2009 was an embarassment of musical riches. After a lackluster year last year, this is the best 365 days of musical releases for me since at least 2003 (maybe ever). I expanded the list to my top 20 meanwhile a third of my “most anticipated” albums weren’t even released and I still have a few albums I didn’t even get around to. Translated: I did the best I could but it was nearly impossible to include all the noteworthy music, let alone rank things appropriately. The “also receiving votes” section has more quality to it than ever, but just because I got tired of writing don’t ignore those entries. With that in mind, here are my subjective highlights of the year in music:

Old School:

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
The Who – Who’s Next
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Global A-Go-Go
The Clash – Anything and Everything

Disappointments:

New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight
This album isn’t as bad as the other albums in this section, but if I wanted to listen to something that sounds like this, I’d pull out one of their superior albums from ten years ago. I may be in the minority here, but I thought this was a step back after displaying some growth in Coming Home.

Eminem – Relapse
There were a couple stand out tracks, but this was mostly trash (and not the good kind like his earlier stuff).

Two Tongues – Two Tongues
How can two of the genre’s top song writers produce such an unmemorable collection of songs? Say Anything was clearly saving it’s best material for their self titled release. Hopefully Saves The Day does the same with their upcoming album.

RX Bandits – Mandela
The talent in this band is undeniable, but I had always listened to them because of the horn element, which unfortunately was completely taken out in this latest album. The keyword in this categorization is clearly “disappointing” instead of “bad.”

Also Receiving Votes:
They do not get a thumbnail but they can try again next year.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Fightstar – Be Human
Ace Enders and a Million Different People – When I Hit The Ground
Umphreys McGee – Mantis
Mutemath – Armistice
Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
MeWithoutYou – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream It’s Alright
Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
Mew – No More Stories / Are Told Today / I’m Sorry / They Washed Away / No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I’m Tired / Let’s Wash Away
Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending

Favorites:

20. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Pin Points and Gin Joints
Ska
“I was in a barroom that was somewhere on the southern shore of Boston/The tender of the bar poured me a whiskey on the house/I had a love for whiskey, I chased it with a beer/I have a love for Boston and I loved writing it there.”

Out of all the reunion albums I was expecting this year, this was the one that actually happened (not sure what Blink 182 and Eve 6 are out there doing right now). Considering how many ska bands regularly get played on my iPod, it’s surprising that for the most part I’m pretty cool towards most of the Bosstones’ discography. The exception is 2002’s A Jackknife To A Swan which I really dig. Considering they have been on hiatus since that album, my anticipation for PP&GJ ended up not matching up with the final result. There are some quality jams to be found here (thus a presence on this list), but overall I was disappointed, particularly with some lazy songwriting.

Best Tracks:

I Wrote It
The Bricklayer’s Story
A Pretty Sad Excuse

19. All Time Low – Nothing Personal
Pop-Punk
“Maybe it’s not my weekend/But it’s gonna be my year/And I’m so sick of watching while the minutes pass as I go nowhere/And this is my reaction/To everything I fear/Cause I’ve been going crazy/I don’t want to waste another minute here.”

I just can’t help myself. I like crappy music sometimes and this is an example of that vice. All Time Low popped onto my radar because they were a local band to me when I was living in Maryland. Now they seem positioned to be this generation’s Blink-182 (when I say “this generation” I mean the horrible, thieving, whoring, Twilight-loving, Hot Topic generation who are too young to know who Monica Lewinski or Lou Bega are). The lyrics are stupid and poppy and this album will probably rot your brain, but it really is great driving music. At its best it sounds like New Found Glory in their heyday. “Keep The Change You Filthy Animal” seriously could have been written by NFG in 2002.

Best Tracks:

Weightless
Break Your Little Heart
A Party Song (The Walk Of Shame)

18. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Rock
“The next time that I caught my own reflection it was on its way to meet you/Thinking of excuses to postpone/You never looked like yourself from the side/But your profile could not hide/The fact you knew I was approaching your throne/With folded arms you occupied/The bench like toothache/Stood and puffed your chest out like you’d never lost a war/Although I tried so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction/There was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw”

Let me start out by saying that if this were the Arctic Monkeys’ first album I would not have listened to any of their other ones. I definitely had to let it grow on me. Every song still sounds like it belongs in a James Bond movie, but now they belong in the boring parts. Maybe the parts in M’s office. There are still a few standout tracks that will grab you on the first spin, but enjoyment of this album comes just relaxing and going along with the looser feel. While I like this album, it’s not really what I’m looking for from this band. I’d gladly trade in some maturity and band growth in favor of some of the infectiousness of their first two albums.

Best Tracks:

Crying Lightning
Pretty Visitors
The Jeweler’s Hands

17. Fake Problems – It’s Great To Be Alive
Indie Rock/Punk
“You said I do not love him anymore/And as the words left your mouth/I should have went for the door/But I forgot how skilled an actress you are /So I stuck around like a fool asking for more.”

Fake Problems’ sophomore album It’s Great To Be Alive is my first exposure to the band and it definitely made an impression. The album tackles issues ranging from relationships to religion to loneliness. The band seems to come from a punk background, but has expanded on that base to include a wide array of instruments that will always keep you on your toes. At times this band even sounds like something that would be concocted by the Muppets (and I mean that in the best possible way).

Best Tracks:

You’re A Serpent, You’re A She-Snake
Level With The Devil
Heart BPM

16. The Dangerous Summer – Reach For The Sun
Pop-Rock
“So tell me what you think of the atmosphere/And all those months inside my head/Well do you really believe in me?/I will hold this like a gun/Because I’ve got some things to do.”

This is that album that I kept forgetting about but when I would listen to it I’d still be surprised by how good it is. Instrumentally, there isn’t anything groundbreaking going on here, but it is catchy enough. What sets this album apart is the deceptively dark lyrics that if you’re not paying attention would not seem to go with the style of music being played. I’d also recommend this Ellicott City, Maryland band to anyone who is missing The Starting Line (at least their later work), because the similarity of styles, particularly the vocals, is striking.

Best Tracks:

Settle Down
Surfaced
This Is War

15. Chuck Ragan – Gold Country
Americana/Folk/Acoustic
“A wise old friend recently told me/An idle mind is the devils playpen/Mind the gaps and watch them closely/Spread the love but choose your friends wisely/Love yourself to love your family/And find the difference between wants and needs/Be sure to stop and count your blessings/Smell the roses and fight for something.”

Chuck Ragan was a part of the inexplicable folk phase I went through for a couple months this year. I got hooked on his first solo album Feast Or Famine and anticipated this album for much of 2009. There’s something about this style of music that takes me to a peaceful place. This was my soundtrack to several summer sunsets on my deck this year with a beer in hand. I’m not sure why this style of music has never clicked with me until now, but I know I’ve never needed a peace of mind more than I have this year so maybe it all makes sense.

Best Tracks:

For Goodness Sake
Done And Done
10 West
Ole Diesel

14. AFI – Crash Love
Pop-Rock/Punk
“I thought you sang so tastefully/But now I see I was wrong/Your serenade turns to filth/when I leave so, please, cut the love song.”

First of all, thank God somebody got a haircut, so I don’t have to vomit every time I think about this band. I guess it’s better to vomit because of hair than because of your music though (I’m looking at you, BrokeNCYDE). Thankfully, this is not AFI’s problem. I really only started listening after Decemberunderground so my frame of reference is ridiculously small but Crash Love is my favorite release by this band. Gone are the synthy grooves of Decemberunderground replaced with a more poppy sound while still remaining true to the band’s goth-punk roots.

Best Tracks:

Okay, I Feel Better Now
Medicate
Darling, I Want To Destroy You
Cold Hands

13. Big D And The Kids Table – Fluent In Stroll
Ska
“8-6-5/Baby study the rhyme/Dancing in the street all loopy and blind/2-3-9/My little partner in crime/Didn’t study for the test and it’s past bedtime/8-6-5/Baby study the rhyme/Feeling like we’re moving through water tonight/2-3-9/It’s a victimless crime/Just digging on the feeling of feeling sublime”

This album really came out of nowhere to become a staple of my summer soundtrack. I’ve never been a fan of this band. Like, at all. So I’m not sure why I even gave it a chance, but I’m glad I did. They call their new style “stroll,” which is described on Wikipedia as “a mix of double-dutch, ska, reggae, and soul.” Double-dutch? I’m pretty sure that’s as made up as “stroll,” but the final result is a breezy, relaxed album that I will probably breaking out for many summers to come.

Best Tracks:

Doped Up Dollies On A One Way Ticket To Blood
Describing The Sky
A Kiss A Week
Fluent In Stroll

12. Cartel – Cycles
Pop-Punk
“Let me reintroduce myself/As a man with a cause/I’ve had a lot of time to think/And look at who we are/And I’ve got nothing left to say/But we’ve got to carry on/And I’ve got so much left to do/But I’ll start with this song.”

Following Cartel’s pop-punk classic Chroma, there were a lot of high hopes for their follow up self titled album. I, and many others apparently, were left a little disappointed. Only this year did I finally decide that I was perhaps too harsh on the self-titled, but Cycles really represents more what I’m looking for out of this band: upbeat pop-punk tunes. While Cycles doesn’t reach the heights of Chroma, it is more a step in that direction. In fact, if I have a criticism of this album it’s that it’s a bit too homogenous and could maybe use a couple more change of pace songs. Regardless, this album is exactly what you’d expect with catchy summertime driving tunes and terrific vocals.

Best Tracks:

The Perfect Mistake
Only You
It Still Remains
Retrograde

11. Elvis Costello – Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane
Americana/Country/Acoustic
“If you were my life’s companion/As it seems you may turn out to be/I’m contemplating/How I hope I’ll find you waiting/At the very end of this crooked line.”

As prolific as Costello is (he’s released 11 albums in the past 8 years), I try to always to at least check out every release. Last year’s back-to-basics album Momofuku was certainly a highlight of recent years but in years past this bluegrassy offering would have been pretty quickly discarded by yours truly. Oddly, I was actually in the midst of a folk/Americana kick inspired primarily by Chuck Ragan, so this was released with impeccable timing.

Best Tracks:

Complicated Shadows
Hidden Shame
The Crooked Line
Changing Partners

10. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Punk
“Mayday this is not a test!/As the neighborhood burns/American is falling/Vigilantes warning you/Calling Christian and Gloria!”

Note to Green Day: you are not The Who, no matter how much you’d like to be. The first couple of times I listened to this album I hated it. Part of that was probably based on my thoughts on the first single, “Know Your Enemy,” which could be summed up with, “It took you five years to write…this?” That song fits a lot better within the context of the album, but still I don’t find much that really sticks out in the first half of this record. Luckily it’s so freaking long, that there’s still plenty of material that packs a punch in the second half. The bottom line is that I can appreciate wanting to give your fans as many new songs as possible after producing nothing for five years, but someone really needed to tell Green Day to take a hatchet to maybe a quarter of these songs. It would have made the final product a much more enjoyable listen for me.

Best Tracks:

Peacemaker
Restless Heart Syndrome
21 Guns
American Eulogy

9. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Indie
“And here I am, softer than a shower/And here I am, to garland you with flowers/To lay you down in a clover bed/The stars a roof above our heads/And we’ll lie until the Corn Crake crows/Bereft of the weight of our summer clothes/And I’d wager all/The hazards of love.”

This band is so weird, but so good. After the critically acclaimed The Crane Wife, The Decemberists got even more ambitious and wrote a musical. As best I can tell the story is as follows: a girl falls in love with a boy who occasionally shape shifts into a fawn. They do it on a clover bed and the girl gets knocked up. The dude’s mom is some sort of forest queen witch who forbids him from being with the girl. Meanwhile a Rake who has murdered his wife and children has kidnapped the girl. SPOILER ALERT: I’m pretty sure everyone dies. I knew a guy who did that in high school once. You want something a little more mainstream, perhaps you should be looking elsewhere.

Best Tracks:

The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
The Rake’s Song
The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

8. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
Rock
“You mean everything to nothing/You mean everything to nobody/But me.”

The theme of this album can pretty much be summed up by the second line of the first song: “I am the only son of a pastor I know who does the things I do.” The lead singer’s religious hang-ups hang heavy from beginning to end and it’s a bit ambiguous where he’s ended up with the bulk of the album seeming to deal with the fallout of a newfound disbelief, but ending with the line, “Oh my God, let me see again.” As someone who grew up in a very Christian household but ended up not as well behaved as my parents would like, I always find albums like this interesting. I only wish the music itself were more consistent. This album contains some of my favorite songs of 2009, but also some tracks that I can hardly ever get through without skipping. This would probably be an album of the year contender if it was able to maintain the highs that it often achieves.

Best Tracks:

Shake It Out
Pride
Everything To Nothing
The River

7. Say Anything – Say Anything
Emo/Pop-Punk
“Your life is always the post of something else/Where is the present in the way that you present yourself?/And it’s disgusting how little that you try/The existential equivalent of pink eye/Drink alone and watch TV/You’re expecting harmonies/To tap your tunes with silver spoons/Anthem of impending doom/Guiding Satan’s steady hand/Forcing Beatles to disband/It’s ego freaks and drama queens/The young at heart know what I mean.”

Max Bemis, the Jewish, foul mouthed, pill-popping man ho, has apparently married and converted to Christianity and now he writes songs about Jesus and, oddly, the Lehigh Valley. Not that any of those developments are bad, but a fan of Say Anything would have a right to be skeptical of the band’s future output given their past material. I’m happy to report that this self-titled release is the best material they’ve done this side of the classic …Is A Real Boy. I’m apparently the only person left who still enjoys In Defense Of The Genre, but I will admit that double album was just flat out too long. I have a hard time imagining a fan of IARB who did not enjoy IDOTG not being won over yet again by this album. SA is quick and to the point, but still maintains the lyrical wit that you would expect from Say Anything. You would think that a spiritually content Max Bemis, who is apparently finally in a stable relationship, would not be as interesting. As he says in “Mara and Me,” “I can’t keep writing the same damn song over and over again,” and this new mature and content tone wrapped up in the poppiest melodies they’ve ever written is surprisingly satisfying given that background.

Best Tracks:

Hate Everyone
Do Better
Mara and Me
Ahhh…Men

6. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
Rock
“It’s not your birthday anymore/There’s no need to be kind to you/And the will to make you smile and belong has now gone/It’s not your birthday anymore/Did you really think we meant all of those syrupy, sentimental things that we said yesterday.”

Years of Refusal was the first album this year that really made an impression on me, which I was not expecting given my history with Morrissey (my history with Morrissey being listening to “Every Day Is Like Sunday” maybe twice a year). The difference this time around is that he has traded in a little bit of his old man emo for some old fashioned rock and roll. The dude is still mopey and battling hang ups that he should have shed decades ago, but this time around the music behind it is equally interesting. I’m not nearly well versed enough in Morrissey’s discography to know if there’s an equivalent album out there, but this is the first material I’ve ever heard from him where he sounds like he’s almost having fun while doing his sad clown routine.

Best Tracks:

Mama Lay Softly In The Riverbed
When I Last Spoke To Carol
It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore
I’m OK By Myself

5. The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You
Americana/Folk
“There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light/In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right/And it comes in black and it comes in white/And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it”

I’m taking a huge risk ranking this album where I am and I have a feeling that I may be splitting the difference one way or another. At the time of writing I simply have not had enough time with it to make a final judgment so I could see it being in my top 3 albums for 2009 or I could see it being lower than this. As you can see from the preceding albums on this list, my tastes shifted slightly towards a more rustic sound this year (while never quite going all-out country). I feel like all those albums may have just paved the way for me to fall in love with I And Love And You. My instincts are telling me that this will be a “gateway drug” if you will into folk music just as Dog Problems was for me into indie music. Whether that pans out or not is yet to be decided, but what is certain is that The Avett Brothers have written an album full of touching lyrics set to melodies that are simplistic, yet beautiful almost in a spiritual way. While I don’t want to get tired of this album any time soon, I’m anxious to dig into their back catalogue whenever that eventually happens (or perhaps even before).

Best Tracks:

I And Love And You
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise
The Perfect Space
Ill With Want
Incomplete And Insecure

4. John Mayer – Battle Studies
Pop
“I was a killer/Was the best they’d ever seen/I’d steal your heart before you ever heard a thing/I’m an assassin and I had a job to do/Little did I know that girl was an assassin too.”

Continuum was the album that took John Mayer from someone I never listen to to someone that I listen to when I’m in a certain mood. Battle Studies may very well be the album that turns him into an anytime, anywhere entry in my playlist. The bluesy elements of Continuum are gone in favor of a more straight up acoustic sound, although there is also some experimentation with his traditional sound. What is most striking to me about this album is how relatable all these relationship-based songs are while being written by a dude whose actual love life can’t possibly be relatable to more than .3% of the general population. I’m certainly not included in that .3%, yet I can’t seem to get enough of this album.

Best Tracks:

Heartbreak Warfare
Perfectly Lonely
Assassin
Friends, Lovers, Or Nothing

3. Brand New – Daisy
Rock
“Little light/Lead us through the night/And if we die burn down the forest/Chariots/Carry us distances we don’t care to walk/I’m on my way out.”

It took me three albums but I finally cracked Brand New’s code. I knew before listening to Daisy that a) I wouldn’t like it right off the bat and b) what I was expecting is not what I would be getting. Even expecting the unexpected it’s hard not to be taken aback by the sheer brutality of the opening track “Vices.” The second track settles back down into familiar BN acoustic territory, but the edge of that opening track rears its head fairly regularly. I usually don’t care for the whole screamo thing but it didn’t take many spins before realizing that the screamy songs were my favorites.

This is also the first album where Jesse Lacey hands the reins over for the bulk of the album lyrically and unfortunately it shows. While there were a few cringe worthy moments in The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, they seem more prevalent this time around (“I’d serve you drugs on a silver plate?” “Run a million miles if you want first prize?”), and the nonsensical filler track, “Be Gone” is even more obnoxious than “Untitled” in TDAGARIM. With the disclaimer that this soon after its release my attitude was the same towards The Devil and God (which I now consider a much-loved classic), Daisy appears destined to merely be an album I like a lot instead of an album I love. Ask me again in a year though.

Best Tracks:

Vices
At The Bottom
Gasoline
Sink
Noro

2. Muse – The Resistance
Rock
“They will not force us/They will stop degrading us/They will not control us/We will be victorious.”

OK, so I’m waaaaay late to the Muse bandwagon, but I’m glad I’m hopping on when I am. My first exposure was to the single “Uprising” and it dawned on me that I was listening to a non-country band that actually seemed on the same bandwidth as me politically. Whether that was their actual intent or not, it’s certainly easy to interpret this album as a collection of libertarian “fight the power” anthems. Yes, this fit my mood every well this year. It’s almost as if they sat down and tried to write 1984: The Album and it is every bit as epic as the novel.

In a year where every day’s news headlines seemed to bring a new outrage it felt good to drive home from work in the evening cranking up this album and feel a little more empowered to fight back. I don’t know how this album will age on me years from now, but I do know that I will have a hard time listening to it in the future and not have it instantly take me back to 2009.

Best Tracks:

Uprising
Resistance
Unnatural Selection
MK Ultra
Exogenesis Symphony: Part 1 (Overture)

1. fun. – Aim & Ignite
Indie-Pop
“We were the get rich quick kids/We never got it right/So we settled for the center of town/Where all the rich white kids is out looking for a fight/Got the blonde one staring me down/And I really want to take a swing/I can’t help but remember James Dean/See we are part of the few who agree/That hey he lived life fast but he died/Me, I’m gonna live forever.”

This was probably my most anticipated release since The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, and even in a musically dense year with many great releases, this is easily my favorite album of 2009. The Format’s Dog Problems was an immensely influential album for me, so after that band’s demise I couldn’t help but accept with some trepidation the announcement of lead singer Nate Ruess’s new band. That trepidation disappeared completely upon hearing the demo for “Benson Hedges,” and while listening to the complete album I realized that Mr. Ruess has reached rarified air (matched only by Jim Adkins in the Clarity through Futures era), where every song he writes seems to hit me in just the right spot.

From the chaotic and ironically titled opener “Be Calm” to the 7 minute-plus closer “Take Your Time (Coming Home)” you’re never sure what twists and turns the album will take instrumentally, yet it is simultaneously accessible and poppy. In a better world the ELO-esque single “All The Pretty Girls” would dominate the summertime radio waves. All songs are bolstered by Ruess’s confessional lyrical style with the best example probably being his moving tribute to his parents, “The Gambler.”

I could go on, but let me close by saying that the older I get and the more music I’ve listened to, the harder it is for an album to really affect me the way music did regularly when I was younger. Aim & Ignite is like a more mature, contented, and orchestral version of Dog Problems. Years from now I will be cherishing Aim & Ignite alongside Dog Problems as essential albums of my life.

Best Tracks:

Be Calm
Benson Hedges
All The Pretty Girls
Walking The Dog
Barlights
The Gambler

  

Maybe I should start doing this one at the beginning since there are always some releases that come out in between me writing it and actually posting it. Anyway, 2009 looks very not great for movies, while promising to be maybe the greatest year in music of all time. The list of names is staggering and even if half of these scheduled albums are duds, it will still be a pretty good year (not even including the no names that I haven’t even heard of yet).

Music

1. Fun – Untitled
It’s the second coming! The Format is no more, but the former band members can still make music. If the single “Benson Hedges” is any indication then this has the potential to live up to Dog Problems. Or that may turn out to be the most absurd notion since, “Wings is going to be better than The Beatles!”

2. Jimmy Eat World – Untitled
The drama here isn’t so much will it be good (it will be), it’s will these guys ever hit a target release date? They’re saying summer 2009, so I’m guessing fall 2010.

3. Brand New – Untitled
I’m still waiting for the lyric booklet from The Devil And God that I paid one American dollar for. That was a lot of money back then.

4. Blink-182 – Untitled
Yeah. You read that right and I’m not crazy (speaking of second comings). No way that after 5 years of musical maturation under my belt this ends up disappointing me, right?!

5. Say Anything – Say Anything
I hate when bands have self-titled albums that aren’t their first release, but I’ll graciously make an exception here.

6. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Will this top American Idiot? No. Will it really be released this year? Maybe. They can’t distract us with this Foxboro Hot Tubs nonsense forever.

7. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground – Introducing Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground
Their self-titled is so great. Can’t wait to see what these stinky hippies do next. Dance for me stinky hippie, DANCE!

8. Arctic Monkeys – Untitled
More awesome beats and indecipherable lyrics! Count me in.

9. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
I plan on purchasing this when it is released, but let’s just say that if it were to have leaked or if I were to have accidentally heard it before now, I would probably think it was phenomenal.

10. New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight
Has NFG ever slipped up? Not really. This will be good, not great. You heard it here first.

11. Eminem – Relapse
One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others by the time I finish my song?

12. Eve 6 – Untitled
I can’t prove that this is actually happening, but they’re reformed and touring so a guy can hope, right?

13. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Untitled
This one I can prove! They’re back and recording, baby! 2009 seems to be the year of the reformed bands.

14. Cartel – Untitled
Cartel, there was a time when I called you friend. Stand with me now and make something that doesn’t bore the crap out of me.

15. My Chemical Romance – Untitled
I really liked The Black Parade. Maybe I’ll like this one too!

16. Saves The Day – Daybreak
I’m never sure what to expect with these guys other than vocals like raking a chalkboard, yet I can’t help but anticipate this.

17. Mark Hoppus – Untitled Solo Album
+44 was mediocre, but Angels & Airwaves is terrible. Mark + Tom > Mark or Tom. (Edit: I’m not even sure this is happening any more. I’ll live either way).

18. John Mayer – Untitled
John Mayer has bedded half of the women you’ve ever seen at the magazine rack in your grocery store. The other half is Oprah. He also makes good music.

19. MxPx – On The Cover 2 and Untitled Studio Album
Eh, why not? Should be good for 2 weeks of entertainment come summer.

20. Reel Big Fish – Fame, Fortune and Fornacation
I’d be more excited about this covers album if it wasn’t 65% Poison songs.

21. Two Tongues – Two Tongues
Don’t look now, but I’m pretty sure Chris Conley and Max Bemis are dating.

22. Motion City Soundtrack – Untitled
Still waiting for this guy to cut his hair and lose his powers.

23. AFI – Untitled
Don’t click here. It will ruin it for you.

24. Dropkick Murphys – Untitled Live Album
I don’t usually go for live albums, but I’m curious if the mics pick up the many bloody deaths that take place in the pit of every DKM show.

25. Taking Back Sunday – New Again
Carpathia sounds not so great, but when do the labels ever pick the right first single for punk bands?

26. Thursday – Common Existence
I would have liked A City By The Light Divided a lot more if it didn’t sound like they recorded it at a friend’s apartment party . . . and the microphones were with the neighbors.

27. All Time Low – Untitled
It seems I will never tire of generic pop-punk.

Movies
Behold the mediocrity! (With a few notable exceptions)

Arrested Development
Watchmen
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Inglorious Bastards
Terminator Salvation
Friday The 13th
Toy Story 3D
Avatar
Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder

  

I have to say that I found this year to be a bit lackluster in its musical offerings. It may have just been a lack of effort on my part. I promise to do better next year. I can, however, guarantee that my list is better than Rolling Stone’s even though we share a few picks. Why? The Jonas Brothers and The Academy Is… are on the RS list. That actually has me rethinking the entries on my list that are also on theirs (although the TAI… album was actually OK). Whatever…

Old School:
Here are some older releases that received plenty of play by me this year:

The Clash – London Calling
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Streetcore
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Santana – Santana
Elvis Costello – Trust
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour

Also receiving votes:
No pictures for these guys!:

Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American [Deluxe Edition]
Yeah, this is a cheat, but this is a rare re-release that is worth the cash featuring 18 b-sides (including Last Christmas, Firestarter, and (Splash) Turn Twist) and a new version of “Your House.”

The Foxboro Hot Tubs – Stop Drop And Roll
Just make a new Green Day album already!(!!) This actually made for a pretty good retro-punk diversion in the summer, but I want the real thing.

Styrofoam – A Thousand Words
Euro-electro-pop never sounded better. Bright Red Helmet almost sounds like it could fit on Clarity, and one track even features Mr. Jim Adkins, eater of worlds.

Alkaline Trio – Agony & Irony
Woo, summer album.

Millencolin – Machine 15
Pop-punk has come a long ways since the `90’s (sort of). Millencolin hasn’t, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Panic At The Disco – Pretty. Odd.
Don’t judge me! I’d rather these guys be emulating The Beatles than Fall Out Boy, but a song on this album has just as much a chance as being painfully boring as it does being a valid channeling of the `60’s. There’s some impressive instrumentation here, assuming the band actually played everything themselves (doubtful).

Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
Yeah, I listen to Jason Mraz sometimes. So what?

Weezer – Red Album
I really like half this album and really hate the other half. “Everybody Get Dangerous” is handcuffed-to-Fran-Drescher painful.

Favorites:

15. Murder By Death – Red Of Tooth And Claw
Americana Indie Rock
“By the light of the moon, I’m coming home/Howling all the way, I’m coming home.”

I’m not even sure how to label this band’s style (I stole the genre listing from their Myspace page). Imagine Johnny Cash singing songs about slaughtering people in the old wild west in a rock band playing the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. That’s about as close as I can get. ROTAC is one of those albums where I love it sometimes and then other times I just can’t seem to get into it. That’s the only reason why it isn’t higher on this list because the quality of the music itself is pretty high. Dare I say this is my favorite cello-punk band?

Best Tracks:

Comin’ Home
Rumbrave
Spring Break 1899

14. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
Rock
“Beer is not dark/Beer is not light/It just tastes good/Especially tonight.”

Terrible album cover. Worse band name. Even worse album name. The music? Pretty good! While the similarities to U2 are pretty unmistakable (I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or not. Remember, Bono isn’t involved here at all!), the music seems considerably more chaotic (in a good way). The downside to that is that when the band doesn’t seem on the cusp of complete musical anarchy, all else seems to blend together (in a bad way). This band is clearly better when it’s just going nuts.

Best Songs:

Lights Out For Darker Skies
Waving Flags
Atom

13. Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger
Pop
“And even if your voice comes back again/Maybe there’ll be no one listening/And even if you find the strength to stand/It doesn’t mean you won’t go missing.”

This is maybe the best “disappointing” album of the year for me. It’s not even disappointing; it just fails to live up to the classic album that precedes it on JM’s discography. This was one of my most anticipated albums of the year and it certainly has a fair share of high points, mostly dealing with frontman Andrew McMahon’s battle with leukemia. The tone is understandably a bit more downtrodden than Everything In Transit, which is basically the perfect summer album. However it’s impossible to miss the optimism that is still strung into every song even when dealing with heavy issues.

Best Songs:

Crashin
Bloodshot
Hammers and Strings (A Lullabye)

12. Ben Folds – Way To Normal
Piano Pop
“If there’s a God, He is laughing at us and our football teams.”

Until now, most of my exposure to Ben Folds was his song featured on the Godzilla soundtrack from back in the day. I’m not sure if that statement speaks more ill of my music tastes in 1998 or now. I’ve listened to him here and there, but this is the first album of his that I’ve actually given a good amount of listening to. It’s eclectic, fast paced, odd, and frankly, all over the place, but it’s because of that weirdness that I really dig it.

Best Songs:

Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)
Bitch Went Nuts
Effington

11. Brave Saint Saturn – Anti-Meridian
Astro-Rock
“And these frail hands/They tremble as they pen for us their last/And these weak words/Can never say what cannot be surpassed.”

So apparently this album isn’t never happening after all. I don’t think I’m overstating it when I declare this album the Chinese Democracy of Christian astro-rock. It’s been five years since BSS’s last release and I had long since moved on from hoping that they’d complete their space trilogy, so when I learned that this album was in the works I greeted it with a big fat, “Meh.” While it was great to hear the voice of Five Iron Frenzy again, my first listen could pretty much be summed up with the same word. Then one-by-one songs started to grab me until I one day realized that I liked this album quite a bit. There are plenty of throwaway tracks here for me and I’d still take new FIF over this any day, but this was a pleasant surprise for me.

Best Songs:

Mercenary
Starling
Hero’s Homecoming
These Frail Hands

10. Coldplay – Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Pop
“I hear Jerusalem bells-a-ringing/Roman calvary choirs are singing/Be my mirror, my sword and shield/My missionaries in a foreign field/For some reason I can’t explain/I know St. Peter won’t call my name/Never an honest word/And that was when I ruled the world.”

I’m not nearly familiar enough with Coldplay’s previous discography to really compare this with their previous works, but I do know that this is their first release that really grabbed me. I think the fact that I heard “Viva La Vida” about 6,000 times over store intercoms in June alone backs me up on that one. VLVODAAHF (as I assume it’s known to their fans), reminds me a lot of my favorite album last year, Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, in both tone and theme. The instrumentation is just as lush, however it does lack the epic qualities that I felt with Neon Bible. As I said, I never really listened to Coldplay much, but this album made me a fan.

Best Songs:

Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love
Yes
Viva La Vida

9. Gaelic Storm – What’s The Rumpus?
Celtic/Folk
“The closest I’ve come to ending up dead/Was the night that I punched Russell Crowe, the Gladiator, in the head.”

This band has somehow flown under my radar until this year. Unlike Dropkick or Flogging Molly, this is just a flat out Celtic band with no hints whatsoever of a punk influence (even though they actually hail from Los Angeles). The band that made its public debut as the steerage band in Titanic mainly plays upbeat, humorous songs, but it isn’t afraid of to occasionally tell a serious story and even has a healthy dosage of instrumental tracks.

Best Song:

What’s The Rumpus?
Slim Jim And The Seven Eleven Girl
Floating The Flambeau
The Night I Punched Russell Crowe

8. Flogging Molly – Float
Irish Punk
“Drink away the rest of the day/Wonder what my liver’d say/Drink/That’s all you can.”

Every year there seems to be one album where I look at where I placed it, can’t believe it’s so low, and double check to make sure I didn’t screw up only to find out that I can’t justify knocking down any of the albums above it. This is that album for 2008. It wasn’t always that way as I was initially a little disappointed with Float coming on the heels of the much punkier Within A Mile Of Home. After adjusting to the folkier Float I’ve realized that not only is it better than Within A Mile Of Home, it may very well be my favorite Flogging Molly album to date.

Best Songs:

Float
The Lightning Storm
Punch Drunk Grinning Soul

7. Fall Out Boy – Folie à Deux
Pop
“And does your husband know the way that the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?/I will never end up like him/Behind my back I already am/Keep a calendar this way you will always know/The last time you came through.”

After Infinite On High, I figured that I was all but done listening to this band on a regular basis. There were a few standout tracks, but the majority of the songs were quite disposable. When “I Don’t Care” was released as the single for this album, I thought I might be done altogether. Then I listened to it again. And again. And, damn it, this is just the best band ever at making songs that I like even though I know I shouldn’t. Listening to the first half of FAD for the first time, I thought this might actually be the best album they’ve made to date. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of a drop off in the second half, but this is still a step back in the right direction for them. There are also some bizarre forays into politics from time-to-time. Now, I don’t mind some liberal lyrics (I’d be a country fan if I did), but there are some bands that should seriously just shut up and play. FOB belongs in the latter category. If you wear guyliner, I really don’t care about your opinion on the geopolitical challenges of the day.

Best Songs:

Disloyal Order of the Water Buffaloes
I Don’t Care
Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet
What A Catch, Donnie

6. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun
Pop
“Up in the morning/Out on the job/I work so hard for my pay/But that lucky old sun has nothing to do but roll around heaven all day.”

This year seems to be a year for the old folks to rediscover their groove. I’m not a huge Beach Boys fan per se, but Pet Sounds is inarguably one of the greatest albums ever recorded. That Lucky Old Sun is not a towering achievement comparable to Pet Sounds, but it is impressive and that’s even before you consider that Wilson is 66 years old with a fried brain from his `60’s drug usage. TLOS is a wistful look back at Wilson’s youth in California with mentions here and there of the mental breakdown that postponed the release of Smile for almost four decades. It doesn’t seem like there’s a linear story being told here, but almost all the songs run into each other, sometimes connected by a spoken word narrative. If there’s a criticism to be found here, it is that the songs at times seem a bit too trite and sappy, but that’s kind of the point of a 60-year-old singing about his 20s in southern California, right? That said, even in his 60s Brian Wilson’s pop sensibilities remain unsurpassed.

Best Songs:

Good Kind Of Love
Forever My Surfer Girl
Going Home
Southern California

5. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground – Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground
Psychedelic/Indie
“I got a tendency to go and run my mouth/Cause I can depend on no one else/I’ve got my living costs and a bumper sticker that reads ‘All who wander are not lost.’”

Honestly, if this were an objective list rather than having my own personal biases factored in, this would be at the top of the list. Kay Kay is the only thing that remains of the once powerful Gatsbys American Dream empire. You can certainly hear the Gatsbys influences, but this band is primarily psychedelic with only a dab of the GAD craziness. I’d say it’s like The Beatles on acid, but The Beatles were on acid. This is Kay Kay’s debut studio album, but the band initially released a live recording last year, which comprises the bulk of the first half of this self-titled album. Perhaps for the reason of lesser familiarity, I feel the second half is inferior to the first half. However, whatever negatives can be found in this album are more than made up by the incredible instrumentals and melodies to be found here. Definitely one of the year’s best, and the band’s forthcoming release should be right back up there next year from what I’ve heard of it so far.

Best Songs:

Hey Momma
Birds (On A Day Like Today)
Simon Courage Flees The Coop
All Alone

4. Less Than Jake – GNV FLA
Ska-Punk
”Cause I know I’ve wasted way too many times/Living way too many lies/How can this be my fault?/I’m always right/There’s a devil in my DNA/Programmed parts from all the starts/Or is there no one else to blame for my tangled up gears and turnstile jobs?/Fact is I’m just a living sum of all my parts.”

Wow. This is a band that responds well to criticism. I’m an LTJ fanboy, so I’ll listen to anything they put out (except maybe Greased), but I have to admit that I’m glad so many people hated In With The Out Crowd, because the result is the band starting their own label and producing their best album in a long time. This was my official summer driving album and after almost a decade where each successive album seemed a little poppier and a little less horny, it’s great to hear 14 new horn-driven punk songs. I don’t think too many people would list this as their favorite LTJ album, but it is the first time since 2003 that Less Than Jake has sounded like Less Than Jake and that’s enough for me.

Best Songs:

Does The Lion City Still Roar?
Golden Age Of My Negative Ways
This One’s Going To Leave A Bruise
Devil In My DNA

3. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Bar Rock/Indie
”Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer/I think he might have been our only decent teacher/Getting older makes it harder to remember we are our only saviors/We’re gonna build something this summer.”

This band is also the maker of one of the best albums of 2006, Boys And Girls In America; I just didn’t know that at the time. The Hold Steady is way more Springsteen-ian than I am typically used to, so it took me a little while to get into them, but once I did I fell in love with both BAGIA and this year’s Stay Positive. SP features more instrumental experimentation than their previous efforts, but the band still stays true to its rock roots and lyrical storytelling. If you can get past the vocals, this album is full of great “sing-a-long songs.”

Best Songs:

Constructive Summer
Sequestered In Memphis
Stay Positive
Magazines

2. Elvis Costello And The Imposters – Momofuku
New Wave
”The night is black as cracked shellac that landed in an attack/Stella is silent as the grave until a needle drags her through the static/Don’t bring me down/I’m trouble bound/Blue song red alert/Who made Stella hurt?”

I’ve long been a fan of Costello’s early work, but this one came out of nowhere to totally rock me in a way I was not anticipating. It’s hard not to admire EC’s eclectic discography as he’s dabbled in almost every major genre (gangsta rap has remained curiously untouched), but for years I’ve wondered why he can’t be bothered to occasionally throw in an album that sounds like he did in the `70’s. This is that album at long last. I’m betting this is the first time I’ve said this about any artist and probably the last: this is his best album in 25+ years since 1982’s Imperial Bedroom. Since IB came out 3 weeks before I was born I’ve basically been waiting for this my whole life. Released “only on vinyl” (for two weeks), this was clearly meant to be a throwback and it succeeds entirely. The keyboard is back, the punchy lyrics are back, and most importantly the fun is back. There are solid reflective tracks here too, but the upbeat songs are clearly the highlight. American Gangster Time, which is basically an anti-American screed, is infectious enough to make even me want to sing along. I’ll probably enjoy whatever direction Costello chooses to go next as well (perhaps polka-country?), but I do hope he starts releasing these old-school rock albums with increased frequency.

Best Songs:

American Gangster Time
Harry Worth
Stella Hurt
Pardon Me Madam, My Name Is Eve

1. The Gaslight Anthem – The `59 Sound
Rock/Punk
“Did you hear the `59 Sound coming through your grandfather’s radio?/Did you hear the rattling chains through the hospital walls?/Did you hear the old gospel choir when they came to carry you over?/Did you hear your favorite song for one last time?”

I’ve got to admit that I only started to listen to this group because I thought their band name was cool. Needless to say, I think their music lives up to their name. The `59 Sound is a significant departure from TGA’s solid debut album, Sink Or Swim. Replacing the gruff punk rock of the latter is nostalgic, country-inspired lyrics fused with echoey 80’s-like vocals (think The Killers – but not painful to listen to), and pop-punk melodies. While it would be a stretch to call this album patriotic outright, it’s refreshing to hear music in this genre that is so inspired by Americana. Unlike my favorite album last year, The `59 Sound probably won’t be winning any Grammys, winning over the pretentious among us, or even topping other similar lists, but to me this album still feels as fresh and invigorating now as it did the first time I listened to it many months and spins ago. In a year of much musical parity with no clear personal favorite, that’s enough for me to give it the top slot.

Best Songs:

The `59 Sound
High Lonesome
Miles Davis & The Cool
The Patient Ferris Wheel
The Backseat

  

Here’s what I can’t wait for in 2008:

Movies

The Dark Knight
Top of my list right now. Never thought I’d say this, but Heath Ledger looks amazing as the Joker!

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
My delusional desire for this to be good supersedes my incredible skepticism of this not sucking. Hopefully this won’t disappoint.

Bond 22
Casino Royale was so good and I don’t expect anything less from the followup.

Iron Man
Jon Favreau direction and Robert Downey, Jr. starring? Where do I sign up?

Cloverfield
Awesome advertisement campaign from the creator of Lost. I swear to God though, if the monster ends up being a cloud of smoke I’m going to crack skulls.

Get Smart
PleasedontsuckPleasedontsuckPleasedontsuckPleasedontsuckPleasedontsuck. This was a Nick at Nite favorite of mine back in the day so I’m hoping this doesn’t crap all over my childhood.

Fanboys
Second year’s the charm!

Hobgoblins 2
It’s an MST3K thing. You wouldn’t understand.

Futurama
Keep it coming guys! I don’t want this show to ever get canceled. If The Simpsons can do it, then so can this show.

The Incredible Hulk
I’d say a rebooted franchise was a pretty good idea.

Jackass 3
Yeah, it’s not the classiest thing ever, but it makes me laugh harder than most real comedies released these days.

Sin City 2
A guy can hope, right? These actresses need to stop getting knocked up.

Rambo
Hey, I doubted Rocky VI so maybe this will be better than expected as well.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Note to Martin Scoresese: I know Leo Dicaprio is Italian, but that doesn’t mean he’s right for a starring role in every one of your movies!

Speed Racer
Looks like the Wachowski brot…er…siblings have finally found a way to film their acid-laced nightmares.

Valkyrie
Can Tom Cruise do a German accent?

Music

The Format – Untitled
Huuuuge expectations following the amazing Dog Problems

Less Than Jake – Untitled
These guys still have the magic! I still believe!

Weezer – Untitled
These guys I don’t believe in as much, but we can always hope they can return to form someday. Why not today?

Saves The Day – Daybreak
Each release has been better than the last since In Reverie. Let’s hope that trend continues.

New Found Glory – Untitled
All NFG is gold.

Rise Against – Untitled
Why the anger, guys?

Houston Calls – Untitled
I guess.

Jack’s Mannequin – Awake and Dreaming
Hey! If you’re going to release another perfect summer album, release it in the summer this time!

Green Day – Untitled
No way does this live up to American Idiot, but it’ll be interesting no matter what happens.

Flogging Molly – Float
The soundtrack to your St. Patrick’s Day beatings!

  

OK, so here’s the annual disclaimer: I don’t know what I’m talking about. You really shouldn’t listen to what I say. Let’s get on with it!

The Old School
Before we get into the best of 2007, I thought I should share some albums that are older that got play by me this year. Some of them I heard the first time and some of them I grew a new appreciation for (a lot of these are due to listening to them on vinyl for the first time). They are, in no particular order:

Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
The Cure – Disintegration
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
ELO – Out of the Blue
Brian Wilson – Smile
The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Kemuri – Principle
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – A Jackknife To A Swan
Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over The Sea

The Worst
If I don’t like an album, I usually just cast it away from my memory forever. Sometimes however, an album is bad enough to leave a mark. These are those albums:

Linkin Park – Minutes To Midnight
Shockingly (or maybe not so), this actually made Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of the Year list (in the top half, no less!). I couldn’t make it the whole way through (and I’m not even a Linkin Park hater).

Good Charlotte – Good Morning Revival
I checked this out for old time’s sake. I’ve moved on because I’m not 18 anymore. These guys should consider doing the same.

Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist
Confession: I’m not a huge fan of the Pumpkins. However, this is the only album in this list that I gave a legitimate shot to. I just flat out don’t like it.

The Disappointments
These weren’t terrible, but I really wanted so much more.

Cartel – Cartel
This is the disappointment of disappointments. I had huge expectations following Chroma (one of my favorite pop albums ever), and this is just not what I wanted. Where’d the energy go?

Suburban Legends – Infectious
I wonder what exactly the decision process is like when a band in a dead genre (ska) decides to migrate to one that’s even deader (disco). I actually like some of the jams on this disk, but all to often it left me scratching my head asking, “Why?”

The Starting Line – Direction
It’s possible I just don’t like this band that much. I like their older poppier stuff, but I only liked a few songs here. Maybe I just didn’t give it enough listens.

Straylight Run – The Needles, The Space
On one hand, I admire the guts that it takes a band to take a completely different in their style. On the other, I listened to this a lot trying to get into it and I really miss the old Straylight style.

The “Also Receiving Votes”
Worthy of my time, but not quite worthy of pictures.

Bright Eyes – Cassadega
This is flat out the best album of 2007 that I never felt like listening to. This should probably be closer to the top than in this section, but I just rarely spun this. My bad.

Saves The Day – Under The Boards
If 2007 were a couple weeks longer this probably would creep into the main list as it’s been growing on me lately. It’s the darker, more intricate, second entry in STD’s in progress trilogy of albums. While the vocals are less grating, they still manage to ruin a few songs for me.

Sondre Lerche – Phantom Punch
The Norwegian Elvis Costello! Stylistically only though. The lyrics are a little iffy at times.

Yellowcard – Paper Walls
Comeback of the year! I’m glad Yellowcard decided to go back to what they do best: crappy pop-punk.

The White Stripes – Icky Thump
I’ve never cared for this band until this album. They’re way weird sometimes, but I still dig it.

Rocky Votolato – The Brag and Cuss
Well, it finally happened. I finally found some country music that I like.

Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Get a shave, hippie!

New Found Glory – From The Screen To Your Stereo: Part II
I’d prefer some fresh material from NFG, but I at least got about 5 listens out of this album before I got bored with it.

Fall Out Boy – Infinite On High
Fall Out Boy gets crap (sometimes deservedly so), but they’re good at what they do if you’re into that kind of thing.

The Favorites of 2007
If you only listen to 15 of my favorite albums from the past year, make sure you scroll past these!

15. Cary Brothers – Who You Are
Indie-Acoustic

“Is it too much to ask of you to stay inside with me?/Is it too much to ask of you to keep me alive?”

First off, this isn’t a family band or a band of any sort. It’s just a dude – a dude with a weird name. Cary Brothers is the voice of your favorite Zach Braff movie, but not being a Garden State aficionado, I just heard Cary Brothers for the first time this year (at least for the first time while not watching Scrubs). This is the perfect mellow album for peaceful times. The weakness of this album, in my opinion, is that while the first half is fantastic, I find that my mind drifts in the second half – particularly when I’m listening to it from beginning to end. Could be that the quality drops off, or it could be that my tastes just aren’t mellow enough to listen to this type of music for long periods of time…man. Also, what’s up with the faux-Brit accent? I thought this guy was from Nashville.

Best Songs:

Jealousy
Who You Are
Glass Parade
Honestly

14. Motion City Soundtrack – Even If It Kills Me
Synth-Pop

“Calling all cops and Autobots!”

After Commit This To Memory, I had huge expectations for this album. I suspect that those expectations were a large factor in an initial chilly reception for MCS’s latest offering. I did grow to like this album for what it is, but there is definitely some “pop” missing in EIIKM. Of course, one thing you can always count on from this band is some crazy-ass lyrics (with hair like this, you’d expect no less!), and this album certainly delivers that. You’ll also learn, if you’re like me, that all it really takes to like a song is a reference to Transformers. Yah, I’m that easy.

Best Songs:

Calling All Cops
The Conversation
Broken Heart
Even If It Kills Me

13. Maroon 5 – It Won’t Be Soon Before Long
Pop

“Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed/Don’t you care about me anymore?/Care about me?/I don’t think so/Six foot tall/Came without a warning so I had to shoot him dead/He won’t come around here anymore/Come around here?/I don’t think so.”

Yeah, I like to keep you on your toes. This one really shouldn’t make much sense to anyone (including me), but I really can’t help but like this album. With few exceptions, I’ve really detested this band if only for having a truly terrible song on the otherwise stellar Spider-man 2 soundtrack. I much prefer the funkier first half of this album to the mellower second half, but it’s pretty good throughout. This is a change of pace album for me and a surprise entry on this list.

Best Songs:

Makes Me Wonder
Little Of Your Time
Wake Up Call

12. MxPx – Secret Weapon
Left Coast Punk Rawk

“Take to the street tonight/To live your life; to do what’s right/Sometimes you gotta stand and fight/Do you hear the bass so low?”

I’ve already written more extensively on this album than possibly anyone on the planet (I’m probably at least in the top 5 I’m guessing), so I’m not going to go into great detail again here on the latest MxPx offering. This was my favorite pop-punk album of the summer and it felt great to hear MxPx get back to basics. In an age where every crappy band thinks they’re The Beatles and can just change their sound successfully, it’s always comforting to know that every two years I’ll get 15 new songs with the same ol’ MxPx sound – and that’s a very good thing.

Best Songs:

Secret Weapon
Chop Shop
You’re On Fire
Bass So Low

11. All Time Low – So Wrong, It’s Right
Pop-Punk

“I’m just a face for every picture/A smile for your scrapbooks/And a story to be told/But I’m loving every second/So commemorate this hour/As the last I spend regretting what I have.”

2007 marked somewhat of a comeback of 90’s style pop punk, which I would consider a good thing. Out of those stellar albums put out by MxPx, Yellowcard, and Mayday Parade in particular I consider All Time Low’s to be the best. Don’t be fooled by the atrocious album cover, this is great pop music from cover to cover. In fact, the only thing that betrays the fact that this was made in 2007 instead of 1997 is that the vocals emulate Fall Out Boy instead of New Found Glory. I wouldn’t be surprised if this band is the next breakthrough pop-punk band to make it big on MTV. Of course, I also said the same thing about Cartel, and we all know how that sadly ended up.

Best Songs:

Let It Roll
Remembering Sunday
Vegas

10. The Graduate – Anhedonia
Pop-Punk

“So here’s to being alone/To anyone on their own/If anyone’s listening/Think of me when I’m gone/It’s not gonna hurt for long/And you can just forget/And I can live without regret.”

This is one of those “loved it when it first came out and then completely forgot about it until now” albums for me. Not only does this album boast one of the coolest covers of the year, but it is chock full of quarter-life crisis lyrical goodness packaged with a sleek pop-punk sound and earnest vocals. I wouldn’t consider this album mind-blowing but it’s solid and then some. Definitely worth a try if you’re looking for something new.

Best Songs:

Sit & Sink
I Survived
The City That Reads
Justified

9. Reel Big Fish – Monkeys For Nothin’ & The Chimps For Free
Ska

“While you were never ever in the places I would go/You never showed yourself/All those heart-felt conversations were with me and no one else/When I called your name/You never answered/Am I insane?”

I have never loved a Reel Big Fish album right off the bat. Frankly, they are not great artists (and I think they’d admit to that), but they are great entertainers. They’re probably my favorite live act of all time. That being said, this is my favorite studio album that they have put out in a while. Of course, my favorite is Cheer Up, which seems to be regarded by most RBF fans as the worst of their discography so what do I know? I do know that this was one of the staples of my summer soundtrack. It’s just a flat-out fun album which is quite a contrast from their last album which was a bit of a downer. As long as these guys tour forever, I really don’t care what else they do!

Best Songs:

Party Down
Slow Down
Everybody’s Drunk

8. The Dear Hunter – Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
Rock

“Pray’d I would leave this place someday/Joined to alarm from long ago now unconcerned/Euphorically floating upon wax wings where is the sun?/I still see her face/Her beauty her grace/Transfixed like a light in front of me/It follows my soul/And swallows me whole.”

I’m guilty of underplaying this album, but coming in at a length of almost exactly 80 minutes, do you blame me? That’s a freaking commitment! AII:TMO,AATRML (nothing about this album is short, folks) continues the story from The Lake South, The River North EP of a young man who falls in love with a whore. I admit it is a bit of a chore to get through from beginning to end, but what I find is that you can put on any random part of the album and it is never boring, which is pretty amazing given the length of the record.

Best Songs:

The Lake And The River
The Oracles On The Delphi Express
Red Hands

7. Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
Indie-Rock

“Sitting in silence in bars after work/I’ve got nothing to add or contest/Can still kick a ball a hundred yards/We cling to bottles and memories of the past.”

I admit I’m waaaay late to the “party” (Ha!) when it comes to this band. I still have not listened to “Silent Alarm” despite my deep appreciation of A Weekend In The City. I don’t know if this is Bloc Party’s style in general or whether this is unique to this album, but this seems to be a declaration of quarter-life crisis disaffection and a cry for help overall. Songs like “Waiting For The 7.18” yearns for younger days while wishing things could have gone differently. “Kreuzberg” is basically a song waving a white flag of surrender in love. This is an impressive album, but I find the lyrics a little too matter-of-fact to merit a higher rating. If this band ever finds a way to say what they’re trying to say in a less literal sense I could totally see a future release of theirs topping one of these lists. I have no doubt they’re furiously working right now trying to gain my full approval.

Best Songs:

Waiting For The 7.18
Kreuzberg
I Still Remember

6. Streetlight Manifesto – Somewhere In The Between
Ska

“We’re going down, down, down to Mephisto’s Cafe/Down, down, down to Mephisto’s Cafe/We’re going down/And the gears will spin and the sinners sin, but at least we’ll give them hell/And the righteous few will spit on you, so bid them all farewell.”

I’m a rare person that still loves ska (1997 forever!), but Streetlight Manifesto’s first album was too ska for even me (even after seeing them live accidentally at least twice). Lucky for them I was willing to give them a second chance and they delivered with SITB. The horn section is the strength of this band, and they certainly know it. If you’re sick of “ska” bands trying to go all punk/emo (I’m looking at you Less Than Jake – but I love you), then this is for you. Featuring some of the best horn sections I heard all year (in a surprisingly strong year for ska), this is 10 energetic tracks that are worth checking out.

Best Songs:

Down, Down, Down to Mephisto’s Cafe
Watch It Crash
The Receiving End Of It All

5. Say Anything – In Defense Of The Genre
Rock

“Yes, I know my addictions run the gamut/The drugs, the smokes, the booze, the 24/But you can’t make the turkey colder/Or skew me less bipolar/Let me list the things about you I abhor”

“This is f^*king ecstasy.” I think that song title from Say Anything’s sophomore release pretty much sums up my feelings for this album. What’s shocking is how few weak tracks there are amongst the 27 included in this double album. This release is substantially more eclectic than their previous release, the modern day classic ...Is A Real Boy, and of course much longer. At first glance this is a weaker effort than said ...IARB. That first glance would be accurate, but unfair. You cannot fully appreciate IDOTG until you sit down with the lyrics and really appreciate the epic storytelling at work here. By the time lead singer Max Bemis bellows, “I’m praying darling/Maybe someday we/together can be/the king and queen,” you feel like you’ve been on the same journey that he has, which is a tribute to his graphically honest style of songwriting (so graphic in fact that this is the first album I’ve ever seen with a content warning for “Sexual Content”). In addition, there are so many artists involved in this album that it almost seems like it’s a collaboration of the entire punk/emo genre (Artists contributing: Pete Yorn, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore, Dashboard Confessional, Saves The Day, Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance, New Found Glory, and The Starting Line amongst others). Of course, there is the occasional “WTF?” song that you have to wonder how it made the cut (“Died A Jew” is a prime example of this). I find myself enjoying the upbeat first disk more than the second disk, but the second disk is more pertinent to the story. No matter what though, this is an impressive effort and a worthy follow up to one of my favorite albums of all time. The fact that an album I liked this much is this low on this list (let alone a pre-season favorite) is evidence of how great this year was musically.

Best Songs:

That Is Why
Baby Girl, I’m A Blur
People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist
Spay Me
You’re The Wanker If Anyone Is
Spores
Have At Thee!
Plea

4. Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Rock

“You used to get it in your fishnets/Now you only get it in your night dress/Started all the naughty nights with niceness/Landed in a very common crisis/Everything’s in order in a black hole/Everything was pretty in the past though/That Bloody Mary’s lacking in Tabasco/Remember when he used to be a rascal?“

How does anyone not like this band? Every song on this album sounds like it belongs in a James Bond movie, and what’s cooler than ol’ 007? NOTHING! That’s what! Except Joe Paterno, of course. Favourite Worst Nightmare is significantly more mature, and frankly, darker lyrically than the Arctic Monkeys’ first release (which ended up at the way-too-low position of #9 on last year’s list). From the frenetic opener of “Brianstorm” to the ballad closing of “505” there simply is not a weak track to be found here. It’s a rare album that I am able to not only listen to from beginning to end, but then repeat it without the ADD kicking in.

Best Songs:

Brianstorm
Fluorescent Adolescent
This House Is A Circus
Old Yellow Bricks
505

3. Dropkick Murphys – The Meanest Of Times
Irish Punk

“God willing, It’s the last time I’ll say goodbye/God willing, I’ll see you on the other side/It’s the last time I’ll put my arms around you/The last time I’ll look into your eyes/I’ve come here to put my arms around you/And say one final goodbye.”

My blood demands that I enjoy the Dropkick Murphys, and that I do quite a bit. What I love beyond the obvious pipe-infused punk rock sound is that the folksy/traditional subject matters of their songs just aren’t found elsewhere. It’s refreshing to listen to a band that never has an emo song about an ex-girlfriend. This is the band’s first release since their big hit “Shipping Up To Boston” caught on thanks to its inclusion in The Departed (and of course after their last album single-handedly broke the Curse of the Bambino). Any concern of DKM going mainstream with their newfound success can be tossed aside as the band sticks to what they know in The Meanest Of Times. If anything, it’s a “back to their roots” album with a much punkier sound than the more-on-the-Celtic-side Warrior’s Code. Frankly, I love it. It may even be my favorite DKM album yet. Warrior’s Code had to grow on me, but this one I was instantly attached to. If “Flannigan’s Ball” doesn’t get your heart racing, then you’re seriously reading the wrong list.

Best Songs:

God Willing
State of Massachusetts
Vices and Virtues
Flannigan’s Ball
Rude Awkenings
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya

2. Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
Pop

“Because tonight the world turned to me/Because tonight I don’t dare to breathe/Oh babe I know it’s alive/And somewhere for us to find/Tonight, chase this light with me”

When a new Jimmy Eat World album is released, my attitude isn’t so much “I wonder what the new stuff is going to sound like.” It’s more like “I wonder what the soundtrack to my life is going to be for the next 3 years.” This was particularly true of Futures as that album, almost song for song, was pretty much an audio biography for who I was and what I did in 2004. Futures is not only my favorite JEW album (yes, I like it better than Clarity) it’s pretty much my favorite album ever. With expectations this high, what could go wrong? I’ll say up front that Chase This Light was a slight let down. It’s poppy sound feels like it would be a more natural follow up to Bleed American, but after Futures this I would consider this a step back. Please note however, the “was” part in the “let down” sentence. This album has grown on me considerably since my initial disappointment (so much so that I had to re-write my original write up). Keep in mind that I find all JEW to be good JEW. Who doesn’t love the JEW? While I prefer the sadder side of the band (demonstrated perfectly in Futures and the Stay By My Side EP), and I find the songs “Feeling Lucky” and “Electable (Give It Up)” to be filler songs (unheard of in a Jimmy album), “Big Casino,” “Carry You,” “Chase This Light,” and “Dizzy” will all end up being all time great JEW tunes. Song-for-song though, the collection of b-sides that go with this album is superior to the album itself. The exclusion of “Be Sensible” is borderline criminal.

Best Songs:

Big Casino
Let It Happen
Here It Goes
Chase This Light
Dizzy

1. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Indie

“Do you know where I was at your age?/I was working downtown for the minimum wage/And I’m not gonna let you throw it all away/I’m through being cute/I’m through being nice/O tell me Lord, am I the antichrist?”

Neon Bible is my favorite album of the year. It is not the kind of album that you can put in your car stereo and have it click immediately. When I say it’s my favorite album I mean that if I want to sit down with headphones and a lyric book and listen to an entire disk, this is what I’d want to be listening to (and I certainly have done so on more than one occasion). It’s the kind of album you have to just saturate yourself with to fully appreciate. With the main topic tackled in the album being religion, I suspect that you will get out of this what you bring into it, or possibly what you want it to be. I find this album to be cynical of religion on the whole, yet in the end, uplifted by it. It’s a complete spiritual journey starting with a conversion in “Neon Bible”, plunging into a cynicism that culminates in “(Antichrist Television Blues)”, and ends triumphantly with “No Cars Go” and “My Body Is A Cage.”

  

As promised below, here is the interview that I assisted with featuring Mike Herrera of MxPx:

JesusFreakHideout.com: 20 Questions With MxPx

I actually wrote those questions off the top of my head literally as I was running out the door to a Reel Big Fish/Less Than Jake show. By literally, I mean the exact opposite since I was typing on my computer, but it was still a little rushed. If I were to do it over, I would’ve rephrased the “die on office” thing because it comes across as a plea to hang it up already, which is not what I meant. Fortunately, John cleaned up the phrasing on some of what I typed. Anyway, I think it turned out pretty well. Enjoy.

-MPAW

  

As you probably know by now, there are few people – possibly excluding the 11 – 17 year old girl population – less qualified to opine or review music than me, yet I do it at the end of every year. Luckily, this is a skill that is easily faked and I have reviewed MxPx’s new album Secret Weapon for my friend John’s website, JesusFreakHideout.com. Fortunately for me this is the band’s best release since the turn of the millennium. The band will also be answering some of my questions in an email interview on the same site. Pretty cool, huh? I’m kinda geeking out here because MxPx was pretty much the first band that I loved growing up and apparently their management was “super excited” about the review. For all I know this is typical publicist-to-Christian-webmaster BS, but it still excited me. It also kind of surprised me because a) my review was very positive, but I wouldn’t classify it as gushing and b) I literally cannot think of a single person who could have less credibility than me. I also received an angry email already from some guy who said I was “smoking something” for “bashing” Panic. Pretty funny considering I actually like that album, even though it is far from MxPx’s best work.

So hopefully I faked my way through the review well enough. If things work out, I’ll be doing some more in the future but I really can’t stand most Christian music so who knows? You all should email John and demand that I be able to write reviews of non-Christian albums (you know, all 3 of you). So yeah, read the review and definitely check out Secret Weapon. If you’re sick of the emo-ification of punk then it is a swift kick to the grundel if you’re into that kind of thing (that’s also the exact kind of thing I couldn’t say in my review even though it best sums up my opinion of the album). I’ll keep you alerted like you actually cared when the interview goes online.

JesusFreakHideout.com: MxPx – Secret Weapon Review

-MPAW

  

As a Conservative, something that you just have to learn to live with is idiot celebrities spouting off on how dumb they think everyone else is. One of the worst examples that comes to mind is Cameron Diaz saying “if you think rape should be legal, then don’t vote.” She’s a mental giant, that one.

Even more frustrating for me is when a band gets on it’s high horse and starts preaching. Particularly irritating was Green Day’s American Idiot. Yes, the band whose career is built on a song about manipulating your bundle on an album named for fecal matter thinks that you should listen to their political opinions. (Yes, I realize the album isn’t really about making a political statement, but it was presented as if it was).

Examples of this go on and on forever, which is what makes the Arctic Monkeys’ position on Algore’s series of global warming concerts so refreshing (when I think rock, I think “AL GORE!”). When asked why they were not participating, they replied as follows:

YES! Thank you! Finally, here’s someone who gets it (besides Alice Cooper of course). We just want you to shut up and entertain us. Of course, that’s not to say that you can’t use your celebrity for any cause whatsoever, but stop taking political sides here! You are ruining music for me! Incidentally, Favourite Worst Nightmare is one of my favorite albums of the year thus far, so this is all the more reason for you to check out the Arctic Monkeys if you haven’t already.

-MPAW

Breitbart.com: Arctic Monkeys shiver at Live Earth ‘hypocrisy’

  

This list ultimately will mean absolutly nothing come this time next year when I’m doing my favorites of 2007, but it’s still fun to look ahead. Before we do though, take a look at how many bad and/or ill-advised sequels are coming out this year:

Cinderella III: A Twist In Time
Hannibal Rising
The Hills Have Eyes II
Shrek the Third
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Ocean’s Thirteen
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Evan Almighty
Rush Hour 3
Saw IV
Alien vs Predator 2
National Treasure II: Book of Secrets

Ugh. Make it stop, please.

Movies
In no particular order, here are my most anticipated films of 2007:

Spider-man 3
OK, so there is some order, but this is where it starts and ends. Anyone who doesn’t have this at the top of their list instantly loses all credibility with me.

300
Looks a little homoerotic and very loud, but still pretty cool.

TMNT
The early 90’s revival is a little ahead of schedule, but welcome anyway.

Smokin’ Aces
Well, the trailer and cast look good anyway.

Reno 911: Miami
I don’t watch the show, but this looks funny.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie
Prediction: this will either be the greatest or the worst thing ever created by man. Possibly both.

Fanboys
I relate too much.

Transformers
All I want from this is a light plot that gives a barely adequate excuse to have Transformers destroy things in kick-ass fashion. Sounds like a Michael Bay film to me. Screw the haters.

Blades of Glory
Will Ferrell + GOB Bluth + Napoleon Dynamite + Amy Poehler + Pam Beesley + Craig T. Nelson = Greatest cast ever assembled

The Simpson’s Movie
Blah. I guess 10 years late might be better than nothing. Unless of course Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford are reading this. Then nevermind.

The Bourne Ultimatum
I just got over the motion sickness from the last one too.

Halloween
Giving Rob Zombie a chance to remake one of my favorite movies could prove ill-advised.

My Name Is Bruce
Bruce Campbell is Bruce Campbell in My Name Is Bruce. I’m there opening night.

Music
Again, in no particular order:

Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
Actually, I lied slightly about the order thing again. Give me that precious JEW gold now.

Brand New – Untitled
Sorry. Force of habit.
Motion City Soundtrack – Untitled
Follow-up to one of my favs of 2005

Goldfinger – Untitled
I swear this is their last chance to not suck.

Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High
At heart I’m a 14 year old girl.

All Time Low – Untitled
Should be a fun summertime album.

Straylight Run – Untitled
I would kill for this, just a little bit. Now I’m going to kill myself for the bad pun.

Say Anything – Untitled
Album of 2007 contender.

Brave Saint Saturn – The Dreams That You Dare To Dream
Featuring a title that’s perhaps a bit too appropriate. I’m not holding my breath, but I said the same thing about the Brand New album last year.

  

I know very little about music besides the fact that I enjoy listening to it. With that in mind, here is my completely uninformed and unqualified recap of my musical year in 2006. Every band listed has a link to their Purevolume page (except the Beatles, but you may have heard of them already), so if you want to check them out, just click. It will open in a new window for your listening pleasure. . .

If Only I Had Known: 2005 Edition
If I were to do 2005 over again, I would’ve found and listened to:

John Mayer Trio – Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert

Disappointments
I expected so much more from:

Yellowcard – Lights and Sounds
Oh my. This was just Q-Tip jabbingly painful. Didn’t this band have a violin of some sort at one point?

Thursday – A City By the Light Divided
The only album I can think of that was completely ruined for me because of poor production. So much so that I actually harbor anger towards it.

Angels and Airwaves – We Don’t Need to Whisper
I really thought we were in for something special when I first heard “The Adventure,” but all we got was a bad U2 rip off with worse vocals. Plus Tom Delonge is bat s$!t insane.

+44 – When Your Heart Stops Beating
This band is the true heir to the Blink 182 legacy, but I wanted so much more out of this album. I enjoyed it, but it just had very little staying power for me.

Breaking Benjamin – Phobia
Do I technically have to care before I can be disappointed?
Incubus – Light Grenades
I’ll always have S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

EPs
I’m not big on EPs, but here are the ones I enjoyed the most, in no particular order, alphabetically:

All Time Low – Put Up Or Shut Up
I can’t wait to hear this pop-punk Towson band’s debut album next year.

Flogging Molly – Whiskey On A Sunday
You can’t go wrong with Irish punk – even if this EP is mostly live performances of previously released songs.

Less Than Jake – Absolution For Idiots and Addicts
It’s criminal that “We, The Uninspired” didn’t make the cut on In With The Out Crowd.

Suburban Legends – Dance Like No One’s Watching
I listened to this fusion of ska and disco more times than I care to admit. If third wave ska was popular during the late 70’s it would sound like this.

The Dreaded “Also Receiving Votes” Section
Good, but not quite good enough to get pictures:

Forgive Durden – Wonderland
Hooray for Gatsbys American Dream rip-offs! Now with horns!

Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
Who could ever get tired of “Crazy”? ::Raises hand with gusto::

The Beatles – Love
Check out these young up-and-comers!

Sufjan Stevens – Songs for Christmas
This is technically a compilation of previous releases, but who cares? I love me some Christmas tunes.

The Matches – Decomposer
What a freakin’ weird CD. No two songs sound like they’re even by the same band.

Punchline – 37 Everywhere
I really liked this album for about three weeks and then didn’t think about it again until this very moment.
Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now
Cranking “Spin” in my car has caused me to go nearly deaf.

+44 – When Your Heart Stops Beating
Less techno, more punk, please.

Hoobastank – Every Man For Himself
Stop making fun of me. Not even I know why I like this band, but they keep sucking me in.

The Killers – Sam’s Town
Good music. Now about that “singing” thing. . .

Alien Ant Farm – Up In The Attic
AAF is back and a little pissy.

AFI – Decemberunderground
Best good music to macabre man-woman ratio in the business. (Keep re-reading that painfully awkward sentence. You’ll figure it out eventually. Hint).

Saves The Day – Sound The Alarm
Finally back to Stay What You Are form! Again, about that “singing” thing. . .

The List
Here are my favorite 15 albums of 2006:

15. Hit the Lights – This Is A Stick Up . . . Don’t Make It A Murder
Pop-Punk
“You’re gonna need a body bag/I’ll break bones you didn’t know you had/When I’m done there will be nothing left of you/For your friends to hold on to/When they find you cold and blue tonight/Face down in a parking lot.”

Guilty-pleasure-o-rama! There is absolutely nothing on this album that a billion other bands haven’t done before, but this is probably my favorite sing-along-in-the-car punk album of the year. This is the kind of band that makes songs about turning up the volume on your radio (a genre that I am a sucker for, by the way), and even though you’ve heard it all before you still sing along with the NFG-ish vocals. It also features what is probably the most cheerful and upbeat song ever written about murdering and mutilating another human being (lyrics above), which is worth checking out if only for the laugh. It’s like a song written by Korn and performed by Mandy Moore.

Best Songs:

Three-Oh-Nine
Bodybag
Speaker Blown

14. RX Bandits – . . . And The Battle Begun
Indie/Ska
“Locked inside your myth completes me/I’m intrigued by your demise/We need a rager/So we can burn it all to the ground/It’s contagious, we can’t slow down.”

I’m guilty of underplaying this album. If I had listened more, perhaps And The Battle Begun would be higher on this list as I enjoyed the listen every time I spun it. On the other hand, perhaps the fact that I wasn’t compelled to listen to it more signifies that it belongs exactly where it is. The RX Bandits’ style is composed of frenetic guitars highlighted by horns, but definitely unique from their brethren in the ska genre. Their sound is as exotic as the naked spider woman holding the vacuum tube on the cover would suggest. The vocals are nothing spectacular, but go well with their overall sound.

Best Songs:

And The Battle Begun
Only For The Night
Crushing Destroyer

13. Head Automatica – Popaganda
Pop
“Everybody knows you’re a liar/Why don’t I?/I just heard about your lovin’ on the side.”

The name pretty much says it all with this album. This is a CD chock full of radio-friendly, good old fashioned, toe-tapping pop tunes. There isn’t a whole lot of substance here, but it’s a fun, safe listen from start to finish. If I have a complaint, it’s that I’m not too keen on the vocals. They’re a bit, um, overzealous at times. This isn’t the national anthem here and you’re not Whitney Houston so let’s keep it to the basics here, OK? It also bothers me a little bit that the beginning of the album sounds like the theme song for The Office.

Best Songs:

Graduation Day
Lying Through Your Teeth
Million Dollar Decision

12. New Found Glory – Coming Home
Pop-Punk
“I’m still here but I’m waiting/For our long conversations/I’m still here but I’m waiting/To go home.”

Here’s the comeback of the year. Not that NFG went anywhere or was even in a deep decline, but with Coming Home they have reinvigorated their sound and created an album that’s almost as refreshing as their self-titled album. NFG’s self-titled was one of those “right albums at the right time” for me and has remained an all-time favorite of mine. Their albums since have been good-but-not-great and while I consider Coming Home in the same category, it is the closest they’ve come to recapturing the magic. They slowed down the pace a little bit, un-whine-ified the vocals, got a little bit darker, and added a keyboard. The result is new, slightly more mature, but still extremely catchy New Found Glory. I’m anxious to see where they go with their sound from here.

Best Songs:

Hold My Hand
It’s Not Your Fault
Coming Home
When I Die
Boulders

11. Gatsbys American Dream – Gatsbys American Dream
Alternative/Emo
“We’re being drowned out in our own fucking sound/Now the teenage brigade has opinions/And I can’t get respect ‘cause I’m not at the bar/Now the teenage brigade has opinions.”

As you may, but probably don’t remember, last year’s Volcano was number 2 on my favorites list of 2005, so chalk this one up as a minor disappointment and a slight drop off for GAD. The first misstep was having a self-titled album that isn’t their first release. That just pisses me off. I was a big fan of Volcano’s mythological motif, and maybe it’s unfair for me to be comparing albums, but this latest release comes off as bitter and angry. Plus it’s not like it’s a novel approach to write about what’s wrong with the music industry (anger directed at your fans, however, is certainly less common). That criticism said, GAD is still pretty unique and there are a couple standout tracks. Listen to “My Name is Ozymandias” and it will be stuck in your head forever. . . FOREVER. Take this seriously because it’s almost impossible to undo. I also mostly dig the raw production of this album (although I do wish the vocals were a bit more refined) and the addition of a keyboard really adds a lot. All-in-all, I admire the fact that this band isn’t afraid to mix things up even if the results aren’t always ideal.

Best Songs:

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale
Badd Beat
My Name is Ozymandias
Station 5: The Pearl

10. My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
Rock
“We’ll carry on/We’ll carry on/And though you’re dead and gone believe me/Your memory will carry on.”

No, seriously. I guess everyone reaches the point in their lives when they stop wearing eyeliner and writing crappy, whiney songs about how awful their barely-pubescent lives are. OK, so I guess the makeup is still there, but the lesson learned here is never pre-judge an album based on a band’s previous releases. I kind of liked a couple songs on My Chemical Romance’s last album, but found most of it a bit whiney and just flat out boring. Well, the whine is all but gone and The Black Parade is anything but boring to me. The truth is, it took several people recommending it to me before I even considered listening to it, and thankfully I did. Even Rolling Stone has this listed on their top albums of the year list (of course, that actually makes me think that maybe my opinion is way off). While I still really hate the whole eyeliner thing this band has going, I can’t deny how much I dig their new epic sound. There are a few valleys here (I utterly loathe “Teenagers,” but then again, I’m not one anymore), but it’s hard not to be impressed overall with what I would label the surprise album of the year.

Best Songs:

The Sharpest Lives
Welcome To The Black Parade
House of Wolves
Famous Last Words

9. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Indie-Rock
“I bet that you look good on the dancefloor/I don’t know if you’re looking for romance or/I don’t know what you’re looking for/I bet that you look good on the dancefloor/Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984”

I actually had this album in my hands around the time that it came out. The only problem was that it wasn’t the album I ordered from Amazon so I sent it back. About 10 months later, I’m regretting not just keeping it because this band has taken over my life in the short time that I’ve been listening to them. The truth is, this album could either be over or under ranked simply because I haven’t had enough time to digest it. It’s catchy enough, but I have problems understanding our former rulers’ accents in song so I can only decipher about 35% of what’s being said. (When are these Brits going to learn to speak English, anyway?) Further, I don’t know if it has any staying power just because it’s only had to have enough power to stay in the rotation for a couple weeks at this point. If I had to guess though, I would say this isn’t an album that I burn through quickly.

Best Songs:

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Riot Van
Mardy Bum
A Certain Romance

8. Reel Big Fish – Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album
Ska/Punk
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is more shtick than you can shake a stick at!”

See, this is the kind of album that you won’t see on the Rolling Stone list. I haven’t built up nearly enough credibility (if any at all) to throw in something like this, but this is seriously the best live album I’ve ever heard so I’m doing it anyway. I’m actually not a huge Reel Big Fish fan when it comes to their studio albums, but they are one of my favorite live bands, having seen them several times. The three disk album (one of which is a DVD) also doubles as a greatest hits compilation with favorites such as “Beer,” “Sell Out,” and “Take On Me” included with surprisingly good audio quality. In between, the Fish do what the Fish do – make you laugh. Thankfully, there isn’t an excessive amount of talking as that can be irritating. Overall, there are very few albums that I listened to this year that I enjoyed more than this one.

Best Songs:

The Set Up
S.R.
Take On Me
Sell Out
Where Have You Been?

7. The Early November – The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path
Rock
“I been trying for the past 4 years/Broken lie to get this here/It’s not the heart that makes the man/It’s the money in his hand.”

I have heard good things about this band for a while, but I had never really gotten into them. Even on this triple-disk album, I wasn’t completely sold on them until I reached the captivating third disk. This is a concept album based on the story of a father and a son and how the sins of the father eventually pass on to the son. Unfortunately, you don’t know that until the third disk, “The Path,” which is a series of sessions of the son talking to his therapist. It’s a little bit on the experimental side (and it includes a punk version of “If You’re Happy And You Know It”), and while it doesn’t sound exciting in theory, the third disk is surprisingly gripping. Once you know the story, the other two disks make more sense and become more enjoyable. “The Mechanic” (disk 1) is apparently the closest disk to The Early November’s earlier work stylistically (again, I haven’t heard it). “The Mother” (disk 2) is much softer and melodic. This album should probably be higher on the list but I frankly just didn’t listen to it enough. I didn’t listen to it enough for the same reason why not too many people name Schindler’s List as their favorite movie – it’s just a little depressing. Not to mention time-consuming.

Best Songs:

Decoration
The One You Hated
1000 Times A Day

6. Rise Against – The Sufferer And The Witness
Punk
“Give me the drug/Keep me alive/Give me what’s left of my life/Don’t let me go/Pull this plug/Let me breathe/On my own I’m finally free/Don’t let me go.”

Sometimes you just have to rock out. I’m way past the teenage punk rock rebellion thing, but when the music is this much fun to crank up in the car stereo, I don’t mind ignoring the lame political statements and misplaced anger. (Indonesian children enjoy sewing my shoes, OK? Let it go). Like a couple other bands on this list, I had known of Rise Against for a long time, but had just never given them much of a listen. This album happened to come out at a time when I had become over saturated with mellow emoness and I was desperate for something aggressive. Consider the spot hit. This is exactly the kind of band I would have eaten up in high school, and even though I like to think that I’ve matured somewhat in my musical tastes since then (and no, I haven’t forgotten that Reel Big Fish is actually on this list), sometimes I like to listen to music just for the adrenaline rush. There certainly wasn’t an album that came out this year that accomplished that better than The Sufferer and the Witness.

Best Songs:

Chamber The Cartridge
Injection
Under The Knife
Behind Closed Doors

5. John Mayer – Continuum
Blues/R&B/Acoustic
“No it won’t all go the way it should/But I know the heart of life is good.”

Yeah, you read that right. I really enjoy telling people that I like this album because most people think I’m joking. I have to admit, every time I slap in this disk and “Waiting for the World to Change” (which is actually my least favorite track) starts up, I think to myself, “Good Lord, what’s happened to me?” and yet every time I still end up getting sucked into it. I haven’t heard any of Mayer’s other albums, so I don’t have a frame of reference as to how this fits in with the rest of his discography, but considering the music that I typically listen to, this is a great change of pace and I’ll probably start checking out Mr. Mayer’s earlier work if I ever get tired of Continuum. The lyrics are deeper than I was expecting and the album features what is maybe the best anti-Iraq War song to date, “Belief,” which is not exactly a category I typically enjoy.

Best Songs:

Belief
The Heart Of Life
Stop This Train
In Repair

4. Less Than Jake – In With The Out Crowd
Pop-punk with Horns
“All the things that I say/Will someday fade away/But the message in these songs/Have kept me sane all along.”

I have to admit that I was initially a little disappointed with this album. Not because it is bad, but because there are a million and one bands these days that have the same emo/pop-punk sound that is adopted for this album and there is only one band that sounds like Less Than Jake (or at they least used to). The horns only make appearances in about half the songs and the lyrics are decidedly more introspective and less upbeat. You could argue that a Less Than Jake album without a song about excessive alcohol consumption isn’t really a Less Than Jake album. Despite the change in style, this album is still as pop-tastic as any other LTJ album and eventually I learned to love it for what it was even though it was not quite what I expected it to be. All-in-all, this might actually be the most consistent album in LTJ’s career. The only song I routinely skip is “Overrated,” which they actually remade in a much more pleasing manner. “The Rest Of My Life” might just be my favorite song of the year and probably the most played if my iTunes can be trusted. I’m not the same person I was when I started listening to LTJ, and I respect the fact that the band has changed too and want to reflect that in their music.

Best Songs:

Soundtrack Of My Life
Still Life Franchise
In-Dependence Day
The Rest Of My Life
PS – Shock The World

3. Say Anything . . . Was A Real Boy
Indie-Punk
“So what say you/And all your friends/Meet up with my friends/In the alley tonight?”

Yeah, I know. This is a huge, huge cheat since this album was originally released two years ago. Well, you know what? Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to this band in 2004; it was re-released in 2006; and it’s my list on my blog so I’m making this my #3 album of 2006. From the beginning, you can tell this band is a little . . . different. Multiple drugs should probably share writing credits, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t terrific in it’s quirkiness. As previously mentioned, I was a little late onto this bandwagon, but once I “got it,” I couldn’t stop spinning it. The lyrics are strong and personal, and while the song writing and vocals aren’t the best in the world, the three elements just go well together and create a very unique album that you won’t easily find the likes of elsewhere.

Best Songs:

Alive With The Glory Of Love
Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat
Every Man Has A Molly
Admit It!

2. Brand New – The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
Indie-Rock
“I used to pray a god was listening/I used to make my parents proud/I was the glue that kept my friends together/ Now they don’t talk and we don’t go out.”

Even though I’ve had this album for a while and I’ve been listening to it constantly since I got it, I still feel like I need more time to absorb it. Of course, that’s one of the beautiful things about this band – I still feel like I’m absorbing Deja Entendu at times. I was initially a little disappointed with this album, but I was prepared for that. The line “I love you so much that it hurts my head” and “Would you be my babe?”, just seem below this band. On the other hand, the highlights of TDAGARIM are arguably better than anything found on Deja Entendu. There’s really only one song here that sounds like a radio-ready single, but Brand New’s musical story telling is still top-notch. The soft-loud-soft pattern that BN has always followed is more noticeable here, but given the theme it is understandable, even though the pop-punk/emo sound of Your Favorite Weapon, that found it’s way from time-to-time on Deja Entendu is completely gone now. The songs range from beautiful to disturbing (and in the case of “Luca,” actually a little scary). There are several parts in this album that literally give me chills.

Best Songs:

Millstone
Jesus Christ
Limosine
Luca
The Archer’s Bow Is Broken

1. The Format – Dog Problems
Folksy Indie-Pop
“Can we take the next hour and talk about me?”

The first time I played this album I knew it would be topping this year’s list. It isn’t often that a new band enters my list of all-time favorites and it may be too early to say so after only two albums but The Format has been damn near perfect thus far. After a brief intro song, Dog Problems begins with the carousal-y “I’m Actual” where lead singer Nate Ruess invites us to “take the next hour and talk about me.” The album hits its poppy groove reminiscent of their debut album Interventions and Lullabyes with “Time Bomb,” and from here on out you should be hooked. My personal favorite from this album is the title track, “Dog Problems.” It’s so weird and different, yet endearing. It actually most resembles a show tune, but it’s hard not to get into if only for the heartfelt, mood-swingy lyrics. Other highlights include the poppy yet somewhat self-loathing “Oceans,” the Beatlesque “The Compromise,” the folksy “Snails,” and the horn-powered and country-inspired “Inches and Falling.” I’ve recommended this album to almost all of my friends, none of which are inclined to like this kind of music (myself included), and every single one of them have ended up falling in love with it. As for me, not only is this my favorite album of 2006, but it’s one of my favorite albums ever. If this album doesn’t make you crack even a little bit of a smile or make you feel gay (in the older definition of the word), then you just have a heart of stone and will probably go to hell.

Best Songs:

Time Bomb
She Doesn’t Get It
Dog Problems
Oceans
Snails
Inches and Falling

  

Hey all. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As you probably weren’t wondering, I have made my “Best Of” lists and they will be coming shortly. Here is the schedule:

Monday, January 8 – Favorite Movies
Tuesday, January 9 – Favorite TV Shows
Wednesday, January 10 – Favorite Music
Thursday, January 11 – Looking Ahead to 2007

I’m also working on the 2006 photo gallery, although I have no idea when I will get that done. Plus with the season premiere of 24 coming up in a little over a week, this blog should be quite active very soon.

On an unrelated note, LET’S GO STATE! I’m so much more pumped for next season after that Outback Bowl win. Hopefully it is something for the team to build off of.

-MPAW

  

PRELOGUE:  OK, so I started writing this months ago and kind of put it aside because I wanted to flesh out the music portion.  Well, that never happened and now that some of these movies/albums are being released, I’m just gonna post this as is.  Enjoy the rich, creamy goodness. . .

Movies:

Given the state of the cinema these days, when I started putting together this list my only real desire was to somehow dig up enough half-decent films so that I wasn’t forced to put The Benchwarmers on here. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. 

10. Cars
Honestly, I’m not really excited about this movie that much right now, but pretty much every Pixar movie ends up having crappy previews and I always love them. I say they deserve the benefit of the doubt even though this looks terrible.

9. The Omen 666
I’m a fan of the original starring Gregory Peck and directed by Richard Donner. I haven’t seen anything for this movie yet, but the teaser trailer was creepy enough to make me want to see the remake.

8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Kiera Knightley. Johnny Depp. Need I say more?

7. The Sentinel
This really looks like Kiefer Sutherland is playing Jack Bauer on the big screen. I know Michael Douglas is in it, but it still looks pretty sweet.

6. Casino Royale
Apparently they’re trying to take James Bond back to his roots. I’m not sure I like Daniel Craig in the lead role (I was a pretty big Brosnan fan), but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if they actually succeed in making a good, classic Bond movie.

5. A Scanner Darkly
I don’t know what this movie’s about, but I’m betting Keanu Reeves gets to save the world. Hopefully the visuals aren’t just a cheap trick and the movie itself will deliver.

4. Mission: Impossible III
M:I-II sucked big monkey grundel, but the creator of Lost is now writing and directing and Phillip Seymore Hoffman looks badass in what I’ve seen so far. One thing’s for sure: there will be no slow-motion pigeons in this one.

3. X-Men 3: The Last Stand
I’m scared about Bryan Singer handing the directing reins over to Brett Ratner, but the trailer made this look really promising. I love the first two so much, all I really want is for them not to screw it up in the 3rd one like every other superhero franchise.

2. V For Vendetta
Love the tagline. Love the leads (Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving). Love the previous work (The Matrix). I have a feeling that very few people are going to come out of this film not feeling passionate about it one way or another, including myself.

1. Superman Returns
I can hardly believe this is finally happening. I grew up on the original movies and now finally after 19 years, we finally have a new Superman film. God help me if they screw this up. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

Honorable Mention:

Snakes on a Plane
Shut up. You know this looks cool.

Strangers with Candy
The only reason this didn’t make the top ten is because it was in the top ten last year and was never released. As of right now, it has a release date in June, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve been hearing about this movie since 2003 and still nothing.

The DaVinci Code
I’ve never read the book, but apparently everyone else has. Plus movies by the Gigervitised One (Ron Howard) are usually pretty sweet.

Nacho Libre
I would probably have put this in the top ten list if it wouldn’t be so embarassing to do so.

Music:

OK, this is really more like the first 10 albums I could think of.  I know half of these are already out.  Whatever. . .

Angels and Airwaves – We Don’t Need to Whisper
Less Than Jake – Absolution for Idiots and Addicts (EP)/In With the Out Crowd
Brand New – Untitled
Saves the Day – Sound the Alarm
Gatsbys American Dream – Untitled
Hit the Lights – This is a Stick Up … Don’t Make It a Murder
Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now
Thursday – A City By The Light Divided
The Ataris – Welcome the Night
Plus 44 – Untitled

-MPAW

  

Yeah, believe it or not I still have more to say about music in 2005. I’m not going to list my favorite songs in order, but every year I make a compilation CD made up of my favorite singles so I’m just going to give you the tracklisting here:

1. Thrice – Image of the Invisible
“We’re more than carbon and chemicals/Free will is our’s and we can’t let go/We can’t allow this – the quiet cull/So we sing out this – our canticle/We are the image of the invisible.”

2. Monty – In This Legacy
“This is how we live/This is what we breathe/And it’s insulting to my face/It’s something I’ll take under my wing/I will fly until I sing this free/A servant to your dreams/This blood will, blood will spill.”

3. Fall Out Boy – Dance, Dance
“Dance, Dance/We’re falling apart to half time/Dance, Dance/And these are the lives you’d love to lead/Dance, this is the way they’d love/If they knew how misery loved me”

4. Panic! at the Disco – Time to Dance
“Give me envy/Give me malice/Give me attention/Give me envy/Give me malice/Baby give me a break!/When I say “Shotgun,” you say “Wedding”/Shotgun/Wedding/Shotgun/Wedding”

5. Over It – Siren on the 101
“Tell me all you hear is our song/Like a siren on the 101/Did you come to say so long?/I was sure we had just begun”

6. TRUSTcompany – Stronger
“You want to tear me down/You want to hold me down/You can’t control me now/You cannot take me outYou cannot save me now/Because I’m stronger now”

7. Plain White T’s – All That We Needed
“Maybe we’re perfectly not meant to be/Or more alike then were willing to see/Maybe we’re not meant to not disagree/Maybe we’re crazy baby”

8. Motion City Soundtrack – When You’re Around
“Midwest aftermath the rumors start to rise/Did I truly do the things that you’ve described?/They must hate me, every single one/It just sickens them what I consider fun”

9. MxPx – When Grey Skies Turn Blue
“When grey skies turn blue/I’ll come back for you/My mind can’t change my heart there’s nothing I can do”

10. The Starting Line – Bedroom Talk
“I tore your ass up like we just got married/And you’re all mine now/Cause tonight is the night we’ve been waiting for all our lives/Or maybe its just you’ve gotta/Get your ass up cause you’re in no hurry like I am now/I’m getting older and older all of the time/Oh baby one more time”

11. Dropkick Murphys – The Green Fields of France
“Here in this graveyard that’s still no man’s land/The countless white crosses in mute witness stand/To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man/And a whole generation were butchered and damned”

12. Jimmy Eat World – Disintegration
“This poison comes instruction free/Do what you want, but I’m drinking/Wonder why I’m so caught off guard when we kiss/Rather live my life in regret then do this/What happened to the love we both knew?/We both chased/Hanging on a cigarette/You need me/You burn me/You’ll burn me/Try to lie better next time/Stay on my side tonight”

13. Motion City Soundtrack – L.G. FUAD
“I want to thank you for being a part of my forget-me-nots and marigolds/And all the things that don’t get old/Is it legal to do this?/I surely don’t know/It’s the only way I have learned to express myself/through other peoples’ descriptions of life/I’m afraid I’m alone and entirely useless”

14. Jack’s Mannequin – I’m Ready
“I’m on the verge, I’m on the verge/Unraveling with every word/With every word you say, make me believe/That I won’t feel your tires on the street/As I’m finding the words/You’re getting away”

15. Houston Calls – One More Won’t Hurt
“I’ll down Keystones/Drunk and alone/Planning things to say/Saying things planned/To empty cans/Same shit – different day”

16. Gatsbys American Dream – Shhhhhh! I’m Listening to Reason
“The smoke and cameras will clear and then?/’We can’t surely lead them to their doom!’/’Yeah of course we can!/We’ll feed them shit till they’re full in their bellies/They’ll love the taste even more than the feeling/And if they build that tower it will fall down/Just like the last time’/’Look at them starving while indulging in nothing at all’”

17. Gatsbys American Dream – Meet Me at the Tavern in Bowerstone
“Got a brand new face/So brittle it falls to pieces/My bones are charred and soon I am ash/And I’m clinging to/All my soft wickedness”

18. MxPx – Get Me Out
“I don’t wanna move, I just wanna lay here/Shakey hands, sweaty sheets/Can’t get my mind in gear/My legs went numb three hours ago/Blank stares don’t care what you think you know/Get me out!”

19. Vendetta Red – Silhouette Serenade
“Is this all you have to say this broken boy would hang on every word/You tell me that you need me while I slowly fall apart/You’d heal your heartache with words so cool and callous/But the absence of your tears gave you away/And I’ve been lonely like a silhouette or a serenade/A heart attack or a man betrayed/The arms of love are holding me like a silhouette or a serenade”

20. Cartel – Q
“And fighting always seems just like/That I’ll never know/And you never will/Still I’ll never know/And you won’t until someone stands up/Then you’ll get some answers”

21. Cartel – A
“Still I’ll never know/And you won’t until someone stands up/Then you’ll get some answers/And you can take this however you want/Yeah you can take this however you want/Just don’t waste your breath unless you can save us/And tell me can you/Can you save us?/This can’t go on without the meaning in the rhyme”

  

This section is always the hardest for me because a) I have have absolutely no qualifications whatsoever to determine what is “good” music and b) because these rankings are based completely on my very subjective tastes, it very much depends on my mood what music I like. Therefore, don’t take these rankings too seriously because Kanye West is nowhere to be found here (although I did kind of like Late Registration) and I simply do not get the appeal of Sufjan Stevens. I really yearn to be more of an indie guy, but the part of my brain that enjoys Michael Bay movies apparently dominates my music tastes. I’m a pop-punk/emo kind of guy. Sue me. I make this one promise though: this year’s list will be infinitely better than last year’s which featured an EP, a movie comp, a B-Sides comp, and Bowling for Soup. Bowling for Soup. I’m not proud of myself for that. I clearly was not thinking. OK, let’s get on with it, shall we?

If only I had known. . .
Here are some albums that I would have included in my 2004 list if I had found them in time:

Straylight Run – Self-titled
Relient K – MmmHmm
Flogging Molly – Within A Mile of Home
Breaking Benjamin – We Are Not Alone
Say Anything. . . Is A Real Boy*
(*Technically, I haven’t heard this one in it’s entirety, but I love every song I’ve heard so far. I’m just waiting for the re-release to buy it)

EPs
These are pretty much the only EPs I listened to in 2005:

4. Straylight Run – Prepare to be Wrong
I just discovered this band a couple weeks ago. I’m in love with their debut album which came out last year. Unfortunately, I’m just not feeling this newest EP as much. However, as previously mentioned, I really have not had proper time to process this release. It may very well move up the list later.

3. Relient K – Apathetic EP
I’ve never been too keen on Relient K. They’re catchy enough, but the vocals always seemed a bit too whiny for me. Somehow this EP and their 2004 release clicked with me. This CD is mostly accoustic remixes of songs on MmmHmm, but the new songs rock.

2. Monty – The Red Shift
The words “EP” and “epic” usually should not go together, but I think the description fits for this album. Everytime I put this in my car, I never felt that the volume could go loud enough (in fairness that could just be because of a bad mix though). Monty is a former ska band, but still incorporates everything from horns to a music box with their new metal/punk hybrid sound. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the mood for something a little different. I’m not quite down with the vocals with this style of music, but your face will be melted if you listen to this band.

1. Jimmy Eat World – Stay On My Side Tonight
I’m sure it’s no big surprise to see JEW on top of the list here. This disk features b-sides from one of my favorite albums of all time – last year’s Futures. While I can see why most of the stuff on here didn’t make it, “Disintegration” is classic JEW. The whole album is very Clarity-era, with the exception of a bizarre trancy remix of “Drugs or Me” that I don’t particularly care for. The only other fault that I find here is the use of police sirens. I never thought JEW would stoop to one of my all-time music pet-peeves, but I forgive the infraction as long as it doesn’t happen again. Also, it’s a little strange to see a parental warning on a JEW album, but the least aggresive use of a certain 12-letter word in a remix of Heatmiser’s “Half Right” makes it well worth it.

Honorable Mention
I liked ‘em, but I didn’t like ‘em that much:

The All-American Rejects – Move Along
Also wins award for “Worst Album Art of 2005”

Over It – Silverstrand
Non-stop radio-friendly pop-punk. (I’m in a very hypheny mood lately)

The Academy Is. . . Almost Here
Only beef: don’t dig the vocals and too short.

The Starting Line – Based on a True Story
Darker and more mature. For real this time.

John Williams – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Come on, who doesn’t like John Williams? This CD gave me chills before I even saw the film. Plus “Battle of the Heroes” rocks.

The Top Ten

10. Panic! at the Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out
Synth Pop Punk
“Well we’re just a wet dream for the webzine/Make us hip, make us hip/Make us scene”

The one phrase review for this album is: “The poor man’s Fall Out Boy.” Seriously, if you played this album for me before I knew of this band’s existance and asked me to identify them, I would have said FOB. The vocals and lyrics are very, very similar. Just because the band is a rip-off doesn’t mean that this album isn’t amazingly catchy – especially for a debut album.

Best Songs:

London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines
Time to Dance
I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Build God, Then We’ll Talk

9. Houston Calls – A Collection of Short Stories
Synth Powerpop-Punk
“I’ll down Keystones/Drunk and alone/Planning things to say/Saying things planned/To empty cans/Same shit – different day”

This is another debut album from a pop-punk band taking advantage of the keyboard craze. Somehow this band takes me back to punk the way it was when I was in high school. I still haven’t quite pinpointed which band they remind me of, but there’s something very familiar. If you like one song on this CD, you like all of them. The plus side of that is that there really isn’t a weak song to be found. The minus is that there isn’t much diversity in the sound of each song. I really like this album, but I wish it wasn’t so homogenous.

Best Songs:

Amtrack is for Lovers
High Rise
One More Won’t Hurt
A Line in the Sand

8. Dropkick Murphys – The Warrior’s Code
Irish Punk
“Here in this graveyard that’s still no man’s land/The countless white crosses in mute witness stand/To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man/And a whole generation were butchered and damned”

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I first heard this album. I was a huge fan of DM’s Blackout and at first glace this album doesn’t sound all that different than their previous one. After a while though, I realized that the Irish-Punk genre only has so much room to grow before one part of the hybrid betrays the other. After giving it a real chance, I realized that this album is actually a better one than Blackout. Plus, I find that it’s great workout music for some reason.

Best Songs:

Your Spirit’s Alive
The Green Fields of France
I’m Shipping Up to Boston
Tessie

7. Thrice – Vheissu
Screamo
“Wake, feel your worth, O my soul/Speak the word, the word that can save us all/Awed by grace, I fall on my face/And scream the word that can save us all”

This is probably the best written album I have here on the list. It would definitely be higher except for one small detail: I hate screaming. I have a history of being suckered into buying Thrice albums based on liking a single that sounds nothing like the rest of the album and this was no different. This CD is just so well written both musically and lyrically though that I found eventually the screaming didn’t bother me so much. In fact, in some places I actually like it a lot. This is a drastically different (and in my opinion the best) release that I have heard from Thrice.

Best Songs:

Image of the Invisible
Of Dust and Nations
Stand and Feel Your Worth
Red Sky

6. Jack’s Mannequin – Everything in Transit
Pop
“I need caffeine in my blood stream/I take caffeine in the blood stream/I grip the wheel and all at once I realize/My life has become a boring pop song/And everyone’s singing along”

This is the best “summer album” to come out this year. Unfortunately, it came out in September, but it’s the perfect roadtrip/roll-down-the-windows-and-sing-along album. At the time of the release, I was kind of in a musical funk where I wasn’t really digging anything and this was just so refreshing to me. I had never been into Something Corporate, but this album just blew me away. It also seemed somewhat prophetic as many songs seem to address lead man Andrew McMahon’s cancer even though it was recorded before he was diagnosed. Also strange is the following lyrics that struck a chord with me during Hurricane Katrina:

And then the water reached the West Coast
And took the power lines (the power lines)
And it was me and you (this could last forever)
And the whole town under water
There was nothing we could do

Weird, huh?

Best Songs:

Holiday From Real
The Mixed Tape
I’m Ready
Dark Blue

5. Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork Tree
Sell Out TRL Punk/Emo
“To the love I left my conscience pressed/Through the keyhole I watched you dress/Kiss and tell/Loose lips sink ships”

One phrase review: “The rich-man’s Panic! at the Disco.” There is nothing more instinctual than to hate everything that is loved by the 14 year old girls that follow every directive from Carson Daly (or whoever is hosting TRL these days). That being said, the “sell out” thing above is a joke because I still love this band. To be honest, it bothers me more than anything else that they look less and less like dudes everytime I see them (compare: here and here). This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I knew they were going to be big, I just didn’t know how big they were until I heard “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down” being sung by a cover band at the Dark Horse in State College. It was quite surreal.

Best Songs:

Dance, Dance
Of All The Gin Joints In All The World
Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year
I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
XO

4. MxPx - Panic
Left Coast Punk Rawk
“When grey skies turn blue/I’ll come back for you/My mind can’t change my heart/There’s nothing I can do”

Now to borrow a phrase to Fall Out Boy, call this the “Comeback of the Year.” MxPx was one of the most influential bands of my teenage-hood and was my gateway drug into the genre. For that I am eternally grateful and I’ll pretty much listen to any album they care to release. That being said, I didn’t realize how much I was forcing myself to like their previous release, Before Everything and After, until I heard Panic. Panic has all the attitude and passion that BEAA lacked. Plus, it’s great to see MxPx have another “yelling song” after trying to go all Good Charlotte on us.

Best Songs:

The Darkest Places
Heard That Sound
The Story
Grey Skies Turn Blue
Get Me Out

3. Motion City Soundtrack – Commit This To Memory
Moogy-Pop/Emo
“I want to thank you for being a part of my forget-me-nots and marigolds/And all the things that don’t get old/Is it legal to do this?/I surely don’t know/It’s the only way I have learned to express myself/through other peoples’ descriptions of life/I’m afraid I’m alone and entirely useless

No one can wrangle words like MCS can. Anyone that can rhyme “Twin Peaks afternoons” and “cordon bleu” (and even after throwing the word “plethora” in the mix, still makes the line make sense) has my utmost respect. This album is also the most moog-tastical album of the year with the keyboards blended perfectly with the guitar riffs. If I have one complaint about this album it’s that some of the slower songs could use a little more pace. The lyrics come off so much better when they’re spouted in a lightning round manner.

Best Songs:

Attractive Today
Everything is Alright
When Your Around
Make Out Kids
Time Turn Fragile
L.G. FUAD

2. Gatsbys American Dream and the Volcano
Alternative/Emo
“The smoke and cameras will clear and then?/’We can’t surely lead them to their doom!’/’Yeah of course we can!/We’ll feed them shit till they’re full in their bellies/They’ll love the taste even more than the feeling/And if they build that tower it will fall down/Just like the last time’/’Look at them starving while indulging in nothing at all’”

Just as a warning to start off – this band doesn’t believe in traditional song structure. In other words, no choruses. This really caught me off guard at first and it took a lot of time listening to this before I “got it.” To appreciate the album you have to embrace the fact that every song is comprised completely of bridges. It’s great because the song is constantly changing, but sometimes when they strike something that I really love I wish they would just settle down with that for a while. Volcano is a concept album that tells the story of an island doomed by. . . you guessed it. . . a volcano. Some songs are simply telling a story and others are telling parables of sorts using fairytale imagery like giants and dragons. Sometimes it even draws upon pop culture with references to Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, and Lord of the Flies. A couple of my friends were less than enthralled by this album, but if I have a criticism, it’s that at 30 minutes it just isn’t long enough. Every song is great.

Best Songs:

Theatre
Pompeii
A Mind of Metal and Wheels
Fable
Shhhhhh! I’m Listening to Reason
Badlands

1. Cartel - Chroma
Pop-Punk
“Our days were numbered by nights on too many rooftops/They said we’re wasting our lives/At least we know, that if we die – we lived with passion/They said we’d burn so bright

There’s a thin line between the pretentious and the precocious. I definitely had the former in mind when I read in an interview with the lead singer of Cartel that said they wanted to make a song inspired by Jimmy Eat World’s “Goodbye Sky Harbor” but “make it better.”

“Impossible!” said I. I was very impressed with Cartel’s EP (so much so that I put it 3rd in my self-discredited list last year), but I thought that they were really nothing more than a catchy pop-punk band. I turned out to be correct in my assumption that it’s impossible to make a better song than “Goodbye Sky Harbor”, but the resulting song, “A” really is something special, wrapping up Cartel’s first full-length album by intertwining several other songs on the album. Chroma starts out like a typical pop-punk album, but progresses in maturity along the way making me lean more towards “precocious.” I really think that this band has the potential to be something special in the pop-punk genre if they can continue to develop their sound. Their strength is the great vocals, but the lyrics are pretty solid for a young band and the songwriting is catchy as hell if pretty simplistic sometimes. I don’t know if Chroma is the “best” album of the year, but it’s the one I enjoyed the most. It’s just one of those CDs that I can spin anytime and not get tired of it.

Best Songs:

Honestly
Matter of Time
Burn this City
Save Us
Lucky St.
If I Fail
The Minstrel’s Prayer
Q

A

Whew! Finally done. I’m so glad I don’t have to do this again until next year. I’m pretty sure this grabs the “Longest Post Ever” title. As I said before, music really isn’t my area of expertise but for some reason this is my favorite list to write. Go figure. I guess I should get to work finding new bands for the 2006 list.

-MPAW

  

Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. Mary Matalin and James Carville. Michael Moore and Halliburton. The most recent odd-couple? 50 Cent and George W. Bush. In a recent interview, Fiddy said the following:

“[President Bush is] incredible … a gangsta. I wanna meet George Bush, just shake his hand and tell him how much of me I see in him.”

You can read about it here at MTV News. Later in the article Kanye West whines about being “censored”:

“This is supposed to be America, but you can’t get your opinion out.”

And yet there probably isn’t a single American who couldn’t give you Mr. West’s exact opinion on the Hurricane Katrina fiasco word-for-word. No mention in the article on whether or not he still thinks it’s appropriate or wise to call the President of the United States a racist, thus isolating half of your target audience, during a charity telethon.

-MPAW

  

Here is the cover for the new Suicide Machines album entitled “War Profiteering Is Killing Us All”:

I actually kind of like it. I think we should adopt the Satanic Elephant logo as the official mark of the Republican Party. At the very least it’s pretty creative.

-MPAW

  

Telegraph.co.uk: ‘Mom rock’ will teach the punks a thing or two

On the other hand, “Housewives on Prozac” is a pretty good name for a band.

-MPAW

  

. . . this can’t not be a joke, right?? From Aversion.com:

Tom Green is retiring from being a professional irritant to recording hip-hop. As far as we can tell, this isn’t a joke, either.

I pine for 1999 as much as the next guy, but come on. There’s no way he’ll ever be able to capture the magical perfection that was The Bum Bum Song ever again. He caught lightning in a bottle on that one.

-MPAW

  

Need a new credit card? Why not have these guys on it? I would seriously rather have Liza Minelli on mine, but I’m very happy with my Alumni Association Lion Shrine card right now.
-MPAW

  

I have acquired an advance copy of the first half of the new Fall Out Boy album, From Under the Cork Tree. Man, this CD rocks hard. I can’t wait to hear the rest of it. I could tell just from the preview clips I had heard that it was going to be one of those summer theme albums that we all have rocked out to in our cars with the windows rolled down. It’s instantly catchier than their debut album, but when I buy it I’ll have to read the lyrics and hear the rest of the album to decide whether this is indeed superior. Poppier and catchier does not necessarily mean it’s better, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worse either.

This is always the part of a band’s career that I hate. I’m not one to abandon a band when they “sell out,” but I think we all like being a part of something that we think no one else knows about. I’ve liked Fall Out Boy since they were relatively unknown and were the opening band for Less Than Jake and a month from now they’re gonna be on TRL and getting endless plays on the radio.

Actually, I had a similar sentiment about 24. When it first started, nobody watched it and my motivations to tell others about it were two-fold: to increase word of mouth (and increase viewship enough to get the next season) and because I like saying, “I know about this and you don’t.” This season when ratings skyrocketed (Fox FINALLY learned how to promote and schedule the show), I was a little resentful when people like Tony Danza started raving about it. It’s like, “Hey! This is my show! I’ve been there since 2001!” I know that doesn’t make any sense, but I think most of us have similar tendencies. We don’t like outsiders in our imaginary little clubs.

So anyway, after that long ramble, I guess I’m just posting so that I can say for the last time, “Have you heard of Fall Out Boy? Their new album is awesome!” Go check out the preview clips below and buy the album in May 3.

Purevolume: Fall Out Boy
FallOutBoyRock.com

-MPAW