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Year In ReView: A collection of Vanyaland’s favorite tracks of 2018

The year 2018 can, will, and should be defined by many things. But for us here at Vanyaland, it was the year of the song. 2018 was a fantastic year for music, singles in particular -- short bursts of sonic brilliance that hit like a fist and lingered like a kiss, all in line with our ever-dwindling attention spans. Over the past 12 months Vanyaland Editor-in-Chief Michael Marotta and Assistant News Editor Victoria Wasylak documented all these brilliant songs as they hit each day in their New Sounds and Fast Tracked columns, daily hype pieces presenting what, in our opinions, were the best tracks of that particular day. Below is a collection of those columns from Marotta and Wasylak, as they were written that very day, shaping the sound of Vanyaland as one based deeply in alt-pop, but extending out to reflect not only Boston's diverse music scene, but the varied tones around the world that made the year so great. This collection is likely different than the other Best of 2018 lists floating around the internet, and that's by design -- here at Vanyaland, nothing trumps our genuine interest in a song we love and admire.

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Dream Wife, ‘Let’s Make Out’: January 19

Not Too Shy: Dream Wife tear punk-pop a new one with ‘Let’s Make Out’

On their self-titled debut album, Dream Wife enter the world propositioning listeners for a makeout sesh and leave it with a promise to fuck you up and cut you up — never mind all the raucous debauchery in between.

The album is currently streaming via Annie Zaleski’s ace piece on NPR, and it officially drops next Friday (January 26). But as of right now, opening track “Let’s Make Out” provides all the whiplash you could ask for during a mid-January slump.

And as you get all worked up, kindly take note: The seemingly benign band name, of course, is meant totally in jest. “It’s a commentary on the objectification of women; the 1950s American Dream stereotype package. Having the dream house, the dream car and the dream wife,” the band explains in the presser. “We want to flip the script on that. Women aren’t objects; we don’t just fit into one mold. At the start, we joked around calling each other our wives, but by supporting one another, celebrating achievements together and finding strength in female solidarity we’re reclaiming the concept of a ‘wife.’ Being in a band is a marriage in itself.”

— Victoria Wasylak

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