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By a long shot the most played, most riffy, most
air-guitared and headbanged to record this year. Dudes spent a good year or so perfecting every twisted howl
of feedback, every nuanced affectation of honest and real desperation and
depression, every godamned face-smashing slab of molten sludge grunge to make a
near-perfect document of harsh sound.
2.) GREYS, “If Anything”
Second most played, riffy, air-guitared record this
year. The perfect mix of Fugazi,
Jehu, and a little
Quicksand tossed in a blender and shot out with wild and energetic punk songs from these Toronto fellas.
Quicksand tossed in a blender and shot out with wild and energetic punk songs from these Toronto fellas.
“Old Wounds” is the standard-bearer for this group. “In and Out Of Youth and Lightness” was
a bit harder to digest, a heavy body of work that required thought and
patience. It’s as if the band
channeled a perfect mix of “Old Wounds” blunt ferocity, “In and Out”s
minimalist approach, and more of the band’s insane exploration of crazy guitar
pedals on “Easy Pain”. Screw me if
“Doomed Moon” ain’t the best song I heard all year.
4.) BLOOD SUN CIRCLE, “Bloodiest/Sunniest”
The Syracuse brothers mind-meld and create an incredible
album that swirls with love for things Nick Cave, Young Widows, and whatever is
louder than what you think is loud.
I was never huge on this band until they decided to kick
everyone’s asses and get back in action with this long-awaited reunion
record. It’s like all the
feedback-strewn sludge noise of the past with a great recording and riff after
riff of molten lava heaviness and glass shrapnel vocals over it.
6.) PRAWN, “Kingfisher”
This band has been perfecting their craft for several years
already and I just got into them with this, which is a beautiful and carefully
calculated collection of uplifting melodic music. Heavy on the Braid influence, but presented in a way that
makes you feel like you’re out to sea; all the beauty, open space, and
occasional tumult that accompanies it.
I had to warm up to this one a bit. The production feels a little softer,
but the songs hit just as hard as ever.
Ben’s fierce growl. The
ethereal vocals of Dana and Hoiji.
The sinew-y, knotty riffs, and avalanche-as-math drumming. Oh, and the unbelievably heavy tones
they get. A great addition to
their already stellar catalog.
8.) CAYETANA, “Nervous Like Me”
It’s awesome when you see old pals just go for something
new/foreign and just nail it. The
ladies of Philly’s Cayetana just went for it and put forth an awesome record of
honest emotion, plaintive beauty, and incredibly catchy indie/punk jams. Very satisfying.
Another record where I had to warm up to the recording, as
it felt a bit fuzzy and didn’t quite capture the harshness this band is all too
capable of delivering. After
repeated listens though it sunk in, which you will need because it takes all of
about 15 minutes to get through this whole thing. One speeding trainwreck of blast beats, primal barbarian
breaks, and spewing venom left and right.
10.) PUP, s/t
So it came out last year. Big whoop. 99%
of you didn’t hear it until this year, myself included. Not only did these Canadians make some
of the coolest videos ever, they also happened to make some of the rockinest
sing-along punk jams this side of Niagara Falls. They deftly mix up pop-punk, math rock, insanely talented
guitar work, and some post-hardcore vibes into one chunk of wildly energetic
music. Well done.
Runner-up’s:
CREEPOID, s/t
A psychedelic cornucopia in the form of a dozen songs that
trip you up, confuse and bewilder you, sing you to sleep, and then rock you the
fuck out. Incredible male and
female vocals, followed by layers upon layers of shoegaze dream rock, and
chunks of sludge rock in one trippy stew.
SECRET CUTTER, s/t
One singer with a feedback box, one drummer that beats his
kit into oblivion, and one guitarist with a store’s worth of gear behind
him. It makes for one album so
chock full of heaviness a new word needs to be invented to describe it. Bits of Coalesce and Turmoil fuse
together to make one hell of an awesome record.
HELMS ALEE/ YOUNG WIDOWS split LP
Helms Alee deliver one mathy track, one weird/soothing
track, and one song with hands-down the heaviest riff of the year on their
side. Young Widows took the throwaways
from “Easy Pain” and planted them on the B-side. Their throwaways are better than most band’s best stuff.
EVERY TIME I DIE, ”From Parts Unknown”
It’s hard to follow up how awesome “Ex-Lives” was, and that
kept me from enjoying this record as much as I should have. It caught up to me though. This is seriously an awesome collection
of songs. Great lyrics as always,
furious riffing, humor, insane energy; many imitate, none can duplicate. The record opens with Keith screaming
“Blow your fucking brains out”.
Chew on that.
7” category:
EX-BREATHERS, “EXBX”
Definitely a favorite new(-ish) band making the rounds. I like how they try something new with
each release. This tackles
cramming a dozen songs on a 7” and still keeping it interesting. Minutemen’s musical ethics, Fugazi’s
creative energy, Jesus Lizard’s aggressiveness, and just a dash of metal.
EX-HEX, “Hot and Cold”
All these songs made it to their full length, but I like the
recording on these songs better.
Mary Timony and company keep it sassy, tearing through their riffs like
it was 70’s arena rock, but still sticky sweet. The video for “Hot and Cold” with Ian Svenious is
ridiculously funny on it’s own.
PSYCHIC TEENS, “Face/All”
The band can do no wrong. One somewhat heavy song, another sad and depressing
song. Both make full use of the
groups feel for goth-y vocals, ear-piercing volume, and shoegaze guitar
squall. Joy Division meets My Bloody
Valentine in arena combat.
By Demos Be Damned:
WRONG, “Stop Giving”
Total Helmet worship done better than the actual
Helmet. If there were an
unreleased demo between “Strap It On” and “Meantime” this would be it.
BLEAK
Whatever multiple forms these songs took over the last year
it’s still a demo to me and Syracuse does good by these cats that carry the
torch of Disembodied to a frightfully heavy new level. Nothing but next-level destruction from here on out.
TYPEWRITER, “No One Clears Out a Room Like…”
This was sort of an official release by the now-defunct
Upstate locals, but presented in a sort of demo form. Whatever the case, they knew how to throw down multiple
styles of catchy indie rock and made it all work. I got a heavy Elvis Costello vibe at times, Chisel at
others, (older) The Men on one song, Superchunk popping up often.
Favorite re-issues:
ROLLINS BAND, “Lifetime”
As if this record couldn’t have gotten better, it sounds so
loud and present after a commendable re-mastering job. This is the band just getting their
feet wet, back in ’87-88. No
expectations, all crazed energy and revenge. “Burned Beyond Recognition”? “Lonely”?
“Wreck-Age”? “Turned Out”? Fuckin’ right, this is about as angry
and bad-ass as it gets. “Walking
alone down Sunset Boulevard.
Feeling lonely, feeling mean, feeling hard”. When Rollins sings it it just sounds real. Anyone else would come off as a
cornball.
JIMMY EAT WORLD, “Static Prevails”
This is the only LP by this band that I have ever enjoyed
and I have always adored it. There
is an awesome raw energy to it that I feel severely lacks in everything else
they did, which I chalk up to over-production. The band wears their influences heavy on their sleeves here,
but who cares. It’s awesome emo
music for nerds, but try listening to “Anderson Mesa” and not getting super
emotional about it when that huge climax happens near the end. You gotta give in. I got this record and cranked the shit
out of it and it felt damn good.
UNWOUND, “No Energy”
These box sets have been getting released all year, each
covering about 3 albums worth of Unwound stuff. This is the third one. Their early material doesn’t quite do
it for me. But once they get to
“Repetition” I’m floored. This has
that, “New Plastic Ideas”, some B-sides and a huge book thing in a case. The packaging is beyond awesome. The band was nothing short of
incredible.
Shows I knows:
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT/ EX-HEX Boston & NYC 4.1.14,
4.2.14
Not only did I see RFTC two nights in a row at fairly
intimate venues, but I was also introduced to the awesome Ex-Hex, a new band
featuring Mary Timony (Helium, Autoclave) that was a great surprise. I got put on the spot at the NYC show
when she called me out on my Swiz shirt and I got all embarrassed. Oh yeah, did I mention I saw RFTC
twice? They’re pretty much the
greatest rock n’ roll band ever, always, forever.
LEFT FOR DEAD/ DROP DEAD/ FUCKING INVINCIBLE, Machines With
Magnets, Providence, 5.23.14
Three insanely wild bands at a place that holds about 200
people and the whole thing was on the floor. Best F/I set I’ve ever seen (as a 5-piece, as intended),
Drop Dead did what they do so well, and LFD sounded just as pissed and raw as
ever. Old dudes killing it. Plus, I got to hang in Providence with
solid homies and eat good food.
Night Owls re-united.
Blood Sun dropped an awesome record. My own band played one of our most fun sets ever (“Wheel Of
Torture” audience participation ruled).
It was a good day. Hex
Records 15 year anniversary to boot.
MENZINGERS/ LEMURIA/ PUP/ CAYETANA, El Corazon, Seattle,
6.17.14
Friends doing bands that are awesome, and getting to see
them last minute while we all happened to be on the opposite coast. I was going to skip this since my plane
left that night, but after running into Lemuria at Mighty-O Donuts it was
kismet and we were destined to go.
Pup also ruled face.
LAST BADLANDS SHOW, Badlands, Syracuse, 6.28.14
People talk about violence at shows being a bad thing. This is an instance where violence and
danger were integral to the ‘punk experience’. Smoke bombs, beach balls, garbage cans thrown around,
ceiling lights smashed, blood, bongs, and a bunch of bands (my own sharing the
honor of playing) tearing the roof off our stupid little punk venue before
closing for good.
My band played a show in PA and instead of playing a show
the next day we just went to Philly instead and watched Iron Lung rip
tits. An Iron Lung show on the
East Coast is a rare and beautiful thing, and always incredible. Nothing and Ceremony were pretty
awesome too. What a bill. And I got to chill with my dogs in
Philly for the day.
Here’s some bucket list type shit here. I booked Damnation A.D. at my favorite
venue, no stage. I’ve been into
this band for nearly 20 years and they were so fucking cool and positive
(despite their bleak music). Plus,
a couple of my newer favorite bands got to play to a bigger audience, and BSS
did a rare show, which is always wild.
I got to play a Black Flag cover set dressed as Rollins and the
Halloween tradition was back in effect.
FEST, Gainesville/Tampa, FL, 10.29-11.2.14
Fest is always awesome. I get to fuck off from Syracuse for several days and forget
that it’s probably snowing at home while I’m in Florida. I walk around all day watching bands
and having fun. I’m the only
non-drunk person out of like 5,000 people and there is rarely ever incident of
‘shitty drunk dude’ behavior. Good
food, great record store, I always run into a ton of people I rarely see, and
usually make a few new friends while there.
Bomb Comics:
Whenever this guy gets off he can stop time. This other girl has the same power. They both think they're alone. Then they hook up. Then they decide to use their power to rob a bank. Then they get in trouble with the Sex Police. Hilarious and well-written adventure/comedy from Matt Fraction (Hawkeye)
HIP-HOP FAMILY TREE
Ed Piskors ongoing serial about the history of hip-hop, going from the mid-70's up to the early 80's. In-depth, humorous, adventurous, and full of some of the wildest characters in music history. Drawn like it was a 70's comic book.
Liz Suburbia put up over a dozen chapters online of her book to be released by Fantagraphics next year, and supplemented it (sort of) with her zine Cyanide Milkshake and regular contributions to As You Were. Crazy awesome flowing style, punk, humor, and a story about a town where there are no parents and kids get into stuff that kids do. In punk speak, "can't wait for the full length".
