bedsitter23

and wrapping up ...

Neon Piss – s/t (Deranged Records)- I always like to pass along the best new bands, but I never promised you would be able to google them at work. The self titled 8 song is debut from the San Francisco punk band is strong. For a brief moment in my life did I really care about the world of Maximum Rock N Roll and worry about what they thought. This is one of those bands that make you want to play it loud and for lack of a better comparison, updates the Wipers sound. I think this band has good things ahead, though maybe under a different name.

Public Image Ltd. – This is PiL (PiL Official)-Probably my favorite album of the year, and in some ways, highly improbable- Their last album That What Was Not was twenty years ago and was terrible. Also, the band isn’t the original respected group of Jah Wobble and Keith Levene, but latter day PiLers and Spice Girls guitarist Scott Firth. Still, an album that starts with “I’m John and I’m from London” in the proclamation of the title track. There’s also a lot of experimentation, but generally it all falls on the “yeah, it works” side. It ends up with work that is as good as some of Lydon’s best career moments.

Hugo Race Fatalists- We Never Had Control (Gusstaff)- It was a good year for Nick Cave fans- there was the Lawless soundtrack (which probably would have been on this list, if it felt, I don’t know, more complete). There was the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions project which included a lot of Cave friends and disciples, Barry Adamson’s solo album and this. Race’s 2010 Fatalists album put him on a lot of best-Ofs, and I wasn’t going to let this one get past me. It is a strong album that explores similar territory as Cave (Race was a Bad Seed, but left to pursue his own muse)- could be risky, but he pulls it off.

Titus Andronicus- Local Business (XL) – This band’s second album The Monitor put this band in the indie spotlight. Any band ambitious enough to write a concept album around the Civil War and named after a Shakespeare play sets the bar high. The band is at their best when they mimic circa-1978 Clash, which they do perfectly thanks to lead singer Patrick Stickles, but there are classic rock sensibilities here too (Springsteen of course, but Rolling Stone compares to “the Replacements and Thin Lizzy” which might not be off).

Tribes- Baby (Island) – Of course, I would make room for the ‘next big thing’ in Britpop. I haven’t been too impressed with the current crop of big things. Tribes put together all the right elements of a band that make music that is Young, Loud, and Artsy. Tribes get Pixies comparisons because of the shouting and Frank Black championing, but there are dozens of bands that come to mind first. None more similar than Baby Shambles. Essentially, it’s the same blueprint, but until Mr. Doherty gets back to form, Tribes will fill that void.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse- Americana (Reprise) – I didn’t expect this one. These are songs that have since become grade school standards and lead single “Oh Susannah” didn’t do much for me. However, you can never doubt Neil. Reading Young’s reasons for doing this album and hearing it all at once (putting ‘Susannah’ in a better context) was all I needed to be convinced. Yeah, these are all songs I have heard a million times, but Crazy Horse, the world’s greatest garage band ripping through “Tom Dula” and “Jesus Chariot (She’ll be coming round the Mountain) is essential listening.