I really did not intend for my next entry in this blog to be almost a full year later. Perhaps 2017 will see me actually putting this to more use. While I'm a few weeks late 2016 has ended and the annual "Year End Best Of" list of records that I enjoyed throughout the year is a tradition that I still love participating in so here we are. Below you will find a detailed list of the records I liked most, somewhat and not very much at all this past year in addition to what I'm most looking forward to seeing released in 2017.
I've read quite a few Year End Record Lists so far and the consensus seems to be that 2016 was a great year for music despite the overall general theme of awfulness that characterized much of the non-musical aspects of life this past year. While there were a number of records released that I enjoyed, as this list will attest to, and am thankful to have, I did not find myself becoming enthralled with many releases this year as opposed to last year which was a blockbuster music year for me and my musical tastes. 2015 saw the release of phenomenal debut full lengths from Fell To Low, Sweet Jesus, Cloakroom and Mutoid Man. Stellar follow up's from Loma Prieta and Drug Church. Not to mention the return of both Swervedriver and Failure with their first records in 17 and 19 years, respectively. Every entry on my list of Top 11 (I tend to not be able to choose 10 records for some reason) records released last year was without a doubt a favorite of mine that saw repeated listens from me throughout the year. Even my list of Honorable Mentions from 2015 was quite long and included many fantastic records including albums from Title Fight, Adventures, Torche, Kowloon Walled City, Axis and loads more. Indeed, I had a hard time picking my favorite records last year and ended up relegating many of them to the Honorable Mentions list. A few of those honorable mentions from last year ended up becoming favorites of mine this year. All in all there was not only more music released that I enjoyed last year, I just happened to enjoy 2015's releases quite a bit more than 2016's. Perhaps the issue was that I didn't listen to enough varied material this year. My list of records that I wish I had spent more time with is size-able this year and there are many more popping up on the year end lists of others that I have yet to hear at all.
That does not mean that 2016 was without moments of musical excitement for me however. The year saw the first new material from the mighty BURN in 15 years as well as a new 7" from the original Dag Nasty lineup for the first time in 25 years! I am optimistic for 2017 as the majority of my most anticipated records for the new year are ones that have been rumored since last year, and a few for even longer than that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will finally see new albums from the reactivated Quicksand, the hardcore super group Open City featuring members of Paint It Black, Bridge & Tunnel, Ceremony and more and my most anxiously awaited record in recent years, the second LP from Chile's Remission, Enemy Of Silence, which has been in the works for several years now. We also get BURN's first full length in 2017. But I digress, without further ado here is my 2016 musical year in review.
Full Lengths (In Order)
Fury - Paramount (Triple B)
This one surprised me. I did not like any of their previous output but gave this a chance as I try to keep an open mind with new releases. I was happy to find that Fury have adopted the metallic yet melodic sound of their Orange County Hardcore forefathers with some of the East Coast's more progressive hardcore influence. No one is really playing anything quite like this in hardcore right now. This record reminds me of Against the Wall's aggression, No For An Answer's intensity, Battery's heavy youth crew style and the introspection of Supertouch. This record makes me want to dive off of everything in sight and mosh it up.
Joyce Manor - Cody (Epitaph)
At this point I think it's safe to say that Joyce Manor can do no wrong. I am a total sucker for their brand of pop-rock/pop-punk/power-pop. However you'd like to describe their sound it is simply rocking and infectious. I find myself singing these songs constantly. There's an almost Beach Boys like similarity in the summer time, feel good nature of the vocal melodies on this record. They slowed down the tempo just slightly on Cody as opposed to previous efforts and while some of the tracks still feel a bit rushed they have dialed in their sound to really hit home that pop-rock goodness. I was finally able to see them live for the first time in 2016, which is no one's fault but my own, at Wrecking Ball in Atlanta, and they were fantastic. I think just about everyone knows about Joyce Manor at this point but on the off chance that you don't and you like pop rock give this a spin.Candiria - While They Were Sleeping (Metal Blade)
Candiria return with their first full length in 8 years and prove right off the bat that they have not lost the energy or ingenuity that makes them who they are. The opening track title track is an onslaught of heavy, math-y riffs, breakdowns and jazz parts. The clean singing that was at the forefront of their last two records is here once again but it's mixed with front man Carley Coma's seamless vocal range. These guys are the kings of technical metalcore that is so much more than just that. I had the pleasure of seeing them at Black N Blue in 2015 and they stole the show the day they played. I could watch this band play forever.Ignite - A War Against You (Century Media)
Another record that was long overdue. Ignite finally followup 2006's Our Darkest Days with their first new material in a whole decade. I love this band and anxiously awaited more of their melodic hardcore perfection. Even though their best days may be behind them I still enjoy what they produce. It is a shame that they are not better received in the US. They've gotten a bit more formulaic this time around, Zoli's lyrics are at times more cliche'd than past work but vocally he still belts it out like no one else. His voice never fails to give me chills. On A War Against You, Ignite deliver more of the polished, driving melodic hardcore punk that they are known for. This is my least favorite record of theirs overall but it is still highly enjoyable and has a few of their best songs yet in my opinion. Lead single "Nothing Can Stop Me" is an absolute force of a melodic rock anthem. I played the hell out of that song alone when it was the first track released from the record. Tracks such as "Rise Up" and "Where I'm From" detail experiences lead singer Zoli Teglas has had as an Hungarian immigrant to the US. "Where I'm From" makes me tear up every time I hear it. While a good portion of the record deals with self determination and rising up from the obstacles one faces in life the bands political side is still felt on tracks such as "This Is A War" which talks about how culture affects information in this day and age and "Oh No Not Again", a song telling of the affects of war and invasion from the perspective of those who live in the invaded country. On "The Suffering" the band address racism asking "Are we broken with this hatred inside? Time is standing still as the years pass us by". I'll take an Ignite record over most anything else.
Dangers - The Bend In the Break (Topshelf)
Despite my anxiousness for this record I was unsure of it on the first few listens and it wasn't until reading the lyrics and their explanations that the record fully sunk in for me. Still, I don't love every track musically but the lyrical genius cannot be denied. Al Brown of Dangers has a way of addressing frequently covered topics such as poverty, despair, racism, that feels newly inspired. The songs that talk about female objectification by men and how men justify their sexual actions in the name of being a slave to their desires are the ones that struck me most deeply. Track # 9, "It's The Devil I Love" tells of his realization that the male relationship with women is a terrifying contradiction. When women are young girls they are to be cared for and protected by men. However when they grow up they become sex objects for male desire and us men justify this by saying that we're slaves to the pull of lust because lustful is what we are. Dangers make me think and Dangers make me feel and for that I will always love them.
WHORES - Gold (eOne)
I am very new to the noise rock genre but I absolutely love these guys. Riffs galore. Chaos. Melody. Sludge. Stoner rock. Super catchy singing amidst the screaming. This record is perfect for banging your head in protest of your shitty life.
Hollow Earth - Dead Planet (Good Fight)
Pity Sex - White Hot Moon (Run For Cover)I wore out Pity Sex's debut full length, Feast Of Love, the summer it came out. I was at a particularly low point in life at the time and their melancholy shoegaze-y pop was the perfect soundtrack for my feelings of woe. Following up Feast Of Love was no easy feat I'm sure and those looking for part two of that record, myself included, should look elsewhere. While White Hot Moon may lack the sheen and bravado of its predecessor it is still a solid listen. I found myself particularly attached to track # 6, Plum, a song about the fruit that was loved by Britty's mother which she uses as imagery to describe how her mother's death affected her father. It is a very emotionally heavy song that is accentuated by Britty's wonderful vocals, making you almost forget that the lyrical subject matter is extremely somber. I can't help but tear up on each listen.
WRONG - S/T (Relapse)
Holy riff-central. This record plunges along like a freight train of heavy guitars and chaos in the form of some serious Helmet worship. If you're looking for a reason to bang your head until it falls off this record is your ticket.Deftones - Gore (Reprise)
If I had to pick a favorite band of all time it would be the Deftones. I have loved them since I was in a young teenager. Once I got into hardcore in the early 00's I fell off with their output after their S/T record was released in '03. Consequently I missed out on the release of both Saturday Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes entirely. It wasn't until Koi No Yokan came out in 2012 that I was propelled back into the Deftones universe. That record knocked me off my feet and cemented itself as one of the highest points of the bands career. A feat that is very hard to achieve on your 7th full length album. Naturally I had very high expectations for Koi No Yokan's followup. I waited anxiously for the release of Gore, paid close attention to the singles released before the album, read every bit of news about the making of and release of the record I could find. Then release day came, I listened from front to back and was extremely disappointed. Not only did the record not grab me immediately on first listen as Koi No Yokan had I found myself wondering what I had just listened to once the record was finished. This sounded like a very watered down imitation of the Deftones to me. At this point I'm sure you're asking yourself why I put this record in my Top 11 of the year since I don't seem to like it at all. Well, after seeing them twice this past year the new material they played live sounded a lot better to me than it did on record and I found myself slowly warming up to Gore, song by song. Now I can say that I genuinely like the A side in full. There's something I really enjoy about each of the first 5 or 6 tracks although I still contend that "Prayers/Triangles" is a very poor choice for an opening track. The B side still has moments where they flounder in my opinion but overall I have come to enjoy the record as a whole and I've very glad that the Deftones still exist and continue to do things their own way, despite what I may think of it at times.
Great Reversals - Mere Mortals (State Of Mind/Bitter Melody/Hydrogen Man)
I can be a very stubborn, stupid man especially when it comes to music that my friends make (see the review of Hollow Earth's Dead Planet above). It took me years to finally warm up to Great Reversals music and admit that I do in fact really like it! The band have been friends of mine for many years now and I have watched them progress immensely through the years with each release. Like many bands they got off to a rocky start but I am proud to say that Great Reversals have really hit their stride in recent years. Their last few EP's, To the Ends Of the Earth and Natural Burial, have been packed with passion, introspective, emotion and intensity. I could tell you which bands Great Reversals most closely resemble or what decade they sound like and they would easily go in one ear and get lost in the mix of a plethora of other bands that have similar influences. What I will say about Great Reversals that cannot be said of every band is that they make me feel and I don't just mean the urge to mosh or to break something. Their lyrics make me think about what they're saying and how it applies to my life as well as the world around me. Their singer Aaron Whitfield's delivery dares you to engage with him. That is a rarity within this thing we call hardcore. "I'm lucky to have known so little woe, but can't escape the shame of the world's pain that I'm lucky enough to ignore". Powerful stuff.
Honorable Mentions
Aeges – Weightless
Helms Alee - Stillicide
Graf Orlock – Crime Traveler
Primitive Weapons – The Future Of Death
Records I Wish I Spent More Time With
World Be Free – The Anti Circle
Bob Mould - Patch the Sky
Bob Mould - Patch the Sky
Culture Abuse – Peach
Nothing – Tired Of Tomorrow
Creative Adult – Fear Of Life
Super Unison – Auto
Harley Flanagan – Cro Mags
Garret Klahn – S/T
Shai Hulud – Just Can’t Hate Enough x2 Plus Other Hate Songs
Hollow Earth – Parting Remains EP
Child Bite – Negative Noise
Saosin – Along the Shadow
Thrice – To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere
Hesitation Wounds – Awake For Everything
True Love – Heaven’s Too Good For Us
Russian Circles – Guidance
Dog Party – Till You’re Mine
SECT – S/T
Angel Du$t – Rock the Fuck On Forever
White Lung - Paradise
Foundation - Turncoat EP
Corrective Measure – S/T 7”
Seattle’s New Gods – How’s It Going To End? 7”
Sick Of It All – When the Smoke Clears 7”
Outlet – Memento Mori
KEN Mode – Nerve 7”
Self Defense Family - The Power Does Not Work In the Presence Of Non Believer’s 12”
Self Defense Family/Null – We’ll All Be Reunited Under the Ground Split 7”
7”s/EP’s/Splits
BURN – From the Ashes 7”
Red Hare – Lexicon Mist 7”
Mindset – Nothing Less 7”
Dag Nasty – Cold Heart b/w Wanting Nothing 7”
Praise – Leave It All Behind 12“
AXIS | Seraph the Light – Collab 12"
Self Defense Family - Colicky 12”, Superior 12”
Disappointments
Basement – Promise Everything
Balance & Composure – Light We Made
American Football – LP2
Jimmy Eat World – Integrity Blues
Most Looking Forward To In 2017
GIVE – Electric Flower Cult 12” EP
Clear – Youth To Youth
Remission – Enemy Of Silence
Quicksand – TBA LP
BURN – TBA LP
Cloakroom - TBA LP
Tool – TBA LP
River Black (ex Endeavor, Burnt By the Sun, For the Love Of, Revocation, Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis) – TBA LP
Mutoid Man – TBA LP
Converge – TBA LP
Blacklisted – TBA ???
Modern Life Is War – TBA LP
Sweet Jesus – TBA 7”
FREE - TBA 7"
FREE - TBA 7"
Fiddlehead – TBA LP
Open City – TBA ???
Supertouch – Guide To the Stars LP ???
Verbal Assault - Re-Issues ???
