Best 50 Tracks of 2023
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Best Tracks of 2023
Our year end coverage continues today, following up our Best Album Covers and Best EPs of 2023 with our 50 favourite tracks from 2023, as chosen by the volunteers at the Cups N Cakes Network.
There are songs of every different style on this list, representing bands and artists from all across the country. As a result, we’ve chosen this year to present the list in no particular order; it’s just too hard to say that the best punk song this year is any better or worse than the best hip-hop single. If it’s on this list, it’s exceptional, and it’s worth a listen.
While we’d encourage you to follow the Bandcamp links in this article to maybe buy a shirt or an LP for a loved one for Christmas, we’ve also compiled all of the songs mentioned below onto a Spotify playlist, linked below.
Happy listening; we’ll be back next week with our best albums of 2023.
Theee Retail Simps - "Weapon Of The Mystic"
Live On Cool Street // Total Punk Records
The cleanest song on the dirtiest of dirty garage-rock albums stands out above the others in part, because of those amazing horns, but mostly from the too-cool, “zero fucks given”, lyrical delivery from Joe Chamandy.
- Jeff MacCallum
Helena Deland - “Saying Something”
From the album Goodnight Summerland
La Sécurité - "Serpent"
From Stay Safe!
La Sécurité haven’t forgotten that post-punk music can be danceable. On “Serpent” the rhythm section is the star. The groove takes the spotlight while the jagged guitar synonymous with the genre takes the role of being complimentary to the rhythm section and it’s soooooo fucking refreshing.
- Jeff MacCallum
Super Duty Tough Work - "Guillotine Dreams"
From Paradigm Shift
An educated look at Canadian injustices with a nod to Rage Against The Machine and the best line in decades: “while you singin’ god save the queen, the only place I’m tryin’ to see Liz’ face is in a guillotine”
- Jeff MacCallum
Joseph Shabason - “Jamie Thomas”
From Welcome to Hell
Faith Healer - "I'm A Dog"
From The Hand That Fits the Glove
Begonia - “Married by Elvis"
From Powder Blue
Turns out, even in 2023, there are still love songs worth writing. Tender, bashful, yet unwavering, Begonia’s “Married by Elvis” is a heart-melting story about falling head over heels. The instrumentation, a combination of ‘on hold’ music and melodramatic string arrangements, compliment the playful sincerity of the lyrics. “Maybe we’re just stoners / but I’d live this life over and over / just to get the chance to hold your hand a thousand times”. As she describes preparations for their Vegas wedding, she touches on the gravity of marriage, the ecstasy of finding your person, and the feeling of throwing caution to the wind. “Standing at the steeple / acting like a couple stupid people / never thought I’d do something like this in my whole life”. If you’ve ever been in love, grab some tissues before you listen to “Married by Elvis”. Trust me.
- Penelope Stevens
JayWood - "Dirk Gently (Know Yourself)"
From Grow On EP
TEKE::TEKE - "Gotoku Lemon"
From Hagata
Motherhood - “Wandering”
From Dry Heave / Wandering
Canada’s best kept secret, and secret best band dropped a couple new singles this year, and together, they are a great distillation of what makes Motherhood so goddamn good. “Dry Heave” is a great slice of hard-as-nails Motherhood, while “Wandering” sees the band continuing to grow and experiment, pushing further into the art/pop/punk niche they’ve carved for themselves. There’s a lot of really great sounds in the tune, from the vocal harmonies, to the mellotron, to drummer Adam Sipkema’s tight-but-loose thrashing of the drum kit. There ain’t nothing like em out there, and this is another in a string of great releases from the noble New Brunswickers.
- Sean Davis Newton
Isaac Vallentin - "Ramshackle Canada"
From Bardo
Isaac Vallentin settles into his rural surroundings and gains perspective on his former city life over a warm, jangly tune punctuated by a snappy piano lick.
- Jeff MacCallum
The Painters - “Broken Mirror”
From The Painters
Smokey - "Your Beast"
Edmonton’s Smokey made a triumphant return this year with this psychedelic country tune perfectly suited to his shaky vocal delivery. There’s no artist higher on our list of “much watch” in 2024.
- Jeff MacCallum
Ghost Woman - "Alright Alright"
From Hindsight is 50/50
Ghostmeat - "Kisse Manitou Wayo"
Eamon McGrath - "Xmas in Aleppo"
From Fireworks & Roses
Weaving different worlds together in quiet contemplation, McGrath tugs at our heartstrings as he examines life’s cruelties. Comparing a Canadian snowstorm to bombs raining down on Aleppo, McGrath crushes us emotionally when he ponders the kids in Aleppo never knowing how it would feel to play in snow, instead leaving us to picture these children picking through the rumble left after their “snowstorm.”
- Jeff MacCallum
Cots - "Moonlit Building"
From Moonlit Building
Beverly Glenn Copeland - “Africa Calling”
From The Ones Ahead
Dominique Fils-Aimé - "Feeling Like A Plant"
From Our Roots Run Deep
Wayfinding - “Hiro Up From the Workshop”
From Wayfinding EP
Avalon Tassonyi - “Yes or No”
From Candlelightning
Of all the tracks on this list, this is the one I listened to most. It’s the opening track on a very good album, and is just one of those songs that feels like it has always existed. It’s a testament to how good of a writer Avalon Tassonyi is that every single choice feels like the only one that could have been made. Listening to music like that feels like magic, and “Yes or No” isn’t the only song on Candlelightning that has that timeless magic about it. However, it sure is the best in a very good bunch.
- Sean Davis Newton
Knitting - "Fix"
From Knitting
Zoon - "Care"
From Bekka Ma'iingan
US Girls - “Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo)”
From Bless This Mess
Imogen Moon - “Nicolston Dam”
From When They Start Rebelling
This song struck me like a bolt of lightning when I first heard it back in July. When They Start Rebelling checks so many boxes for what I think is cool; a soul EP, produced in New York with members of the Roots and the Dap-Kings, based on a record of protest songs written by Imogen Moon’s grandfather, originally commissioned by the CBC. It’s a one of a kind project, and “Nicolston Dam” is far and away the standout track on the EP. It’s groovy, and cool as hell, with one of the best bands currently working backing up Moon on her first outing.
- Sean Davis Newton
Bart - “Turncoat”
From Some Kind of Way
Freak Heat Waves & Cindy Lee - "In A Moment Divine"
From Mondo Tempo
Astral Swans & Jairus Sharif - “Shine the Light Inside”
From Split EP
ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT - "A Sparrow's Lift"
From “Darling The Dawn”
DEBBY FRIDAY - "GOOD LUCK"
From GOOD LUCK
KEN Mode - "The Shrike"
The Shrike // Artoffact Records
When Winnipeg noise rock titans KEN Mode released their ninth studio album this November, I was experiencing a music slump. I needed something to scrape my ears raw— and upon hearing the opening salvo of “The Shrike,” KEN Mode delivered. It’s raw, it’s heavier than hell, and after something like my fiftieth listen I am forced to write this review from the pitch black bottom of a smoking crater. Go listen, and join me: the view down here is phenomenal.
- Harman Burns
myst milano. - “Pressure”
From Beyond the Uncanny Valley
Tunic - "Whispering"
Wrong Dream // Self-Released
This track embodies everything we love about Tunic. Pummeling drums and ferocious guitar give this song a sonic intensity only matched by David Schellenberg’s scathing or perhaps self-scathing lyrics that change depending on mood.
- Jeff MacCallum
Astro Syte - “MT. RONÉ”
from Tanda
Still Depths - “I’m Moving To Montreal”
Best plan for your life // Self-Released
There’s a lot going on when you really take a hard listen to this track from Calgary noise/art/punk band, Still Depths. Random guitar stabs and odd percussion sounds are layered over each other with perfection to create the standout single on a noisy album that’s not for the faint of heart.
- Jeff MacCallum
David Ivan Neil - “Daffodils”
Daffodils // Self-Released
This song has one of my favourite lines in a song this year. It exemplifies David Ivan Neil’s ability to turn a disarmingly simple thought into something that feels either dryly hilarious or somehow profound.
“Baby we’re just like the 1994 Canucks; cause we’re such an amazing team”
It’s this really specific point of view and frame of reference that makes “Daffodils” shine, and Normal Horse provides an excellent slow build jam backing to David Ivan Neil’s lyrical meanderings.
- Sean Davis Newton
Colter Wall - "The Coyote & The Cowboy"
Little Songs // La Honda Records
Simply a perfect country song. Colter Wall playfully tackles the relationship between cowboys and a common prairie pest, the coyote.
- Jeff MacCallum
Atomicos - “The Girl From C.A.S.B.A.H”
From Fins Up!
Katie Tupper - “Little Love”
From Where to Find Me
WANTS - "Decline"
From Wants
Devours - “Jacuzzi My Stonewall”
From Homecoming Queen
Monks On Call - “Loose Ends”
Lakewood Rd. // Self-Released
As the year draws to an end, the holiday season is upon us with its 'so-sweet-it'll rot-your-tooth-festive' cheer. People tend to reflect at the end of things. We want to look back at a different time - perhaps a happier time. Maybe find some bit of closure within the chaos. Close the book. Get on with our lives. Or maybe, given the divisive nature of the holiday season as best demonstrated by its wholesome, commercial cheer...perhaps looking back at the beginning - when things are at their most raw and vulnerable, can we truly move forward. For the best song of 2023, I got to go back to the beginning. New Years Eve 2022. Midnight. An absolute bitter-cold was eagerly waiting to nip and bite at your fingertips outside. Champagne was popped - a countdown was heard...and a song was played.
"Loose Ends" by Canadian band Monks On Call is the best song for 2023. It does what I think all the right songs end up doing in your life - it propels you forward."
- Josalynn Lawrence
Em & Dzeej - “Baby Small"
From Em & Djeez
NOBRO - “Let's Do Drugs”
From Set Your Pussy Free
Stacy Lloyd Brown - “Fangs of Fortune”
Rhubarb Pie // Self-Released
Stacy Lloyd Brown’s Rhubarb Pie is a heartbreaker, and “Fangs of Fortune” is a prime example of the understated, homespun charm of the whole record. The foley work is a particularly nice touch; there’s something about the song that just feels like you’re flipping through a photo album you haven’t looked at it in a while. The highlight from a record that deserves more attention.
- Sean Davis Newton
Haley Blais - “Survivor’s Guilt”
From Wisecrack
Owen Steel - “Your Own Imagination”
Your Own Imagination // Self-Released
The vibe is strong on Owen Steel’s “Your Own Imagination”. It feels equally at home as a lost demo tape you might find in your cool uncle’s old Tascam Portastudio, or as a part of an Elephant 6 release. The track just grows and grows until it can’t contain itself anymore, and then fades into oblivion. It captures something musically that really does feel like you’re drifting through your unconscious mind, and it’s a trip I’d happily take anytime.
- Sean Davis Newton
The Velveteins - “Declarations of the 3am Highway"
From Declarations of the 3AM Highway
Fever Feel - “She's So Fantastic”
From Family Milk
Boy Golden - “The King of Western Swing”
Facecut - “Want It (Don't Cha)”
From Facecut EP