Pulse Rankdown: 2021 Year-End Alternative Chart (done)

[narp]

Bastille is such a hit or miss act. They release a good single and then the next one is terrible.

[Leo ✔]

worst single by Bastille ever. Did they really ditch WHAT YOU GONNA DO??? To push THIS!?

[Red]

As someone who has generally been fine with Bastille, this is so incredibly, ungodly lame.

[khan]

Might have overranked this yeah but I do really like the production at least.

[singingrulebritannia]

tell me they don't sound alike

[wrip]

Now it is time for the Billboard extras!

EXTRA


Honestly I enjoy the vibe of this song, definitely a fun song!



Another Hit of Showmanship
The Struts & Albert Hammond Jr.

Chart Peak: #40
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[wrip]

EXTRA


I promise you jxdn, nobody asked for this cover.



drivers license
jxdn

Chart Peak: #40
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[wrip]

EXTRA


tell me why the first thing I thought of when I heard the title was this song, lol this is catchy enough.



Material Boy
Sir Sly

Chart Peak: #39
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[wrip]

EXTRA


ah man, it would've been so cool to rank this here. I really just love how this song sounds. I can't exactly describe how it makes me feel, I just love the vibe



help herself
bbno$ x diamond pistols

Chart Peak: #34
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[wrip]

EXTRA


well, we have another cover in these extras! it's not much better than the other one lol.



Smells Like Teen Spirit
Malia J

Chart Peak: #33
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[razorshark]

Jan 24, 2022 22:16:41 GMT -5 wrip said:

EXTRA


well, we have another cover in these extras! it's not much better than the other one lol.



Smells Like Teen Spirit
Malia J

Chart Peak: #33
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

Clode it's your song

[wrip]

EXTRA


honestly, a pretty nice song. I've definitely enjoyed a couple songs from Still Woozy, though I never am like actively seeking out their music.



Woof
Still Woozy

Chart Peak: #34
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Most of these songs are disposable and I chose to listen to twice this year. first preview and second time for this RD. I'll be using the tag #thefallofalt. 

100. AJR - Bummerland
#thefallofalt. I was tempted to dunk this based on him riding that pink flamingo, but their other song is even worse.

99. Tai Verdes - A-O-K
Not bottom 10 worthy, but I get it. Feels like one of those beach bum slacker songs. Eat S H IT and pretend it's a French cuisine. Doesn't happen usually , but once in a while a lyrics is so nasty it tunes me out. 

98. AJR - Way Less Sad
#thefallofalt. More like Alt flat on it's face. Feels like something first graders can play musical chairs to. There is actually one song I hate more than this and it isn't Billie Eilish.

97.The Kid LAROI - WITHOUT YOU
#thefallofalt. This one of em obnoxious Tiktok kids? idk, the melody of the song wasn't so bad. I can totally hear a 90's Alt band like Eve 6 use the song's melody for a much better song.

96. jxdn - ANGELS & DEMONS
#thefallofalt. just so you know my bottom 20 are actually my bottom 10 spread out.

95. Nessa Barrett f/ jxdn - la di die
this the most bi-polar song here. Nessa part is actually pretty cool. I have no problem with the lyric "la di die".- I listen to K-pop. The music in her part is not bad, but jxdn's part is pure horrible sounds and vocals. I actually like Nessa's vocals and could see myself making a remix omitting Jxdn's part completely, so I stick by my #53

94. The Offspring - Let the Bad Times Roll
LOL! nailed it! This is exactly what I meant by losing my most obnoxious song first. I have no problem with obnoxious-I listen to post grunge. Anyway this jam rocks, it's loud and shout along worthy. F U C K it F U C K it

93. benny blanco, Marshmello & Vance Joy - You
#thefallofalt. Poor John Leguizamo. Hopefully people don't think he is responsible for this travsety. That album cover with benny blanco sucking on Marshmellow. WTF? :o

92. Nessa Barrett - I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead
At least the chick tries to rock out. The music is good. The lyrics are proper for the heartbreak theme. I like jams where the chick tells the guy to drop dead or vice a versa. Depends who breaks who's heart. It's kinda like Avril's new jam and you all loved that one so color me confused?   

91. 347aidan - Dancing in My Room
Another tictok kid? salvageable if for the melody alone. He isn't hurting anybody. He is just dancing in his room.

90. grandson & Jessie Reyez - Rain
#thefallofalt. Wimp-ass vocals like these riding on those Hi-Hats. That was a hard one to sit through.

89.Dirty Heads f/ Travis Barker & Aimee Interrupter - Rage
Aimee Interrupter's vocals made this song one of the easier Cameo festivals to sit through.

88. Imagine Dragons - Follow You
You know the year in Alt sucked ass when I rank a modern Imagine Dragons' song this high. BTW this is just slightly less wrecked than their other song.

87. Royal & the Serpent - Overwhelmed
#thefallofalt. This is definitley tictok stuff. Her vocals are not terrible, but the sounds in this song confused me. Were any instruments actually used in the composing of this song. 

86. Bastille - Survivin'
These bottom 30 were the hardest songs to rank based on what sucked less than the prior song.

So my number #100 is still kicking. I really want to hear what is so enticing about that travesty when it finally shows up. 

[Fire]

follow you somehow getting a pop push in like october months after any hype faded will never fail to confuse me

[wrip]

EXTRA


man, if only this got more traction here... this would've easily made my top ten! this song just is so warm and awesome to listen to.



Silk Chiffon
MUNA f/ Phoebe Bridgers

Chart Peak: #35
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[wrip]

EXTRA


and for the final extra of the night... unlike Silk Chiffon I honestly don't really care for this that much lol



honest
phem f/ iann dior

Chart Peak: #35
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

[narp]

* Another Hit of Showmanship: Just a solid offering. Would’ve placed this in the 40s.
* drivers license: Very unnecessary cover. Would’ve preferred the original charting. Would’ve placed this in the bottom 10.
* Material Boy: Sir Sly deserved more this era. Very solid indie pop. Honestly would’ve placed this within my top 15.
* help herself: Surprisingly pretty good. Would’ve gone in my top 30.
* Smells Like Teen Spirit: Also highly unnecessary. Also bottom 10 fodder.
* Woof: More very solid indie pop. Would go into my 20s.
* Silk Chiffon: Feel-good pop. Would be in my top 30.
* honest: TikTokcore and subsequently bottom 10 fodder.

[Leo ✔]

"Silk Chiffon" a contender to win methinks

[Gonza'90]

Jan 24, 2022 22:22:35 GMT -5 wrip said:

EXTRA


man, if only this got more traction here... this would've easily made my top ten! this song just is so warm and awesome to listen to.



Silk Chiffon
MUNA f/ Phoebe Bridgers

Chart Peak: #35
Chart Weeks: 1

Feel free to share your thoughts on this song below!

There's a good chance we get to rank it in AAA next year, hopefully it'll stick around in that chart.

[Lordef†ones]

Damn I would've had Woof very high.

[willapted33]

lol my bottom ten is down to just heat waves, but I’m guessing I’ll have to wait a while for that

I’ve got no clue why I didn’t mind that bastille song, but I didn’t 🤷‍♂️

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Jan 24, 2022 20:49:23 GMT -5 wrip said:

possibly a contender for one of the dumbest album covers

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{I go to you, only you (I'm talking about the stats!)}93

You
benny blanco, Marshmello & Vance Joy

Year-End Placing: #53
Chart Peak: #17
Weeks on Chart: 13
1002 points
Standard Deviation: 21.526

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

"I had nothing to do with this travestty"

[macattack]

Individual song thoughts: 

100. AJR - Bummerland
"eternal pain and suffering" is probably the best way to describe this song. Just... incredibly awful, and not in a memorable way like "Way Less Sad" which was about a 12 on the irration meter. This one is just a 9. Not surprising that less than memorable suckage would place #100 even though I found a few songs worse than this. 

99. Tai Verdes - A-O-K
I found this tune incredibly mid when it came out, and I grew more tired of it the more I heard it, but I am kinda shocked to see this one bottom out the way it did here. I really don't think this is an awful song, but it's definitely not a good one and I question if I even consider it "okay" anymore. 

98. AJR - Way Less Sad
This one was just 100% obnoxious from start to finish. The butchery of the Simon & Garfunkel sample turns what would just be a bad song into downright heresy. I don't know how this tone-deaf trio can keep going (#industryplants) but whatever it is, all they do is generate noise pollution. 

97.The Kid LAROI - WITHOUT YOU
This one should never have been on the format at all and his attempts at singing with any sort of emotion are grating beyond all measure. Others have torn apart the lyrics, so I'll stop here, but good GOD it's some of the worst on the format this year. 

96. jxdn - ANGELS & DEMONS
What the hell was he trying to do on his voice here? What the hell was he trying to do on this song in general? jxdn increasingly comes off as YUNGBLUD but without any of YUNGBLUD's redeeming qualities (such as they are). 

95. Nessa Barrett f/ jxdn - la di die
Another lyrical "masterpiece". This could have been semi-salvageable if it weren't for jxdn derping his way through one giant cringe of a verse. 

94. The Offspring - Let the Bad Times Roll
There comes a time to admit when one of your favorite bands just doesn't have it anymore. It's increasingly likely that time has come for The Offspring. The first album in 10 years should have been a lot more, and the single should have been way better than it was. It's got a decent beat to it and I immediately understood the narrative and that this song was following a character, but it was handled in such a clumsy way. This band of beloved punk rockers might just be out of gas, and it probably isn't helping that they have shed core pieces since Days Go By for various reasons and their spots have since been filled by bland session musicians just following Dexter Holland's orders (when he feels like giving them). 

93. benny blanco, Marshmello & Vance Joy - You
Not the worst thing I heard, but if it weren't for it being a core part of the playlist at the grocery store I work at, I would have long forgotten what it sounded like. It's just not memorable in any way. 

92. Nessa Barrett - I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead
There's some excellent 90's-grunge-style musicianship on this song, and Nessa sings this one better than "la di die". She has potential, but the lyrics have to improve and her voice needs to mature somewhat to match the instrumentals, I think. 

91. 347aidan - Dancing in My Room
Harmless but easily forgettable. It's basically two minutes of nothing. 

90. grandson & Jessie Reyez - Rain
This is another irritating song, just not on the same level as the AJR songs. It's just a total sonic mess from start to finish and I have trouble finishing every time I've tried to listen to it. It took until the rankdown before I finished the song for the first time. 

89. Dirty Heads f/ Travis Barker & Aimee Interrupter - Rage
Was Travis Barker even necessary for this song since the Dirty Heads have a drummer? Anyway, this is a slight improvement from the likes of "Vacation", but Travis and Aimee's admittedly excellent skillsets can only elevate this band from "godawful" to "barely tolerable". 

88. Imagine Dragons - Follow You
This song never sounded good to me to begin with and got gradually worse each passing week. It's just the same sort of crap this band has been doing for the last five years. At least we got a kinda amusing music video out of it, but making fun of yourselves only wins so many brownie points when the song is just this bad. At least we got better singles later that year. 

87. Royal & the Serpent - Overwhelmed
This singer's persona is overwhelmingly obnoxious, and this song is overwhelmingly bad. I am overwhelmed by negative emotions when I've had to hear this bizarrely tuneless garbage. This was the "Dance Monkey" of 2021 for me, the song that just drives me insane. 

86. Bastille - Survivin'
This feels like a rejected theme for an indie comedy movie. And it deserved the rejection. 

EXTRAS
Another Hit of Showmanship: This was a cool anthemic song. Just came too early before Alt began shifting back to a rock core. 
drivers license: why does jxdn get so much airtime
Material Boy: I think the anti-Christian themes in the song really hurt this one from gaining traction. It's decently catchy but I can definitely hear in the lyrics what likely made radio programmers in the Midwest and South pause. I only recall this one getting a few adds from stations located in deep blue states - but this never got the attention of KYSR/KROQ in Los Angeles or WNYL in NYC, which sealed its fate. 
help herself: Inoffensive but boring. 
Smells Like Teen Spirit: I still find this cover pretentious and sacrilegious, and honestly just makes me want to turn on the original.  
Woof: I kinda like this one, tbh. It's fun. 
Silk Chiffon: Decent indie pop, and a pretty neat study in contrast. The melody is innocently angelic and the lyrics are streamier than a hot spring in a harem anime. Would have been interesting to see how this would have done. 
honest: I don't even remember what this one sounds like tbh

[Daryl the Beryl]

Bummerland and Way Less Sad: Status quo for AJR, i.e. annoying
A-O-K: Never got the extreme hate (key word: 'extreme') for this, but also don't really care for it either.
Without You, La Di Die and I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead: Offensively bad.
Angels & Demons: Also really annoying.
Let the Bad Times Roll: I wonder if them and Green Day are starting to lose it. This was Offspring's Oh Yeah!, a badly produced and annoying piece of boomer rock. Pollyanna was okay, though.
You and Survivin' are both generically lame.
Dancing in My Room: Meh
Rain: Not as bad as other grandson songs but still pretty useless
Rage: Better than I expected for a Dirty Heads single in my opinion. Maybe it's because of Aimee.
Follow You: This got irritating eventually, especially the stuttering.
Overwhelmed: Speaking of irritating, this song is one. Bad autotune.

Extras:
Another Hit of Showmanship, Material Boy, Silk Chiffon and Woof are all good, Help Herself is nice too. drivers license was pointless, and Smells Like Teen Spirit... lmfao, even more so.

[Deleted]

I hope none of you are forgetting that AJR is still in this

[Lordef†ones]

Jan 25, 2022 8:39:57 GMT -5 @imhappy259 said:

I hope none of you are forgetting that AJR is still in this

I most certainly have not. Just not surprised but the free pass 🙃

[Lordef†ones]

100. Bummerland - Eternal pain and suffering. Accurate representation of AJR's music.

99. A-O-K - Way to rip off Yellow Ledbetter and vomit out this used napkin of a song.

98. Way Less Sad - If only their music was way less bad.

97. Without You - Yep this is putrid. Lyrically and vocally the worst thing I've heard all year.

96 Angel's & Demons - Aural torture.

95. La Di Die - What a stupid little trainwreck of a song.

94. Let The Bad Times Roll - Didn't tank this as much cause at least there are some rock elements to it but lyrically this is trash and these guys are washed.

93. You - Absolutely cannot stand this watered-down edm-pop bullshit with no substance whatsoever. My farts have more musical integrity.

92. I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead - Ok this wasn't bad and does not deserve bottom ten. Not too far off from the teen angst that Olivia Rodrigo got popular off of. I guess this doesn't bode well for ABCDEFU next year.

Although I thought she said "I hope you be yourself and lose your friends" which is way colder of a line.

91. Dancing in my Room - To hell with Tiktok and getting crap like this radio play. Delete the entire app.

90. Rain - Great movie, garbage song. Should've sent "Sucker's Prayer" by The Decemberists instead.

89. Rage - Dirty Heads rear their ugly head again but this time with Aimee Interrupter, a match made in hell. Is her last name really Interrupter? Idk, all I know is this song is terrible.

88. Follow You - Didn't think this song was terrible, just bland and lifeless. I'll take it over most of their material the past couple years. At least the music video is funny.

87. Overwhelmed - This song gives me anxiety.

86. Survivin - Bastille just can't consistently make good music. They've never had a string of three good singles in a row. What the hell is this toothless shit, you're supposed to be better than this.

2 songs left in my bottom ten, hopefully I see them soon.

[maine]

Jan 25, 2022 8:39:57 GMT -5 @imhappy259 said:

I hope none of you are forgetting that AJR is still in this

...where

[Walking Contradiction]

100. Bummerland - Like I said, I think there are worse songs here than AJR’s (including several that haven’t gone out yet). But this is still bad, and the right one went out first.

99. A-O-K - The chorus is super annoying.

98. Way Less Sad - I found this to be relatively inoffensive as far as AJR goes, maybe it’s the sample.

97. Without You
96. Angels & Demons - Two more super annoying songs.

95. La Di Die - This one’s more low key annoying.

94. Let The Bad Times Roll - The Offspring keep getting worse and worse, nothing good to say about this one. I’d even take “Cruisin California” over this, at least it had a certain so-bad-it’s-good quality to it.

93. You - Another low key annoying song.

92. i hope ur miserable until ur dead - The lyrics are over-the-top for sure, but I didn’t totally hate this.

91. Dancing In My Room - Pretty terrible, but somehow managed to escape my bottom 15.

90. Rain - Not good but not particularly terrible either.

89. Rage - I honestly didn’t expect this to do so badly, as it seemed to be relatively well received as far as Dirty Heads songs go, but I suppose that’s a low bar to cross. In any case, the verses are disposable, but I like Aimee’s chorus a lot.

88. Follow You - Another song I was expecting to fare a little better. It’s nothing special, but it’s pretty much the epitome of inoffensive, which for this rankdown was enough to just barely miss my top 50. I guess the Imagine Dragons hate is still strong though.

87. Overwhelmed - I figured this would be revealed tonight, but I’m glad it at least escaped the bottom 10. I get that the production might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that its Alternative credentials are questionable, but I really don’t see what’s so terrible about this song. I guess a lot of its appeal for me is that I find it highly relatable, but beyond that, I think it’s well-written and has a good melody and vocals.

86. Survivin’ - Bastille have gotten to be so hit-or-miss lately, and this one is definitely in the miss department, though maybe not quite their worst.

EXTRAS: “Help Herself” is really good. “Another Hit of Showmanship” and “Material Boy” are decent. Don’t remember if I’ve heard the others, but the “Teen Spirit” cover seems like something I’d want to avoid.

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2022 9:54:53 GMT -5 maine said:

Jan 25, 2022 8:39:57 GMT -5 @imhappy259 said:

I hope none of you are forgetting that AJR is still in this

...where

All My Favorite Songs w/ Weezer