BONUS TRACKS: 5 Sickest Riffs of the 21st Century (So Far)

Or: What I'm listening to when I'm playing air guitar in the kitchen

Bonus Tracks is for songs that might not get a full essay and so otherwise wouldn’t be written about. These shorter write-ups will post on Tuesdays, while the main essays run on Fridays.

First things first: Thanks for reading this little newsletter, and if you check it out occasionally from Twitter or Bluesky and haven’t yet subscribed, please consider it. It’s great to be writing about these songs and I’m hoping to grow this into something that people like to engage with and argue with me about (in a constructive way, of course). There’s more I’d like to do with this Substack and subscribers are the best way to make those things happen. So thank you again!

Second things second: The “Bonus Tracks” portion of this will still post on Tuesdays, but maybe not every Tuesday going forward. Some of that is just life and I want to keep up with the longer Friday posts. I also want to have a little fun with the format, such as this week’s list for your consideration, and freeing up my schedule allows me to do some of those things.

Anyway! I am on record that this is a pro-riff Substack, and to prove that I wanted to dedicate this week’s post to sharing and hyping up 5 songs (well, 6) that currently sit at the top of my list of the Sickest Riffs of the Century (So Far). To be clear, these are not guitar solos, just riffs, and as primarily a melody guy these are the moments from the songs that I’m going to be drawn to first. Something hooky and catchy that I’ll be humming days later, trying to remember where I heard it until it gets seared into my brain.

Your favorites probably aren’t on here, and that’s OK! In fact, if I revisit this list in a few months it might look completely different. But for now, when I’m in my kitchen late at night playing air guitar, these are among the songs I play (and replay) the most. Enjoy, and let’s get riffing.

Honorable Mention: Japandroids, “Fire’s Highway”

Japandroids’ 2012 album Celebration Rock is one of the records from the previous decade I revisit the most. It’s everything I love: fist-pumping anthems about writing and playing fist-pumping anthems, lots of whoa-whoas, and, of course, incredible riffs. Brian King (guitar, vocals) and David Prowse (drums, vocals) do a lot with their two-man setup, and every single song on the record is an absolute banger.

So why only an honorable mention? Well, I highlighted “Fire’s Highway” for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a helluva song about the pull she might have on you to leave the place you know behind and tear ass down the highway. But also I have every intention of writing about other songs on this one in my longer essays, and I didn’t want to use up too many words on the band here. That said, you could plug just about any song from Celebration Rock — or Post Nothing, for that matter — into this spot and you’d be just fine.

Now, on with the proper list.

#5: The Joy Formidable, “Liana”

The Joy Formidable are a band from Wales that play big, bold rock & roll with the kind of weight that doesn’t always translate to US audiences, especially right now where dry but catchy post-punk is all the rage. (And I dig some of that stuff too — shout out to Dry Cleaning and Squid.) But while the band got some notoriety for 2011’s “Whirring,” which is a textbook example of pairing a killer hook with loud, fuzzy guitars and kicking up the tempo, which is sometimes all you need, I’m not sure anything else they’ve done has really caught on. Still, I think they have a ton of great stuff, like 2016’s Hitch, where things are turned up even louder, except for “Liana,” which sounds a bit like a Fleetwood Mac song performed by Muse. This song also has the distinction of being the only bass riff featured on the list, as evidenced by the excellent live version in the video above.

#4: The Darkness, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”

The thing about rock music is that it should, first and foremost, be fun. No one, except maybe Andrew WK, understood the assignment quite like The Darkness, an English band that took all the goofiest, raunchiest, dumbest rock cliches of the previous 50 years and decided that none of them were goofy, raunchy, or dumb enough. “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” still their signature anthem, is maybe one of the most divisive songs of the century because in 2003 a lot of people simply were not willing to admit they could be suckered in by stuff like this. (Although kudos to Pitchfork who, in their 8.4 review of Permission to Land, wrote that the song “most effectively pairs their sense of theatricality and grandiosity with their penchant for great pop hooks.” And really, at the end of the day, is there anything else we could possibly ask of our great riffs?

#3: White Lung, “Down It Goes”

Canada’s White Lung were a bit like a proggy, hardcore punk-metal version of bands like Babes in Toyland, and 2014’s Deep Fantasy is an utterly relentless assault that never takes a breath in its short 22 minutes. “Down It Goes” is a brief but undeniable frenzy, a track as fiery as singer Mish Barber-Way’s lyrics: “I’m not as strong as you, but I am everywhere.” White Lung had no shortage of killer riffs, which continued on their celebrated followup, 2016’s Paradise and the particular standout “Kiss Me When I Bleed,” which has some of the most memorable visual imagery this side of Zappa. Supposedly the band said farewell with 2022’s Premonition, but I hope they come back at some point to continue playing louder and faster than everyone else in their lane.

#2: Pup, “Reservoir”

It occurs to me that I don’t want to write too much about these next two songs because there’s a very real chance I’ll be covering each of them at length at some point. For now, let’s just keep the loud and fast going with Pup, another Canadian band that started playing shows in 2010, building a reputation that led to their absolutely essential 2013 self-titled debut and “Reservoir.” Bands have been writing songs about being young and dumb and hooking up for decades, but the fury with which singer and guitarist Stefan Babcock delivers lines like “You only want it when you’re bored with the quarry / I only want it when I’m wasted at a reservoir” is mean and honest, and a line like “It isn’t apathy, I just don’t care if I die” is a level of slacker angst I haven’t heard since “Basket Case.”

#1: Queens of the Stone Age, “No One Knows”

When I think about this century’s best rock songs, the best riffs, the most memorable anthems I can listen to on repeat, there really is only one answer. As terrific as Queens of the Stone Age were in the 90s, when they married the stoner rock of Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer with the riffy punk of the Stooges and Bad Brains, “No One Knows” is the moment they truly entered a new era, letting themselves write punchier songs and forcing their rhythm section to push themselves into legitimate pop-rock territory.

You can credit Dave Grohl for “No One Knows” as much as you want (and while I am not one to worship at the alter of the Foo Fighters, there’s no denying his drumming was and is on another level entirely), but to me the genius of the song is in the combination of the meatiness of the band’s riffs, Homme’s soothing, assured vocals, and the song’s roller coaster structure, which rises and falls in often unpredictable ways without feeling too fussed over or difficult. It’s a deceptively complex song in the tradition of “Baba O’Riley” or “Tom Sawyer” that find new ways to surprise listeners while still giving them something thrilling to pump their fists to. As far as mainstream radio rock since 2000 is concerned, Queens of the Stone Age pretty much remain the gold standard for me, and it all comes down to this song.

So that’s the list! What did I miss? “Toxicity?” “Numb?”* “Understanding in a Car Crash?” Something more obscure? Less? I want to know your favorites. Sound off in the comments with your favorite sick riffs and come join me in the kitchen for some air guitar.

*I’m actually not a Linkin Park guy, but I will say if there’s any song of theirs that would come close to my all-time riffs list it’s “Faint,” which also has the benefit of being extremely short and kinda fast, a lane I wish they explored more often.