The Shins, “Know Your Onion!” (2001)
If you know about chord changes and song structure, this is the song that will change your life.
The Spongetones, “She Goes Out With Everybody” (1982)
Power pop isn’t always my thing, but sometimes it’s absolutely my thing.
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.