While this was a slow year for movies, it was certainly not a slow year for my turntable. So many amazing punk, hardcore, indie, and whatever else records came out this year that it actually became a chore keeping up with it. I did my best, though.
As the middle of the year was passing and I was already thinking about making this list, it occurred to me that doing a typical "top 10" would be impossible. Picking a top 10, let alone ordering them, would be too stressful: so many different records were good for different reasons and seriously, there were SO MANY records released this year. So I said "fuck it, I'll just post everything I liked this year."
So that's what I'm going to do. Only the first four are in any order. The other records I'm posting could easily be as good or even better than the four that are actually in order, but I really stopped trying to order them after awhile. This is a huge conglomerate of awesome shit that came out this year that everyone should check out. Some people would consider this "cheating," to just post 20+ records or whatever in no discernible order, but I don't really care.
Also, a fair warning: I sound like an idiot when I write about music. I don't really know to do it "properly." So bare with me.
One last thing: If I left anything out that you think was great and I was an idiot and just forgot to add it to my list, let me know. Of course, I'd have to of heard it, but I'm forgetful sometimes so it could happen.
So anyways, without further ado, here are my favorite records of 2008.
As the middle of the year was passing and I was already thinking about making this list, it occurred to me that doing a typical "top 10" would be impossible. Picking a top 10, let alone ordering them, would be too stressful: so many different records were good for different reasons and seriously, there were SO MANY records released this year. So I said "fuck it, I'll just post everything I liked this year."
So that's what I'm going to do. Only the first four are in any order. The other records I'm posting could easily be as good or even better than the four that are actually in order, but I really stopped trying to order them after awhile. This is a huge conglomerate of awesome shit that came out this year that everyone should check out. Some people would consider this "cheating," to just post 20+ records or whatever in no discernible order, but I don't really care.
Also, a fair warning: I sound like an idiot when I write about music. I don't really know to do it "properly." So bare with me.
One last thing: If I left anything out that you think was great and I was an idiot and just forgot to add it to my list, let me know. Of course, I'd have to of heard it, but I'm forgetful sometimes so it could happen.
So anyways, without further ado, here are my favorite records of 2008.
TOP 4
1. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS - "FROM THE BOTTOM" LPThis should come as no surprise to anyone. I've been talking up this band ever since I heard them last year and have been talking up this album ever since I got it. If you're looking the most solid punk release all year, this is it. Catchy as all fuck and more depressed that Sylvia Plath, I'm really close to calling this album a masterpiece. And you know what? I'm going to call it that. This album is a pop-punk masterpiece. I cannot name a single thing released this year that I listened to more.
For those who don't know, Off With Their Heads are a Milwaukee based band who, a year ago, were fairly unknown and released primarily only split 7"s with others bands no one really knew about either (Obvious exception: J Church split). They released the phenomenal debut LP "Hospitals" and pretty much from there the ball got rolling. They signed to No Idea Records, who released a collection 12" and this LP. While even I can admit (being the unabashed fanboy that I am) that some of their earlier 7"s are "eh," I can assure this LP is anything but that. This album will get stuck in your head, ingrained hopefully. It helps that some of the catchiest moments on this LP contain such lyrics as, "Until the day I die, I fucking swear / I'm going to make your life as miserable as mine," and "I might as well just kill myself tonight / I don't want to, but I don't see any other way." So awesome.
Again, I cannot recommend this enough. Buy it. Blast it from your stereo speakers. Make your friends listen to it. Sing along to it. Love it. Best album of 2008, easily.
2. OKKERVIL RIVER - "THE STAND INS" LPAs much as I am an Off With Their Head's fanboy, I don't know if my obsession with them can compare to my love for the almighty Okkervil River. I remember the exact moment I heard them, remember my first reaction it, and remember calling my friend Dane up right away and telling him I just heard the most amazing band. The rest, as they say, is history.
Anyhow, while I love this band to death their last album was, in my opinion, extremely lackluster. I felt like the "The Stage Names" didn't have the bite of Okkervil's earlier stuff, and was a much more conventional "indie" record than they're previous stuff. The darkness was gone, and in it's place was something much more accessible.
"The Stand Ins" strikes me as a return to what was working before with a few touches of "The Stages Names" put into it. And it works oh so well. At times upbeat and care-free, other times dark and pained, Okkervil's new LP is, realistically, what "The Stage Names" should have been: a progression, but not an abandonment of what they were. "The Stand Ins" is an amazing album, filled with some of Will Sheff's more personal and less story telling lyrics. "The Stand Ins" just feels more unabashed, more like, "This is what I want to say, so I'm just going to say it." And it's beautiful, because it works so well.
God. I love this band.
3. CURSED - "III" LPI put this record on my turntable. I place down the needle. It gives back a low hiss and a slight pop. The first track starts. Feedback. Voices. "Politics of fear." I start to get uneasy, like having someone following you home and they're only three steps behind. It starts to build. I get more unsettled. Where is this going?
"Go shopping, go back to the mall. We'll take care of it."
And then, a fucking explosion of anger, hatred, violence, and evil comes flying from my speakers. It may seem hard to believe, but Cursed has never sounded so fucking angry. On their final album, "III", Cursed serve up their most vile release. It sounds like it was recorded in a garbage can (but in a good way): the guitars crunch, the vocals screech, and the drums pierce. It sounds so evil.
The stand out tracks are easily "Night Terrors," and the slow, hurtling "Friends in the Music Business," which ends with the repeated, spiteful refrain of, "Don't call me / I won't call you," which never fails to make me nervous. Just something about how he screams that over and over again really gets under my skin.
Excellent record. Sadly, the last this band will ever release, so cherish it!
4. DILLINGER FOUR - "CIVILWAR" LPHow many years has this album been in the making? Three? Four? Something like that. The point is that it was finally released and I couldn't be happier.
To be honest, what is there to say about D4 that hasn't been said before? Everyone knows they're the kings of modern punk. This album is catchy, has great lyrics, and is just fun to listen to. That's honestly all there is to say, really solid album.
Only one compliant: Eric only sings a handful of songs. The rest Paddy sings. Some people seem to like that. I'm more of an Eric fan, though, so I wish there was more Eric on this. Other than that, great album. Again, highly recommended.
The Best of the Rest
(Keep in mind this stuff could be just as good or better than what's in the top 4, I was just too lazy to really order these. Well, none of these are better than Off With Their Heads... but the others maybe.)
MIND ERASER - "CONSCIOUS UNCONSCIOUS" LPUncompromisingly brutal and heavy. Deciding to try something new, Mind Eraser ditched minute long blasts of chaos to offer up two 10 minute long songs that encompass the heavy, the slow, the fast, and the evil. A seriously awesome record that honestly has something for everyone. Put this on and destroy your room.
ALGERNON CADWALLADER - "SOME KIND OF CADWALLADER" LPFirst of all, fuck this band's name. Second of all, I was at first very stubborn about this band. Their hype was as big as Mt. Everest and I was having none of it. I already have Cap'n Jazz, why would I need this?, was my thought process. I'm willing to admit I was wrong, though. This album is fantastic. Twinkly guitars, upbeat melodies, youthful yelling and an overall dream-like feel encompass this record and I love it. The title track is so good it should be illegal. If you like you're indie rock to be less serious and have more songs about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, check this band out. Really, really fun stuff that pretty much anyone could get into.
FAILURES - "SELF TITLED" LPBeen looking forward to this one for awhile. For those who don't know, this is one of those "super group" type bands, seeing as it contains members of: Ampere, Orchid, Aerosols, Charles Bronson, Das Oath, Cut the Shit, and plenty of others. And this record sounds like if you put all those bands in a blender. This record can be summed up in two words: Play fast. Thrashy, pissed, and snotty. This record is so great.
SONGS FOR MOMS - "THE WORST IT GETS THE BETTER" LP(Couldn't find the cover art online... sorry.)
At the end of every KAMP Student Radio meeting, we get to dig through bins of new CDs that arrived at the studio for us to review. Usually, they're shit. Out of the 15 or so CDs I've reviewed, I maybe liked three of them. Anyhow, they had an LP sitting around in the CD bin. My friend Chelsea told me that if I reviewed the album, I could keep the record and just give the CD that came with it to KAMP. So, I took it. Free record, you know? Anyhow, I'm glad I did because this record fucking rules. It sounds like the Vivian Girls mixed Defiance, Ohio or something. Super cute, super fun, lo-fi punk. It's so good.
CULT RITUAL - "SECOND EP" & "THIRD EP" 7"2008 saw a rise in fucked up, noisy, and disturbed hardcore and I am all for that. Cult Ritual is at the head this, in my opinion. Both of these 7"s destroy everything in their path, with walls of feedback and pained screams bellowing from their grooves. Evil at it's finest.
FUCKED UP - "THE CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE" 2xLPSome still hate Fucked Up some reason. Some people hate them after this release. I'll admit this LP is not as strong as 2007's "Hidden World," but this is still a quality hardcore record. People seem to freak out and hate bands when they try something new, so maybe that's why people had such adverse reactions to this? It's certainly different at times, like... sea shanty different. Still solid, though. Awesome record.
FAITHEALER - "BOUND AND CHAINED" LPDirty, grim, and evil sounding hardcore. Only way to describe it. I guess this was recorded something like a year or two ago but it only just got around to being released. Really good record.
EATING GLASS - "FEED THEM TO THE VULTURES" 7"At times metallic, at other times more straight up hardcore, this release seriously caught me off guard. Didn't know what to expect and I was not let down. This rages so hard. It stomps and it blasts. Check it!
DRUNKDRIVER - "BORN PREGNANT" LPThe nosiest, most disgusting, most ugly sounding thing that came out all year. And it's fucking awesome. If you like to feel like you're trapped in a tin room with five chainsaws going at once with people hitting the walls with shovels, and some guy just screaming in your ear, pick this up. It should suit you.
GET BENT - "DEMO 2008"I've listened to this a bit too much this Fall semester, I'd venture to say. It's only a demo, but goddamn, this is so good. Equal parts Latterman and The Broadways, Get Bent serve up a 5 song demo of instantly catchy and sing along-able songs. It sounds like the east coast in the fall. I know that sounds dumb, but thats what I see in my head when I listen to this. Get this if you like pop punk at all, please!
SHE & HIM - "VOLUME ONE" LPFuck you. This album rules. Zooey Deschancel, please be mine.
HARM'S WAY - "SELF TITLED" 7"Oh my God. Kill fucking everyone when this record is on. This 7" is less Infest/Crossed Out sounding then their last one and more Integrity/Ringworm sounding. It makes me want to kill. It makes me wish I moshed. This record d-e-s-t-r-o-y-s.
HARVEY MILK - "LIFE... THE BEST GAME IN TOWN"Heavy and somber, Harvey Milk serve up a whole new album of heavy-fucking-metal and grim folk songs. I still like "Courtesy and Goodwill Towards Men" more, but this album seriously delivers. One of those bands that are really hard to describe, but once you hear them, even if you don't necessarily like it, you can appreciate it and understand it. Really powerful album in all senses of the word.
IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE - "THE 3RD WORLD" LPThis guy does not fuck around. In his 3rd full length, Immortal gets only angrier and more intense. I listened to this exclusively for about two weeks. Nothing else. Just this. Those were a good two weeks. If you hate autotuned and hook-filled rap, then put this on. Dude is for real.
BLACKLISTED - "HEAVIER THAN HEAVEN LONELIER THAN GOD" LPLately, there's been a phrase being thrown around known as "Deathwish Hardcore," and pretty much anyone into hardcore knows what that means. If you like it or it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, it doesn't really matter, because some bands on Deathwish rule... but realistically most suck. Blacklisted is of the former variety. This is a solid hardcore LP that goes from the "Me vs. You" lyrical mentality of most modern hardcore and does a "Me vs. Myself" thing which is way better in my opinion. Into it.
Other equally great albums that I just got too lazy to write about -
Teenage Bottlerocket - Warning Device
A Silver Mt. Zion - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Walls - s/t
Breathing Fire - Years of Lead
Sex Vid - Communal Living
Trap Them - Seizures in Barren Praise
Meneguar - The In Hour
Punch - Eyeless
Vivian Girls - s/t
Blah blah blah blah blah
Go listen to these records.
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