Can you believe it, folks?! We've reached the final blog of the year! But before we get started, please note that this is a two-part blog: one for new songs for this week, and another to count down the 20 most played songs that came out in (or around) 2020. Enjoy!
"Family Farm" by The Hold Steady: We start this week with the only song that is not currently a crossover hit between the alt and adult alt radio charts. The Hold Steady's latest is Triple-A exclusive, it seems, like most of their material, but that does not mean it's not worth listening to! As a matter of fact, it might be the most prolific and well-written song on today's list! The Hold Steady have been Bruce Springsteen fans ever since their debut in the late 2000's, but nowhere has this been more apparent so far than on their newest effort, "Family Farm." Filled to the brim with exciting Roy Bittan-styled piano riffs and Clarence Clemons influenced sax playing, "Family Farm" is the best song the Boss never wrote! Lyrically, the song serves as an unintentional predictor of the present day. Written before the pandemic hit, but not released until well into the thick of it, "Family Farm" deals with trying to survive in an increasingly difficult world, and it also mentions Van Halen's "Eruption" in the lyrics, which is yet another eerie coincidence since Eddie Van Halen made the ascent into guitar hero heaven two months ago.
"Mariposa" by Peach Tree Rascals: Peach Tree Rascals might sound like a typical contemporary indie-pop band, but what you might not know just from listening is that their lead singer happens to be Filipino. In fact, many of the members are racially diverse. Perhaps, then, it might make sense to you that they hail from the racially diverse (and all around awesome) town of Los Angeles, California! The influences of Peach Tree Rascals are also very eclectic, mixing the sweet, buoyant '60s pop/rock of The Beatles and The Beach Boys with more modern-day urban pop influences like Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean in their breakthrough hit, "Mariposa" (which is Spanish for "butterfly"). And how did this sweet yet funky little song capture the hearts of millions towards the end of this year?! Through TikTok, that app that everyone keeps talking about that I still have yet to find out more about. Go figure, eh?!
"No Other Way" by Shaed: Electro-pop trio, Shaed, took the alt and adult charts by storm last year with the sweet, dreamy, "Trampoline." Come late into the next year, Shaed are at it again with "No Other Way." The song has a similarly breezy electro-pop flavor to "Trampoline," though it is also noticeably more upbeat than that song was. Like many indie-pop songs that have come out in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, "No Other Way" acknowledges what a wild and dangerous year it's been, but still manages to send a positive message. "We could have died a million ways," lead singer Chelsea Lee sings during the chorus, following up the line with, "but we're alive another day." So count your blessings, folks, and count Shaed among them!
"Sofia" by Clairo: Just a mere matter of weeks ago, I reviewed "Are You Bored Yet?" by Wallows, on which indie-pop singer Clairo is featured on backing vocals. On "Sofia," Clairo strikes out on her own and gives us a taste of what her music sounds like without another band taking over it. Like "Mariposa" earlier in this blog, "Sofia" is yet another song that has gained popularity through TikTok (I feel so old saying that without knowing fully what it is, haha). "Sofia" is also named after an actual Sofia...two of them, actually. Uber-attractive Latina actress, Sofia Vergara, was one of the Sofias Clairo had in mind when doing this song, and the other was Sofia Coppola, daughter of famed director Francis Ford Coppola. The song is about Clairo's recurrent crushes on older women, told through a mix of techno-pop synths and fuzzy yet rhythmic guitars.
