OOPS! 2023 / #50 – 46: A Bully, A Fish and A Bunny

There is soooooo much music it is hard to keep track of everything. Sometimes records and tracks fall through the cracks and miss the top 50 through no fault of their own. All I can say is, “OOPS! I missed that one.” So, I made the OOPS! top 50, which is made up of songs that I missed when I made the top 50, but deserve a listen. So, at the end of the OOPS! list you will have 100 amazing tracks to listen to that came out in 2023. Much like the top 50, these are tracks that came out before Dec. 5th and anything after that will go on the top 50 of 2024. Unlike the top 50, I have not ranked these tracks, so there is no real difference between song 50 and song 1. So, with all that out of the way, let’s get going.

50. Corook and Olivia Parton: If I Were a Fish

This track about being yourself, body positivity and toxic Internet culture is probably one of the catchiest tracks in 2023. It has that Woody Guthrie vibe of folky fun with a far deeper meaning. Corook and their partner Olivia Parton wrote this track in response to online trolls and it became a viral sensation. It is catchy as hell, great for kids and adults, and a great track.

49. Bully: Days Move Slow

Bully’s new track nestles in a space between shoegazey electric guitar glimmer and 90s Siamese Dream like 90s alt pop crunch. It has a great energy with a very Smashing Pumpkins vibe of questioning the afterlife, one’s mortality and stuck between living your life and utter debilitating gloom. This track is about raising above the darkness to keep going and make the most out of what you can in life. I love the punky vibe and it has a freshness that stuck out to me.

48. Anjimile: The King

Part horror movie and part Bible study, The King blasts with some disconcerting Philip Glass style synth vocals, which rapidly grow more chaotic as Anjimile sings about the destruction within the Old Testament. This track is full of religious themes, the use of religion to kill and destroy, and the bloody justice of the apocalypse. Anijimile, an African-American trans artist, both connects with the justice found in the Old Testament, which is not available to them in the face for racism and transphobia, but also highlights how religion can be twisted to oppress and dominate others. The King is a challenging track lyrically, but the vocals and arrangement are excellent.

47. Tanner Adell: Buckle Bunny

Calling a woman a ‘buckle bunny’ implies that she is a cowboy groupie that only focuses on her looks and wearing as little clothes as possible. This largely derrogatory term is turned on its head by Tanner Adell who takes on the Buckle Bunny persona with all the power and sexual agency we usually see in Cardi B or Lizzo tracks, but not as much in country. This country hip hop fusion is all about women having power and is virtually a modern version of Dolly Parton’s 1967 feminist track Dumb Blonde and I love it.

46. Durand Jones: Wait Til I Get Over

Much like how the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack revived old school bluegrass, Durand Jones brings back the revival tent religious movements of the 1930s and melds it in with baptist church epic grandiosity in this amazing track. Listening to the track is truly a spiritual experience as Jones has a call and response tale of Jesus coming down to lighten our Earthly burdens and usher us into the joy of Heaven. The only music comes at the end of the largely acapella track as light synths play to symbolise our ascension to the pearly gates. His vocals are so passionate and amazing this track must be experienced on full volume.