Waterfall Person : I’m A Fan Of The Bands (Couldn’t Be More Mad!) (About The Bands!)
Rich with an exaggerated earnestness, I’m A Fan Of The Bands charms while exhibiting perfect pop construction. The melody stays with you, infinitely hummable. It’s a celebration of music itself, with a side of instrospection.
Sheer Mag : Fan The Flames
It was between this and Button Up, or maybe it was between any of the four tracks found on Sheer Mag’s II. This one’s a little more laidback, rollicking guitar licks building to a feel-great hook. Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag have the tools at their possession – fearless appreciation for rock anthems, sick guitar tones, a powerhouse vocalist – and they use all of them all at maximum power setting.
D.R.A.M : Cha Cha
Few songs went on as interesting a journey as Cha Cha. Going on to become obvious influence on Drake’s Hotline Bling, it emerged as a Super Mario World-sampling low-key viral hit with off-kilter lyrics. The Mario sample has since been stripped, presumably due to Nintendo asking to cough up the coin (funnily enough, the coin sound sample still remains). The original still holds the most charm, irrepressibly silly, daring you to call it obnoxious.
Dollar Bar : Drawbacks
Clocking in at one minute and fifteen seconds, Drawbacks is sneering in self-deprecation, every line a golden nugget as the track barrels along with punk brevity and cheesy power riff action. It turns confessional into braggadocio, it’s funny, it’s dumb, and very clever.
Lontalius : Comfortable
The recipient of last year’s Single Of The Year, Lontalius again shows unparalleled ability to craft melancholy, chiming with simple chord progressions fading in and out of view. There’s palpable rawness, and it will get to you if you let it. Maybe even if you don’t.
Francis Inferno Orchestra : Harmony
Starting off gentle, Harmony stays that way throughout, even with the sporadic introduction of an energised house beat. There are clearings of strings, a breather when no breather is needed, but the extra oxygen is never unwelcomed. Tracing the interloped elements can feel like following a shyster’s ball under cup routine, with the reward found in letting go. Francis Inferno Orchestra has crafted, in perfect measure, a versatile headspace in which to play, relax, whatever.
Dick Diver : Tearing The Posters Down
Dick Diver take their time with Tearing The Posters Down. There’s a long intro, and a lot going on in the intro. It’s not quite to a Devo Gut Feeling level, but the scene is set so everything afterward comes as a bonus. Everything that comes after is great, launching into Dick Diver’s best chorus yet, indulging in more instrumental moments with universal punch. And you know what? It’s not even the best track off Melbourne, Florida. That goes to Percentage Points. Or Boomer Class. Or View From A Shaky Ladder. I could go on.
Single Of The Year
Briggs feat. Gurrumul & Dewayne Everettsmith : The Children Came Back
It’s as much about history as it is about now. 25 years on from Archie Roach’s Took The Children Away, Shepparton rapper Briggs flips the track into the now, retaining deep reverence for what’s come before and what’s happening now. It’s a stream of shoutouts to legends past “I’m Wangareen in ‘93” and present “Boy I’m Patty Mills”, celebratory in lyrical sharpness. The knockout punchline in reference to “Mr Abbott” might make The Children Came Back sound dated, and that’s correct. It’s dated two thousand and fifteen, a sign o’ the times, resolute in perspective. This is the single of the year.
