Favorite Songs of 2010 #40 - #31

40) Knights of Bostonia by State Radio - OK. Here is a little behind the scenes information on the making of "Ryan's Countdowns." I listen to each song as I write my little review about it. As I write this and listen to this song, I really regret placing the song this low on the list. It is too late to change now though because it would not be fair to the other songs that already beat this song (I know, I have issues.) Anyway, this video makes me want to sell my condo and move to Boston. If you love Boston, or even like Boston, you might get the chills while watching this video. Also, somebody needs to convince me that the brown haired guy in the band is NOT Kenny from Real World / Road Rules Challenge fame. It has to be him and I refuse to believe otherwise. *

* It is not him, but it really really really looks like him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xWltmskEAM   (I just watched it again, and this song could easily have made my top 20.)

39) Your Decision by Alice in Chains - Twenty years ago I would never have believed that 20 years in the future I would be writing a list of my favorite songs from 2010 and include an Alice in Chains song. Crazy. I am not sure if bands in general are just getting uglier and uglier, but there are some ugly guys in this band. Just as Kenny from MTV's challenges was in the last video, I am pretty convinced that the drummer of Alice in Chains in now Severus Snape from Harry Potter. Anyway, Alice in chains had a song on my 2009 list and now made it back on the countdown with "Your Decision." For a bunch of old men that could drop dead any second, they are still rocking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D37POA11KY

38) Bending Over Backwards by The Wandas - These guys are from Boston and were the winners of this years Rock Hunt put on by WBRU. I loved this song the first time I heard it, which does not happen all too often. I know this might be a very bold statement, but I think these guys sound VERY MUCH like what I imagine a modern day Beatles might have sounded like. If you don't believe me, listen to the song (which I doubt anyone will. Even though I go out of my way to get the youtube video and attach it to the blog so you don't have to do anything but CLICK on the button below.) I just don't think anybody is watching the videos is all. I'll get over it though. With time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzShq84xb0E

37) Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) by My Chemical Romance - Yes. That is the official name of the song, 3 Na's followed by 9 Na's in parentheses.
I was so excited when I heard My Chemical Romance was coming out with a new CD. However, when this song was released I was real bummed. I did not like it at all. I don't know if I was just not in a good mood when I heard it, or if I did not feel like being happy, I just did not like it. Now, it is almost impossible for me to not smile when I hear this song. It is real fun. Sometimes I even wish I was in a bad mood just so I could listen to this song and have it put me in a good mood. As is always the case with My Chemical Romance, this video is real cool (not that any of you will watch it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egG7fiE89IU (Oh and mom, could you put this on my Christmas list, I still don't have the CD. Thanks)

36) Terrible Love by The National - I had no idea who The National was until I went to Uganda last summer. They were one of my roommates favorite bands and we listened to them all the time. I picked up this CD the day it came out and it is still in my car (because it is real good, not because I am lazy and did not bring it inside.) OK, maybe it is in my car for both reasons, but regardless, it is still in my car and I listen to it often. Terrible Love is the COMPLETE opposite of the song Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na.) This is so relaxing that I almost feel like I should not be driving when I listen to it. Terrible Love should come with a warning... Do not operate heavy machinery while listening to the first 3 minutes of "Terrible Love." Hahahahahahaha. God I crack myself up sometimes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhpzyun8SE

35) Lasso by Phoenix - I remember requesting this CD for Christmas last year from my parents. Much to my chagrin after opening all of my wonderful presents I still was void of my "Wolfgang Amadues Phoenix" CD. The drive to my grandparents house was somber and I kept thinking that I would have to go to FYE the next morning and spend my own hard earned money on the must-have CD. Fast forward ten minutes and I am ripping through my next batch of presents while trying to eye my pile of remaining presents for what looks like a CD.  As I am carelessly destroying what I am sure is going to be a sweater from JC Penny I saw it. What did my grandparents...... I mean Santa....... cleverly disguise in a JC Penny clothing box? You guess it. Phoenix's CD "Wolfgang Amadues Phoenix." Crisis averted.
Lasso is AWESOME and so is this CD and so is Phoenix. Thanks Mem and Pop!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love You!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okbDmEGrCZ8

34) The Sound by Switchfoot - Last October I won yet another WBRU contest. Just weeks after returning from a free Royal Caribbean cruise sponsored by Bud Light, which brought us to a tropical private island for a private show by Dave Matthews Band, I (well, my friend Linda, but she only registered because of me) won something almost just as awesome; Sushi with Switchfoot. Yes. I got to eat raw fish while standing at the Lupos bar with the Switchfoot boys. That night, after dinner, we were in the front row as the common people were allowed to enter Lupos. It was like a CD release tour so they played their entire new CD "Hello Hurricane" from start to finish. The CD is easily in my top 5 CD's from 2009, and the song "Hello Hurricane" might be one of my favorite un-released songs of all time (un-released meaning never played on the radio.) This song, "The Sound" might be my least favorite song on the CD and it is STILL my 34th favorite Rock song of the year. That is how awesome this CD is. (Just for comparison, last year their song "Mess of Me" came in at number 6 for the year! Switchfoot rules.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNQgABsUfK8
(I just watched the video for "The Sound" for the first time, and I forgot how much I really do love the CD. I wish it made my top 20, I am mad at myself again.)

33) Around the Bend by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - I think I am high from just watching this video. This video belongs in the 70's. WAYYYYYYYY before when I was born. Do you think anyone in this band has ever smoked pot? (Can at least one person watch this video so I am not talking to myself?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq-aNkBc2_M

32) Dignity by New Politics - OK the lead singer of this band definitely needs to smoke a little bit of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour's pot. He might be one of the most animated singers I have seen in years. For a little while I felt like I was watching the video for New Kids on the Block's "Hangin Tough" or something. He is going to hurt himself if he does not calm down.
I just heard "Dignity" not too long ago and I really like it a lot. A lot of people are comparing them to Lincoln Park, but I like them way more than Lincoln Park. WAY More.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOJpMr6-cqU

31) Maybe by Sick Puppies - OK. The song is a little cheesy, I know. It sounds EXACTLY like it could be the "voted off" song on American Idol. When I hear the song I always picture the American Idol stage and a crying contestant in the left hand corner of the screen, while the contestant watches moments of their lives in which their dream of possibly amounting to anything was still a reality. I can not believe that this show does this to these poor contestants. They just get the worst news of their lives and then they are forced to watch a montage of some of the best moments of their lives. It is sick and twisted, but I always love it.
Anyway, I dare you to listen to this song and not think of American Idol. You CAN NOT do it. Good song, with a good message, more importantly I love female guitarists, especially hot ones.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFhRowkNrTM