Grandaddy has a grand total of 7 songs on this countdown, which puts the band in pretty rarified air, but only one of the songs made the top 200. This is my second favorite of all their songs, and it was part of their first full release, a cassette-only album from 1994 that as far as I know isn't even on streaming. Somehow I have a copy on my iTunes (on my hard drive) and have had it forever. It also came out as a B-side to the single "Taster" from that same album but never made any of the multiple great compilation records of Grandaddy's early work. But try to find it if you can. It's amazing. 

If there was just somehow
Switch off the power
And re-root the wiring
We'd all have a ball
I'm going to Nebraska
Cause I long for the grasslands
Get a job as a ranch hand
Good luck to you all

I'm catching a greyhound
I'm bent on the eastbound
Can't wait for my new town
​Good luck to you all

"Nebraska" - Grandaddy // Complex Party Come-Along Theories (1994)

Broken Social Scene were the canary in the coal mine for my favorite indie rock bands that all emerged in the 2000s to say it was no longer economically viable and break up, right around 2010 or 2011. No one said that was the reason and BSS didn't either, as far as I knew. But sustaining a sprawling group of musicians like BSS had on touring alone was no longer feasible, with what became zero album sales by the end of the 2000s, given the rise of Apple's iTunes and other digital platforms relegating the physical album purchase into a lost art. They broke up and Wolf Parade broke up and so many of my favorites of the decade just stopped recording music together. Everyone tried solo gigs or multiple gigs (Dan of Wolf Parade was in like 4 separate bands at once, I think) but then, somewhat incredibly, they all got back together, with sold-out reunion tours that made them enough money I suppose to become a band again. It's not quite the same, but at least for BSS they have released some incredible music in their second run, including this gem from 2018.

"Old Dead Young" - Broken Social Scene // Old Dead Young (2018)

Sunset Rubdown was the "side project" of one half of one of my favorite bands of all time, Wolf Parade, and Spencer Krug's music propelled me through the latter half of the 2000s into the early half of the 2010s. His first Sunset Rubdown full-length came out in 2006 and was my #2 favorite album of the year (trailing only Mogwai's Mr. Beast) and then his follow-up was my favorite album of 2007, Wolf Parade had my favorite album in 2008, then Sunset Rubdown 2009, then Wolf Parade again, then Spencer (after leaving both bands!) went on to win the best album for his Moonface solo project in both 2011 and 2012. Yes, I was obsessed. My interest has waned a bit, over a decade later, and the new Sunset Rubdown reunion album that came out last year didn't produce any memorable tracks for me (Wolf Parade's more recent work has been better). But I still love the old stuff. And these songs hold such a particular space in my brain. Shout out to my Australian friend Wayne, who I met at a Pavement concert in Central Park, after connecting through the Internet via our mutual shared love of Spencer. My blog was named after a Stephen Malkmus (from Pavement song). His blog was named after a line from this very song.

Oceans never listen anyway...

"Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings" - Sunset Rubdown // Shut Up I Am Dreaming (2006)

Home is Where are probably my newest fave band with multiple tracks on this list, having sprung onto my scene in 2023 with The Whaler, their first full-length, in June. I saw them in concert in Brooklyn like that month, maybe two weeks after I first heard of them. And the show was absolutely amazing. Right up close, maybe 70 people jammed into the Elsewhere basement. The songs were incredible and also, the guitarist, who is trans, they made a speech about moving to Brooklyn from Florida in recent months because of the aggressive anti-trans legislation being passed down there, and raving about the acceptance they felt in being embraced in Brooklyn. They were in tears and as someone on the LGBTQ spectrum but really with little contact with anyone on the "T" side of me, I felt so bad for the way they had been treated and vowed in whatever way I could to help. I haven't helped much. Things are so incredibly worse for trans people in 2025 than in 2023, which is shocking honestly, given how bad things were in 2023, but at least this city is still welcoming to everyone. That's one of the biggest reasons I love it here. Last week, I was on the L train back from Brooklyn to Manhattan on a Saturday night and across from me were three young people going out in Manhattan (I was heading home, it was already like 9 or 10!) and one of them was dressed in feminine clothing but otherwise male-presenting and yes, it is jarring to the eye, I can admit that and we can admit that but who the fuck cares what my eye thinks, let everyone live their fucking lives it's not got a damn thing to do with you!!! Anyway, America really is shit right now for so many reasons but at least Home Is Where is making music.

"Floral Organs" - Home Is Where // The Whaler (2023)