Wow, has it been 10 months already? This year has rocked unmercifully hard. If you want to know what the three best ’07 releases are so far, bet the barn that these songs should be on everyone’s lists.

3. Bomb the Music Industry! – “I Don’t Love You Anymore”

Since there is no other song in the “punk” genre that can even come close to comparing to this one, there isn’t much to say about it. All the elements are there for this song to be a classic punk/ska masterpiece, except for guitar. You read it right: the best punk song of the year so far doesn’t have any guitar in it whatsoever. So how does it sound? Find out for yourself. Bomb the Music Industry! gives away all their music for free. You have no excuse. They have been doing it for years. So, if you think Radiohead is so great, maybe you should look harder at what other bands are doing to subvert the evil RIAA.

2. Sage Francis – “Got Up This Morning”

Spoken over an old blues sample, this song combines the bass pounding of what we would consider hip-hop with a low-fi acoustic guitar and a woman’s gentle croon.

The song itself is typical Sage Francis: deep, mind-altering lyrics and disturbing subject matter but, like his prior work, he keeps it tight. The lyrics go on to bash Alan Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski, dissect porn magazines, transcribe a book on suicide and shoot a red rider gun at Coke cans. This man is seriously amazing, and you need his newest album, “Human the Death Dance.”

1. The Weakerthans – “Civil Twilight”

If John K. Samson, singer/songwriter for the Weakerthans, wrote a book of poetry, it would win an award. Something in the way he takes listeners to specific places at a specific time just makes me want to be there. It also doesn’t hurt that he has the most incredible voice for his music that just puts it in a different category altogether. It comes down to this: I can’t explain how good the Weakerthans are. I know everyone who listens to them knows how pure music can be. It’s written from the heart and still manages to rock. No, it’s not “emo.” If it was, emo would be something that we could all agree upon, instead of making fun of the girl jeans and makeup.