The Top 40 Songs of 2014
Elisa Ambrogio – “Superstitious”
Thee Oh Sees – “Encrypted Bounce (A Queer Sound)”
Elisa Ambrogio, the captivating front-woman of unkempt rock band Magik Markers, needed a new move. Her solo single “Superstitious” highlights the ragged beauty of her singing, lets her voice relax for a second without the responsibility of sweetening up her band-mates’ racket. Thee Oh Sees’ Jon Dwyer sacked his band and built a new one in order to shake things up, a good move for a talented guy bumping up against the ceiling of garage rock’s potential. “Encrypted Bounce”’s title does an amazing job distilling the pleasures of krautrock down to a couple words. Even if you don’t understand this, you will move to it. Its sound, tight but wild, does the same. (Unpopular opinion: This band is better on record than they are live.)