taste my kids: BIG CHUNGUS 2019: #100

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

BIG CHUNGUS 2019: #100 - 81

| Follow "BIG CHUNGUS 2019" on Spotify |

| 100 - 81 || 80 - 61 || 60 - 41 || 40 - 21 || 20 - 1 |

| All 100 Songs |
100. Lil Nas X “Old Town Road” / Billie Eilish “Bad Guy”

We've been told that 2019 lists are meaningless boomer-fests without these two songs, so we tied them at #100. We've been waiting for the next MC Hammer for a while, and hey it finally happened. "Old Town Road" was the "U Can't Touch This" of 2019, and so that basically makes Billie Eilish the Sinead O'Connor of 2019; "Bad Guy" was her "Nothing Compares 2 U." "Panini" was basically "Pray" because it will be forgotten within 3 years even though it charted decently and scored some radio spins. (This is a stretch, but "Pray" and "Nothing Compares 2 U" share the Prince connection, while "Panini" and Eilish's aesthetic generated inadvertent Cobain comparisons.) To take it a step further, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was the I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got of 2019; both hit #1 for several weeks and received massive acclaim including Grammy recognition. Of course, this entails a strong contextual examination of label consolidation's affect on drastically shrunken rotation playlists and longevity of chart hits that don't receive radio spins; for example, "Bury A Friend" was a minor hit on modern rock stations, peaking at #26. Z100 didn't play it, nor did they play "The Emperor's New Clothes" back in 1990. Speaking of Grammys, "Old Town Road" and "U Can't Touch This" were both nominated for Record Of The Year. The main thread connecting all four artists is that they're all largely remembered for peaking with their immensely popular signature songs despite a multitude of false indications that these songs were about to spark much larger careers.

99. Tool “Pneuma”
I like to call this one "Me and the boys."

98. Otoboke Beaver “6 Day Working Week Is A Pain”

97. Palehound “Your Boyfriend’s Gun”

96. Zig Zags “Fallout”

95. 2 Player “Retro South”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4hptT0ihoE

94. Spice Boys “Dream Vendor” / Spice Boys f/ Boys “Think About You A Lot”

93. Slipknot “Unsainted”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpATBBRajP8

92. Stephen Malkmus “Rushing The Acid Frat”
Close enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDiqO5VhFPw

91. Saweetie “My Type” / Haroinfather f/ Savagegasp “Tunnel Of Love” / Willow "Wait A Minute"

It didn't take long for TikTok to start heading in the same direction as Facebook -- overtaken by moms and boomers and bad memes. But from January through August 2019, it almost felt like the second coming of Vine, combined with a new "alternative pop" radio format with several meme-ing hits that weren't really popular elsewhere. By the end of the year, "My Type" charted pretty well, but "Tunnel Of Love" never trended any higher than TikTok. The meme-ing deep cut from Willow's 2016 LP threw a serious curveball, although somehow not as leftfield as the slowed down Lana Del Rey cover. "Weird" as a brand could easily come back any time now.

90. Green Druid “The End of Men”