2010 Song Project - Countdown - #420-#411

#420 The Weepies - "I Was Made For Sunny Days" from "Be My Thrill" - An upbeat song from the usually dour Weepies, "I Was Made For Sunny Days" is a great song in the band's usual twee indie pop style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0z71SWcG2o


#419 Iron Maiden - "Mother Of Mercy" from "The Final Frontier" - The old monsters of metal keep rolling through yet another decade. "Mother Of Mercy" isn't their highest charting song on this year's countdown, but it ranks among the top tier of Maiden classics nonetheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3jUfDPc60Y


#418 Los Campesinos! - "A Heat Rash In The Shape Of The Show Me State; Or, Letters From Me To Charlotte" from "Romance Is Boring" - "Romance Is Boring" is the latest in a series of great albums from Los Campesinos!, one of the most original bands in modern rock. "A Heat Rash" is the first of several peppy songs with dark undertones from the album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDvf7Uq9DLs


#417 Lissie - "Stranger" from "Catching A Tiger" - Between covers and her own original work, 2010 was a fantastic breakthrough year for Lissie. This indie rock song is one of her best originals, with a great hook leading into the chorus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quqb-p3Ikbo


#416 Gogol Bordello - "Immigraniada" from "Trans-Continental Hustle" - Gypsy punk greats Gogol Bordello took a big step forward with "Trans-Continental Hustle", a more accessible rock album that previous albums. "Immigraniada" sounds like the kind of song that Serj Tankian might have written for System Of A Down if his ancestry was from the same part of Europe as Gogol Bordello's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oioNZSPqRM


#415 Les Savy Fav - "Clear Spirts" from "Root For Ruin" - Aggressive lyrics and swirling guitars highlight this track from indie rock favorites Les Savy Fav.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU_ndUXGY84


#414 The Joy Formidable - "Popinjay" from "Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist" - Long hyped as the next big thing, the Joy Formidable might be one of the highlights of the 2011 countdown, but for now, "Popinjay" makes an early debut on the 2010 list with this song, which strikes me as a different take on the Silversun Pickups' hard rock style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9fvl88FyX4


#413 Swans - "My Birth" from "My Father Will Guide Me Up To A Rope In The Sky" - A blogger once declared Swans as the best band that no one has ever heard of. With songs like "My Birth", which sounds like a darker version of the best And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead song mixed with shoegaze elements, it's hard to argue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_p28PXG0Q


#412 Hole - "How Dirty Girls Get Clean" from "Nobody's Daughter" - Hole maintains their brilliantly out of control 90's alt rock style despite having a mostly new line-up. "How Dirty Girls Get Clean" is one of the best grunge songs of 2010. It's good to know that someone can still do that properly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9FA2MlT7n0


#411 Grinderman - "Bellringer Blues" from "Grinderman II" - Dark, twisted, crunchy and grinding, "Bellringer Blues" is vintage Nick Cave as the sequel to "Grinderman" surpasses the original. Nothing else in rock n roll sounds anything like this artist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsUjo3P8FG8