Everything Sucks (except this music)

As I write this, my state is covered in snow and ice, and millions of Texans are without power. It sucks here right now. And I even feel bad complaining about it that much, since we haven’t lost power yet and our only real setback has been a burst pipe (that we didn’t even know existed in the five years we’ve lived here – seriously, there’s not even running water on that side of the house) that will hopefully get fixed in the next couple of days. We’re still able to shower at a friend’s house and we stocked up on food last week, so we have it infinitely better than a lot of people.

But, I was reminded by the @dinoman_j account on twitter that you can recognize that things suck, even if a lot of people are worse off than you.

Anyways, since we’ve had no school since last Wednesday, and it’s cancelled for the rest of the week, I’ve had more time to myself than usual. So, when I wasn’t watching movies, huddling w/the puppies for warmth, taking the boys sledding, or bailing water out from underneath the counter, here are some things that I listened to that didn’t come out this month.

Dumb – Club Nites (June 7th, 2019)

I “follow” a handful of like-minded music fans that I’ve never met on bandcamp, and since I follow them, I get notifications when I log on that show what they buy. It’s always good to check out, but only on a handful of occasions has it led me to actually buying what they bought. This is one of those exceptions. Post-punk is the weirdest genre for me, since some of it (like this) I love, but most of it I really don’t care for. I’ve heard that when someone makes something seem easy, it means that they’re really good at it, and Club Nites sounds like a spontaneous band sesh where buddies are riffing and goofing around and the lyrics don’t really rhyme or sound like they’re super in tune. But dang, it sounds really good, and it’s not easy to pull off.

Trades – Banner Year (October 2nd, 2020)

When someone asks what the best live band I’ve ever seen, I always answer Rocket From the Crypt. I do this for two reasons: 1) They are one of the best live bands in the history of music. 2) Nobody has ever heard of Sayvinyl, which is my real answer if I was being 100% honest. Sayvinyl’s music has been purged from the internet, sadly, but while digging for it (I had their CD and a three song demo from one of their first shows at the Casbah), I found a Reddit post that mentioned that some of the guys from Sayvinyl were working on new stuff. Trades is that new stuff. I haven’t even fully digested it yet, but I love it. Naming anything that came out in 2020 Banner Year is the kind of gallows humor that I’ve grown to appreciate, and it’s been a long time since I’ve found this kind of indie rock that I’ve really enjoyed. It is criminal how underrated and overlooked Sayvinyl were, and even though I don’t see Trades becoming a household name, I love that these guys are still out there making great music.

Rochelle, Rochelle – Rochelle, Rochelle (Jan. 31st, 2000)

One of the best shows I ever went to was Ganeshfest, an almost all-day festival that only happened once, and was headlined by some great Southern California bands. In addition to discovering one of my all-time favorite bands (Death on Wednesday), I also discovered Rochelle, Rochelle. I passed on picking up this CD the one time I saw it at Lou’s Records in Encinitas, and literally every time that I’ve gone back for almost two decades, I’ve checked (in vain) to see if it was back. idk when it got put on bandcamp, but I finally tracked it down. tbh, it’s been so long since I saw them that one time and never heard them again, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s definitely early 00’s alt rock that’s pretty accessible and could fit in on the radio or be one of the good songs on like, the main menu of a video game. Not particularly groundbreaking or anything, but very cool to find it after twenty years.

Teenage Bottlerocket – Freak Out! (July 3rd, 2012)

I’m not a huge Ramonescore guy, and I think that a lot of TBR’s catalogue can be a bit redundant, but Freak Out! really hits the spot for me. First off, “Maverick” is possibly the best song ever written about a movie, and “Who Killed Sensei” is, idk… a song that I think would be really cool if it was made into a movie. I don’t think there are many bands that I listen to that have a better top three songs than those two jams and “Mutilate Me” (which sounds like a sweet, pop-punk love song but is actually about BDSM). I was late to the party w/these guys, because while they’re good at what they do, it’s not always that appealing to me. But this album rocks, maybe it’ll be the gateway into appreciating the rest of their output more.

Boys On The Wall – Boys On The Wall (June 21st, 2016)

There was a time where a lot of my favorite punk singers took a break from their main band and started making acoustic records. Boys on the Wall was (as far as I know) the last public musical endeavor from Cobra Skulls frontman Devin Peralta, and it’s definitely not an acoustic record, but it’s a dude that has done an incredible job honing a unique sound (political punk-meets-rockabilly) of Cobra Skulls and being free to relax and write some non-punk tunes. It’s not, like, “easy-listening”, but nowhere near the ferocity of the Skulls. Dude is just a great songwriter and leads a pretty unique life (gave up life as a musician in San Francisco and runs the family citrus farm in the Imperial Valley). I’ll take whatever Cobra Skulls-related tunes I can find, and though these don’t sound similar at all, they’re still good.

I’ll wrap it up with an even bigger blast from the past – Fuel! Honestly, I’ve always liked this song, but when it came on the radio as a kid, I never caught who sang it. I can’t even remember what happened that led me to revisiting it the last week, but I did, and it’s great.

Anyways, those are a few things I’ve been listening to, along w/some cool stuff that came out this month that I’ll be posting at the beginning of March… assuming the world hasn’t ended by then. Hang in there everybody!

Here’s a Spotify playlist of some of these songs. Couldn’t find the specific Rochelle, Rochelle record I mentioned here, so I put a few of there other songs on there. Also added a few tunes from a band called The Palm Springs Of Washington, which is a solo project from Dan, the dude that sang in Sayvinyl and Trades, who was apparently tired of being in one-word bands and really overcorrected. It’s still good tho. I watched Grosse Pointe Blank last night, so I had to add a song from that soundtrack (which was organized by the my hero, Joe Strummer). Lastly, I finished it up w/some songs from Show Me Your Tears, an album by Frank Black & the Catholics that an old coworker that had really good taste in music burned for me back when that was a thing. He also introduced me to Jawbreaker, so he’s pretty much a saint in my eyes.

Bandcamp Day Recs / Feb 2021

It’s Bandcamp Friday, which means that on Bandcamp.com, every penny you spend goes directly to bands and labels, the site doesn’t take a penny.

You looking for a way to spend a few bucks and find some good music in the process? Alright, I’ll take this as an excuse to highlight a few bands/releases that maybe I haven’t talked about on the blog. Scroll back and check out the other posts if you feel like it.

Broken Gold – E.P. III (2016)

Gotta highlight one of my favorite Austin bands. I think I caught a part of one of their sets at a Free Week or an unofficial SXSW show or something, but I feel like probably not. But they’re great, punky-kind-of-Replacements sound that I don’t always dig, but they make it work. They have a new 10″ record they’re putting out too on Chicken Ranch Records that I’m sure will be great as well.

Celebration Summer – Against The Gun EP (2020)

Celebration Summer are from DC, but sound like they could be from Florida, with a real Hot Water Music-vibe that I thought was kind of going out of style, but lately I’ve seen a few new bands pick up the mantle (maybe I’m just imagining this, but either way, I’m glad there are still bands like this). “I Don’t Want To Be A Burden” is a jam, and I’ve had “Bitter End” stuck in my head for days at a time.

Debt Neglector – Bad Faith EP (2020)

I realize that I didn’t do a “Best EPs of 2020” list like I had planned (I did it in 2019, but just stuck to full lengths this year), so I guess I’m covering a few good ones that I haven’t mentioned at all so far. Debt Neglector is one of them. They’d fit great on a bill with the previously mentioned Celebration Summer, and get bonus points for having some pretty biting and timely commentary on the Trump era that was cathartic to listen to (although it came out post-election, it’s not like things have changed that much – we’re still living amongst his supporters).

neutrals – Rent/Your House E.P. (2020)

Some post-punk is cool but a lot of it I can’t really get into. neutrals is a band that I can get into. It sounds a bit like it could’ve come out like 20 yrs ago, and you’ll get thrown if you see that they’re from Oakland, because their singer is British. I have the 7″, since I’m a sucker for any band that donates it’s proceeds to RAICES.

Worriers – Survival Pop (2018)

I’ve already talked about Worriers on this site – their latest record You or Someone You Know was covered a little bit when it came out at the beginning of last year, and it made my top 20 at the end of the year. But as much as I like that record, man, Survival Pop is just really good and deserves a look. You can still get this on some cool “oxblood red” vinyl, which I did last year. Anyways, this is a record that I immediately want to listen to when I see it on my shelf or on an iTunes shuffle, so check it out.

Remainders – Fine Exits 7″ (2014)

I picked up this 7″ for cheap last summer, as I’m a sucker for Boston Terriers (most of my Instagram posts are of our puppies, Miles and Ollie). I think it’s a bit weird of me that I don’t like more A-F Records bands, but these guys and Reconciler (who I talked about in the last post) are good.

What I’m getting today:

I’m going to just link the stuff I end up getting here, and will update it as I go. If it’s good enough to write about, I’ll probably end up writing about in the February Jams.

Good Jams From January

Hey y’all, January is over! I’ve realized that lately it seems like I celebrate the passage of time like it’s a hurdle to overcome instead of a moment to experience. I want to improve that mentality, but between teaching during COVID and trying to fix up our house so it’s ready to sell, getting closer to spring break (and ultimately summer break) sounds really appealing.

But even if I’m not living in the moment, there were some good tunes that helped me survive the month. While looking back at my listening habits in January of last year, it seemed like the few bands/records/EPs I managed to stumble across didn’t really stick with me the rest of the year, but I think that 2021 is gonna buck that trend, it’s off to a great start.

While not a huge diversity of sound (they’re mostly all sub-genre’s of punk), they are from a lot of different places – a few bands from America (Michigan and Florida), then we hop around to Canada, Sweden, and Argentina. idk I just kinda like when it ends up like that. Anyways, here are a few good jams from January, posted in chronological order from their release date:

Zoanoids – Zoanoids (January 3rd, Hey Pizza! Records)

Are you kidding me? The third day of the year and we already have music worth listening to? Praise be! Although I wasn’t super into the zombie face/oozing font combo on the album artwork (it has grown on me though), I gave it a shot on bandcamp and I eventually decided that it needed to be my first vinyl purchase of the 2021. I’m not really into Ramonescore or sci-fi, but these guys blend the two into a spooky-cool sound that I really dig. I had “Teenage Werewolf” stuck in my head for days when I first heard it, and “Biollante’s Revenge” is such a ripping tune.

Reconciler / Ship Thieves – Split 7″ (A-F Records)

I’m not big on split releases, tbh. idk, I think it’s like if you see two sisters that are close in age, you’re always gonna compare them, and one of them will be the “prettier” sister. This is something that my wife has told me she had to deal with all the time growing up, as she was the fourth of five girls that were only seven years apart. Anyways, I feel like you always like one side better, and then just end up resenting the band that you like less than the other. In this case though, I think they both compliment each other pretty well and I can’t really choose which one I like better. I’m a big Reconciler fan, their debut LP Set Us Free is a rocker, and in the past, some of the Ship Thieves stuff didn’t really click for me, but this song does. Only two songs, but very good ones.

Cluttered – Cluttered EP (January 20th, Sick Scene Productions)

Cluttered is a Canadian group (Halifax, Nova Scotia, to be precise) made up of members of Future Girls, Designosaur, Jabber, and Alright Already. I’m not super familiar with all those bands, but they’re great band names, I’ll get on it soon. Anyways, I guess this was originally released in December as part of something called “Demo Fest”, and I’m too tired to look into what’s going on north of the border, but if it led to great music like this, then good on them. Four tracks of straight up punk tracks w/a bit of an indie tinge to them that I liked so much I bought the cassette.

Sekunderna – Hjärtat EP (January 22nd, Luftslott Records)

While they’re not the only non-English speaking band on this month’s countdown, Sekunderna is the only band w/lyrics I don’t understand at all on this list. The Hjärtat EP is three songs of Swedish pop punk, but the good kind, not that other, worse kind that you may be thinking of. The title track reminds me a bit of their German neighbors (eh, don’t quote me on that, idk how far apart those two countries are) The Special Bombs, the second song sounds like it could be from a Dirtnap Records band, and the last tune sounds like it that song on the late 90’s Punk-O-Rama comp that you sometimes skip to get to that one Pulley song but you really shouldn’t because it’s great.

Camp Trash – Downtiming (January 22nd, Count Your Lucky Stars Records)

I logged onto Twitter on day and a bunch of people were telling The Alternative (one of my favorite non-blogger internet reads) that they were listening to the new EP from a band I’d never heard of, and while I had my doubts (even though I love The Alternative, there’s really only a modest sliver of bands that they recommend that I really like), they nailed it w/Camp Trash. I like to think that I’m great at making “what they sound like” comparisons, but they usually fall flat (I told a friend they sounded like Fountains of Wayne covering Dashboard Confessional, which, idk, but I’d definitely listen to that demo if it exists), but really, if you liked Stay What You Are-era Saves the Day, and stuff in that vein, you’ll dig these four songs, very summery vibe for a middle of winter release.

Los Diamantes – Rocanroll Mutante (January 25th, self-released)

I fell in love w/Los Diamantes in 2019 when they put out a great self-titled EP of surfy garage-punk en español. My main quibble here is that it goes by too quickly – all of the five songs clock in at under two minutes – but they each showcase the diversity of sound that I wish more bands displayed. “Johnny” is the opening punk howler, “Reproche” is the fast garage jam, and “Shoshanna” has the reverby surf sound that they put their own spin on. I just love these guys.

Civic Mimic – Selective Listening (January 29th, self-released)

I remember checking out Civic Mimic’s second release last year (A Strip of Tape to Convey Serenity), and I thought it was good, but not quite what I was into, and kinda forgot about it. But I checked out this new one that he put out (Civic Mimic is basically just one dude named Jeff writes, sings, and plays drums, bass, and guitar on the album), and this time it hit me just right. I went back and listened to his other two releases, and I liked them too, so idk if he’s doing something different that’s better or I was just finally ready to listen to it.

Night Marchers – Wot’s Da Use 7″ (Swami Records)

I love everything that John Reis touches, and this is no exception. IMO, Night Marchers is a very underrated group in the Reis family tree (not as unheralded as Sultans, but still underrated), and one of the most fun to listen to. These two songs are from the Allez! Allez! recordings (released back in 2013), which had some bangers (“All Hits” is such a… well, hit). While Swami John Reis & the Blind Shake’s Modern Surf Classics featured tunes to catch waves to, Night Marchers is more like the songs you listen to after the sun’s gone down at the beach and it’s a little chilly but you’re hanging out by the fire with some friends who are singing along. Long live Swami.

Anyways, eight great releases that were definitely worth listening to, and for me, worth spending a few bucks on. The pandemic is still affecting us all, and that includes bands, so if you anything here and you have the means, help ’em out! Let’s make February a good one, thanks for reading!

Here’s a Spotify for songs from all these releases:

My 20 Favorite Records of 2020

So, I already posted my top ten punk records of 2020 on CPRW, but I’m expanding both the number and the genre here on my own blog. I could go on a bit about how these may not be the “best” records, but they’re my favorite, meaning I listened to them the most this year. A good caveat that I’ll throw in here is that these are the 20 best records that I purchased, meaning I didn’t stream it a few times and then add it to playlist. For half of them, I have a physical copy, the rest were digital, mostly bandcamp purchases. Please pay for the music you love.

While the primary purpose of the year-end list is (for me, at least) to chronicle what I enjoyed from the past year, I admit that I hope to persuade someone to listen to something they hadn’t before, and to find something they like. With both of these purposes in mind, I’m going to try to keep the commentary on each record to one sentence. The music speaks for itself (there are bandcamp links for the 17 records that used that platform, the other three are included in the Spotify link at the end).

20. Llacuna – Incendis (BCore Music)

Llacuna are a Catalan speaking band from Spain with some chill indie/emo vibes.

19. Oceanator – Things I Never Said (Plastic Miracles Records)

I became obsessed with Oceanator this year and digging through their back catalogue, watching live streams, and listening to demos on Patreon really helped me get through the summer.

18. Red City Radio – Paradise (Pure Noise Records)

idk if Red City Radio will ever make another record that I like as much as Titles, but the title track off of Paradise is one of my favorite RCR tunes now, so they’ve still got it.

17. Bully – SUGAREGG (Sub Pop Records)

My daughter learned the words to “Trying” off their first record, and I saw them open for Jawbreaker last year, and none of which has anything to do with this record, which I think is their best work yet.

16. …Whatever That Means – Revolving Doors (Paper + Plastick)

The acoustic tracks are a bit of a miss for me, but there are some 90’s style punk bangers from this South Korean band that I listened to a lot this summer.

15. Houseghost – Houseghost (Rad Girlfriend Records)

Their band name has “ghost” in the title and there’s a lot of spooky kind of references in the lyrics, but I still listened to it after Halloween because it’s good.

14. Brian Fallon – Local Honey (Lesser Known Records)

I dunno if this makes sense, but Sleepwalkers is my favorite Brian Fallon solo record AND I think that Local Honey features some of his best songwriting to date.

13. Intenable – Envier les vivants (Guerilla Asso.)

French indie-punk that I don’t understand, but if you mention to them on Facebook that you wish you understood the lyrics, they’ll link you to a translation of all the words in English, which is cool.

12. Worriers – You Or Someone You Know (6131 Records)

Of all of my musical discoveries this year, Worriers was one of the best, so happy to add this record and a lot of their back-catalogue to my music library.

11. The Special Bombs – Eruptions (SBÄM Records)

I wish I was more of a Bouncing Souls fan (I like them but don’t love them), but it’s like all the things that I like about the Souls were put onto one record, and they took out some of the things I didn’t care as much about.

10. Harper’s Jar – Thank You Ancestor Finger (Heavy Meadow/Brace Cove)

This is the latest entry to the list, since I found out about this group from the Free Dogs end-of-the-year countdown on Twitter, but this is cool alternative rock that reminds me of listening to 91X in San Diego in the mid 90’s.

9. Majorly – Don’t Boldly Go (Broken Camera Records)

idk how much of Don’t Boldly Go was recorded during quarantine (though the Majorly Twitter account is active and nice, so I suppose I could ask), but it’s mostly one guy doing a bunch of instruments and it’s cool.

8. Teenage Halloween – Teenage Halloween (Don Giovanni Records)

I thought for a long time that “Holes” was the best song on this record, and then I realized that it’s “Clarity”, and it could totally change again because it’s a great record w/lots of great songs.

7. Run The Jewels – RTJ4 (Jewel Runners)

I don’t listen to a lot of rap, but RTJ killed it with this one, I honestly feel a bit dumb for having it so low because I think it’s the most important record of 2020 by a long shot.

6. Mondo Beta – Colapso Tropical (No Me’n Records)

Heavily inspired by Hot Snakes, Mondo Beta put out some post-hardcore en español that was so, so good that it almost made up for the Hot Snakes record getting pushed back to 2021 (idk if you can tell, but the background of this blog is a pic I took from a Hot Snakes show in Austin last year).

5. Dabblin’ – I was almost an astronaut once (Bus Stop Press)

I can’t find a damn thing about Dabblin’ online, but this is yet another band from France that I love, despite the overly long song titles.

4. Quaker Wedding – In Transit (Salinas Records)

A great mix of Jawbreaker and Face To Face, Quaker Wedding put out a killer debut album, and I listened to “Jilted Lover” more than almost any other song this year.

3. Black Thought – Streams of Thought Vol. 3 (Passyunk Records)

Black Thought is a rap god, and even though I thought he didn’t hit this one quite as hard as Vol. 2, I still will never be able to get enough of his lyrics.

2. Dumb Luck – Made To Rust (Secret Pennies Records)

The thing that I love about year-end lists is finding whatever obscure band that someone else loves and checking them out – and Dumb Luck from Corvalis, Oregon, is that band from me (yes, yes, I know that there are plenty of other obscure bands on here, but these guys almost topped the list).

1. The Lawrence Arms – Skeleton Coast (Epitaph Records)

As much as I love finding new bands to listen to (over two-thirds of this list are bands that I hadn’t heard of until this year), The Lawrence Arms were my comfort food in what was a pretty crappy year. I’ll love these guys forever.

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Alright, so that’s the list. Was able to keep it to one sentence for every record except for no.1, so that’s cool. Honorable mentions to Accidente, Sweet Reaper, Dogleg, Strafi, Cable Ties, Personality Cult, Ratboys, Shut Up! Twist Again!, The Beths, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, and Khruangbin, all of whom put out good records this year. The Ska Against Racism comp by Asian Man Records and the OST to Bill & Ted Face The Music were also killer. Thanks for reading, looking forward to a bunch of great music in 2021, along with (hopefully) a return to live music.

Quarterly Report: July – September 2020

Alright, back to the grind. I did a “favorite releases” post for the first three months of the year, then got lazy and missed the next three months of the year, but here is the first “official” installment of the Quarterly Report – my favorite releases from the last three months.

They’re all chronological, so no rankings here, but a good sampling of what I’ve been listening to that last little bit (that plus Cobra Skulls – 2020 is the year that I listen to a lot of Cobra Skulls, man I wish they got back together). There’s a baker’s dozen here, if you count the last bonus single at the bottom. Thanks for checking it out, hope you find something you like, or at least I’m able to reaffirm something that you already liked.

Modern Shakes – Someday, One Day (July 1)

Modern Shakes are a band I found via Colin’s Punk Rock World that I instantly fell in love with last year. Their debut EP, Murmur, ended up being my no.3 EP of 2019, and while I think I probably prefer last year’s effort to this one, this is still a solid addition to their budding catalogue.

Ten Things I Hate About You – Three Things I Hate About You (July 13)

Good luck trying to find any additional information about a band that shares a name with a hit 1999 film starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as well as a short lived TV show by ABC Family that lasted just one season). I’d guess they are probably my favorite band from Honolulu, and have put out three killer tracks of angsty emo that’s great to scream along to. The clips from the aforementioned movie are a blast from the past too. Look for this on the year-end EP shortlist, I seriously love this.

The Lawrence Arms – Skeleton Coast (July 17)

I found a bunch of killer new bands last year, but when it came down to my album-of-the-year, the title went to Good Riddance, a band that I’d known about for 20 years and loved in high school. I legitimately thought Thoughts and Prayers was their best record, and it just sounded so good and familiar to me, like a new shoe that was already broken in. The exact same could be said for Skeleton Coast. I didn’t get into The Lawrence Arms until a little later (around the time that Oh! Calcutta! was released), when I was going to a college that I hated in a town that I hated surrounded by people that I…, well you get the point. The boys from Chicago have done it again, playing songs of self-loathing and upbeat sadness. It’s great, and I don’t know if I’ll find anything else I like as much the rest of the year.

Majorly – Don’t Boldly Go (July 24)

This is one of the funnest releases on this list. Majorly is mostly one guy, Chris Kaya, who played guitar, bass, drum programming, pianos, synths, melodica, omnichord, digital horn, and trombone on Don’t Boldly Go. It’s a lot. It’s got a diverse sound that borrows from a lot of elements of pop, folk, punk, emo, and even a little bit of ska, and it never gets boring. Every time I listen to this, I think I change my mind about my favorite song. Great stuff, got it on cassette, because bands are doing that now (again).

Buddie – Diving (August 4)

I like but don’t love this record. Not yet, at least. I have a bad memory (my wife and co-workers can vouch for this), and even as I write this, I can’t remember a single lyric or tune from this collection of power pop songs. In fact, every time I scroll past it on my iPhone, my mind is equally blank. But when I skeptically click play, it turns out that I like it, and I don’t delete it (I get really picky about what makes it onto my phone). It’s the definition of a “grower” album, and I still need to keep listening to it. Man, this sounds like a bad review, but trust me, I like it, that’s why it’s here.

Tight Whips – s/t (August 7)

Formerly known as Apocalypse Meow, the recently re-named Tight Whips are whipping out tight punk rock jams. “Beisbol en el Blue Fuego” is one of my favorite punk songs of 2020.

Shut Up! Twist Again! – Slurring the Rhythms (August 21)

Despite having the worst name on this list (maybe it means something more in their native France), these guys put together a great collection of anthemic punk songs (in English). I dig it. My dude Colin at CPRW will be reviewing them soon, so listen here and then check that out.

Bully – SUGAREGG (August 21)

I first became aware of Bully after their 2015 single “Trying”. That’s an amazing song and really highlights Alicia Bognanno’s incredible vocals, and my four year old daughter loved to sing along to the chorus, even though she initially asked “why is that girl yelling so much?” SUGAREGG is even better than their debut album, and while I’m not blown away by the vocals as much as I was on Feels Like, the songwriting overall is much better. Great record, I feel dumb for waiting over a month to finally give it a listen.

Oceanator – Things I Never Said (August 28)

Oceanator, the project by Elise Okusami, has been one of my obsessions this year. After hearing a few tracks from Tear the Fascists Down EP I pre-ordered the record, bought everything in her back-catalogue, and subscribed to her Patreon (I caught a Twitch of here playing every song on Dookie, and she’s planning some kind of virtual hangout and everybody’s gonna watch something on Netflix, so she’s good at creating fun content for fans). Anyways, big 90’s fuzzy rock influence, upbeat at times, melancholy at others, it’s a record that I listened to over and over again and then took a break from, will be sliding it back into the rotation soon.

Knope – An Exercise In Patience (September 16)

I wish this EP was three times as long and actually an LP. Despite the black and white album art of a raccoon sleeping in a tree, it’s an upbeat group of four songs with twinkly, noodly guitars that I really dig. Say “Yes” to Knope (buh dump tiss)!

Nowhereland – Raw Honey (September 25)

I found out about Nowhereland via Tim Pyles, who is the San Diego-local music guru of my hometown. These guys sound like they’d be right at home on Dirtnap Records alongside bands like Bad Sports and Personality Cult – it’s a garagey-punk sound that has elements of slicked back rock. “It’s Time For Lunch” is a standout track.

Bob Mould – Blue Hearts (September 25)

It may be sacrilegious, but I’m not super familiar with Bob Mould’s most notable act, Hüsker Dü (although I happen to love Copper Blue, by his other band, Sugar). Dave over at the Oklahoma Lefty blog was really into Mould’s last record, Sunshine Rock, so I checked it out last year, and idk, it wasn’t my thing. Is it bad to say that a record called Sunshine Rock was just a little too happy for me? Well, Blue Hearts finds Mould in a pissed off mood, and for a guy that turns SIXTY this month, man, he brings it. The lyrics to “American Crisis” (in which he rhymes “crisis” with “evangelical ISIS”) are very cutting, and are among my favorite in the Trump-era.

John K. Samson (July 24)

This is last one, and it’s out of chronological order, since it’s a single, not an album or EP, but Samson (of Weakerthans and Propagandhi fame) probably penned the song of the year with this one. Combining baseball with a look at America’s political landscape, this is an acoustic song that is both bitter and hopeful, beautiful and sad. Ugh, I can’t find gud werds to describe it, but it’s great and I’ve listened to it a lot.

ten cool bands from spain

Well, I kinda messed up with doing a quarterly-ish round up of new music I liked. Hard to get motivated to write about bands and songs when the world is spiraling out of control, I guess. Not that it’s necessarily better now, but school has started up again, so now there’s at least more of a schedule to follow, so there’s a bit of normalcy, if such a thing exists now.

Anyways, since there’s too much new music to write about since my last post, I decided to highlight a few of my favorite bands from Spain. Honestly, it was so cool finding these bands (most of which I assume are still active) that I feel like moving to Spain would be pretty cool. My wife and I follow one of those Instagram accounts that highlight cheap homes in foreign countries, and while I don’t think we’d ever get our lives together to the point that we’d move abroad, it’s a fun daydream.

1. Mondo Beta – Barcelona

I don’t really have these in order, this isn’t a ranking (as fun as those are), but I decided to have Mondo Beta first here since they are the newest find for me. Great post-hardcore, huge Hot Snakes influence here, and I love me some Hot Snakes. Colapso Tropical is an easy top 20 record of the year for me, maybe top 10. It just seems like a good time for some loud, angry guitars.

2. Doctrina – Seville

I feel like I’ve written about Doctrina in a handful of the posts on this blog, so I’m not sure how much more I have to say about them, but “Pedestal de Huesos” (“pedestal of bones”) is a badass song. Alimentar su final has a bit of lo-fi production with just a dash of reverb that gives it a sort of new-wave meets punk feel that I really dig. It was my highest rated non-English record on my Top 15 Records of 2019 post (no. 9).

3. Nogato – Madrid

Nogato was also a top 15 record from last year (no. 13), and it rips. Mixing emo with sing-along choruses and upbeat melodies, these guys are awesome.

4. Semana Santa – Valencia

This is Semana Santa’s debut EP, Estado Inicial. I’ve said it before (I think?) but post-punk is one of the most broad genres ever because some of it sounds horrible and I can’t stand it, and some of it is great and I can’t get enough of it. Semana Santa is the latter, mixing those cold, angular guitars with some sounds that I think some of the goth kids I knew in high school would dig (in a good way).

5. Tentáculo – Seville

I wrote about Tentáculo’s debut LP Cansados de esperar earlier in the year, but I ended up going through their back catalog on bandcamp and picked up their first two EP’s as well. Very similar to Doctrina, very good.

6. Columna – Zaragoza

Columna is one of two female-fronted groups in this list. I probably compare too many female-fronted punk bands to Tsunami Bomb (who I liked but didn’t love), but all the things I liked about Tsunami Bomb are present here in Columna. The more I think about it, the main thing I didn’t like about Tsunami Bomb was that guy that would scream in the background all the time, and Columna don’t have that so yeah, I dig this.

7. Accidente – Madrid

I listened to Accidente’s last record, Pulso, and like, yeah, it was good, but something about it didn’t really “click” with me. On Caníbal, they bring it hard. Hard-hitting, political lyrics (they go out of their way to say that they are anarchists, and don’t charge for digital downloads of their music) with sharp vocals and guitar work. They are the second of two female-fronted bands on this list.

8. Hogar – Valencia

My other big interest in writing is baseball, where I study and scout young players in the San Diego Padres minor leagues and watch as they progress towards the majors. It’s fun to pick a few promising players with lots of potential and see what they end up doing with their careers. I don’t normally bother with demos from bands I’ve never heard of, but Hogar has a lot of potential that I hope they develop.

9. Llacuna – Catalonia

Llacuna is the only band featured here that doesn’t sing in Spanish – they sing in Catalan, the language of the Catalonia region. They mix in upbeat indie melodies with emo, while throwing in a little bit of brass now and then, just to keep things interesting. I don’t often set out to listen to Incendis (though I did play it for my students as one of our pre-lesson songs when we were doing remote learning via Zoom a few weeks ago), but when it comes across on my “New Music” shuffle, I don’t skip it.

10. Moratones – Valencian Community

All of the previous bands on this list have put out music in the last two years, but Moratones’ only EP came out in 2016, so I’m not sure how active they still are. They have a garage-y, Ramones-ish feel to them; kinda fast, kinda loud, but not too fast or too loud. Just right.

So, there you have it. Spain is where it’s at. I could maaaaaybe make a similar list for bands I like from France and the UK, but that’s probably it, foreign country-wise, and I think Spain has the strongest lineup. So, thanks for reading this blog, check out some new music, support your local (and foreign) artists!

Juneteenth Bandcamp Recommendations

Bandcamp rules. The only site I spend more of my time on is Twitter, and it’s where I get the majority of my music. Even though I have a Spotify subscription, bands get like $0.003 per stream, and since touring has ground to a stop, bandcamp.com is (as far as I’m aware) the best place to support musicians.

If you’re not familiar w/bandcamp.com, check it out, it’s easy to set up an account and find some good music. AAAAAANNNNDD, if you buy any music this Friday (6/19/20, which is Juneteenth), bandcamp will donate it’s share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. So, you want to check out some new music and support a good cause? Let’s get to it!

Various Artists – Black Lives Matter (Yeah Right Records!, 2020) Yeah Right! Records are awesome, and have put out some great albums. This compilation includes songs from Red Arms (their record Critical State was no.3 on my year end list in 2019), Thunder Queens (a pair of pre-teen rockers that have some great chops), and local-to-me band Broken Gold. Lots more rock ‘n roll from some other bands that I’m not super familiar w/from north of the border, and all proceeds are going to “organizations that empower Black Communities”. I dig it.

Oceanator – Lows (Tiny Engines, 2018) Elise Okusami is Oceanator, and has been my latest musical obsession since I heard her do a split EP of covers w/Bartees Strange that dropped at the beginning of the month (which I’m not mentioning here, but I’ll be covering it in my quarterly best-of post at the beginning of July). Aside from buying all her music on bandcamp, I also subscribed to her Patreon for $3 a month, which has given me access to some bonus tracks and demos, guitar tabs, podcasts w/other musicians, etc. 10/10 recommend.

Distants – s/t EP (Salinas Records, 2018) I discovered Distants on one of the many great Colin’s Punk Rock World compilations, and loved this EP so much that I ordered the 7″ and another 12″ EP from them, and they even tossed in some stickers and a free T-shirt. I’m not above playing favorites for this post, especially if the music rips like this. Great Midwestern emo-punk out of Chicago.

Limbeck – Tour EP Circa 2003 (self-released, 2003) I couldn’t have a “recommended” post w/out including Limbeck, my all-time favorite band. Hi, Everything’s Great is my all time favorite record, even though it’s pretty alt-country, a genre that I don’t pay any attention to. Anyways, Limbeck toured a ton, and my greatest bandcamp joy was finding out that some of those songs that I’d missed were available digitally. Long Live Limbeck.

Cobra Skulls – American Rubicon (Red Scare Industries, 2009) Alright, so I know I said “new music” at the beginning of this post, but even though this record is over a decade old, it’s one that I’ve found myself gravitating back to lately. Cobra Skulls have a super unique sound in the punk scene, and their lyrics that tackle the military industrial complex, immigration, xenophobia, and conspiracies seem even more applicable now then they did in 2009.

Dabblin’ – I was almost an astronaut once (Bus Stop Press, 2020) Can’t believe that it took me so long go get to a non-American band, but here we are. I already mentioned them in my last post, but I was almost an astronaut once is my favorite record to be released in 2020. It’s main flaw is how short it is (eight songs, clocking in at barely over 15 minutes), but I don’t skip a track. Punk rock from France w/some folk-punk undertones, it’s just really, really good to my ears, and not available on Spotify or iTunes.

The Menzingers – America Pt. 2 (self-released, 2020) I love The Menzingers, and seeing them in Dallas last winter with Tigers Jaw was one of the last in-person live music events I went to. “America (You’re Freaking Me Out)” was the lead single off Hello Exile (2019), and was really their first remotely “political” statement, and part two here is a stripped down acoustic re-make that changes up some lyrics to mention George Floyd and include “I hope the Devil and Donald and Mitch McConnell / Rot in hell for all tomorrows“. Personally, I don’t know how much I’ll be replaying this one, especially once Trump is out of office, but it’s an interesting snap shot of where a lot of the country is in June 2020.

Kira Jari – Spooky Freaky (Dirt Cult, 2019) This EP fell just short of my top ten list last year, but it’s still a ripper. They’re from Denton, Texas, and they sound like they’d be a great opener for Marked Men (or any other band on the Dirtnap label). If the public schools in Denton have classes for on garage-punk, I’m sure the dudes from Kira Jari graduated w/honors.

Joyblasters – Sea, Sun & Pizza (Bad Mood Asso, 2020) I missed Joyblasters on my last quarterly round up, so I’m adding them here. Fun pop-punk from France that I liked enough to order the cassette. I don’t even have a cassette player (my Walkman bit the dust before I hit puberty in the 90’s), but I just like having a physical copy (I did this with the Dabblin’ album above, forgot to mention that).

Quaker Wedding – Jilted Lover 7″ (Salinas Records, 2020) Alright, I didn’t intend for this to be a ten-band post, but I’ll wrap it up here. These two songs by Quaker Wedding are the best new songs that I’ve heard 2020 period. I emailed Marco at Salinas Records and copped an advanced download of their debut record, and it completely rips. I know I said Dabblin’ had released the best album of 2020, but once this “officially” drops, it’ll be Quaker Wedding’s title to lose. I’d be really surprised if I find something else that I like more. I’ll save my specific praise for the full review at CPRW, but I love these songs so much, it’s crazy. UPDATE! Their album In Transit dropped today, seriously, pick it up.

Alright, so that’s my list of recommended music for June 19, 2020. Hope you dig all of it, or some of it, or dig through the handful of posts on this site to find something else you like. Stay safe, listen to good music, be kind to others, and wear a mask. Thanks for reading!

Quarantined Top 18: Best releases of 2020 (so far)

Howdy y’all. We’re in April now, which means that the first quarter of the year is done. Pretty eventful to say the least. Since I had some extra time on my hands, I decided to take a quick respite from writing about punk music at Colin’s Punk Rock World, and write here about my favorite releases from 2020 so far. I’ll keep them in chronological order for now, and save the rankings for the end of the year piece. I’ll divide it into full lengths and EP’s.

Full Lengths:

The Drowns – Under Tension (January 17th, Pirates Press Records)

Street punk in the vein of Rancid and The Briggs, which makes sense, since The Drowns feature members of The Briggs, along with Shell Corporation and Success. Under Tension isn’t re-inventing the wheel here, but delivers hearty slabs of working class punk anthems that beg to be shouted along to. Big fan of the Jimmy Cliff cover, “The Harder They Come”.

Personality Cult – New Arrows (February 14th, Dirtnap Records)

I always think I should love more Dirtnap bands than I do. Last year, Steve Adamyk Band put out an EP and a full length that both made my top ten lists, and Bad Sports, Marked Men, and Sonic Avenues all have places in my music library. If you like punk-tinged garage rock, you probably already love Dirtnap, and you definitely shouldn’t skip out on Personality Cult’s Dirtnap debut.

Ratboys – Printer’s Devil (February 28th, Topshelf Records)

Led by the light, gliding vocals of Julia Steiner, Printer’s Devil is indie-rock for the masses. Fun without being trite, rocking without having to use your ear plugs, I get a real Fountains of Wayne vibe from them, which is high praise from me.

Worriers – You or Someone You Know (March 6th, 6131 Records)

After I heard the singles, I had to pre-order the vinyl. Worriers’ previous record, Survival Pop, is a gem of defiant indie-punk, led by Lauren Denitzio’s snarling croon. On You or Someone You Know, she’s stepped up her songwriting game, bearing her soul without losing her edge. So, so many repeat listens.

Dabblin’ – I was almost an astronaut once (March 7th, Bus Stop Press)

I found out about Dabblin’ on an excellent bandcamp compilation called The Ghost Town Initiative, a comp of 94 different French bands. I can’t find a single shred of information about this group on Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, Spotify, Google, or even bandcamp (their record was put out on a French label’s page, not even their own), but it rips.

Dogleg – Melee (March 13th, Triple Crown Records)

Without a doubt, Melee has the most aggressive guitar sound on this list. Everything about Dogleg is aggressive, and is able to appeal to fans of the indie, punk, emo and alternative genres. While their debut was unfortunately ill-timed, but should end up making plenty of year-end lists, assuming the world doesn’t end.

Tentáculo – Cansados de esperar (March 16th, Andalucía Über Alles)

I’m putting these releases in chronological order from when they were released, but this was the last record I put on this list, a last second find from The Doesn’t Suck. Tentáculo has a similar sound to Doctrina, who cracked my top ten records for 2019 (and also happen to be from a similar region in Spain. Check out Tentáculo, and then check out Doctrina, and then learn Spanish.

The Special Bombs – Eruptions (March 20th, SBÄM Records)

I’ve always wanted to like Bouncing Souls more than I actually do. I mean, “True Believers” and “Gone” are all-time great punk tunes, and I really dig the Souls split with Anti-Flag, but even How I Spent My Summer Vacations had some weak moments. The Special Bombs have re-created that Souls feel without a shred of filler, and I am definitely here for it.

Στράφι – Παραδομένοι Στη Γιορτή (March 22nd, self-released)

For a while, I was worried that this list would be boring and have all English-speaking releases, but fortunately, Strafi came out of Larissa, Greece and saved the day (according to their bandcamp and Facebook pages, this is another way to write this band’s name). FWIW, the album title translates to Delivered at the Feast. Though I can’t understand a single lyric, if I had to choose a band to compare them to, it’d be Good Riddance, though they’d fit in just fine w/any number of mid-late 90’s Epitaph/Fat Wreck bands. EDIT: because of Tentáculo, I realize that now there are two non-English speaking releases on the list.

Brian Fallon – Local Honey (March 27th, Lesser Known Records)

The Gaslight Anthem is one of my favorite bands, and The ’59 Sound will probably always be one of my all-time favorite records. It took me a little to get into Fallon’s solo work, since tGA’s output dimmed in quality towards the end, but I really dug Sleepwalkers, which he released in 2018. Local Honey seems to find Fallon even more mellow, but still an introspective lyricist and skilled song writer. (no bandcamp)

Cable Ties – Far Enough (March 27th, Sub Pop Records)

I’ve become decidedly more political since the 2016 election, and Far Enough does a great job of embodying the rage that many are feeling (or at least what I’m feeling) in 2020. This Australian group has a stripped down, throwback sound that is led by the powerful, pissed off vocals of Jenny McKehnie. Roll down the windows and play it loud.

EP’s

WIG – swell (January 1st, self-released)

One of the many gems I’ve found from Steve’s blog The Doesn’t Suck, WIG are a whirlwind of loud rock noises that seem like they could be from twenty years in the past or twenty years in the future, but they are decidedly here in the present. I dig ’em.

Resuscitators – Pretend It’s Over (January 10th, Colin’s Punk Rock World Records)

I’m one of the few (or only, I’m not sure) Yanks writing at CPRW, and it’s been really cool getting some insight into the UK scene. Resuscitators is one of the bands I’ve gotten into since writing over there, great gruff-punk in the vein of Hot Water Music.

Thunder Queens – Thunder Queens EP (January 25th, Yeah Right! Records)

I’ve been a fan of Yeah Right! Records since they put out Critical State by Red Arms in 2019. Thunder Queens are pound for pound the hardest rockers on this list, as this rock duo released their debut EP before they reached their teens. Super stoked that the next generation is still bringing the noise, excited to see what they have in store for years to come.

Fast Blood – Fast Blood EP (February 28th, self-released)

Maybe I’ve just been under a rock, but it seems like in the past few years, I’ve found a ton of new female-fronted punk bands, and I love it. Fast Blood gets your extremities moving, playing melodic punk rock with tight musicianship, very reminiscent of Misfortune Cookie’s Heavy Seas, one of my favorite records last year, but with a bit more of a bite to it.

Conditioner – Low Point (March 1st, self-released)

Conditioner don’t seem like they’re here for a long time, but they’re here for a good time. Low Point is comfortably sloppy, barely hanging on punk. If that stained pair of sweats that you’re wearing during the quarantine because you just don’t care anymore was a punk release, it’d be this EP. If that sounds like an insult, I’ll try to remedy it by saying it’s probably my favorite EP on this list.

Low Dérive – Don’t Belong (March 6th, self-released)

With a pair of full length’s in their back catalogue, Don’t Belong is Low Dérive’s seventh release. From Milan, this EP is full of self-deprecating lyrics and no-frills indie-punk.

Alkaline Trio – EP (March 19th, Epitaph Records)

Everybody knows about Alkaline Trio by now, and while I wouldn’t say this is their best work, it’s not their worst. I really appreciate any and all artists that released music during the month of March, despite not being able to play shows to promote it. (no bandcamp)

Anyways, that’s my list. Looking forward to (hopefully) more great music this year, but at the very least, I think 2020 is off to a good start, musically speaking. Lots of other things about it suck, but, like my spotify playlist for this post says, 2020 doesn’t *have* to suck. I’ll be updating the list throughout the year, so stay tuned, and stay safe, internet reader (sorry to Dabblin’, Tentáculo, Thunder Queens, and WIG, who are too cool for Spotify).

*ALSO* if you find any music here or elsewhere that you like, be sure to support the artists and buy their stuff.

BONUS!!!

Hey, you made it all the way down to the end, so I’ll make this even more worth your while with some bonus, non-full length/EP releases. Yes, yes, I am the last of the true gentlemen.

Hot Snakes – I Shall Be Free (February 11th, Sub Pop Records)

At this point, I am a slave to John Reis. I am destined to love everything that he touches, and Hot Snakes are no exception. “I Shall Be Free” is the second of four singles leading up to their next full length, and if you don’t dig it then I really don’t know what to tell you.

Quaranteens – Where’s My Shirt? (March 16th, self-released)

Stephen Egerton (of Descendents and All fame) has a daughter that is really into the band PEARS, and (you can read this story in slightly more detail in the bandcamp link) after watching them live, saved up her money to buy two of their shirts. This 36 second track features Egerton, his daughter Sophie, and Milo (also of Descendents), and all proceeds go to PEARS, who, like many, have had to cancel tours because of the coronavirus outbreak in the US.

Hogar – Demo (March 30th, self-released)

Normally when I’m scrolling through bandcamp, nothing is more of a turn off than seeing a release that is branded as a “demo”. Unless it’s of a band that I’m already super into, I just don’t see the point in even showing off your not-actually-finished-songs. That said, I guess the incredible artwork of Valencia, Spain’s own Hogar that really drew me in. It’s a super rough demo, but it’s something that, idk, I just really liked, so I went against my normal judgement and added it to my library.

Ok, also, because I like seeing it all in one place, here are all the labels that put out all of that music from the top of the post: 6131 Records, Andalucía Über Alles, Bus Stop Press, Colin’s Punk Rock World Records, Dirtnap Records, Epitaph Records, Lesser Known Records, Pirates Press Records, SBÄM Records, self released (5), Sub Pop Records, Topshelf Records, Triple Crown Records, and Yeah Right! Records.

Alright, one more thing that I like to see all in one place, here are all the countries and U.S. states of the artists that put out all of that music from the top of the post: Illinois (3), Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Washington, Australia, Canada (2), England (2), France (2), Germany, Greece, and Spain.

Radio Marcus’ Best of 2019: EPs

It’s weird that in the Netflix-era, I’ve said to myself on numerous occasions that I don’t have time to watch a two hour movie, but I’ll make time to binge watch half a season of a 40 minute show in one sitting. That’s my way of saying that full length records are cool, but sometimes the digestability of an EP can be nice.

I’ll shoutout Steve from The Doesn’t Suck blog in this post, since half of this list comes from bands he linked to on his site. He’s like that guy you see with a metal detector on a beach, but instead of finding watches and nickels, he’s finding good music.

10. Urban Outfielders – Out Of This World (Hidden Home Records)

I’m a huge baseball nerd, so I’ll give a few listens to any band that is writing songs about our nation’s pastime (would love to see these guys tour with the Isotopes).

9. Harker – Dead Ends (self-released

I saw Harker’s debut LP on some best of lists in 2018, but quickly judged them as a Gaslight Anthem knockoff and didn’t give them another thought… until they showed up on the CPRW 5th Birthday compilation. Yes, it’s a little poppier than I’d normally like, but very earnest rock w/a slight punk edge.

8. Ceci dit – Il s’agirait de grandir (self-released)

Ceci dit is a band from France, and I have no idea what a single word they’re saying on this EP (I didn’t catch a single “bonjour” or “deja vu” amongst the lyrics). You can tell this is a Steve recommendation because he’s my go-to for non-English bands.

7. Quitters – Singing Like Nobody’s Listening (Red Toad Music)

UK band that’s a little gruff, a little melodic, and one of my favorite jams earlier in the year. Wish I had acted a little sooner and picked up the vinyl for this one, but still good digitally.

6. Boom! Civil War – We Are Disaster (self-released)

It’s debatable whether or not these three songs count as an EP or as a single, but they’re relatively long songs (as far as punk songs go), so we’ll count this as an EP. I grew up in San Diego, and never went to a basement show, since houses don’t have basements in California, but if Australia has basements, I’m sure Boom! Civil War rocks them pretty hard.

5. Deformadores – Deformadores (self-released)

Of all the releases here, this is probably the most lo-fi, and it’s in Spanish, so good luck figuring out what they’re saying. I’m pretty fluent, but still have a hard time deciphering. Understanding lyrics is overrated, imo.

4. Wrip – Big Wave (Prarie State Records)

Cool 90’s vibes from Wrip, like if early Fountains of Wayne were a little more depressed. Favorite track: “Ride”

3. Modern Shakes – Murmur (self-released)

The second and final UK band on the EP countdown, Modern Shakes is also the name of a song by Banner Pilot, which seems appropriate, although the vocals are a little clearer than BP. Loved this one, looking forward to their next EP coming out sometime next year. Shout out to Emma at Colin’s Punk Rock World for turning me on to these blokes.

2. Lxs Diamantes – Lxs Diamantes EP (self-released)

Great garage-y rock with a punk attitude, vocals that alternate from crooning to yelling, and even some cowbell thrown in from time to time for good measure. I am the number one Lxs Diamantes fan in the world, Argentina has some rad bands.

1. Steve Adamyk Band – EP (Rad Girlfriend Records)

Tim from I Buy Way Too Many Records is a huge SAB fan, but for whatever reason, it never clicked with me until this year. They’ll show up on this and the best records list as well, more killer garage rock for your soul, picked this one up on vinyl as well.

So that’s it, those are my favorite EP’s from 2019. Bring on 2020.

Radio Marcus: Best Records of 2019

Right off the bat, I’ll clarify that although it says “best”, I guess I really mean “favorite”. Sure, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure won less awards than Citizen Kane, but I’d still rather watch Socrates and Billy the Kid travel through time to work on a history report than…. uh, whatever that other movie is about. So yeah, these are just the records that really resonated with me throughout the year and I’d definitely recommend to anyone reading this post.

15. Drilling For Blasting – Fingers Are The Best Eyes (Underground Communiqué Records)

This was a late addition to my list after seeing it on someone else’s list on Punknews.org, and man… it’s weird. DfB is a duo, and manages to have a punk feel to it’s guitar-rock sound. Lots of loud-to-quiet-to-loud again, pounding percussion, a splash of harmonica thrown in occasionally for good measure, and some talking-yelling vocals that sound like an angrier, growlier Craig Finn.

14. Reconciler – Set Us Free (A-F Records)

I don’t want to set expectations too high, but I definitely got a “Chuck Ragan fronting Sink or Swim-era The Gaslight Anthem” vibe from a few of Reconciler’s jams (which could maybe be used in a number of other bands with gruff vocals and crashing guitars). Unfair comparison aside, they do a good job of keeping themselves from being a clone of some of their forefathers, and when frontman Joseph Lazzari growl-yells “We can hold on til January / We can hold on til January of next year… Tomorrow is unwritten but that’s not what I fear“, you find yourself really pulling for him.

13. Nogato – Nogato (Cuidad Oasis)

This is the first (but not the last) non-English speaking entry into this year’s list. Nogato is from Madrid, Spain, but you don’t need to habla español to enjoy the sweet sounds of their self-titled debut. Album opener “Ciudad Grande”‘s emphatic chorus says (translated) “I just want / To be able to choose / From everything / What makes me suffer“, but if you weren’t bilingual, you’d think that it was about euphorically diving into a peaceful lake on a summer’s day. For fans of twinkly guitars, yelling, and Spanish spoken with a proper lisp.

12. Kiteflighter – Kiteflighter (self-released)

I speak Spanish, but I don’t speak Ukrainian, so I can’t help with any of the translations for Kiteflighter. But if you block out the lyrics (and pretend that you don’t know where Ukraine is), you’d think this was a Midwestern emo-punk band, full with twinkly guitars and yearning vocals. I followed them on Facebook in between arguments with family members about politics and found out that the exchange rate from the US to Ukraine means that their t-shirt would only set me back $9! Unfortunately, the shipping would be $30, so I haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet. Anyways, the breakdown on Дождь is one of my favorite snippets of music this year.

11. Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center (Dead Ocean)

By far the most subdued sounds on my Best of 2019 playlist belong to Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst’s new group. I’m not really into most of their back-catalogue (or maybe I just haven’t delved into deeply enough), but between the excellent song composition and great vocal harmonies, this is perfect for early morning driving or late night studying. The highlight of the record for me is “Dylan Thomas”, which finds Bridgers and Oberst throwing shade at the White House (“These cats are scared and feral / With flag pins on their lapels / The truth is anybody’s guess / The talking heads are sayin’ / The king is only playin’ a game of four-dimensional chess“) with the sound ranging from whispered vocals to soaring, arena-like electric guitars.

10. Cold Wrecks – This Could Be Okay (self-released)

Brooklyn’s Cold Wrecks are easily the best Twitter-follow on this list, and their bio claims that their sound is “Dad-rock for pop-punkers, pop-punk for emo kids, (and) emo for dads.” As a dad that also likes good pop-punk, I’ll just say that they’re good, and this is probably one of the few records on this list that high school-era Marcus (class of ’02) would also like. “Crossing Sign” and “January First” are a great one-two punch early on in the track list, with the former sounding like it’d blend in well on a early 2000s Warped Tour comp, and the latter sounding like a Rebellion-era outtake from The Riot Before. These are supposed to be compliments, folks. “IDK” is easily the best closing track of a record that I’ve heard in a long time, and for an album that deals with anxiety and mental health, it’s comforting to know that these guys still think that things Could Be Okay.

9. Doctrina – Alimentar su final (self-released)

I’ll take this time to shoutout Steve from The Doesn’t Suck blog, since I used him as the biggest source of music discovery in 2019. To be honest, I don’t think there’s a huge overlap in the Venn diagram of our musical preferences, but it’s gems like Doctrina, a punk group from Seville, Spain that I can hardly find out anything about (they’re not on Spotify or iTunes, and I’m the only one that’s spent a single dollar on their Bandcamp page) that make his blog a must read. Though I speak Spanish, the low recording quality makes it difficult to decipher the words, but doesn’t dull the songs in the least. Song titles like “Bajo la rueda” (Beneath the wheel) and “Pedestal de huesos” (Pedestal of bones) tell you all you really need to know about these guys.

8. The Menzingers – Hello Exile (Epitaph Records)

I was intrigued when I heard The Menzingers cover of The Clash’s “Straight To Hell” like, a decade ago, but didn’t really get into them until 2017’s After the Party, which was a total banger and my favorite from them (with all apologies to On The Impossible Past, which is also really good). Hello Exile works as a follow up to (or a coming down from) ATP, as it deals with more punkers-in-their-30’s themes (“High School Friend”), and relationships gone sour (“Strangers Forever”), mixed with nostalgia (“Anna” which seems like it was created by scientists to create a hole in your heart for someone you’ve never even met). If the choruses in “London Drugs” and “Portland” were as solid as the verses, this would be much higher, but in my opinion, it does nothing to dull the shine of their sixth full length.

7. Steve Adamyk Band – Paradise (Dirtnap Records)

I was late to the game on these fine Canadians, but I’m all (or mostly, at least) caught up now. After a decade as a band and six releases deep, they’re still making high-energy garage rock that ranges from sweet (“Take It To The Top”) to edgy (“No Help”), but they take their foot off the gas in “Waiting To Die, Pt. 1” and (though I related to it more than I’d probably care to admit), it’s one of my favorite in their catalogue. I’m not sure how one would go about picking out a favorite record by SAB, but it’d be hard not to put Paradise in the conversation.

6. The Black Keys – “Let’s Rock” (Nonesuch Records)

I have Rubber Factory as one of my favorite records of my lifetime, showcasing the raw, grungy blues rock from this Ohio-based duo. I still haven’t been able to get behind a ton of their output since then (though Brothers had a few good singles, and El Camino has a great first half), but I’m happy to say that I really dug “Let’s Rock”. It’s way more polished and radio-ready than their first few albums, unfortunately, but “Shine A Little Light”, “Lo/Hi”, and “Go” are all infectious licks of blues rock that I couldn’t help but devour all summer between drives to the city pool and the river we go to with our kids. They don’t have a bandcamp page for their new album, because they’re big time (well, at least for this list), so here’s a bandcamp link to the aforementioned Rubber Factory.

5. Foxhall Stacks – The Coming Collapse (Snappy Little Numbers)

When I saw that Foxhall Stacks featured “members of Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion, Government Issue, and Jawbox” I almost dismissed it, since I’m not too much into hardcore anymore. Then I heard “Turntable Exiles”, which seemed almost too sugary-sweet to digest, and I counted it as power-pop dross and let it alone. I went back to it after Tim from the I Buy Way Too Many Records blog raved about it, and found one of the best records of the year. Yes, it’s still a power-pop album, but I also hear a little Descendents in “The Old Me”, some Fountains of Wayne in “Take Control”, and if you had told me that “Worried” was a Ted Leo & the Pharmacists outtake, I’d gladly believe you. I didn’t “get it” as immediately as Tim did, but I got there eventually. It’s not number one, but it is the most fun record on this list to listen to.

4. Misfortune Cookie – Heavy Seas (Everything Sucks Music)

While listening to Sincere Engineer with my daughter in the car, she asked if the singer was “a girl”, and when I replied in the affirmative, she said that was cool, because she liked that “girls can scream in their music too”. I’d be lying if I said that I had a huge library of female-fronted punk bands, but what made Misfortune Cookie one of the best finds of the year for me are Helen Chambers’ dulcet tones. She’s able to command the gruff punk stylings of the band (which is composed of three-fourths of the now disbanded Bear Trade) with a soft voice that is able to be vulnerable and powerful at the same time. She once toured with Chuck Ragan on his folk-focused Revival Tour, but this group would fit right in as an opener for his main gig, Hot Water Music. Misfortune Cookie would still be good with another singer, but Chambers brings the group to another level.

3. Red Arms – Critical State (Yeah Right! Records)

I love this record. From the second Eric Longtin screams “Alright!” on the bombastic opener “Post Punk”, to the final distorted groan of “Listless”, I’m hooked. There’s some Jawbox and Hot Snakes influences here, but still enough diversity in the tracklist to keep things fresh for repeated listens. “Ran Away” is the track that seems like it would appeal to the masses the most (it’s also the one they made a video for), and it’s great, but “Midwinter”, which features a brooding instrumental lead up and a smashing, relentless chorus is my favorite track. Of course, I’d love to see any of the records here on somebody else’s year-end list, but Critical State is one that I think way too many people are sleeping on or just totally overlooking.

2. Dark Thoughts – Must Be Nice (Stupid Bag Records)

I’m a pretty responsible guy (been in my career for a decade, bought a house, have three kids, etc.), but sometimes I do dumb things like staying up late watching The Office and eating junk food on a weeknight. It’s dumb, but sometimes I can’t help it. Dark Thoughts are not sophisticated. This record is 12 songs stretched across 19 minutes, and some (to the untrained ear) sound hardly discernible from the other. It’s why I’m not really big on the Ramones-core genre. But where some bands seem like they’re trying on costumes and pretending to be the Ramones, Dark Thoughts have a swagger like they just rolled out of bed but are ready to destroy your ear drums as soon as they get their leather jacket on. It’s sincere, it’s not an act. Joe Strummer once described The Clash by saying “We’re not particularly talented, we just try hard.” I wouldn’t say that the sheet music for Must Be Nice would look particularly complicated, but it’s executed so well that you can’t help but binge it whenever the mood strikes. Some people will say “Oh, it came out in the middle of December, and the release date for the album on bandcamp says January 17, 2020,” but it allowed me to download it in 2019, so I’m counting it (although I might count it next year too, it’s that good).

Number 1: Good Riddance – Thoughts and Prayers (Fat Wreck Chords)

Like a broken in baseball mitt, there’s something about Good Riddance that just feels right. They were one of the first punk bands that I cut my teeth on high school, and while they’re not breaking new ground here, I think this is the most cohesive album they’ve ever made. A nine year hiatus yielded 2016’s Peace In Our Time, which I enjoyed, but still seemed… I don’t know, maybe a bit flat? Or maybe it just hits differently in 2019. Anyhow, with Thoughts and Prayers, GxR are back with a vengeance and the political landscape has provided plenty of lyrical fodder. While they don’t drop any names (because really, the actors change, but the themes of corruption, greed, inequality, etc. stay the same), they balance biting commentary with their brand of melodic hardcore that’s become a staple to many an aging punk. Long live Russ Rankin & Co.

So that’s it. That’s my list. There’s tons of great music out there, be sure to support great artists. I’ve bought digital copies of all of these via bandcamp and iTunes, and I have six of them on vinyl (still waiting on the Must Be Nice preorder to be shipped – and for Heavy Seas to be pressed stateside so I’m not paying a bundle in shipping from the UK). Buuuuutttt… if you are cruising around and have Spotify on your mobile device, or wanna pull this up on your desktop, here is a link to a playlist with two songs from every record on here, plus a song from my top ten EP’s, and a handful of other singles that came out this year (minus some of the more obscure stuff that isn’t on Spotify).