The MT20 Countdown: February 26, 2024

For the first time in 6 years, the MT20 returns under a new name and, let's be honest, mostly the same type of music. The Struts take #1 for approximately the fourth consecutive week with their Billy Idol homage, "Pretty Vicious". The Struts have been gradually rising in my estimation for several years - their only appearance on this site was "One Night Only", reaching #26 in 2018. I love seeing this type of breakout culminate in a #1 hit. They have no idea who I am, but they finally put it all together for me! 

Nothing But Thieves follow up my #4 song of 2023 ("Overcome") with this week's #2, "Oh No :: He Said What?". Nothing But Thieves are also the only act with multiple tracks on the list this week, with "Dead Club City" (which would have spent some time in the top 3 had I been publishing a couple of months ago) on its way down at #18. They'd previously hit the top 5 here twice in 2017 with "Amsterdam" (#3) and "Sorry" (#1). Now give 'em 5 top-fives, at least. Probably 7 or 8 had I had complete records, since my fandom dates back to their debut self-titled album and initial US releases back in 2016.

Next, we see MGMT bringing some Oasis-esque indie pop with "Mother Nature", marking their highest ranking since "Kids" in 2009. The Maine have been riding high in my ears the past several months, and in advance of their show opening for Fall Out Boy and Jimmy Eat World, "thoughts i have while lying in bed" comes in at #4. Rounding out the top 5 are Cold War Kids with their not-a-Carly Rae Jepsen-cover, "Run Away With Me". 

The 6-10 slots are a bit weak with mostly falling tracks, an exception being Green Day's "Dilemma" (not a Nelly cover), which was a marked improvement over their lead Saviors track, "The American Dream Is Killing Me".

Some rising tracks in the bottom half of the chart include:

• Sum 41's "Landmines". It's the pop-punk act's biggest hit in 23 years, and one of the first times since David Ortiz's 2016 season in MLB that someone's stated final effort ended up becoming their most successful since their prime years.
• Love Fame Tragedy's "Don't You Want to Sleep With Someone Normal". This is the side project of Matthew Murphy from the Wombats, who in recent years became would-be chart stalwarts (again, had I been publishing). "Turn" was just getting started when I left the charting world in early 2018, but would have gone to #1 had I kept at it. The Wombats would have followed with "Lemon to a Knife Fight" and another sure-thing #1, "If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming With You". 
• Noah Kahan's "Homesick", featuring Sam Fender. Speaking of artists who slow-burned their way into superstardom in my world, Sam Fender did just that in 2022. I'd heard of him a few years before almost accidentally, through various Spotify playlists he popped up in. I forgot about him for a couple of years, and then "Seventeen Going Under" came out. It would not have been a close call to put that track as my #1 song of 2022. 
• Finally, Fall Out Boy's "So Much (For) Stardust" enters at #20. FOB were the top artist of 2023 for me and had the top song, "Love From the Other Side". "Fake Out" also placed in the year-end top 10, and "Hold Me Like a Grudge" would have been top-5 on a weekly countdown had (say it with me)... I been publishing. Most songs on the album would have gotten the "single-release bump", and the title track ended up getting it over other possibilities like "Fake Out" and "What a Time to Be Alive".