What was the top indie rock song of 2012?

Combining 1 year-end radio countdowns, the top indie rock song of 2012 is "Ho Hey" by Lumineers, which appeared on 1 of the lists.

Year-end consensus · Indie & Adult Alternative · one countdowns combined

The best indie rock songs of 2012

One radio stations and charts published year-end countdowns for 2012: The Current. Combining every list, the top indie rock song of 2012 is “Ho Hey” by Lumineers, which appeared on one of the one countdowns and was voted number one by one of them. Lumineers was the year’s most-charted artist, with two different songs placing 2 times across the countdowns.

1countdowns

89songs charted

1different #1s

Top 100 songs of 2012

Ranked by combined points across every 2012 year-end countdown in this format. How it works.

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s
1	Ho Hey Lumineers	100	1	#1	1
2	Same Love Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	99	1	#2	–
3	Hold On Alabama Shakes	98	1	#3	–
4	Little Talks Of Monsters And Men	97	1	#4	–
5	Emmylou First Aid Kit	96	1	#5	–
6	I Will Wait Mumford & Sons	94	1	#6	–
7	Alone Trampled by Turtles	93	1	#7	–
8	Default Django Django	92	1	#8	–
9	Madness Muse	91	1	#9	–
10	Live and Die Avett Brothers	90	1	#10	–
11	Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings Father John Misty	89	1	#11	–
12	We Are Young fun.	88	1	#12	–
13	Man On Fire Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros	87	1	#13	–
14	Lost Frank Ocean	85	1	#14	–
15	Take A Walk Passion Pit	84	1	#15	–
16	Wandering Star Polica	83	1	#16	–
17	Stubborn Love Lumineers	82	1	#17	–
18	Fitzpleasure Alt J	81	1	#18	–
19	Myth Beach House	80	1	#19	–
20	Andrew in Drag The Magnetic Fields	79	1	#20	–
21	Breathing Underwater Metric	78	1	#21	–
22	Midnight on the Interstate Trampled by Turtles	76	1	#22	–
23	I'm Shakin' Jack White	75	1	#23	–
24	1904 The Tallest Man On Earth	74	1	#24	–
25	Who David Byrne & St. Vincent	73	1	#25	–
26	Video Games Lana Del Rey	72	1	#26	–
27	Would That Not Be Nice Divine Fits	71	1	#27	–
28	North Side Gal JD McPherson	70	1	#28	–
29	All The Rowboats Regina Spektor	69	1	#29	–
30	Simple Song The Shins	67	1	#30	–
31	Tessellate Alt J	66	1	#31	–
32	Do It Anyway Ben Folds Five	65	1	#32	–
33	Somebody That I Used To Know Gotye	64	1	#33	–
34	The House That Heaven Built Japandroids	63	1	#34	–
35	I'm Writing a Novel Father John Misty	62	1	#35	–
36	Skyfall Adele	61	1	#36	–
37	Love Interruption Jack White	60	1	#37	–
38	The Baddest Man Alive The Black Keys	58	1	#38	–
39	That Wasn't Me Brandi Carlile	57	1	#39	–
40	California Delta Spirit	56	1	#40	–
41	Three White Horses Andrew Bird	55	1	#41	–
42	Where We Land P. O. S.	54	1	#42	–
43	Thinkin Bout You Frank Ocean	53	1	#43	–
44	Synthetica Metric	52	1	#44	–
45	Yet Again Grizzly Bear	51	1	#45	–
46	Disparate Youth Santigold	49	1	#46	–
47	Night And Day Hot Chip	48	1	#47	–
48	Blue Jeans Lana Del Rey	47	1	#48	–
49	That Old Black Hole Dr. Dog	46	1	#49	–
50	Only Life I Know Brother Ali	45	1	#50	–
51	Below My Feet Mumford & Sons	44	1	#51	–
52	40 Mark Strasse The Shins	43	1	#52	–
53	Get Down P. O. S.	42	1	#53	–
54	Default Atoms For Peace	40	1	#54	–
55	The Only Place Best Coast	39	1	#55	–
56	Sleeping Ute Grizzly Bear	38	1	#56	–
57	Sixteen Saltines Jack White	37	1	#57	–
58	R U Mine? Arctic Monkeys	36	1	#58	–
59	I Never Knew You Avett Brothers	35	1	#59	–
60	Reminisce John Mark Nelson	34	1	#60	–
61	Lofticries Purity Ring	33	1	#61	–
62	Awkward San Cisco	31	1	#62	–
63	Youth Without Youth Metric	30	1	#63	–
64	A Candle's Fire Beirut	29	1	#64	–
65	Breezeblocks Alt J	28	1	#65	–
66	The Descent Bob Mould	27	1	#66	–
67	45 The Gaslight Anthem	26	1	#67	–
68	My Country TuneYards	25	1	#68	–
69	Charmer Aimee Mann	24	1	#69	–
70	I Ain't The Same Alabama Shakes	22	1	#70	–
71	After You Chastity Brown	21	1	#71	–
72	Amongster Polica	20	1	#72	–
73	I Am Not Waiting Anymore Field Report	19	1	#73	–
74	Movement And Location Punch Brothers	18	1	#74	–
75	Nancy From Now On Father John Misty	17	1	#75	–
76	Henrietta Yeasayer	16	1	#76	–
77	Every Single Night Fiona Apple	15	1	#77	–
78	Home Again Michael Kiwanuka	13	1	#78	–
79	Hang Loose Alabama Shakes	12	1	#79	–
80	This Head I Hold Electric Guest	11	1	#80	–
81	Let's Go Matt And Kim	10	1	#81	–
82	Mountain Sound Of Monsters And Men	9	1	#82	–
83	I Don't Recall Lavender Diamond	8	1	#83	–
84	Trojans Atlas Genius	7	1	#84	–
85	Elephant Tame Impala	6	1	#85	–
86	Ruin Cat Power	4	1	#86	–
87	Splitter Calexico	3	1	#87	–
88	Lonesome Dr. Dog	2	1	#88	–
89	Old Friend Sea Wolf	1	1	#89	–

Every station’s number one of 2012

Station	Number one song	Countdown
The Current	Old Friend Sea Wolf	The Current Top 89 Songs of 2012

All 2012 countdowns in this ranking

The Current The Current Top 89 Songs of 2012 89 songs

About the 2012 ranking

Radio stations count down their listeners’ favorite songs at the end of every year. Each station’s list reflects its own audience, so a song that ruled Los Angeles could miss the top ten in Chicago. To find the songs that defined 2012 everywhere, RockLists gives every appearance percentile-based points (a number one earns 100, the last position earns close to zero) and adds them up across all one qualifying countdowns. Each radio format is ranked separately, so classic rock and hard rock countdowns never shift the indie & aaa results; use the tabs above to switch formats. Read the full methodology.