The best 250 songs of the noughties: 200-176

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

200. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
A forgotten gem, perhaps? It’s got such a swampy feel too it, and it drags you into the perfect listening position wherever you may be. It was a great launch pad for Gorillaz, and luckily, it’s such a brilliant song it holds up strong now, even if the cartoon band may have become tired.


199. Green Day - St. Jimmy
Green Day shot from big to massive in the noughties, and with ‘American Idiot’ as their anthem, rightly so. It’s a pretty good album, when you strip back the gloss, and this is the best song on it. It’s just a fast punk number, with no grandiose overtones that may seem to overshadow some of the songs on ‘American Idiot’. It’s unfortunate that they washed out the punk and glossed their entire sound up for the follow up. Listen

198. Snoop Dogg - Drop It Like It's Hot (Feat. Pharell Williams)
While Timbaland may have been the best mainstream hip-hop producer, it didn’t stop Neptunes from trying very very hard. Unfortunately, it failed more than it worked. This is that rare exception. It’s one genius layer on top of another genius layer and every one has been pulled off perfectly. It could have sounded bad, but they had Snoop Dogg on top of all the layers, who’s syrupy, voice made the whole song cake worthy of a party. (Took a while to get to that metaphor, eh?) Video

197. Taking Back Sunday - The Union
It’s the best Taking Back Sunday song that isn’t a single. It’s a giant behemoth of a song hidden in an album of slightly wispy ones, and as such, it blows the rest of the album away. It’s fast, it’s energetic, it’s got some big fucking riffs and it sounds awesome. Plus, I feel this is the best time that TBS pulled off the double vocal effect without once sounding silly. Listen

196. Willy Mason - Save Myself
Jeezo, this kid. What a boy. He can write some fucking songs, he can. This is best of them, it’s light, but never looses power. It’s perfectly underplayed, with strings sitting just behind all the other instruments, lifting the whole song up to lofty heights. Beast. Listen

195. The Polyphonic Spree - Soldier Girl (UK Single Version)
Specifically, the UK Single version. It was a re-recording, and it made the original 10 times better that it was before, and it was great! I can remember many times dancing around the living room to this song, and it has a brilliantly uplifting sound to it, which may have been caressed from Beach Boys via Super Furry Animals, but still has it’s own qualities that make it worthwhile in it’s own right. Video

194. The Snake The Cross The Crown - An Honest Misappropriation of Funds
If you’ve heard of this band before reading this list, well done. If you like this band, you get a gold star! This band is incredibly good, and they have such an original sound that cannot be bested by anyone in their field. This year they threatened to pack it in, and I was immediately looking at flights to the USA to see if I could see them. Unfortunately, I’m skint. But it made me look anyway, they’re that good. They’re like a dark version of The Beach Boys, brought up on hard rock, country and post-rock. Basically they’re fleet foxes, but good. Sample

193. MGMT - Time to Pretend
Fuck it, do I need to explain this one. Have a look at any decade list that lets in any percentage of indie and you will find MGMT. Even though some idiots will pick ‘Kids’ over ‘Time To Pretend’. This is where it’s at. It’s an underwater kind of song, with a very childish sense of life and risquéness. And then of course, the incredible breakdown section at 2:10. Superb. Listen

192. Onelinedrawing – Smile
Jonah Matranga is a pure champ. This is a perfect example of why. Who needs an expensive studio sound, when you can record pretty decently at home and spend the most time possible out on the road connecting with people? This song captures the feel of a Jonah live show and what the man is all about. He wants to make you smile, and for me it works brilliantly. Listen

191. Soulja Boy - Crank That
YOU! It’s dumb as fuck. It’s most likely terrible. But for this one, you need to suspend your inner critic for a moment. Let yourself get taken away by the fun and entertainment it delivers. That’s right folks… IT’S A FUCKING MASTERPEICE.


190. Audio Karate - Who Brings A Knife To A Gun Fight?
This song is superb. I only heard it about 6 months ago, even although it came out in 2004, but it’s been on my mp3 player constantly since. It’s a beast and it’s full of energy, and it’s a great way to end a pretty good album. You’ll love it, suckas. Listen

189. The Futureheads – Area
The Futureheads are a great band. No doubt about it. They may have slipped into shitness on their second album, but before that came out, they made sure to release a stand-alone single called ‘Area’. I raced out and bought it as it was and is, a bloody great song that should have been jumping off point for album two. Full of energy and power, they really go for it on this sure fire belter of a song. Video

188. The Prodigy – Spitfire
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to be left a bit bewildered by the Prodigy’s absolutely awful standalone single ‘Baby’s Got A Temper’. So when this absolute beast of a song was released two years later, you could officially say that The Prodigy were back on form. They literally blow up out of the speakers and don’t stop exploding for 5 minutes. It’s a beast. Beast. Bst. B. Listen

187. Errors - Salut! France
Now we turn to Glasgow’s homegrown heroes Errors’ and their superb ‘Salut! France.’ It’s grade-a post-electro, a genre which I love… but can’t seem to find enough of. Errors have been the best yet though, and this superb little ditty will have you swaying in your computer chair for the full three minutes. Video

186. Thursday - Jet Black New Year
Thursday haven’t done a lot of stuff I’m particularly fond of, but this is an undeniably brilliant song. Again, a song released between albums, Jet Black New Year is an incredible post-hardcore song with great ferocious guitars and a thunderous rhythm section. The countdown from 10 to 1 is inspired and the focal point of the whole song. It’s all-spectacular and it’s only a shame that nothing else they’ve done has made me this enthused. Listen

185. New Found Glory - Don't Let Her Pull You Down
New Found Glory went off the deep end and into an odd indie place when they made ‘Coming Home’ in 2006, so it was great to see them return to their more progressive pop-punk on the 2008 EP ‘Tip Of The Iceberg’ and continue to build on it on their next album ‘Not Without A Fight’ in 2009. Their Hardcore influences were stronger here than on any previous album and it gave them an edge over anyone else in their genre, with this track showing the best example of why. Video

184. The Rumble Strips - Alarm Clock
This song is near perfect. It feels like it could have been written by a 15 year old, but Charlie Waller was at least 10 years older than that when the song came around. That may not sound like a compliment to some, as we all know how rubbish we were at that age, but Waller captures the sense of being young and the youthfulness translates not just through the lyrics, but throughout the music too. It’s an incredible little song, and it has a huge amount of power for a song about an Alarm Clock. Listen

183. Something Corporate - Punk Rock Princess
For me, this is one of the songs that stuck with me from the days of Napster, when I was a kid. My brain at the time said ‘What do I like?’ I replied ‘Punk’, typed it in and downloaded everything, just to hear it. This is the only thing I remember falling in love with, and while it may be ridiculously cheesy it also led me into lighter music than that which I was accustomed to, and kind of made me have the music taste I had today. Sure, It wasn’t just this, but this was definitely strong enough to make me take notice. Listen

182. A Wilhelm Scream - The Horse
Every single AWS album from Mute Print to Ruiner to Career Suicide was this excellently honed sound, and a sense of love for their craft that I’ve not heard any other Hardcore band possess. ‘The Horse’ is a great example of just what they can do. Brilliant melody, fantastic vocals, incredible guitar work and a huge wealth of songwriting that just can’t be faulted. And live? Hot damn, this is the shit. Listen

181. My Chemical Romance - Teenagers
If you can fault everything else that My Chemical Romance do, I can’t blame you. However, to deny the power and charm of this superb song which harks back to the Glam rock of the 70s, is just plain silly. It’s an incredible song, and you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s a pretty straight cover from the period. Video

180. Folly - Please Don't Shoot the Piano Player He's Doing the Best He Can
A relatively unknown band, Folly lived the majority of their musical life out in the noughties, and this song captures the power they had at their disposal. A very ferocious and intriguing blend of Ska punk and Hardcore that almost never feels silly, which is a feat in itself. This song is a 4-minute demonstration of their skills behind their instruments. Listen

179. The Lonely Island - I'm On A Boat (Feat. T-Pain)
You’d be forgiven for thinking that T-Pain is a comedian, and a good one at that. This is a perfect example of a comedy record that works on both levels. It’s hilarious, but it actually sounds incredible too. The production value is huge, and T-Pain’s spark at the end of the song is a pure work of genius and the song wouldn’t have been half as incredible as it is without him.


178. The Offspring - Want You Bad
At one point in my life, this band were the best thing I’d ever heard, and it was right around the time the album ‘Conspiracy Of One’ came out. That album was always on my stereo at that time, and I had a big hoodie with the logo emblazoned on the front. I loved them. Then I realized that there was better music out there and they fell by the wayside. However, they did bring out this absolutely stunning single at that time, and that has definitely stuck with me all this time. It’s catchy, it’s simple, it’s poppy, it’s punky and it is obviously their best, unequalled song. Listen

177. Poison The Well – Nagaina
It’s got a lazy little swagger, a rather folksy vibe and it’s everything I thought Poison The Well weren’t. Well, at least for the first 90 seconds. But still, that ballsy foray into that different a songwriting rarely pays off this well, and to call it anything less than splendiferous would be an utter lie. And when it’s not swaggering about like a drunk, it’s kicking the fuck out of their peers with huge fucking riffs and a thundering galloping rhythm that sweep your legs and punch you in the gut. Superb. Live Video (best I could do!)

176. Lazlo Bane – Superman
Yes, Scrubs did introduce me to this song. And while I do love Scrubs, I am by no means biased towards this occurring in my line-up. In many a television show I find myself skipping the theme, never listening to it out with the show. However, not only did this song perfectly capture the show I have come to love, it’s also an absolute stunner of a lazy summer pop song. Listen

Part 4 soon!