20. Bridge And Tunnel - East/West
These Latterman-descended guys and gals put out a firecracker of a debut album with East/West. There really isn't a more accurate way of describing it. These are songs that explode in every way possible. Completely vital.
19. The Serious Geniuses - You Can Steal The Riffs, But You Can't Steal The Talent
Put aside all of the "Archers Of Loaf worship" talk that a lot of people like to throw at this band, and you have an album of delightfully sloppy, ridiculously catchy indie rock from one of Boston's best bands currently making music. Constantly comparing every band you listen to to something else is fucking stupid. End of story.
18. Teenage Bottlerocket - Warning Device
No. Bullshit. What. So. Ever. The Bottlerocket dudes come out with another album of their no-frills, "1-2-3-4!" pop-punk, and they sound better than ever. Kody Templeman (nee Lillington?) continues his streak as one of the best vocalists in pop-punk, while Ray Carlisle steps way into his own, instead of sounding like Joey Ramone's bratty younger brother. This album burns. Several nights were spent on tour shouting along to every song on here.
17. Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams
Dan Bejar reels in a bit of the weirdness that made Rubies such a great album, but still delivers here, on his ninth album. Maybe doing that Hello, Blue Roses album dilluted his quirk a bit, but hey, there's a new Swan Lake album coming out this year to look forward to.
16. Lords - Fuck All Y'all Motherfuckers
The artwork. The tracklisting. The album title. There has already been a ton of coverage on those subjects. What everyone seems to be ignoring is how much more lethal a weapon Chris Owens has turned Lords into. While Swords seemed content to thrash about for it's own sake, it's all laser-focus this time around. Easily the most pissed-off album of the year, from a band who actually isn't afraid to let people know about it.
15. Off With Their Heads - From The Bottom
Songs so catchy, you often forget you're singing along about killing yourself. On days when you feel like complete scum, it's comforting to know Ryan Young is right there with you, saying the things you would only think about. Skeptics may say Young is overly negative/self-obsessed, but I seriously doubt he cares what anyone has to say. Sometimes, things are better that way.
14. Why? - Alopecia
There is no genre name that truly captures this album. Completely all over the place, both emotionally and stylistically. The best rap-indie-folk-noise-midwest-candid-core album of the year. That description might turn you WAY off to it, but trust me here.
13. The Night Marchers - See You In Magic
The Night Marchers (aka Hot Snakes minus Rick Froberg, plus one other guy) give you exactly what you would expect from a band that counts ex-Rocket From The Crypt kingpin John Reis among its members. Another album of scuzzy, sexed-up rock 'n roll from the guy who has been doing it right all along.
12. The Dopamines - S/T
Despite the fact that my band, Till Plains, released a split 7" with this band in November of this year, this album was on my "top of the year" list way before. Like the Off With Their Heads album, the Dopamines album thrives on its unflinching honesty, capturing early 20s life in Cincinnati better than anything else right now (well, then again, how many other people are really trying?). Jon Lewis rolls his anxieties off of his head, song after song: school, jobs, car wrecks. Jon Weiner gets drunk, falls in love, and ends up on a rooftop. Bonus points for the most secretively depressing song ever ("Molly"), which deals with the death of a dog with a heavy mix of grief, denial, and fond memories.
11. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
While not pressing forward or regressing stylistically this time around, The Hold Steady instead crafted what may be the most consistent album of their career. "Constructive Summer" and the title track are anthems, plain and simple.
10. Team Stray - Gender Studies
Ah yes, the "mature" album. There are less songs about making out, drunk driving, and the movie Sixteen Candles, but none of Team Stray's dorky charm is lost. Tom Schmidlin wows with his lyrics, while Mike Saylor thrusts himself into the foreground, writing the most complex and intense bass parts of Team Stray's career. "Small Talk" was easily one of the greatest songs of 2008 of any band, Cincinnati-based or otherwise. It's a shame that they just broke up.
9. Brendan Canning - Something For All Of Us
Truth in advertising right here. The Broken Social Scene co-founder's first solo album runs the gamut of indie rock in the course of 48 minutes, and features some of the best bass lines he's written to this point. There are several moments on this album that make you slap your head and ask yourself "Why didn't I think of this first?" Highlight: the downright ecstatic "Churches Under The Stairs."
8. Boris - Smile
One of the more confusing releases of 2008. Should it be judged by it's more abstract Japanese version, or its more streamlined American release? Either way, the workaholic metal trio can safely place another notch on its belt with Smile, as it finds them making huge strides in melodicism while still retaining the bizarre elements that made people like them in the first place.
7. Paint It Black - New Lexicon
Dan Yemin has often talked about his love of hip-hop lyricists in interviews, but it wasn't until New Lexicon that this influence became very apparent. Yemin provides some of his most tongue twisting lyrics to date, while the rest of the band creates one of the the most brutal hardcore backdrops ever. A note to Refused: The shape of punk to come? It came.
6. The Copyrights - Learn The Hard Way
After four full lengths, I'm beginning to believe that The Copyrights are completely incapable of not writing anthems that need to be shouted at the top of lungs worldwide. They take a few stylistic detours here, and strip away some of the gloss that basically made Make Sound a perfect pop album, but in the end, Learn The Hard Way is a much more rewarding experience.
5. Torche - Meanderthal
Waaaaaaahhhhh, they aren't Floor! Waaaahhhhhh, they aren't brutal anymore! Waaaaahhhhh!!! Any bitching about Torche and their pop-tinged metal is completely invalid to me. Few bands created songs as memorable as "Healer" or took as many risks as this four-piece. Torche proved that you can be crushingly loud while not forgetting to write songs. As a result, they put out one of the most solid song-for-song albums of the year.
4. Dillinger Four - CIVILWAR
Well, it finally came out, and it ruled. Incredibly. A little poppier than past efforts, but still containing everything that made you love D4 in the first place.
3. Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
The most entertaining coverage Fucked Up received in 2008 was from The Onion AV Club. I loved the fact that the AV Club was all about them, and was incredibly amused at the amount of hate they received from the comment section. It's impossible to talk about this album in any sort of consice manner, due to the sheer amount of things that are happening at once the entire time. 72 guitar tracks at once! A flute! A french horn! Two instrumental interludes! The Chemistry Of Common Life sees an already uncompromising band shedding its skin once again, honing it's melodic skills, and maintaining the hardcore bite that keeps all of the fickle punk types from hating them. No band gives less of a fuck what people think than Fucked Up. If they keep on churning out albums of this caliber, I'm calling it, they will easily go down as one of the greatest punk acts of our generation.
2. Lemuria - Get Better
After a plethora of singles, splits, and EPs, Lemuria finally dropped their first full length in 2008. With it, they dropped a whole lot of their guard. Alex Kerns managed to simplify his lyrics a great deal. Before, it was apparent he was singing/writing about personal issues, but they were at times obscured by dense metaphors or odd references. Here, Kerns and Sheena Ozzella spew all of their baggage across 12 tracks of Superchunk/90's influenced indie rock. There is a whole lot of retsraint at work this time around, so when Ozzella starts shouting "Shut up!" in album closer "Mechanical," it acts as a great release. No album was more emotional or technically surprising in 2008 than Get Better. Already one of my favorite bands, Lemuria really took it to the next level this time around.
1. Young Widows - Old Wounds
But then, there was this album. From the ashes of hardcore powerhouse Breather Resist, Young Widows plowed everyone's eardrums over on 2006's Settle Down City, and on their subsequent split with Coliseum. Comparisons were thrown around. Jesus Lizard this, Jesus Lizard that. Whatever. The most initially astonishing thing about Old Wounds is how much quieter it is than its predecessor, but none of the power is lost. Evan Patterson gets a lot more personal with his lyrics, and the result is astonishing. No loud album has been so intimate. No intimate album has been so noisy. Most importantly, no other album topped this one in 2008.
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