64 - 31/10/2005 Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure

Chart Run: 02-01-01-02-03-02-05-11-15-16-17-21-26-29-29-25-28-33 (18 weeks)

After a fortnight of one of the biggest acts and songs of the year being at the top, it's a fortnight for another one of them (well for me, at least!) as Maximo Park get their second number one with the best known single from their debut album, Apply Some Pressure. It was originally released in February and had also entered at #2 for me behind Dakota, it was something I really enjoyed but hadn't yet reached the levels of obsession I would do - it had a solid run for a decent sized hit, but at the time wasn't ever going to challenge the Phonics. But over the course of the year I'd begin to love it (and them) so much more, a re-release put it just three places higher in the UK (#17 after #20 in its original release) and again entered my own chart at #2 behind the Arctic Monkeys forcefield, but it would go on to get a deserved fortnight at the top. With two releases and an album I played continuously, this will without a doubt have been my most played song of the year.

Apply Some Pressure is a song which completely typified the mid noughties British indie scene for me - it's nothing groundbreaking but a great, singable, danceable 3 minutes of fun. It's still a top favourite from this era, and of what you'd describe as the 'second tier' of indie bands in terms of commercial success, no one else came close to having as good a duo of signature hits as Maximo Park - the other half to come in ~18 months.

2026 Rating: 10/10

The top 4 were the same in both weeks, with Arctic Monkeys dropping a place and Rebellion (Lies) still sticking around at #4. Goldfrapp were the most significant entry within this fortnight, with Number One between them at #3. There was a top 10 debut for The Feeling with the initial release of Fill My Little World, four months before they'd enter the UK chart for the first time.

65 - 14/11/2005 Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Chart Run: 01-01-03-09-14-19-21-23-27-32-33-32-36-37 (14 weeks)

Just three number one songs between two from the same act equals The Killers from summer of 2004, as Arcade Fire soon followed up the success of Rebellion (Lies) with the next single, Wake Up. In the previous couple of months I'd listened to Funeral a hell of a lot, and loved everything on it to some extent. There were only maybe a couple of songs that they could have chosen as the next single that wouldn't have made the top spot, but Wake Up was certainly a worthy choice, another great example of the contrast between Win and Regine's vocals, and typical of their excellent use of so many different instruments.

I'd probably rank it somewhere in the middle of the 10 songs on Funeral, it's still excellent and a song I've listened to a lot, but not right towards the top of their discography - maybe just about making it if I created a 15ish song 'Best of Arcade Fire' playlist.

2025 Rating: 8/10
Songs kept from #1: Stereophonics - Rewind

A week ahead of Apply Some Pressure before Stereophonics came close to making it a trio of number ones for the year with Rewind, a song more similar to their last couple of albums than the previous singles from this one. Gorillaz - Dirty Harry (#6) and Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia (#15) the highlights of other entries from this fortnight, the latter definitely feels under-charted but it was over a year old at this point.

66 - 28/11/2005 The Futureheads - Area

Chart Run: 01-03-04-04-03-04-05-10-14-14-18-18-26-31-37 (15 weeks)

Following the relative success of their debut album, The Futureheads got a second UK top 20 hit with a standalone single released in the runup to Christmas 2005 in Area, not featured on any of their albums. And like their other top 20 hit, it hit #1 in my own chart. They had been a favourite of mine throughout the year and a new single was always likely something I enjoyed - it was nothing new or different for them, very much 'more of the same' but their sound was still incredibly unique as far as mid-00s indie bands went.

Area certainly ranks towards the top of The Futureheads discography. They're still a band I enjoy listening to every now and again, and their earlier stuff tends to be what I go to most.

2026 Rating: 8/10
Apply Some Pressure climbed back up to the runners-up spot for this week. Oasis had the highest charting other entry with Let There Be Love, reaching #5 - a good effort but some way below the ballad singles from their previous album.

Nice, 'Wake Up' was a big hit too. I didn't wanna mention that earlier because I had rediscovered it was released after 'Rebellion (Lies)'.

I tend to associate 'Wake Up' with the Where The Wild Things Are movie (though it was only for promotional purposes).

67 - 05/12/2005 Röyksopp 'What Else Is There?'

Chart Run: 01-01-01-02-02-04-04-05-07-06-07-09-14-20-20-17-18-17-20-24-26-32-39-35-38 (25 weeks)

For December 2005, the Christmas number one single is one which is essentially two separate songs and entries. What Else Is There? was the third single from Röyksopp's album The Understanding, and became what was their final UK top 40 single, but it was largely promoted in the UK with the Thin White Duke / Jacques Lu Cont remix, and it was certainly a remix which turned the song into something completely different. The remix was what I was mainly listening to at its time of release, mainly the full 8:30 version rather than the radio edit of it and helped it enter at #1, reaching where previous big singles Eple and Only This Moment couldn't quite manage.

The remix turned it into a much bigger dance anthem and was something I loved at the time, really taken to the repetition of the chorus lyrics. Over time, I begun to get more familiar with the original, and it definitely helped extend its chart run - a week shy of half a year in the chart, and 12 weeks in the top 10. The original is stunningly beautiful with the vocal provided by Karin Dreijer (AKA Fever Ray) of The Knife, a band who will be mentioned again in this thread very soon.

To 2026, if I were to listen to the remix I'd go for the radio edit now, the full version feels like it drags a bit over 8 and a half minutes, whereas it remains a bit of a banger when more compact. However, the original would be what I'd listen to most and what I've continued to love more, it's incredibly atmospheric and I still adore Karin's vocal. Röyksopp have released some exceptional singles, and this is definitely one of them.

2026 Rating: 10/10 (Remix: 8/10)

Songs kept from #1:

Guillemots - Trains To Brazil, The Subways - No Goodbyes, ? - ?

Three different songs would enter at #2 behind What Else Is There? Two of the indie bands of the time who'd reached the lower reaches of the UK top 40 a couple of times but didn't have huge success in Guillemots and The Subways, and then one which would switch places on the last chart of the year. Guillemots had a great run of singles and I loved them very much for a brief period, and The Subways are still a fine occasional listen, but No Goodbyes isn't the track of theirs that's worthy of being their most successful.

Of other new entries in these weeks, The Strokes provide my favourite of them with Juice Box (#4), whilst the big UK hit at the time Nizlopi - JCB (#5) was something I admired briefly but haven't really listened to at all in the intervening 20 years, and Fairytale of New York hit #3 after it was re-released.

68 - 26/12/2005 Coldplay - Talk

Chart Run: 02-01-01-03-07-06-09-13-16-19-32 (11 weeks)

We come to the end of a third calendar year, and for the final week of 2005 and first of 2006 is Coldplay, getting their second number one with Talk, meaning each single from X&Y charted one position higher than the previous one. It was always one of my favourite tracks on X&Y and was a worthy third single release, it felt interesting and upbeat for a Coldplay song, certainly having more 80s synth influences than you'd typically find in their work, and it was great to hear them move in a different direction.

However, as was often the case with this time of the year, there's an element of taking advantage of a lack of competition to hit the top, as after the Christmas chart week there would often be a 2-3 week lull before releases picked up again. Talk was one of three entries in the week it was released, with just three more following in the two weeks after where it reigned at the top.

Talk isn't something I revisit particularly often now, perfectly fine and enjoyable but not towards the top of my favourites of theirs.

2026 Rating: 7/10
What Else Is There? was #2 for the two weeks this was at the top, a couple of top 10 entries came from Louis XIV's follow-up to their #1 with Pledge of Allegiance, and Editors re-issue of Munich, which I didn't chart as highly as I did the first time around, but was worthy of another good run as I'd begun to enjoy it, and them, more following me buying their excellent debut album The Back Room.

2005 Review

There were a number of contributing factors, but it's fair to say that 2005 was my favourite year of music to that point. The list of songs I've discussed is so much better than the lists of 2003 & 2004 (average ratings /10 of 7.3, 7.9 & 8.4 so far), but it wasn't just a case of the highs being higher, the other songs mentioned as runners-up and charting are considerably better too.

2005 was the first full year where I was discovering music in any volume outside of previous main sources of the top 40, Radio 1 daytime playlist and what friends at school were into. Whilst the internet had become a big thing for me in 2002-4 for music, that was largely just using the likes of WinMX and Limewire to download songs that were popular, 2005 was the first time where I would've used it to properly discover music through forums and the likes of MySpace. Properly listening to Zane Lowe's show in the evenings opened up a whole new world of artists and genres, and put simply the charts reflected what I enjoyed listening to most more than any other period had, and probably has since. The amount of British indie music in the top 40 was phenomenal, and at this point we hadn't reached the 'landfill' phase, even the lesser known, less successful, poorer stuff of 2005 was better than some of what ended up coming.

Probably helped by being a bit older and having my first small income (plus EMA!) it was comfortably the most music I'd purchased as well, at least 2-3 of albums each month and then a long list at gift-receiving times too. The albums released by Arcade Fire, Maximo Park, Nine Inch Nails, Editors, Bloc Party, The Go! Team, Gorillaz, We Are Scientists, Sufjan Stevens, Elbow and Death Cab for Cutie are all ones I still love listening to today.

The amount of music I've been able to find and discover has risen pretty much every year, there may end up being years where my #1 singles are ones I rank higher, or have stood the test of time better, but not where they will also be as in sync with what the UK (or indeed any country) was charting.

1. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

2. The Futureheads - Hounds of Love

3. Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure

4. Stereophonics - Dakota

5. Royksopp - What Else Is There?

6. Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds

7. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

8. Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

9. The White Stripes - Blue Orchid

10. Maximo Park - Going Missing

11. Doves - Black and White Town

12. The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize

13. Arcade Fire - Wake Up

14. The Killers - Somebody Told Me

15. Scissor Sisters - Filthy/Gorgeous

16. Gorillaz - DARE

17. The Futureheads - Area

18. Stereophonics - Superman

19. The Chemical Brothers feat. Tim Burgess - The Boxer

20. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Ain't No Easy Way

21. The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost

22. Oasis - The Importance of Being Idle

23. Coldplay - Talk

24. Feeder - Feeling a Moment

25. Louis XIV - Finding Out True Love Is Blind

Edited Wednesday at 16:445 days by RabbitFurCoat

X&Y was the first album I heard from Coldplay and I loved it at the time, in retrospect, I think it may be one of their weakest of the early days but I think the singles all still hold up pretty well - Fix You is of course my all time favourite and Talk is an interesting use of Computer Love.

17 hours ago, Chez Wombat said:

X&Y was the first album I heard from Coldplay and I loved it at the time, in retrospect, I think it may be one of their weakest of the early days but I think the singles all still hold up pretty well - Fix You is of course my all time favourite and Talk is an interesting use of Computer Love.

Fix You is certainly a worthy choice of favourite Coldplay song! Can see why you'd think that about X&Y - on its own it's absolutely fine as an album, but just not the one of theirs I go back to. I'd rank Viva La Vida, A Rush of Blood, Parachutes, X&Y, Mylo Xyloto. I haven't paid enough attention to full albums after that.