this is dudical.

Dudes & dudettes, I am sure you can agree that there’s something magical about listening to a sad song in a thunderstorm. Here are 32 of my favorites. Enjoy:

Psychotica – 180º
[Psychotica/1996]
This seminal goth band’s debut album was a mainstay on my playlist back in high school. ‘180º‘, in particular, is a grand foray into industrial goth androgyny.

The Sound – Winning
[From the Lion’s Mouth/1986]
Post-punk pioneers The Sound were unfortunately overlooked due to the successes of Joy Division, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen and others. Nevertheless, they released some chilling, hopeless music that used to send shivers up my spine when I would go for walks at 3 a.m. through my empty town of rural suburbia.

The Music – Getaway
[The Music/2002]
The Music’s masterpiece, ‘Getaway‘, from their self-titled debut, is a rain-soaked anthem of intense, thunderous guitars and wailing vocal pleas that never fail to make my blood boil.

Dimbodius – Breaking You
[While We Fall/2004]
‘Breaking You‘ is a sprawling, hypnotic cadence of desparation and dejection. Afloat in dreary reverb and steady electronic backbeats are passionately slow vocals that evolve and devolve like a thunderstorm.

M83 – Unrecorded
[Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts/2003]
M83’s gorgeous debut surprised everyone with its intricate electronic homages to My Bloody Valentine, and this epic instrumental cascade of synth-soaked melody is a perfect introduction. ‘Unrecorded‘ could probably start a rainstorm if you played it loud enough.

Optiganally Yours – Oar
[Exclusively Talentmaker!/2000]
Rob Crowe hid this little gem on an obscure side project, deftly ensuring a treasure trove of happy-to-be-sadness for anyone lucky enough to discover it. This is one of the most depressing tracks (the lyrics!) ever.

Team Sleep – Your Skull is Red
[Team Sleep/2005]
This bone-chilling track from Deftones’ Chino Moreno features skull-splitting melodies and the type of passion and murderous lust we’ve come to expect from Chino.

ohGr – JaKO
[SunnyPsyOp/2003]
The side project of Nivek Ogre (of Skinny Puppy fame) harnesses a dark, pulsating energy that meshes some 80s new wave to Skinny Puppy’s usual industrial gristle. Perfect for a midnight storm.

The Church – Under the Milky Way
[Starfish/1988]
The Church’s greatest moment (utilized perfectly in Donnie Darko) is quite possibly the saddest, most demoralized song ever written. Steve Kilbey’s wistful baritone seems forever mired in frozen gloom.

The Boxer Rebellion – Never Knowing How or Why
[Exits/2005]
The Boxer Rebellion’s debut is a chilling assemblage of Sigur Rossian vocals and droning soundscapes that make for a perfect soundtrack to a rainy afternoon.

The Organ – Memorize the City
[Grab That Gun/2004]
This now-defunct all-girl Canadian band has released some of the most depressing music of the decade. ‘Memorize the City‘ is a heaving journey through the empty, rain-soaked streets of Desolation City.

Ra Ra Riot – Ghost Under Rocks
[Ra Ra Riot EP/2007]
Perhaps made even more surreal by the recent death of drummer John Pike, ‘Ghost Under Rocks‘ is an emotional deathgrip—weaving and winding through a landscape of anguish.

Ellen Allien & Apparat – Way Out
[Orchestra of Bubbles/2006]
Ellen Allien’s collaboration with Apparat showcased a beautifully produced set of moody electronica, most notably this masterpiece, which mixes Allien’s evocative vocals with a backdrop of hammering beats and synthy melodies.

The Raveonettes – Lust
[Lust Lust Lust/2007]
Drenched in reverb and moving along at a sexy, hypnotizing crawl, ‘Lust‘ is the perfect backdrop for a canvas of gentle rain on an otherwise silent Sunday afternoon.

The Dandy Warhols – Good Morning
[Come Down/1997]
This classic Dandy Warhols track is a druggy meditation of droning guitars topped with Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s typically lackadaisical vocals, relenting only after a brilliant guitar-solo crescendo.

New Order – Crystal
[Get Ready/2001]
Possibly the greatest song New Order has ever recorded, ‘Crystal‘ is nothing short of an anthem for driving fast in the rain. Bernard Sumner’s melodic vocals have never sounded so intense with the accompanying keyboards and throbbing bassline.

The Big Sleep – Sleep Forever
[Sleep Forever/2008]
The title track of The Big Sleep’s latest record is a perfect album closer, awash in shoegazy guitars and wailing vocals, like a massive summer thunderstorm.

The Get Up Kids – Like a Man Possessed
[Another Year on the Streets, Vol. 3/2004]
One of The Get Up Kids’ softer, more introspective moments (which makes a jawdropping appearance on an episode of One Tree Hill), ‘Like a Man Possessed‘ combines a restrained tempo with melodic guitarscapes and a vigorous breakdown.

Denali – The Instinct
[The Instinct/2003]
Maura Davis’s classically trained vocals have never sounded as frozen and hopeless as they do on this Denali song—backed by steady, electronic drums and cacophonous guitars, this track was my only solace for weeks following my grandpa’s death a few years ago.

Radiohead – Where I End + You Begin
[Hail to the Thief/2003]
Radiohead’s ‘Where I End + You Begin‘ is a kaleidoscope of haunting atmospherics that perfectly compliment Thom York’s manic vocal stylings—creating a sort of bi-polar mood that never fails to clone the feelings I had in 2003 when I first heard it.

Starflyer 59 – Too Much Fun
[The Fashion Focus/1998]
The epic wall of guitars that is ‘Too Much Fun‘ is the greatest song ever recorded. At almost 8 minutes long (8 minutes of God), there isn’t a better song to listen to during a tumultuous flood.

Sound Team – TV Torso
[Movie Monster/2006]
Sound Team’s ‘TV Torso‘ is a feverish locomotive of mood. Trance-inducing, uncompromising and frenetic.

Sparklehorse – Cow
[Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot/1995]
Mark Linkous’s typically surrealistic wordplay and intricate arrangements add a bizarre, dreamlike quality to this song—perfect for a gentle rainshower on a weekend afternoon.

Blonde Redhead – 23
[23/2007]
Featuring Kazu Makino’s now-customary blend of abstract vocal stylings and a canvas of My Bloody Valentine-influenced distortion, ‘23‘ vomits beauty and inhales my soul with each listen.

The 101 – Regret
[Green Street/2005]
The 7-minute closer from The 101’s first full-length is ceaselessly lethargic, but its reassuring hook was a Saturday afternoon mainstay for me a few summers ago.

Maserati – The World Outside
[Inventions For the New Season/2007]
‘The World Outside‘ is a sparkling bit of instrumental post-rock: textural, vibrant and graceful.

Honey is Cool – Bolero
[Early Morning Are You Working/1999]
The wintry, otherworldly vocals and tundric guitars of ‘Bolero‘ are as good as anything Karin Dreijer has recorded since.

Moonbabies – I’m Insane But So Are You
[June and Novas/2001]
Every time I listen to the jangly guitars and hopeless lyrics of this song I am instantly shoved into the Japanese dreamworld described in Haruki Murakami’s classic, Norwegian Wood.

Failure – Another Space Song
[Fantastic Planet/1996]
Failure’s “Another Space Song” is a dismal, metaphorical tale of being left alone to die in nothingness. The intro of this song is taken directly from a scene in the 1973 animated French surrealist film Fantastic Planet.

Hum – Little Dipper
[You’d Prefer an Astronaut/1995]
A stentorian nightmare of space and drugs; a thunderous wall-of-sound (sluggishly moving/barely breathing) drones amidst swells of feedback.

On!Air!Library! – Feb.
[On!Air!Library!/2004]
In just a couple of minutes, these experimentalists overlay a simple, repetitious guitarscape with an utterly hopeless vocal line that seems as sad as anything ever could be.

National Skyline – A Night at the Drugstore
[This=Everything/2001]
Former members of Castor and Hum teamed up to create this; scourged in chilling synths, ethereal samples and emotionless drum loops. A perfect choice for walking around in a midnight thunderstorm.