Albums of 2008 That Were Just OK.

The title kind of says it all this time. These were the albums of 2008 that, while not bad by any means, somehow failed to really get me hooked. In some of these cases, there was a great deal of critical/blog pants-shitting done, and I imagine some of these will turn up on several "Best of 2008" lists, and that's fine. Just, for whatever reason, I wasn't completely convinced. Whoops.

So without further ado...

THE 2008 "YEAH, IT'S OK" AWARDS:


TV On The Radio - Dear Science,


Aside from having one of the most obnoxiously punctuated album titles of the year (which, by the way, I've noticed a lot of publications omitting the comma at the end), my main gripe with this album is simply that it wasn't on par with Return To Cookie Mountain. I really thought the huge, expansive sound of that album fit this band extremely well, and to see them kind of rein things in a bit this time around was a little off-putting. That being said, there are still some really strong tunes to be found here. Not many albums this year had as strong of an opening 1-2 punch as "Halfway Home" immediately followed by "Crying" (especially with the latter's ridiculously great synth lines), but then "Dancing Choose" happens. Honestly, I think it's the most obnoxious track this band has written, with the exception of the Antibalas horns. I don't think I've heard a song they've been featured on that I haven't liked. I think this album might be a grower.

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals


The inclusion of Girl Talk's latest album on this part of the list has nothing to do with my personal refusal to ever go to any of his shows anymore (past incidents include a subzero evening spent outside of the Middle East Upstairs, and my aborted attempt to see him at 2007's Pitchfork Music Festival, where I could only get about 100 yards away, jerks were still running into me non-stop, and all I could hear was THUMP THUMP THUMP-pop music sample-THUMP THUMP THUMP). It's just the simple fact that a lot of the fun Gregg Gillis was able to capture on Night Ripper just didn't seem as much the second time around. However, I am still endlessly amused by the Metallica/Lil' Mama collision.

No Age - Nouns


I'm a big fan of any band who can take very little and turn into a whole lot of noise, and No Age is definitely scraping the bare minimum of resources with their guitar/drum attack. "Teen Creeps" is still by far my favorite track from this album, as it it hits all of the crunchy, clashy notes I hoped this band could bring. On the other side, I did have to hear "Eraser" every day for a month at my place of employment this past summer, and it honestly got a little old. To the point that I never really had any desire to listen to this album once I got home. Besides those two songs, I couldn't tell you how any of the rest of this album goes, despite having listened to it in its entirety quite a few times this year. I still think these dudes have a much better album still in them. This one just wasn't it.

Russian Circles - Station


This album almost made its way into my "disappointments" list (which is still to come), which bummed me out a bunch, because this band is one of the most solid live acts I've had the chance to see over the past couple years, and their debut full length, Enter, is easily one of my favorite instrumental metal/post-rock/whatever albums of all time. Purists be damned. I guess with my expectations set so high, it was only natural that I would feel a little let down by Station, which lacks some of the bombast and volume that always drew me back to Enter. There are some fantastic riffs on this album, but it's a far more subtle affair. Like the TV On The Radio album, this will probably grow on me over time.


Murder By Death - Red Of Tooth And Claw


I orginally got hooked on Murder By Death around the time of the release of their second full length, 2003's Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them?. This led to me backtracking to their first full length, Like The Exorcist, But More Breakdancing, and their fantastic split with Volta Do Mar. Actually visiting their hometown of Bloomington, IN for a college visit only enhanced my liking of them, because I felt like the music truly reflected their surroundings. Then, In Bocca al Lupo came out, and out came Adam Turla's Johnny Cash impression. I don't care what anyone else says, from that point on, I feel like Murder By Death lost a little of what made them who they were. Red Of Tooth And Claw only continued down that road for me. This and In Bocca... are both really good albums, but not the kind of albums I personally wish Murder By Death was making. Word is that on their current tour, they're playing this and Who Will Survive back to back in their entirety, so maybe I'll have to check out that tour to understand the context they wanted this album to be held.


Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
I wish I could have listened to this band without knowing what they looked like, what school they went to, what clothes or boat shoes they wear, or anything regarding their musical influences/reference points. But, every article that dealt with these guys harped on those facts endlessly, tainting this album for me before I had even popped it in. There is definitely some catchy stuff going on here, and I'm definitely interested in what these dudes are capable of in the future, as long as it veers away from aural turds such as "One (Blake's Got A New Face)," which easily stands in my mind as one of the most annoying songs I heard this year. Most of this album makes me just want to hang out, wear sweaters, and sail boats in a harbor, though, which provides for a nice escape when the weather bites it here in Massachusetts.

Oh, and I know it wasn't on the official release of the album, but that song "Boston" that they have just reeks of freshman year open mics I went to, where kids with acoustic guitars played songs they had just written about "being in the big city" and shit like that. No thanks.

-Erik