Dork’s Bangers of the Year (So Far): 40-31

We’re more than half way through the 2018 auditing period, Dear Reader. That means it’s time to pull down the shutters, call in the staff, and do a stock check on the only thing that counts. Cold, hard Bangers.

We’ve run the sums, calculated the co-efficients, and come up with our definitive top 50 tracks of the year so far. You can read the full run down now in the new issue of Dork, or keep pace on readdork.com over the next few days as we count down.

Obviously there are rules to this countdown. You can read them here. You can check out numbers 50-41 here.

Featuring appearances from the likes of Black Honey, Peace, Pale Waves, Years & Years, Chvrches, Spring King and more, here’s the next 10 to make the cut.

40 Fickle Friends Wake Me Up

You’re unlikely to nod off listening to this, tbf.
The opening track to Fickle Friends’ debut album ‘You Are Someone Else’, ‘Wake Me Up’ is the alarm request nobody needed. Fizzing with ice cold energy, it’s the introduction to one of 2018’s standout collections of pop perfection. If you were hoping to grab 40 winks, you’re out of luck.

What they say: “We loved writing this song. It seemed to fall into place so easily and was our last effort for the record. I think I’d watched something on TV that just sparked the lyrical idea of people doing everything they can to make a relationship work because they love that other person…but they know deep down that it needs to end for the good of them both. Sometimes acceptance is the hardest thing.” – Natti Shiner

39 Our Girl I Really Like It

We do, too.
The thing about a track called ‘I Really Like It’ is, predictably, it writes its own reviews. Proving what at first felt like Soph Nathan’s ‘other band’, Our Girl are far, far more than simply a Big Moon side project for the guitarist. Showcasing her songwriting talent, like is too mild. This is a full on crush.

What they say: The track was written by frontwoman Soph Nathan, who says: “It’s one of our newest songs. I was initially quite nervous to share it because it feels quite different to the others. I’d never written about love in this way before. It has the inevitable moments of craziness and longing that can come with falling in love, but mainly it’s just a really happy song.”

38 Drenge This Dance

You dancin’? Cos they’re askin’.
Don’t worry, we’ve felt a bit empty since 2015, too. We weren’t sure why, but it turns out it was the absence of new Drenge songs that did it. ‘This Dance’ fixes that issue, and fills the empty space with thundering riffs that have us more than a little bit excited to see what they do next. Welcome back, guys.

What they say: “Could Drenge write a dance number?” asks Eoin Loveless. “We sat in a tiny bedroom with a fizzing guitar line, programming some beats into a computer. It was different to how we usually worked. We went to a wedding, and like all weddings, we ended up on the dance floor, belting out 80s chart hits like we were on the barrier at a Slayer concert. Our arms and legs collided with each others, with our friends and with complete strangers. Dance like nobody’s watching and then hope they don’t call the police. I watched The Thing and thought about what would happen if Kurt Russell’s MacReady spent the movie fighting off the extraterrestrial organisms with tunes instead of guns. I thought about all the nightclubs I’d never be allowed to go in or would be too scared to enter. I let it manifest into the lyrics of the song, like the monsters in The Thing.”

37 Sports Team Kutcher

Punk’d rock.
If we’d told you at the start of the year that our 37th most favourite banger of the first half of 2018 would be (sort of) concerned with Ashton Kutcher, you’d probably have asked more questions about the band writing it than you would our decision making skills. ‘Kutcher’, though, isn’t any novelty hit. It’s a stone cold banger from one of the most promising bands in the country.

Read our Bangers of the Year (So Far) interview with Sports Team here.

36 Sunflower Bean Crisis Fest

Indie magic.
Sunflower Bean’s latest album ‘Twentytwo in Blue’ was a clear evolution from their debut. The jagged edges had been sanded off, and all in all, it was a tighter, more fully realised project. ‘Crisis Fest’ showcases this perfectly, it’s got all the driving riffs and effortless New York cool that we’ve come to expect, with just a little added ‘oomph’ to nudge it into full-blown banger territory.

What they say: “This last year was extremely alarming, traumatic, and politically volatile,” explains the band about the track. “While writing this album, we often reflected back on the people we met while on tour. We felt a strong kinship with the audiences that came to see us all over the country, and we wanted to write a song for them – something to capture the anxieties of an uncertain future. ‘Crisis Fest’ is less about politics and more about the power of us, the young people in this country.”

35 Troye Sivan Bloom

Bloom-in’ marvellous.
Troye Sivan makes pop that’s both playful and dirty on ‘Bloom’. He’s been careful with the metaphors, but we all know what this song’s about – and it’s oh so sweet. As far as we’re concerned, the more catchy queer songs, the better. Especially when they come with a chorus this danceable.

34 Bastille Quarter Past Midnight

Less hair, more bang.
Maybe, in years to come, we’ll look back at ‘Quarter Past Midnight’ as the key point in Bastille’s story. Not so much because of its musical value, but rather the loss of Dan Smith’s iconic quiff. If you don’t subscribe to our theory that Dan’s barnet co-wrote the songs (prove it didn’t – Ed), the fact that the lead single from the quartet’s fourth album is up there with their most anthemic would probably help your case. We still think there’s something in it though.

What they say: “It’s just about trying to capture that Sliding Doors moment on a night out. Some people are gonna go home; for some, this is just the beginning. It became about being in someone’s car, driving through the city, and I wanted to try and capture that sense of excitement, and that rush.” – Dan Smith

33 Nilufer Yanya Thanks 4 Nothing

Cooler than you. Or us.
There’s something magical about Nilufer Yanya’s voice. Warm and comforting, yet fresh and exciting in the same breath, it’s an instrument that lift’s ‘Thanks 4 Nothing’ up to the highest levels. Finding bite in her velvet tones, it’s full of promise for what’s still to come. One of the very hottest talents.

32 Goat Girl The Man

G.O.A.T.
When Goat Girl have a go, they really put their all into it. That’s the take-home we’re lifting from ‘The Man’ – a building, driving banger that finally explodes like the engine on a runaway steam train hurtling down the tracks. Fizzing with adrenaline, it never attempts to hide its excitement with itself. A potential festival anthem in waiting, expect this one to grow and grow.

31 whenyoung Heaven On Earth

The sound of indie to come.
A ray of sunshine in band-form, Whenyoung are even more bright eyed and bushy tailed than usual on ‘Heaven on Earth’. The subject matter may feature mentions of ‘icy hell’, but anyone that doesn’t grin like an idiot and start dancing when this banger comes on is no friend of ours.

What they say: “It’s our first release on Virgin EMI, which is exciting for us. The first one came out on Hate Hate Hate, then we did Yala! with Felix from the Maccabees, which was exciting for us, and then now this. It feels like… a lot of pressure.” – Andrew Flood

Words: Dan Harrison, Jake Hawkes, Liam Konemann, Stephen Ackroyd