The Best Songs of the 2000s: #104

#104: "No Vacancy" (2006) - The Subdudes


About this time every year, many of my friends and acquantainces and peers are either going or returning from vacation. About this time every year for about five years in a row, the missus and I would be not long returned from a senior class trip. Two of those years we went to New Orleans. The summer after our last senior class trip there, Foot Foot and I took our son Nicholas with us. The three of us had such a good time--and Foot Foot and I enjoyed our senior class trips there so much, too--that the missus and I decided to return to New Orleans every summer. That was in 2005, in June. In August of that year, Katrina hit. It hit our litte town pretty heavily, but the impact here was nothing compared to the devastation in New Orleans. We haven't been back.

We saw all the news reports, read all the articles and editorials, listened to all the griping from those who stayed and to all the griping from those who grew angry at all the griping from those who stayed. Blame passed back and forth, accusations of racism came from white and black/rich and poor, yet still people drowned, still people were left without means, without food, without a lifestyle. For varying reasons--lack of transportation, lack of funds, selfishness, greed, hubris--thousands of people stayed in New Orleans when Katrina hit, and many of these thousands died. The government (local, state, and federal) knew the levees wouldn't hold if a hurricane magnitude of Katrina hit the Gulf Coast near New Orleans, yet these thousands of people--for whatever reason--weren't evacuated. Some stayed willingly, would not have evacuated for any reason whatsoever (remember Camille, when people had hurricane parties--happened this time, too), but some...may they rest in peace.

Not all died, of course. Many who stayed survived, and many of those survivors were left jobless or homeless or both. With this increase in vagrancy came, of course, an increase in crime, in a city already known--yea, hailed--for its laissez faire attitude towards miscreants. Pundits and a few legislators even seriously considered leveling the city, calling it a wash, and starting over from scratch, building atop the rubble and the remains; and some even mentioned forgetting the city altogether, those few thousand remaining forced to leave and find work and home elsewhere.

Some did anyway. Many, though, scraped by best they could. The city's slowly recovering. As noted above, I haven't been back yet, though maybe in a couple of years, when my youngest is old enough to travel more than sixty miles without whining, Foot Foot and I will return. Maybe by then, the city will be as festive and gauche as it was the times I was there before. I hope so. Of all the cities I've visited, New Orleans has been my favorite.

The next two songs on my countdown are dedicated to The Big Easy. This first one was recorded by New Orleans' own Subdudes in May of 2005, three months before Katrina hit; it wasn't released (for obvious reasons) until January 2006. The song's a metaphor for leaving behind heartache and pain, but for me, "No Vacany" will always be inextricably linked to those left behind in the wake of Katrina. I can't hear the song and not think of the pictures and film/video footage of the effects the hurricane had upon the streets of New Orleans. It's supposed to be a hopeful song, but the singer's yearning tone, the somber instrumentation, and the empty spaces bluesman Keb Mo' leaves in the record leave me with images that aren't very hopeful. It makes me sad, a bit depressed, even though I know things will get better. There is (to paraphrase Ecclesiastes and Ben Harper) a reason to mourn.

The Best Songs of the 2000s: #105

#105: "My Sweet Annette" (2003) - Drive-By Truckers

If Bruce Springsteen would have been raised in the dirt hills of Alabama or the swamps of Florida instead of the swamps of Jersey, then something from his albums Darkness on the Edge of Town or The River might have sounded (in music and lyric) something like this. Since he wasn't, then Jason Isbell's song with his then band the Drive-By Truckers will have to do, and they do so nicely, detailing a relationship soured in the South, where people used to be much more likely to follow their emotions because they didn't have the education to follow their heads 'cause they were spending their youth working the farms and the fields trying to make sure their family didn't go hungry.

The country music here fits perfectly with the redneck setting, as the prospective groom dumps his bride for her maide-of-honor right at the altar on the wedding day. Sounds like a recycled idea from a cliched romantic comedy, doesn't it? Yeah, maybe it does, but that stuff still happens 'round here (and I suspect elswhere, too)--just ask my brother. When you do, make sure and ask if the band's still gonna play the reception even though the wedding's been called off. If you tell him the Truckers are that band, then he might consider it.

The Best Songs of the 2000s: #106

#106: "1, 2 Step" (2004) - Ciara featuring Missy Elliott

Not only a great "dance" song, it's a great song in-and-of itself, with slinky, funky, very Prince-like Jazzy Pha production (especially in the verses and the chorus), with a contemporary spin that blips and typanies and compresses the frizzy synth lines and interjections just enough to give space for the beat to hit and for the dancers to work their body and one, two step. Enough room for freestyle but structured and full enough for those who just want to follow along, bobbing their heads and shaking their tailfeathers.This one's even got a bridge straight from late-seventies disco/soul, with Ciara trying her best to come across like Disco Donna Summer (though she doesn't have Summer's energy and sounds more like Disco Diana Ross). Plus, you've got co-writer Missy Elliot rapping a solo in the middle, and any Mis-da-meanor addition is always arresting, this time with Ms. Elliot comparing her relative age to the finest cut of steak. Eat it quick, though, so you can get back on the floor.

The Best Songs of the 2000s: #107

#107: "Your Touch" (2006) - The Black Keys


From one guitar+drums duo of rocking blues to another, I give you (for the second time), Akron's finest,* The Black Keys, with Dan Auerbach on guitar and Patrick Carney on drums and behind the production mixing board. Perhaps moreso than any other band this decade, the Black Keys have benefitted from selling out. This duo has never had a hit record, but they're ubiquitous; more people have probably heard their songs than have heard the White Stripes (even though the White Stripes are headliners and the Keys are always someone's opening act) thanks to savvy Madison Avenue ad agents and TV show soundtrack compilers who know a thing-or-two more about great pop records than do any of those Clear-Channel executives who are ruining radio with their oligarchic rule. The Keys' songs are everywhere, from commercials to mainstream television to pay-cable shows to film soundtracks to video games. Why?
Like the White Stripes, the Black Keys have a primal thrust in the beats and riffs of their songs, and thus their music can appeal to a wide audience. Their song dynamics are catchy, as they often start and stop on a dime, pausing for a vocal effect or a drum roll or a pick slide. They keep it simple and basic, with no extravagence (which is where they differ from the White Stripes) to interfere amid messenger, message, and audience. In that straightforward approach--in musical and lyrical style and form--their music harkens back to the blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf (as well as contemporary--and late--blues musician Junior Kimbrough, of whom the Keys owe a tremendous musical debt). Auerbach and Carney like rock and metal too, so Auerbach distorts his guitar so much that it sounds like it could have been played forty years ago by Dave Davies or Pete Townshend, and Carney splashes and crashes on the cymbals like early John Bonham.
Unlike the Kinks or the Who or Led Zeppelin, the Black Keys don't veer from their original path.** Carney adds a little echo to Auerbach's urgent yet controlled vocals, but otherwise it's a contemporary sound the Keys have, yet the energy and emotion are raw and open. Their music may harken back to bands from forty or fifty years past,*** yet the Black Keys aren't a retro band; there's not a false note on any of their records. These primal emotions--and this song, "Your Touch," is a great example--will never go out of style.
"Your Touch" is basically a song about desire, immediate desire, immediate physical--sexual--desire, and the Keys don't, uh, beat around the bush. Over and over, Auerbach moans, "I nee-eed...your touch," the drums and the guitar the only things holding him (ever so slightly) in check all the while replicating his will, his drive, his urge. It's a record almost anyone can connect with on a visceral level, and it's a visceral song, upfront and in our faces, so basic, so simple, the need to connect.

The Best Songs of the 2000s: #108

#108: "Seven Nation Army" (2003) - The White Stripes


As if to throw a big middle finger to their detractors, the White Stripes open the first song on their first album with an instrument that hadn't been on any of the three prior records: the bass guitar. It's a great rock bass riff too, opening the door ceremonially to Meg White's four-on-the-floor kick, all announcing the coming of a ticked-off Jack White, walking towards us, getting closer and closer, vocals climbing from speak-sing to falsetto to full-blown roar. His fuzz-guitar amps mimics the bass riff as it mimics his anger and his envy and his jealousy and his rage at all the gossip and ignorance and betrayal in his life and in his world. It's a little blues, a little Zeppelin, a little Pixies, and a little Nirvana, all wrapped up and striped in a red, white, and black package at our front door. We shake it, we hear it ticking, but we open it still, only to find it blow up in our face, our last images of Jack and Meg walking side by side--but not hand in hand--out to the horizon, their contours framed in shadow by the setting sun, this little Western movie epic of a record, a John Ford film on wax.

The Tournament of Metal: Round 3, Bracket 6

The all-important third round is now upon us, as the top 94 songs battle it out, and this time, there's not a stinker among them. This week, we have 42 songs, with bands M-W competing.

One song--because of the odd number of songs in this bracket--gets a bye based on having a nine-point victory two weeks ago (the highest). That song is Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil."
We'll see it in competition next week.

This past week, the following metal acts left us:

• Jon Bon Jovi (solo)
• Bulletboys
• Honeymoon Suite
• Jackyl
• Junkyard
• Kiss
• Lillian Axe
• L.A. Guns

while the following headbangers soldier on, and we'll see them again in next week:

• AC/DC
• Aerosmith
• Bon Jovi
• Cinderella
• The Cult
• Damn Yankees
• Def Leppard
• Dio
• Europe
• Faster Pussycat
• Guns N' Roses
• Sammy Hagar
• Billy Idol
• Iron Maiden
• Judas Priest

Anyway, exact results of this past week's intra-band battles:

3ACDC’s “Hells Bells” v. Jon Bon Jovi’s “Miracle”2
4ACDC’s “Back in Black” v. Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face”0
0ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” v. Judas Priest’s “You Got Another Thing Coming”3
3ACDC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” v. Kiss’ “Crazy Crazy Night”1
0ACDC’s “Who Made Who” v. Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”3
0ACDC’s “For Those About to Rock” v. Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City”4
3Aerosmith’s “Angel” v. Guns N’ Roses’ “Don’t Cry”2
3Bon Jovi’s “Runaway” v. Billy Idol’s “Rock the Cradle”1
5Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” v. Junkyard’s “Hands Off”0
4Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” v. Guns N’ Roses’ “Patience”1
3Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” v. Jackyl’s “The Lumberjack” 2
1Jon Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory” v. Europe’s “The Final Countdown”3
0Bulletboys’ “Smooth Up in Ya” v. Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”5
3Cinderella’s “Shake Me” v. Kiss’ “Lick It Up”2
0Cinderella’s “Night Songs” v. Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle”5
2Cinderella’s “Heartbreak Station” v. Faster Pusscat’s “House of Pain”3
0The Cult’s “Wild Flower” v. Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal”3
3The Cult’s “Firewoman” v. Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law”1
3Damn Yankee’s “High Enough” v. L.A. Guns’ “Ballad of Jayne”1
2Danzig’s “Mother” v. Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills”3
3Def Leppard’s “Rock of Ages” v. Kiss’ “Heaven’s on Fire”1
2Def Leppard’s “Photograph” v. Billy Idol’s “White Wedding”3
5Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” v. Honeymoon Suite’s “New Girl Now”0
0Def Leppard’s “Hysteria” v. Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain”5
4Dio’s “Holy Diver” v. Lillian Axe’s “Misery Loves Company”0