Fleetwood Mac, “I Know I’m Not Wrong” (1979)
Around the 2000s, there was a big jump in people comparing new indie-ish bands to Fleetwood Mac. It’s not that I didn’t hear it then, but when I listen to songs like this, I REALLY hear it.
U2, “Bullet The Blue Sky” (1987)
Listen to this again and marvel at a band that knew they had to deliver a massive-selling album to become The Biggest Band In The World, and they put on this prickly, noisy, buggin-ya track. That’s gutsy! As nakedly opportunistic as U2 have been, there has never been any doubt that they still make music that they love; that there’s always still an artistic impulse.
Tenpole Tudor, “The Swords of a Thousand Men” (1981)
Listening to the chorus will make you feel like you could take on absolutely anything in the world. This is another track I found via Say Nothing. Those music directors were absolutely ON their job.
Peter Bjorn and John, “Objects of My Affection” (2006)
“Young Folks” gets all the attention, and rightly so, but this is the track that got me into them and blew me the fuck away the very first time I listened to it.
The Scratch, “Seanchaí” (2020)
A song that came to me via Say Nothing (which I recommend, though not as highly at the book). The line on The Scratch is Celtic music combined with metal, which I can kind of hear, but mostly it just sounds super badass. Quote me on that.