Guest Lists: The Best of 2020

Danny Cheap Date

The year is just about finished and we have one more guest list, from Danny Cheap Date. You may recognize him from The Cheap Dates, Nude Model and of course Don't Panic Records & Distro. He's also part of Change the Rotation's bracket committee, which decides our top 32 albums of the year. Look for the results from our album of the year bracket next week. Until then, happy new year and here are Danny's top singles of the year.

Danny Cheap Date’s Top Standalone Singles of 2020

Every year at Change the Rotation, we compile our album of the year lists and every year I struggle to pull together a list of over 10 new albums. This year’s different though. I’ve literally had nothing better to do than to sit around and listen to new music which resulted in me putting together a 100-some track best of 2020 playlist. Typically I appreciate the full-length album as a means of expressing one’s art but more and more musicians are putting out standalone singles. I think it’s particularly important to pay attention to these singles this year as so many musicians have postponed their full releases. Now let’s be real, when I look back at 2020, I’m gonna think about the time we blasted WAP outside of the Chicago FOP and I’m gonna think about all the times I danced to WAP in friends’ kitchens and living rooms. It’s the best and most memorable song of 2020 BUT let’s talk about some songs you may have missed!

Ric Wilson – Fight Like Ida B & Marsha P
Ric Wilson has been busy as hell in 2020. The Chicago rapper put out four singles and an EP since the start of the year. Fight Like Ida B & Marsha P is the track that stands out the most to me. With lines like “defund the police, abolish the prisons or don't speak a word to me / stop ICE and let 'em all free / let the kids be, end intersex surgeries,” this song could easily be the anthem for not only this summer’s uprising but for the ongoing struggles we’re going to continue fighting against in 2021. The song has a bouncy beat, catchy chorus and a Tom Waits-esque guitar solo. It also uses Which Side Are You On as a hook. It’s a protest song made for dancing in the streets. This is exactly what we needed this year.

Danny Elfman – Happy
This is a weird fucking song but 2020 is a weird fucking year so it makes total sense that Danny Elfman would come out of nowhere with an orchestral punk rock epic lamenting the boredom and tension we’ve all been feeling this year. The video for the track is weird and surreal but the emotions conveyed in the song are all too real. One could close their eyes and easily picture this as a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas where Jack goes to New Year’s Eve Land in an attempt to escape this hellscape of a year by making it Halloween forever.

Lesibu Grand – WFS
Lesibu Grand is an indie rock band out of Atlanta. The band has been receiving a lot of praise from the media lately and rightfully so as they’ve been keeping busy all year by releasing a few very solid singles and playing a handful of virtual shows. WFS is a poignant critique of American politics. The message of the song is clear: when it comes to things like gun violence, poverty, housing, education, healthcare, democracy and justice, we as a country fucking suck.

Ho99o9 – Pigs Want Me Dead
This band has been growing on me for some time. They deliver such a good blend of hip-hop and punk, it was only a matter of time before I’d go full fanboy for them. They’re a very prolific band and with the release of three singles and a mixtape, this year’s been no exception. I’ve heard a lot of songs speaking out against the police this year but Pigs Want Me Dead is by far the most powerful.

Glitter Moneyyy – Dangerous
Glitter Moneyyy is a Chicago (or maybe LA now?) rap duo. With the hook “We fuck shit up, we burn shit down / Picket signs up, titties out / Takeover will be hostile / Then we’ll party, then we’ll howl,” Dangerous is another track that’s made for shutting shit down and dancing in the streets to.

The Ableist – Sucked Back Into the Sun feat. Alice Kraynak
The Ableist is a post-hardcore punk band from Chicago. They’ve been working on a full-length for some time and have blessed us with a few teasers. Sucked Back Into the Sun is a critique of capitalism and manmade law. The song heeds an urgent warning for the human race: embrace emancipation or face extinction. Proceeds from the single support the Rogers Park Food Not Bombs program. Like good anarchists, The Ableist are well aware that theory is nothing without praxis.

Pussy Riot – 1312 feat. Paracas, Dillom & Muerejoven
Pussy Riot from Russia teamed up with Paracas, Dillom and Muerejoven from Argentina to cut a track in response to femicide in Latin America and police violence worldwide. The song itself sounds like a modern take on nu-metal and it fucking works.

SuperKnova – The World Is Ending, I’m So Bored
This one’s a chill but melancholic track that captures the very real sense of impending doom mixed with feelings of depression and boredom. Emotions that a lot of us have been feeling this year. It’s comforting to know you’re not alone in this.

Sincere Engineer – Trust Me
I’m always so stoked to see what Deanna and Sincere Engineer are up to and seeing them put out a new single on Hopeless Records made me very happy! Trust Me is a great 90s/00s emo revival track that sounds like it would have fit right in on the band’s 2017 debut album, Rhombithian. I’m hoping this is a teaser to their next album because I wanna hear more.

Pinkshift – I’m Gonna Tell My Therapist on You
Pinkshift is a new punk band from Baltimore. I’m Gonna Tell My Therapist on You is one of three excellent singles they put out this year. It’s a pretty straightforward song but it’s really catchy and has some great pop punk guitar work. Overall, it’s fun as hell. This is an impressive glimpse of an up-and-coming punk band. I can’t wait to get a chance to see them live.