Albums 15 – 6
15. Comets on Fire Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop)
If Eddie Vedder was correct in once saying that �the kids of today should defend themselves against the 70�s,� then this would be the single most dangerous record that those kids could possibly own. Comets on Fire operate within the mindset that the last three decades never happened, and that Bill Graham�s Fillmore East was never converted into the Emigrant Savings Bank. Outside of the early Zappa melodies of �Pussyfootin� the Duke,� Blue Cathedral is an extremely noisy record; loaded with hopelessly distorted guitar riffs, throbbing basslines, and the occasional saxophone freakout to cultivate the Fun House vibe. It also completely kicked my ass.
14. Secret Machines Now Here is Nowhere (Reprise)
Truth be told, I saw the Secret Machines open for Spiritualized in 2003, and thought they completely sucked. The drums were placed far too high in the mix, they used these really pretentious white spotlights to illuminate the stage, and I could detect no melodies whatsoever. But I heard too many good things about Now Here is Nowhere not to spend 8 bucks on a used copy, and it sounds completely different (and better) than how I remember the live show. Both the �Us and Them� sounding harmonies of �Pharoah�s Daughter� and the tender balladry of �The Leaves are Gone� certainly warrant the many Pink Floyd comparisons used to describe this band, but there�s also an exuberant new wave sheen to faster tracks like �Nowhere Again� and �The Road Leads Where it�s Lead� that Floyd would have found it difficult to pull off. And while the drums are still placed incredibly high in the mix, The Secret Machines make excellent use of dynamics, and Now Here is Nowhere serves as a fine reminder as to why I own so many 70�s prog-rock records.
13. Wilco A Ghost is Born (Nonesuch)
The girlfriend refers to this one as �make-out music for intelligent people.� Um, ok. While I�ll never question the importance or quality of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I always have viewed that album like a high school student probably views To Kill a Mockingbird or Great Expectations; as a piece of art which is unquestionably classic, yet often difficult to appreciate on account of its density. While not a return to the Tom Petty-ish pop of A.M. or Being There, A Ghost is Born is clearly more accessible than YHF, with songs like �Company in My Back� and �Muzzle of Bees� sounding equally good within their places on the album, or out of context on a mix tape (the pointless drone of �Less Than You Think� notwithstanding). A pleasant lethargy seems to exist throughout A Ghost Is Born, making it an ideal Sunday morning listen for the times when you�re starving for brunch, but can�t muster the strength to get out from under the covers.
12. Kings of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak (RCA)
Considering I didn�t even know when this record was scheduled to be released, I�m shocked that it�s in my Top 20. Although their debut was a merely pleasant collection of 70�s radio nostalgia, Aha Shake Heartbreak finds Kings of Leon rapidly maturing into a genuine band; embracing sharper riffs and shorter song lengths while dispensing with most of the AOR indulgences that hampered their last album. The result is one of the snappiest, catchiest records I�ve listened to this year. Their oversexed lyrical flourishes can get a little tiresome, they still haven�t lost their tendency to refer to the male genitalia as a �pistol�, but Caleb Followill�s vocal growl is appealing enough (and unintelligible enough) that you probably won�t mind.
11. Drive By Truckers The Dirty South (New West)
The Drive By Truckers are one of a dying breed; a no nonsense rock band from the American South for whom telling a story is just as important as kicking your ass. The Dirty South is their third excellent album in four years, and their most diplomatic to date. While the focus remains on the songwriting of de facto frontman Patterson Hood and his longtime sidekick Mike Cooley; 25-year old wunderkind Jason Isbell is the talent to watch as he comes up big with a classic pair of weepers in �Goddamn Lonely Love� and �Danko/Manuel.� The Dirty South is as unapologetic a rock album as you�re likely to hear all year, but perhaps the only one where the lyric booklet is a required read.
10. Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters (Universal)
Call me cheesy if you wish, but I happen to enjoy fiendishly catchy, Elton John-inspired pop songs usually associated with gay discos. This is also why I was in the front row when British pop tart Robbie Williams visited New York back in 1999. The Scissor Sisters can sell out shows in Manhattan, but unlike the U.K., where this album spent many a week at #1, American music buyers will likely never fully embrace a band whose best known single involves coming out to your mother during a champagne fueled night on the town (it was a stirring Blue State victory when The Scissor Sisters were piped into dozens of Alabama households on Saturday Night Live last week). This is the party album of the year, and their live show is a gas.
9. Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse (Geffen)
Sonic Nurse is similar to recent career highlight Murray Street (2002) in that it�s another collection of extended guitar workouts at the crossroads of The Grateful Dead and Television; devoid of any obvious singles and better for it. But Sonic Nurse is the darker of the two, benefiting from fuzzier production values which lend it an air of mystery. Probably my favorite �nighttime� album of 2004, Sonic Nurse is impossible to completely appreciate in one sitting; requiring several weeks of attentive listening before all of it can register all of its hooks. And yes, it�s extremely impressive that these guys are all pushing fifty, and yet have remained consistently relevant since the early ’80s.
8. The Futureheads The Futureheads (Sire)
Frankly, I completely hate acapella groups. I asked a girl on a date in college, and when she suggested we spend it by watching her friend�s acapella concert, I was so appalled that I never called her back. Such actions might explain why I got less than zero play in college. The Futureheads are an acapella group in the sense that all four of their members sing; often on top of one another, often with no other musical accompaniment. But their voices are most often layered on top of angular guitar hooks and frantic drumming. In fact; the one word I would use to describe The Futureheads� debut album would be �hooks� because they�re absolutely everywhere. The first half of this album is completely relentless; an eight song blur concluding with the epic �Carnival Kids� and cramming more hooks into 20 minutes than most bands can manage over an entire career. The second half of the album features their notorious Kate Bush cover. Did I mention they�re skinny British boys with lovely north English accents? Recommended for anyone who likes their Brit-pop severely caffeinated.
7. Mclusky The Difference Between You and Me is that I�m Not on Fire (Too Pure)
Mclusky often get compared to The Pixies on account of their ferocious musical attack and off-color sense of humor, but they�ve actually got more in common with the Jesus Lizard or Shellac due to instantly recognizable Albini-production and Jonathan Chapple�s skull crushing bass. The Difference� doesn�t quite have the �instant classic� status of Mclusky Do Dallas (2002), but it finds the band taking far more chances with its brutal sound. The massive riffage of imaginatively titled cuts like �Without MSG I Am Nothing� and �Falco vs. the Young Canoeist,� is to be expected, but they also pull out all the stops on �She Will Only Bring You Happiness;� a bona fide pop ditty that�s one of the best songs I�ve heard all year (and in true Mclusky fashion, it�s built along the refrain of �our old singer is a sex criminal.�). Their live show is also extremely enjoyable, featuring hilarious stage banter and audience interaction that has the effect of making them seem like genuinely cool dudes. Easily topping the list of bands with whom I would most want to share a pint, Mclusky are worth rooting for.
6. The Cure The Cure (Geffen)
The latest Cure record isn�t exactly what you would call innovative; it draws most of it�s inspiration from their mid-’80s heyday, and recent U.K. single �Taking Off� is essentially �In Between Days �04.� But The Cure is easily Robert Smith�s most inspired effort since Disintegration because it not only features the best production job since that record, but Fat Bob clearly sounds disturbed again, emoting with an edgy furor unheard of since the late 80�s. Producer and former nu-metal guru Ross Robinson most likely had something to do with this; recording the band live in the studio and getting them to end the record with an 11-minute song about broken promises where Robert Smith sounds like he�s being repeatedly stabbed. Fortunately, the cheery lilt and �ooooh, oooh, ooooooooh� chorus of first single �The End of the World� alleviates the darkness if only because it becomes part of your DNA if you listen to it more than twice. In fact, in the twelve hours I spent taking the New York State Bar Exam this past July, it was the only song I could hear.
