The 50 Best Local Songs of 2019

When Mattiel released “Keep the Change” back in April it signaled a shift to a more polished and contemporary aesthetic than the retro rock and soul that defined her debut. And yet with its driving backbeat, perky guitars, and scream-along chorus, the song still manages to sound like it’s existed for ages. On an album full of standouts, “Keep the Change” surges above the rest; it’s a feverishly assured shot of garage punk adrenaline from a songwriter operating at the peak of her powers. – GC

Denial and nostalgia purr sleepily together throughout “Room Tone” as producer Jake Thomson, aka Mirth of Moon, uses classic relationship tropes to address the anxieties of a social media obsessed society while invoking the importance of sound as part of our emotional atmosphere. As the song progresses, sonic layers pile up like unread texts, but Thomson’s aerobic melody keeps the complexity from becoming overwhelming. A heady, multifaceted pleasure. – RR

“Two Things” pulses with a unique vitality and determined defiance. Across crisp percussion and skittering synths crafted with the help of friend and producer Mark Crowley, Nadia Marie makes it clear that she won’t be held back and has zero time for false lovers or bullshit drama. “I never want to hear my name come out of your mouth,” she warns fiercely, before dismissing her adversary with a terse “get out of my way.” It’s rare that music this vulnerable and exposed also offer such toughness. But Marie capably wrangles this emotional complexity and sets it to a soundtrack that’s eminently danceworthy. – GC

You know an Omni song when you hear it. Jittery, jagged, and riddled with anxiety. The band’s freshman effort for Sub Pop, however, was less herky-jerky gymnastics and more emphasis on subtly and nuance—simple yet sophisticated. Album opener “Sincerely Yours” may attack with the occasional sharp prick or tense groove, but ironically, it’s Phillip Frobos’ deadpan meditations on 9 to 5 ennui that really hit you in the gut. Always a visceral pleasure, Omni continue to find exciting new ways to surprise and delight. – GC

At first blush, this single from DIY darlings Password:Password might just sound like a spirited prom under the disco ball. Look again, however, and you’ll see Claire Lacombe face a junction in her relationship that all free-spirited partners must navigate at some point: where do you draw the line between you and your beloved? It’s a question that both sides of the team (or every side of the team, for those polyamorous circles out there) needs to meditate on, and Password:Password presents the conundrum with enough light-hearted dazzle to keep lovers swaying while they contemplate their individuality. – LA

The restless beauty of “Antioch” varies depending on which angle you view it from. At various points it’s either a brooding confessional, a historical drama, a philosopical rumination, or a rousing anthem. It’s folk passages are reverent and serene; it’s forays into arena-sized guitar rock are sweeping and emphatic. Throughout all this constant building, and shifting, and evolving, however, Quiet Hounds remain forever welcoming, with the song’s closing line sounding like a plea to participate in their outsized ambition: “Help me catch that fiery spark and start all over again.” – GC

Everything about this single is straight-up ridiculous. Ostensibly, weirdo electronic duo Rare Demo are just showing us around the club, so we can soak in the thumpin’ beats, but we see the reflection in a funhouse mirror, as wonky analogues tickle our goosebumps. Meanwhile, our woozy narrator reflects in falsetto on the merits (or lack thereof) of a certain pale ale at one table and debunks pie as “fake” at another. The casual clubgoer might feel their head spin from all the hijinks, but this is just an ordinary night out for these two players. – LA

If the point of punk music is to strip away artifice and appeal to pure visceral feeling, then Riboflavin’s “Porkchops” is some of the punkest shit I’ve heard all year. Whether this is intended to be silly, sardonic, or sincere doesn’t really matter. The shotgun riffs, the scattershot rhythms, the snarky scream-sung vocals—all of it—is like a heatseeker pointed at my central nervous system—or whatever part of the human physiology controls the urge to jump around and scream like a maniac. – GC

Fans have been waiting for this one. Ever since Jordan Reynolds opened the revolving door on her solo project Rose Hotel, the pastoral landscapes that spellbound us on Always A Good Reason have continued to expand, often before our very eyes. For many gig-goers, though (primarily yours truly), “Better” marked the point when Reynolds’ ambitions to catch up to Waxahatchee finally clicked into place. From the wistful refrain to the whirling blur of the finale, Rose Hotel keep us locked in to this domestic drama. And even when the curtains crash to a close, we still have to wonder what happens next. – LA