#515-#511

#515. Cub Sport - Chasin' (#96, 2017)

48th of 2017

Shout out to Cub Sport, because I can always count on them for having spoken at length about all their big hits to help me when I'm being equal parts oblivious and unable to relate to the stories in question. 'Cause I miss you when I'm gone' could mean anything! In this particular case, it does mean missing someone when they're gone. The stakes are a little bit higher, as it becomes a realisation of a love much greater. Between this, "Sometimes" (#626), and another song I'll get to, we've got quite a trilogy of events, even if it doesn't play out in the correct order. The Whitlams did the same thing with the "Charlie" trilogy, we've got a history with this.

I think it's nice they got to sneak into the list with this. There's no way of proving what changes, but it has to be helpful to get over that awkward transitional period where it's not clear whether or not you're just riding off one hit, or if you'll have everyone sticking around. Sometimes this early section is the most exciting part of the countdown, because you're not thinking about the top contenders for a while, and there's something about just barely making it that feels more rewarding. Especially true if you've voted it in there.

It can be said again and again, but Cub Sport do a great job with weaving these incredibly personal experiences into catchy pop tunes. "Chasin'" is a pretty low tempo affair that doesn't really burst out the gate. They keep it as a pretty serious affair that matches the mood of the lyrics. There's nothing I feel inclined to say needs changing.

#514. San Cisco - On the Line (#56, 2020)

45th of 2020

I may have said this before but I have a habit of locking in on songs that stick out to me on first listen and completely overlook the rest. It's a mighty fine way to get incredibly out of touch because you end up creating this completely different version of reality, one that won't become clear until you get a Hottest 100 that comes along and you find out that everyone's year was spent listening to different San Cisco songs. I was at least aware of the other entry they had in 2020, but I'm not sure I'd ever listened to "On the Line" in 2020.

For me, the two hits at the time were "Messages" and "Alone". I think the experience can highlight just how random or pre-ordained the choice of 'What becomes a hit' can actually be. "Messages" fits pretty snugly with "On the Line", they even both have some kind of communication motif. As a bonus note, there may be more, but this is the only San Cisco song I know where Scarlett sings the whole thing. "Alone" I won't necessarily contend in the same way, but I think it's worth checking out if you haven't heard it. It's one of their best written songs and really packs a lot of good ideas into it. Maybe they're just destined to be typecast into producing poppy upbeat tracks. I'm the real winner in this scenario though, because I get to enjoy my random favourites in addition to the incoming Hottest 100 canon. San Cisco's 4th album looks incredibly stacked with hits from my view.

"On The Line" always ended up feeling fresh to me. In part because I wasn't very familiar with it, but then because it was one of the songs that seemed my shuffle playlist was least likely to put in rotation. This year it's "Calling After Me" by Wallows. The main thing that sticks out about this song is that it's one of the most unexpected songs that just happens to be 5 minutes long. You look at all the longest running songs in the 2020 countdown and you're mostly thinking 'Yeah, that's a long song alright' but then also 'how did this San Cisco song get in here?'. Honestly when I look at it that way, it feels like it makes the most sense to imagine that they deliberately tried to make a 5 minute song, something they'd never done before or since (they rarely even get to 4 minutes). With that, you've got everything being pushed to its absolute limits without having one particular moment of padding. The intro goes on for a decent while, and then you get some more instrumental breaks in transitions. You could maybe imagine this is about to end around the 3 minute mark but they slot in a double chorus at the end to close it out.

This all works just fine if you're into the vibe they're putting down here. It's fair to say they lock in a pretty infectious groove. Maybe it loses a little bit of shine in 2025 because that one guitar riff has me imagining the spectre of Benson Boone singing about sunscreen & ice cream or something like that. Talk about getting caught in the crossfire there.

#513. Golden Features (feat Julia Stone) - Wolfie (#70, 2016)

55th of 2016

One of my favourite stats I learnt when I first started learning more about the charts is that every member of The Beatles had a #1 hit after the band broke up. Yes, even Ringo did it. It's a massive statement of the band's sheer lasting popularity, and also it's just a fun bit of statistics. There might be some deliberate fanbase goading so they can make these sorts of boasts. The UK nearly got every Spice Girl to #1 on their own but Victoria Beckham only got to #2. Every member of 5 Seconds of Summer has had a charting album in Australia, and every member of BLACKPINK & One Direction have charted a single. In many cases, there are diminishing returns and it often feels like the less popular members are just doing it out of obligation. You don't really get this in the Hottest 100. There just aren't enough use cases for it, nor is there any space. If Daniel Johns can only land a solo entry on a technicality, what chance do we have? Well, there's always the little things, the incidentals, it's like you wouldn't even notice when you get a (very small) full set.

We've got a massive full set here because every member of Angus & Julia Stone also has a solo entry, all two of them! It's hard to say how deliberate this all is because Julia's own success on her own has never come close to what Angus has managed. She actually got her solo album out before he did in 2012, and it peaked at #11 vs. his which got to #2, which indicates where the interest lies. At the same time, we're talking about a Golden Features song when he was on a bit of a hot streak. Maybe anyone could've been the vocalist here and it would have sufficed.

I'll give credit to Julia on this one. It's good to hear her in a different setting and it shows that her side of the partnership is worthwhile, admittedly something I've thought for a while when it was pretty common to hear her prominently on a lot of early singles. I imagine this song produced a lot of surprised reactions when it was out and about on the radio.

I've never worked out why it's called "Wolfie", but what I do know is that it's a more relaxed track that Golden Features made for his nephew, and that's them talking to each other in the skits at the start and end of the song. He released it in the nowadays rare format of a double A-side with the song "Funeral", which is a very different and darker side of Golden Features, but this is the far more popular track of the two. I think he's definitely made more exciting tracks than this one, but there's still a pleasant bounce to it.

#512. Ball Park Music - Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You (#58, 2014)

54th of 2014

A lot of bands gain notoriety for being the one with the unbelievably extra song titles. It's pretty exhausting in the long run though so it tends to just be a phase. Ever looked at the titles on new Fall Out Boy albums? They've been largely benign for the past decade. Panic! At The Disco lose it as soon as Ryan Ross leaves the band. Ball Park Music built themselves up on a slightly unusual title, the innocuous "iFly" that actually stands for 'I f**king love you', but by the time they got to album #3, they just went all out on this with long, thought provoking titles. One difference that might hold them back however is that these aren't extreme song titles in the traditional sense. When Ball Park Music name a song "Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You", they're committed to the cause. That's gonna be the song's hook, and to show they're serious, it's actually two hooks.

It's a weird thing to insinuate, but I think "Puddinghead" also might be Ball Park Music's commercial peak. In what appears to be the result of a series of near misses, it's their only album to net 3 Hottest 100 entries (albeit, only barely), and until 2025 it was their closest tilt to a #1 album. It's also got their biggest/only ARIA Chart hit on it, but that's for another day. The best proof though is that it's the album of theirs that has the most consistent streaming numbers across the whole track list on Spotify. Even the lingering popularity of "It's Nice To Be Alive" can't drag their debut album's numbers up above that. Maybe this was just the sweet spot when they were established but not old hat by any measure.

I think at the time I was a little skeptical of this song. The triple j swear radar is always blaring but the song in general is a little off kilter. Much more partial to the reserved title drop than the dramatic one. I think the dynamic variety works to its favour in hindsight. You know the big hook/jam session is coming, and what you're sitting on before that is a massive juxtaposition. It's a moment of reservation that proves they aren't just being silly & loud, but can competently make extremely pleasant music as well. The moment around the 15 second mark when the bass slips into the mix is a big highlight for me, but I'm also partial to the big sing-along bridge near the end. You can enjoy it both ways with this band.

#511. Tame Impala - It Might Be Time (#43, 2019)

45th of 2019

If we can put our trust entirely within my own music library, then "It Might Be Time" lands at a crucial junction. With its total runtime of 273.015 seconds, this is the song that comes the closest to matching John Cage's "4'33"". You could hypothetically do a performance of this composition that casually just has Tame Impala playing in the background for the entire time. One could only be forced to conclude that you've composed sheer excellence, even if this probably isn't many people's favourite Tame Impala song.

When the topic of Hottest 100 doomerism pops up, something that usually crosses my mind is the fact that it's never a complete upheaval. Some years more than others might feel like there's an oppressive influx of new, dominant names, but every year without fail, you're going to get those stalwarts flying the flag for their generation still. It's been 15 years now and we still haven't had a Hottest 100 without at least one artist who made their first appearance before the 2010s. The most recent countdown certainly got close, but a Missy Higgins Like A Version came to save the day. With new Tame Impala & Hilltop Hoods music out this year, perhaps the streak will continue.

These kinds of anomalies stick out to me because I'm made to feel like these artists just don't count in keeping up tradition. It's as if Tame Impala is a shared name between two unrelated artists, the one from 2008-2012 and the one from 2015-present. The existence of Double J might add to this, anything that gets exclusively playlisted to triple j gives off an internal vibe of being not sophisticated enough for the digital station, and there's an off vibe even when the playlists overlap. This is the space you find Tame Impala, consistently being playlisted on both stations, though with an unusual caveat in that the two most played songs this decade on triple j haven't had much/any love on Double J.

Perhaps I could have saved this for when I was actually talking about one of those two songs, this one got a fair rinse on both sides, but this is the song that most directly addresses the issue. It might in fact be time to face the possibility that you are not quite as young as you used to be. This is an internal monologue kind of song, but also one where it might feel like it's pointing the finger at you, the listener. You, the person who is about to have a back to back helping of Juice WRLD & Travis Scott, and await the sweet embrace of those Double J Hottest 100 ads that start off with the phrase 'Didn't recognise that one?'. Truly, Gen Z waste no time in making their elders as uncomfortable as possible with their choices.

Though we're still in the dreaded "The Slow Rush" wasteland, I will in fact go to bat for this one. Sometimes I forget the merits of it when the first thing that comes to mind is the sluggish hook, but what surrounds it is some of the weirdest things ever put to a Tame Impala single. I'm reminded of 2008's "Half Full Glass of Wine", which is already in prime jam territory but then decides to end on a 30 second drum solo. If you want some immediate whiplash (and I'm not talking about the movie), listen to these two songs back to back and witness the sound of Tame Impala with a budget. There's so much more deliberate weight and impact on the drums and it sounds immense. Always loved a well-placed emergency siren in a song too. I believe the vernacular is to say that this song absolutely f**ks.