Feature / Music
2004: A Year In Review

Posted pre-2010

The cycle of music elitism is a very interesting thing. If asked to compile a Top Five Songs list a year ago I would have taken great pleasure in assembling a list of obscurities, rarities, and b-sides that would have made even your older brothers' hippest friend quiver. This year things have changed and I've reached a level of elitism that I never knew existed- the triumphant return to the world of commercial pop music. I may lose my job over this feature, but I don't care anymore. I want choruses, I want handclaps, I want three and half-minute songs! So here it is, with a bullet- the Top Five Songs of the 2005. If you laugh at my choices, you're just not quite there yet.

1. Float On- Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is the only band that could possibly have made the top five in both 2004 and 2005. To my delight, one of rock's most depressing bands decided sell their indie souls, come out of the darkness, and bless us with the most hope filled sing-a-long since Kumbaya.

2. Mr. Brightside- The Killers
I really wanted to hate this band. Las Vegas, the eyeliner, the last name Flowers- c'mon. But slowly and surely this song ate away at me until I was transformed from player hater, to Killers super-fan.

3. Evil- Interpol
Top Five Song List Rule #207b: If a front man, who usually sounds like a dictator shouting to the masses, decides to sing a lovely song about a girl name Rosemary; that song automatically makes the top five- Sorry guys, rules are rules.

4. Somewhere Only We Know- Keane
Coldplay - Chris Martin + Freddy Mercury - Guitar = Keane. Let's be honest, we all have a hidden copy of this song somewhere in our glove box for those long drives with that special someone. You know exactly what I'm talkin' about.

5. Seventeen Years- Ratatat
The instrumental song that instantly transforms wallflowers into officially licensed rug cutters. Pop it in the tape deck and watch even your coolest friends do the robot.

Well, there it is- the first official Best of 2004 list without a single mention of The Arcade Fire. Thank God!

-Carver

Next: Top 10 Demos!

— words by the SPB team

Related features

God Bullies

One Question Interviews • July 16, 2025

Mike Hard (God Bullies) SPB: Have you played any familiar locations that survived since your last tour and, if so, what struck you on revising them? If not, is there a city or highway that gave similar "flashbacks" or surprises? Hard: The first city that comes to mind is Dubuque … Read more

Cheap Fix

One Question Interviews • July 14, 2025

Cheap Fix SPB: What’s the most MacGyver-esque workaround you’ve made to connect different bits of equipment? Chad Nichols (guitar/vocals): You'd think with a name like Cheap Fix, we'd be all over this question. But I'm the least handy of the band members, so I've got next to nothing. All my … Read more

Mike Huguenor

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • July 8, 2025

Mike Huguenor Tell us about the primary guitars you used making Surfing the Web with the Alien? Read more

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2025)

Music • July 6, 2025

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Shane Herrell: A Tribute

Music • July 6, 2025

Shane Herrell: Rest In Power(pop) (1980-2025) The Rocker I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible. Sadly I never got the chance to hear my friend Shane Herrell karaoke Thin Lizzy’s "The Rocker." As a singing bass player we don’t have enough heroes. It might just … Read more

More from this section

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2025)

Music • July 6, 2025

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Shane Herrell: A Tribute

Music • July 6, 2025

Shane Herrell: Rest In Power(pop) (1980-2025) The Rocker I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible. Sadly I never got the chance to hear my friend Shane Herrell karaoke Thin Lizzy’s "The Rocker." As a singing bass player we don’t have enough heroes. It might just … Read more

Caterwaul 2025

Music • May 13, 2025

Each year in late May, the 4-day party and noise-rock festival Caterwaul takes over multiple venues in Minneapolis. It’s a stacked lineup this year, to put it mildly, with each night’s headliners FACS, Young Widows, Naw, Pissed Jeans, and Uniform -- and that’s leaving a ton of other great bands … Read more