Songs You Need to Download Now!

Go to SPIN.com for samples and links to these tunes, vid clips, and more

1 Hot Leg “HEROES” Grab your cock-sock and behold the first lesson from ex-Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins’ new seminar on hard-rock hermeneutics. Boogie bushwa, falsetto fromage, beaucoup ax, etc.!

2 ^{Cold War Kids} “^{SOMETHING IS NOT RIGH T WITH ME}” ^{Folk-punk tantrum turns taut testimonial} _{as the Kids’ flash a newfound rhythmic swing and heady guitar jangle.}

3I _N3da Maria “OH M Y GOD” With a dramatic pause and volley of drums, top-hat-sporting, heart-purging orwegian ball-buster Ida Maria Sivertsen thrillingly asks, “You think I’m in control?” Thankfully, she’s not.

^{4 Terry Lynn} “^{KINGSTONLOGIC}” ^{This Jamaican B-girl/ex-street vendor is the youngest of nine kids, and} on her buzz-bomb electro-rap debut, she poses and chats like she’s had to knife-fight for her dinner.

5 ^{The Tallest Man on Earth} “^{LET’S CARMELIZE (LIVE)}” ^{A skinny, self-assured Swedish folkie} _{who apparently had the essence of early Dylan records injected at birth. Breathtaking.}

6 Mic Terror “I’M AN ASSHOLE” Likably voluble Chicago MC spits on a variety of topics: “You know they _{reinstated slavery, cuz / It was on the news / But you were watching Flavor of Love.}”

^{7 Girls} “^{HELLHOLE RATRACE}” ^{A droney strum leads to a shoegaze cathedral, as singer Christopher} Owens dreamily confesses that he’s tired of dreaming and wants to laugh and dance. So, c’mon.

^{8 The Ginger Envelope} “^DRIFT” ^{As pedal steel wafts by, this Athens, Georgia band’s tenderly} melancholy (and surprisingly mature!) letter to a departed friend recalls the best of the Spinanes.

9F _P9riendly Fires “JUMP IN THE POOL” With his trademark percussive flourish, producer Paul Epworth (Bloc arty) levitates this suburban London trio via celestial synths, snapping bass, and a choir of ’⁸⁰s yelps.

10

Little Boots “MEDDLE” Here’s how Timbaland’s cheeseball Nelly Furtado combo should’ve gone—a fiercely frisky diva (Victoria Hesketh) scolds a skeeve over an electro-pop body blow (by Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard).

^{11 Shannon McArdle} “^{THIS IS A WARNING}” ^{The ex–Mendoza Line singer laments her divorce} from bandmate Tim Bracy with an acoustic dejection that’s like Guyville-era Liz Phair facedown in a gutter.

12

The Major Labels “DON’T HEAR A SINGLE” A shaggy tale of bewildered A&R hacks and their sad-ass treasure hunt, rendered by this bicoastal trio as a valiantly exhausted Beatles outtake.

13^1Q _so3uitzow “BET TER THAN EVER” She’s usually too self-conscious by half, but here, upstate New York singer-ngwriter Erica Quitzow gives her cello-and-Moog art whimsy a bubbly groove and defiant summer strut.

14

Lovely Sparrows “DEPAR TMEN T OF FORESEEABLE OUTCOMES” If Loudon Wainwright III had been born in the indie-rock epoch, he might’ve crafted such a drolly symphonic acoustic stroll.

15

Bumblebeez “FREAK YA LONELINESS” Once known for their quirky laptop cut-ups as Bumblebeez ⁸¹, siblings Chris and Pia Colonna unleash a fuzzy, Primal Screaming throwdown rife with stoned splendor.

Thunderheist
“Jerk It”
This pulsing house track’s
double entendre may get
lost in a strobe-lit rave, but
the video leaves little doubt.
While fetishistic close-ups
leer over the legs, face, and
torso of a blonde sporting
gold chains and tiger-striped
tights, her muscles begin to
ripple as she shakes
something in her off-camera
hand. What’s more, the
mystery object turns out to
be a struggling cock—um,
rooster Jeez.

Stars
“Bitches in Tokyo”
Directed by George Vale and
Broken Social Scene’s Kevin
Drew, a group of kids in
the throes of T. Rextasy don
makeup and furs and rock out
all over a living room while
their elders futilely bang
on the front door. Luckily,
a friendly neighborhood
counselor arrives to soothe
the parents and give the
youth tips on their new
rock-star lifestyle—like the
importance of threatening to
move to Berlin.

The BPA (feat.
David Byrne and
Dizzee Rascal)
“Toe Jam”
This video for Fatboy Slim’s
new project the Brighton Port
Authority sets an innocuous
bopper to very cheeky visual
innuendo. Attractive nudists
dance around a ’70s-styled
room with their naughty bits
blocked out, which is a
letdown until you realize that
the video is about the black
rectangles, and how they can
stimulate even more fun.

Andrew Bird
“ Lull”
No one smiles in the
sepia-toned animated clip
for Bird’s melancholic
chamber-folk tune—a
heartrending detail in this
story about ill-fated love.
The unlikely friendship
between a man and a
giant squid turns perilous
after they begin an
undersea romance.
The man leaves home
to be with his orange
paramour, but in a
(strangely believable) rush
of excitement, she forgets
to let her lover up for air.