I’ve always been one for guitar rock, and I’ll be with it until the end. Even though it seems there are a variety of thinkpieces about its death, the pessimism of rockism, or whatever, I find that the opposite is true. Sure, the genre wanes from year to year like any style, and admittedly, 2014 wasn’t the best year for rock either. But there’s always something happening, even if subtle, with this drum-bass-guitar-and-sometimes-keyboard set-up (the basic characteristic of rock as I have defined it and the sole characteristic needed for qualification on this list), with new bands ever-delaying its demise. That rings especially true this past year; while it usually takes some sort of modern-day heavyweight like the previous year’s Japandroids or Titus Andronicus records to get things going on a grand scale, guitar rock’s tradition in 2014 fell largely to up-and-comers, bands we haven’t heard in a minute or artists that haven’t done something this revved-up before.

Outside of power chords, most of the songs below share one hair-raising trait: they can be qualified by the age-old buzzword “anthemic.” I defend anthemic tunes in sound and purpose; by channeling a cathartic response from their listeners, this kind of song allows a sizable segment of the bands playing guitar rock to persist. Plus, they’re often more fun anyway. Be it in the fashion of pop-punk, third-wave emo revival, throwback indie rock, or simply one of those blurry songs with equal amounts of glam rock and Yo La Tengo, these songs (listed in no particular order) hit hard.

Top 10 Guitar-Rock Songs of 2014

White Lung, “Face Down” (Domino)
Am I the only one that hears remnants of Slayer all over Deep Fantasy? Yeah, it’s a hardcore record through and through, but the pace and the licks that lather this LP front to back are a dumbfounding force. “Face Down” is best representative of White Lung’s precision in its proclivity to otherwise disrupt.

Joyce Manor, “Catalina Fight Song” (Epitaph)
It’s hardly a minute long, but this song is the most raucous 60 seconds you’ve ever heard. It was a great idea for this track to lead the Never Hungover Again promotional train as it’s so characteristic of Joyce Manor. In pounding power chords and audible disdain, the record’s heaviest cut yields blood-boiling screams and compels one to repeatedly move the needle back to the beginning.

Cloud Nothings, “I’m Not Part Of Me” (Carpark/Mom+Pop)
Frontman Dylan Baldi has shown a knack for lo-fidelity catchiness. Though the Cloud Nothings’ sound has expanded greatly in the past few years, “I’m Not Part of Me” is not really a new compositional direction. That is to say that this song is an addiction, with a perfect verse-chorus ratio that luckily doesn’t cut out too early. Also, keep an ear out for Jayson Gerycz inimitable drumming chops.

Cymbals Eat Guitars, “XR” (Barsuk)
The featured harmonica on “XR” might bare homage to cowpunk or the unforgiving folksy moments of Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor, but while it inflects more gruffness and emotion than any guitar on the track, it’s never as much as the throat of lead singer Joseph D’Agostino. Listen in, and let the fists fly.

White Reaper, “Cool” (Polyvinyl)
Think Japandroids before Post-Nothing, when they just started to build their propensity for deep anthems in not a lot of words (a la “Wet Hair”). “Cool,” off of White Reaper’s excellent self-titled EP, is an unpretentious crush song—the mixtape track for some girl who meant absolutely everything to you in 10th grade.

Twin Peaks, “Sloop Jay D” (Grand Jury)
Take Rolling Stones swagger, mesh it with Big Star urgency, then have a kid recently graduated from high school sing it and you get Wild Onion’s “Sloop Jay D.” With riffage that matches “The Boys Are Back in Town,” it lends itself to a spot in an upcoming Guitar Hero franchise and is as unabashedly classic rock as 2014 got.

Martha, “Dust, Juice, Bones and Hair” (Salinas)
Martha’s Courting Strong is a delicate, well-balanced set of songs knit together by pure melody and guitar phrasing that doesn’t necessitate articulation. For fans of Yuck’s 2011 self-titled album and the band Defiance, Ohio, “Dust, Juice, Bones and Hair” is a becoming tribute to being yourself.

Diarrhea Planet, “Platinum Girls” (Infinity Cat)
Diarrhea Planet (as if the name isn’t an indicator) kind of does whatever the band wants. On “Platinum Girls,” the nation’s finest glam pop-punk band ties together four guitarists and id-fueled melodies as well as they’ve done on their full-length albums. Not to mention the music video features DP doing a spoof of The Adventures of Pete & Pete opening theme.

Against Me, “FUCKMYLIFE666” (Total Treble)
“FUCKMYLIFE666” is the first real banger from the first Against Me record since frontwoman Laura Jane Grace came out as transgender in 2012. What a rager it is, too. Grace slams down all of her grievances regarding how she’s changed, or how others have as a result. It must be unimaginably tough, though “FUCKMYLIFE666” provides a narrow glimpse.

Beach Slang, “Filthy Luck” (Dead Broke)
If a song in 2014 could make you feel revitalized, it’s this one. On “Filthy Luck,” Beach Slang channels pent-up energy into an anthem suited for shouting with friends in your basement. It is like the moment when you heard “Chesterfield King” for the first time.

Honorable mentions
Ex Hex, “Waterfall”
Viet Cong, “Continental Shelf”
Chumped, “Hot 97 Summer Jam”
Ought, “Habit”
Parquet Courts , “Sunbathing Animal”