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| Beach Slang are kicking up their heels over their inclusion here, I'm sure. |
Number Nothing to Number Whatever
Just in time for Christmas, here's the first half of my list of favorite albums of 2014. These are just the ones I heard and with which I spent some significant time. Based on the submissions I've been getting from guests so far, I missed quite a bit this year. I'll have to catch up over the holiday break.
The thing that strikes me about my own list this year is the relative absence of most of the "BIG" indie albums of the year. I could include them for street cred or to seem like I'm in the know on these sorts of things, but I just spend so much more time now with the great albums by some of our local bands here or with stuff I just stumbled on somehow. Two years ago, this list would've included much of what you hear on Sirius XMU -- and some of that stuff is here for sure -- but I'll let them tell you about it for the most part.
These are the sounds that moved me for one reason or another this year, presented here in the order that I typed them up. There's no number 1 or top whatever. Just my brainstormed list to recap my listening year.
I've already got the second half primed and ready; but I didn't want to hit you with too much awesomeness all at once, so here's Part I.
Corrina, Corrina, American Short Stories
I thought I heard The Replacements filtered through a couple decades worth of their descendants when I first heard this record. Corrina, Corrina confirmed their love of the Mats in an interview I did with them, and Deaglan Howlett’s impassioned vocal on the band’s live cover of “Can’t Hardly Wait” sealed it. Corrina, Corrina aren’t Replacements or Gaslight Anthem imitators, though. They’re a surprisingly mature young band with an ear for great rock and roll.
Favorite tracks: “Sea Song,” “The Art of Racing,” “Denim Jacket”
Cloud Nothings, Here and Nowhere Else
Dylan Baldi tries to shake off some of the things that are dragging him down by thrashing his way through Cloud Nothings’ by now patented brand of pop punk. “I’m learning how to be here and nowhere else,” he sings; but it’s a painful and loud growing process.
Favorite tracks: “Now Hear In,” “Psychic Trauma,” “I’m Not Part of Me”
Smalltalk, I / II / III
When I heard Smalltalk’s first EP, it took me back to my days driving up and down the Jersey Shore, listening to WHTG in the late 80s. The band have continued that sound through two follow-ups with nods to The Smiths, The Wedding Present, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. If you didn’t know these people were from Neptune City, you might think they were from Manchester.
Favorite tracks: “Go Love,” “The Last Ones,” “Spellbound”
Overlake, Sighs
I like to imagine that Overlake and I share a love of things like Hal Hartley movies, My Bloody Valentine, and Dinosaur Jr. I’d love to talk to them about this. Sighs combines quiet moments with explosions of sound so effortlessly, it’s hard to believe that this is the Jersey City trio’s debut.
Favorite tracks: “Disappearing,” “Fell Too Far,” “Our Sky”
Screaming Females, Live at The Hideout
One criticism often leveled at Screaming Females’ studio albums is that they don’t capture the raw power and energy of the band’s live shows. Well, those people can’t complain about this one. Live at The Hideout captures the band performing at the Chicago venue over two nights. You can close your eyes, and it almost feels like you’re right there in the crowd. Almost.
Favorite tracks: “Leave It All Up to Me,” “It All Means Nothing,” “Boyfriend”
Dentist, Dentist
This Asbury Park five-piece delivers reverb- and hook-laden surf / dream pop that’s sweet and dark at the same time. I keep hearing comparisons to acts like Best Coast and The Drums, but there’s something straightforward and honest in Dentist that I don’t get from those bigger acts. And I love the tone of Justin Bornemann’s guitar.
Favorite tracks: “Bird in the Cage,” “No Matter,” “Koko B. Ware”
Sink Tapes, Touchdown Buffalo
New Brunswick’s Sink Tapes are prolific. I think in the time it took me to write this they’ve released another album. I’m not kidding. Touchdown Buffalo is 11 short studies in lo-fi dream pop calling on influences like The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Replacements, and The Wrens. When I first heard Ariel Pink’s brilliant “Put Your Number in my Phone,” I said, “That sounds like Sink Tapes.”
Favorite tracks: “Small Thought,” “Vegas Hotel Yoga Spa,” “Dishes in the Dark”
Single Mothers, Negative Qualities
“Townies” in the college town of London, Ontario, Single Mothers express the frustration that comes with having to deal with a bunch of know-it-all interlopers most of the time. Straightforward hardcore has its own aggression and rage, but there’s something more cutting and angry, I think, in the snark and sarcasm of Drew Thomson’s lyrics. Kind of like that person who knows just what to say to cut you to the bone.
Favorite tracks: “Half-Lit,” “Marbles,” “Patricide”
Cayetana, Nervous Like Me
Oh, this record. How I love it. Augusta Koch’s voice just sells the whole thing. And something about Cayetana’s backstory of starting a band before they even knew how to play instruments – especially when you listen to Allegra Anka’s bass throughout the record -- just captures the romance of punk.
Favorite tracks: “Scott Get the Van, I’m Moving,” “Hot Dad Calendar,” “South Philly”
Beach Slang, Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken? / Cheap Thrills on a Dead End Street
Big hat tip to Scotch LaRock for turning us all onto these two 7-inches. James Alex goes for broke on every song combining the melodrama of Psychedelic Furs with the edge of The Replacements. Bliss.
Favorite tracks: “All Fuzzed Out,” “American Girls and French Kisses,” “Filthy Luck”
ROMP, Sorry, Not Sorry
This four-song EP from New Brunswick’s ROMP caught me by surprise. Well, single “Portrait” did anyway. After hearing that one, with its crescendo of early 90s alt-pop made ready for a New Brunswick basement, I couldn’t wait for the rest. Pop, punk, DIY. Trust me. It’s tight.
Favorite tracks: Well, it’s only 4 songs, so “Drive,” “If Your Head Gets Any Bigger You’ll Float Away,” “Portrait,” “Sorry, Not Sorry”
Mumblr, Full of Snakes
Race, jealousy, insecurity. Philly’s Mumblr deal with some pretty big issues on Full of Snakes, as well as the difficulties of dealing with all of these things while you transition from youth to adulthood. I saw my younger self in some of these songs and didn’t always like it. Everything comes wrapped in some classic indie / punk sounds, though, and I found myself unable to turn away.
Favorite tracks: “Got It,” “Sober,” “Greyhound Station”
The Men, Tomorrow’s Hits
With each successive album, The Men have evolved from noise / sludge / shoegaze punk to garage pop. Tomorrow’s Hits ranges from Big Star-style pristine pop to raucous garage rock / punk. The band claim that they’re just making songs without any regard to genre or overall sound, so make of that what you will. But go back and listen to the last 4 albums by The Men and tell me you don’t detect a method to the madness.
Favorite tracks: “Get What You Give,” “Another Night,” “Pearly Gates”
Hot Blood, No Kings
There’s a positive message peeking out from behind the rage, the four letter words, and the barrage of guitar noise. Hot Blood stick up for the little guy while calling out the hypocrites, dicks, and overrated bands of the world. It’s not just blind fury. No Kings reminds us that change is there for the taking. “They” got the power, for now. But “We" got the numbers.
Favorite tracks: “You Can’t Hold Us Down,” “Real Bad Case,” “Class Warfare”
Eternal Summers, The Drop Beneath
Eternal Summers bring a little more edge – and volume – to the sound that captured me on 2012’s brilliant Correct Behavior. The Doug Gillard-produced The Drop Beneath has kind of an early-90s 4AD feel to it, reminding me on some tracks of Throwing Muses or even Belly.
Favorite tracks: “A Burial,” “Gouge,” “The Drop Beneath”
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