[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_zRt_EmqoU[/youtube]
Today I find it harder to emotionally connect to a song/album as purely as I may have years ago. I’m not growing old and jaded, I just immerse myself in music now (Lower Dens may be on to something). This year was no different, especially while screening albums for radio airplay, but “Stay Useless” brought that wide-eyed feeling rushing back. In fact, I listened to Attack on Memory this year the way I listened to albums when I bought them sporadically. The CD has remained in heavy rotation on my car stereo since January. I just let it repeat for days, and when I reach “Stay Useless” I blast it. That opening guitar riff just does something to me. “Stay Useless” is an anthem for the slacker finding less and less time to do just that. The song actually describes very little; it’s a stab at general lethargy and apprehension for the future. The listener fills in the rest, between the driving, dual guitars and infectious melody. If there’s such thing as a highlight on an album as consistent as Attack on Memory, “Stay Useless” is it. This song defines my year, and yet, it hearkens back to the middle school bus – sitting alone with my CD player drowning out the other kids. I look back on that time fondly. Moments like those shaped my intense love for music. “Stay Useless” reminds me just how intense that love is.
– JJ Posway
In case you’re curious, I’ve listed the rest of my Top 20 Songs List below, along with a few honorable mentions that just missed the cut.
Honorable Mentions
“Oldie” – OFWGKTA
“Higher Ground” – TNGHT
“Teenage” – Veronica Falls
JJ’s Top 20 Songs of 2012
20. “Lupine Dominus” – Thee Oh Sees
19. “So Many Details” – Toro Y Moi
18. “Mercy” – Kanye West (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz)
17. “Who (Original Mix)” – Tujamo & Plastik Funk
16. “You Know You Like It” – AlunaGeorge
15. “Yet Again” – Grizzly Bear
14. “Between Friends” – Captain Murphy (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)
13. “The Fever (Aye Aye)” – Death Grips
12. “Brains” – Lower Dens
11. “212” – Azealia Banks
10. “Adorn” – Miguel
9. “Kill For Love” – Chromatics
8. “Swimming Pools (Drank)” – Kendrick Lamar
7. “Fineshrine” – Purity Ring
6. “The House That Heaven Built” – Japandroids
5. “Oblivion” – Grimes
4. “Myth” – Beach House
3. “Only In My Dreams” – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
2. “Pyramids” – Frank Ocean
1. “Stay Useless” – Cloud Nothings