SOUND BITES

SUPERCHUNK Me & You & Jackie Mittoo From: I Hate Music Released: August 27 That it took a 90's alt-rock revival to get people talking about Superchunk is a borderline travesty; much worse bands had massive success in the 90's while Superchunk released a slew of great singles and albums that went largely unnoticed outside of the fringe culture. Still, better late than never, and it certainly doesn't hurt that Superchunk's last couple albums have matched (hell, maybe even surpassed) the quality of their "heyday" output.

As much fun as it is watching a band grow and evolve over the years and through their assorted projects, sometimes it's nice to see them take a step back, shrug their shoulders and try walking in someone else's shoes for four minutes. Whether it's a faithful reconstruction or a sonically shapeshifted alternate vision, it's always fun to hear what an artist can do with a song that's not theirs. Here are ten artists whose interpretations of familiar songs got the biggest smiles from me in 2013:

THE WILD FEATHERS The Ceiling From: The Wild Feathers Released: August 13 With the flux of major labels hoarding anything with a remotely Mumford quality about them, a lot of disingenuous folk-tinged alt bands are beginning to dot the landscape. Refreshingly, The Wild Feathers' debut album owes more to seventies lite rock than folk. The album as a whole lacks teeth, but does have fine moments that point to the potential for the band to go to amazing places. As far as singles go, The Ceiling is already there.

BLOC PARTY Ratchet From: The Nextwave Sessions (EP) Released: August 12 Considering the inter-band problems leading up to its release, it's a minor miracle that Bloc Party's fourth album (2012's Four ) ever got recorded (go ahead and look into that). That said, it's not entirely surprising that they're on another hiatus. I'd never rule out a reformation at any time, but if The Nextwave Sessions and its pulsating single Ratchet end up being one last thing to remember them by, Bloc Party left us with a formidable body of work.

SURFER BLOOD Demon Dance From: Pythons Released: June 11 Domestic violence is an ugly thing; after being arrested for domestic battery last year, Surfer Blood frontman John Paul Pitts at least had a jumping off point for writing Surfer Blood's sophomore album. There is remorse, shame and regret all over this record, an appropriate musical response to an unforgivable situation where (cough cough) others have carried on like nothing's wrong. Like it or not, this has become part of Pitts' legacy if he leaves one; he might as well own up to it, and on Pythons he seems to be doing just that.

THE MOTORLEAGUE Failsafes From: Acknowledge, Acknowledge Released: June 11 Here at the blog, I try to keep things as universal as possible; as such, I don't usually mention "local" bands (not even my own ... oops) unless they've done truly impressive. It's not that I'm not proud of my region, I just never wanted this to be a region specific blog. Anyway, I'm a New Brunswicker, and I do feel quite a bit of pride that a band from Moncton released a really good record this year, and then topped it off with an awesome video for that album's best track.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Kalopsia From: ...Like Clockwork Released: June 4 What song from Queens Of The Stone Age's sixth album I call my favourite has changed countless times since the album's release, which can only mean one thing: this is a really good album. When it came to choosing what song to highlight as a Song of the Year nominee, I decided to go with the one that I feel best represents the album as a whole. Sinister, surprising, explosive, cathartic; those words and so many more describe Kalopsia and ...Like Clockwork .