Song · Tame Impala
“The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala
From the album Currents (2015)
“The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala appears on 23 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 2015 and 2026. It was first released in 2015 on the album Currents. Its best result is #1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of the 2010s (2020). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #34 alternative song of 2016 and #227 of the '10s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (Tame Impala - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"The Less I Know the Better" was the fourth and last single Tame Impala pulled off Currents, their third album, released in November 2015, and it's Kevin Parker in full one-man-band mode: he wrote it, played it, sang it, recorded it, produced it and mixed it. Here Parker trades guitar haze for a slinky disco strut, a rubbery bass line doing most of the talking while his high, woozy vocal floats over the top.
Its video blends live-action footage with hand-drawn cartoon work and is set in a high school gym and locker room, where a basketball player gets his heart broken. Listeners never let go of it: it passed one billion streams in 2021 and two billion by June 2025.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 22 | WFUV New York, NY | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2015 | 90 |
| 2015 | 5 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2015 | 50 |
| 2015 | 4 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2015 | 100 |
| 2016 | 32 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2016 | 91 |
| 2016 | 16 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2016 | 103 |
| 2016 | 13 | SiriusXM Alt Nation National (SiriusXM satellite radio) | SiriusXM Alt Nation's 36 Biggest Alternative Songs of 2016 | 36 |
| 2016 | 20 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2016 | 103 |
| 2016 | 20 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2016 | 89 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 488 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2019 | 650 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 650 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2020 | 1 | Triple J | Triple J Hottest 100 of the 2010s (2020) | 100 |
| 2022 | 379 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2022 | 1042 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
| 2024 | 135 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 70 | 107.7 The End | The End Sweet Summer Vibes Countdown (2024) | 100 |
| 2024 | 245 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 102 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 223 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2025 | 112 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2025 | 19 | Triple J | Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025) | 100 |
| 2026 | 141 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
| 2026 | 249 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: The Less I Know The Better.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "The Less I Know the Better" by Tame Impala.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.