CoolDad's Top 5 Favorite Choruses of 2013

All For "One"

The chorus is the most important part of any pop song. If it's a good one, then you remember the song and turn up the radio every time the song comes on, waiting for your chance to sing along when the chorus comes around. I'm not talking about silly earworm type things like, "I live for the applause, applause, applause. / I live for the applause -plause. / Live for the applause -plause." For me, a great chorus comes from either setting some clever wordplay to a memorable melody or from getting a big idea into, maybe, just a few words that stay with you.

I'm gonna come right out and confess something: This list is really just a vehicle designed to let me tell you how much I love my number 1 chorus of 2013. I think, though, that building a list just so that you can have something sit at number 1 is a useful exercise. It made me think about all of the other great choruses from this year and why number 1 stood out from the crowd.

Oh, and there won't be any Katy Perry or Maroon 5 on here. Nothing against them, but I really only hear those things in the minivan. I'm gonna stick to the stuff I really loved.

5. "Life" -- Modern Hut

"I'm not proud of the things that I've done in this life. / But that's alright / 'Cause I will die."

Joe Steinhardt and Screaming Females' Marissa Paternoster take turns on this line both to open the song and after each of the verses. I guess -- like most of the record -- it's kind of a downer.

This can be read as, "I'm worthless, but that's ok. Eventually the world will be rid of me." I prefer to take the slightly more upbeat angle of, "Life is short, so I'm gonna keep plugging away, doing the best I can, even though I kinda suck at it."



4. "I Need My Girl" -- The National

"I need my girl. / I need my girl."

It makes sense that one of Matt Berninger's simplest, most easily understood songs would contain this very simple statement about missing his wife. I know that when I'm separated from CoolMom for any length of time -- even though I keep myself busy with the kids and other things -- I find myself saying the same thing to myself in the quiet moments.



3. "Runner" -- Laura Stevenson

"The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts!"

Stevenson's Wheel isn't about the cycle of life or the changing of seasons. Instead, it's often about futility, plodding, and dealing with life's relentless beat downs. When it first comes around, this chorus is preceded by the phrase, "Like a steady beating."

I think we can all remember periods characterized by personal lows from which we thought we'd never dig ourselves out, and this chorus captures that for me.



2. "Ohm" -- Yo La Tengo

"'Cause this is it for all we know / So say goodnight to me / And lose no more time / No time. / Resisting the flow."

This chorus is, basically, the mission statement for Fade. Indie rock veterans, Yo La Tengo, made an album about aging and the passage of time. To me, anyway, Fade tells us that life is really just a collection of moments. Some of the smallest can be the most special, and it's important to recognize and remember them.



1. "Step" -- Vampire Weekend

"The gloves are off. / The wisdom teeth are out. / What you on about? / I feel it in my bones. / I feel it in my bones. / I'm stronger now. / I'm ready for the house. / Such a modest mouse. / I can't do it alone. / I can't do it alone."

Maybe, for my money, the best song in the Vampire Weekend catalog. There's a lot going on here, but I love this chorus. When Ezra Koenig says that "What you on about?" I smirk every time. I'm not even sure why -- just the way he says it, maybe.

"Step" and its chorus contain all that people love and hate about Vampire Weekend: The precious chamber pop, the overly literate lyrics, and a density of references. I tend to like all those things.

Ezra and the band are older now. They're not kids anymore, and Modern Vampires of the City really has them exploring some of life's bigger issues. "Step" harkens back to some of the stuff on their first record, like "M79," and almost makes fun of that product of the younger Vampire Weekend while improving upon it by leaps and bounds.

New Video from Modern Hut

"Mid Tempo"

Modern Hut, aka Joe Steinhardt, has released the mid-tempo video for mid-tempo Generic Treasure album opener "Mid Tempo."

The video was shot around the Don Giovanni Records home base of New Brunswick, NJ and features Steinhardt acting... ...well, basically, the way you'd expect him to be acting if you've listened to the record.

And you should listen to the record, because it is quite good.

Waxahatchee Played 285 Kent Last Night

Also Radiator Hospital, Modern Hut, Certain Spiders

I've written quite a bit about Waxahatchee over the last several months. I haven't been the only one. The New York Times did a feature on sisters Katie (Waxahatchee) and Allison (Swearin') Crutchfield back in August of 2012. Rolling Stone named Waxahatchee as one of its Must-See Acts of South By Southwest. That coverage was in addition to the praise that appeared in the usual places like Pitchfork (Cerulean Salt, 8.4) and Stereogum, and a "First Listen" for Cerulean Salt over at NPR.

Katie Crutchfield brought Waxahatchee, as well some of her good friends, to that mecca for all bands on the rise last night: Brooklyn, NY. The crowd at 285 Kent surprised Crutchfield a bit, I think, with both its size and the reception it gave her. It shouldn't have. In the span of just over twelve months, Katie Crutchfield has put out two fantastic records for Don Giovanni as Waxahatchee; and it's nice to see that she's getting the recognition that she deserves.

285 Kent is an extremely spare place: a small bar at one end, the stage at the other, graffiti-like artwork on the walls. It shares one of those walls with Glasslands Gallery next door, and I could almost do a review of the Golden Grrrls show that happened there based on the sounds seeping through to 285. 285 Kent is big, though, and Waxahatchee sold out the place. The show was all ages, and the crowd gave me that sometimes self-conscious feeling I get about being one of the oldest people in the place. I just tell myself I don't look it.

Radiator Hospital (aka Sam Cook-Parrott) opened with a solo set on electric guitar. He had no setlist but managed, giving the crowd a nice glimpse into the short, personal songs that make up the Radiator Hospital catalog.

Don Giovanni Records co-founder Joe Steinhardt followed, performing a solo acoustic set as Modern Hut. His sound and delivery are reminiscent of some of the indie lo-fi recordings of the late 80s / early 90s done by people like Lou Barlow.

During both sets, the Crutchfield sisters and other friends of the bands sang along and just generally looked like they were all having a good time. Katie Crutchfield mentioned from the stage several times how nice it was to be playing with and for friends.

Things got louder for Brooklyn trio Certain Spiders. I haven't been able to uncover much about them online, but I really enjoyed the sound that their guitarist coaxed from his Telecaster: twangy, but still a little dark.

Waxahatchee took the stage at around 10:15. They were a trio last night with Cook-Parrott and Keith Spencer joining Crutchfield on bass and drums respectively. The songs from American Weekend, including "Noccalula," "Grass Stain," "Be Good," and the title track all got the full-band treatment and sounded great. Idea to Waxahatchee and Don Giovanni Records: Release an EP that features some of those arrangements. I'll buy it.

Crutchfield held the crowd rapt with those songs and the tracks off of Cerulean Salt, including "Coast to Coast," "Brother Bryan," "Tangled Envisioning," and "Peace and Quiet," for her entire set. Her sister, Allison, joined her for a duet on "Blue Pt. II," and the band closed out the show (Crutchfield under protest, I think) with their rendition of Paul Simon's "Boy In The Bubble," Crutchfield standing on tiptoes and straining as she screamed the chorus. Unlike probably 99% of the people in the place, I was able to sing along with every lyric to that song.

I had a few moments of doubt last night. Like, "What am I doing, at my age, driving all the way to Brooklyn while my family stays home to go to a show with a bunch of kids?" But Waxahatchee's two records absolutely deserve all of the press and recognition they've received; and once Katie Crutchfield took the stage with her band, all my doubts went away.

I've said this before: as much as we like to tell ourselves this, we never outgrow the feelings that Crutchfield writes about in her songs. I'm beginning to think that I'll never outgrow the feeling I get seeing my favorite artists, new or old, perform live.