Well hello there. I know posting here has become virtually nonexistent, but not even an irregular writing commitment can keep me away from a good ol’ year-end top ten albums list. For those of you new to this exercise, I’ve archived my previous five years worth of top tens over in the righthand sidebar should you be interested in 50 other albums I’m crazy about.
This year I’m introducing a new feature – my top tracks of the year. Below is a sampling of songs that I simply could not get out of head at varying points throughout this year:
The Afters, “You”
Amy Winehouse, “You Know I’m No Good”
Citizen Cope, “Nite Becomes Day”
The Click Five, “Time Machine”
Corinne Bailey Rae, “Put Your Records On”
Deathray, “Let’s Be Friends”
Devlin Murphy, “Today”
The Early November, “Hair”
The Fire Apes, “Hey Kate”
Head Automatica, “Lying Through Your Teeth”
Head Automatica, “Scandalous”
Holmes, “Wake Up”
Icecream Hands, “Launceston”
Mika, “Grace Kelly”
Nickelback, “Photograph”
Orson, “Already Over”
The Push Stars, “Lucky Sevens”
Rihanna, “Umbrella”
Saul Zonana, “Silver Jacket”
Sean Kingston, “Beautiful Girls”
Moving over to the full-length end of the spectrum, as per usual, we’ll start with the year’s disappointments. Despite containing “The Pretender,” one of my favorite songs of the year, “Echoes Silence Patience and Grace” continued the Foo Fighters’ string of mediocre releases, dating back to 2002’s “One by One.” While Dave Grohl has built up enough good will with me that I’ll continue to eagerly anticipate new Foo albums, one has to wonder if the band will ever once again reach the sonic perfection heard on “The Colour and the Shape” and its brilliant follow up, “There Is Nothing Left to Lose.”
Another rather forgetful affair was former Tories frontman Steve Bertrand’s solo debut, “Pain is a Megaphone.” The two Tories records gave hope to Jellyfish fans that modern power-pop was indeed alive and in good hands, but on this misguided bland disc Bertrand appears to have forgotten what it was about his music that made people like it in the first place.
For the second time in three years, Bryce Avary, a.k.a The Rocket Summer, makes my biggest disappointments list. Not that “Do You Feel” was overwhelmingly bad, but on both this album and its predecessor, “Hello Good Friend,” he almost sounds like he’s trying toohard to create the perfect pop song. The talent is there: “Calendar Days” is still a terrific album, but it remains to be seen if he’ll ever live up to the promise shown thus far.
And after the excellent “Futures,” Jimmy Eat World returned to give us the weak “Chase This Light.” I found this record so underwhelming I can’t even be bothered to waste time writing any more words about its suckitude.
Moving on to notable entries that I enjoyed, but didn’t quite make the top ten: John Hoskinson’s “Pancho Fantastico,” a fun record with a lot of good songs, although not enough great ones; the Red Button’s “She’s About to Cross My Mind,” the best early-period Beatles album the Beatles never recorded; the ACBs’ self-titled debut, which showed lots of promise for a power-pop newcomer although some of the songs and ideas felt a bit unfinished; and Sondre Lerche’s “Phantom Punch,” a catchy, eclectic record that stuck with me for a bit although faded a bit faster than I’d have liked.
Additionally, Rosenbergs lead singer David Fagin released “For Promotional Use Only,” and while not as immediately catchy as much of his band’s work, it was still a mostly enjoyable if mellower affair; New Pornographers came out with another solid if slightly underwhelming effort in “Challengers;” and Rooney released its much-anticipated Sophomore album, “Calling the World,” which was better than expected although not quite as strong as its eponymous debut.
And because speculation is always fun, here’s a brief list of my most anticipated for 2008: new albums from Second Saturday, Phantom Planet, Pernice Brothers, Waking Hours, Millicent Friendly, Checkpoint Charley, and The Like.
And finally, on to the list proper:
10) The Fizzies: Contest Popularity – While no one will mistake this for the best album ever, the Fizzies do enough things really well to make this worthy of the top ten. This unassuming catchy little rock album immediately calls to mind White Light Motorcade’s spectacular “Thank You, Goodnight,” as well as the ass-kicking rock theatrics of Marvelous3, back when Butch Walker still knew how to write a great song. The album’s best track is “Teardrops in the Bag,” a song which I played nonstop for two straight weeks, and that evokes Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” and would have been all over the radio and MTV were this the mid to late 90s.
9) Drake Bell: It’s Only Time – “It’s Only Time” is the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, an insane sugar rush of power-pop goodness co-written and performed by the teenage star of “Drake & Josh,” a Nickelodeon kid’s show. That show’s theme song, “Found a Way,” might be the catchiest song in American history, and there’s a great acoustic version of it on this album. There are also seemingly a million minor chords in every song, and the vocals and background harmonies would make Second Saturday blush. Hell, there are even several traces of Jellyfish in here, ultimately making this the kind of record that seems to have been made specifically to please my ears.
8) Bryan Scary: The Shredding Tears – The prettiest, most varied and ornate record of the year, by far. Bryan Scary goes places most power-poppers wouldn’t dream of and returns with electric results. Scary runs the gamut of musical genres, stylistically moving from vaudeville to classical to post-punk and everything in between. This is a record that definitely takes several listens to start getting into with all that’s going on, but it’s highly rewarding if you give it a chance. The most direct comparison I’d make is late-era Beatles (primarily “Revolver” and “White Album”), as there are a ton of ideas being thrown around and the music’s considerably more involved, but the melodies are ultimately still there.
7) Tripsitter: California Son – Tripsitter’s “California Son” apparently came out in 2005, but I don’t care. Toss in beautiful vocal harmonies, minor chords, pretty arrangements and a Beach Boys/Beatles fetish and you’ll get a reasonable idea of what Tripsitter is all about. The title track is simply a pure power-pop delight, and will lodge itself inside your brain and never, ever leave, nor will you want it to. This is an awesome album, and a perfect record for a drive to the beach. Simply put, this album literally feels like summer.
6) Say Anything: In Defense of the Genre – Upon reading that Say Anything’s follow-up to the incredible “…Is a Real Boy” was going to be a double album, I wasn’t sure Max Bemis could pull it off, but damned if he just about did. Like any double CD, “In Defense of the Genre” has its share of filler, and it almost makes you wish that the production team could have cut some of it down and assembled the strongest material into one amazing album, but even so there’s too much great stuff here that I’d be remiss in not giving it a spot on the list. Additionally, the all-star cast of guests Bemis recruited feel right at home throughout the album’s duration, and the Pete Yorn cameo alone on the very first track is worth the price of admission.
5) The Nines: Gran Jukle’s Field – In a top ten list of several genre-defying power-pop albums, The Nines’ “Gran Jukle’s Field” is up there with the best of them. Much has been made over the fact that power-pop legends Jason Falkner and Bleu assisted on this record, and it shows: All of the songs are soaked in hooks, and it makes you wish Bleu would not only take the time to work with some of power-pop’s other heavy hitters (uh, Bleu and Second Saturday, anyway? Drool), but finally record a damn follow-up to “Redhead.” Sure, last year’s L.E.O. record was great, but the masses are clamoring for a proper Bleu album. However, getting back to the band at hand, The Nines don’t disappoint, and two of the top tracks are songs that incredibly sound like they could have fit on either “Saturday Night Fever” or a Bee Gees album, or even been a long lost rewrite of the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes”: the infectious disco duo of “Don’t Be a Fool” and “I Am Lost.” Seriously, I could picture Barry Gibb or Michael McDonald happily belting out either song. All in all, a very satisfying record.
4) Everybody Else – Everybody Else’s eponymous debut (what is it about power-pop acts and excellent self-titled first albums? See OK Go; Rooney) is a spectacularly upbeat and awesome rock album. It’s buoyantly catchy, and the songs will be stuck in your head for weeks at a time. This is just good old-fashioned catchy-as-all-get-out rock and roll. From the opening notes of “Meat Market,” which could make even the most jaded hipster eager to shake their ass, to the retro 50s vibe of “Rich Girls Poor Girls” to the wistfully nostalgic “In Memoriam,” there simply isn’t a weak track throughout the album.
3) The Drawing Board: Clear to the Far Side of Way Over Yonder – This is a release that truly came out of nowhere, grabbed my ears and refused to let go. The overriding feeling on this album is sort of a power-pop/emo/indie rock hybrid, and the band utilizes a wide range of varied styles while putting their own unique stamp on the proceedings. It’s a very interesting, hook-filled, harmony-drenched record featuring many unique and creative chord and tempo changes throughout, while also giving off a bit of an indie/emo sheen. It’s a very cohesive, thematic record, with the semi-eerie “Clear to the Far Side” intro and “Lose My Mind” outro bookending a batch of brilliant songs. It’s so easy for bands to sound derivative and unoriginal, which makes a song like “Happy With You” that much more incredible, as I can truthfully say I’ve really never heard anything like it. Engaging, catchy, haunting and beautiful: This is a special record, and albums like it don’t come around too often.
2) Chris Brown: Now That You’re Fed – Narrowing down a top three this year has been very hard. Really, any of the albums in my top three could be number one. I know “Now That You’re Fed” is technically a 2006 release, but I wasn’t able to get to it until this year. What a find, though. I don’t know where Chris Brown came from, but I hope he sticks around for a long, long time. This record has everything a power-pop fan dreams of: Delicious melodies; an outstanding, almost Joe Pernice-like vocal range; and terrific, varied and catchy-as-hell arrangements. In an album full out of stand-out tracks that continually found me shaking my head in disbelief at how talented Brown is, perhaps the most fun moment is the baroque, “court jester is here to perform for the king” soaring string section in the chorus to “In the Kitchen.” If listening to that track doesn’t put a smile on your face, check your pulse; you might be dead.
1) Jackdaw4: Bipolar Diversions – There’s not a whole hell of a lot more I can say beyond the fawning review I gave this album back in October, which the band linked to from its website. This album is what I hope every new album I listen to in a given year will be but so few are: So insanely, disgustingly catchy throughout that I don’t even think about skipping a track. Brilliant vocals, amazing backup harmonies drenching every verse and chorus and an inconceivable gift for multiple hooks on every tune make this an easy choice for top album of 2007. Before this record came out, Chris Brown definitely held the top spot, and he’d certainly be a worthy choice, but the sheer wallop of sonic goodness packed into “Bipolar Diversions” would make it criminal to not bestow it top honors. Willie Dowling & Co. have truly created a modern masterpiece, and if this record isn’t setting your ears on fire in all it’s aural brilliance, do yourself a favor and check it out. Now.
Halcyon Days 