2 1/2 months into the year and I've only heard 11 albums released in oh-ten. Weak sauce, I know. Here they are, from worst to first.
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11.) Robert Pollard - We All Got Out of the Army -- As Uncle Bob's solo releases have become progressively more and more blandly "mature" (and less rockin') over the years, they've also become less instantly accessible. In other words, We All Got Out of the Army will likely take more than the one-full-time-thru listening allowance I've afforded it at this point in order to fully appreciate it. But suffice it to say that my one-full-time-thru attempt at this one was less than pleasurable.
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10.) Melvins - Melvins EP -- It's not that this release contains subpar material; it's just that the material is inessential. To wit: includes 3 tracks: 1.) an extended version of the uber-creepy instrumental "Dies Iraea" from Nude with Boots, 2.) a remix of that same album's "It Tastes Better Than the Truth," and, 3.) a fantastic 9+ minute cover of the Wipers' "Youth of America." The Wipers cover alone would singlehandedly make this EP worthwhile IF IT WASN'T THE EXACT SAME VERSION OF THE SONG ALREADY AVAILABLE ON ELECTRORETARD. Meh, but stay tuned for the full length Melvins album that's due in June.
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9.) Pierced Arrows - Descending Shadows -- Venerable liferz still kickin' down a slovenly garagey ruckus.
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8.) Acrassicauda - Only the Dead See the End of the War -- Of course, this band's backstory is incredible, and you really have to root for them, and all that stuff. [Come to think of it this album probably deserves some sort of Best Album award just for the fact that it exists.] The music is good, but among current Big Four-influenced thrash revivalists, is this really any better than, say, last year's Children album? Probly not.
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7.) Surfer Blood - Astro Coast -- "Swim" is undeniably awesome, but everything else is pretty generic, no? Seriously, what's your second favorite song on this album?
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6.) The Magnetic Fields - Realism -- After their excellent adventure into the sordid depths of gratuitous JaMC-style guitar feedback (2008's aptly-titled Distortion), Stephin Merritt and crew hop right back into glistening, impeccably-produced chamber pop. Unfortch the songwriting is more I than 69 Love Songs on this one.
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5.) High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine -- High on Fire has always been a band that I've felt I should love more than I actually do. That sentiment continues on this, yet another solid-yet-unspectacular album of stoner riffs and snarling.
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4.) Beach House - Teen Dream -- While there's no individual song on here as great as, say, "Heart of Chambers," this is one heck consistently good front-to-back album, way more so than Devotion or the debut EP.
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3.) Harvey Milk - Harvey Milk -- As the story goes, the material for this album was recorded by Shellac's Bob Weston in 1994, with the master tapes mailed off to some dude in Chicago who had promised to release the album. Sadly, he never did, and the band neither heard from said Chicago dude again, nor did they ever see their masters again. So, was the 16 years worth the wait, especially considering that each of the tracks on this album were eventually re-recorded/re-released on subsequent albums? Dude, it's early Harvey Milk. So a very, very vehement yes.
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2.) Fang Island - Fang Island -- These guys are so exuberantly joyous that at first I was suspicious that they were a Christian Rock group, albeit one that writes great songs and has incredible chops. Fortunately they're not a Christian Rock group (um, I don't think). I first saw these guys perform about a year and a half ago and their hyper-caffeinated, tuneful blend of power pop and AOR-style prog definitely manages to shine through on this record (even if the vocals sound kind of like AnCo by way of "Cotton-Eyed Joe" at times).
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1.) Titus Andronicus - The Monitor -- Patrick Stickles is probably the most quotable lyricist going today, and on The Monitor he's able to make his catharsis-mongering work despite shedding the most awesome aspect of The Airing of Grievances' soundscape: the massive, all-encompassing wall-of-guitars production. Of course, the quieter production winds up placing The Monitor's sonic emphasis squarely on Stickles' out-of-tune warble, which can be grating at times. But through the course of all the destructive behavior and self-loathing catalogued on this album, it winds up being an affirming, uplifting, remarkable set of tunes, *poifect* for sentimental jackasses like me.
