Jumps:
Take me right to the list: #50 – #36 | #35 – #21 | #20 – #1
Take me right to the Spotify and YouTube playlists.
About The 2021 MPH Top 50
Welcome to the TENTH Annual MPH Top 50 Alternative & Indie Songs of the Year Countdown. Ten years, a full decade of tracks, 500 of our favorite songs counted down. Hard to believe we’ve been doing this for a decade. But alas, once again, we have gathered the best alt and indie songs from across the globe just for you. Here are the best 50 alternative and indie tracks of 2021 for your listening pleasure.
See the Spotify and YouTube playlists here.
And frankly, had this not been a special anniversary year, there’s a chance we wouldn’t have done this list at all. It was a rollercoaster of a year, one with two shots and a booster, and yet an ever-present pandemic. We traveled the nation, holed up in DC, Boston, San Francisco, Cincinnati, New York, and Martha’s Vineyard at various times. We didn’t think we had it in us to produce the list this year. But after ten years, we couldn’t let you, or frankly ourselves, down.
We won’t dwell on what is below, you can check it out on your own. As usual, it’s heavily taken from bands on both sides of the 49th parallel. You know we love highlighting our faves from both the US and Canada, with a sprinkle of across the pond, down under, and parts elsewhere. And as usual, we rightly and proudly stretch the definition of alternative. Which is the entire point of alternative music.
Regular readers will note that the descriptions and reviews of each track are much shorter and sound a little different than previous years. It’s been a long, strange, hard year, and honestly that’s all the bandwidth we had. But trust us, it’s still worth the read and just as insightful and witty as you are used to.
Anyway, please enjoy. Covid has taken a lot from us again this year, but it can’t take music. Stay safe, get vaccinated, get boostered, get tested, wear an approved mask, keep distances, avoid indoor gatherings, and pay for music instead of just listening to Spotify. Peace.
If you like what you see, have comments, questions, or really wanna argue over a selection or omission, drop us a line on Twitter or Instagram at @PhillyPartTwo or at phillyparttwo [at] gmail [dot] com.
Numbers 50 – 36:
# 50 | Bees | Holly Miranda | 🇺🇸
We saw Holly Miranda open for Tegan & Sara way back in 2010 and we’ve loved every charming track she’s put out since.
# 49 | Brightside | The Lumineers | 🇺🇸
We hope you caught The Lumineers playing the CFL Grey Cup championship game’s halftime as guest of Arkells. It was quite the proper pairing.
# 48 | Heading West | Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 🇨🇦
Neil Young, particularly with Crazy Horse, has been alternative music since rock has been music. Is the Godfather of Grunge actually the Godfather of Alternative Rock?
# 47 | Smile | Wolf Alice | 🇬🇧
Ellie Rowsell’s voice continues to cut sharply through Wolf Alice’s brand of buzzy heavy shoegaze.
# 46 | I’ll Call You Mine | Girl in Red | 🇳🇴
We bet Cayley Spivey (see below) is jazzed that her long-time idol crush muse is finally going mainstream.
# 45 | Yung Dicaprio | The Zolas | 🇨🇦
“Got obsessed with the Romeo+Juliet movie from 1996 and it (+ the soundtrack) colored a lot of the new stuff we’ve been putting out. This track is about 2 people from opposite ends of the same sick world who find the antidote in one another. It reminded us of how new love and new music can save your life in the same way. That’s how that soundtrack made us feel and that’s how you’re meant to feel listening to this song on a shiny day, so please go do that. Nobody’s as cute as ’96 Leo but we all deserve to feel like it.” – Zach Gray, The Zolas
# 44 | Take It Back | Dinosaur Jr | 🇺🇸
‘Feel The Pain’ was released our first week of college, and is possibly the first ’90s post-classic rock that ever got our teenage attention. J Mascis was referenced in an episode of Showtime’s ‘Yellowjackets’ and that really excited us more than we had expected.
# 43 | Swerve | The Darcys | 🇨🇦
Singles machines Wes Marskell and Jason Couse for sure kept churning out the hits this year. Do they ever rest?
# 42 | No Gods No Masters | Garbage | 🇺🇸
Life (and the pandemic) kept us from seeing Garbage open for Alanis Morissette both this year and last year, and it (#1) crushed us. It would have been amazing to hear tracks from the ‘No Gods No Masters’ disc live on its originating tour.
# 41 | We Are Between | Modest Mouse | 🇺🇸
Modest Mouse know who they are and are happy leaning into it. So are we. Have they surpassed Walk the Moon as the best Talking Heads-inspired band in music today?
# 40 | Cross the Line | Cayley Spivey | 🇺🇸
It’s been a year since Cayley Spivey shed her “Small Talks” band moniker and she hasn’t slowed down. When the world figures itself out, we need Cayley to get out on the road and start rocking under her own marquee.
# 39 | All Too Well (10 Minute Version) | Taylor Swift | 🇺🇸
If a ten minute fuckoff song to a two-month-long celebrity boyfriend and a scarf isn’t alternative, we don’t know what the fuck is.
# 38 | Back to Nothing | The Joy Formidable | 🇬🇧
We saw The Joy Formidable at the late “Boot & Saddle” in Philadelphia a few hours before the calendar turned to December 2019, and singer Ritzy Bryan was sick as a dog but still performing. Looking back, she may have been the first person we saw who had covid.
# 37 | New York Lonely Boy | Milk Carton Kids | 🇺🇸
This track from the Peacock TV show Girls5Eva precisely describes a subset of New York resident we have always known existed but never put a thought to individually before. And crafting these perfect lyrics to match this perfect Simon and Garfunkel vibe is, as the kids say, chef’s kiss.
# 36 | Listen to the Beat | Royal Foundry | 🇨🇦
Every year this band lands on this list. Every year The Royal Foundry releases a radio bopper or two. Why aren’t they more famous?
Numbers 35 – 21:
# 35 | Nobody Knows | Postdata | 🇨🇦
Whether with his regular band Wintersleep or over the handful of solo project Postdata albums, vocalist Paul Murphy has allowed every track he sings on to soar. We love his voice on moody songs, but there’s something special about that voice on groovy tracks like this.
# 34 | Crutch | Band of Horses | 🇺🇸
After their first album, Ben Bridwell’s entire band quit and then he made Band of Horses even more popular. That’s badass.
# 33 | Bad Dream | Cannons | 🇺🇸
A lot of year end lists this year feature Cannons’ ‘Fire For You’. But they were on our list last year. We’re ahead of the curve. But we’re super happy to list this vibey followup.
#32 | Sorry I Am | Del Water Gap | 🇺🇸
Much like singer Holden Jaffe, we too were fascinated by the Delaware Water Gap when we would drive home from college. We too felt the “Del” Water Gap signs on the interstate were interesting. We, however, did not form a band and name it that. He did.
#31 | High Fidelity | Alisa Xayalith | 🇳🇿
A solo release from The Naked & Famous’ Alisa Xayalith was not something we were expecting this year, but very happy to have it. Much more pop, much more of a mainstream sound than TNAF, and an interesting look into future Alisa X’s solo releases.
#30 | Stumbelina | Illinois | 🇺🇸
Unless you’re a fan of the old Showtime pot-themed show ‘Weeds,’, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of Chris Archibald’s indie folk unit Illinois. But perhaps you should. The Bucks County, PA, troubadours are a fun ride of NPR rompers. And this Wilco-influenced track might be their best.
# 29 | Charlie IO | Ellevator | 🇨🇦
This is a beautiful song about not owning your shit. Own your shit. Stop looking for easy fixes. This track was produced by Chris Walla, formerly of Death Cab For Cutie and producer of Tegan & Sara’s ‘The Con’, and that is all you need to know to love this.
# 28 | Fake Fame | Dear Rouge | 🇨🇦
One of the things that got us through the first part (second part? who know, there have been so many parts) of the pandemic were the weekly mini concerts Dear Rouge performed on Instagram Live from their living room. The shows consisted of one new song followed by a set of covers from a favored band of the week. We are sure over the weeks we heard every track from their then-upcoming album, but we surely recall hearing this for the first time.
# 27 | Let’s Go | The Beaches | 🇨🇦
The album version of this song was released back in May, but a reworked version came out just a few weeks before the end of 2021 featuring additional vocals from Valerie Anne Poxleitner-Bokan, a/k/a Lights. Lights makes everything better.
# 26 | Hanging On Your Hinges | Stereophonics | 🇬🇧
At the height of the Britpop wave in the late ’90s/early 2000s, Stereophonics were releasing some of the best music from across the pond. We will never understand why they didn’t achieve the recognition in North America that Oasis or Blur or Keane or even (shudder) Coldplay did. Then again, neither did The Stone Roses or The Verve or Embrace. But unlike nearly all those bands, Stereophonics are still going s-t-r-o-n-g. If Kelly Jones and company ever come to your town, go see them.
# 25 | Vertigo | Alice Merton | 🇺🇸🇨🇦
Alice Merton puts out interesting music. She really fits in with the likes of St Vincent or K.Flay or even Billy Eilish, and if you like them, you should like Merton as well, even if she may have a harder edge to her voice.
# 24 | Bad for Each Other | Cayley Spivey | 🇺🇸
We love Cayley Spivey and we are very proud and hipster snotty about that we loved her before anyone knew her. Also, this track rocks, what a great vocal hook. This should be on the radio. Remember radio?
# 23 | Last Day on Earth | Beabadoobee | 🇵🇭🇬🇧
There was never a place where we would imagine Beabadoobee appearing on our list, much less two years in a row. Each time we have incorrectly dismissed the formal Beatrice Kristi Laus, we have been proven wrong. She’s fun.
# 22 | Good 4 U | Olivia Rodrigo | 🇺🇸
Yes, Olivia Rodrigo. Stop judging. Pretend this was Billy Eilish or Lorde or Haim singing this song, and you wouldn’t bat an eye. Honestly, this is the best song Paramore ever put out (::ducks for thrown objects::).
# 21 | He Said She Said | Chvrches | 🇦🇺
Chvrches can’t stop cranking out hits. Another couple years, and they will force their way into the conversation about the best hit-making electroindie pop artists of all time. Or are they already.
Numbers 20 – 1:
# 20 | Before You Gotta Go | Courtney Barnett | 🇬🇧
Even as Courtney Barnett becomes more melodic and dreamy over time, she’ll never stop being the chillest woman in indie folk. There are few better musical wordsmiths around.
# 19 | No Regrets | The Darcys | 🇨🇦
Electrodance indie pop is supposed to be fun. The Darcys are fun. This track is fun. We have “No Regrets” dancing around in fun listening to this. Bless The Darcys. Also, you should follow their TikTok. The Darcy’s Wes Marskell reminds us of that every time we chat on the Twitters.
# 18 | Out With the Old | Monowhales | 🇨🇦
Single after single, Monowhales have proven that they are the class of new female pop punk. This continues to be true with this super ’80s-influenced jaunt. If you told us this was a new single from The Go-Go’s or The Bangles or Joan Jett or even Veruca Salt, we would believe you. Compare this to ‘Laughing in the Sugarbowl’ or ‘Club Zero’. Make Monowhales your new crushes.
# 17 | One + One | Death From Above 1979 | 🇨🇦
We will never stop being flabbergasted that Death from Above is just two dudes. And it’s not a trick of the studio, they sound just the same live. There isn’t even a guitar. Just Jesse Keeler’s bass and Sebastien Grainger’s drums and vocals. And they’ve now officially released more post-breakup albums than before their decade-long hiatus. Thank god.
# 16 | Steal My Sunshine | Portugal The Man with Cherry Glazerr | 🇺🇸
One of our favorite things each year is finding that year’s best cover song. There were many strong contenders this year (The Head and The Heart’s ‘Our House’, Angel Olsen’s ‘Safety Dance’, Grouplove doing ‘You Oughta Know’, Monowhales taking on ‘Hand The Feeds’). But Portugal The Man – with some help from Cherry Glazerr – nailed it with their take on LEN’s ’90s earworm ‘Steal My Sunshine’. While it doesn’t depart too much from the original, it’s a perfect 2021 sonic update. Make sure to check out their version of Eel’s ‘Novocaine for the Soul’ as well.
# 15 | 99 to the Moon | Said the Whale | 🇨🇦
Said The Whale’s Dandelion was one of the releases we were looking forward to the most this year, and it did not disappoint. We don’t know who Ben Worcester, Tyler Bancroft, and Jaycelyn Brown love this much, but we hope it’s us (ok ok, it’s actually Bancroft’s partner Laura, but let us dream, ok?).
# 14 | Cloud 9 | Beach Bunny with Tegan & Sara | 🇺🇸 🇨🇦
Two of our favorite things: ’90s-sounding female gazepop, and Tegan & Sara (guess that’s technically three things). This track brings both of those together. How do Tegan and Sara Quin always always find the best collabs? Lili Trifilio’s Chicago-based band released the original version of ‘Cloud 9’ two years ago, but this year’s remix with the Quin Twins brought new life to the indie surf track.
# 13 | All Roads | Arkells | 🇨🇦
As Arkells evolve their sound with each record, wistful, nostalgia-heavy lyrics paired with dreamy and evocative melodies remain constant. The HamOnt quintet prove highway driving tracks aren’t just the territory of Tom Cochrane and Golden Earring-style freight trains. They can be chill top down, radio up vibes. No one quite embedded their ever-changing pandemic moods into their music quite like Arkells. Even these days, their unwavering optimism is omnipresent.
# 12 | Be Sweet | Japanese Breakfast | 🇺🇸
There isn’t much more we can add to the thousands of column-inches every rock critic in America has devoted to Philly-bred Michelle Zauner’s project Japanese Breakfast this year. Her ubiquitousness has been quite evident. From Billboard charts to New York Times bestseller lists, Japanese Breakfast, 2021’s Phoebe Bridgers or Maggie Rogers, is having a year.
# 11 | Honey Lungs | Said the Whale | 🇨🇦
Speaking of optimism, there’s Said The Whale. A goodtime band who knows how to find the fun in nearly anything do so again. Says Tyler Bancroft, “[Honey Lungs] is about using kindness as a way to approach difficult subjects. As we’re fighting for change, let’s come from a place of trying to understand our fellow human beings.” See folks, empathy is fun. And good for you. Unlike having honey in your lungs.
# 10 | Commit | Tigers Jaw | 🇺🇸
Tigers Jaw sounds like a band everyone should know, but they don’t. We only became familiar with them a few years ago at one of their anniversary shows when we showed up to see openers Land of Talk and Jeff Rosenstock. They were a wonderful discovery of ours, particularly songs like ‘Commit’ where breathy Brianna Collins takes lead vocals.
# 9 | Hot & Heavy | Lucy Dacus | 🇺🇸
Lucy Dacus is a Virginia native but decided that as her career progressed, she would make Philadelphia her professional home. One listen to ‘Hot & Heavy’ and her Philly bona fides to sit alongside Kurt Vile or War On Drugs or Kississippi or Japanese Breakfast become evident. It fits this new “The Sound of Philadelphia,” Part Two.
# 8 | Why So Cruel | Whitehorse | 🇨🇦
We love the Canadian countryside sound of Hamilton Ontario’s Whitehorse, Luke Doucet’s loud and twangy Rickenbacker and Melissa McClelland’s countrypop vocals. But give us some straight up indie electrofolk and we are in. We will never fall out of love with big country rock sounds of ‘Devil’s Got a Gun’, but holysmokes ‘Why So Cruel’ is a remarkable straightahead indie radio track. But no worries, listen carefully and you’ll still hear Doucet’s ringing tremolo and McClelland’s Leave No Bridge Unburned-era stepdowns.
# 7 | Missing | Radiant Reveries | 🇺🇸
We can almost guarantee you that you haven’t experienced New York City’s Radiant Reveries. And fuckyeah you should. The moment we heard this single from Adam and Karolina Wallace – whom we met through our friends Dani & Drew McTaggart of Dear Rouge – we were hooked. At the time, we described the track as “modern late-’90s Fastball/Eels/Urge Overkill almost Pulp Fiction-esque vibes, like a NYC club band that picked up and moved to L.A. to play the Roxy.” Bring on that glockenspiel and get Tarantino on the phone.
# 6 | Change Your Mind | Dave Monks | 🇨🇦
Need to feel good, click the link and crank it up. Dave Monks released a number of outstanding tracks in 2021, and almost none of them sound anything like Monks’ full-time band Tokyo Police Club or his parttime band Anyway Gang. Solo freedom allowed Monks to branch out, and yes, he hits in on the head on much of it, including this bop.
# 5 | Weehawken | Daveed Diggs | 🇺🇸
We don’t care about genre, we don’t care about origin, we don’t care about medium. This fabulous rap from the AppleTV+ show Central Park is the funniest thing we saw anywhere this year. The brilliant show didn’t release a trailer for its second season, they just released the clip of this song. Relatively obscure band Supercommuter wrote the track, and Hamilton‘s Daveed Diggs – the voice behind the show’s snippy Helen – raps it as perfectly as you would expect Hamilton‘s Daveed Diggs to rap it. We can’t stop playing this, going on months now.
# 4 | This Enchanted | Hatchie | 🇦🇺
Australia’s Hatchie is hands down the best dream pop artist in the world right now this side of Alvvays, and a misty heir to the likes of The Sundays. The proper Harriette Pilbeam has a knack for hooks and melody and its place on top of airy instrumentalization.
# 3 | Wild Like Me | Dave Monks | 🇨🇦
Yes, that’s two tracks from the quirky Dave Monks in our top six. Don’t scoff, just listen. You’ll never hear anything like those ringing piano notes from Monks’ bands Tokyo Police Club or Anyway Gang. Monks has successfully avoided the “why did they even make a solo album” trap of the likes of Rob Thomas who sound just like their bands. From the pounding David Byrne-esque beat to the strained vocals to the percussion breaks, this minimalist track is both rhythmic and evocative.
# 2 | I Got Love | Mother Mother | 🇨🇦
On their latest album Inside, Vancouver’s Mother Mother don’t break a ton of new ground. And believe us, that’s a good thing. And not just because their catalog has now captured millions and millions of new listeners on TikTok. Like most of what’s come before, ‘I Got Love’ is full of Ryan Guldemond’s strained and gritty Billy Idol-esque singing voice, Jasmin Parkin and Molly Guldemond’s ethereally nasal background vocals, choppy guitars, and a driving beat. The elder Guldemond’s penchant for writing perfect hooks is fully on display, and should be known as one of the continent’s most catchy songwriters.
# 1 | Stop Making Stupid People Famous | Our Lady Peace with Pussy Riot | 🇨🇦 🇷🇺
Canadian grunge gods Our Lady Peace still have something left to say, a quarter century after ‘Superman’s Dead’. In a pretty massive surprise, we have named this hooky, driving, fun track (that’s making radio DJ’s say “Pussy”) the top number one best song of 2021. Alongside some wonderful guest vocals from Nadya Tolokno of trouble-stirring Russian musical collective Pussy Riot, ‘Stop Making Stupid People Famous’ is the centerpiece of Spiritual Machines II, the (wow) concept album sequel to the well-received original. But message (and, again, Pussy fucking Riot) aside, there is no denying the earwormness of this nouveau ’90s grungepop track with charging drums, churning bass, strong vocals from Raine Maida, and a banger of a riff. Nice to see the OG OLP still has it.
Spotify and YouTube Playlists
→ Listen to the full MPH Top 50 of 2021 Playlist on Spotify here (or play below)
→ View the full MPH Top 50 of 2021 Playlist on YouTube here (or play below)
Thank Yous and Acknowledgments
And that’s the list. Stay safe, get vaccinated.
A hearty ‘thank you’ to our biggest sources of discovering new music and depression distraction in 2021:
X92.9 CFEX (Calgary Alberta), including Program Directors Christian Hall (recently former) and Jim McCourtie (current), Music Director Matt Berry, and the station’s wonderful DJ’s including Seanna Jefferson, Andrew Beckler, Marc Michaels, Katlynn Millions, and Andy Berridge.
102.7 WEQX (Manchester Vermont/Albany New York), particularly PD and Morning Guy Jeff Morad, and jocks Luke Gelheiser and Jason Keller.
99.3 CFOX-FM (Vancouver British Columbia) morning hosts Tyler Middleton and Chris Lynch.
Chuck @ 92.5 CKNG-FM (Edmonton Alberta) “The 2 to 6 Thing” host Graham Mosimann.
102.7 The Peak CKPK (Vancouver British Columbia) afternoon jock Angela Valiant.
Alt 104.5 WRFF (Philadelphia PA), starting with PD Amber Miller and jocks Jessie Sabella and Mike Jones.
WXPN-FM 88.5 (Philadelphia PA), including PD Bruce Warren, DJ’s Wendy Rollins (welcome back) and Dan Reed, legend David Dye, Free at Noon host Helen Leicht, and particularly World Cafe host and Canadian Raina Douris, as well as The Key blog.
Sirius XM‘s AltNation, XMU, The Verge, and CBC Radio 3.
If you have comments, additions, or arguments, Tweet or IG DM us at @PhillyPartTwo or email us at phillyparttwo [at] gmail [dot] com.
You can also see previous years’ lists here:
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
* For the purposes of this list, a song is considered to be from 2020 if a) the track was a single released in 2020, b) appears on an album released in 2020, or c) received the majority of its radio airplay or notoriety in 2020 even if previously released).
December's End: The Year's Music Best-Of's 