The IMU 2014 Musical Revue

I have a long (not really) and complicated (not at all) history with year-end music lists*. I used to look forward to writing a lot and considered them the marquee moment of the year here on IMU. Then I got a little jaded and tried to play off their importance and last year I didn't even do one^. You know what? Looking back on the year that was is fun, so here we fucking go. 2014 year-end music list. Hold on to your butts.

First off, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my band Beat Noir put out our first full-length this year. It is free here. If you would like a physical copy or a t-shirt, they are here.

All right, here's all the stuff I liked from this year:

Riff Raff- Neon Icon
All hail RiFF RaFF. If you aren't down, you're just TOO BASiC TOO UNDERSTAND AND i CAN'T FIX THAT.

Hard Girls- A Thousand Surfaces
The song-writing on this album is fucking next level. The album's sound is coherent enough that you can immediately tell they are a part of the same collection of songs, but different enough to separate themselves. The riffs, oh lord the riffs. It's a guitar manifesto for the ages.

You Blew It!- Keep Doing What You're Doing
I've always just kind of dabbled in twinkle, but got real into this year. This release has all the riffs and all the angst you need, stuffed together in a poppy package that I've been revisiting constantly this year.

Antartico Vespucci- Soulmate Stuff
I've always been a Fake Problems fan and obviously am devoted to the church of Rosenstock as well. This one has songs that make me feel things about the person I'm currently with ("100 Years", both parts) as well as people I used to be with ("I'm Giving Up On U2"). This was probably my most played release during the summer.

(It is free at that link.)

Hostage Calm- Die On Stage

I was a huge fan of Please Remain Calm, so I was pretty hyped on what Hostage Calm would do next. The band keeps going with the power-pop they started with on the last album and really go all-in here. This isn't big of an idea as PRC, but I won't complain about a great power-pop record in 2014.


YG- My Krazy Life

I love west coast rap. I love G-Funk. This record is pretty much all of my favourite parts of rap music in one place. A perfect balance of great beats, humour and to quote YG "mothafuckin' gangsta shit". This probably one of my favourite rap releases ever and it is hard for me to find a way to describe it without sounding like the whitest dude ever.

Wayfarer- Sleep Through To The Light

Don't tell Kyle I like his songs. He'll probably make fun of me.

The Hotel Year*- Home, Like No Place Is There

A damn good release. It didn't really hit me like their last one did, but a really well thought-out album and great collection of songs front to back.

The Both- The Both

I was confused why more of my friends weren't into this release, considering how many of them like Ted Leo. Here he collabs with Aimee Mann and the results are fucking stellar. A bunch of guitar-driven (obvi, it's fuckin' Ted Leo) pop songs. I like it as a substitute for a Pharmacists record because it's different enough to be something new, but also has enough guitar godding to tide you over until the next Ted Leo release. Also, Aimee Mann is really fucking good at writing songs.

Lights- Little Machines

I didn't expect to like a Lights record this much, but here we are. It's catchy and it's a great pop record.

Puig Destroyer- Puig Destroyer

Baseball-themed powerviolence/grindcore written by some stat-minded SABR nerds. Gimmick bands aren't supposed to work this well.

Moldmaker- Dark Chambers Demo

I'm really sad that more people will never get the chance to see this band because it's basically The Decay with two lead guitars and a wall of noise that somehow even bigger than The Decay's.

(Free at that link)

Junior Battles- Rally

A great followup to the wonderful Idle Ages. Different enough to set it apart from the album that came before it, but still sounds like Junior Battles. This definitely has some of their best songs.

Joyce Manor-Never Hungover Again

One of my favourite parts of Joyce Manor was they were able to take the harshest parts of 80's hardcore and combine them with pop-punk in a way that doesn't diminish either. Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired was an extremely ballsy second album and is something that I didn't really get until this year. Never Hungover Again is by far their poppiest album, but the change in sound pays off, as I love all the songs on this release.

The Bruce Lee Band- Everything Will Be Alright, My Friend

Being a huge ska, it really sucks that the amount of relevant releases per year is pretty minimal. B ut when a band who puts something out roughly once every ten years returns out of nowhere to put out a rock-solid ska-punk release I get so giddy that I can't even deal. Why can't this happen more? Also, JESSE MICHAELS SINGS ON ONE OF THE TRACKS!

The Canyon Rays- West Coast Babes

This one came out of nowhere. They were described on bandcamp as equal parts Beach Boys and Katy Perry and while that isn't the perfect description, it's pretty close. Full band pop music that's as heavy on dreamy synths as it is hooks. Great bass playing too.

Alvvays- Alvvays

I was listening to this while skateboarding to work one day this summer. A woman drove through an intersection when she wasn't supposed and almost destroyed me, as I was going full-tilt. I gave her the finger and yelled "What the fuck?!" When I got to work I told the kids what happened and they asked if I swore and I said no, but winked to some of the older kids so they would know that I did and think I'm cool. This has been a story from my life that involves the Alvvays album in some way.

It was a great year for music.


*I use cliches (damn my lack of shortcut knowledge) a lot. I like to think that they are a signature aspect of writing, even in school. But I also like to think that I use them in more of a Dan Harmon way, than a US remake of Lol way. Do you hate my cliches? Too bee-ad, because I love 'em.

^IMU: On Music. The Essential Year-End Lists of I, Musical Genius. 2008. 2009. 2010. 2011. 2012 I thought I had previous ones up on here as well. Know that 2006 and 2007's respective #1's were The Arrogant Sons of Bitches' Three Cheers for Disappointment and We Are The Union's Who We Are. Two big time jammers.

*Yeah, I'm gonna be that dick who reinforces that he liked the band when they had their original name.

Vacation Was Better Than Any Album That Came Out This Year

Well, it's that time of year again. I'm sure all of you are clamoring over each other to try to get to my blog and be the first to read my "Year-End" music bullshit. Once again I decided to forgo ranking each album because, like I said last year, I found it to be an exercise in futility trying to decide where albums that I loved more or less equally should be ranked near the top of the list. So fuck it! A lot of rambling and then I decide what number 1 should be because let's get real, that's the only that matters.

The Sidekicks- Awkward Breeds

The Sidekicks are another one of those bands I should have gotten into a long time ago. I knew that Punknews had named them the "album of the year" a few years ago but, as is usually the case, I just never got around to checking them out. Then I saw them open for Bomb The Music Industry! in 2011 and was absolutely floored by their performance. Seriously, they are easily one of the five best live bands on the planet, no question and no room for discussion. Weight of Air was really my jam, so while I was really stoked for them to put out new material, I was also apprehensive as I was almost positive that it wouldn't live up to their previous release. But of course I was being a jackass and forgot this vital piece of information: THE SIDEKICKS ARE ONE OF THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD. This album is fucking great. It's rockier and little less groovy than Weight of Air (in my opinion), but I like that the band is moving towards a little more of a power-pop direction (in the Weezer sense of the term "power-pop"). The vocals are amazing because Steve is uncannily good at singing, there's some great guitar stuff, the basslines aren't over-the-top but fit the songs great and their drummer just pounds the shit out of his kit. Great job all around on this release, it really shows on of the most interesting, nicest and talented bands around at the top of their game. Let's smoke weed together one day guys.

Cheap Girls- Giant Orange
Some of my friends weren't as into this release as My Roaring 20's because this album didn't vary tracks enough and they thought it kind of ran together. I wholeheartedly disagree. While it's obvious there isn't as much change between tracks, I really like that the album is just front-to-back poppy alt-rock songs that get stuck in your head for days. The album totally has a bunch of Cheap Girls' best tracks, because if you deny the awesomeness of "Mercy Go-Round", "Gone All Summer" or "Ruby", then you wrong son.

Gaslight Anthem- Handwritten
I like Gaslight Anthem, but not as much as most people like Gaslight Anthem. I always thought they would be amazing as a rough, punky rock-pop band, which is I guess what they did on this album. Sounds great to me. "45" is the best Gaslight song, shouts out to my haters.

Title Fight- Floral Green
For some reason a lot of people I know lump in Title Fight with Four Year Strong/Story So Far/etc even though they sound absolutely nothing like that. I also think that are a victim of the hype machine and people really want to not like them only because of how excited people get about their music. They are all dummys because Title Fight is basically the best 90's emo band right now. Shed was a huge step forward for them and Floral Green is an even bigger one. I was skeptical about them putting out another album so fast (as usual) but that skepticism was entirely unwarranted (as usual). The band is getting way better at writing cohesive songs and is gettin' real good at melody. Get sad fuckers.

Mindset- Leave No Doubt.i.
I guess it's kind of weird considering how often I indulge in things, but straightedge Youth Crew hardcore is my favourite type of hardcore. While I appreciate when bands really try to expand their boundaries and add new elements to a genre that can became real stale real quick when not done right, there's still nothing that gets me going like some fast, simple, pseudo-metaly riffs and shouts. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme SHELTER.
PUMP IT.

Less Than Jake- Greetings and Salutations

The thing about Less Than Jake is that they are my favourite band, so it's hard for me to not like anything they do. I mean, I even listen to In With The Crowd with some regularity for Christ's sake. So even when they are compiling two EPS, adding two songs and calling it an album and the songs all kind of sound like the most generic LTJ material and the album as a whole is pretty close to the bottom of my Less Than Jake discography, I still have to love it because there's nothing I can do about it. Holy fuck do I love me some Less Than Jake bruh.

And honestly, there's no band that brings a smile to my face as often as LTJ does. That's why I lub 'em so much. They'll be my faves foreva!

Hostage Calm- Please Remain Calm
Like I said for the Mindset album, Youth Crew worship (or just Youth Crew in general) is my favourite type of hardcore, so I obvi loved Lens a whole lot. And while I loved gettin' mah breakdown on their old stuff, I really liked how crazy and innovative and fresh their self-titled album was. Since they went in such a different direction for their second record, I was eager to see how they would change for this one. The description the gave for the record was a coming-of-age, our-love-against-the-world type story set in our time, I got really excited because I love John Hughes movies and to me, that sounded  like Hostage Calm was trying to write their version of an 80's John Hughes movie. So that was the attitude I went into the album with . Worked for me. I think it's a really great sounding pop record and the choruses are way too catchy to care about anything.
Stream. It's also only 5 bones.

Such Gold- Misadventures
Such Gold are another band who I think gets lumped in with the wrong crowd. While the first EP was for sure a pop-punk/hardcoreish effort, I thought the second one sounded like a poppier/more melodic Snapcase in the best way (RIFFS). I was really stoked for this one because of how much I jammed Pedestals and was pretty satisfied. It's a lot faster and shreddier than their previous album and I'm cool with that. They're a great band who tours a lot and works hard and deserves everything they get.

The Nix86- Evil Empurr
The thing about the 90's most people don't realize is that along with the amazingly shitty parts of the ska explosion in the 90's (Sublime, pretty much all No Doubt, Save Ferris) a lot of really good independent bands were around but didn't get noticed, like The Hippos or The Impossibles. An area that was especially rich with these types of bands was Long Island. That scene has carried on for a long time (I was astonished at how awesome the crowd was when I saw a ska show in New York last year) and produced a lot of awesome bands who would always blow me away when they toured to Canada. They were always older and cooler and played better-written songs than pretty much every Toronto band (At least we had the Makeshift Heroes). The Nix86 is comprised of members from those bands and sounds like those bands. For people who feel nostalgia towards poppy ska-punk and are far above their h8erz to still listen to it, this album is a must. Easily one of the best ska bands making music right now.
Stream dat. Also only 5 bux.

Municipal Waste- The Fatal Feast

By this point you know what you are getting from the Waste as they're a crossover band that's put out five records. That's not to say this is a bad thing though, as The Fatal Feast is probably the best that the band has ever sounded. They moved away a little from hardcore/thrash crossover and a lot more towards straight-up 80's style thrash metal, but they do the style extremely well so there's nothing wrong with that. There's plenty of A+ Megadeth-style chug riffs and much more shredding than previous albums. Basically, it sounds like each member sat down and practiced playing Peace Sells... songs a whole bunch. Less songs about drinking and smoking weed, more about eating each other while in space. They're the best thrash band around right now. Into it bruh.

John K. Sampson- Provincial
If you are in a band you need to have a level of self-confidence in order to play your songs and show them to people. You need to think your songs are good enough that people who you don't know will enjoy them. You need to have enough self-confidence to record your ideas when you come up with them. Keeping all this in mind, if you are in a band and write songs, you also need to know that you are not better at writing songs than John K Samson. He's kind of the bench mark. I could say something about this record, but if you really have no idea what it could sound like you are either stupid or extremely stupid for not listening to The Weakerthans. A whole whack of heartfelt stories about life in The Prairies. Getcha cry on dawg.
Feel all the feels.

Ma Jolie- ...Compared To Giants
Ma Jolie is kind of rough, but also poppy in the same way that Iron Chic or Samiam are. They are real good and I think going to be the next big thing on the ol' 'org. Great album, "Era and the Metric System" is especially my jam.

FREE TUNES.

3. Classics of Love- Classics Of Love
When I was first getting into punk, one of the first bands I got into was Rancid. While I was listening to Rancid my brother said I should listen to their older band Operation Ivy and showed me a few songs. I instantly realized how much better Op Ivy were than Rancid and how awesome the band was and they immediately entered regular rotation in my discman and haven't left since. They really are one of my favourite bands. Keeping this in mind, think about how happy a record of Jesse Michaels singing fast 80's hardcore (WITH TWO SKA SONGS) would make me. That is exactly how I feel. I lagged a little bit on getting into this (like a week bruh), but as soon as I heard the first track my jaw dropped. The sound of Jesse yelping socio-political lyrics over blisteringly fast hardcore-punk makes me feel more fuzzy than you can imagine. I can tell that this one is going to be something that I'll be going back to a bunch for years.

2. The Menzingers- On The Impossible Past

I'll admit that I was a little late to the party on The Menzingers. Most of my punk friends were head over heels for them after the release of Chamberlain Waits, but I held off on listening to that because I am dumb and sometimes it takes me forever to get around to things. Then I saw them live and they absolutely slayed and that made me listen to their tunes with a fresh perspective and I began to love them. I was pretty eager to hear On The Impossible Past after "The Obituaries" and "Gates" were released to hype it up. The worst thing that can happen with an album is that the best few songs off of it get released as teasers and then the rest of it seems drab. However that's not a problem here as the entire thing is amazing. The Menzingers are really maturing in their sound and starting incorporate more pop/rock elements, which I am totally for. The quality of the songwriting has also been dramatically stepped up on this effort, with both Greg and Tom hitting it out of the park on every song. While I wouldn't call this a concept album, there's enough of a central idea that it helps to make it more cohesive and adds to the experience of listening to it. The whole thing is sad in the best way and makes me want to yell along to every word. This probably would have been my album of the year if it wasn't for...

1. Jeff Rosenstock- I Look Like Shit
Pretty much as soon as I heard that a new Jeff Rosenstock album came out I knew that it would be my album of the year before I even heard it. I guessed right! I've touched on this album already, so no need to review. Get on Jeff's level, world.
IT'S FREE TOO

EPs

Shook Ones- Merriweather Post Pavillion
Shook Ones are a band that need to come back to playing full-time more than pretty much anyone else. They're really good. So while I can't see them live or anything, I guess that this EP is a decent substitute for the time being. They haven't missed a beat. I think the title track might be the song of the year.
M'ÉCOUTEZ S'IL VOUS PLAIT.

Topanga- Oceans
Let's get this out of the way real quick: Yes, their name is a great reference to a great TV show. That's for sure going to be the first thing most people remark about them, but they also have the tunes to keep you there after coming for their name. Topanga play poppy indie rock music and play it real well. It's way to catchy to hate it. I always bounce around while listening to this.
FREEFREEFREE

Snake Charmer- Demo
Think about what the heaviest band you know is. They are not as heavy as Snake Charmer. Not even close.

RAGEWITME