top 40 of 2018 | 40-31

40. Wes Period - "Wutda Hell"

This totally goofy, synth-heavy hip-hop track dropped way back in January and I would never have found it had Shawn Wasabi not tweeted it. Period's inspiration from Kanye West is clear, but he also cites Carole King and George Benson as influences. He seems like an interesting dude with more smiles to offer, and I look forward to hearing what he does next.

39. Blue Americans - "Free Champagne"

It's really funny how so many things affect how we receive a song that have absolutely nothing to do with the song itself. I first heard this thanks to a streaming radio service, and I thought it was pretentious millennial nonsense. My opinion changed, however, when I found out that these dudes are Irish. I have no idea why that mattered, but it did. This is an interesting little indie pop tune.

38. Tove Styrke - "On The Low"

Breathy delivery is very hit or miss for me, but I really think it works quite well here. She sounds comfortable when she enters the higher registers in the chorus, maintaining a quiet vulnerability that keeps this a saccharine little bop.

37. Halo Circus & Allison Iraheta - "Narcissist"

I've been a fan of Iraheta since her stint on American Idol back in 2010. Her debut album had some serious jams, but it flopped, leading her to forming Halo Circus a couple of years later, where she's worked since as a vocalist and songwriter. She has a wonderfully powerful voice, the kind that hollers and screams as well as it holds notes. This oddball song was instant brain peanut butter for me; the chanted hook stays with you and the punchy, noisy synth stabs infect your brain. It's such a fever that you don't realize until after it's over how well it represents in audio form what it's like to have let a narcissist into your life.

36. Sofi Tukker - "Batshit"

If you watch Orange Is The New Black, you heard this over the end credits of a season six episode that focused on sub-antagonist Madison "Badison" Murphy. This is the kind of thing you turn on while you're putting on very bright makeup to head to a drag show.

35. Calpurnia - "City Boy"

There is no shortage of new rock bands that pop up every couple of years comprising kids who have just discovered 1960s British bands for the first time and want to make music that emulates them. Calpurnia is absolutely one of these groups, and even though this song is certainly nothing groundbreaking, there is something oddly organic about it. This is surprising, as the kids in the group are no doubt wealthy (one of them is Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard), so the odds are against them to pull off making something that even resembles heartfelt, unpolished pop rock music. So even if I'm wrong, this has enough unrefined edges to maintain that illusion and charm.

34. GRLwood - "Bisexual"

I saw GRLwood perform in a basement pizza parlor in November of last year, the first of five acts to take the small section of concrete floor functioning as a stage that night. With one guitar, one drum kit, and one hell of an in-your-face vocal performance, they captivated my entire attention for the duration of their set. Thank goodness two awesome people are still out there making real riot grrl music for queers in 2018.

33. pronoun - "run"

The audioscape of this track blooms somewhere between late '80s indie rock, '90s pop rock, and '00s college rock; a veritable smoothie of crunchy distortion guitars, silky vocals, and cutesy melodies. The lyrics detail the futility of telling yourself not to chase someone who you know wants you to chase them.

32. Robyn - "Missing U"

I was just as excited as every other queer on the planet to finally get some new tunes from Robyn this year, and I honestly wish I'd been as moved by the whole album as many of my friends seemed to be. This first single, though, was the very definition of "giving the gays what they want": disco beats, lyrics about longing and heartbreak, and synthtacular motifs.

31. Marshmello & Anne-Marie - "FRIENDS"

The chorus really sells this one -- it's just a damn solid hook, even if the obnoxious structure makes it sound like our heroes don't know how to spell the title of their own damn song. (And even though it didn't make the list, I did also enjoy Anne-Marie's breakout solo single "2002," an ode to an era in pop culture that I can't stand.)