The top 10 songs by Toronto bands in 2012

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The best songs from Toronto bands in 2012

With 2012 nearly a memory, it's time to look back and recall some of the year's best tracks from Toronto bands. It's always difficult paring a list like this down to 10, but it was even more difficult thanks to what a strong year it was for local music. Give 'em a listen and then leave a comment below telling us what you think about our choices — or leave your own suggestions if you feel there's something we missed. The more Toronto music, the better.

10. The Elwins - "Stuck in the Middle"
The Elwins subtly turned themselves into one of 2012's best new bands to watch out for. The quartet's catchy "Stuck in the Middle" produced a bright, poppy first impression.

9. Memoryhouse - "The Kids Were Wrong"
Memoryhouse made their Sub Pop debut with The Slideshow Effect, a record that showcases the band's misty, somber sound. "The Kids Were Wrong" rides out in a fog with Evan Abeele's fuzzy guitar lines and Denise Nouvion's vocal billows.

8. The Wooden Sky - "Malibu Rum"
"Malibu Rum" is a sparkling serenade that intoxicates you with bewildering calypso and a woozy, tender melody.

7. PS I Love You - "Sentimental Dishes"
PS I Love You continued to blaze a trail of scuzzy noise-pop hooks with Death Dreams, which features the soaring "Sentimental Dishes" - a song that never slows down, but just gets faster, heavier and more sublime to the very end.

6. Crystal Castles - "Affection"
"Affection" combines automaton vocal effects and disharmony, yet there's substance in the constant patterns of mis-patterns, along with the distorted washes of broken-down choruses and dark, looping beats.

5. Bahamas - "Lost in the Light"
Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen) shone bright in 2012. The best song on Barchords is "Lost in the Light", a song where Jurvanen lets free his wandering, inventive spirit on guitar, with rollicking strums and vocals assembled with perfect backing.

4. Evening Hymns - "Asleep in the Pews"
Evening Hymns' reflective album Spectral Dusk is full of sad songs. And one of the album's saddest tunes, "Asleep in the Pews" is also one of this year's most beautiful, inspiring tracks.

3. Metz - "Wet Blanket"
"Wet Blanket" is explosive and catastrophic. Metz pulls out all the stops to break the barrier between sound in your ear-space, the ground beneath you, and everyone else in the crowd ready to join the chaos.

2. Cold Specks - "Blank Maps"
"I am, I am, I am, I am a goddamn believer," exalts the soulful Al Spx aka Cold Specks in "Blank Maps". With a dauntless, expressive voice, the Polaris shortlist nominee claims her place - and rightly so - as one of 2012's best new artists.

1. Trust - "Sulk"
TRST, the debut album from electronic duo Robert Alfons and Austra drummer Maya Postepski was engineered to shake your earphones. "Sulk" represents Trust's flashy attitude and affinity for noir, dark-wave splendours. Just hit play on "Sulk" - you'll see why it's 2012's number one.