Best Rock Songs of 2009

#10: Mew - Introducing Palace Players
This song's rhythm limps along like a man with his shoelaces tied together, then somehow a fluidity and grace creeps up on you. Eventually you realize it was there the whole time.


#9: King Khan & The BBQ Show - I'll Be Loving You
Raw and rambunctious and rambling and shambling. Sounds can be deceiving though, as you find yourself humming this song the rest of the day. What appeared to be a quickly slapped together amped up soul song ends up being well crafted parasite of sonic design.


#8: We Were Promised Jetpacks - It's Thunder And It's Lightning
Another one of those bands where it's probably better to let your mind create a set of sleek and good-looking individuals who play every note effortlessly. But now that I know what they look like, they come across as a more sincere bunch of dudes who you'd just as well get a drink with or play some Halo 3.


#7: White Rabbits - Percussion Gun
Dual drummers, circular guitar lines, and a great vocalist. They pummel you over and over again with the rhythm, and just when you can't take any more, it all opens up, becoming something soothing. Soothing punches to face.


#6: Twilight Sad - I Became A Prostitute
2nd Glasgowian band on the list (We Were Promised Jetpacks is the other), and twice as much Scottish accent. It's a good thing. My Bloody Valentine meets Slowdive turned up to 11 meets Secret Machines meets Cyann & Ben meets awesomeness.


#5: Ida Maria - Oh My God
Sometimes it really bothers me when singers repeat the same word or phrase over and over again. Accents make everything better. This band may also be the second coming of Pretty Girls Make Graves, which wins them major points.


#4:Silversun Pickups - Growing Old Is Getting Old
The pacing on this song is truly amazing. They take their time establishing a relationship with the way the song moves. It's comfortable and you think you have it all under control and you might as well just flip to the next song because you're not going to miss anything. And then...


#3: Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friend
Any band that Josh Homme touches becomes a Josh Homme band and sounds like Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones have surely left indelible marks on music, but they can't even begin to break out of the mold that Homme puts in place with his guitar and voice. And it's one of the best records of the year because of that fact.


#2: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dull Life
On an album full of great songs, Dull Life shines through with propulsive drums and guitar, and Karen is fully on point from beginning to end. It shimmers and scrapes and explodes and reverberates and has more plays than any other songs on my iPod this year.


#1: The Doves - Kingdom of Rust
Immaculate. Sometimes there is nothing left to say.