It’s nearing the end of December, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for my patented Top Ten Albums of the Year list. Not patented, you say? Well I’ve been doing it since 2002, and here are the last four editions for those of you who might be interested in 40 other albums I love:
2002: Top Ten Albums of 2002
2003: Top Ten Albums of 2003
2004: Top Ten Albums of 2004
2005: Top Ten Albums of 2005
As always, this list is going to be almost entirely populated by bands that most of you won’t know. Such is the scourge of the power-pop lover. However, if you’re curious about any of them, I urge you to check all of them out. If you’re a fan of Indie rock, you almost certainly won’t like any of these, but if you like catchy-as-all-get-out, melodic rock without an air of pretentiousness, then this list is for you.
First, let’s get the honorable mentions out of the way. Though they didn’t quite crack the Top Ten, these albums were more than worthy of consideration: ex-Jellyfisher/Beck and seemingly-every-artist-under-the-sun keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr. released his excellent solo debut album, “Solid State Warrior” (be sure to check out “Wish It Would Rain” – one of the catchiest songs of the year); Ben Kweller’s third eponymous album was a vast improvement on his sophomore effot; Pete Yorn and Butch Walker, two of my all-time favorites, both put out OK records in “Nightcrawler” and The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Lets Go Out Tonites,” respectively, although neither was quite up to the level of excellence I expect from both acts; The Lashes debuted with the very strong and infectious “Get It”; and Supraluxe and The Green and Yellow TV released a couple of nice efforts—self-titled and “Sinister Barrier”—both of which veered more towards the Indie branch of power pop (and yes, believe it or not there is such a thing).
I’d also be remiss if I neglected to point out the album that, had it been released this year, would have been #1, and that’s Bleu’s 2003 masterpiece, “Redhead.” I have no idea how I missed this when it came out three years ago, but this is a power-pop lover’s dream come true. Starting with the ridiculously catchy “Get Up” (seriously, if this song – the perfect song to jog to – doesn’t get you pumped as hell, you may need to check your pulse) and rifling through another dozen or so tracks of aural brilliance, “Redhead” simply doesn’t let up. If you love the Argument, Second Saturday, Yellow Second, Jellyfish, Checkpoint Charley, the Tories, the Rosenbergs or any of the other seminal power pop acts of the last several years, you will love this record. Soaring guitars, incredible vocals and harmonies, catchy-as-hell choruses—this is incredible stuff.
On to the list proper:
10) The Pink Spiders: Teenage Graffiti – This slot was a bit of a toss-up, but The Pink Spiders duked it out with the rest of the honorable mentions and came out victorious. It’s a pretty straightforward album of three-chord power-poppy-punk, but when the songs are this catchy, I don’t give a rat’s ass how simple the music is.
9) Scamper: Leave Your Glasses On – These guys are destined to be mired in obscurity, and that’s a shame, because their brand of hooktastic power-pop is right in line with the top bands in the genre. If you’re interested in having a song stuck in your head for several days straight, listen to “Stunner,” “Sophie” or “What a Shame.”
8) Bracket: Requiem – One of my all-time favorite bands; I’ve been listening to these guys churn out three-minutes snippets of infectious brilliance since the halcyon days of pop-punk in 1995. They’ve always been masters of catchiness, and the self-produced “Requiem”—filled with the band’s trademark unpredictable chord changes, incredible harmonies, strings, horns, and 17 songs with the same name—finds them finally delivering the pop-punk masterpiece they’ve been building up to over the last decade.
7) Pernice Brothers: Live a Little – What can I say about Joe Pernice and Pernice Brothers that I haven’t said a million times before? “Yours, Mine & Ours” was my top album of 2003, and even though last year’s “Discover a Lovelier You” was a mild disappointment, it still blew the lid off almost everything else that was released. “Live a Little” finds Pernice making a bit of return to the power/chamber pop sound he perfected on “Overcome by Happiness” and “The World Won’t End” (which, if you are a fan of music at all, both of which should really be a part of your collection—talk about absolutely beautiful vocals and arrangements), mixed with a little of the new wave style of its predecessor. Any way you want to label it, Joe Pernice continues to make hands-down the best music in the world.
6) Millicent Friendly: Downtime – Last year, Checkpoint Charley more than lived up to its billing as heir apparent to power-pop legends Jellyfish. This year, Millicent Friendly made a bold play for the title with “Downtime,” which, while not quite as Jellyfish-esque as Jellyfish themselves and Checkpoint Charley, certainly is equally as catchy if not even more power-poppy. Every song here is a gem, filled with unexpected chord changes, vocals and minor chords galore—fans of more guitar-driven power pop should eat this up.
5) Bad Astronuat: Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment – Bad Astronaut’s sophomore album, Houston: We have a drinking problem,” was once of the best albums of 2002, so I had very high expectations for the follow-up. Fortunately they didn’t disappoint, penning an outstanding record of catchy (“Good Morning Night” is one of the most addictive songs of the year) and contemplative songs dealing with the suicide of the band’s drummer. Unfortunately rumor has it that this will be the band’s record, but if that’s the case, it’s a fitting coda.
4) Say Anything: …Is a Real Boy – Technically released in 2004 but reissued in 2006, this critically acclaimed “punk rock opera”came out of left field and just walloped me. The first four songs are so fucking good they stack up against the front-end of any albumever – I don’t think I could get “Belt,” “Woe” or “Alive With the Glory of Love” out of my head for a solid month this past summer. Though the back end of the album is a bit uneven, the combination of the catchiest elements from both emo and pop-punk along with a sprinkling of showtune bombast still make “…Is a Real Boy” a superb album.
3) The Format: Dog Problems – This album took a number of spins for me to really start to appreciate, but once it clicked, I realized I had a monster on my hands. “Dog Problems” is one of the more musically diverse albums of the year, complete with straight-up singalong power pop, an occasional sprinkling of a softer indie aesthetic, all held together by the eponymous ragtimey 1930-sounding centerpiece track.
Allmusic.com puts it far better than I ever could: “From a whimsical, carnival-esque air that appears sporadically throughout, the Format mix in horn sections, piano, banjo, handclaps and pretty much whatever else was lying around the studio when recording commenced. But every element is cleanly pulled off with such effortless charm, grace, and style that the songs in no way feel bogged down under the weight of the bands’ ambition. The music never sounds forced or like the band is simply trying to be different through gimmicks; they’ve just matured into a new skin that fits as delightfully as their old.”
2) Forgive Durden: Wonderland – Though one might be quick to deride Forgive Durden’s incredible debut as emo or pop-punk, this mind-blowing record spurns classification, and is easily one of the most original albums of the year. I’m not even sure such a genre exists, but if anything, it sounds like post-pop-punk to me, as there are certainly aspects of that much-maligned genre present, but by incorporating so many new and different elements the music is taken to a completely different level.
Once again, I call on allmusic.com to further embellish what I’m trying to say: “Musically, the group is at heart a pop-punk band, but Forgive Durden indulges itself significantly with diverse instrumentation (throwing – among other things – banjo, saxophone, mandolin, and keyboard parts into the mix) and varied tempos that often change course, speed, and direction multiple times within the same song. Regardless of the bouncy, start-stop, toe stubbing, turbulent playing, the record flows rather nicely from track to track with a moody energy that fits the ominous and perceptive lyrical agenda directing each song.”
Every song sounds wildly different than its predecessor, which is no small feat when operating within the confines of a genre generally thought of as incredibly limiting and unoriginal.
1) L.E.O.: Alpacas Orgling – Billed as a tribute to E.L.O., with“Alpacas Orgling”the aforementioned Bleu has created the most enjoyable, catchiest album of the year by assembling some of the biggest names in power-pop. Generally people recoil in horror when the term “supergroup” is bandied about, but the combined talents of ex-Jellyfish lead singer Andy Sturmer, “That Thing You Do” vocalist Mike Viola and ex-The Argument frontman Scott Simons among others are just too strong and result in a power-pop lover’s delight. Every song on the record is a masterpiece, kicking off with the amazing chord changes/vocals of “Overture/Goodbye Innocence” and finishing with the spectacular “Sukaz Are Born Every Minute,” which despite its amusing gangsta-rap-esque title is one of the most gentle, pleasing album closers in recent memory. After being exposed to both “Redhead” and “Alpacas Orgling,” it’s safe to say that Bleu has easily catapulted himself into the list of top modern songwriters. Great stuff all around.2006
Halcyon Days 