I
would have posted this earlier, but I was awaiting the arrival of a couple
albums from 2011, which I have now received and had time to digest. Thus, I am now in a position to rank my top
ten albums of 2011. As with my rankings
every year, this list includes only albums that I own, and I only bought 16
albums that were released last year. Also, it does not include live albums or
EPs (I bought one of each –- Def Leppard's Mirror Ball – Live & More and
Gary Clark, Jr.'s The Bright Lights EP, respectively -- both of which I
recommend), which knocks the pool of options down to 14.
I
thought 2011 was a decent year for music, or at least the albums I bought were
pretty good as a whole. Below are my ten
favorite, with my favorite song from each.
Others
purchased: Artic Monkeys - Suck It and
See; Cage the Elephant - Thank You Happy Birthday; The Sheepdogs - Learn and
Burn; The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
If
you can get past the name (which I don't mind, but then again, I'm also
insane), you will find a short (19 minutes) but sweet album chockfull of fuzzy,
frantic, lo-fi garage punk. For a more
in-depth review of the album, click
here.
Favorite
song: "Juggernaut!"
The
first Strokes album in five years wasn't as good as I had hoped, frankly. That said, it's still pretty good. It's a little bit of a departure from their
prior albums, with some of the songs having kind of a more synth-y feel to them,
like they were listening to a lot of Duran Duran (which isn't necessarily a bad
thing). Of course, several of the songs
remind you why they vaulted into stardom a decade ago -- catchy, crunchy, and
frantic. The album is very good, but
top-to-bottom, I don't like it as much as their first three albums. I was going to say this albums sounds like it
was influenced by the band Hockey, but as I was writing it, it occurred to me
that it's probably the other way around.
Favorite
song: "Under Cover of
Darkness"
Garage-y
goodness, with a Ramones meets Exile On Main St.-era Stones feel to many of the
songs. The songs are short and catchy,
and there are a lot of songs that, if you didn't know they were put out in
2011, you might very well think they were from the mid to late '60s.
Favorite
song: "Modern Art"
If
you mixed The Ramones, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, The Raveonettes, The
Andrews Sisters, '60s girl groups, and The Detroit Cobras or Ko & The
Knockouts together, the result might be Those Darlins. They play good, catchy garage punk with a
splash of Nashville.
Favorite
song: "Hives"
This
is just good, old fashioned, straightforward, booze-soaked rock and roll. You should listen to this music in a bar or
in a car with rear-wheel drive with the windows rolled down, no matter the
temperature. Unfortunately, I missed
these guys when they came through town last year, but hopefully they will hit
Chicago again.
Favorite
song: "All Over the Road"
One
of my favorite bands has released another fantastic, '70s rock-influenced
album. One More Summer is darker than
the band's prior albums, but rocks just as hard. The influences I hear (whether they were
actually influences or not) include Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, '70s Aerosmith, and
UFO. It's another solid offering, and I
hope these guys make it to Chicago this year because they put on a great live
show.
Favorite
song: "Arrow"
Label
mates of Diarrhea Planet, Jeff The Brotherhood is the latest in a long line of
duos that produce a lot of sound (White Stripes, Black Keys, etc.). Jeff The Brotherhood play a fuzzy, yet
catchy, brand of rock and roll that incorporates elements of hard rock, garage
rock, pop, '60s psychedelic rock, metal, punk, and new wave.
Favorite
song: "Diamond Way"
Akron's
favorite sons (apologies to Ripper Owens) have again teamed up with Danger
Mouse with excellent results on their seventh studio album (Danger Mouse also
produced 2008's Attack & Release).
Unlike some other bands, I feel like The Black Keys have progressed as
they've gone along. I love all of their
albums, even if they are different from one another. El Camino has elements of hard rock, soul, early
rock and roll, glam, and, of course, garage rock.
Favorite
song: "Lonely Boy"
In
my opinion, Foo Fighters are the best hard rock band since they released their
debut album in 1995. Wasting Light is a
great album with an edge and snarl that some of their previous albums haven't
had (not that any of their previous albums are bad). It has a garage metal feel to it (as it was,
in fact, recorded in a garage). Some
reviewers have said that the album sounds influenced by Nirvana, which I don't
necessarily agree with (although it was produced by Nevermind producer Butch
Vig). I hear more of a Queens of the
Stone Age influence (Dave Grohl worked with QotSA lead singer Josh Homme on
their side project Them Crooked Vultures), along with early '80s metal. One thing is certain: no matter the influence, the album kicks ass.
Favorite
song: "These Days"
I
have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to hate good soul music. I understand the reasons why people might not
like other genres (not that I agree with these). Metal is too loud and evil. Jazz is too convoluted and inaccessible. Punk is too angry and talentless. Country is too "rural." Rap and hip hop are too
"urban." Indie rock is too
pretentious. Top 40 pop is too
commercial. The blues are too
depressing. Techno and disco are too X-y
and fake. But soul music -- and I mean
classic '60s soul like Otis Redding, James Brown, and Wilson Pickett -- is
impossible to dislike. It just
penetrates you, dare I say it, to your soul.
That's exactly what this album is, with some garage rock mixed in. Is garage soul a genre? If it is, these guys rule the roost. You can't go wrong with a horn section. The band's second album destroys any worries
of a sophomore slump. If you like
Stax/Volt soul –- and based on my theory, you must -- then you will like this
album. From the beginning to the end of
the album, you can't help but nod your head or tap your feet. It has fast-paced songs that make you want to
dance and slow songs that make you want to make sweet love. Buy it.
Love it. LIVE it.
Favorite
songs (tie): "Black Snake,"
"Mustang Ranch," and "You Been Lyin'"Any other albums from 2011 I should check out?
No comments:
Post a Comment