Two weeks ago in this spot, we took a look at the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100. How about we all mosey on over to the Modern Rock chart and see what’s going on there?
1. Seether, “Rise Above This” (Wind-Up)
Someone’s been dipping into Kurt Cobain’s hair dye stash!
I keed, I keed. Actually, “Rise Above This” isn’t half bad — it’s certainly the best thing I’ve heard from South Africa’s preeminent post-grunge band, and given that it was written about lead singer Shaun Morgan’s brother — who, as you might have guessed from watching the video, committed suicide — it’s also virtually snarkproof.
2. Puddle of Mudd, “Psycho” (Geffen)
For a band that got its first big break from a label best known for Shooting Star reissues, its second big break from Fred fucking Durst, and has always shown all the wit, charm, and talent you’d expect from fourth graders in a Sugar Ray tribute band, Puddle of Mudd has managed to stick around for an awfully long time. (Emphasis on the awful.) Here’s the good news: After weeks and weeks of lying around on the Top 10′s sofa, “Psycho” is finally starting to fade away. The bad news: The band has a new single, “We Don’t Have to Look Back Now,” and we’ll probably be covering that soon.
3. Weezer, “Pork and Beans” (Geffen)
Geffen told Rivers Cuomo he needed to write a hit, so he gave ‘em “Pork and Beans” — and even if it hasn’t done much on the Hot 100 yet, it’s kicking ass on this chart, and folks who care about Weezer seem to like it. Me, I’ve never understood the band’s appeal, but I liked that one video with the Muppets in it. Does this video have Muppets? No? All right. Moving on.
4. Atreyu, “Falling Down” (Hollywood)
It’s more of an actual song than “Becoming the Bull,” and the video’s pretty funny, but still … Atreyu? Really? Even Limahl must have giggled when he heard that band name.
5. Flobots, “Handlebars” (Universal Republic)
As I write this, my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter is walking around the kitchen singing “I can ride my bike with no handlebars.” I guess that makes this her favorite song on the chart this week, so I won’t tell her that Flobots opened for the Fray.
6. The Raconteurs, “Salute Your Solution” (Warner Bros.)
Nope, still don’t give a fuck about Jack White’s music. You’re welcome to try and enlighten me, but no one else has been able to do it.
7. 3 Doors Down, “It’s Not My Time” (Universal Republic)
I refuse to believe that music today is any worse than it was in the ’80s, ’70s, ’60s, or any other decade — but if you’re the type of person who does believe it, then the fact that 3 Doors Down has sold more than 13 million records in the last 11 years is probably one of the main reasons why. This is the second single from their upcoming album 3 Doors Down (not to be confused with 1997′s 3 Doors Down); like all of their other songs, it elevates “aggressively dull” to an art form.
8. Linkin Park, “Given Up” (Warner Bros.)
In which Chester Bennington screams “put me out of my fucking misery” during a Linkin Park song, and for the first time, I feel like we have something in common.
9. Death Cab for Cutie, “I Will Possess Your Heart” (Atlantic)
Say what you will about this song’s eight-minute-plus length — although I think our esteemed Taylor summed it all up pretty well here — but I’m honestly happy that a song this supremely uncommercial is a single with an honest-to-gosh video. Speaking as someone who found himself physically unable to stop listening to Plans for much of 2005, I am quite stoked about the new album.
10. The Bravery, “Believe” (Island Def Jam)
The last time I looked at this chart was in early March, and this song was in the tenth slot then, too. Has it moved in the interim? I confess, I do not know, but since it’s in the same place it was the last time I listened to it, I’ll just repeat what I said then, which is: Sure, it sounds and looks like it comes from the soundtrack to a focus-grouped drama about the exploits of a sexy group of 20somethings hanging out at CBGB’s in 1979 — but it also exudes effortless, disaffected cool, the way rock & roll is supposed to. Hats off to the Bravery, I guess.
And that’s it for this installment of Billboarding, folks! Meet me back here in two weeks for a look at another chart. Which one will it be — country? R&B? Oh God, will it be adult contemporary? Find out next time!
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