My Favorite Albums of 2013: One Blogger's Opinion ( No Arcade Fire or Daft Punk inside)

1- Warm Soda “Someone for You” (Castleface Records) - In 2011 I had the 70’s AM radio-sounding Power/Pop band Bare Wires on my list. Guitarist Mathew Melton’s new band Warm Soda makes the jump to the FM dial with a fuller sound and even sharper hooks. This was definitely my favorite release of the year.

2- Mixtapes “Ordinary Silence” (No Sleep) - Punk guitars playing pop hooks with crystal clear male and female vocals singing tongue-in-cheek sarcastic lyrics. Plus they like to curse a lot. Why have I never heard of this Cincinnati band before?

3- Palma Violets “180” (Rough Trade) -

While The Vaccines inherited The Libertine's guitar hooks, it seems The Palma Violets inherited their drunken swagger. Throw in a bit of a Lloyd Cole and the Commotions influence and you have a great debut album.

4- Iceage “You're Nothing" (Matador)- In 2011 everyone put the Denmark band Iceage's debut album “New Brigade” on their Best of lists leaving me scratching my head and wondering why. Sometime within then and this year's ‘You're Nothing” I finally got this (Early) Cure meets Christian Death-inspired band. Anxiously wait for what they do next.

5- The Maine “Forever Halloween”(Rude) - The Goo Goo Dolls started out as a fun thrash band. Somewhere in the middle of their transformation into the hugely successful rock band of today, they released the very good Power/Pop "Superstar Carwash" album and most people missed it. Thankfully The Maine did not. This Brendon Benson-produced album is literally a million times better than The Maine’s previous releases.

6- California X “S/T” (Don Giovanni) - There are only two things in a song I like more than loud driving guitars. Anathematic vocals and strong hooks. Luckily this Amherst, Massachusetts band possesses all three. I can’t wait to see them live in February.

7- The Strokes “Comedown Machine” (RCA) - Sometimes you just have to hear an album in the right place before it clicks. When this album was released in March, I thought it sounded weird, kind of disco-y, and a bit unlistenable. It wasn’t until July when I was in Vancouver’s Zulu Records and heard this album playing throughout each room that I realized how good it was.

8- Oblivians “Desperation” (In The Red)- There is no arguing this Oblivians "reunion" album is tamer than the raucous garage rock/demented blues of the Memphis, Tennessee band's nineties output. But Jack, Greg, and Eric Oblivian are a decade older and calmed down a bit. Even at the lesser intensity, the Oblivians would still blow most of the bands playing this genre today right off the stage

9- Crystal Antlers “Nothing Is Real” (Innovative Leisure) - 

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Crystal Antlers have been unlucky because Touch and Go folded shortly after releasing their 2009 debut or lucky enough to have released an album (and an EP) on such a great label at all. Either way, after a short stint on Recreation Records, Innovative Leisure picked up the reins and released this album full of Sonic Youth-influenced noisy guitars and Trail of the Dead psychedelia.

10- Vampire Weekend “Modern Vampires in the City” (XL Recordings)- I really wanted to like Vampire Weekend after lead singer Ezra Koenig sang the Descendent's “Parents" during F*cked Up’s 12-hour show a few years back but could not get into the “trying too hard to be The Police” fake reggae of their first album. The super annoying song “Cousins” on their second album “Contra” almost made me give up on the band forever. Luckily on “Modern Vampires of the City” they have replaced most of the reggae sound with a cranked-up bass and loud drums. Great album that has me dancing all the way to the train.

With so many of the same bands ending up on people's lists year after year, I try to keep my list to ones that have not been on my before. But there are two which have been who that deserve at least a mention:

11- Milk Music – Cruise Your Illusion (Fat Possum) - On the new album this Olympia, Washington band further expands on their Dinosaur Jr/Neil Young/ (early)Buffalo Tom style buzzing guitar hooks that made their 2011 debut album “Beyond Living’ so special. Only this time because of Fat Possum’s RED distribution, this one you can actually find in a store.

12- Wild Moth “Over Again” (Asian Man)- This San Francisco band follows up their two “Revolution Summer” influenced 2012 EPs with a louder and more mature full album, 

One Bloggers Opinion 2012's Lucky #13 (or 14) Favorite Releases of the Year .

Top 13 or 14 Favorite Releases of 2012. One Blogger's Opinion


The time has come again when every music blogger will unleash what they think were the best releases of the year. In my opinion, 2012 was a fantastic year for music and I had trouble narrowing my choices down to just fourteen. Here they are in no particular order

The Vaccines – Come of Age (Columbia Records) – Hands down my favorite album of the year. Guitar hooks and pure pop for now people that would make Nick Lowe very proud. This album could hold up to be my favorite album of the decade.

Converge (Epitaph Records) – All That We Love We Leave Behind – Converge never seems to fail me. Pun intended of course. Sixteen years since their landmark Petitioning the Empty Sky they can still put out fresh-sounding albums in their math/metal style while most of their contemporaries either became bland, changed styles or gave up.

Diiv – Oshin (Captured Tracks) – On about a third of the tracks on the late 80’s/early 90’s band Chapterhouse’s Whirlpool album they played music notes and riffs that were as close to sonic perfection as any shoegazer has gotten The Brooklyn band Diiv manages to hit perfect notes and riffs on all thirteen tracks of the Oshin album.

Billy Raygun – s/t (LP People of the Woods, CD John Wilkes Booth Records) – Chunky-sounding pop/punk band out of New Hampshire. Dual vocals, which they just added to this album, add very much to this young band’s already fast-maturing sound. Great stuff if you like early Jawbreaker, Crimpshrine (if they had better vocals), or Dillinger Four.

The Men – Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones) – The Men sound just like they were yanked out of the early 90’s New York Scene (think Unsane, Surgery, Loudspeaker, etc) where bands straddled different underground genres like punk, metal, and good old rock and roll. On “Open Your Heart”, The Men combined all of them with a dose of the Ramones rearing its head from underneath. Check out the Stiff Little Fingers “Suspect Device” “Influenced” riff on the album's opener.

Roomrunner – Super Vague (Fan Death Records) – The Baltimore area’s Roomrunner plays 90’s influenced grunge better than many of those 90’s bands who played grunge. I wish I still had a car because I bet these guys are great to listen to while driving.

Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory (Carpark Records) – A young band that knows when to get poppy and knows when to get noisy. The Steve Albini production totally enhances whichever way they choose to go.

Ceremony – Zoo (Matador) – For the past 5 years Ceremony has been my favorite hardcore band. On Zoo they change their sound to more of a Wire/Joy Division-influenced sound and become my favorite post-punk band. But don’t worry, they still play the hardcore ragers live.

Nada Surf – “The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy” (Barsuk) – It’s hard to believe that when many people think about Nada Surf they still think about their minor hit “Popular”. It’s unfortunate because those people missing out on sixteen years of some great hook-filled power pop. “The Stars…” is a fantastic addition to their five albums (and one covers record) post “Popular” discography.

Pig Destroyer – Book Burner (Relapse) – These guys remain the only grind/thrash/etc band that can hold my attention over an entire album. Make sure to pick the two-disc version with awesome covers of Black Flag, Void, Misfits, Angry Samoans, and more. No animals were harmed in the making of this record.

Wild Moth – “Mourning Glow” Ep(Asian Man Records ) and  S/T Ep (The Ghost is Cleat – digital, Suitors Club – 10”) – San Francisco hardcore/punk band that is not afraid to add an effects peddle and some feedback. Sometimes they verge into Iceage territory but pull off that sound better than the Danish band has been able to. (Both Eps are also available on Bandcamp)

Jack White – Blunderbuss (Thirdman) – I disliked everything the White Stripes ever released almost as much as I disliked everything Led Zeppelin, the band the White Stripes tried to sound like, released. Let’s face it, if the Raconteurs and Dead Weather did not have the names in the band that they did, no one would really care about them. I was totally surprised to find out I liked this album and ended up listening to it regularly over the rest of the year. But then again I loved the Robert Plant solo album (with Alison Krause) from a few years back too.

Pop 1280 – The Horror (Sacred Bones) – Many a band has attempted to raise the furious sound of The Birthday Party but have all fallen flat on their face in the process. This Brooklyn band succeeds where almost everyone has failed. I’m sure even Nick Cave himself would be impressed.

Forgetters – s/t (To Small To Fail) – Blake of Jawbreaker/Jets To Brazil fame’s newish band (finally) released an album recorded by (Jawbox frontman) J. Robbins. Did you really think this album would not be on this list?