The 2021 IMU Musical Revue

 I feel like the last six or seven years have been really good for punk and hardcore and when you combine that with the constant creative push forward that is always happening in rap, it's been an especially great time for music. Maybe I'm just too enthusiastic and that's boring, but damn homie you're the one here reading!

Angel Du$t - YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs

Something I found interesting this year was that both Angel Du$t and Turnstile released EPs ahead of their full-lengths and that every song on both ended up on the albums. A new style of marketing in the streaming age? A quirk of the Trapped Under Ice family tree? I think that AD's full-length ended up a lot better and is by far the best articulation of their sound. A great slow song featuring Tim Armstrong! Probably my album of the year.

Turnstile - Turnstile Love Connection

Like I said, I think the EP format worked out a lot better for Turnstile. Glow On is still a great record with cool songs, but this shorter release is more cohesive. This blew me away and maybe my expectations were too high. In any case, the feature music video for the entire EP is one of my favourite videos ever and one of the coolest things to ever come out of hardcore.

Tyler the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

Was never much of an OFWGKTA guy, but really enjoyed Tyler's last two records and how he's developed and changed as a rapper and producer as he gets further into his career. This album is my favourite yet and probably my favourite rap album of the year. Such an amazing vibe here that feels like you're touring Europe while listening to DatPiff.

Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti

Griselda Records and everyone associated with them has been pretty much bulletproof for the last couple of years and I've returned to this record more than any other. It has the same chill and mumbly/extremely hard contrast that Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher have, but this record is super focused and the world-building is great.

Militarie Gun - All Roads Lead to the Gun I

For a while this year, I thought that this release might be my favourite release, but it felt like picking an EP felt like a copout. Feels like Dinosaur Jr. and the Lemonheads filtered through extreme hardcore and it's done basically as well as it can be. Would love to see what this band could do with a full-length, but am just as happy to see them continue putting out 4-songers.

Webbed Wing - What's So Fucking Funny?

Webbed Wing's first record Bike Rides Across the Moon was intriguing sonically but definitely unfinished in a few spots. This is a fuller version of their college rock from a punk background and is one of my favourites this year. Sometimes it's just fun to rock.

Mo Troper - Dilettante

Mo Troper was one of my biggest finds this year and I gave Beloved a tonne of spins ahead of the release of Dilettante. While this isn't as focused as the former, I really like them leaning into the Guided By Voices vibe of a 28-song record where most songs are under 1:30. 

Just Friends - JFC Crew Vol. I &II

Nothing but Love was in constant rotation during 2020 and even though I'm sure Just Friends' mix of pop-punk/funk/pop/rap is not for everyone, I find it super refreshing to see a band be so focused on not sounding like anyone else in punk. Seeing them also try new stuff here, doing remixes of songs, singles that sound like nothing else they've done, and a SONG FEATURING LIL B, was even better.

Anna Fox Rochinski - Cherry

I don't remember how I found this record, as I had no frame of reference for AFR or her old band Quilt, but this was one of the more original-sounding things I heard this year. A little shoegazey, but never slow, poppy, but off-kilter, firmly post-punk but definitely dancy. "Party Lines" and "Epilogue/Overture" are two of the best songs of the year.

ALLBLACK - TY4FWM

I had high hopes for this one after NO SHAME 3 and even if it didn't live up to that, this was still a tight full-length that has everything that makes ALLBLACK one of the best rappers alive. It makes me want to yell "Thank you for fucking with me!" all the time.

2nd Grade - Wish You Were Here Tour Revisited

2nd Grade has dominated my listening over the last two or so years and though I'm jonesing for a new full-length, this re-release of their first record, with new full-band versions of 7 of the songs from the original is a great replacement. "Favourite Song" has, predictably, been my favourite song of the last few years, so hearing a new cut of that was particularly great. The band is so jubilant that you can't help but love it.

I, Musical Genius 2020 Music Revue

It feels like I barely got into anything this year, but when I actually stacked all of the stuff I liked together, I was surprised at how quickly I ran out of spots on the list. Is it me actually losing touch, or am I just getting crushed over the complete availability of cool records on the internet? I have no idea. As always, this list is unordered. That shit doesn't matter

Nothing - The Great Dismal

TBH, out of all bands here, I think that Nothing is the one where I'm most sure their record will make the list before hearing it. At this point, I'm not expecting them to change lanes out of melodic shoegaze that's as indebted to power pop as it is grunge, but I pleasantly surprised by this release and enjoyed it more than Dance on the Blacktop. "Catch a Fade" is one of their best songs and seems like a 2020 anthem to me, though I'm not sure why.

Nudie Mag - Our Milk

It's impossible to not check a band called Nudie Mag, right? This band is a Twitching Tongues side project, who I've never listened to. Really great pared-down and synthy power pop that is probably closest to the Rentals. Short and sweet.

field medic - Floral Prince

I actually wasn't aware that field medic, whose fade into the dawn I loved in 2019, was working on a new record, so I was pleased to get this in the summer, even if it is mostly leftovers from that record. This continues with the lofi folk by way of fourth wave emo aesthetic that the earlier stuff has had and I eat it up.

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We're going to take an aside here to talk about the person who did the most in 2020 by a wide margin, Daniel Romano. Already an insanely prolific musician who was putting out between one and three releases per year, Romano went insane during quarantine and released ELEVEN records between March and November. ELEVEN. 11 different records that were all distinct from each over sonically. Most bands can't do that in an entire career. It felt weird to start this list with him, as I don't think any of his records were the A-1 first thing I thought of this year, but he did dominate my listening for all of the summer and keeping track of and checking out what the new shit was was by far the most fun I had listening to music this year. I spent some time thinking on how to incorporate his work into my list and settled on giving him his own sub section. 

Quick hits on my favourites:

Dandelion: His best work this year, but only the true heads know that. Beautiful and personal and among his best work.

How Ill Thy World is Ordered: The biggest studio effort of all is great and a fitting cap on the year of music from him.

Super Pollen: No Ancient Shapes this year, but similar work with Mike and Jonah from Fucked Up is an A-OK replacement.

Content to Point the Way: His friends asked him for a new county record and it rocks.

(What Could Have Been) Infidels by Bob Dylan & the Plugz: In a year where I was in my deepest Dylan phase ever, getting this was a welcome addition.

Visions of the Higher Dream: Modern Pressure 2: 2 Modern 2 Pressure

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Supercrush - SODO Pop

Honestly, I wasn't expecting a full-length from Supercrush (was Never Let You Drift Away an LP? I've heard both opinions?) to engage me much, but this would up being a lot more catchy and interesting than I thought. A million bands are playing boring 90s Britpop and Supercrush aren't one.

Mil-Spec - World House

I really loved the Background-era Lifetime vibe on Mil-Spec's EPs before this record and they combined that with the Snapcase-ish melodic stuff that Fury has been doing here. Friggin' awesome yo.

Blooming Season - Living Feeling

I discovered Blooming Season at the last show I saw before COVID hit this year. They were tight and super energetic and provided the insane rush of when you see a band live and realize that you love them during their set.

Mundy's Bay - Lonesome Valley

In keeping with bands I discovered at shows in Montreal, I saw Mundy's Bay open for Supercrush in summer '19 and realizing how much more vibrant and different the punk scene was here is directly tied to them. This record captures how great they are live 

blink-155 - Been Here For Too Long

I already wrote about my feelings on the pod here, so I won't rehash that. This comp was made to commemorate the end of blink-155 and features a bunch of people who guested covering "Dammit" by the boys. It ranges from well-known entities (Antartico Vespucci) to my friends (Claire) and it all rocks.

Kill Lincoln - Can't Complain

If I'm being honest, I was a little let down by this release, but it's not fair for me to hold my unreasonable expectations for it against it's actual quality. I've never been shy about banging my "ska is good and all who hate pose" drum and was happy that in the last couple of years (especially those on Kill Lincoln's own Bad Time Records) a new crop of bands has popped up to prove my point. Kill Lincoln is the best of the bunch and this is a great poppy ska-punk release.

Jeff Rosenstock - 2020 Dump

I found that this sort of EP/sort of growing collection of songs vastly better than the Rosenstock full-length No Dream. I love that it's all over the place sonically (as any JR release should be), I love that you need to download it via .zip on QuoteUnquote, and I love that he's finding a new way to work against the music industry and that it is almost somehow the old way he did it.

Classics of Love - World of Burning Hate

I find it hard to be objective about music by Jesse Michaels because all of his bands have been so instrumental to my development as a person. Is it as good as Op Ivy or the Classics of Love full-length? I guess not? I don't care man, I could listen to this for the rest of my life. What a force.

boy pablo - Wachito Rico

boy pablo is one of my favourite discoveries of the last couple of years (in a very 10's world, found through the YoTube algorithm), but their sophomore release really let me down, for no reason at all. They worked past those non-existent criticisms on this first full-length and put out a record that leans more toward songwriting than their past stuff (good!), while still maintaining their weird Norwegian sense of humour.

The 2019 I Musical Genius Music Revue

Back again for another year folks. Here is all the stuff that I really enjoyed from this year in music. An insane amount of great stuff came out this year and I think that, more so than any other year in recent memory, it was tough to narrow down what would come on and what wouldn't. It may sound insulting to say that there was a big "middle class" in music this year, stuff that was very good, but not necessarily the best, but I think that speaks to an overall jump in quality across the board, which is a great thing.

As per the last couple of years, I haven't numbered anything. Maybe oso oso would take number 1. I don't know and care and I can't imagine you would.

oso oso - baking in the glow

This was absolutely my most anticipated release this year, as their last album the yunahon mixtape, quickly became one of my all-time favourites. The more tossed-off approach on this one put me off as first, as yunahon was fussed over, but I eventually came to appreciate that as a different side of the band. Some of their very best songs on this one.

field medic - fade into the dawn

Folk music doesn't normally do it for me, as I find it difficult to not read it as incredibly pretentious. field medic gets around that by having honest lyrics about substance abuse and relationships and putting some added production, like fake drums and lo-fi guitars and bass, in just enough places around the acoustic guitar. Though not included on the album, their 2019 single "I Want You So Bad It Hurts" is also one of the best songs of the year.

The Berries - Berryland

Punks all started listening to Neil Young this year and no band did a better job of bringing all the best parts of Crazy Horse into the present than The Berries. Huge vibe on this one. Guitars, guitars, guitars.

Chastity - Home Made Satan

Beautiful shoegaze about killing cops and klansmen? Yeah bro. Most importantly, the album's a tight 10 songs in 26 minutes, getting around the useless vamping that gaze bands sometimes lean on. Tons of hooks and vocals that aren't buried under production.

Skatune Network - Pick It the Fuck Up!

I think a lot about what the future of ska will be like, as a lot of the genre has been stagnating in the sound of the 90s for a long time. This album by Jeremy Hunter, which consists of ska covers of the emo bands on Counter Intuitive Records, is hopefully a sign of interesting and valuable things to come. More genuine earnest stuff like this, less jokey shit in the future. 

Sheer Mag - A Distant Call

On their second record, Sheer Mag tightened everything up and went a little heavier. Though less hyped then the debut, this one works better as a full album. The Mag have their sound completely figured out, so it will be interesting if they continue to put out punk/hardcore/arena rock every couple of years, or decide to make a big a change in how they approach their music.

Woolworm - Awe

Like shoegaze, I think that post-punk is getting to its saturation point and most of the new releases just don't have enough substance to keep me interesting beyond a couple of listens. Woolworm is the exception, as they perfectly balance the effected vocals, big guitars, and mountains of chorus and reverb pedals to produce something that nods to its influences without being a shitty imitation of them.

Wayfarer - Reckless Spring

When I heard Wayfarer play "Fifteen" last year, I knew that this album would be good. Kyle lowered himself to write a merely "normal" album instead a concept record and the results are amazing. Another amazing Wayfarer release from a band that will continue to be slept on because everyone is stupid.

Ancient Shapes - A Flower That Wouldn't Bloom

Re: the question I asked about Sheer Mag. Ancient Shapes bucked the trend of their earlier '77 style punk pastiches by leaning heavier into power pop and glam influences and the result was my favourite record by them. The songs are exactly what they need to be and there's no wasted space or effort. Romano's best work since Modern Pressure.

Blood Orange - Angel's Pulse

I admit that I was much later to the Blood Orange train than others, but this album won me over. Wonderful mix of poppy R&B with occasional forays into other genres. "Gold Teeth" was the song I listened to the most this summer. I'm sucker for Triple 6 features.

White Reaper - You Deserve Love

You Deserve Love doesn't have the same sort of ironic sense of humour that White Reaper's last album did, like piped-in crowd noise to start the album. Instead the album is a cross-section of early 80's rock radio and it works in the best ways. This band's amazing.

Young Thug - So Much Fun

So Much Fun came out while it was still summer in Montreal and it was everything I wanted from a rap record. Perfect to listen to while BBQing on my back deck with a joint.

Fury - Failed Entertainment

The thing that makes this record great is that it balances the newer influences working their way into most rock music (grunge and somehow nu metal) with the exact type of hardcore I love (Snapcase). Fury knows when to hold back with all of that to not make anything corny and then allows it to hit huge when it needs to.

My Favourite Music This Year

Best Music of 2008!

10. This Is Hell-Misfortunes
This Is Hell has to be one of the best hardcore bands around today. Misfortunes has everything you need from a modern hardcore release. Crushing riffs and searing rhythms make it the type of album that any hardcore will like, but its moments of melody that really make this one awesome for me.

9. Shad- The Old Prince
Good hip-hop does still exist, and it lives in its mom’s house in London, Ontario. His flow and lyrics are incredible, and you can tell he puts thought into his words. Plus how can you hate a guy who drops the line “no parka for me, just gloves scarf and a fleece, I may freeze but I’m still saving marvellously”?

8. Safety- A Season of Bad Dreams
Only an e.p. but it really shows a lot of growth and progress for a band who’s as young as they are. For someone as new to the game as he is, Andy Diaz’s lyrics and delivery are incredible, with the most metaphors that I’ve heard in a while. It’s good late 90’s style pop-punk, but the lyrics give it awesome staying power.

7. Hopesick- Rise and Shine
This band added me to MySpace, claiming to have found me through The Swellers. Well I am goddamn glad they did because they write pop-punk jams like few others I’ve heard. For the longest time I could only listen to their songs by having their MySpace page open at all times, and their songs were good enough to keep me doing that. I got them eventually and they became the soundtrack to the go-train rides to Ontario place all summer. They’ve broken up now, but put the record up for free download. Do that now.

6. International Superheroes of Hardcore- Takin’ It Ova
I really only got into hardcore this year. The new side project from New Found Glory is full of humour with their lyrics, songs about wearing your seat belt, not using bad language, but the intensity of the music is still 100% there. Their song “Back To Future” talks about bringing back the true roots of hardcore, and drops Marty McFly references and Doc Brown references left right and centre. Just try and hate, I dare you. You’ll be too busy either laughing or stage-diving to care.

5. HiFi Handgrenades- Carry On
One of three bands that arose from the ashes of the awe-inspiring force that was The Suicide Machines. I had heard the name tossed around a bunch, but only checked the free download of the full length when I found out they had the rhythm section of the aforementioned Detroit legends. Definitely way different from their former bands, but the power-pop that these guys put out is awesome. Honest lyrics and speedy pop songs are always a recipe for success. The title track is a personal favourite.

4. Less Than Jake- GNV FLA
Bar-none, Less Than Jake is my favourite band. In With the Out Crowd left a bad taste in my mouth and a whole lot to be desired from a LTJ record. During their Warner years the band had hinted that there had been pressure from execs to ditch the horns and go for a more marketable sound. Last year they ditched the label and created their own imprint, Sleep It Off Records. Now free to do pretty much whatever the hell they wanted, the band made GNV FLA, named after their hometown of Gainesville, Florida. Drummer Vinnie had stated in an interview that he didn’t like all the album updates and overhyping that had accompanied In With The Out Crowd, and he just wanted the record to speak for itself. If this album does anything, it is speak for its self, after the short reggae-tinged opener “The City of Gainesville”, the album breaks into an absolute scorcher of a track in “The State of Florida” and never lets up. They return to an older sound, reminiscent of Borders and Boundaries, and even Pezcore in some spots. This was another album that got a bunch of spins during the summer. All the tunes on here are in the classic LTJ style, and definitely wouldn’t be out of place in their absurdly great live show.

3. H2O- Nothing To Prove
Another name that I heard tossed around before but never checked, mostly due to my own prejudices about them being a “really hardcore” band. Could I have been more wrong? I checked out a track when they first put it up on their MySpace and was incredibly surprised to see that a hardcore band could have that much sense of melody. I got the album and at first wrote it off save a few tracks, mostly because I didn’t really like Toby Morse’s delivery. But this thing really grew on me, and I really began to love it. I really enjoy his vocal style now, to be honest. With hardcore, you either get it or you don’t, there’s not really an in between. At some point in June I finally “got” Nothing to Prove, and I haven’t looked back since.

2. Living with Lions- Make Your Mark
For some reason after I first heard about this band I confused them with the American band As Tall as Lions, who are pretty lame. Then I was reading an article in Exclaim magazine about them that mentioned their “early Saves the Day and Lifetime-esque songs”. Well if you know me then you know that comparing a band to Lifetime pretty much sells them to me right off the bat. I checked them out and loved every second of it. I missed their Toronto show over the summer, but got to catch them in Guelph later on in the year. Seeing them live was one of those times when you just have incredibly high expectations for something, and it just delivers more than thought it could have. I put their cd the day after the show and didn’t turn if off for about three weeks. I mean come on! They’re like Lifetime except the singers from BC instead of New Jersey. Support this band, they deserve everything they have and have big things coming their way.

1. New Found Glory- Tip of the Iceberg
So this year my taste in music changed a whole lot. I really started to turn to melodic hardcore and pop-punk as my stuff, as opposed to ska like in the past. Set Your Goals were the first band to turn me on to that kind of stuff, as well as Lifetime. One thing I noticed was a lot of the new bands in this genre were name dropping New Found Glory as a big influence on them. Because of this I went back and checked out Sticks and Stones and was amazed. How had I not noticed the breakdown in “Head On Collision” before? Everything I loved was there, and you could easily see where all these new bands were getting their style from. I hated NFG when I was younger for some reason, but they’re one of my favourites now. Then I noticed they were putting out an e.p. on Bridge 9 records, which was a pretty big head-scratcher. They threw some new tracks on their MySpace, and the title track just absolutely blew my mind. I had no idea that New Found Glory could thrash so hard. Throw in some ace covers of bands I already love and this is a damn solid release. It might be weird to have a six song e.p. as an album of the year, but I went through a pretty big musical transformation this year and this collection of music was in the centre of it.


Albums From Other Years That Also Ran My Life In 2008
So this year hardcore took over a lot in my music taste, so I found it necessary to make another top-ten list of albums that I discovered this year that similarly influenced my life this year. So here it goes

11. Bob Dylan- The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)
Yea I guess this is a top-eleven, not top ten. But obviously people have been praising Bob Dylan forever and I’ve been too much of a moron to put any serious though into checking out his music. Last year in my music and popular culture class the teacher, himself being a big Dylan fan, opted to put on a lesser know cut, instead of the usual “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Knocking on Heavens Door”, he threw on “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding”. Accompanying the song were all the lyrics on an overhead. I was amazed at the depth of his words and have been on the Dylan train ever since. This album definitely takes the cake as my favourite though. Also fuck you if you say you don’t like his voice, that’s not what it’s about.

10. Highschool Football Heroes- We’ve Fooled Around Long Enough (2006)
At first glance one could be forgiven for passing these guys off as just another Long Island ska-punk band. Taking a second look at the lyrics turns your perception of this band on its head. Mixing incredibly heartfelt lyrics with upbeat bouncy songs, makes for a winner here. Describing them as “too emo to be ska, and too ska to be emo” is pretty accurate and definitely in no ways a bad thing. For an album to truly become one of my favourites it has to just hit me in that way where I can relate it to it more than anything else at a certain point in time. This album has definitely done that, and I’m proud to say it is one of my favourites.

9. Hot Water Music- Caution (2002)
This is mostly based off what the song “Trusty Chords” from this album means to me. Honestly there were a lot of days where I would let the visitors at Ontario Place get to me, and really piss me off. I would get in a really bad mood. The chorus of this song is “I hate this place, but I love these chords”, and that’s exactly how I felt throwing this on as I left work. “Trusty Chords” are exactly what music is for me, I lean on it to get me through everything. This song, being an ode to depending on music, hits home with me.

8. Strike Anywhere- Dead FM (2006)
I’ve said it tons of times already, but yea this year I started to like melodic hardcore a whole lot. This was another band that was really in the centre of all that. I had barely heard any music the first time I saw them and they absolutely blew me away. Whereas most bands of this genre focus on personal themes (I have no problem with that by the way, that’s usually my favourite stuff), these guys have a strong political message, it’s easy for most young people to relate to. To fully appreciate them, you have to see them live; their shows are an awesome release of positive energy in a wicked scene. Probably most people reading this have heard of the band Rise Against, if you like them check out this band, they have a similar sound and message.

7. Four Year Strong- Rise or Die Trying (2007)
I first heard them in my friend’s room and kind of liked them because they sounded a bit like Set Your Goals. They put their album up for free when they signed to Decaydence so I figured it would be a good idea to download it. At first I felt almost guilty listening to it because of how goddamn poppy it was. But after a while the strength of the song writing won me over and it went into high rotation. I’ve always described them in the past as metal-core in d major and I stand by that. On one hand they have as many double kicks as any August Burns Red album, but on the other hand they have synth player. That’s pretty much the essence of the band, incorporating hardcore elements while maintaining a ridiculously poppy sound. I’m not ashamed to say I like them.

6. RX Bandits- The Resignation (2003)
Way back in the day (about two years ago), when I was still dumb and listened to pretty much one genre of music exclusively, I enjoyed The RX Bandits first album a lot. It was just a straight ahead generic ska-punk deal, which is probably why I liked it. I had some newer songs but thought they sounded dumb and weird. One day I just “got” it, not really sure why but I’m sure as hell glad I did because I love them to death now. They really are one of the truly unique bands around in music today, there is just no one out there who sounds like them. They incorporate reggae, progressive rock, punk, and just straight-up loud rock into their sound for a tornado that hits you hard. Me being a musician myself trying to wrap my head around their music, and how they could have possibly come up with the idea to use different elements in the way they do in a task in and of itself. Each album that has come out since Progress has been an interesting progression adding to their sound. They’re definitely another band where you either “get” it or you don’t.

5. Jawbreaker- Etc. (2002)
Again this is pretty much based off the strength of one song, “Kiss The Bottle”. I first found the song by hearing a Foo Fighters cover of it (which is awesome, by the way), and was immediately enticed by it. Finding the original, I liked it even more. I love how awful Blake’s voice is, the rawness of the recording, and seriously if you know anything about Jawbreaker, it’s that the lyrics are the focal point. Blake just spits out everything he hates about his life all over every song. If you’ve found a front man whose delivery is more sincere, then tell, so I can laugh in your face. There were days when I would listen to “Kiss the Bottle” on repeat probably about 11 or 12 times in a row on the way to work and then again on the way home. The music may have been done before, but the strength of the song writing truly makes this band timeless.

4. Bigwig- Reclamation (2006)
“Ok seriously Tim, we get it. You started to like melodic hardcore a lot this year”. Yea I know. I casually checked out Bigwig a long time ago when they were playing with The Flatliners and Big D and The Kids Table. I enjoyed them but didn’t stick around to see them and pretty much forgot about them. For some reason I remembered them and checked them out again when I got home from Guelph. Holy Fuck! Sink or swim! What an absolute thrasher of a song. From that point on they became one of my favourites. I picked up reclamation afterwards and have to say that it’s absolute gold. From the hardcore of “Owned and Operated” to the metal-tinged “Reclamation” to the ska-punk of “Last Song, Last Call” this album wins on all fronts. It’s fast, and the guys in the band can really shred on all of their instruments. It just makes me feel awesome.

3. Comeback Kid- Wake The Dead (2005)
So yea this album pretty much got me into hardcore this year. Obviously anyone in the punk scene had heard “Wake The Dead” when it first came, I had always thought it was kind of cool. I eventually got around to listening to the rest of the album, and man it’s awesome. It’s just solid from front to back, no filler. I would always throw it on while I on my way to work (trend here?) because it was fun to skateboard to “False Idols Fall” and it would always just end as I got there, with “Final Goodbye” blaring as I left the Go Train. This album introduced me to entirely new scene, and it really changed the type of person I am.

2. Lifetime- Lifetime (2007)
I am not saying this is my favourite Lifetime album, to deny Jersey’s Best Dancers is just plain silly. But this is the album that introduced me to them, hence its place here. Just like New Glory, I heard a whole bunch of bands name-drop Lifetime as big influences on them, the difference is that Lifetime is an influence on New Found Glory. There are two roads with pop-punk one leads to the Descendents and the other leads to Lifetime. I tried checking them out a few times but for some reason, just couldn’t get into it. Then one day I tried again. I went to their MySpace and put on “Airport Monday Morning”, and thought, “Wow! This is an incredible song!” I got a hold of their self titled, comeback record shortly afterwards and immediately loved it. It immediately became one of my most played albums, and still is. I saw a copy of Hello Bastards in a used cd exchange and hopped on the chance to pick it up. It was another really enjoyable album that really showed where a lot of bands that got popular in the late 90’s pulled their sound from. Listen to “Young, Loud, and Scotty” and tell me half of New Found Glory’s songs aren’t rip offs of it, Blink pretty much turned “Rodeo Clown” into an entire album with Dude Ranch. This band took hardcore, made it poppier and spit out lyrics about girls instead of society. The line of bands that directly owe influence to this band goes on for miles.

1. Descendents- Cool To Be You (2004)
Again, this is not my favourite Descendents album, its just the first one that I got, so it’s the most important to me. I had a bunch of Descendents songs on my computer a while ago, but just kind of dismissed it as generic stuff (don’t shoot me). After a while I really got into Blink 182 again, recognizing how awesome of a songwriter Mark Hoppus is. Mark has always unabashedly claimed the Descendents as his biggest influence, and listening to the band this influence is pretty obvious. I figured I should pick one of their albums up and Cool To Be You happened to be the one that was at the used cd place when I was there. After the first listen, I knew it was awesome. This band is the first punk band to write songs about girls, pretty every punk song ever is a copy of “Bikeage” and they recorded it in 1982. I really got big on this band after buying this record. They were everything I needed, songs about girls, not being as cool as everyone else, and eating spicy food and getting diarrhea. I finally got to buy Everything Sucks earlier this year and it was life changing. Definitely one the best collections of music put together, honest song writing and a keen sense for melody, combined with giant hooks and incredible musician ship. Way back in the 80’s were pretty much as punk as you could get. They didn’t have hawks up, or leather jackets, they wore glasses, jeans and went to grad school, it was their attitude. Us versus them and I don’t care what you think. They just completely changed the way not only punk music, but music in general could be played. They truly are up there with The Ramones or The Clash as a band that can transcend genres and become one of the most influential bands ever, not just to punk scene. If I was making a mixtape of songs that defined my life, I’m pretty damn sure “Thank You” would be track 1.

Best of 2008 mixtape
Side One
1. New Found Glory- Tip of the Iceberg
2.Safety- The Blizzard of the Century
3. H2O- 1995
4. Living With Lions- She’s A Hack
5. Shad- The Old Prince Still Lives At Home

Side Two
1. HiFi Handgrenades- Carry On
2. Less Than Jake- The City of Gainesville
3. Less Than Jake- The State of Florida
4. International Superheroes of Hardcore- Back To The Future
5. Hopesick- The Culling Song


Best of Whenever-Else Mixtape
Side One
1. Descendents- Nothing With You
2. Hot Water Music- Trusty Chords
3. Bigwig- Owned and Operated
4. Strike Anywhere- The Promise
5. Comeback Kid- Wake The Dead

Side Two
1. Lifetime- Airport Monday Morning
2. Highschool Football Heroes- Regret This
3. Four Year Strong- Beatdown In The Key of Happy
4. Rx Bandits- Decrescendo
5. Jawbreaker- Kiss The Bottle

Stuff that I’m looking forward to in 2009
New albums by: New Found Glory, Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals, NoFX, Strike Anywhere, Mad Caddies, Aquabats?, We Are The Union, Bomb The Music Industry!, and the split from The Flatliners and The Snips.
This year is going to kick ass.

Post Yours in the comments!