What kind of guy writes a song about how he tries to get people to call him "Freddie Mercury," but everybody keeps calling him "Right Said Fred"? Only one man: Craig Finn of the Hold Steady. While the band bashes out friendly trash-rock riffs, Finn goes off the deep end in surreal rants such as "Killer Parties," "Sketchy Metal" and "Positive Jam." He spins hilarious, hyperactive tales about America ("In the Nineties we were wired and well-connected/Put it all down on technology and lost everything we invested") and romance ("She tasted like those pickle chips"). "Certain Songs" pays tribute to a jukebox with the perfect ratio of Meat Loaf to Billy Joel. Like the rest of Almost Killed Me, it's bizarrely touching and insanely original.

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.