We’re onto the second round of the 90’s Bangers Bracket. Of our 32 remaining songs, 24 were in the bracket the last time we did this, in 2020. Eight—from Enter Sandman to Buddy Holly—weren’t in the field four years ago. Could one of them win it all??
If you’re looking for the songs, they’re in this Spotify playlist, which has been adjusted to put the remaining 32 at the top. If you’re looking for what happened in the first round, that’s below. If you’re looking for the updated bracket, that’s right here:
Now. The second round.
As has most often been the case with these brackets, there are three ways to vote:
- Instagram (voting is live in our stories)
- This Twitter thread
- This Google Form
The only rule is to not spam the votes. We admire enthusiasm, but if we find someone’s overloading the voting, we’ll wipe those votes out. Might wipe the person out too. Still looking for Mr. Darkside. If we find them…they better hope we’re not in international waters.
Second round voting is open until 4:00 PM EDT tomorrow, Friday May 17th. Second round results will be posted this weekend. Round of 16 voting is scheduled for Monday.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
With a banger.
**
First round results, with commentary:
Semi-Charmed Life 36, No Rain 9
No Rain’s a great song. But Semi-Charmed Life won this in 2020 for a reason, and I always assumed that reason is that a lot of The Barking Crow’s followers identify with songs about meth.
U Can’t Touch This 26, Basket Case 21
Should visuals play a role? It’s up to the voter. Whatever your view on the matter, it’s undeniable that an album named “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” makes a strong first impression. In the album art, you can see on MC Hammer’s face that he knows this.
In a related story, I didn’t know about Hammer pants until this week. I could’ve rocked those as a preschooler. This isn’t specific to me. Most preschoolers could rock them. Why do we not dress our toddlers in Hammer pants?
Ice Ice Baby 27, Losing My Religion 22
I know very little about Vanilla Ice. What a thing for parents to name a baby, though. Imagine that guy walking around at age three wearing Hammer pants. Seems like a Montessori kid.
You Get What You Give 24, California Love 20
I think New Radicals are one of those bands that a lot of people know and a lot of people don’t realize other people know. If you guessed how many of your friends also like New Radicals, I think you’d guess too low.
Tubthumping 26, The Impression That I Get 16
This matchup broke my heart. Two great and slightly silly works of music.
Friday I’m in Love 27, I Will Always Love You 18
The all-love matchup was a coincidence. Consider it our ode to love, though.
Loser 26, Linger 19
Gritty matchup. Tough decision. Pour one out for The Cranberries.
What’s My Age Again? 37, Because the Night 9
Spoiler: blink-182 turned in the two most lopsided victories of the first round.
Closing Time 28, She’s so High 16
Unlike New Radicals, everyone knows everyone else knows Closing Time. It’s still sneakily beloved, though. Always does well in these.
Enter Sandman 22, Champagne Supernova 21
Toughest matchup of the first round. Warms my heart that it was so close. Two great works of music. Very different from each other, but both great.
Say It Ain’t So 23, Santeria 20
A theory only slightly related to this bracket: Weezer’s popularity is still rising. They’re aging well. I will not elaborate.
Iris 30, What’s Up? 12
Hand up! I did not realize What’s Up? was called What’s Up? I thought it was called What’s Going On? I also would have guessed it was Vietnam era, even if it doesn’t really sound like music from that age. It’s the emotion that matches. The emotion is, “The Vietnam War is going on.”
You Oughta Know 24, Give It Away 19
Big thank you to the voter who taught us that Flea played bass for Alanis Morissette. What a factoid.
Related: Still a tough look for Joey Gladstone. He will never live that breakup down.
My Own Worst Enemy 21, Come As You Are 18
This is polarizing, and I think it comes back to differing definitions of what is and isn’t a banger. Personally, I think of “bangers” as songs that fire up their listeners and provide an emotional release. But, this is of course not how the term originated. It was about head-banging. We must acknowledge our heritage.
Zombie 31, Brick 11
I really like Ben Folds. But I will admit to being surprised that Brick came in as a banger for some people. Not a criticism—all banger viewpoints are welcome—but I was surprised.
…Baby One More Time 33, Nothing Compares 2 U 9
No surprise, but Dolores O’Riordan vs. Sinead O’Connor in the second round would have felt right.
All The Small Things 38, Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang 8
Full disclosure: I’m not going to miss typing all those apostrophes everywhere. But I also feel wistful for an era when we cared about proper punctuation? I’m all over the place this afternoon.
Buddy Holly 29, Don’t Speak 17
Again: Weezer on the rise?
Breakfast at Tiffany’s 25, Alive 22
To me, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the epitome of being a pleasant song without being a banger. But that’s the beauty of these Bangers Brackets. We don’t have to agree to treat one another with kindness and respect. (If this had beaten The Impression That I Get, I would have joined ISIS.)
Jump Around 28, O.P.P. 19
Sad about this one. Love O.P.P. The song, I mean. Also, I had no idea the Jump Around guys were white. The Camp Randall tradition makes a lot more sense now.
Mr. Jones 35, Black 11
Crows, represent.
One Week 27, Gin and Juice 19
Naming a band Barenaked Ladies so more people show up to your gigs is still a funny bit to me. Hasn’t gotten old, three decades later.
When I Come Around 25, Blue 22
I had a moment this week where I asked myself why I never listen to Green Day even though I like all their stuff that pops up in these brackets. The answer, or my best guess, is that American Idiot offended my red-blooded American sensitivities in 2004. I was in fifth grade. I was all about the Red Sox’ mullets. I thought the JibJab “This Land Is Your Land” video was the funniest thing in the universe. It makes a lot of sense that I run this blog now.
Wonderwall 27, Whoomp! (There It Is) 20
I wonder what Oasis’s legacy would be in America if some other song had filled Wonderwall’s role as “thing dudes play on the guitar at campfires.” Ironically, I feel like the Gallagher brothers hate those bros the most of all of us.
I Want It That Way 29, Don’t Look Back in Anger 19
No win for Oasis in this one, but strong showing. It’s hard to beat the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. Two tough draws for these guys. And Whoomp! (There It Is) is no slouch.
Gangsta’s Paradise 26, Bitter Sweet Symphony 19
I heard a story once, quite possibly an apocryphal story, which said Chris Martin thought Bitter Sweet Symphony was the most beautiful song in the world. Chris Martin the Coldplay guy. Not Chris Martin the relief pitcher.
Mambo No. 5 (a Little Bit of…) 28, Dreams 17
I’ve probably shared this before, but when I was four years old, my favorite song was Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5. Obviously, I didn’t understand why he was naming all these women and locations, but the line that stuck with me was “a little bit of Mary on my lawn,” a misunderstanding of “a little bit of Mary all night long.” Savage move as a four-year-old to walk around singing about making love in one’s front yard. Imagine if I’d been wearing Hammer pants.
3AM 25, Sabotage 20
Rob Thomas seems like he should believe in UFO’s.
Smells Like Teen Spirit 36, Jeremy 8
Grunge vs. Grunge.
This Is How We Do It 24, Killing In The Name 20
You know how I said I like Ben Folds? Well, I really like the song “Rockin’ the Suburbs.” I think it’s great. Used to think it was kind of serious. Grew up. Learned. Now just find it funny and listen to it twice a year.
Why am I talking about all of this?
Because yesterday, I listened to Killing In The Name for the first time in my life, and when I got to that riff at the end, I had quite the laugh to myself in my car. I don’t think Rockin’ the Suburbs was supposed to make fun of Rage Against The Machine (I think it was supposed to make fun of Korn), but man. Got some similarities there in the last minute and a half.
Baby Got Back 31, Creep 13
Never got into Radiohead. Not enough of an English major for that, I guess.
All Star 35, Black Hole Sun 12
Again, I’m not sure Black Hole Sun is a banger. Anthem? Maybe. Maybe it’s an anthem.
**
