Votes are in

It weren't even close.  We had 6 fewer releases this year on the list, so there is apparently more consensus than in the past.  Or maybe not.  Avetts made 5 of the 8 lists, Crowes and Cracker made 4.    Intriguingly, the top 7 discs were all DYN group selections.  Jay wins this year's pandering award, 6 of his top ten made the group top 10. 

Group Top 10 for 2009

1. Avett Brothers - I and Love and You (44 points)
2. Black Crowes - Before the Frost (26)
3. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm (25)
4. Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey (25)
5. Cheap Trick - The Latest (24)
6. Wilco - Wilco (18)
7. Placebo - Battle For the Sun (16)
8. The Shazam - Meteor (14)
9. Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers (13)
10. Sonic Youth - The Eternal (11)

pop yes, alt country blahs

Avett Brothers
I was invited to a party. As I approached the door I ask the doorman what were all these groups hanging around outside. He told me that the first group was the cave singers, and they weren’t allowed in because they write songs that you actually remember after you finish listening to the cd. The next group was the snake and crown guys. They weren’t allowed in because they actually have the nerve to use tempo and sound to build a dynamic within the song. So I went in and Wilco was there, so were Avett brothers and even the Black Crows. All declared at some point title holders of album of the year. As I entered the doorman informed me that I was lucky as they were about to play the Avett’s emotionalism cd. Well after the 1,736,521st slow depressing tune I had to leave. (Editors note there are only 9 of 14 slow songs on the disc) As I left the doorman asked where are you going they are about to play their new one. I said no thanks been there, counting crows wannabe’s with kings of Leon sheen. I’ll go outside, those groups are far more interesting. 1.5 mainly for the lyrics definitely not for the music.

Cheap Trick
This was going to be my response to another alt country cd. I went to all my hard rock metal sites looking for something to really annoy. At first it was going to be slayer’s new one but as I kept looking this cd kept showing up in the best of the year lists. And it belongs there. Ignoring the tribute to a fallen friend in the first song, what follows is 12 great pop rock songs. Beatles influences throughout, but cheap trick somehow makes them their own. They manage to have both nice and rocking tunes. Robin Zander still poses a brilliant voice and Rick Nielson plays the right notes at the right time and manages to have great riffs in between. If one of these pop tarts that are out now had decided to cover Slade’s When the Lights Go Out as well as its is done here the single would have been massive. This makes 2 really good cd’s in a row for these guys. 4.0 (their sgt pepper cd is a fun listen too)


Fastball
When I ran my media play this was the first cd that we were told to play overhead. Because of that I cannot listen to The Way any more. So after fast forwarding through that we get a nice collection of beatleesque type pop songs. Fire Escape I think is the best song they have ever written, but sooner or later is almost as good. What these guys do is make really good pop songs and again proving that most great pop songs are usually based on painful moments. 3.0 (their new cd released this year was pretty good too)


Lucero
Ah just what the doctor ordered, a taste of Jersey. Well lucky for us Lucero decided not to hitch their wagon on a diminishing star but follow in the footsteps of Marah and more recently Gaslight Anthem. Here, the songs are sung by a group who feels that that are living and feeling the words and music that they are producing, giving them a bit of edge needed to round out their sound. What that gives us is a strong band supported with riffs from all over the place. Organ, piano, guitar and a full horn section all get time up front filling in the blanks and keeping the songs moving. Yes the growl is up front and a bit rough, but they must be careful because when they slow it down and smooth it out they sometimes fall dangerously close to Wallflower territory. Somewhere no band wants to find themselves. Yes a bit of Jersey, but a nice listen anyway. 3.0


Them Crooked Vultures
I really hope these guys put out a second cd. Not because this is a great cd, it isn’t, but it has the potential to be the beginning of something great. Imagine if these guys went on the road for 200 dates over the next 18 months and then go back in the studio. Could be really cool. Instead we get a good first half and a repetitive second half. The riffs are there. The bass lines are excellent. There are moments that represent all three bands throughout the cd, but it’s when they blend them together the cd shines. Unfortunately the week part seems to be Grohls drumming. To tinny and reliant on repetitive cymbal runs. Still a good start, and hopefully more to come. 2.5


Gimmee Gimmees
Cover Songs fall in three types of categories. The first where the artist takes the song and makes it their own. The second where it’s a good song and its fun to hear it but the new version really does nothing for the song. The Last is please never play that song that way again. This cd has all of these moments and in about equal amounts. So I liked a third, thought a third was okay and skipped a third.

Christmas
Every Christmas morning the Lucas household we had the same routine. Mom would play a Child’s Christmas In Wales, followed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Christmas carols. Then came the unforgettable one, Mario Lanza.

So needless to say Christmas songs have been scarred for life.

As for the rock songs War is Over is good, First Snow by Trans Siberian Orchestra is epic in a Savatage sort of way, Do They Know its Christmas was fun but the one I like best is I believe in Father Christmas by ELP.

Since They Are Mine They Must Be The Best

Top Naught’s

1. Must Be Destroyed, The Wildhearts
2. Of Monarchs and Beggars, Dirty Sweet
3. Cotton Teeth, The Snake the Cross the Crown
4. Send Away The Tigers, Manic Street Preachers
5. Satellite Rides, Old 97’s
6. American Idiot, Green Day
7. Black Holes and Revelations, Muse
8. So Divided, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
9. Neptune, Duke Spirit
10. Rock and Roll Is Dead, Hellacopters
11. Cease to Begin Band of Horses.
12. The Weight Is A Gift, Nada Surf
13. Lapalco, Brendan Benson
14. Ambulance Ltd
15. Snow Patrol Final Straw

O/U
Wilco 5
Drive By Truckers 6
Avett Bros 5


Top ‘09
1. The Latest Cheap Trick
2. Battle for the Sun, Placebo
3. Journal for Plague Lovers, Manic Street Preachers
4. TAB4 Atomic Bitchwax
5. Casualties and Tragedies, Gunfire 76
6. The Resistance, Muse
7. The Great American Bubble Factory, Drivin' n' Cryin'
8. Welcome Joy, The Cave Singers
9. Before the Frost, Black Crows
10. The Century of Self, …and you will know us by the trail of dead

Top 10 of 2009

10. Eager to Please - The Leftovers
9. Postscript - Jeff Litman
8. Punk Sounds - The Huntingtons
7. Man Overboard - Ian Hunter
6. Halestorm - Halestorm
5. Tinted Windows - Tinted Windows
4. Meteor - The Shazam
3. Land of Milk and Honey - Cracker
2. Tales from Planet Earth - The Riptides
1. I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers

I know it leans 'powerpop/punk' but that's what I like.

Another Decade, Another CD, Another Planet

First, thanks to the generosity of Jay Schultz and WCCC, we dined at the Tavern while discussing our assigned listening, our topic of the month and our picks of the year and decade. All in all, an information packed meeting...and it smelled better than the Spigot, even though the aroma of stale beer is a "welcome home" of sorts. Anyway, here's what I got...

Lucero – This is one of those bands that I didn’t know, but immediately liked the sound of…good rhythm section, solid rock guitars and keyboard…and then I heard that voice. You know, the one that sounds like it comes from a guy who gargles with razor blades.
Ben Nichols is definitely an acquired taste, but by the time I got to “Johnny Davis” I was a fan. I just had to get over the instinct to clear my throat every time he’d start to sing. BTW, if you listen carefully in that song, "Johnny Davis", Rich Steff lifts the piano riff from the Faces “Stay With Me” note for note. Anyway, thanks for the turn-on to these guys. 3.5

Them Crooked Vultures – OK…so Dave Grohl made his bones with the Foo Fighters writing solid songs based around chord progressions and strong hooks. Why he wanted to get into “riff rock” is beyond me, but if you’re going to do it, you better be good at it. This is not good at it. LZ was good at it. John Paul Jones should know better. More recently, Wolfmother was good at it. This CD got boring pretty quickly. There was only one song I really enjoyed ( Dead End Friends) and that was the only track that was not a “riff”, but a chord structure. Oh well. 2

Cheap Trick – The Latest
As a Beatles fan, it’s hard for me not to love this CD. As a Cheap Trick fan, it’s a little less hard for me not to love this CD, but even with the obvious Beatle overtones, and maybe because of them, it was an enjoyable listen. For me, this CD answers the question, “What if the Beatles only were only B- grade songwriters instead of A+ songwriters?” Winner of the “My Sweet Lord”/”He’s so Fine” award goes to the last instrumental riff in “Times of Our Lives”, which is “Within You Without You” sideways. There’s also a bit too much schmaltz…especially in the ballads, like “Smile”, but all in all, it was enjoyable. 3

Avett Brothers - This CD was my favorite of the month. The Ballad of Love and Hate and Paranoia in B Major, The Weight of Lies are all top notch songs. The sound of this CD was just so pure and clean…there’s nothing that could have improved this CD. It is a perfect marriage of honest, pure melodies, simple but efficient production, perfect song structures and interesting lyrics. 4.5 (but only because Blood on the Tracks is a 5.)

Fastball - I submitted this beacause I wasn't sure that I'd ever gotten beyond the fact that I was "radio burnt" on "The Way" and by putting it in as an "old", I'd knew I'd listen to the entire CD. I did, and was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the songwriting, the power pop/rock structures and the overall production quality of this CD. I never picked up their follow-up to this, but now I will. 4

Me First GH – I’m a cover fan and the Gimme Gimme’s formula for covering ’70 cheesy pop and “jukebox from hell’ songs in a punk style works for me on a bunch of different levels. Totally enjoyable, even though after a while they are predictable.

Topic – Christmas/holiday music is part of the seasonal celebration. I can’t imagine not hearing Nat King Cole sing “The Christmas Song” at some point in December. More than that, Christmas was always the time that you could look forward to your favorite artists putting out a song that you’d otherwise never get to hear their take on, or sometimes an original composition that becomes part of the aural landscape of the season. My top 15 faves are a combination of original rock Christmas songs and interesting takes on classics.

15. Christmas Wrapping – Waitresses
14. Little Drummer Boy – David Bowie and Bing Crosby
13. The Christmas Song – King Curtis
12. Remember (Christmas) – Nilsson
11. Back Door Santa – Clarence Carter
10. I Can’t Have A Merry Christmas – The Riptides
9. White Christmas – Otis Redding
8. Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me – Elvis Presley
7. Little Saint Nick – Beach Boys
6. Happy Christmas (War is Over) – John Lennon
5. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town – Bruce Springsteen
4. Run Rudolph Run – Keith Richards
3. The Man in the Santa Suit – Fountains of Wayne
2. I Can’t Have a Merry Christmas – The Riptides
1. Father Christmas - Kinks