2009 was a weird, up-and-down year. Strikes and gutters, as The Dude would say. I attended the funeral of my fiance’s best friend’s husband, who died of leukemia at the age of 25. Talk about some heavy shit to comprehend. I endured job stress like I’d never wish on anyone, to the point of near breakdowns, thanks to being married to a construction project that was doomed by poor planning, a completely unrealistic schedule, shoddy and hasty design, and nightmarish existing conditions. (Ever seen “boiling” groundwater turn everything to mud in the very spot where a 5-story building addition is supposed to go? Trust me, you don’t want to.) But there were moments on the brighter side, too. I got to see my little sister get married, went on an amazing hiking/camping trip in a forest shrouded in forgotten historical lore, rode an out-of-control air mattress down a really steep ski hill, and attended some incredible concerts by some of my favorite bands.
Speaking of music, 2009 was another great year in which I discovered shitloads of new artists/groups and got new albums by some of my favorite bands from years past, recent and distant. The biggest regret I have is that I just can’t find enough time to thoroughly listen to everything I’ve liked, thanks to work and my obsessive habit of having to listen to every minute of every Howard Stern show (that’s at least 20 hours - without commercials - per week for those scoring at home). I just can’t bear to miss anything; it keeps me riveted. Plus, when your brain runs a million miles an hour like mine, you need someone else’s voice in your head(phones) to keep all those god damned thoughts at bay. Somehow though, I still managed to find 39 full-length albums and 20 EPs or singles (e.g., 7-inch records) that I thought were deserving of your attention. Figuring out how to rank them would have probably been impossible if not for the star rating system on the Ipod, especially since I couldn’t listen to most of them as many times as I would have liked to get an intimate feel for them. Whenever I download or buy something new, I usually give it 1 to 3 listens before I weed out the songs I don’t care for, or at least don’t care enough for to have them take up Ipod memory. To put it in perspective, I downloaded and kept 2,124 songs on my Ipod in 2009. That means I probably downloaded around 3,000 total. That’s a fuck-ton of music to sort through. It amazes me how, as making music is becoming a less lucrative endeavor with every year, every dickhead and his sister is starting a shitty pop-punk or electro-pop band or making an autotune-laced rap album. The market is so diluted it makes me sick. And yet, there are still plenty of great new bands/groups and solo artists starting up as well. They’re just harder to find. And that, my friends, is where I come in for you. While you sit around watching overrated dreck like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (unpopular opinion alert), I’m digging through music blogs and myspace pages, trying to figure out what’s worth checking out.
So, without further ado, here we go with the lists. Keep in mind this is stuff I discovered in 2009, as some if it may have actually been released in 2008. I was going to do honorable mentions like last year, but since I put in the work to figure out a ranking formula (holy fuck I’m a nerd) based on star ratings and the number of songs kept versus songs deleted, I figured why not just run them down number by number? This, my friends, is how my love of art and numbers collides. Here is my favorite music of 2009.
EPs/7-inches
20.) Moneen – Hold That Sound (listen)
While the full length album they put out in ’09 (“The World I Want To Leave Behind”) was a stylistic shift and a pretty big disappointment for me, this EP contains one of the better songs off that album (“Hold That Sound”) and one that’s considerably better than any on said full-length (“Madness!”). The other two are acoustic, which is a style of music I rarely care for anymore (I overdid it thanks to Mr. Carabba in the early 00’s). So in other words, this EP makes the list simply because I love “Madness!” so much.
19.) Lipona – Pigeonholed (legit free download)
This is the third release from these Florida-based punkers. I would describe their sound as melodic hardcore with some twists of technical metal stuff in the guitar work, maybe somewhat like Strung Out without the obtuse guitar solos. “Hawks” is probably my favorite track off this. And you can get it for free, so why not check it out?
18.) Pages – Staring. Live. High. (listen)
This is something I happened upon on one of those music “blogs” that’s basically just a way to steal music (and before you classify me as a thief, let me remind you I spent at least $800 on CD’s, vinyl, concert admission, and t-shirts in ’09 – I really see those blogs as a way to get to preview stuff in high-quality to see what’s worth buying), and it was a very pleasant surprise. I haven’t given it enough spins to tell you what sub-genre they fall into, but I do know it’s probably more along post-hardcore/90’s emo lines than punk. I also remember that it was very consistent with no weak songs, and a fair amount of Circa Survive influence with screaming ad-libs a la Thursday that actually don’t sound forced or cheesy.
17.) Bridge And Tunnel – Loss Leaders 7” (listen to 1 of 2 songs)
Here’s a couple solid songs to tide everybody over until their next full-length. 90’s emo/post-hardcore with strong beardcore influences, very much along the same lines as their earlier material, which is far from a bad thing.
16.) Algernon Cadwallader – Fun 7” (listen)
These guys aren’t for everybody. With their jangly guitars, bouncy rhythms, and a vocalist that sounds like (as my friend Jason so eloquently put it) “he’s running away from a murder”, they’re pretty different from most of the stuff I listen to, but I find them highly infectious. I guess they borrow a lot from Cap’n Jazz and other bands containing Kinsella brothers, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never been a fan of any of those bands…which leads me to believe they can’t be as similar as people say. Gun to my head, I’d say they could be categorized as upbeat
15.) Small Brown Bike – Composite Volume 1 7” (listen)
I shouldn’t need to explain to any of you who these forefathers of beardcore are. I also shouldn’t need to explain how ecstatic their return (after breaking up following their underwhelming last album, “The River Bed”) has made legions of old men like myself and younger kids who love the countless bands they’ve influenced by, but were too young to ever catch them live during their first run. Both of the songs on this 7” are good but not great. I go back and forth on which I like better. Still, they’re a promising new foundation to build on for forthcoming material.
14.) Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck – Goodbye Debris (listen to 3 out of 5 tracks)
This is a very consistent EP from these dudes from
13.) Reverse The Curse – Paths (listen, legit free download)
Another promising, good but not great, gravelly-voiced, beardcore debut by these dudes from
12.) Campaign – H1N1 (listen, legit free download)
Dudes with hoarse voices and mid-tempo punk rock/post-hardcore melodies sing about growing old and not being sure how to feel about it. I’m in. “To Die Young” is the cut on this one for sure.
11.) Daylight – Sinking (listen to 2 out of 5 tracks, and here’s one more, plus legit free download of lesser-quality demo version)
Holy shit! Yet another strong beardcore-leaning debut! With melodic hardcore twists and double-time beats sprinkled in? Who would’ve guessed? Sensing a theme here yet? Good. Obviously I can’t get enough of this sound. This one’s especially gritty and dark, tailor-made for basement shows full of cathartic moments. It was originally released as a free demo, but they decided it deserved a remastering and proper release on CD and vinyl…and they were right. The vinyl sounds wicked on my new stereo. “Seeing And Hearing” is my favorite track off this one.
10.) Bike Tuff – S.U.D.S. (listen to 4 of 7 songs, legit free download)
Here’s a local band from the south suburbs of
9.) joie de vivre – Summer Months (listen)
Hey! Something that contains no elements of beardcore! This one’s straight-up Midwest 90’s emo from Illinois, with very strong influence from low-key bum-out bands like Mineral or Braid’s more tender moments (go ahead, punch me for that one). “Local Local” is the most highly recommended track off this one.
8.) Title Fight – The Last Thing You Forget 7” (listen)
This could be a bit confusing. This band released a new 7” with 3 songs and a CD with 12 songs by this same name. The CD version is actually more of a compilation of sorts, as the other 9 tracks are from a previous EP and a split they did with a really shitty band called The Erection Kids (go figure). What I’m ranking here is the 7” with the 3 new songs, which I consider to be a step up from their previous material. They used to mostly be whinier pop-punk, but got a little more ballsy and screamy with the new stuff, and it couldn’t have been a better direction to move in. The first track even features killer guest vocals from Joe Boynton from Transit. The lead-off track, “Symmetry”, is the fuckin’ jam.
7.) Thousandaires – Land Seal Demo a.k.a. Thousandaires (listen, legit free download)
This 3 –song demo leaves me wanting a lot more from this band which is fronted by dude from Bridge & Tunnel. I like it better than B&T because there’s more tempo variation, and it’s more up-tempo in general. Definitely very beardcore and 90s emo influenced. I consider “Charitable Contributions” to be the standout track on this one.
6.) Prawn – False Institutions (listen, legit free download)
Post-rock (a la Explosions In The Sky and
5.) Moving Mountains – Foreword (listen)
Most of my friends who share my tastes in music already know what a phenomenal band this is, and the rest of you might as well get on board now. There has not been a band that sounds this smooth, lush, epic, and thundering since Elliott decided to call it quits, and their live show is the most breathtaking, awe-inspiring thing I’ve been a part of in years. This EP continues the path they started with 2008’s full-length, “Pneuma”, while tightening things up a bit (in structure if not song length). They manage to adeptly mix sweeping post-rock with the best of
4.) Polar Bear Club – Summer of George 7” (listen to 2 of 3 songs)
This three-song 7” by one of my absolute favorite bands of the past few years preceded their full-length “Chasing Hamburg” (see below) and features my two favorite songs from the album (“Living Saints” and the 5-star masterpiece “Boxes”) along with a b-side called “Dead Man” that, in my opinion, should have made the album over a couple other songs that ended up on it. More on that later. In any case, this is a very strong little slab of wax.
3.) Such Gold – Stand Tall (listen here or here to 4 of 5 songs)
The steering wheel of my truck hates this fucking band. It has been abused an absurd number of times by my fist beating it in rhythm to Devan Bentley’s sublime double-time beats as I tried my best to not drive too fast thanks to the overwhelming energy this incredible band feeds through my speakers like a toaster in a bathtub. Apparently they’re a blend of pop-punk and hardcore, but I wouldn’t know because I don’t listen to enough hardcore to judge. I just know they’re one of the fastest bands I listen to (although the title-track closer refreshingly slows it down a bit), with identifiable lyrics that were instantly memorable. In terms of EP’s for this year, between this one and the two below, I probably made up for my lack of listening to other stuff by relentlessly spinning this. The Buffalo Bills-related song titles and their being from
2.) Transit/Man Overboard – Split 7” (listen)
1.) Transit – Stay Home (listen)
I’m fumbling around in my brain at the moment, trying to come up with words to describe how much this band strikes a chord with everything I feel and stand for, and I can’t really do it properly, but I’ll try anyway. People call them a pop-punk band, but that’s a poor, unjust approximation of what they are and the sounds they create. I’m just as passionate for them as I was for The Get Up Kids (whom they covered for this EP but had to leave it off due to money/royalty issues) and Jimmy Eat World back in college. The only thing keeping this from being a tie for #1 is the fact that I don’t care for Man Overboard, and accordingly my turntable needle has never touched that side of the vinyl (I did, however, give the digital files one ill-fated chance). Like Polar Bear Club, it’s fairly obvious they hold dear all the same bands I love from the late 90’s and early 00’s, and to me they do an even better job of reflecting that through their array of sounds. From the double-time whiplash of “Stay Home” (the song) to the slow, jutting, pulsating bass line near the end of “Riding The Bullet” (where refrains of “Never feel alone!” reverberate in the deepest recesses of my brain) to the slow-swaying acoustic intro of “Outbound” (which is a lesson in how to build an epic out of a stripped down beginning), I’m hooked to every moment. The juxtaposition of Joe Boynton’s lower-register lead vocals and Tim Landers’ beardcore-ish guttural interjections, with Joe Lacy as the welcome third voice checking in every now and again to put the cherry on top, could not sound more pleasing to my ears. Everything I need is here, from elation to sadness, quiet contemplation to anger and frustration. It’s so obvious how much thought is put into the lyrics, too. In every way, both of these releases are even more of an improvement than I could have hoped for compared to their 2008 full-length, “This Will Not Define Us” (which was very good in its own right). And the sick thing is that these guys range in age from 17 to 22, so they still have plenty of time to improve upon the incredible music they’ve already given to a world that’s not taking enough notice. I hope you all will give these songs more than a fair shot, since their depth can’t be heard by a cursory listen. Here’s a great (and more even-tempered compared to my fanboy stance) review of “Stay Home” for more corroboration.
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LPs
39.) Shinsight Trio - Shallow Nights, Blurry Moon (listen, listen)
Decent hip-hop collabo album featuring one of my favorite MCs of the new millenium (Insight), and a Japanese producer (Shin-ski) and DJ RYOW. It was only released in
38.) Coalesce - Ox (listen)
This is the fairly triumphant return of one of the only truly face-melting bands I listen to. I haven't given it enough spins to get a really good feel for it, but while I know they were going for a concept with all the Western stuff, all that twangy shit is really distracting and annoying. Just fucking rock. That said, the parts that do rock relentlessly are pretty stellar.
37.) Penpal - Penpal (listen to 3 of 10 tracks, legit free download)
Here we have some very mellow, beautiful 90's emo by a band that is so underground they don't even have a myspace page (that I could find). I happened upon their album on one of those shithead download blogs and downloaded it on a whim based on liking the cover art and being intrigued by said blog's description. I hear the better parts of Juliana Theory's early stuff with a little No Knife quirkiness. "What Happened When" is my jam on this one.
36.) Skyzoo - The Salvation (listen)
This dude is definitely one of the better MCs to grip a mic in the last few years, but this album is somewhat uneven to me. It has a lot of really good tracks, but too many just OK ones. Close friends of mine would disagree and tell you this is the best hip-hop album of the year, so maybe I missed something in the few listens I was able to give it. In any case, "The Beautiful Decay", with its DJ Premier beat, is definitely one of the best songs of the year (and was featured on my Bang Dis! Volume 18 mix CD, which you should download if you're tired of popular hip-hop these days).
35.) Termanology - If Heaven Was A Mile Away (listen)
Skyzoo's damn good, but I would argue that this kid is THE most lyrically talented MC to come out recently. Sadly, his proper debut album ("Politics As Usual") was somewhat disappointing thanks to lackluster production and its best joints having been previously released. That led to this, actually a mixtape rather than an album, being my favorite release of his in '09 (among like 17 other mixtapes). The problem with his music is never him; it's always the beats. So it makes sense that an entire mixtape of him rhyming over beats by one of the more consistent producers in hip-hop, the deceased J-Dilla, would be thorough.
34.) M.O.P. - Foundation (listen)
This is by far the best thing the Hot Water Music of boom-bap have released since they put out the most triumphant "Warriorz" in 2000. Label woes (at least one whole album for Def Jam that sat on the shelves for years) and a bunch of empty promises from Jay-Z to put them on resulted in years of misled mixtapes with shitty beats and questionable guest appearances. Hopefully this marks a new, more consistent direction, but it still suffers from poor beat choices on too many songs to be labeled “great”. I guess that's what happens when you try to please your hardcore fans that have stuck with you all along as well as popular rap fans. It just can't be done by most. The dopest joints here are "Blow The Horns" and "What I Wanna Be" with its Premo beat.
33.) Fashawn - Boy Meets World (listen)
This was another album that was sort of a random music blog find, and once I found out the entire album was produced by Exile, the DJ/beatmaker for the group Emanon, I figured it would be worth a shot. My premonitions were correct, as this is an amazingly consistent if unspectacular album by a dude who's just beginning to show the world what he can do. Due to the aforementioned consistency, there aren't any real standout tracks I can mention, so you might as well give them all a chance.
32.) Solomon Caine - Love Supreme (listen, legit free download - #4 on right sidebar)
I happened upon this thanks to a random myspace friend request. There's not much info out there about this dude, but what I can tell you is that he's a beatsmith from
31.) Marco Polo & Torae - Double Barrel (listen)
I had really high hopes for this album based on Torae being a pretty competent rhyme artist and Marco Polo almost always coming correct with the beats. It's still good, but was a minor letdown due to some occasionally boring production. It's still quality boom-bap worth checking out though. "Double Barrel" and "Smoke" are the more exceptional tracks here.
30.) Shook Ones - The Unquotable AMH (no streams anywhere, just 1 song)
The best punk band named after a Mobb Deep song finally made some music I could get into and appreciate. I'd heard friends with similar punk rock tastes to mine talk about how awesome they were for a couple years, but nothing I checked out ever really caught me and I think the vocals initially turned me off for some reason...until now. This is another consistent album with no tracks that especially stood out to me. I guess one may categorize them as melodic hardcore with kind-of scratchy vocals.
29.) Gray Young - Firmament (listen)
I believe it was a punknews.org review that first turned me on to this self-released album by these creators of beautiful, gripping, spacey, emo-influenced post-rock. If I remember correctly, about half the album is instrumental, and when the vocals appear they're kind of pushed into the background a little a la
28.) Surreal - Pardon My Dust (few tracks here, legit free download - look for "zip archive" link)
This dude did a really solid album a few years ago with the Sound Providers, so naturally his sound is rooted in soulful, simple, chilled-out and contemplative boom-bap. When he starts talking about this fictional superhero character called "God", I tend to tune out, but his music is otherwise more than enjoyable enough for me to look past it. "Mama Don't Cry (Five Quartz Remix)" is the cut on this one.
27.) Dela - Changes of Atmosphere (listen)
This producer-based album features collaborations with the likes of Talib Kweli, Termanology, Supastition, Elzhi, and J-Live. Gotta be superfuckindope, right? Right you are. The only thing keeping this from being ranked higher is some bullshit R&B tracks that just had to go. The other thing that bothers me about this dude is why would you name yourself “Dela” when there's already a legendary group whose name often gets shortened into the name you chose? I can hear the confused conversations now. "Duuuuude, you gotta check out Dela." "Fuck are you talkin' about? Stakes Is High is one of my favorite albums of all time. I know
26.) Trick Shots - Shadows Of A Killing Time (few tracks here)
Thanks again to the download blogs, because otherwise I never would've found out about this Russian melodic hardcore band. Not since MTV force-fed us Gorky Park's "Bang" when the cold war ended has the land of the hammer and sickle (and sandbagger Nikolai Volkov) caught my attention like this. For those wondering....yes, they sing in English and no, it doesn't sound too bad at all. You know there's an accent there, and they're certainly not 4-syllable average lyrics, but they don't detract from the sound even if they're a little weak (beyond the foreign-ness). This a is a recent discovery that hasn't gotten a lot of spins, so it could possibly be unworthy of this spot, but I recall it not having a bad song and a few potentially great ones. Reminds me of Lipona a lot.
25.) Blame One - Days Chasing Days (listen)
Another solid release I was led to by a random myspace friend request (that site is fucking dead besides music and the lowest of teenage youth, but definitely still pays dividends sometimes). It's just one dude who has an endearing narrative rapping style with an ample amount of honest and interesting rhymes over solid beats, many of which were done by the aforementioned Exile and one by Black Milk (representin’ the Dirty D). "Street Astrologist", "Days Chasing Days", and "The Word To Say" were most pleasing to my ear drums off this joint.
24.) This Town Needs Guns - Animals (listen)
These guys have a jangly, mathy tilt not unlike Look Mexico and Minus The Bear, but if I remember correctly there's less pop catchiness and more of a Midwest 90's emo feel. Either way it's very consistent, with "Pig" being my personal favorite track. Another one I need to listen to more.
23.) Paten Locke - Super Ramen Rocketship (listen)
Don't let the incredibly goofy and weak album name fool you, this is some dope shit. This dude used to call himself Therapy and was/is part of the group Asamov, who brought you such gems as "Git Loose (ft. Akrobatik)" and "Supa Dynamite (ft. Mr. Lif)" and who had to change their name to The Alias Brothers aka The AB's after legal threats from the asshole family of Isaac Asimov. Sadly, they haven't dropped anything together since the "...And Now" album in '05, so I was stoked to stumble upon this toward the end of the year. Again, very consistent, but only one real standout track for me, "Soup For One".
22.) Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II (listen)
The Chef had been talking about this album for years, and every time he did I was fearful that there was a VERY good chance it would be a complete pile of utter dog shit compared to the original. As a matter of fact, I was about 99% sure it would be. His last couple albums had some beats that made me want to throw up and dig my ear drums out, but surprisingly every one here is decent to great. Now that I'm a little (lot) older than back in '95, I do tend to get tired of listening to rhymes about drug selling (there's a song called "Baggin' Crack", for Sabu's sake...way to make sure "the kids" are even more aware of how much more appetizing selling drugs is as opposed to busting your ass to get through college), but honestly nobody does it with the same interesting flair for storytelling that Ghostface and Raekwon do. Again, consistency is key here, but "New Wu (
21.) Reks - More Grey Hairs (Itunes is the only place I could find streaming audio)
I believe this was an Itunes exclusive release to serve as a companion piece to his 2008 "Grey Hairs" album. If it is actually all b-sides, you'd never know by quality because it's just as good as, if not better than, the original. There was always a little something missing to keep him from being great on his first couple albums in the early 00's, but then a couple years ago super-producers and legendary DJ’s Premier and Statik Selektah took him under their wings. He's been making dope shit ever since. "I Ain't Shit", "Cloud 9", and "Killaz On Wax" are the best this one has to offer.
20.) Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - What It Takes To Move Forward (listen)
Their last.fm page says it best: "a small indie band from
19.) The Swellers - Ups & Downsizing (listen)
Holy shit! Two bands from tiny
18.) Blaq Poet - The Blaqprint (listen)
This dude's another DJ Premier protégé with an album that gets by far more on stellar production than quality lyrics. He's a little more thugged out than I usually care for these days, but there's some honesty about the fucked up role that people who live that lifestyle play in society from a worn-out, world-weary street hustler perspective as well. Once again mostly thanks to the incredible beats, this album has some of the dopest hip-hop songs of the year, including "Ain't Nuttin' Changed", "Legendary Pt. 1 (ft. NYG'z)", "Hate (ft. Noreaga)", "Sichuwayshunz", and "Rap Addiction".
17.) Kidcrash - Snacks (listen)
Here's yet another one I wish I had more time to examine to be able to tell you more about it. Their debut from 2004, "New Ruins" is an incredible 90's emo throwback record I fell in love with, so when they changed to a more spastic, grating, screamo sound for 2006's "Jokes", I was a little bummed. The music was different yet still enjoyable with some of the same tones, but the vocals just threw me off. So when I discovered there was a sort-of missing link EP from 2005 that bridged the styles called "I Haven't Had A Date In 4 Years Goldie Hawn Goldie Hawn Goldie Hawn" I was super stoked, even if I didn't like it as much as the debut. Well, color me stoked again for 2009 because "Snacks" is a lot less abrasive than "Jokes" while keeping with the mathy, pounding sound they're so good at. Broken record time: consistently good with no real standout tracks at press time.
16.) Passenger Action - Passenger Action (listen)
This is the debut from the best Canadian post-hardcore band you've never heard of. Some of these guys spent 13 years in the mathy tech-punk band Choke, and while they don't necessarily sound anything alike, you can tell they know how to craft a dynamic, cohesive song. I hear elements of Moneen and Park in here, and it’s a good blend of more mid-tempo pop-punk and 90’s emo, with a peppering of mathy stuff for good measure. “Tonight We Resonate” and “Beneath The Rust” are my favorites on this very consistent album.
15.) Oceans – Nothing Collapses (2 tracks here, more here)
Here’s a delightfully ear-pleasing slab of 90% instrumental post-rock. Most instrumental stuff doesn’t hold my attention for a full album, but I can throw this on and vibe all the way through from beginning to end. I believe they may have broken up, but if not, Explosions In The Sky and This Will Destroy You should be scared because these guys can give them a run for their money something serious.
14.) People Under The Stairs – Carried Away (listen)
Yet another incredibly solid album from the most consistent and original group in hip-hop for the last 10 years. Sick of those bullshit soulless synth-driven beats that even (formerly) decent hip-hop artists are using these days? Well, the P.U.T.S. have the remedy for you with their completely sample-driven sound. These guys give new meaning to the term “digging in the crates”. One of my favorite songs is “Teeth” where they appear to have managed to find a 70’s-ish sounding sample of some dude singing about needing to go see his dentist. And even beyond the dope production, the lyrics never get stale and range from fun and funny to eloquent and poignant. This is another one I would’ve liked to have spent some more time getting familiar with, but “Carried Away” is another standout track.
13.) Polar Bear Club – Chasing
Son of a bitch. Where do I begin with this one? As many of you probably know, these guys’ first two (non-demo) records are some of the nearest and dearest music to my soul. Their blend of beardcore, pop-punk, and 90’s emo single-handedly cracked me out of the shell I had been living in prior to seeing them live for the first time in Cleveland back in September of ’07 and reminded me how much fun really getting engaged in the energy of a show and acting like I’m perpetually 20 years old could be. Without really thinking about it, I put them up on such a pedestal that there would have to be a come-down at some point. Looking back, my expectations for this were unrealistic, but when “Living Saints” and “Boxes” were the first two songs I heard (repeatedly, thanks to the aforementioned “Summer of George” teaser 7-inch), how was I not to expect an entire album of 5-star songs like those? Still, don’t get it twisted. This is a very good album (it wouldn’t be this high if it weren’t), with “Light of Local Eyes” being another very strong highlight. It just isn’t the magnum opus I was unfairly expecting it to be. To be completely honest, my feelings that “Drifting Thing” and “Song To Persona” just go nowhere are the only real negative strikes against it. Cut those songs out and it’s quite solid…and yet another album I could’ve devoted more time to if a bunch of other great shit hadn’t come out in the same year. I was never thrilled with Hot Water Music’s “A Flight & A Crash” an wrote them off initially after it came out. Then they came extremely correct with “Caution”, so the moral is that I’m far from giving up on these guys and fully expect them to blow me away again in the future.
12.) Heartsounds – Until We Surrender (listen)
In the (possibly paraphrased) words of Maude Lebowski, “Vagina. Most men are uncomfortable even saying it.” For whatever reason, lead female vocals in music (hip-hop, punk, whatever) usually don’t appeal to me. However, sometimes a band or artist kicks so much ass that it doesn’t bother me whatsoever. This band would be one of those exceptions, because this is such a sincere, energizing, and at times inspirational debut pop-punk/melodic hardcore album. And to be fair, the band’s a male/female duo (dude is a multi-instrumentalist, this ain’t no stripped-down cutesy indie piano-pop duo bullshit) where the vocals are actually skewed a little more toward the penis side, with well-done dual vocals in a few songs. One of the songs features Nick Diener of the Swellers, which is a welcome enhancement. The album is full of consistently good to great tunes, with “The Song Inside Me” and “I Climbed For Miles” being my favorites.
11.) Ghettosocks – Treat Of The Day (listen under the “share” heading)
Don’t let yourself be fooled by the goofy, questionable name or the weak cover art. And even more importantly, don’t let the appearance of this white boy from
10.) Diamond District – In The Ruff (listen)
Representin’ the D.C/
9.) John Robinson & MF Doom – Who Is This Man? (listen to import or US version)
Those who read my ’08 list are probably scratching their heads right about now if they remember this one, which was #7. However, that was the import version, which features a slightly different track list from the one released in January of ’09 in the
8.) My Heart To Joy – Seasons In Verse (listen)
These dudes from CT claim influence from Jimmy Eat World and the Get Up Kids, but claim to have never listened to Hot Water Music…and yet their new record has a distinct beardcore influence (like more “Four Minute Mile” and “Forever And Counting” than “On A Wire” and “The New What Next”). I guess they must have been huge Small Brown Bike and Leatherface fans then. Whatever their influences (definitely some Mock Orange and Braid in there too), they have managed to make a great album combining them all into something that sounds familiar and fantastic, making this the 7,000th debut release on this list. Turns out there was apparently a bunch of young kids listening to the same shit I was listening to while in college, and most of them are starting bands to further develop and mutate the sound(s). Let’s hope the trend continues. “Empty Homes”, “All of Life Is Coming Home”, and “Giving My Hands Away” are prime examples of how good the outcome of that cycle can be.
7.) Pianos Become The Teeth – Old Pride (listen)
Just look at that bony fuckin’ horse on the cover and you’ll know that this shit is going to rule. The term “screamo” has completely lost its definition 10 years after I first heard the term. This, this, and this show how far it’s fallen (or been pulled under, for the sake of “fun” and trend-hopping). Foreign bands like Japan’s Envy (who did a split with Thursday, and I hear both of those bands’ influence here) and a plethora from Europe seem to remember better than the asshole American kids that it didn’t involve tight jeans, constantly flicking the hair out of your eyes, or the term “pop-rock/” spliced with it. Leave it to the fuckin’ kids to ruin everything. Thankfully, there is still a contingent of people who remember how it was supposed to sound, and ladies and gentlemen, this band is a perfect example. In addition to the aforementioned two bands, I think I also hear some Casket Lottery (particularly the extra-intense drumming and some of the guitar riffs in lighter parts) and earlier Hopesfall (pre-“A Types”) in the mix. It all comes together beautifully and torturously at the same time. With a song called “Cripples Can’t Shiver” about watching a family member succumb to crippling disease, the mood of the music perfectly matches the vocals and lyrics. A lot of the music is also kind of post-rock-ish, like a more thundering
6.) Strike Anywhere – Iron Front (listen)
Holy fuckin’ return to form, Batman. The previous album from these politically charged and socially conscious melodic hardcore masters, “Dead FM”, was a total snoozer for me. I just couldn’t feel the energy I was used to, like it vanished all of a sudden. However, I had thoroughly enjoyed their catalog before that and really liked the new songs I heard when I saw them with Propaghandi (having gone mainly for The Swellers, who opened) earlier in the year, so I didn’t think twice about giving them another chance. Then they first released the “Iron Front EP” containing 2 album and 2 non-album tracks, which reminded me of everything I’d loved about them before (I now realize I forgot to rate it, but I’ve come too far to turn back). A month later, this album dropped, and I was fully in love with them again. Seeing them live a second time in one year only helped stamp these well-crafted songs (breakdowns in all the right spots but never overused) on my brain, since they absolutely slay live. “Spectacular”, “Blackbirds Roar”, “Summerpunks”, and “Western Scale” are my favorites here.
5.) CYNE – Water For Mars (listen)
Looks like they didn’t have time to do any decent cover art because they were too busy putting together the best hip-hop release of the year. I believe it was only released overseas in ’09, with the
4.) Strung Out – Agents Of The Underground (listen)
Don’t put these old fuckers out to pasture yet, because they apparently still have plenty of life and songwriting ability left in them. Somehow, I can’t get into A Wilhelm Scream very much because their strong metal leanings and “shredding” guitar solos turn me off, yet with Strung Out I love the rest of the music far too much to let it bother me. Go figure. I’d have to really sit down and spend a few hours listening intently to their catalogue (or just soullessly add up a few Ipod song scores due to lack of time), but this may be my favorite album of theirs thanks to such memorable tracks as “Carcrashradio”, “Heart Attack”, and the 5-star instant classic “Andy Warhol” (listen now to that one even if you think you don’t like them). It’s a known theme that they almost always close the album out with a kick ass song, but that might be the best of them all. There are really no bad songs either, with the title track being the only one that’s a little weak. Have some.
3.) Castevet – Summer Fences (listen to 3 tracks, plus 1 more)
Three of these songs first appeared as a free downloadable demo, which was reviewed on punknews, bringing this 4-piece from
2.) Banner Pilot – Collapser (listen)
Here’s another band I absolutely fucking love despite the fact that I never cared for the bands they apparently borrow from the most, like Jawbreaker and Dillinger Four with these guys. When I listen to them, the fondly remembered bands they remind me of include Screeching Weasel (in a lot of the guitar leads), face to face, and early Alkaline Trio fronted if they were by a version of Two-Face from Batman featuring Matt Skiba on one side (maybe more in cadence than voice) and Chris Wollard on the other. There’s something very visceral about the way their music affects me. After all, there’s gotta be something special to make me be so fanatical about a band playing fairly simple 3-chord punk (disclaimer: I’m not a guitar player and cannot validate that statement). It’s gritty, world-weary, worn out, guttural beard-punk that is vivid in imagery and feeling if you pay attention to the lyrics. “Scraping skies with shirts and ties and I can feel you waste away/ The bets are long, I wanna get it wrong with you, it’s such a goddamn beautiful day/To hell with red lights, driving on/ An open cage, this bird is gone/ But I can’t leave this town if you’re not with me/ I’ve been fighting boredom and routine/ I’ll trade the white for forest green/ But I can’t leave this town if you’re not with me/ I’m lost, crimson skies, drinking oceans dry/ Not where the salt paints colors grey/ It clouds your eyes, take what hasn’t died with you/ I’ve got a map, sleep all the way.” That’s from “Northern Skyline”, one of the many highlights including “Skeleton Key”, “Central Standard”, “Farewell To Iron Bastards”, “Hold Me Up”, and “Write It Down”. The beautiful thing is I believe these guys still have all kinds of room for improvement and could become one of my favorite bands of all time.
1.) Guiltmaker – Dilemmas (apparently you only get 3 songs)
Given how I feel about that Banner Pilot album, the fact that there’s another full-length album that scored higher is a rather amazing feat, and one I would have never guessed, since I somehow initially forgot this came out this year (I first heard it in ’08). I was first introduced to this band from
