If you’re of a certain age in 2026, these hits from 2008 should come right back to you. Granted, they might be more familiar to those who were high schoolers in 2008. But these millennial songs and the albums they appeared on still represent some of the iconic music coming out in the late 2000s.
“DontTrustMe” by 3OH!3
Actually, 3OH!3’s entire 2008 album Want lives in my head rent-free. I wouldn’t say this was formative for my music taste as a whole, but it was important for a brief, crucial time. Now, I get a nostalgic twinkle in my eye whenever songs like “CHOKECHAIN”, “STARSTRUKK”, and especially “DONTTRUSTME” come on shuffle.
When the duo released their 2021 comeback album, Need, they acknowledged that they’d changed since the confrontational days of Want. But tracks like “DONTTRUSTME” still represent their clever writing abilities, even if some of the lyrics haven’t aged well. Except, of course, the iconic line that every Millennial remembers, “Tell your boyfriend / If he says he’s got beef / That I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t f**kin’ scared of him”.
“Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant released their debut self-titled album in June 2008, preceded by the single “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”. This song had massive airplay at the time, and still probably pops up on the radio today as one of the band’s most enduring hits.
In 2008, Cage the Elephant emerged into a world that welcomed eclectic vocals with open arms. Bon Iver, Adele, Duffy, and Passion Pit, among so many others, were breaking through or debuting around this time. So “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” came with a uniquely untamed sound at just the right time to become a lasting memory in the millennial mind.
“I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” by Black Kids
Jangly indie rock band Black Kids released their debut album Partie Traumatic in July 2008, and were one of the first bands to benefit from the buzzy blog scene that was forming then. “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You” is a quintessentially late-2000s indie-pop-rock song in a similar vein as The Ting Tings, Tilly and the Wall, and even a little bit of Los Campesinos!
The single is one of those that could be considered a bit niche depending on what you were mostly listening to at the time. For example, if “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” was more on your radar, it’s possible you missed “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You”. But for the OK Go’s, the Cage the Elephant’s, the Vampire Weekend’s, this one will come back as if no time has passed.
“Viva la Vida” by Coldplay
Coldplay was already established in the pop-rock mainstream world when they released what’s arguably their best album, Viva la Vida, in June 2008. It’s their most commercially successful and familiar album, in any case. Coldplay continued to ride the wave of hit singles with this French Revolution conceptual offering, with the title track becoming the most enduring.
“Viva La Vida” is a triumphant, cinematic track that continues to raise goosebumps on my arms 18 years later. Something about vocalized harmonies and sweeping string sections made this track stick in my brain where all other Coldplay offerings refused to take root. I can’t recall more than a couple of their big hits, even though I know they exist. But for “Viva La Vida” I have perfect recall.
Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage
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