20. Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger (Kemado): This is what we talk about when we talk about big dumb rock. This Brooklyn outfit turned in the album the Stooges should've released this year, full of macho posturing, giant hooks and a shout-out to the greatest non-existent nightclub in the planet, Rowdy P's! Whether these guys can repeat the trick on album #2 remains to be seen, but right now, who cares? With Cheeseburger, they've graced us with the year's best air guitar album.19. Retox, Turbonegro (Edel): These Norwegian garage-glam weirdos seemed to be running
out of steam after 2005's Party Animals but Retox was a welcome return to form: Louder and funnier than they've been in years ("What Is Rock?," anyone?), Hank and Co provided hope for every other leather- and ass-obsessed Eurogarage band out there. (May I also suggest Mark Deming's hilarious review over at Allmusic.)
out of steam after 2005's Party Animals but Retox was a welcome return to form: Louder and funnier than they've been in years ("What Is Rock?," anyone?), Hank and Co provided hope for every other leather- and ass-obsessed Eurogarage band out there. (May I also suggest Mark Deming's hilarious review over at Allmusic.)
18. Yoni, Ginger (3D): The redheaded Wildhearts frontman was, as ever, a busy man this year, playing shows on both sides of the pond, and releasing his day-job band's eponymous album in addition to this solo lark. But as enjoyable as The Wildhearts was, it's the stylistically-diverse Yoni (horns! guest vocals from the dude from the Toadies!) that earns a slot on the list. Hook-happy songs like "Why Can't You Just Be Normal All The Time?" and "Siberian Angel" prove that nobody writes catchier/deeper/truer songs about relationships. Fifteen years into a rollercoaster of a career, Ginger is still operating at the peak of his powers.17. Under the Blacklight, Rilo Kiley (Warner Brothers):
Jenny Lewis and the gang may be alienating their original fans with each subsequent release as they move from precocious troubadours to whatever passes for indie rock stars these days, but I've been digging them more and more with each new album. 2004's More Adventurous was a bright revelation, and Lewis' solo project detour, Rabbit Fur Coat, found a deserving home on last year's best-of list, but neither of them prepared me for the sonic leap of Blacklight. Equal parts sunny ("Silver Lining") and sultry ("The Moneymaker"), it's the -- cliche alert! -- quintessential "California" record, and much cheaper than flying out there and surrounding myself with actual Californians.
16. The Dethalbum, Dethklok (Williams Street): What does it say about the current state of rock music when the rockingest album of the year was put out by a homage/parody heavy metal cartoon band? (Obligatory admission about my ignorance of the heavy metal scene; please, no angry letters about which other, non-cartoon bands rocked harder.) The Dethalbum is also funny as hell, tackling topics rarely covered in the metal world: birthdays ("Birthday Dethday") and tax-paying ("Dethharmonic," with its assertion that "If I could write off your murder / I'd save all of my receipts / Because I'd rather you be dead / Than lose a tiny shred of what I made this fiscal year." Death and taxes, man.) Outside of the Britney Spears saga, no one-note joke provided more entertainment this year than these guys.15. New Wave, Against Me! (Sire): It always does my heart good when Against Me!
frontman Tom Gabel shouts "We can be the bands we want to hear! We can define our own generation!" on New Wave's opening title track. Even though history has proved me wrong repeatedly, I want to believe punk rock can make a difference. In a year where too many top acts spent time navelgazing, Against Me! provided a much needed kick in the pants.
14. Dynamico, Mitch Easter (Electric Devil): My inner power-pop loving old man demanded to listen to this album after reading about it in No Depression (of all places), and he refused to be denied. Easter's best known, if at all, as a producer and crafter of '80s jangle pop, working with the likes of R.E.M., Let's Active, the dB's, but he makes a fine frontman on Dynamico, his solo debut(!). Since I'll never get my hands on a time machine to travel back to 1987 to listen to a college radio station, joyful, out-of-time albums like Dynamico will have to tide me over.
13. Glitter in the Gutter, Jesse Malin (Adeline): Malin's 2003 debut, The Fine Art of
Self-Destruction, is one of my favorite records released this millennium, and Glitter, album number three, is no slouch either. Malin set his sights on out-Springsteen-ing Springsteen (and not in that inscrutable Arcade Fire sort of way), and nearly does it on earthy, honest, roots rockers like "Don't Let Them Take You Down" and "Lucinda." He also invites Bruce to sing backing vocals on "Broken Radio," just to rub it in the elderstatesman's face. Way to play The Boss's head like a bongo, Malin.
12. Silver Mountain, Deadstring Brothers (Bloodshot): Album number three from this Detroit six-piece picks up where 2005's Starving Winter Report left off: imagining a world where every new album must be influenced by the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. It's a beautiful dream, no? A stronger country vibe permeates Silver Mountain, and indicates the Deadstrings may have their sights on channeling Gram Parsons next. They may not be groundbreaking artists, but, hey, they have a great record collection.11. Chrome Dreams II, Neil Young (Reprise): After recharging the spiritual batteries on
last year's Living With War, Young dug through his own personal archives for this not-quite odds-and-sods collection. Young's rockers sit comfotably next to the introspective tunes, and I'll be the heretic that prefers the (merely) 14-minute long "No Hidden Path" to the epic, 18-minute long, and long-lost late-'80s chestnut "Ordinary People." A glorious mess.
10. At My Age, Nick Lowe (Yep Roc): I'm not sure how it took Lowe 6 years to record the 12 song, 35-minute At My Age, (especially when two of the songs are cover tunes) but when the end results are as funny and charming as At My Age's are, it's hard to quibble with time delays. Lowe's far removed from his late-'70s power pop incarnation, but he's still a charming smart-aleck (see "I Trained Her To Love Me" or "Feel Again")... though he's tempered it with some middle-aged wistfulness ("Long-Limbed Girl") that plays nicely off his silver fox persona. At My Age is a lark, but never fails to entertain. Let's just hope the next Lowe record doesn't come out in 2013.09. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon (Merge): Write-ups for this one litter best-of lists across the
internet, and with good reason: If they weren't there already, Ga^5 confirms Spoon's place at the top of the indie rock heap. No one else mixes venom ("Don't Make Me A Target"), haunting minimalism ("My Little Japanese Cigarette Case") and soul ("The Underdog") better. Also, for those keeping score, they're one album away from the rare five-kickass-albums-in-a-row streak. Check back in 2009.
08. Going Way Out With Heavy Trash, Heavy Trash (Yep Roc): A warped, uh, trashed rockabilly/blues mash-up from Matt Vera-Ray and Jon Spencer, Going Way Out brought nothing but joy this year. This album almost earned a slot on the strength alone of the undeniable "They Were Kings," but there's plenty other songs to recommend: "Crazy Pritty Baby," "Outside Chance" and the bizarro, otherworldly closer, "You Can't Win." Bonus points for the Tony Millionaire-drawn cover.07. The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band, Imperial Teen (Merge): The title refers
to how this power-pop quartet spent the past five years away from music-making, which in turns reminds me of how much I missed these guys during their half-decade hiatus -- so much so, I used my "brainy, expertly arranged power-pop" slot for these guys instead of New Pornographers. (There's not enough room for both of them, so don't ask.) The Hair... surprised me by being my go-to album for the last third of 2007. It's a sweet, fun album that seems to have escaped everyone else's radar.
06. Because of the Times, Kings of Leon (RCA): Haunting, atmospheric, tinged with post-punk... can you believe this is the same band that released the stomping Youth and Young Manhood four years ago? Steady touring (and kicking some of the vices that informed/marred their sophomore disc, Aha Shake Heartbreak) seems to have done wonders for the brothers (and cousin) Followill: opener "Knocked Up" is equal parts epic, enthralling and totally full of itself -- just like a certain Irish band they opened for that starts with a "U" and ends with a "2". And for all their experimentation, they can still knock out rockers that'll punch you in the boypart: "Black Thumbnail" and "Camaro" hold up nicely with their earlier, more visceral work. Doubts I had about their chances of being a career act have been put to rest.05. Magic, Bruce Springsteen (Columbia): OK, so there's no underlying concept informing
Magic (though consensus seems to be building that this is the "America has lost its way" record... though I'm giving that nod to Ted Leo) but time and again I found myself reaching for this album. The post-millennial isolation anthem "Radio Nowhere," the sunny/wistful "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" and "Livin' In The Future"... sometimes "just" another batch of Springsteen songs is all this world needs.
04. The Black and White Album, The Hives (Universal): This is one weird-ass album, but it's a measure of my love for and trust of Fagersta, Sweden's finest that I followed them down every twisted alley on The Black and White Album. Sure, there's the classic Hives rave-ups that bookend the album, "Tick Tick Boom" and "Bigger Hole To Fill," but what to make of the other tracks? A quick rundown: "Try It Again" shoehorns in a children's choir; the mid-album diversion "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" is a demented Tom Waits carnival ride; "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." was produced by Pharrell Williams; and "Puppet On A String" is some sort of alternate universe cabaret, yet the whole album hangs together quite nicely. The Black and White Album would have been excoriated had the band stuck with its original title (The World's First Perfect Album, which really belonged as the title to 2004's masterwork Tyrannosaurus Hives), but as it stands, The Black and White Album sums up the Hives' multi-hued universe. They're such jokers.03. The Beatific Visions, brakesbrakesbrakes (Rough Trade): British, country-infused
post-punk with a lefty political bent? Somewhere, the Mekons' lawyers are drafting an angry cease-and-desist letter. But Jon Langford's crew never penned a song about God and the Devil battling for the universe via a poker game (ironically enough, "Cease and Desist"), and they definitely never wrote anything as batshit-insane as the battle-between-two-spiky-things, "Porcupine or Pineapple." But for all the goofing, these guys had plenty going for them in 2007: hook-happy guitars and songs that were equal parts heartfelt (witness the title track and "Mobile Communication") and wracked with paranoia ("Margarita"). Something for everyone! An underrated gem, to be sure.
02. Living With The Living, Ted Leo (Touch & Go): Is Ted Leo the only rocker who reads the newspaper? At the very least, he's one of the few who fuels himself with the outrages of the world, with the added bonus of writing catchy songs that never fall into didacticism. On album number five, Leo repeatedly rails against the protracted/interminable war ("Fourth World War," "Army Bound," the stunning "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb."), yet finds time to relax and celebrate life ("A Bottle of Buckie," "La Costa Brava"). Hell, he even sings about a girl ("Colleen"). I read grumblings from critics, complaining that Leo's now written the same album five times in a row, but as long as the world is going to hell in a handbasket, we need Ted Leo to do what he does best.01. Icky Thump, White Stripes (Warner Brothers): I heard someone sum up modern
radio recently as: British bands, American bands trying to sound British, and the White Stripes. Has everyone else forgotten how to rock? I realize that carefree rock doesn't match the tenor of the times, but as a rebuttal I offer up Icky Thump. The simple joys of picking up a guitar and cranking it will never grow old; what about this has stopped appealing to people? To me, this has been the biggest -- and most disheartening -- trend of 2007. 20 years ago, the Replacements, Husker Du, R.E.M. and U2 all placed in the top 15 of the 1987 Pazz and Jop poll. Where are those bands' analogues today? (Go ahead and call me a rockist; I freely own up to the term.) If you knew where to look, you could get your rock fix, but rock shouldn't have to be a scavenger hunt. The White Stripes know this, and Icky Thump simply outrocked everybody. How come nobody else is thinking to grab a guitar and a drum kit, hole up in a studio for a week, and bang out a rock album, full of songs like"You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)," "Rag & Bone," "I'm Slowly Turning Into You," "Effect and Cause"? Re-reading this entry, I'm ending what was a very good year for music with more questions than answers, but I do know this: Jack and Meg, keep releasing albums like Icky Thump every other year and waving the banner of rock, and you'll have my undying allegiance.
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