9. California X, “Nights In The Dark” [Don Giovanni]
The Western Massachusetts guitar-rock band burst out of the gate with the title track to their sophomore LP, setting the tone for a region that produced a ton of great music in the year that followed (Potty Mouth, Speedy Ortiz). An anthemic, soaring garage rock ripper, “Nights In The Dark” carried Japandroids torch and lit an even larger flame. The spark was never replicated on the album, but this monster single still burns.