The best 24 sub-two minute songs of 2013

I once put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite sub-two minute songs of all time. You can listen to it here if you fancy it - 24 sub-two minute wonders It's a corker if I must say so myself.

One of the things I loved about it, bar the music of course, was that you could listen to loads of songs in a very short space of time - about 40 minutes in fact. Perfect for my daily commute from Old Street to Hertford. 

A while back there were rumours going around that the reason Radiohead's 'The King of Limbs' was so short was because no-one had time to listen to albums anymore and that the average daily commute is about 40 minutes long. Noel Gallagher recently slated Arcade Fire's album 'Reflektor' by saying it's too long and no-one has time for albums of that time length anyway. These comments have inspired me to put together another sub-two minute playlist, containing 24 songs of course, but to bring it more up to date. 

With end of year lists in full swing I'd therefore like to welcome you to a blog post about my top 24 sub-two minute songs of 2013. As always there's a Spotify playlist at the end of it for you to check out. The rules are simple, the songs could have appeared on any release in 2013, be it a single, album, b-side or compilation album. Only one song per band can feature in the top 24. Oh and, of course, the song has to be less than two minutes long. So, without further ado, here are my top 24, with a cheeky You Tube clip, and a bit of blurb, counting down numbers 5 to 1 : 

 
24. 'Score' by Young Knives (suggested by @TheAlbumWall at the eleventh hour)
23. 'Hit Me' by Savages
22. 'Chubby Cheeks' by Sweet Baboo
21. 'I can't stand you' by Beachniks
20. 'I wanna be that guy' by The Memories
19. 'Fistful of butter' by Happy Jawbone Family Band
18. 'Red Light Green Light' by Dune Rats
17. 'A drink is just the thing' by Future Bible Heroes
16. 'Bites and Scratches' by Bent Shapes
15. 'Rezhand' by The Hussy
14. 'American Love' by Heavy Times
13. 'Keep it Easy' by The Tides
12. 'Testifying Time' by The Amazing Snakeheads
11. 'Young Lion' by Vampire Weekend
10. 'Faithful Heights' by Night Beds
9. 'Are you kissing anyone?' by Saturday night looks good to me
8. 'Okay' by Elvis Depressedly
7. 'Careers in Combat' by Parquet Courts
6. 'Keep Exhaling' by Wire

And now for the Top 5 :

5. 'Hollow Body' by Pity Sex

This is one of the standout tracks on Pity Sex's album 'Feast of Love', a ballad amongst a number of heavier songs. It's a beauty, one of the most spinetingliest songs on the playlist.  Have a listen here :

4. 'Some people are born strange' by Big Harp

Great song from an equally great album and they're very cool too.  They are actually a married couple with two kids, I've been trying to convince my wife that forming a family band is the best way forward in life but it's not going to happen.  Instead I'll continue to listen to songs such as this and think about what could have been.  Have a listen for yourself here :

3. 'SHOOT YOU' by PINS

Hailing from Manchester, PINS were one of the bands nominated in the Blog Sound of 2013.  Along with some of their peers who were also nominated - they're quite similar sounding to Savages, who also made the playlist and also made the Top 5 of NME's albums of the year - they've gained some critical acclaim this year. 

Even though the album they released this year contained a few sub-two minute songs, the song I've chosen wasn't on there. Instead I found it on an Amazing Radio compilation album which is well worth a listen too.  Here it is :

2. 'Nothing Changes' by Soft Reeds

I bloody love Soft Reeds. They are very underrated and hardly got a look in this year in terms of album reviews in the British music press, let alone in the album of the year lists. Their album 'Blank City' is fantastic and is definitely in my Top 5 albums of the year.

Imagine an American version of Franz Ferdinand, with a bit of Talking Heads thrown in for good measure and you're nearly there. I discovered 'Nothing Changes' on a Spotify playlist someone else had created and haven't looked back since. I hope this playlist has the same effect on you.

Here it is, have a listen :

1. 'Coast to Coast' by Waxahatchee

This is a brilliant brilliant song. For those of you (are you still here?!) who followed my #Yuletide24 Songs of the Year on Twitter, this song came 19th in that list. It reminds me of The Breeders which is a bloody great thing in my opinion.  I guarantee you'll love it and you can listen to it here :

So, what do you think? Have I made any glaring omissions? Would love you to let me know. Oh, and before I go, here's a link to the Spotify playlist - The 24 best sub-two minute songs of 2013 

Thanks for having me and thanks also to @TheAlbumWall who suggested Young Knives.  You can't go wrong following him on Twitter, he's also got a brilliant blog that I highly recommend you read too.