999,789: Ben Folds Five - Uncle Walter

Ben Folds Five is so squeaky clean, it's the kind of band you can listen to on the drive BACK from Vegas to make yourself feel clean, sweet and innocent again. Everything about them is wholesome: from the cheery frilly piano, upbeat drums to jokey vocals. With that kind of street rep, people tend to give BF5 the side-eye in terms of "great band" status. There's nary a curse word or hard-edged anything. The 3 piece drums/bass/keys line-up didn't revolutionize music, just pumped out some cheesy piano-rock.

But they aren't exactly polished either....especially early Ben Folds Five, like "Uncle Walter." The messy pop cacophony captures that moment the band finally just managed to learn to put the song together. But what a song! Folds' effortlessly navigates a very large-range tightly packed vocal and jazzy piano solo. Not to mention the sophisticated contrast of the song's theme of batty old man matched with their jingle-jangle sound. Here the band is in the prime of their youth lamenting the everyday awkward of being left alone with a spaced out senior citizen.

Ben Folds Five may have been juvenile, but they certainly weren't stupid.

999,790: Hanson - Give A Little

It's a very sad time in America for rock n' roll. The only rock song to chart on the Billboard 100 in 2010 was Train's "Soul Sister," which just barely qualifies as being a rock song. If anybody should be able to bring rock back into the mainstream, it's HANSON, right?! I mean, can you really feel threatened by them in any way, my fellow Americans? They have soft skin, pretty faces (except for Isaac), and have buttery smooth vocals. In the video for "Give a Little" (the hooky-iest pop rock jam I've heard in a long while) Taylor Hanson literally drapes himself in an American flag for no particular reason other than to remind you that we United States-ians can still make pop records that don't need to be outsourced to Sweden.

More importantly, the song leads with a guitar riff. Remember America? We like guitar! Oh, but if that guitar sound is too wild for you, the heavy horn section should keep you happy. Or not. This song is currently #98 on itunes. You GUYS! come ON. Can we just take a break from buying Black Eyed Peas and Bruno Mars songs for like a day? Give a little heart and soul. Let your body lose control.

More importantly, this song reminds me of something fictional band The Wonders would write.