BOAWS Top 20 Records of 2011
With 2011 nearing to an end and my schedule getting a bit busier around the holidays I figured I would take the opportunity while I had a bit of time to go ahead and get my best of list up. It was another excellent year to which I had the pleasure of hearing a number of good tunes. Thank you to everyone out there that continues to read the blog and check out new music. I wish all of you happy holidays! No on to the list…
20 – The Gary – El Camino (Cedar Fever) BUY IT!
One of the earliest entries of 2011 that made the list here from Austin, Texas based The Gary, a band that has gotten increasingly better from album to album. Not to say that their debut from a couple years back was anything short of solid, but El Camino is an album that seeps in their surroundings and paints a distinct picture for those that take the time to listen. It’s not necessarily always a pretty one, but one that certainly speaks to most of us I believe. This is one of the better straight up indie-rock records you’ll hear all year, and easily one that will encourage cracking open a couple beers too.
The Gary - Rope (stream)
19 – Life Partners – Music is Hard (Ride the Snake) BUY IT!
I kind of sat around and thought about how I felt throwing a record like this on to the list, not because I was having doubts as to just how good it is, but rather the reasons as to why I like it so much. For those that aren’t familiar with Boston’s Life Partners, well, they have a sense of humor and one that may rub some the wrong way at times. However, in the end those are probably the types of people that I don’t want to meet anyway. With Music is Hard the band successfully took on friend rock, the various pitfalls of being in an incestuous music scene, and life being in a band in general. As far the music goes, well it’s mockingly standard bar rock at times, which makes it all the better in my opinion. In the end I decided there was no way I couldn’t include this record on my year end, if anything for songs like “Music is Hard” and “Lyrics”.
Life Partners - Music is Hard [MP3]
18 – Brief Candles – Fractured Days (Guilt Ridden Pop) BUY IT!
It may have taken awhile, but the band finally delivered their much anticipated follow up to their excellent 2006 record They Live We Sleep. The time in between records didn’t seem to alter the bands approach terribly; still firmly rooted in the pedal heavy ways of shoegaze. While that was to be expected to some degree, what came as a bit of surprise was the tighter songwriting. More to the point than ever, Brief Candles seem more focused on Fractured Days and with that each of the songs on the album hold their own in one way or another never giving me the thought of clicking “next”. Those that consider themselves enthusiasts of this sort of music should probably already be listening to these guys, but if that’s not the case, then allow this as your chance to correct that.
Brief Candles - Bitter End (stream)
17 – High Castle – The Spirit of the West (Zum) BUY IT!
This is the full-length debut to follow up their fine one sided 12” from awhile back. On The Spirit of the West the band managed to successfully turn their spazzy post-punk tendencies into a dirtier garage influenced concoction. It evidently worked well for the band, because this set of songs is certainly tops as far as what I’ve heard from them. Again they have a few things they would like to say and they do so in a way that is pretty blunt lyrically, which I can appreciate.
High Castle - Crustaceans Demise (stream)
16 – Big Troubles – Romantic Comedy (Slumberland) BUY IT!
It seems like there is always one of these types of albums on my list that is so grossly poppy but gets me hooked. Last year it was Depreciation Guild, and if you remove the electronic element from them, then there are some definite similarities here. Romantic Comedy has a glistening studio sheen to it and walks a fine line between twee and standard indie-pop. With that said, it shouldn’t be all too shocking that this album was released through Slumberland. Before, I wouldn’t have thought Big Troubles belonged anywhere near that roster. Their previous album wasn’t particularly memorable, seemingly riding the wave of numerous haze heavy pop bands at the time. However, they struck back this year with this fine set of tunes that really seems like a completely different band. I hope this version sticks.
Big Troubles - Never Mine (stream)
15 – Hammerhead – Memory Hole (Amphetamine Reptile) BUY IT!
Yeah, I know this could technically be considered from last year, but I mean does it really count when that release was an insanely limited run of CD-R’s that was sold only at shows? Instead I’ll choose to go with this year, where it was released on an even more insanely limited run of one-sided 12” vinyl. But hey, it beats a CD-R, right? Anyone who reads this blog and is into good old fashioned noisy rock probably doesn’t need an introduction or a summary of who Hammerhead are. I like Hammerhead, this EP sounds like Hammerhead in just about every way possible, and thus it’s on this list. Simple as that.
Hammerhead - Memory Hole (stream)
14 – Pink City – Designing Women (Self-Released) BUY IT!
Love the title. But better yet, it’s a good record from a couple guys who live in the US/UK who collaborate over that long distance to make some absolutely punishing noise-rock. Littered with hints of industrial touches, this mass of noise drives its misery and annoyances home in the same demeanor of those like Swans, Distorted Pony, and Twin Stumps. Let Designing Women take your frustrations out for you. Look forward to more from this project down the road.
Pink City - Wrung (stream)
13 – Pleasure Leftists – Pleasure Leftists (Fan Death) BUY IT!
Another EP/mini-LP makes this list. I really enjoyed this debut set of songs from this Cleveland group. As much of an obvious nod as it is to the early 80’s post-punk/goth/darkwave set, it’s a pretty damn good one from everything down to the production and vocals. Speaking of the vocals, although considerably deeper, they give it a very prominent Siouxsie and the Banshee’s vibe, but again…it’s fantastically done and I’m fan of them anyway. It’s a win on all fronts here and those looking for a healthy dose of throwback to this fine era shouldn’t look any further.
Pleasure Leftists - Nature of Feeling (stream)
12 – Condominium – Warm Home (Self-Released) BUY IT!
One of many records I was highly looking forward to this year has found its way on here again. Condominium, who put together an excellent run of singles before putting out this LP, bring it all together on their debut. Displaying even more range than they did on their singles, they molded this brief but satisfying set of songs that touch on straight forward hardcore, AmRep noise-rock leanings, and even some bizarro noise twists here and there. It’ll be interesting to see where they take it from this point on but they’ve kept everything so short and so good that even hearing a rehash of this stuff would be welcomed.
Condominium - Life is Amazing [MP3]
11 – Hawks – Rub (Trans Ruin) BUY IT!
While I was a pretty big fan of their first record Barnburner, it’s with their follow up Rub that they become the massive force that they certainly should be. Replacing the raw noise of the first record is a whopping dose of drums and bass that is perfectly suited for a nice big pair of floor speakers. Returning however is the bands characteristically creeper vibe, delving further down that dark path and even allowing for a couple segues on the album that do well in the way of keeping that level up.
Hawks - Hung (stream)
10 – Vaz – Chartreuse Bull (Damage Rituals & Sleeping Giant Glossolalia) BUY IT!
Vaz triumphantly returned this year with Pink Co…I mean Chartreuse Bull. Pretty unexpected was this release. In fact, any release from Vaz by this point was to come pretty unexpected really. All this time I’d wondered whatever happened to their initially planned album Pink Confetti, having been lost somewhere in the void of record label hell, that I’d figured Vaz had more or less disappeared. Then out of nowhere Chartreuse Bull appeared initially on a run of cassettes and was then later this year released on vinyl. All I can say is “thanks”, as anything by these guys is welcomed onto my record shelves. With Chartreuse Bull the band doesn’t venture too far away from their brand of groove oriented noise-rock (that’s a good thing), the only main difference here is that a lot of the weird sort of instrumental tracks are pretty much nonexistent. As a whole though, it’s good…something that actually WAS expected.
Vaz - Cutter (stream)
09 – White Suns – Waking in the Reservoir (ugEXPLODE) BUY IT!
Following a string of solid EP’s, White Suns unveiled their first LP this year on Weasel Walters ugEXPLODE label. Before fidelity had always been sort of an issue here, but I’ll chock that up to some of those releases being on cassette. Things were a bit muddy and restrained due to it, but the ideas were there. Thanks to some fine recording by Ben Greenberg, this LP lets loose the band in a big way. So much that I was actually caught off guard some by just how devastating this unit can be. Forgoing having a bass player is an interesting but not uncommon choice, however with White Suns it’s still relatively impressive that they get so much power with the combination of electronic induced noise and twisted guitar scrape. It’s ultimately a cold landscape that they draw up here, but if there is a band that really should be sound tracking NYC…it’s these guys.
White Suns - Harvest (stream)
08 – Slug Guts – Howlin’ Gang (Sacred Bones) BUY IT!
Just a small fraction of the gluttony of amazing music that has been coming out of Australia recently is Slug Guts. Howlin’ Gang serves as their second album after an amazing debut on Stained Circles not all that long ago. Taking a few cues from various Aussie brethren Bird Blobs, King Snake Roost, and so on Slug Guts crawl their way through the filthiest gutters to create their best set of tunes yet with this dismal swampy noise. Not sure if there is an album out there from this year that is as down and out as this one. Beware.
Slug Guts - Hangin’ in the Pisser (stream)
07 – Dead Rider – The Raw Dents (Tizona) BUY IT!
I was actually just listening to this one in the car recently and realized that it’s even better when driving around at night during the winter months. Those new to Dead Rider might find a familiar name with Todd Rittman, who served/serves time in US Maple and Singer. Much like those bands, Dead Rider strives to create music that is both uncomfortable and occasionally unsettling to the listener, the latter being a much more prominent factor with Dead Rider than previous projects. As a result it’s largely representative of past and present Chicago. A key difference here though is the band eschewing the idea of loose guitar play in favor of loose drumming and rigid synth to coexist alongside Rittman’s out of sync weirdo speak. As a whole it ends up being a rather seedy/creepy sounding affair. The band has even gone as far to create a number of music videos that, while humorous, increase this aspect of the band.
Dead Rider - 2 Non Fictional Lawyers (stream)
06 – True Widow – As High as the Highest Heavens and From the Center to the Circumference of the Earth (Kemado) BUY IT!
If I weren’t already a fan of this band I would have assumed that this was some Explosions in the Sky type bullshit due to the unnecessarily long title. Seriously, what’s the deal with that? When half the websites/magazines out there won’t even take the time to type the full album title, I think that says enough. No matter, True Widow capitalized on the success of their 2008 debut by delivering a bit of a refined and further realized version of the slow burn/hazy rock that they won so many over with initially. Not sure what to call it really. I mean they do the slowcore thing really well, but in the end it’s not nearly as sparsely arranged or cold as many of those bands generally tend to be. True Widow are instead a hulking mass of fuzz that seem to be drawing from a number of other areas as well. It’s easy to get lost in this one, and that’s partly why I love it.
True Widow - Jackyl (stream)
05 – Pygmy Shrews – You All Can Go Straight to Hell (Jack Shack) BUY IT!
An absolute steamroller of a record, that succeeds be such on both sides despite their glaring differences. The a-side is the traditional punk/noise-rock amalgam of Pygmy Shrews, that rips through six tracks of smart ass lyrics and high octane riffage every corner of the way, the best track in my opinion being featured here for listening. Then you get to the b-side which is consumed by one long track appropriately titled “Fuck the Law”, where it starts off briefly with some odd looping sample and then charges head first into pure guitar fuckery/shredding for over eleven minutes. Amazing and fairly ballsy really. Great band, great record. Don’t miss it.
Pygmy Shrews - Snake Eyes (stream)
04 – Tenement – Napalm Dream (Mandible) BUY IT!
The bands first record confirms what I had long suspected when listening to their singles, and that is that they can write a fucking hook. Practically every song here pulls all the right strings and it’s good to see some old faves on here like “City Bus #30”, which is still one of the best of the bunch. While pop/punk isn’t exactly a formula that is new to anyone, you still have to know how to write songs that aren’t going to bore the listeners to tears and Tenement certainly know that. Napalm Dream, despite largely being a straight up pop/punk record, has the type of variation that allows it to truly succeed by focusing more heavily on different elements of their sound from track to track. Nonetheless, it’s an exceptionally solid record that fans of this sort of ringing guitar driven rock will certainly want to get their hands on.
Tenement - Earwig (stream)
03 – Balaclavas – Snake People (Dull Knife) BUY IT!
As soon as this record was announced I automatically assumed it would appear in this list. I mean, nothing is automatic and nor should it be, but Balaclavas are so good that it would have taken a real bomb to sway my opinion of them. Last years album Roman Holiday was about as good as it got. After a string of silence I’d feared that maybe they were no more, but alas they returned this year with Snake People and it’s fantastic in a lot of the same ways Roman Holidays is. Obviously there are some alterations to their sound, one being a heavier dub influence and less of the no-wave inspired guitar mangle that was prominent on their last record. The trade off was definitely worth it, as before they sounded liked murderous troublemakers, but now sound truly apocalyptic with these set songs. Snake People is a glimpse into a world I truly fear living in. Kudos guys.
Balaclavas - Shit Meridian (stream)
02 – Kim Phuc – Copsucker (Iron Lung) BUY IT!
Boy oh boy was I excited for this record. They may have released what may be my favorite run of singles from any band currently and the idea of a full-length about sent me over the edge. Between the wait, silence, and label fuss it nearly did. They are such a treat to listen to though in that their sound is such an amazing accomplishment of the past and present of hardcore/punk. Described by Iron Lung as a “band that has been crafting, honing, and re-imagining the way punk music should be played”, I’d say they have done a fair amount of that with Copsucker. This record kills, enough said. Just buy it.
Kim Phuc - Yeti (stream)
01 – Shoppers – Silver Year (Feeble Minds) BUY IT!
I was introduced to Shoppers this year through this album. A cacophony of noise-punk created by a couple ladies and a guy that immediately won me over. I know many are probably thinking, “so what, you’ve posted like 10 other noise-punk related albums in this list, how is this one any different?”. Well it may not sound like much but it’s start to finish noise that as much as it relishes in the atonal styles of now and then NYC noise, it’s a melody driven beast as well. It may not seem so, but underneath it all there is some fantastic hooks in there. Trust me, or actually buy this record and stop listening to crap on shitty ear bud headphones to see for yourself. But if that’s out of the question, you CAN download it for free from the labels website. Please do.
Shoppers - VII [MP3]
