Six of the best 2022 JRock songs
I entered 2022 with a couple of goals, and one of them was to listen to as much amazing JRock music from as many different bands as I could. For the most part, I was highly successful, though it presented me with a particular challenge. Every year I pick my top 2022 JRock songs to share with you, but there are just too much great tracks to pick just one.
Yes, I’m being indecisive, but it also gives me an excuse to share all the best music that has been rattling around in my head over the past year. Sharing is caring, after all, so here are my top 2022 JRock songs that you need to catch up on.
We Got Each Other by FEMM
FEMM ended up being one of my biggest surprises of the year, but their album, Tokyo Ex Machina, is such a well put together pop record that it is impossible not to love them. Plus, they use their unusual backstory to send a great message about how women are portrayed by the media which is a very punk rock move, so they get a place in my top 2022 JRock songs with this catchy and addictive track. I love the message and the vocals are so smooth and polished that I couldn’t stop listening all year.
She by Oreskaband
It won’t be any surprise to find a ska band on this list, but She by Oreskaband is one of the coolest, most fun tracks that was released this year. It became the song most likely to get me dancing in my chair as I worked. There is a wonderfully collaborative feel to the song, with perfectly balanced background vocals along with a fantastic rhythm section keeping everything loose.
one more time by Scandal
I wasn’t originally a huge fan of this song when it first dropped on Mirror earlier this year, but after seeing them perform it live at their long-delayed London show I saw it in a totally new light. This track is so effortlessly cool, giving a great sense of fun and playfulness that was missing for most of my 2022. No day isn’t made brighter when one more time pops up on my playlist.
Frisbee by BRADIO
Speaking of effortlessly cool, BRADIO is a band that seems incapable of missing when they release a track. Frisbee is as funky and fun as the rest of the band’s catalogue, that vocals that stand out even among the band’s best tracks. Takaaki Shingyoji has never sounded better than on this track, whether it is delivering lyrics at a rapid-fire pace or belting out notes with incredible ease. This isn’t just one of my top 2022 JRock songs – it might be my new all-time favourite BRADIO song. It is easily the best song off of their latest EP and is well worth checking out.
Thunderstruck by Man with a Mission
Covers are incredibly difficult to pull off. Too often they are too afraid to do something different with the original song and create something too close to an exact copy. With this track from Man with a Mission, we don’t see that. There is no attempt to emulate Brian Young’s iconic vocals, yet the song still manages to be unmistakably akin to the original. This is honestly one of the best covers of such an iconic song you’ll ever find.
Divine Attack by BABYMETAL
The return of BABYMETAL is welcome news to music fans all around the world, promising to give us more of the surprisingly adorable heavy metal sound we’ve come to expect from the band. Divine Attack was the first song off their upcoming album to be released, giving fans a taste of what The Other One will sound like. It is big and dramatic, giving the hard metal sound the band is known for a theatrical edge that sounds perfect for what they’re delivering. If this is what their next album is going to be like, fans will certainly not be disappointed.
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