A Round of Sound

Honorable Mentions:

Before we get into the countdown, I wanted to mention a few albums that just missed out on the top 25.  These are not necessarily the next highest ranked albums after 25th.  These are just a few of the albums that I have yet to cover on the blog that couldn’t quite crack the top 25, but I felt like needed mentioning for whatever reason.

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The Thermals – Now We Can See

Following up their landmark album The Body, the Blood, the Machine, the Portland trio return with another pop punk album full of guitar driven hooks.  While Now We Can See doesn’t quite have the politically-charged themes as their previous effort, the lyrics are still some of the best in the business from one of the best songwriters in the game.  There was a great deal of anticipation for this album following the critical acclaim of TBTBTM, and while this album isn’t nearly as epic, it is an excellent follow up overflowing with catchy melodies and some great sing along tunes.

[“Now We Can See” – Now We Can See]

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Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland

After initially being disappointed with this release, I did eventually come around to appreciate it.  This is the follow up to Perkins’ cathartic debut Ash Wednesday, one of my favorites in 2007, and it is much more ambitious than his previous effort this time employing a multi-instrumental backing band that adds a little bit more pomp to his tunes. My first reaction to the album was that some of the emotion was sacrificed, but considering the subject matter of Ash Wednesday, I think that was a little hard to re-create. This release shows Perkins maturation as a songwriter and songs like “Shampoo” and “Doomdsay” are a couple of the year’s best. (“Shampoo” was featured on my mid-year Round of Sound here.)

[“Doomsday” – Elvis Perkins in Dearland]

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The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

Initially self-released in 2008, Nonesuch Records picked up Oh My God, Charlie Darwin and re-released it this year maybe trying to pull their own For Emma, Forever Ago success story.  However, while this album can’t quite match the brilliance of Bon Iver, it does pack some immensely beautiful and intimate folk tunes that serve as a lovely listen.  This is the 2nd full-length release from the Rhode Island trio and if anything it sets them up for much greater success in the future.

[“Charlie Darwin” – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin]

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Islands – Vapours

The third album from the ex-Unicorns members is a return to form to their gloriously quirky debut Return to the Sea.  Founding member Jamie Thompson departed after that release and follow up Arm’s Way was a much darker album and while still enjoyable, it was a disappointment.  However, Thompson returned for Vapours and while everything on Return to Sea hasn’t been recaptured, Vapours is the kind of album these guys should be putting out.  This is one of those albums where there really isn’t a standout track, but that’s due to the abundance of consistently good songs on the album as a whole.

[“Switched On” – Vapours]

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Girls – Album

With what has to be one of the least Google-able band names and album titles ever, the San Francisco duo of Girls introduced themselves to the masses with a debut album thats sure to garner some sort of gut reaction due to the incredibly earnest lyrics.  Frontman Christopher Owens has an interesting backstory having grown up in the Children of God cult and his world view was obviously molded from his traumatic upbringing.  It’s a fascinating and refreshing release of pop songs with a variety of influences.

[“Hellhole Ratrace” – Album]

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Dishonorable Mentions:

Now for some albums, that for lack of a better term, I can only call my Dishonorable mentions.  These are some of my lower rated albums of the year (but by no means my lowest rated…these all fall in the lower half of my rankings).  Now, since I am usually only going to buy albums that I have some sort of interest in, I can’t say these are bad albums.  For the most part these are just releases that disappointed me in some way that deserve a mention.  And just like my honorable mentions, I’m only featuring albums that I haven’t previously done a write-up on here on the blog.

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Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

I honestly don’t know why I was expecting so much out of this album.  Oh wait, I know…it’s because it features M. Ward, Jim James, and Conor Oberst!  However, “supergroup” albums are frequently disappointing and this one is no different.  It’s just uninspired, way too long, boring and not enough Jim James (and too much Oberst).

[“Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)” – Monsters of Folk]

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Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

This is an example of one of those albums that is by no means a bad release, it’s just that I miss what Wilco used to be.  They have completely evolved into an adult oriented rock band and while the music isn’t bad, it is quite boring.  I was hoping Sky Blue Sky was just an aberration, but Wilco (The Album), while better, did nothing to excite me.  Maybe I’ll like it more when I’m 40.

[“You and I” – Wilco (The Album)]

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Muse – Resistance

Now this one is hard on me.  I like Muse, I really do.  Their debut album, Showbiz, was a very important album for me and my musical evolution.  But ever since then (except for Origin of Symmetry), they have been on a slippery slope of becoming caricatures of themselves.  Well, Resistance pretty much completes that downfall.  It’s one of the most self-indulgent, overtly pretentious albums I have heard in quite some time.  And this is coming from a fan of indie-rock…I hear plenty of pretentious music.

[“Uprising” – Resistance]

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Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Summer of Fear

I loved loved loved MBAR’s self titled debut album released in 2008 (I even mentioned it in my first ever AROS post), which is why I am so disappointed in this absolute mess of an album, Summer of Fear. A few of the songs are keepers, but even those can be grating to listen to.  MBAR’s ambitions got the best of him here, and it doesn’t work out well at all. The lyrics are awful, and the music is disjointed and just plain hard to listen to.

[“Losing 4 Winners” – Summer of Fear]