Top ten list: Songs, first half of '06

Because Friday's are slow news days:

1. You Only Live Once -- The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth
A spectacular song from an otherwise average album. It would shine even on Is This It? Contains an all-time riff.

2. White Collar Boy -- Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
Kinksian lyrics with a stomping beat. B & S, fey no more. If this song doesn't wake you up, nothing will.

3. Gravity's Gone -- Drive-By-Truckers, A Blessing and A Curse
Skynyrd's heirs. Like Skynyrd, their hard rocking core pumps backbone into their slower songs, like this one.

4. Liar -- Built to Spill, You in Reverse
I've always heard good things about Built to Spill, but never listened to them. I will be from now on. An impeccably written song.

5. When You Wasn't Famous -- The Streets, The Hardest Way To Make an Easy Living
Skinner, when he's on, is the epitome and master of juvenile cleverness. I'm sure there was much speculation in the UK about who he's talking about . . .

6. You Are What You Love Jenny Lewis w/ The Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat
Sometimes Lewis uses her high definition voice to gloss over some pretty clunky phrasing. Not in this song.

7. Blood The Editors The Back Room
Sure, everybody and their extended family is doing the Joy Division/Echo and the Bunnymen thing, but The Editors do it really well.

8. I Want You So Hard Eagles of Death Metal Death By Sexy
Raunchy, ruckus fun.

9. You Have Killed Me Morrissey Ringleader of The Tormentors
Say what you will about the freakiness Morrissey claims as his very own, but the dude can write a song. Nobody sounds even remotely like him. A legitimate poet.

10. I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor Arctic Monkey's WPSIATWIN.
Over-hyped band? Yes. Date rape anthem? Probably. Dangerously catchy tune? Absolutely.