…
24. Sirs // Sirs [Topshelf Records]
As part of the booming SUNY Purchase music scene, Sirs perfectly encapsulate everything that is so wonderful about what is going on up there. They have a boundless energy that is totally infectious from the very first seconds of their self-titled album. Some might call this screamo, but don’t let that scare you away. You see it’s not so much screaming as the energy of pure, vocal force which reverberates down through the instrumentation and sends the whole mess smashing into your eardrums. This is catchy, skyward-punch music for the young and the young at heart.
…
23. Merchandise // Children of Desire [Katorga Works]
Wow Merchandise really took off this year. They’ve risen out of a very vibrant Florida music scene to become something of a blog sensation. A lot of people are calling this punk music, and it’s true that that’s sort of climate in which this album was birthed, but this album is not so easily categorized. If I had to call it something it would a post-punk/shoegaze amalgam but really Children of Desire is a work so tightly conceived that a close listen is all it really requires. With its themes and motifs it’s an album that strives to connect with listeners on a familiar level. And despite a strange construction I’d say that at least for me, it accomplished just that.
…
22. Krallice // Years Past Matter [self-released]
Years Past Matter is the album where Krallice got everything just right. They are easily one of the most consistent American black metal bands currently on the scene, but they’ve propelled themselves into a master class with this one. Abandoning any real track titles, they much prefer to let the music do the talking, and boy does it ever. So much of ABM these days seems to add extra bits to the black metal formula, grasping for originality. Krallice forgoes all of that and just hammers out what they know. Why embellish your sound when you can perfect it?
…
21. Some Ember // Hotel of Lost Light [Crash Symbols]
I’ve been listening to a lot of post-punk/darkwave lately, but nothing has come close to touching what Some Ember accomplished with Hotel of Lost Light. My relationship with this album has been slow but ultimately very intense. It took a few listens to properly click with me, but I found that the more time I spent with it, the more I became almost obsessed with it. I mean how could I not with those otherworldly vocals? It’s a very cold, dark album but it’s one that I just cannot seem to shake and I’m not even sure that I want to.
…
20. Whatever Brains // Whatever Brains [Sorry State Records]
Whatever Brains get the award for weirdest punk album of the year. On first listen it completely disoriented me with its constant twists and turns (not to mention the omnipresence of those snotty, aggro vocals). Strangeness is woven into their very DNA and though it made the album hard to pin down at first, it became the thing that I most cherish about it. This sort of stuff is most definitely not for everyone, but if you can find an appreciation for it Whatever Brains is an intense, fun, one-of-a-kind listen that doesn’t come along all that often.
…
19. TOPS // Tender Opposites [Arbutus Records]
Depending on which music sites you frequent you’ve either heard nothing about TOPS or you’ve heard a whole heck of a lot about TOPS. Fortunately for me they were a name that kept cropping up everywhere and so I essentially was left with no choice but to listen. Like the billows of smoke that grace the cover, TOPS’ music is impossibly breezy as it floats by on carefully selected 1980’s synth sounds. Funny enough I recommended this album to the same friend about five times this year. I guess that’s what happens when a release seriously cozies up to your brain matter.
…
