Mike Mills backing vocals heavily. It’s still relatively faithful to the source material, but it features much stronger drumming and a better version of the bizarre high-pitched synths that The Clique seemed to enjoy so much. I don’t think anyone would argue that the original is better.

Why did I listen to this song so much? It was my fifth-most listened to song in 2023, and it found the back half of my top songs this year.

The short answer: it’s really catchy and fun, and it has sentimental value.

The long answer: not really sure. Life’s Rich Pageant has a lot of songs that are better in every way. What I do know is that I had no idea this was a cover for many months after I listened to that album, and it still stuck out to me. Why include a random pop track on an album chock full of protest anthems? It’s the only LRP song not to heavily emphasize Stipe’s vocals. It’s the only one to use synths the way it does. It doesn’t fit at all, but it works brilliantly. Also, my mom tells me this song is the song my parents thought would get me hooked on R.E.M. when I was really young, and they were always disappointed when it didn’t work. Good news, Mom!

#84: She Sells Sanctuary

The day this song is not in my Top 100 will be a very, very sad day. I don’t think that day will ever come. The Cult continued to assert a dominant place in my listening history in 2024, just missing my top 5 at #6. She Sells Sanctuary is only this low because I found a host of other Cult songs to listen my way through, but that shouldn’t take away from the grip this song has had on me since, like, 2019. For that, I have my dad to thank. 

This is the Cult track that people have heard, and if they haven’t, it’s the one I recommend. It’s fun to ask if people know what Ian Astbury is saying – it’s as close to unintelligible as it gets. Sometimes you can pick out a “Texas”, but it’s awfully difficult. All told, you get a hard rock banger with one of the most underrated opening guitar riffs ever, from one of the most underrated hard rock bands ever. Truly criminal. 

#83: Circuital – My Morning Jacket

Another classic that will probably never fall off of this list. Circuital held a higher spot last year thanks to generally higher MMJ listening habits. This year, it’s below the exact three MMJ songs that I would’ve predicted, and that’s a perfect representation of my listening in 2024.

As far as Circuital goes, I’m confident that I’ve discussed it at length on this blog, but here’s the onceover: two-part track, featuring a simple bass line and Jim James doing his thing in the first part and a serious tempo increase and guitar solo in the second part. That’s all you need to know; if I haven’t already convinced you to listen to this song, I never will. 

#82: Paper Trail (Money) – The Nude Party

The gap between this song – the lowest of three tracks on their self-titled album – and Sold out of Love is huge. I can’t think of many times I’ve had more fun listening to a song than Paper Trail, which just sounds like how a beach in the middle of summer feels, but only if you’re a surfer in high school. The whole album is filled with this fuzzy synth sound and a clean, ripping guitar. Pair that with Jagger-esque vocals and crazy percussion choices and you have a recipe for success. 

That being said, they haven’t shown this level of prowess in a long time – The Nude Party was released in 2018, which feels like a lifetime ago. 

#81: World Leader Pretend – R.E.M. 

I sit at my table and wage war on myself

It seems like it’s all, it’s all for nothing

I know the barricades, and I know the mortar in the wall breaks

I recognize the weapons, I’ve used them well

World Leader Pretend is one of R.E.M. 's finest feats of songwriting. I thought initially that Stipe takes the perspective of a paranoid dictator, but brief analysis of the lyrics makes it clear that Stipe could be any paranoid, self-critical individual. He plays that role brilliantly – it’s one of his most clearly-defined characters. He tells his story while a dark, Fables-esque soundscape unfolds behind him, and it’s a brilliant product. 

Needless to say this song never left my rotation. Once I found it, it was curtains for the rest of Green, an album with so many great songs that don’t match up with World Leader Pretend.