11 tracks to keep you warm this winter
By the time you read this it’ll be less than a week left in 2020. I’ve said this many times, it’s been a great year for music! The tracks included on this list helped me to finish the year strong, sonically speaking. This list includes Australian punk rock about AC/DC, as well as AC/DC themselves, emo from Cleveland, Ohio, heavy metal from L.A., and more!
1. AC/DC CD — The Chats
This track, coming in under 2 minutes, is a punk rock ode to AC/DC, the “second greatest band in history.”
2. Redneck Girl — Tim McGraw
This isn’t a revolutionary Tim McGraw song, in my opinion, down to the instrumentation that reminds me of another song that I can’t quite place. Still, I want to be the redneck girl in a country song, and I have a soft spot for when Tim McGraw sings, “Give me a Mississippi Girl.”
3. The One About You — The Sonder Bombs
You can never go wrong with a Sonder Bombs track. And while “Crying Is Cool” is my favorite from this year, “The One About You” is well worth a listen!
4. Cling to Life — Hatebreed
Hatebreed are one of the biggest names in heavy metal/hardcore punk crossover, and though they stick pretty closely to a formula, it never gets old.
5. No Man’s Land — AC/DC
How do you pick just one AC/DC song to feature? It’s a daunting task. For this list I’ve decided to go with “No Man’s Land.” Much like Hatebreed after them, AC/DC don’t deviate from the formulas that work for them. Which is fine, because those formulas tend to work for their fans as well!
6. Someone Who Isn’t You — Can’t Swim
Can’t Swim offers up a sad song about loneliness and dwelling on lost love. It’s painful, and hopefully not the song you find yourself needing when you read this. Still, I offer it up all the same.
7. Last One Standing — Icon For Hire
I got into Icon For Hire when I heard the track “Venom” last year. Tracks from You Can’t Kill Us have been on regular rotation ever since. Now they’ve released “Last One Standing,” offering up more of their spectacular blend of alternative metal and electropop. I for one cannot get enough!
8. Sleeping With The Enemy — Butcher Babies
Continuing the alternative metal offerings, Butcher Babies offer up their second new track of the year with “Sleeping With the Enemy.”
9. Fight — Hyro The Hero (featuring Chad Gray)
I don’t know if Spotify would’ve put this one on my radar if it weren’t for Chad Gray, but I’m glad that it did! There’s nothing like a nu metal fight song to get the blood pumping. I’m eager to listen to more of Hyro The Hero’s stuff!
10. Don’t Wait — EXES (featuring Dashboard Confessional)
This is my introduction to Exes! I’m excited to listen to more of their music, and to maybe share more of it in the future!
11. Another Man’s Grave — Amigo The Devil
Amigo The Devil’s Danny Kiranos has quickly become one of my favorite lyricists. There are those who consider the sound of Amigo The Devil part of a genre called “murderfolk.” Whatever you call it, I fell in love with the wordplay in songs like “hungover in jonestown.” And as undeniably clever as Kiranos’s lyrics are, they are also infinitely vulnerable, as is the case with “Another Man’s Grave.” Once you’ve listened to this track, make sure to go and listen to Everything Is Fine in its entirety.
Usually here is where I’d plop the playlist for the month! I could do that, but instead of offering up two playlists to work through I’m going to just give y’all the big one: my 2020 playlist! As of this writing it has 265 songs equaling 15 and a half hours of music! I can’t wait to share January 2021’s playlist with y’all! Happy New Year!
