KCRW’s Top 30: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, La Femme, and Nation of Laguage heat up

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Oh yeah (yeah, yeah). Photo by David Black.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs might have taken a slow burn approach with KCRW’s Top 30 Chart, but their eventual placement at number one feels inevitable. Only last week’s second place holder, Adrian Quesada’s “Boleros Psicodélicos,” received slightly more spins, keeping YYY’s chart-topper status just out of reach (for now). Quesada’s record is one of the best we’ve heard this year, so it’s entirely possible for it to hang onto that peak position a while longer. But there is a serious momentum behind the indie rock legends’ lead single “Spitting Off the Edge of The World” (Feat. Perfume Genius) as they ramp up to the September release of their first full album in over nine years, “Cool It Down.”

Also bringing some serious heat are the new singles from a few of the artists responsible for last year’s best albums. French psych-punks La Femme dropped “Sacetela,” a smooth Spanish-language ballad inspired by their trips around South America and the south of Spain. Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s Nation of Language have given us a stealth Pride anthem in the form of their synthtastic cover of The Replacements’ “Androgynous.” Read on for the rest, and dig into the Spotify playlist below.

Top 30 Albums (6.14.2022)

1 Adrian Quesada Boleros Psicodélicos
2 Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cool It Down
3 Andrew Bird Inside Problems
4 Toro y Moi MAHAL
5 FKJ V I N C E N T
6 Jungle GOOD TIMES / PROBLEMZ [Single]
7 La Femme Sacate La [Single]
8 J.Rocc A Wonderful Letter
9 The Smile A Light For Attracting Attention
10 070 Shake YOU CAN'T KILL ME
11 Nation of Language Androgynous [Single]
12 Automatic Excess
13 Kate Bollinger Look At It In The Light
14 Stimulator Jones Round Spiritual Ring
15 Braxe + Falcon Step By Step
16 Kikagaku Moyo Kumoyo Island
17 Sudan Archives Selfish Soul [Single]
18 Sessa Estrela Acesa
19 Phoenix Alpha Zulu [Single]
20 Kiefer Why Not? / Montara [Single]
21 Tamino Sahar
22 HAAi Baby, We’re Ascending
23 Kendrick Lamar Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
24 Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs When the Lights Go
25 Madone Conception Immaculée
26 Everything Everything Raw Data Feel
27 Empress Of Save Me
28 Staples Jr. Singers When Do We Get Paid
29 Warm Sound Terminus
30 Bobby Oroza Get on the Otherside