Al Bedsitter's Best 20 Albums of 2012 (part 2 of 3)- Songs about payphones were popular,,,

The next bunch...

Foxygen – Take the Kids Off Broadway (Jagjaguwar) – Ok, it’s a terrible name and you might want to skip this one if you think they might be a Sweet cover band.  The California- based duo put together what is a strong debut.  The band’s sound is inspired by the Velvet Underground at Lou Reed’s most Dylanest with some Bowie/Bolan glam, late 60s Kinks/Stones pop and classic garage.  Mimicking  Reed ( a la the Alias Records roster circa early 90s) isn’t something I would suggest any band attempt, but Foxygen indeed do pull it off.  Going to see a lot more from these guys.

The Golden Boys- Dirty Fingernails (12XU) – I have had the band’s frontman John Wesley Coleman III and his prolific (2 solo albums and a duet album in 2012 besides the group’s LP)  and his quirky psychedelic garage rock  on my radar for a little while now.  On Dirty Fingernails, Coleman and band deliver an album that is in line with the best of a lineage of similar Austin bands like the 13^th Floor Elevators,  There are plenty of bands that follow this blueprint, and when it’s good, it can be great (when it’s not, there’s no helping it).  This one is a keeper.

The Heavy – The Glorious Dead (Counter)- The Heavy has made a career (and buckets of cash) from writing songs that appear in films and tv, and sound tailored made for shows like The Sopranos and True Blood.  What people might not know is that those aren’t one-off singles.  The Heavy makes solid albums of this kind of music- classic R&B and blues, garage rock and Tom Waits drawn together.  Kelvin Swaby’s vocals obviously make the whole thing happen, but this band has a lot more going on than some might think.

Holograms- Holograms (Captured Tracks) –This young Swedish band really knocked it out of the park on their debut.  This is music that would feel comfortable cataloged along with the Factory Records discs of the late 70s and early 80s.  It would also stand in well in comparison with the great Swedish post-punk bands that were the rage circa 2003.  The band takes all that plus Stooges Raw Power and Synths to make a solid album that fits well in 2012, with a ridiculous amount of self-confidence that works because they can pull it off. 

Magnetic Fields – Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Domino) – this album brought Stephin Meritt back to his classic sound after three albums of experimentation.  It didn’t set the world afire like everyone expected.  It did make this Merritt fan very happy, though.  Perhaps, it is more of a collection of great songs (like “Andrew in Drag”) than a great album, but no complaints from me.

The Men- Open Your Heart- (Secret Bones) –The Men’s debut Leave Home made my Best Of last year.  That album was the New York noisy indie band paying homage to the heroes of 1980s and early 90s indie rock – Sonic Youth, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, the Jesus Lizard and Black Flag.  With album #2, one feels that the men listened to Go Home and said “We forgot the Replacements!”  Open Your Heart  has plenty of the noisy rock that made Leave Home great , but it’s greatest moment may be “Candy”, a song that would make Paul Westerberg proud.

Rhett Miller – The Dreamer (Maximum Sunshine)- I am a huge fan of the Old 97s (who made my best-of list the last two years for Live at the Grand Theatre Vols. 1 and 2), but I never was a huge fan of his solo stuff.  On previous Miller albums, he seems to want to indulge his pop side.  The Dreamer instead feels like what a solo album from the Old 97s frontman might be expected to do.  The songs are stripped down and slowed down.  This album probably won’t be a life-changer for anyone, but it’s a collection of really good songs (the best being duets with Rachel Yamagata and Roseanne Cash).