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My Top 10 Albums of 2012
Well, here it is. Since many lists are already out, I thought that I’d share mine. These are the 10 full-length albums released in 2012 that I have played and enjoyed the most. What are yours? Next week will be #s 11-20.
Best Coast – The Only Place (Mexican Summer)
Please see my full review here.
Frankie Rose – Interstellar (Slumberland)
Please see my full review here.
The Raveonettes – Observator (Vice)
It’s really refreshing and inspiring to find this Danish duo (perhaps my favorite still existing band of the past decade) not only still going, but releasing some of the strongest material of their career 10 years into it. In fact, this may be their best effort since 2003’s amazing debut Lp Chain Gang of Love, but in any case between this one and the 2011 EP “Into the Night” (in addition to last year’s great Raven in the Grave and the recently released Rarities & B-Sides double Lp), they are on quite a roll. Ignore the Doors inspiration they claim, though the title track will take you on a “Moonlight Drive”. The rest of this is pure dream-pop bliss with light as air vocals (by both songwriter Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, who croons “The Enemy,” one of the album’s best songs), ace songwriting and a vibe not unlike mid to late ’80s records by The Cure or even The Smiths.
Cheap Girls – Giant Orange (Rise)
There were two really great Bob Mould albums released in 2012. One was Mould’s own Silver Age and the other was this one, the third Lp from this East Lansing, MI based band. Need proof? From the opening monster riff that introduces “Gone All Summer” to the incredible “Communication Blues” all the way through to side 2 standout “If You Can’t Swim,” this record is an early ’90s style tour de force that brings to mind not just Mould’s old band Sugar, but also early Sloan, later Jawbreaker and especially Smoking Popes. Just brilliant.
La Sera – Sees the Light (Hardly Art)
Please see my full review here.
The Fresh and Onlys – Long Slow Dance (Mexican Summer)
Before the release of this album, I liked but didn’t quite love The Fresh and Onlys. On this album, they drop the ’60s garage rock and hard psych of their past and go for a sound inspired heavily by the mid to late ’80s records of The Go-Betweens, The Church and even a hint of Forever Now-era Psychedelic Furs. It’s an amazing reinvention, but it works. This time around, Tim Cohen‘s melodies and lovelorn lyrics really come to the surface. Just try not to spin “Fire Alarm” at least three times after each listen. It’s that addictive!
Bob Mould – Silver Age (Merge)
After hinting at but not fully delivering this sound on other recent solo Lps like 2005’s Body of Song and 2008’s District Line, Mould releases the coup de grace. Simply put, this is the best solo Lp he’s ever made and on first listen, it’s easy to think it could be a collection of Sugar outtakes for a never-released 3rd Lp! Bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster do their bassist David Barbe and Malcolm Travis and blast through songs that will be considered future Mould classics like the title track, opener “Star Machine,” “The Descent” and “Round the City Square”. This record packs quite a wallop. More like this, please Bob!
Maximo Park – The National Health (Straight to the Sun)
The fourth Maximo Park Lp is easily their strongest since their debut A Certain Trigger back in 2005. Though stylistically more similar to their last few Lps, the songwriting is sharper and lyrics on songs like the title track and “Banlieu” seem to pick up where earlier songs like “The Kids are Sick Again” left off (i.e. with social concerns). Still, like most of their stuff, singer Paul Smith‘s great lyrics concern affairs of the heart as evidenced on songs like the Jimmy Ruffin-referencing “This is What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.”
Infinite Void – Infinite Void (Poison City)
Undoubtedly the least known band on this list, Australians Infinite Void deserve to be much better known. This is simply put, fantastic post-punk that sounds somewhat like Sleater-Kinney covering For Against‘s early Lps or perhaps early Cure, all with a DIY punk urgency. The band they remind me most of, though, is fellow Melbourne group Love of Diagrams, at least circa the self-titled EP and Mosaic album released on Matador in 2007. You won’t hear a better song in this style this year than “Pay for What It’s Worth.”
DIIV – Oshin (Captured Tracks)
Although DIIV mastermind Z Cole Smith claims not to like The Chameleons, it’s hard not to think of them when listening to this fantastic debut Lp. Still, other influences (such as Malian guitarist Baba Salah‘s Borey Lp) permeate here, as does a floating, dream-like state (the Lp is way more subdued than their aggressive live show, but still great in its own way) throughout most of the Lp (though there are more upbeat tunes like the amazing “Doused”), thus ensuring a unique sound.
