BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 31, 2014

Whether you choose to digest your music via 7-inch wax, high-resolution downloads, and/or full 5.1 surround sound, this past year served up a score of meaty individual tunes for your ears to enjoy. In reverse order, here are The SoundBard’s Top 31 songs of 2014.

31. Steve Conte NYC: “Ok DJ.” (Thunderdog) Big Apple Man’s mighty wax attack. “Listen to the needle drop” and “Let the good times spin” indeed.

30. Chrissie Hynde: “Dark Sunglasses.” (Chrissie Hynde) Perennial Pretenders leader serves up catchy solo Stockholm syndrome single. (Good cowbell usage, too.)

29. Groovy Uncle Featuring Suzi Chunk: “Barefoot in the Car Park.” (Trouserphonic) Groovy ’60s vibe, sweet horns, fab vocals, swingin’ bass line — what’s not to like?

28. Kurt Baker: “Lost in Translation.” (Collectors Club) Shows a keen Knack for modernized skinny-tie pop harmonies and ’60s-inspired riffage.

27. Stupidity: “Baby It’s You.” (GoFast) Swedish power-garagesters unleash a mighty Scandinavian jangle.

Roto has his magic eye(s) on #26.

26. Roto’s Magic Act: “Hot News.” (Volumnia/Zen Easy) Master composer/storyteller James Rotondi goes beyond the headlines to dig deeper into the groove — and he doesn’t bury the lead, either. Read Roto’s SoundBard-exclusive essay about his quest for getting great sonics right here.

25. Angels & Airwaves: “Paralyzed.” (AVA) Smokin’ hot track from Tom DeLonge’s mind-expanding Dream Walker project seethes with killer fuzzed-out guitar and a tasty organ break that will leave you anything but immobile.  Read my interview with Tom on Digital Trends.

24. The Doughboys: “The Tears of a Clown.” (Ram) A relentlessly upbeat cover of the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles classic that goes a long way “to camouflage my sadness.” Supercool harp blowin’, too.

23. Ed Sheeran: “Make It Rain.” (Columbia) Devastating blues as the perfect complement for the instant karma krush on the final season of Sons of Anarchy.

22. Jack Bruce: “Drone.” (Esoteric Antenna) One final, triumphant low-end rumble-rouser from the late, great bass master. Forever the Cream of the crop. Read The SoundBard Interview with Jack here.

21. TAPED3CK: “Hey L.A. (Los Angeles).” (TAPED3CK) Rag-tag rawker about livin’ it up in the city of angles, er, angels. “Come get some.” My interview with TAPED3CK’s Lillard Anthony will be posting soon.

20. 50 Cent Featuring Joe: “Big Rich Town.” (G-Unit) Love/lust letter to the bright lights, city life of New York, via the theme to STARZ drama Power. This is where it goes down.

19. Simple Minds: “Big Music.” (Simple Minds/Caroline) An electronic pulsifier that burbles and sways in all the right ways, tapping directly into the essence of why we listen: “Give me the songs that make me ecstatic.” Read my interview with Simple Mindsters Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill on Digital Trends.

18. Dave Davies: “Front Room.” (Red River) Key track from Rippin’ Up Time recounts where the seeds of “You Really Got Me” and many more Kinks klassics were sewn. “All plugged into one amp … yesterday’s gone but memory still lingers on.” Read my interview with Dave on Digital Trends.

17. Hozier: “Take Me to Church.” (Rubyworks/Columbia) Minimalist, emotional treatise about the core pull of love. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Note: The accompanying video is nothing less than haunting/devastating.

16. The Cherry Drops: “Outta Sight.” (MuSick/Pyramid) Gnarly guitar party anticipating and celebrating when everybody loves to get down the most: the weekend. Let’s rock that funky sound, y’all.

15. John & Brittany: “St. Valentine.” (John & Brittany) A poison-pen love letter to the heart of the saint burned at the stake. Their creative partnership may be over, but the music lives on. “You dig it when I suffer.”

14. JP Soars: “Somethin’ Ain’t Right.” (Soars High) Gravel-voiced Floridian cigar-box axemaster digs deep, flexes his funky wah, and reminds us we can’t keep looking the other way. “Anything helps.”

13. The Gaslight Anthem: “Rollin’ and Tumblin’.” (Island) Not a vintage blues cover, but an urgent, insistent, throaty punk-Jersey pleading to find balance. “My head is the weather vane, spinning with the wind chime.”

12. The Strypes: “I’m a Hog for You Baby.” (Photo Finish/Mercury) Pub-rockin’ Irish punk-garagesters blaze through a 3-minute barnburner, complete with breakneck guitar/harp breakdown. Young Yardbirds for the 21st Century. (Note: This tracks is inexplicably not on the U.S. version of Snapshot; seek out the import and/or legally download accordingly.)

TP&THB turn it way up at #11. Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews.

11. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: “Red River.” (Reprise) The most engaging track from Hypnotic Eye, with a sweet guitar/organ middle break that features a brief but blistering one-take solo from Mike Campbell. Even more hypnotic via Ryan Ulyate’s fully engrossing 5.1 mix on Blu-ray. “Look down into your soul.” Read The SoundBard interview with Ryan here, and then read Ryan’s essay on his passion for hi-res audio on Hi Res Audio Central.

10. Mark Rivera: “Money Money Money.” (Dynotone/Red River) Soulful sax man sings about lookin’ for some green in all the right/wrong places, featuring killer pedal steel from Robert Randolph. “Can’t get enough of that dirty stuff.” Read The SoundBard interview with Mark here.

9. Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars: “Uptown Funk.” (RCA) Nuthin’ wrong with a good ol’ nasty, funky mover and groover. “Uptown funk you up.”

8. Foo Fighters: “I Am a River.” (Roswell/RCA) Epic end-piece to Sonic Highways celebrates the endless wonder that is New York City, capped with a beautiful string arrangement in its final minute. “I found the secret.” My Foos interview (or two) will be posting in early 2015.

7. Nick Waterhouse: “Holly.” (Innovative Leisure) Title track of this year’s retro-coolest LP by far, with sweet swingin’ horns, perfectly percolating organ riffs, and fab female background vocals. “Boom boom, boom boom boom…” Read The SoundBard Interview with Nick here.

6. The Raveonettes: “Sisters.” (The Raveonettes) Explosive, blistering, fuzz-frazzled empowerment anthem (of sorts), made more complete with strategic harp-strumming breaks and cherubic chorus. Beyond invigorating.

5. Coves: “Beatings.” (Nettwerk) The most perfectly haunting, ethereal, echo-laden kiss off. “Pins and needles in my soul.” Read my interview with Covesters Beck Wood and John Ridgard on Digital Trends.

4. Devon Allman: “Midnight Lake Michigan.” (Ruf) A mystical, one-take 9-minute journey in B minor that speaks to the very core of the deeply affective power of improv. On par with Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s endlessly brilliant “Riviera Paradise.” Read my interview with Devon on Digital Trends.

3. Pink Floyd: “Louder Than Words.” (Columbia) The only song with lyrics on The Endless River seeks to bridge the communication gap between lost souls forever intertwined in song and heart. David Gilmour’s soaring solo cleanses all ills spoken and unspoken. “This thing that we do … The way it unfurls … The sum of our parts / The beat of our hearts / Is louder than words.” Read my interviews with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason on Digital Trends and FOX411 — two completely different Q&As! — and with producer Andy Jackson on Sound & Vision.

2. The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger: “Devil You Know.” (Chimera Music) Sean Lennon & Charlotte Kemp Muhl mix up the magic aural medicine, with just the right blend of melody and headiness. Actually a bit Harrisonesque on the chorus, and oh so wonderfully imagined overall.

1. The Bayonets: “Crash Boom Bang!” (Robo) A most infectious pure pop joyride explodes with churning guitars, left-channel organ riffs, and sweet harmonies, amped up even more thanks to a way-fab harmonica solo toward the end of the back half from guitarist/vocalist Brian Ray. (Yep, you’ve seen him play all these recent years with Sir Paul.) “She’s all go-go-go … She’s a rollercoaster hurricane.”