20. M. Ward - Hold Time
M. Ward continues his tightrope walk between the past and the present with Hold Time, with half the album consisting of indie-folk songs ("Stars of Leo") and the other half sounding like classic folk songs that have been around forever. He's great at both, but its the latter that makes Hold Time a great album. Songs like "Jailbird" and "One Hundred Million Years" sound like a link to the past, and to a style of music that should never be allowed to die out.
19. American Steel - Dear Friends and Gentle HeartsAmerican Steel sound further removed from their hardcore roots than ever on Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts, but the trade from Operation Ivy-esque skacore to a catchy, poppier sound was completely worth it. At its best, ("Safe and Sound," "Bergamot") the album sounds like it's picking up where Alkaline Trio left off after their earlier, more punk infleunced albums. It's a great example of how a pissed-off punk band can mature without losing what made them awesome.
18. Bomb the Music Industry! - ScramblesThe further Jeff Rosenstock of BTMI! gets from his original goal of raging against the music industry machine, and the deeper he goes into his own neurotic psyche, the better his music gets. Scrambles is proof - thirteen great songs that seem more concerned with student loans and unemployment than copyright law. Scrambles doesn't jump from style to style in the same way that Goodbye Cool World did, but any album that can turn "Your family and friends will inherit your debt/And you're probably gonna die alone" into a sing-along deserves recognition.
17. Bowerbirds -
Upper AirBowerbirds make music that's simple and unassuming, which makes it hard to write about. But this isn't the kind of music that makes you want to write - it makes you want to go hiking in the mountains, or swimming in a lake, or some other outdoorsy, hippie activity. Upper Air is ten great folk songs with uplifting melodies and beautiful harmonies, and saying much more would just get in the way of the album's quiet and engaging natural warmth.
16. Polar Bear Club - Chasing HamburgThe guys in Polar Bear Club have compared themselves to a hardcore version of Third Eye Blind. If that sounds strange, you haven't heard Chasing Hamburg yet. The pop influence is bigger, but the band has a great sense for when to keep things quiet and when to let the hardcore influence explode. They're on their way up, and I think Chasing Hamburg is the point where they've perfected their sound.
15. Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News2009 marks the end of a really, really shitty decade for pop-punk. The genre's figureheads in the mainstream were skinny jeaned douches who seemed more concerned with their image than the music, and the great pop-punk bands were relegated to playing in basements and garages. If any band has a shot at righting the ship in the '10s, it's Broadway Calls. Good Views, Bad News is a classic pop-punk album, with enough infectious energy and hooks to make up for the last ten years or so.
14. Thrice - Beggars
Thrice have come a long way in ten years, from their early punk-metal anthems to the folk and electronica of last year's The Alchemy Index, and with Beggars, they've taken everything they've learned and made an album that feels definitive. Beggars consists of ten solid rock songs elevated by touches of hardcore, indie and post-rock. Their next album will most likely sound completely different, but for now, Beggars feels like the album they've been building towards.
13. Banner
Pilot - CollapserHow awesome is it to watch a good band become a great one? Banner Pilot pulls it off on their second album Collapser, taking their signature orgcore sound and wrapping it around great lyrics and some not-so-subtle pop hooks that set it apart from its genre. Jawbreaker has always been the obvious reference point for this band, but this is the first album where they sound truly deserving of the comparison. I have a feeling this is the first of a series of classics.
12. The Clientele - Bonfires on the HeathI love The Clientele, but I'll admit that their albums are pretty interchangable. You know what you're getting into - pretty, dreamy pop songs filled with imagery of late summer evenings, rain and quiet neighborhoods. Bonfires doesn't add many new ideas, but it puts the focus on the sounds of fall, and the music takes on a crisp and dreamy quality, with spanish horns and guitar occasionally drifting through like falling leaves. The Clientele know how to make incredibly beautiful music, and I'm glad they haven't messed with the formula too much.
11. Propagandhi - Supporting CasteAnd with this, their fifth album, Propagandhi have finally done what they've been threatening to do all along. They have made the most Canadian hardcore album of all time. Taking their focus off of the stupid shit Americans do, the band turns their attention to the stupid shit that Canadians apparently do too. Musically, the band rocks harder than ever, somehow managing to make the thrash harder and the melodies catchier at the same time. When a band can deliver a lyric like "Alberta born, prarie raised/Ain't a sheet of ice north of Fargo I ain't played" and you're rocking out too hard to think anything of it, you know that's a damn good record.
10. The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to ComeDon't get scared off by the fact that every song title is a Bible verse. The Life of the World to Come pretty damn far away from traditional Christian music. And yet, God (or the lack of God) haunts every corner of The Mountain Goats' SEVENTEENTH ALBUM. This time around, John Darnielle's characters are in introspective moods, whether they're vandals on the run from salvation, animals facing the extinction of their species, or, in the heart-stopping finale, a murderer quietly waiting for the wrath of God. Whether you delve into the Biblical references or not, the album is a quiet and affecting work of genius.
9. Yo La Tengo - Popular SongsIn a lot of ways, Popular Songs sounds like Yo La Tengo's tribute to '60s pop music. Sure, it opens with squelching feedback and closes with three songs that top ten minutes, but in between the band plays around with sounds from motown, girl group and classic soul. It's all classic Yo La Tengo ("The Fireside" is one of the most beautiful songs they've written yet), and considering that this band is older than I am, it's a miracle that they're still around making music this good.
8. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post PavillionWhat does it sound like when an avant garde group makes a pop album? Animal Collective have spent a long time evolving their trippy, excitable music in the direction of accessibility, and Merriweather Post Pavillion fulfills that promise without compromising the weird sense of excitement and joy that's been the group's trademark. MPP creates its own world of swirling electronics and vocals that can go from gorgeous, Beach Boys-esque harmonies to energetic shouting and back, often during the same song. If it's pointing the way to the future, as I suspect it is, 2010 should be pretty goddamned cool.
7. Dear Landlord - Dream HomesSomehow an album full of songs about hating your job and desperately wanting out really spoke to me this year. For all of its big Dillinger 4-esque choruses and sing-alongs, Dream Homes is a bitter album for bitter people, full of lyrics about dead-end jobs, shitty beer and broken dreams. All of which would be a drag if this weren't the catchiest and most infectious punk rock album of the year.
6. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus PhoenixA year ago, Phoenix was a cult favorite with a string of good albums. Now they're topping critics' lists and their music is being heard every other commercial break in Cadillac commercials. Listening to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, it was only a matter of time. The band carves out a place for themselves halfway between rock and pop, and writes ten instant classics that feel light as air and effortlessly catchy.
5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at HeartMan, that band name doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, does it? And TPOBPAH is a killer of an acronym. But trust me, these guys are worth checking out. At first I thought they sounded like The Smiths, but the more I listen to them, the more they start to sound like Belle & Sebastian covering Husker Du songs. No matter what you call them, they've nailed their fuzzy pop sound on their first album, and I can't wait to hear where they go from here.
4. P.O.S. - Never BetterP.O.S. has been blurring the lines between hip-hop and punk for three albums now, and on Never Better, the combination of genres seems like they've been joined together forever. It helps that P.O.S. is at the top of his game lyrically, able to reference Nas and Notorious BIG in the same songs that name drop Mitch Hedberg, The Big Lebowski and Fugazi, and avoid sounding like a novelty in the process. On a personal note, this is the album that finally broke me of my "eeew, hip-hop sucks" phase, so I'll always be pretty grateful to it for that.
3.
Grizzly Bear - VeckatimestVeckatimest isn't so much its own little world as it is a constantly shifting and changing collage of sounds and melody. Songs rise and fall, light up and die down, explode in sound, and circle back to surprise you again several songs later. The attention to detail is amazing, but the songs themselves are incredible in their own right. "Two Weeks" is the most perfect pop song of the year, stunningly catchy with beautiful harmonies and endless replay value. "Dory" starts off peaceful, sounding like light reflecting off of water and ends with a slow building, eerie energy. And when "Foreground" closes the album with its quiet, restrained beauty, all you want to do is hear it all again.
2. Brand New - DaisyIf you still think of Brand New as the emo band that sang that song about staying eighteen forever, all that will change about 1:25 into Daisy, when "Vices" explodes into an avalanche of screams, jagged guitar lines and pummelling drums. From there, the album calms down, but not by much, taking influences from Modest Mouse and the Pixies to create a monster of an album that sounds like nothing else. The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me is their masterpiece, but this is one hell of a follow up.
1. Girls - AlbumChristopher Owens, singer and songwriter for Girls, grew up in the Children of God cult, and while the experience doesn't turn up in his songwriting, it helps in understanding the weird, beautiful masterpiece he's created with Album. Sounding at times like a young Elvis Costello, he and the band are at their best when channeling the warm and intricate influence of Brian Wilson on songs like "Summertime" and the gorgeous "Hellhole Ratrace." Like Brian Wilson's masterpiece Pet Sounds, Album is a collection of great pop music full of such warmth and openness that it takes time to notice the quiet sadness at the center, a lonely counterpoint to the bright California sunshine that filters through every song.
And that's 2009. Thanks for reading! As usual, I made a "best of 2009" mix, so if anyone wants a copy, just let me know. And if you're a fan of me listing albums in groups of twenty and writing short paragraphs about them, you're in luck! Starting next week, I'm planning on doing a countdown of the 100 best albums from 2000 to 2009, updating once a week. Will I actually stick with it? Probably not. But you should come back anyway!
