Skip to main contentThe summer's over, and what's spinning in the WW music cave? Depressing political music, mostly. Behold this month's seven best tracks.
1. Interpol, "Evil"
With lyrics like "I've spent a lifetime with no cellmate," Interpol is certainly sticking to Joy Division-like themes for its sophomore release. But musically the band has exploded, truly shaking the Manchester ghost. On this track the bassline struts, the drumming bursts with urgency, Paul Banks monotone baritone hits an emotional peak, and the guitar...my God. The guitar just slices it all to pieces.
Find it on Interpol's Antics.
2. Green Day, "Holiday"
Green Day's latest sticks to the band's patent rumbling drums and thick basslines while getting all political on your ass. Billie Joe isn't partisan; he's just pissed, spitting at both sides of the aisle. The greatest political track of the season, if not the entire term.
Find it on Green Day's American Idiot.
3. Hymie's Basement, "21st Century Pop Song"
A joint venture between Andrew Broder, a.k.a. Fog, and Jonathan Wolf, a.k.a. Why?, Hymie's Basement includes the broken folk of the former and the angular beats of the latter. On this track, the two piece together a disturbing and melodic work that revisits border politics and nuke fears with an infectious chorus. Everybody sing: "Root root root for the home team/ Shout like your dad at the TV screen."
Find it on the duo's self-titled album on Lex Records.
4. Tom Waits, "Day After Tomorrow"
How does Tom Waits do it? He recounts life's simple pleasures ("shoveling snow and raking leaves") from the perspective of a soldier who's missing his home. The possibility for cheesiness is high, but Waits' gruff delivery mixes feelings of self-doubt and hope so convincingly it's almost tear-worthy.
Find it on MoveOn.org's Future Soundtrack for America compilation.
5. I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House, "A Good Day to Be a Bad Husband"
Mike D transcends bad taste and questionable morals with an irresistibly sinister, sandblasted ode to the sexy señorita who took his whiskey, cigarettes and porn and handed him heartbreak in return. "Just try to leave me babe, I'll be Robert Blake," he growls. "I'll plant you down." Damn.
Find it on the band's album Menace.
6. The Briefs, "Destroy the U.S.A."
In the middle of a "We Didn't Start the Fire"-caliber list of everything they hate in the country, the Briefs regale the listener with a classic punk chant: "Destroy the U.S.A., hey hey." And why should we do that? Because "It's going to happen anyway." A convincing argument.
Find it on the Briefs' Sex Objects.
7. Bjork, "Who Is It?"
Little Ms. "Everything Is Musical" visits the Icelandic land of mouth with remarkably positive results. "Who Is It?" Medúlla's friendliest, most-Technicolor track, makes you wanna to march alongside Björk in your own dead-swan dress and army boots.
Find it on Björk's Medúlla.
WWeek 2015