The 100 Best Songs of 2007

81 "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"
Okkervil River
The haunted Austin, Texas, band sounds lost in misery and whiskey, as Will Sheff brays, "It's just a life story/So there's no climax," with ragged Neil Young passion and a guitar solo to match.

82 "Ultimate"
Gogol Bordello
These New York gypsy punks have never rocked so smartly or with such force — the accordion-violin-drums groove plows forward like a tank, then explodes.

83 "The State of Massachusetts"
Dropkick Murphys
On the punkiest folk song — or the folkiest punk song — of the year, an abused mom loses her kids to the state.

84 "The Crystal Cat"
Dan Deacon
Not a tribute to Pete Doherty's drug-fed kitten. But it sure sounds like it — the synths actually mew! Baltimore compu-hipster Deacon chants his way through the verses and sets his vocals on "syrup-guzzling chipmunk" for the chorus of this electro-pop number.