The Song Bird Music

The Best Indie-Rock Songs of the Year 2009 Pt. 2

Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead”

The sleeper hit (haha) of 2009, this glittering, sample-heavy indie-rock song is not about an overnight bunk bed party, but was in everybody’s iPod for a few months there in early 2009. Through the success of “Sleepyhead,” with it’s almost Kanye West-ish sped up vocal sample, shimmering bell chimes and falsetto vocals Passion Pit got a record label deal and toured America to sold out crowds, now hopefully they can continue to hold on to their success in the future.

YACHT – “Psychic City (Voodoo City)”

It’s kind of hard to describe what this song is or what exactly it is saying. Mixing a repetitive guitar strum with clap and water drop hits with the almost mantra-like “ayei ayei aeyi ya!” chants and Claire Evans’ everygirl vocals made for one of the strangest and funnest indie-rock singles of the year. Maybe she can explain it best when she sings in the second verse:  “I used to live in a voodoo city / Where every little thing had its own secret life / I might be washing up the dishes / And the kitchen might say / Hang around baby, baby… /  We’ll be baking a cake for you.”

Discovery – “Orange Shirt”

The side project of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot members, Discovery is a indie-rock, auto-tune, hip-hop hybrid that succeeded much more than people originally predicted it would. “Orange Shirt” is a slinky little electro indie-rock song about riding the train to Tokyo and google-ing yourself when you get home. It was that last line that divided fans, but I personally think it perfectly encapsulates our current technological driven, celebrity obsessed culture—with an entire subset of young people more obsessed with how many Google page hits their name gets than what they actually did last night.

The XX – “Islands”

While not my own personal favorite song from the XX’s debut album, “Islands” is the most immediately accessible, sounding like something that wouldn’t be out of place on your local top 40 radio station, expect for the expertly emotionless guy/girl vocals. Nevertheless, you won’t find a more mysteriously seductive indie-rock R&B song this year.

About the Author

Alan McGee is a freelance writer from MN.

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