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My Top 20 Albums of 2004
1. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE / Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve)
To my ears
FOW have now made three consecutive perfect pop albums (the only other
band I can say that about is the dBs back in the 80's). Like the other
two, this album is loaded with memorable hooks, seemingly effortless
harmonies, and lyrics that play out like short stories. Pop fun of the
highest degree.
2. BUZZCOCKS / Buzzcocks (Merge)
25 years
into their career the Buzzcocks return with their most aggressive record
ever and their strongest songs since 1993's comeback album, Trade Test
Transmissions.
3. THE 88 / Kind of Light (EMK Records)
LA band that
owes a huge debt in sound and style to The Kinks (Village Green thru
Muswell Hillbillies to be exact). They have a rootsy vibe without ever
dipping their toes into the country pool. Retro without sounding dated.
4. PERNICE BROTHERS / Yours, Mine & Ours (Ashmont Records)
For the
third album the band's sound is a bit fuller and the songs are a little
poppier without losing any of the subtle charm that made their earlier
records so special.
5. MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY / Us (Blanco Y Negro)
Giant lush production and summery melodies that sounds like a Brit-pop Pet Sounds.
6. THE KINGSBURY MANX / Aztec Discipline (Overcoat Records)
Dreamy pop with a slightly psychedelic folk slant that falls somewhere between early Pink Floyd and a less morose Elliott Smith.
7. SLOAN / Action Pact (VIK/BMG Canada)
Sloan
records are always a sampler platter of rock/pop references, but for me
they are at their best when the guitars are louder and the rhythms have
some ooomph. This record rocks the way One Chord To Another did oh so
many years ago.
8. NEW PORNOGRAPHERS / Electric Version (Matador)
Jangley
guitars and bouncy choruses that expand and improve on where the debut
left off. I thought that their first album didn't quite live up to the
hype (partly driven by the music press' deserved devotion to Neko Case)
while this exceeded it.
9. WIRE / Send (Pink Flag)
Compiling
cuts from two EPs with some new songs, Wire's first new album in a
decade is a cohesive collection of edgy buzz punk that seamlessly
combines the art angst of the early records with the dance grooves of
the band's second phase in the late 80's.
10. KENNA / New Sacred Cow (Columbia)
Synthpop
revivalism with herky-jerky keyboards and new wave riffs that sound at
home along side Soft Cell and the first Depeche Mode records. At times
the vocals shift between Dave Gahan and Simon LeBon and thanks to
production from Chad Hugo (Neptunes) the grooves are always tight and
upfront.
11. JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALEROS / Streetcore (Hellcat Records)
I can't
think of anybody better than Joe Strummer at merging diverse cultural
influences into the punk rock aesthetic and still make the songs so damn
catchy.
12. PLACEBO / Sleeping With Ghosts (Astralwerks)
Glam punk
pop with an edgy tension on the fast songs and a slightly creepy vibe on
the slow songs (like a rock version of Massive Attack). The production
is great and highlights the innovative rhythm section (I love the
drumming throughout) and the whiney vocals that should bug me, but
don't.
13. BELLE & SEBASTIAN / Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade)
This is the
first B&S album I've loved since Sinister. The band has abandoned
the blander twee leanings of their last few records in favor of stronger
songs with interesting melodies and lyrics with a subtle sense of humor
that recalls the early Smiths.
14. EXPLODING HEARTS / Guitar Romantic (Dirtnap)
This record
is totally out of place with today - it successfully emulates the pop
punk sound and energy of The Boys, Rich Kids, Radiators From Space, and
Vibrators. Unapologetically retro from the artwork to the snotty vocals
that sound like Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) mixed with Jake Burns (Stiff
Little Fingers). Sadly three members of the band were killed in a van
accident shortly after the record came out.
15. LAPTOP / Don't Try This At Home (Gammon)
More 80's
new wave revivalism - this time from New York and the reference points
are Heaven 17, OMD, and most of all, the Human League. Along with the
loads of synths are crunching guitar chords and droll Bowie-esque vocals
that half sing, half speak the always interesting lyrics.
16. BEULAH / Yoko (Velocette Records)
Combine
Wilco's Summerteeth with Spoon's Girls Can Tell and you're in the
ballpark of Beulah. Every song's great individually, but the it plays
out better as an album. They jump genres a bit, but the record has a
slightly melancholy flow that is captivating.
17. THE FLESHTONES / Do You Swing? (Yep Roc Records)
This album
breaks no new ground and doesn't even rank in the better half of the
Fleshtones repertoire, but a by-the-numbers Fleshtones album is still
something to celebrate. Party garage music made to be danced to and sung
along with.
18. THE TYDE / Twice (Rough Trade)
California
pop that mines the same reference points as the Thrills, but with a
better ratio of catchy summery songs. Think later Byrds mixed in with
the Church and Felt. Three of the guys are from Beechwood Sparks, but
this is much better than anything that band did.
19. BOSS MARTIANS / The Set-up (MuSick Records)
Garagey punk/pop from Washington state that sounds like an adrenalin charged Graham Parker.
20. REDWALLS / Universal Blues (Undertow)
Less than
two years ago they were in their teens and called the Pages and sounded
exactly like Hamburg-era Beatles. Now they comfortably shift between the
early fabs and the more relaxed feel of early 70's John Lennon, the
Faces, and a looser Traffic. Depending on your perspective, they either
steal riffs like crazy or reference their heroes frequently. The music
is so damn sincere I vote for the latter.
21. EL GUAPO / Fake French (Dischord)
Electro art
punks making angular grooves that are at times mesmerizing and always
intriguing. They sound like a catchier Suicide or a less angry Gang of
Four.
22. THE HEAVENLY STATES / The Heavenly States (Future Farmer Recordings)
Textbook American indie rock somewhere between Archers of Loaf and Pavement.
23. THE SPACE TWINS / The End of Imagining (Raga Drop)
Side project from Weezer guitarist Brian Bell that is mostly laid back but catchy.
24. SLEEPY JACKSON / Lovers (Astralwerks)
The first
song sounds like George Harrison leading the Flaming Lips. The next song
is like a rootsier indie rock Stones. The next song is different from
those. The band genre jumps and dabbles in everything - usually to great
effect.
25. THE ORANGES BAND / All Around (Lookout! Records)
Edgy, jangley guitars and some delightfully off-kilter rhythms with an ear for a memorable pop hook.
26. ROONEY / Rooney (Geffen)
Generic college radio power pop that still managed to spend a lot of time in my CD player.
27. BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB / Take Them On, On Your Own (Virgin)
They tone
down the Jesus and Mary Chain influence (let the Ravonettes carry that
torch) and turn up the love and Rockets influence this go around.
28. FORTY FOOT RINGO / Funny Thing (Atenzia)
Big guitar
radio friendly pop that delves into the same terrain as Enuff Znuff. I'm
a little leary of even admitting this, but I recently found out that
the two main guys in the band were from 80's hair metal goons Trixter.
29. MYRACLE BRAH / Treblemaker (Rainbow Quartz)
Every other
MB record has ended up in my top 10, but this go around the songs are a
little flatter and the record lacks charm. But there are still some
songs so great I kept returning it.
30. IGGY POP / Skull Ring (Virgin)
After two
misfires Iggy returns with a records that rocks and has a lot of
memorable hooks. With the exception of Peeches all of the collaborations
work well - and the Stooges reunion manage to live up to expectations
(well, two of the Stooges cuts do).
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Reviewing this list in 2012:
The biggest absence that I notice is Coral Fang by the Distillers, which I think I discovered just a few weeks into 2004. That album sis one of the best punk record I've heard in years and I still play it on a regular basis. Had I heard it in time I'll be it would have come in at #3 or #4. I also didn't become a fan of the Shins until a few years later (thanks to much Shins love from Mrs Agogo), so Chutes Too Narrow would be up there if I had to do it all over again.
Fountains of Wayne would still be my number one album - it's one that still sounds as fresh to me today as it did back then.Sloan, Belle & Sebastian, Kenna, Exploding Hearts and New Pornographers would all be higher if I made that list today. They all still get regular play in this house.
This reminds me that I need to give more spins to Buzzcocks, Mull Historical Society, Kingsbury Manx, and Joe Strummer - records I still love but for some reason don't seem to play much recently.
the 88, Space Twins, Rooney and Sleepy Jackson have drifted from my affections and I don't really remember liking them enough to make my Top 30. I must have been feeling charitable for Iggy, because I recently relistened to that record and there wasn't much to love. I don't even remember that Forty Foot Ringo at all, but my own description makes me want to go back and give that one a spin. I think I'm up for a little big guitar radio pop!
