The Growlers–Hot Tropics and The Growlers–Are You In Or Out:
Hot Tropics is actually considered an EP and I thought Are You In Or Out was released in 2009 but it was 2010 as well and i heard both of them within a couple months of each other and also saw the band within that time so i’m just combining them in one listing as truly enchanting and satisfying records from a large band of weird miscreant eccentrics who combine a myriad of styles (tex-mex, surf, psycho-folk, rockabilly, punk rock, blues, country western) and come up with a sound all their own that is atmosperic, humorous, twangy, dreamy and incredibly danceable when you see them live (and they are playing the Hemlock in SF on new years eve this year FYI). The vocalist Brooks Neilson has an incredible voice that often brings to mind the lilt of Hank williams and his lyrics are prophetic and twisted tales of wayward freaks and impending doom and having love affairs with the devil in his dreams and Tijuana and being thrown in the river for sexual indiscretions with a powerful mans daughter, and all kinds of creepy but fun scenarios of love and death and satanic gypsy rituals and drugs. It’s murky layered meandering strains have been coined as “surf-goth” my new favorite genre next to “witch house” of course. I noticed a recurring theme of graves, graveyards, death and apocalyptic events. The first cut on Hot Tropics, “Graveyard” opens with the lyric, “The graveyard’s full/ we’re running out of earth/ but we can use the bones to build another church/ thick walls made of men whose souls have come and went.” There’s just something about this band. I found this quote from their website: During the release of their first album and their ongoing singles releases, they have experimented with recording techniques that have the ability to bend sound in ways only drugs can. When i first started thinking about my top 10 list, The Growlers were the first band that came to mind.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSX6dc8Fthg&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
Deerhunter–Halcyon Digest:
This is the fucking creepiest record cover of the year, hands down. I shudder when ever i see it but the music inside is far from a nightmare. It is in fact a very beautiful contemplative record with a mysterious emotional power we’ve come to expect from Bradford Cox figurehead of Deerhunter as well as Atlas Sound. With this his third Deerhunter release I think he’s made his most appealing and accessible release yet. He seems to embrace an early 60’s girl group or Motown vocal style on a few cuts here and it matches up so well with his sensitive indie-rock guy of today thing. This music is subtle and meticulously executed and uplifting. The best cut is the astonishing “Desire Lines” which you can listen to below and i defy you to find a more beautifully brilliant chord progression from any other song this year. I’ve been a bit lukewarm about Deerhunter until I heard this. And you can enjoy the uber-creepy record cover for over six minutes of viewing time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mBSOtdOjoc&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
Crocodiles–Sleep Forever
This is the perfect follow-up to last years debut Summer of Hate, showing just enough growth and polish to the gritty angst-y and loud entrance made by this guitar/keyboard duo last year. I love all of the faint Beach Boys-like melodies roughed up with guitar distortion and repetitive sound loops and yes, I know, the Jesus and Mary Chain did do this twenty years ago and i loved it then too but Crocodiles are bringing a lot of pure rock and roll danger and darkness to the california sunshine-y pop music table and i really like these songs. They also recorded a cover of Dee-lites “Groove is in The Heart” that is great, with a quick refrain of “California Girls” thrown in to the fuzzed-up feedback fun for good measure. Then I just viewed their video for “Hearts of Love” which i’ve posted below. It’s a perfect example of why i like this band. I have yet to see them live but have heard they are amazing and LOUD.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLxJv6d8MN4&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
Grinderman–Grinderman 2:
Their show at the warfield in december was by far the greatest concert I attended in 2010. It really made me appreciate the songs on this record much more, seeing them performed live. This side project for Nick Cave of The Bad Seeds is a far more rocking outfit and brings to mind his seminal earliest band The Birthday Party, whom I saw once before and to date ranks as one of the scariest shows I ever witnessed. That was over 20 years ago and no matter what you say, Nick still has plenty of that dark primal over-the-top rock and roll evil whirling around in his soul and Grinderman is the perfect outlet for it. The cut “Kitchenette” finds him delivering one of his sexiest vocal performances to date and as always the lyrics are plenty intense and full of ghastly, cutting imagery and dark humor and fear and longing. Infinitely lovelorn, angry and twisted. This disc is awesome.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKznZUtKntg&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
The Black Angels–Phosphene Dream:
The third LP from The Black Angels from Austin Texas finds this impressive outfit who can really create a huge atmospheric monster of a psychedelic stoner rock sound, branching out and expanding their repertoire to encompass more psychedelia, but more of the 60’s kind of pop-psychedelia like the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Strawberry Alarm Clock era stuff and they do it remarkably well. Their previous releases always seemed pretty dark and sinister, night time music for sure, but this one lightens up on the foreboding gloominess and brings a bit of daylight to their mysterious sound. It suits them well. The live video below sounds really good and finally i know what they look like.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex8jxCuO7mI&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
The Black Keys–Brothers:
What can you say about the Black Keys? They are a great band, simply a duo yet every bit as powerful as any combo, with a string of seven full releases since their 2002 debut, all an improvement over the previous. Their pared down bare-bones take on the blues and soul sounds more authentic than just about anything else out there, and somehow always leaves me wondering how two people can create such a full and complete and satisfying noise. This release in some ways is their strongest and with four grammy nominations and the number 2 position on Rolling Stones top records of 2010 list it seems they are getting the recognition they deserve. I think the bands secret weapon has proven to be Dan Auerbach’s incredible voice. He’s born to sing the blues.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnzIrRykilA&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
Tame Impala–Innerspeaker
This young trio are from Perth and they make wistful psychedelic melodic rock music, equally informed by the Beatles as well as early Pink Floyd, Turkish and South American psychedelic rock of the 60’s, a bit of prog-rock and basically anything ever considered in any way psychedelic in the past 40 years of Rock. That said, they somehow manage to make it sound very fresh and clearly have the skills and finesse to have created a very enchanting and trippy sound of their own, not too hard or math-rock-ish and not too light and airy or overly synthesized. I would anticipate hearing much more from this band in the coming year.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEFy0-pThlM&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
Pulled Apart by Horses
Pulled Apart By Horses is a great band name if you ask me. Formed in Leeds just under two years ago from the ashes of four different bands, these four musicians wanted to keep making music and have more fun with it so they decided to create “a Jesus Lizard rip-off band.” Being a big fan of the legendary Texan punk band i thought any band with that as a plan is okay by me. PABH definitely bring that influence to this record but the emulation isn’t their only trick by far. They fucking shred. This is the one record of the year that makes me wanna break shit and thrash about with abandon and always play it LOUD. They’ve also, through heavy touring, become known as on of Britain’s most exciting live acts. Lots of dirty words, screaming vocals, sarcasm and searing razor-like guitars hitting harder than most while not sounding anything like heavy metal. 2010 really needed this record to remind us all that theres something more than Vampire Weekend and Ariel Pinks Haunted Whatever and Caribou and Beach House and Arcade Fire and lots of other indie stuff that everyone loves and i dont understand why. Their first single was called “Back To The Fuck Yeah, ” a good sentiment and you can view its video plus another from them below. they are that good.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzDz5wVs8uw&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muE7KtpNNRA&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
Thee Oh Sees–Warm Slime:
Thee Oh Sees are an incredible San Francisco-based band that I’ve come to know mostly from their live shows at the SF Eagle Tavern on their infamous thursday night live music nights. Thee Oh Sees play there almost once a month it seems and they bring an array of other great bay area based bands to open for them and occasional acts from as far as Australia and other cities in the US. They put out lots of records and I can easily say they are all good, like this one. They have really made me see that San Francisco has a very rich and lively rock scene with tons of interesting and captivating young bands, and they lead the pack in spirit and raw talent and drive and product. So many great records under their belts, all waiting to be purchased at the merch table at all their shows. Click the link below to see a video of what they do at The Eagle live.
The Streets on Fire–This Is Fancy
Boy am I glad i checked out this band because something about them just screams “We are the real deal.” The Streets On Fire are a four-piece from Chicago and this, their second release was recorded in just four days on an 8-track and theres nothing fancy about this no-frills lo-fi recording but throughout this disc, song by song I started loving them more and more. They are very garage rock, with edgy over the top vocals, fuzzed up distorted guitar tones (like the Cramps but less rockabilly novelty and more garage-y Stooges-like) and they have a sort of post-punk funkiness to them like early talking heads or something equally art school-ish with a touch of psychedelia thrown in for good measure. You can tell they have a healthy sense of humor and they like to dance. The cut “Fancy” is brooding and atmospheric and spooky, starting with just guitar and handclaps then the drums and bass fill it all in with a large cavernous expanse of dread and the vocals are unhinged with a kind of manic melancholy that laughs at itself or its own despair. this song just kills me, definitely one of my favorites of the year. There are quite a few other high points on this disc and more people need to hear this band if they like a bit of rock in their rock music.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipU9_hLNAec&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]