# Best Songs of 2013, Vol. III – Foals, BRMC, Guards, Nick Cave, Low, Crime & The City Solution, Atoms for Peace, Iceage, Bowie

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2014/02/best-song-of-2013-vol-iii-foals-brmc-guards-nick-cave-low-crime-the-city-solution-atoms-for-peace-iceage-spinto-band/
- Published: 2014-02-04T01:47:46-05:00
- Author: IRC Staff

_by Devin William Daniels_

While 2013 is all but a memory, we’re not quiet ready to completely let go just 
yet. That’s because there was so much great music from 2013 that you didn’t see 
on the Grammy’s (if you call that music) or that you may have missed during the 
course of the year. Therefore, for at least the next few weeks we’re going to be
looking back at the best of 2013. The **[Best Songs of 2013](https://indierockcafe.com/category/best-songs-of-2013/)**
playlist series focuses on fantastic tracks from mostly well-known, signed and popular
artists and bands, and this is the third installment of that series. But there is
still plenty of terrific music from unsigned, under-the-radar and DIY artists and
bands released in 2013 that most music lovers, unless you follow IRC intently, missed
out on when we first featured them at different times throughout the year. We’ve
been working diligently on putting together a full breakdown of the top DIY songs,
albums, artists and bands of 2013, and we’ll be publishing those as well in the 
coming weeks – you don’t want to miss them because there is so much amazing music,
and so many talented artists, that must not be forgotten.

But in the meantime, stream or download this third installment of the Best Songs
of 2013, with the compelling insight of Mr. Daniels. All of the songs in this playlist
series were originally posted as part of the Top 10 Songs playlist which are determined
by the number of streams and downloads by IRC listeners throughout 2013. This third
installment includes singles from Foals, The Spinto Band, Black Rebel Motorcycle
Club, Guards, Low, Mary Onettes, Crime & The City Solution, Bowie, Atoms for Peace,
Iceage, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. In case you didn’t hear them before, listen
to [Volume I](https://indierockcafe.com/2014/01/best-songs-of-2013-vol-i-surfer-blood-sigur-ros-deerhunter-phoenix-kurt-vile-wild-nothing-the-national-daft-punk-big-deal/)
and [II](https://indierockcafe.com/2014/01/best-songs-of-2013-local-natives-yo-la-tengo-wooden-hand-pere-ubu-gliss-ty-segall-and-mikal-cronin-lost-animal/)
of the Best Songs of 2013.

![Holy_Fire_II](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Holy_Fire_II-
584x584.jpg "Holy_Fire_II")

This catchy, danceable **Foals**‘ song, “My Number,” from the band’s 2013 release,
_Holy Fire_, features surprisingly subversive lyrics that celebrate the individual
by tearing everything else down. The song title begs for the assumption that it’s
the story of getting a number, or at least trying to, but those quests are immediately
rejected with the opening lines: _“You don’t have my number/We don’t need each other
now_.” In turn, Foals reject creeds, culture, the city and the streets, stressing
that “_we can move beyond it now_.” Though I suspect the song’s lush and refined
arrangement is more likely to inspire sweaty, anonymous masses of humanity than 
rejections of our surroundings. But perhaps anonymity is the ultimate means of freedom
for the individual, the only way to escape streets, cultures, and numbers.

“My Number” – **Foals **from _Holy Fire_ on Warner Bros.

![Guards-In-Guards-We-Trust](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/
Guards-In-Guards-We-Trust-584x584.jpg "Guards-In-Guards-We-Trust")

**Guards** invert the typical dream pop tones into a somewhat unsettling anthem 
of optimism. The refrain of “_I want to live forever/I don’t care_,” set over upbeat
instruments creates an odd tensity. It’s hard for me to tell if the echoed, detached
voice is coming from the dreamscape or the afterlife, if “_we’ll live forever in
the sea/ just you and me_” is a heartfelt invitation to liberation or the parting
words of a drowning man’s ghost. “Silver Lining” provides the soundtrack for a montage
of summer frolicking and a surreal funeral all at once.

[“Silver Lining”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/silver-lining-guards1.mp3)–**
Guards** from _In Guards We Trust_

⌊spinto_band_cool_cocoon⌉⌊spinto_band_cool_cocoon⌉

This old school track – “Shake It Off” – by **The Spinto Band **sounds like a deep
cut playing on a classic rock station at first. Simple but precise riffs are executed
by carefully chosen instrumentation, combining with the yelpy vocal arrangements
and love-scorned lyrics to form a brand of power pop that’s really the soul of suburbs,
or at least the suburban white youth experience for which the Spinto Band serves
as house band. The declaration that _“it’s worse to be strung along”_ is romantic
gospel to this audience, and the decision (and by extension, advice) of the chorus–_“
shake it off, I’m leaving_” – is a fitting anthem for the doomed romantics of the
housing development.

Related Post:  Best Songs of 2013, Vol. IV - Hospital, Groupelove, Sebadoh, Cults,
Best Coast, Dr. Dog, Fuzz, Glasvegas, CAVE

[“Shake It Off”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/shakeitoff-spinto-band1.mp3)–**
The Spinto Band** from _Cool Cocoon_

⌊motelbds⌉⌊motelbds⌉

**The Motel Beds **hail from **Dayton**, Ohio, and the parallels with Dayton’s favorite
sons, **Guided by Voices**, are there to be drawn (or traced, as the case may be).
It’s fuzzed, buzzed and doesn’t take itself too seriously (watch the great music
video to this song for a laugh) – the title “Smoke Your Homework” even recalls **
Robert Pollard**‘s many school-based tunes, but they expand the sound beyond GBV’s
classic lo fi stylings. The vocals resemble **Dan Boeckner** a bit while even slipping
into **Spencer Krug** territory for some falsetto “ooo”s, so I’m reminded of some
of the less poppy **Wolf Parade** tracks, and when the guitars wander from the main
riffs they get angular and really interesting for moments. That distinct intensity
of Midwestern rock is on display, not satisfied but not depressed; the noise isn’t
meant to fill an internal void but instead bleeds out from the soul to fill the 
empty space around it.

[“Smoke Your Homework”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Motel%20Beds%20-%20Smoke%20Your%20Homework1.mp3)–**
The Motel Beds** from_ __Dumb Gold_

![Nick-Cave-and-the-Bad-Seeds](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/
02/Nick-Cave-and-the-Bad-Seeds-584x584.jpg "Nick-Cave-and-the-Bad-Seeds")

**Nick Cave** is an elder statesman, a legend and perhaps the last true gentleman
of alternative rock. He’s also a uniquely eclectic artist, so it’s both surprising
and not that the mellow, clean guitar lines that open “Jubilee Street” remind me
more of a chill **Pavement** B-side than Cave’s recent work with **Grinderman** 
or his classic **Seeds**‘ records. “Jubilee Street” is a whole a haunted record;
the tonality is otherworldly and the song seems inhabited by resigned spirits. This
song describes “_a girl named Bea_,” a prostitute or madame who _“had a history,
but she had no past._” The narrator sings of her, and himself, with an air of regret,
and his language, while tied to the physical world through the street, becomes increasingly
abstract and grandiose as the music turns operatic. Sweeping, funereal strings take
over, and the narrator becomes less interested in relating his mistake (though the
line “_I got a fetus on a leash_” suggests it) than in his own metaphysical, transcendent
circumstances: “_I was out of place in time,” “I am alone now/ I am beyond recriminations,”“
I am flying/ Look at me now_.”

[“Jubilee Street”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/jubileestreet1.mp3)–**
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds** from _Push The Sky Away_

![Iceage-Youre-Nothing](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Iceage-
Youre-Nothing1-584x584.jpg "Iceage-Youre-Nothing1")

Recapturing the intentions of the original punk rock bands but with far more skill
and precision, **Iceage**‘s “Coalition” is a hardcore track that’s impossible to
ignore and liable to reduce its surroundings to dust. The sound is angry and nihilistic
but never quite gives way to total chaos. The words are there, if hidden under the
sounds of trashing and the somewhat odd musical phrasing of the Danish-but-English-
singing band. They express the quintessential punk themes of alienation and detachment,
though the oft-repeated lines “_Somehow things are still not lost/ But I sure feel
alienated_” suggest something sort of total nihilism. I’m not sure if the repeated
screams of “EXCESS” are a call for indulgence and noise or an indictment of predominant
consumer cultures, but regardless of your dissatisfactions, Iceage provide an appropriate
soundtrack.

“Coalition”** ****– ****Iceage **from _You’re Nothing_ on Matador

![atoms-for-peace-album](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/atoms-
for-peace-album.jpg "atoms-for-peace-album")

In spite of its status as a supergroup, **Atoms for Peace** really is (and sounds
like) a follow-up to **Thom Yorke**‘s solo debut, _The Eraser_, and it fits alongside
that album and Yorke’s recent **Radiohead** material rather seamlessly. That’s not
necessarily a bad thing, as much as a case of untapped potential. What we’re left
with is an intricately constructed electronic music paired with Yorke’s crooner-
of-the-future vocals delivering obtuse thoughts on transformation and identity: “
_I felt completely free,” “silent double/ A pawn unto a queen_.” Throughout a career
in which he’s alternatively been described as everything from a savior/transformer
of music-as-we-know-it to a pretentious false prophet, Yorke has “_made [his] bed/
And [he’s] lying in it_,” but the constant analysis has clearly affected him, as
he sings: “_it’s eating me up_.” A healthier dose of **Flea**‘s iconic bass work
might make Atoms for Peace more distinct, but Yorke, for all he’s done, continues
to offer a vision of “future music” that is all his own: mechanistic, Orwellian 
and elusive.

Related Post:  Best Songs of 2013, Vol. I - Surfer Blood, Sigur Ros, Deerhunter,
Phoenix, Kurt Vile, Wild Nothing, The National, Daft Punk, Big Deal

[“Default”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Atoms%20for%20Peace%20-%20Default2.mp3)–**
Atoms For Peace** from _AMOK_ on XL Recordings (CD)

![david-bowie-the-next-day](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/
david-bowie-the-next-day-album-cover1-584x584.jpg "david-bowie-the-next-day-album-
cover1")

**David Bowie** doesn’t miss a beat in his triumphant return, _The Next Day_, and
this highlight single, “The Stars (Are Out Tonight).” In a spectacular maneuver,
Bowie went from rumors of his immanent demise to releasing one of his greatest albums
ever. Without hyperbole, _The Next Day_ is probably his best record in 30 years (
or longer, depending on your opinion of _Let’s Dance_ and _Scary Monsters_ [and 
_Super Creeps_]). “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” challenges Bowie’s prime material,
from the 70’s glam albums to the _Berlin Trilogy_, and while it won’t be remembered
on the same level, it possesses and level of immediacy and edge I’m not sure we’ve
ever heard from the master of modernist pop music. Perhaps those death rumors, or
more likely just his age, heightened his urgency –  though the outdated reference
to **Titantic**‘s “Jack and Kate” makes you wonder how long these lyrics were sitting
in one of his notebooks. Bowie has always been one of the most hyperaware stars 
of pop music, and this track sees him recognize and consider the importance and 
immortality of stardom. Stardom is a distant yet ubiquitous phenomenon (“_We live
closer to the Earth/ Never to the heavens/ The stars are never far away_“), yet,
while the legacy of a celebrity outlives the celebrity him or herself, it is not
a legacy of pure art. Bowie sings, “_Stars are never sleeping/ Dead ones earn a 
living_,” expressing the dead celebrity’s largely financial existence as royalties
and media empires, a potential future for himself that Bowie must meditate on. Bowie
is hopeful of a more artful immortality however: “_We will never be rid of these
stars,/ But I hope they live forever_.”

[“The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/David%20Bowie%20-%20The%20Stars%20(Are%20Out%20Tonight)2.mp3)–**
David Bowie** from _The Next Day _(deluxe CD edition)

![Low-Invisible-Way](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Low-Invisible-
Way-584x584.jpg "Low-Invisible-Way")

The band **Low** work within the restrictive genre of slow-core, but still manage
to produce really amazing work twenty years later. “Just Make It Stop” (and _The
Invisible Way_ in its entirety) sees **Mimi Parker** thrust into a starring role,
and it’s greatly welcome. Her vocals are beautiful and make the repetitive lyrics
sincere and affecting. Lines like, “_If I could just make it stop/ I could tell 
the whole world/ To get out of my way_” and “_You see I’m close to the edge/ I’m
at the end of my rope_” are loaded and could devolve into high school poetry, but
Parker is so elegant and the harmonies so rich that the song becomes genuine, heart-
breaking and untouchable, rather than as base and obvious as it might seem in less
skilled hands (or voices, as the case may be). Parker begs to stop, yet we’re propelled
forward by the wonderful, reverberating guitars Low is known for and a triumphant
piano arrangement that pushes Low’s slowcore tendencies to the brink.

Related Post:  Best Songs of 2013, Vol. II - Local Natives, Yo La Tengo, Wooden 
Hand, Pere Ubu, Gliss, Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin, Lost Animal

[“Just Make It Stop”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/129372.mp3) –**
Low **from _The Invisible Way_ on Sub Pop

![brmc-specter-at-the-feast](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/
brmc-specter-at-the-feast-584x584.jpg "brmc-specter-at-the-feast")

Ironically, it takes tragic circumstances for the **Black Rebel Motorcycle Club**
to take off the leather jackets and vacate their usual dimly lit corner of the bar.
The death of bassist **Robert Levon Been**‘s father, and BRMC’s sound engineer, **
Michael Been**, former frontman of the **Call**, inspires this cover of “Let the
Day Begin,” the Call’s “I Hear America Singing”-lite anthem of the American worker
last seen as Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign theme song. With **Peter Hayes**‘
Bono-meets-Brian Molko delivery and the classic rock riffs processed into disintegrating
particles of sound, the song feels less populist and inspiring and more foreboding
and ironic, giving it a second life in those shadowy whiskey joints BRMC shoot for,
if not one as Rick Santorum’s 2016 campaign song.

[“Returning”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/returning-brmc1.mp3) –**
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club** from _Specter At The Feast_

⌊crime_americantwilight⌉⌊crime_americantwilight⌉

The post-punk band **Crime & The City Solution** resurrected itself in 2013 with
a new LP recorded in their new home base of **Detroit**. The stand out single, “
My Love Takes Me There,” is a journey, as the listener is invited to accompany the
narrator to “a world beyond words” – wherever  that is. **Simon Bonney** is a perverse
crooner whose lyrics shift between poetry and other worldly journalism. His prognostications
forecast defeat, but not misery, as he reports, “_You will see me fall in a world
beyond words_.” Perhaps Bonney’s sangfroid comes from the knowledge that any prophecy
based in words, no matter how doom-ridden, would be inadequate. Instead he relies
upon the music, in which angular guitars, a chorus of ethereal voices and moments
of dissonance layer into a malfunctioning music box from Hell (not the town of Hell,
Michigan, but the other ‘Hell’ that everyone has heard about), before the song’s
garage rock riff pulls the song back into reality.

“My Love Takes Me There” – **Crime & The City Solution** from _American Twilight_
on Mute

![The_Mary_Onettes](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/The_Mary_Onettes.
jpg "The_Mary_Onettes")

A carnival organ lets loose and transports us to **Coney Island** or some other 
beach-side amusement park; feedback in the background recalls the screams of roller
coaster passengers or the screeches of greedy seagulls. Just as the imaginary roller
coaster seems to reach its apex, we’re plunged into a excellent, well-produced piece
of pop that recalls **The Cure**‘s finest moments. A distant guitar bends distorted
notes deep in a rich mix, and an impressive beat provides background for **Philip
Ekstrom**‘s pleading vocals. In spite of its title, I’m not sure that “Hit the Waves”
is a song for surfing, or even the beach itself, as much as it is for watching the
waves from the boardwalk, longing to cast off your shoes and socks and run to the
water, but held back. When Ekstrom sings: “_It’s something buried deep inside shaking
me/ We’re gonna let it grow cold/ ‘Cause we hardly ever speak to what we feel_,”
he feels that shake, or pull, but allows his chest to cool, regretting that we don’t
listen to our impulses, which might “speak to what we feel” more than reason.

[“Hit the Waves”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/The%20Mary%20Onettes%20-%20Hit%20the%20Waves2.mp3)**–****
The Mary Onettes **from _Hit the Waves_ on Labrador Records

_Devin William Daniels is a writer and musician from Pennsylvania currently teaching
English in the Republic of South Korea. Follow him on Twitter or listen to his recordings
on [Soundcloud](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/negative_sound3). Read
more of Mr. Daniels’ posts and reviews via IRC’s archives._