Ah ha, 2012. The year of the re-emergence of alternative rock. The year with the disappointments of childhood favorites. The year of the end of the world. Here's my top 15 albums from this roller coaster ride of a year.
(15)
OST
Invisible Ink for Sketching Ghosts
Excuse me? Could you
listen to something any of us have ever heard before, please? No.
This isn’t comparable to anything you’ve heard before, either. An instrumental album of sorts, Invisible Ink
is a one-of-a-kind attempt at bringing the 90’s back. Spoken word samples from 90’s movies coat the
album in nostalgia, while the music itself brings a whole new meaning to the
phrases being spoken. It’s not something
you can firmly grasp until you give it a listen, but once you do you’ll realize
the power that this combination of words and music can have.
(14)
Japandroids
Celebration Rock
Bursting at the seams with pop punk happiness and indie
sensibilities, Celebration Rock is a fun frolic into party rock and roll done
right. Japandroids wear their intentions
on their sleeves for the whole world to see, and couldn’t be more excited to do
so.
(13)
BATS
The Sleep of Reason
It’s been said that post-hardcore is a dying genre. And with the loss of BATS, the genre is
taking another huge hit. BATS’ swan song
A Sleep of Reason encapsulates everything that makes this goofy outfit the band
they are. Catchy grooves and
‘scientific’ lyrics galore, BATS made one of the most original albums of the
year, and it’s a shame we won’t be getting any more from these Irish lads. Enjoy it while we can.
(12)
Ne Obliviscaris
Portal of I
The first thing I thought was holy fuck what is going on
with the band’s name. Then I saw the
album name. Then I saw the song
titles. Ridiculously wordy labels aside,
Ne Obliviscaris take extreme metal in a progressive direction that no one saw
coming. Opeth is the closest counterpart
to this behemoth of an album, but that wouldn’t do the varied nature of this
album justice. Two words: pizzicato violin.
(11)
The Menzingers
On the Impossible Past
The whole concept of Americana rock was introduced to me
this year, and it’s something I’ve really grown to appreciate. The Gaslight Anthem has long established
themselves as leaders of this “genre”, but with On the Impossible Past, The
Menzingers are serious contenders to usurp the throne. Every song is catchy and intricately written,
and piled on top is a heaping helping of the feeling of maturing in the good
ol’ USA.
(10)
Grizzly Bear
Sheilds
I was a bit late to the party on this one, but I’m glad I
showed up. An intricate amalgamation of
indie pop and folk, Shields delights more and more with each listen. There’s a lot to unearth here, and for that
we can thank Grizzly Bear’s stringent attention to songwriting.
(9)
Converge
All We Love We Leave Behind
Converge at their most accessible, but still very much
Converge. Not going to change many minds
on the band, but if you like Converge’s brand of high adrenaline metalcore then
you’ll be highly rewarded. All We Love
We Leave Behind solidifies Converge at the top of the metalcore genre once
again, and it’s likely they won’t be unseated anytime soon.
(8)
mewithoutYou
Ten Stories
Well, they did it again.
While not as emotional stirring as Brother, Sister or as off-the-wall
and quirky as It’s All Crazy!, Ten Stories has mewithoutYou setting into a sweet
spot. Aaron Weiss can shine with his storytelling
while the rest of the band jams away with overlaying melodies and off-kilter
rhythms. And that’s all we want from a
mewithoutYou album.
(7)
Dead Sara
Dead Sara
Alt rock newcomers Dead Sara made an album that might prove
to be the best debut of the decade thus far.
Firmly establishing their own brand of emotional rock, Dead Sara made me
wonder how it’s possible for them to pull off an outing this strong as their
debut while other bands of a similar vein can’t even pull it off the 10th
time around. The future looks bright if
they can keep this up.
(6)
Yellowcard
Southern Air
Don’t worry, I’m just as surprised as you are that this is
here. But fuck, it’s so CATCHY. And the VIOLIN. Yellowcard incites caps lock in me, apparently.
(5)
The Tallest Man on Earth
There's No Leaving Now
It would be ridiculous to say that this album disappointed
me. Because it didn’t. Well, not really. Eh.
Let there be no doubt that this album is absolutely terrific. But it’s not The Wild Hunt, and I don’t think
we’ll ever get The Wild Hunt again. It’s just going to take me a bit to get
used to that idea. Seriously, still the
best folk artist in the world, bar none, and if he keeps putting out albums of
this quality that won’t be changing in the near future.
(4)
Deftones
Koi No Yokan
Deftones are such a weird band. You can find some hard rock loving 14 year
old on the street that will love them, and then you can come across a 22 year
old cigarette wielding hipster who will tell you the same. That’s truly the magic of Deftones, a
crossover alt-metalish band with a shoegaze side that will warp your brain with
textures on top of textures on top of atmosphere. Koi No Yokan is a Deftones record through and
through, and fans of all ages can rejoice, as they haven’t sounded this good
since White Pony.
(3)
Anberlin
Vital
Anberlin’s second best album. There.
My mind is made up. Cities is
better. But only by the slimmest of slim
margins. That right there should give
you a good idea about how great this album is.
They haven’t sounded this aggressive while sounding this mature, well,
ever. The electronics suit the band
perfectly, and Stephen Christian still sounds fantastic. Easily alt rock album of the year any other
year. But not this one.
(2)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
So one night I’m sitting at my computer and reading music
forums when I find a thread saying “New Godspeed Album”. I immediately shit my pants. After cleaning myself up I realized that not
only was it a new album, but in fact, IT WAS ALREADY RELEASED. So several illegal downloads later I ended up
with a crappy bootleg copy, and even through all of the muffled sounds of the
terrible rip, I could still recognize that this album was phenomenal. Now with my vinyl copy on the way and a clear
as day spotify copy, I can truly say that Godspeed You! is back and still
showing us the pure emotion that post-rock can bring. I missed them so much.
(1)
The Classic Crime
Phoenix
If you have talked to me about music at all this year, you saw
this coming. Let me give you a
scenario. Everyone has a few favorite
albums. On those albums, there’s that
one song that you just adore with all of your heart because of the lyrics, the
songwriting, and the pure “feel” of it all.
What if you find an album that has more
than one of those songs? And what if,
by sheer luck, they were back to back to back… to back? And that, right there, is why Phoenix is my
album of the year. There are 13 gorgeous
songs laced across this alternative masterpiece, yet 4 just stand so high above
the rest that you can’t help but be moved by their immenseness (songs 4-7 if
you want to be moved). I can just listen
to them over and over and over and over.
A fitting capstone to a truly great year in music.
And there we have it. Another great year of music cataloged down into my personal favorites. Did I miss anything? What do you think should be here? I'd also like to announce to the 3 people reading this that next year the blog will be changing. I will be presenting 1 album a week and give a small blurb on how I felt, as well as giving out other potential albums that would be worth a listen that week. I will still post the occasional fun blog post however, so if you enjoyed reading those, don't dismay. As always, thanks for reading, and please follow me on twitter/blogspot. Until next year.
-Caleb, the kid who wears a beanie when its warm out.
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