The best 250 songs of the noughties: 150-126

250-226 | 225-201 | 200-176 | 175-151
150-126 | 125-101 | 100-76 | 75-51
50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11
10-4 | 3-1

150. Linkin Park – Faint
Although, that being said, there’s nothing wrong with the most poppy of ‘Metal’ I’ve heard. Linkin Part aptly mix hip-hop and metal in a way no-one else has been able to accomplish, and while their first album may have been a bit pubescent in retrospect, their second album was full of club thumpers that stood their own in a Metal environment. ‘Faint’ is probably the best example, with great big riffs, soaring stings, a superb drum beat, excellent sampling and a cracking rap section.

149. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
Do you remember when, do you remember when, this single came out? I do. Top Of The Pops was on it’s last legs and Gnarls Barkley did a slow-down version of Crazy which was superb, and showed that this song is brilliant even if you strip it down to it’s basics. The single itself just caught fire when it came out though, and it was a smash hit for Cee-Lo and Dangermouse, apparently one which was unprecedented, due to it being one of the first online singles which had no physical release to back it up. If you didn’t know about the single the previous week, you definitely knew about it the next week, as it was number one for seven weeks in a row. It’s a delight that the first digital sales only number one was crafted with such superb songwriting. Listen

148. Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
I like pop, when it’s good. Someone much smarter than I said, “There are two kinds of music; good, or bad.” This falls into the ‘good’ category, and sometimes I think I must be nuts to have it here, but one word explains it. Choon. It’s poppy, it’s sappy, but it also has a bloody masterstroke on keys, along with super string-work that I would love to hear anywhere else. It also has a brilliant sentiment that echoes the inspired hit by the Proclaimers ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)’ which is so damn good it was in the running to be the next Scottish national anthem! And for those reasons, I welcome it into the list. Listen

147. Jenny Owen Youngs - Keys Out, Lights On
You may not be familiar with the works of Ms. Young, but I’m telling you now, you should be. She has a lovely warming voice that keeps all her music incredibly toasty and enjoyable, yet her lyrics often trip into the dark, giving her music a deadly double edge. This is one of her lighter songs, and from the moment I heard the demo of the song, I was hooked. Whether it’s the simple arrangement, the lovely sound of Jenny Owen Young’s voice, the sparse yet varied instrumentation or the so-light-it’s-a-whisper drums or some combination of the above, the whole 5 minutes is worth soaking yourself in again and again. The icing on the cake, though? The superb trumpet solo, which is neither overbearing or cheap, but in fact warm and thick. [Can't find a listen link for this, just gonna need to take my word, or buy it.]

146. This Town Needs Guns – Baboon
I know I won’t need to convince Hear New Music readers of the incredible power that Big Scary Monsters has to find all the best damn bands in Britain and beyond, but for the others here is a fine example. This Town Needs Guns are a spectacular band who always seem to perform with energy without confusing it with noise (not that it’s a bad thing to do both, mind) in fact giving the music a sense of solemn emotion. It’s a tender mix and it would be very easy to blow with one note out of place, but with ‘Baboon’ as a perfect example, it’s clear that TTNG are incapable of doing so. What they are capable of, however, is creating brilliant music. Listen

145. Regina Spektor - On The Radio
I was never much of a fan of Regina Spektor’s music, and haven’t really been much interested in anything past this album either. But ‘Begin To Hope’ is a record with almost no faults, and ‘On The Radio’ is it’s biggest triumph. It’s a lovely little song that is brimming full of love for the craft of music and some great lyrics to go along with it too. And without sidestepping into comedy, it’s also a really fun and quirky little song. Video

144. System Of A Down - Boom!
It may have been discarded from the ‘Toxicity!’ album recording sessions, but it’s one of the many songs on ‘Steal This Album!’ that is entirely worthwhile in it’s own right. It’s energetic, it’s pointed, it’s big and it always has me second guessing System Of A Down’s decision to leave it off of ‘Toxicity!’. I’m definitely glad it got to see the light of day, along with the rest of the discarded record. Listen

143. The Ocean Fracture - Polaroid Intimacy
The Ocean Fracture have steadily degraded their sound over the years to be this incredible and rough sound we see here. They’re going to hate me for saying it, but they started as a post-rock band with some hardcore elements, most of which slowly took over their sound. Eventually progressing to become a post-hardcore band, The Ocean Fracture messed around with all three elements of the genres to create this unique and interesting band which ‘Polaroid Intimacy’ displays in full. It’s brash and discordant, but never without loosing a sense of melody and passion, with some small yet fantastically laid back sections keeping it all fresh. Listen

142. Hot Chip - Over And Over
Right, put your hands up if you would deny that this song is one of the best of the noughties. You didn’t put your hand up did you? So we’re agreed, you’re not a tit. It’s a perfect little dance track that keeps as interesting as it does odd. The whole songs has a gleam of dancibility, yet keeps an ambiguously dark tone behind it all giving the song many levels on which to impress you with. It works well in many situations where dancing is a factor; clubs, parties, loos. You know yourself, you can’t not tap a foot or dance along. It’s a wizard track. And I don’t mean ‘wizard’ as in ‘cool’ I mean ‘wizard’ as in ‘it has magical powers that will force you to dance whether you want to or not.’ Listen

141. Yourcodenameis:milo - All Roads To Fault
No matter how much I gloss over the majority of Yourcodenameis:milo’s back catalogue as ‘not bad’ I cannot deny this song has just such an immense power and ferocity that can’t be denied. While the whole song is pretty damn awesome, it’s all about the break down/build up at 1:40 that makes the whole thing worthwhile. Genius.


140. Thrice - Stare at the Sun
Thrice are pretty much me. When Thrice brought this out, I got really into them, and this was exactly the kind of music I liked the time. Anything Thrice had before this was kinda scrappy and only some of it was good, which is a bit like my taste in music before I got into this. Fast forward to Vheissu, they’re fourth album, which is more advanced and complex than before, and where my taste had grown to as well. Then, ‘The Alchemy Index’, which has big dollops of post-rock and electronica mixed in with hardcore and acoustic elements. Again, my taste exactly. It seems like Thrice have been looking at my last.fm account all these years and just catering to me. Back to the point, Stare at the Sun is a brilliant record, and probably the cream of my adolescent hardcore crop. Video

139. Sum 41 - We're All To Blame
I’ve always liked Sum 41, but when on their fourth album, they started to add elements of Metallica into their pop-punk style, and I was genuinely impressed. I mean, it wasn’t a progression by traditional standards, but in my book it was better, capturing a sense of anger and hardcore roots with some metal riffs. A better mix they never made, as they never kept it up, and the guitarist who was probably responsible for the change left the band, and they’ve become entirely boring since that time. So let’s raise a glass to a Pop-punk band on a major label coming out with a Metallica influenced fourth album (which obviously didn’t impress the execs) and naming it after a man who saved their lives, ‘Chuck’. Brilliant. Video

138. Lostprophets - Burn Burn
From moment one, I loved this bloody song. It came right out of left field that Lostprophets would drop their Metal edge for a more Hardcore-orientated sound that was a lot closer to Refused than Linkin Park. It’s safe to say that ‘Start Something’ means a hell of a lot to me, and it’s in no small part due to ‘Burn Burn’. Let’s give it some props; it’s energetic, it’s anthemic and it’s boisterous. Not to mention, it has a killer riff driving it, which is as simple as it is bangin'. Video

137. NOFX - Theme from a Nofx Album
I don’t think I can explain this one. You’ll just have to come up with a reason. Alright, I’ll give it a go. It’s punk rock, with an accordion… and it’s very silly. Good enough? Listen

136. Down I Go - Ivan The Terrible
I have no doubt in my mind that Down I Go are one of the most underrated bands on this list, and it remains a mystery to me why that is. Even the indie kids running the NME gave them a feature, but still nothing. If anything ‘Ivan The Terrible’ is a brilliant example of just how good this band are. They can drive their loud brash hardcore to the extreme one-minute and drop down to strings the next and never have it sound odd. They can do something that most bands seem to be inept at, which is writing a heavy song which is also slow. This is a perfect example of a band at the top of their game. Listen

135. Reuben - We're All Going Home In An Ambulance
This is the infinite Reuben. Their music will live on in my soul, even if the three boys have went their separate ways. This is one of their crowning achievements, and it’s perfectly plucked from their extensive back catalogue of wonderful, wonderful music. It’s vocals are perfectly aggressive for the subject matter dealt with in the vocals, and the musicianship as always, is in no doubt of being any better than incendiary. It’s always been a great wonder to me why Reuben was never more widely accepted. As this song demonstrates, they have the sheer power to write some of the heaviest rock, veering on post-hardcore, I’ve ever heard. But what’s also true is that the song never trails like most heavy rock bands seem incapable of not doing. I love this song. Listen

134. The Klaxons - Atlantis to Interzone
Choon. It lights a fire under yer arse and has fun while doing it. It’s a great little song. True, the keyboard part sounds rudimentary at first, but that’s part of the charm. Give it a second, or third spin and you’ll hear the intelligent musicianship come out of it’s shell. Video

133. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Fuck off. An explanation? For this? You really need one? Right… hold on, and I’ll copy paste one from somewhere else. “Scottish pretend poshos swallow Funky America whole and spew out dancefloor classic...” NME.com Video

132. Cursive - Some Red Handed Slight of Hand
When it came right down to it, choosing a song from Cursive’s ‘The Ugly Organ’ was very hard. I knew I had to include at least one of the tracks off this incredible piece of work. Unfortunately, it’s hard to pick just one, as the whole album has not only a narrative flow, but also a musical one. Picking just one is a little like saying which one of your organs is your favourite, and saying you don’t need the rest. Well, this song is not only the cream of the crop, but it’s also one of the shortest at just 1:52. It’s packed full of punch and has an incredible sound that runs throughout the album, including intense string work and a superbly discordant guitar line that seems to swim in and around the other instruments. Altogether, it’s bloody beautiful. Video

131. Frou Frou - Let Go
Saying that this song frames one of my favourite films of all time is putting it lightly. It’s also a completely wonderfully put together piece of music, which incorporates Imogen Heap’s ear-catching indelible voice magnificently while also bringing in a slew of other key factors. It never makes any one instrument more important than another, with Heap’s voice becoming another instrument in the Orchestra of Frou Frou. It creates some unforgettable sounds with synths that warm the whole track up like a champ, while keeping an upbeat tempo that offsets the song’s solemn tones. It’s a wonderful track. Listen

130. Maybeshewill - He Films The Clouds Pt. 2
Maybeshewill are a band I got into when their Debut album had already been out for a while, and I was apparently late to the party. But what a party it is. Maybeshewill have the power to write anthemic epic songs with Post-Rock elements overlapping the Post-Electronica that 65daysofstatic have made their own in a beautiful way. It helps immensely to have a choir singing your tracks rallying cry however. “Now we’re apart, though not through choice, do we stay mute, or raise our voice?” Not only is it a superb question, it’s also simplistic, which I feel is a brilliant reason in itself to love this song. Not to mention the brilliant guitar’s towards the end of the song. Listen

129. The Streets - Don't mug yourself
Don’t be a prat! Listen to that! The Streets released one of the best albums of the decade with ‘Original Pirate Material’ so you’d have to have expected a second cut from the record! It’s lyrical gold, with a beat that kills kittens nationwide. Need I say more?


128. N.E.R.D. - She Wants To Move
It’s all about the Bass. And the rythym. And the handclaps. And the guitar. Fuck it, it’s the whole damn package. Who among you can deny that this song is worthy of a dance? Who among you can deny that this song is a fucking champ? Nane a ye’s. Listen

127. Kings Of Leon - The Bucket
See most people? They liked Kings Of Leon either now (Albums three and four) or they liked them for their debut. At least, that’s how it is in my experience. In my opinion, Kings Of Leon were never, and will never be as good as their second album ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’. ‘The Bucket’ is a perfect example. It’s quaint, it’s rhythmic, it’s fun and it’s uplifting. It’s everything that I want from KoL, and it’s everything that they rarely are. As this song proves however, it’s when they are at their best. It’s just a shame they’re too busy contracting STD’s these days to realise it. Listen

126. Weezer - The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)
Weezer are something of an anomaly to me. They always write solid music, but their albums are never fleshed out very well. Five great songs, and five naff to average ones does not make for brilliant albums. However, it does make for five great songs, and that can never be denied. This is part of their best half. TGMTEL is a superb song that charts many different genres but never feels like it isn’t Weezer at the helm. They aptly take control of grunge, glam rock, surf rock, 80’s electro and hard rock without breaking a sweat. It’s a brilliant experiment with music that most are, quite rightly, scared to touch as it rarely pays off as well as this wonderful song has. Admittedly, the crowning achievement of the entire song can only be attributed to one band. Well done Beach Boys, another hit! Listen

It might take a while but I'll get there!
Carl