10 Songs That Will Get You Pumped

Music has many functions. I plan on touching on the vast uses of song and lyric through the course of this blog, but for my initial entry i've got to get the blood flowing. For me it's usually before I step on to the field of a sporting event. Some people blast music before heading to the club. Others simply need it to get going on a Monday morning. These are songs that will get you pumped.

1. Ash - "Meltdown"

Ireland's Ash is known for their alt-rock and grunge roots.  2004's "Meltdown" produced this unrelenting sound assault. Driving bass, chord crunching guitars and the chorus' "I think my head is gonna explode" repetition can provide any wild night or action-filled day with the appropriate backdrop.

2. Coheed & Cambria - "A Favor House Atlantic"

Perhaps Coheed's best known track. I love how the energy level remains constant from start to finish, no time for a break down. Forget the stories behind Coheed & Cambria's songs for now. Just put this on, crank it and repeat.

3. Metallica - "Battery"

You might start to see a trend here. Heavy metal pumps me up, what can I say? Some people need rap or classic rock, but when I hear a great metal track I can't help myself. Metallica has many great ones to select from, but 1986's "Battery" edges out the rest. There's nothing else to say, just have a listen. Ball.

4. Slipknot - "Duality"

2005's Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses took a while to grow on me, partly due to the fact that Slipknot's previous record Iowa is one of my all time favourites. "Duality" seems like it was written with soley the fans in mind. Love the tension that builds throughout the song, and that loud *ping* you hear between heavy guitar downstrokes is a baseball bat connecting with a keg. Fuck yeah!

5. TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me"

These guys are great. have yet to hear a track by them that I don't enjoy. "Wolf Like Me" has got some great lyrics, but more fitting with this list, a chugging bassline thats constant throughout the song and great outro that picks up right after a short breakdown...surely added to let the sweating masses catch their collective breath. I love the energy they bring to their live shows too, here they are on Letterman.

6. Fluke - "Absurd"

From the first second of this track it's infectious groove seems to hypnotize me and i'm a industrial spewing zombie for the next 3 and a half minutes. Some of you might recognize this song as the one Jessica Alba girates to in Sin City.

7. The Pimps - "Rocket Science"

Not much is known about this band from Rockford, IL but this song will find a home in your head. It was included on the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack, the one good thing about that movie, and thats how I came to know it. Haven't heard anything else by these guys, but if "Rocket Science" is any indication then I would be a very interested party.

8. Against Me! - "From Her Lips To God's Ears (The Energizer)"

This song is called The Energizer for God's sake. Written a few years back in response to the US Government's unwillingness to address the unrest in the Middle East.  Another one of those tracks that maintains the same pace throughout. Tom Gabel's got a gift with lyrics, anything he wants to say he'll say it. Whether it rhymes or whatever, he'll find a way to fit it in there.

9. Evan's Blue - "A Cross And A Girl Named Blessed"

Just when you think a great song like this can't get any greater, the machine-gun double kick peddle of the drums erupts at the end of the song. I'll never forget the first time I heard this song...it blew my already blown head.



10. Throwdown - "Burn"

There is no let up from this track and I wouldn't have it any other way to end my first list of many.  Something tells me I wouldn't want to be in Dave Peters' bad books.