Top Albums of 2010

Sean Extra Cheese here with a roundup of the albums I thought were significant for 2010. My list is heavy on the punk side. Agree/disagree/know about something I left out? Sound off in the comments. Read the list after the jump.




Top 20 Albums of 2010

Devo - Something For Everybody
An updated image, a faux-corporate ad campaign, and 12 new tracks of the same poppy synth-punk that hasn't gotten stale in their old age. This isn't a return to form, rehashing an old formula. This is fresh material from a band that felt like they were sitting still too long.

Screaming Females - Castle Talk
I don't even know how to start talking about how great this band is. Hard, raw, explosive rock n roll with a frontwoman who relentlessly wails away both on her guitar and her vocal cords. This album is another reason that everyone should pay attention to this band.

Noun - s/t
Solo project from Screaming Females' Marissa Paternoster. Everything you just read about them, with a Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins psychedelic influence. I somehow like it better than Screaming Females and can't wait to hear more.

Cute Lepers - Smart Accessories
After the tragic death of guitarist Travis Criscola, The Cute Lepers came back with a new lineup and still at the top of their game. Power pop with a heavy 77 punk aesthetic, these songs will get stuck in your head and you will have no shame in wanting to pogo around to the music. "Dirty Baby" is song of the year for me.

Bedouin Soundclash - Light the Horizon
I once described this band as "if U2 covered a Trojan Records comp." While I still think BS has similar guitar tones and occasionally the vocals remind me of Bono, this band is a lot better than that description suggests. Solid old school style reggae with a modern indie rock twist. Produced by Philly's own King Britt, this album is a bit softer than previous efforts, but no less danceable.

Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon - Wu-Massacre
This might be my favorite Wu release in the past 10 years. Seriously.

The Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years
Self-described as a "middle aged mom record," I absolutely do not see it that way. This album is exactly what I wanted to hear as a Sleater-Kinney fan. It keeps the same sensibilities that you would expect from a follow up to The Woods, but branches out with lyrics and instrumentation that's bit more complex than any SK release. A must-listen.

Victor Shade - s/t
Ra Scion from Common Market assumes the alias of Marvel Comics' Vision, and releases a superhero themed album. It's the rhymes and hooks that made me a fan of Common Market, but it's the comic epic that unfolds through the album that grabbed my inner dork and made me love this album.

The Brokedowns - Species Bender
I'm usually not a fan of the newer generation of beardpunk. The Hot Water Music-esque vocals just don't do it for me. This band blew my preconceptions out of the water. They have a fast and fun 80's hardcore approach to the gruff punk formula. It sounds like they wrote a pop punk album, but in the studio they all got drunk and fucking thrashed through it without looking back. Urgent, and both jubilant and angry, this is punk done right.

OFF! - First 4 EPs
Keith Morris collected an amazing backing band with members of Rocket From The Crypt, Burning Brides and Redd Kross. Then he put out an album that recalls his work in Black Flag and early Circle Jerks. This collection of 7"s will win over any hardcore punk fan and leave us dying to see what they do next.

Modern Action - Molotov Solution
California punk rock that brings the first couple Bad Religion albums or old Swingin Utters to mind. I first gave them a shot because they feature Daniel from The Briefs, and I will stay with them because this is the kind of music that made me fall in love with punk in the first place.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I wanted to hate this. I wanted to keep on ignoring everything this guy does because he comes off as such a douchebag. This album popped up on almost every Top Albums list I read. I caved and listened to it. Crap, it's good. I like it better than College Dropout. God damn it.

The Thermals - Personal Life
The first album featuring new drummer Westin Glass does not dissappoint. The same driving punk that has carried them this far is pushing them slowly into new territory album by album. Musically this is an easily identifiable progression from last years' Now We Can See, and I hope they don't slow down the pace. Go watch the video for "I Don't Believe You" and I dare you not to fall in love with this trio.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Brutalist Bricks
You need to get on the Ted Leo bandwagon. The latest in a discography of nothing but killer albums, this sounds like if Elvis Costello listened to nothing but Descendants and 7 Seconds for a month.

Hostage Calm - s/t
Usually when hardcore bands get "experimental" it means they get a metal tinge and do more leads. Hostage Calm breaks that stereotype and comes up with one of the most interesting melodic hardcore albums I've heard in awhile.

Wounded Lion - s/t
The debut album from these garage rockers is "lo-fi" done right. This had my head bobbing the whole time, and enough humor in the lyrics to make this band wholly endearing.

Shannon & The Clams - I Wanna Go Home
You know those lo-fi surf rock bands like Best Coast and Wavves that everybody is raving about? Shannon & The Clams make them look like fucking amateurs.

Nobunny - First Blood
Throw Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Ramones and The Cramps in a blender, then have the result screamed at you in punk fury. Another album of great, in your face, garage punk.

Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
8 people get together and play super catchy indie rock. It's like if the Fratellis decided they weren't fun enough and added a couple buddies. Literally every song on this album has been stuck in my head at some point.

Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle
Eugene Hutz is to gypsy music, as Shane MacGowan is to Irish music. Impressing a punk rock tint to traditional gypsy music seems natural to Gogol Bordello. Another stunning record from a pioneer of the genre.

Best Comeback Album
This is a tie between EPs from old school crust punkers Amebix and mathcore (can I still say that?) rockers Frodus. These EPs are hard as shit and a must listen for anyone.

Best Collection
Yuppicide's Anthology: '88-'98. Don't let the NYHC moniker fool you. This hardcore band makes creative leaps that many of their peers lack, and isn't afraid to dabble in other genres when the mood strikes. While the production isn't always the cleanest, this is worth it for the tunes.

Looking Forward To In 2011

Death To False Hope Fest. Scotty Sandwich put together one hell of a lineup for very cheap admission in some little town in North Carolina. Jan 21st & 22nd in Durham.

Screeching Weasel 25th Anniversary Fest. 3 days of the best pop punk out there.
May 27, 28 & 29 in Chicago.

Rumors of new albums from Elway (ex-10-4 Eleanor), Dead Milkmen, The World/Inferno Friendship Society, The Cute Lepers, and Shannon & The Clams.