Top 10 Songs of 2011: #5 Wye Oak - Civilian 

At this point, a pattern has emerged. With St. Vincent and Florence + the Machines as predecessors (and Mates of State, if you want to pull in the Honorable Mentions), we're on our 3rd female fronted rock bands. This is also another song that fills that previously mentioned niche of starting out slow and quiet and slowly building until it breaks out.

The insane part of it, when you hear it break out, you have no idea that Wye Oak is a duo. The sound is so much bigger and fuller. The mix of this album is truly great, putting sounds and instruments in places that fill your ears and make them seem so sprawling.

The Onion A.V. Club named this album the best of the year, and I don't think that's a stretch. It's a really good record (there are a few more stellar tracks) and one that will probably get a lot more notoriety in 2012 when Wye Oak blow up.