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Mid-Year Report Card 2012 Day 2: Songs

Continuing our mid-year report, today we’re bringing you 10 songs the AP editors have lodged in their cranium. Be sure to check out our favorite albums so far here and stick around the rest of the week to see what’s blown us away for videos, live shows and our most anticipated.

These lists are ordered alphabetically.

[MC] Matthew Colwell, web editor
[SH] Scott Heisel, managing editor
[BM] Brittany Moseley, associate editor
[JP] Jason Pettigrew, editor-in-chief

AMANDA PALMER AND THE GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA
“Do It With A Rockstar” (single)

Cabaret punk/Kickstarter queen Amanda Palmer offers a taste from her impending Theatre Is Evil album (out in September) with this arena-rock/glam-banger that completely takes the living piss out of backstage rock-god worship and the attendant vacuous congregation. Leave it to Palmer and her band to capture and summarize fans’ (and rockers’) hormonal madness, naïveté and mundanely detailed lives behind slamming beats and rock opera pomposity. [JP]

 

AUDRA MAE AND THE ALMIGHTY SOUND
“Real Thing” (from Audra Mae & The Almighty Sound
The Real Thing - Audra Mae & The Almighty Sound
It only takes five seconds for Audra Mae’s powerhouse voice—a smoother version of Janis Joplin’s raspy wail—to grab you. Audra Mae’s pipes carry listeners through her self-titled sophomore album. But it’s “Real Thing,” the album’s opener, that introduces listeners to the Oklahoma native with red hair as bold as her voice. “Real Thing” is full of swagger and dirty rock 'n’ roll, and Audra Mae proves right away she’s got the goods to back it up. [BM]

 

 

WILLIAM BECKETT
“Girl, You Shoulda Been A Drummer” (from Walk The Talk EP)Girl, You Shoulda Been a Drummer - Walk the Talk - EP

Early this summer, the former frontman for the Academy Is… dropped this swagger-laden number about a girl who “played me so hard, so fast/Just like heavy-metal thunder.” An unabashed pop song powered by rolling drums instead of keyboard-laden over-production, this track will fit great on your playlists between Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and the Monkees’ “Last Train To Clarksville.” If you prefer your rockers cocky and confident instead of pensive and sullen, Beckett’s your boy. [JP]

 

 

EVERY TIME I DIE
“A Wild Shameless Plain” (from Ex-LivesA Wild, Shameless Plain - Ex Lives

“Your legacy is ‘a dull catalogue of common things,’” spits Keith Buckley on this 109-second selection from Every Time I Die’s latest. Here, the band never take off, choosing instead to simmer up a gradual menace that succinctly mirrors their frontman’s contempt. We don’t know specifically who Buckley’s addressing with lines like “You’ve never even seen the blood you've drawn/Or looked in the eyes of the kill you claim was yours/Before taking your picture with it.” But if we had to guess—judging by a recent tweet or two—he’s probably nailing sandwich mogul Jimmy John Liautaud to a reactor core. [JP]

 

 

 

JACK WHITE
“Love Interruption” (from Blunderbuss)
Love Interruption - Blunderbuss
The White Stripes weren’t an all-inclusive band. People either loved them or were annoyed by their lack of a bass player. Fortunately, White’s debut solo album Blunderbuss is much more inviting. The record is a mélange of  country, blues and rock 'n’ roll. But it’s “Love Interruption,” with its unassuming music and biting lyrics, that stands out. Not many musicians can sing, “I want love to murder my own mother/And take her off to somewhere/Like hell or up above” and make it sound so damn good. [BM]

JOYCE MANOR
“Video Killed The Radio Star” (from Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired)
Video Killed The Radio Star - Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired
Okay, yes, it's a cover song. But when was the last time you heard a band do a cover of any song as well as Joyce Manor slam through this one-hit wonder? Changing up the melody, song structure and vocal phrasing, Joyce Manor hit this one out of the park. The scary thing is, their original songs are only about .0001% behind this one in terms of sheer awesomeness. [SH]

 

MAKE DO AND MEND
“Storrow” (from Everything You Ever Loved)
Storrow - Everything You Ever Loved
This Connecticut band stepped up big time with the excellent Everything You Ever Loved, but they hid the best song near the end of the record. “Storrow” sounds like Nuno from A Wilhelm Scream singing for Polar Bear Club doing their best Jimmy Eat World impersonation, complete with a reference to Sky Harbor airport (of “Goodbye Sky Harbor” fame). And when James Carroll shreds his larnyx on the bone-chilling chorus of “All I ask/Ignore the sense of confidence I lack,” it's sure to send a shiver or two down your spine. [SH]

 

THE SIDEKICKS
“The Whale And Jonah” (from Awkward Breeds)
The Whale and Jonah - Awkward Breeds
Americana-punks the Sidekicks hit a career high with this year's Awkward Breeds, a beautiful look at the fragility of life and love. “The Whale And Jonah” is a diamond in a sea of gems, with gorgeous “ooh”s, aching vocal harmonies, a lead guitar line that is so simple in its beauty and a powerful refrain of “Drowning, drowning drowning!” Goddamn, this song gives me goosebumps every time I listen. [SH]

LISTEN HERE

SLEEPING WITH SIRENS
“Scene One – James Dean & Audrey Hepburn” (from If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack EP)
Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn - If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack - EP
Kellin Quinn's voice is undeniably infectious. Just making the cutoff for the first half of the year, I find myself humming along to this acoustic rendition of their 2010 hit, “If I'm James Dean, Then You're Audrey Hepburn,” far more often than I would admit to my fellow editors. The band’s softer side is delicate, but strong, and the entire EP is a testament to the band’s versatility. However, at this rate, I may begin to charge Quinn rent for squatting in my inner ear. [MC]

 

ZELLIACK
“These Hands” (from Noir Tone EP)

Metalcore aficionados Zack Ordway (Sky Eats Airplane) and Elliot Coleman (ex-Tesseract) come together in Zelliack to create smooth, jazz-influenced R&B songs fronted by Coleman’s panty-dropping croon. “These Hands” touches all the right places with seductive vocal melodies, a groovy keyboard base and subtle, yet strong guitar work.  Dim the lights, grab your honey and get to the baby making. [MC]