The Best of 2018

The Un-Herd Music Top 50 of 2018

1. Jeff Whalen 10 More Rock Super Hits

Leader of shoulda-been legendary power poppers Tsar delivers what amounts to a master class in melodic perfection. Hooks upon hooks, vocal hooks, guitar hooks, just mofuggin' hooks in every direction. And it's not afraid to rock either.






2. The Peawees Moving Target

Songs so good they sound like classics from a non-existent golden era where Phil Spector, girl groups and Otis Redding rubbed shoulders with the Ramones and the Replacements, but it's new and all original.




 


3. Twin Peaks Sweet '17 Singles

Collects various awesome singles released the previous year, an act which seems almost heroically retro... and that's not a wholly inaccurate way to describe the band's approach to music as well.







4. Macy Gray Ruby

After seemingly being lost in the wilderness for quite some time, Ms. Gray arrives at the intersection of classic and modern R&B with her most satisfying album since "On How Life Is."

5. Gold Star Uppers & Downers

An album of modest glories that seems simple enough on first listen, then reveals a knack for low-key earworms underneath its shimmering twilit charm.

6. The Glands Double Coda

Tidies up twenty-three loose ends from the storage shed of the Glands, bringing closure to a truly wondrous and tragic tale. As sprawling, slack, and hook-filled as you'd expect (and hope for).

7. Ural Thomas & the Pain The Right Time

Touching on ol' Stax/Volt R&B and James Brown funk with equal authority, it's hard to believe Mr. Thomas is approaching 80 years old. As impressive as it is authentic.

8. Low Cut Connie Dirty Pictures Part 2

Reportedly the band's "Boozophilia" made it onto Barack Obama's playlist back in 2012, and if there's any justice this entire album is showing up on everybody else's playlist this year. A bar band turning into a major player right in front of our ears.

9. Miesha and the Spanks Girls Girls Girls

Attempts to describe the music - in this case punky pop (or poppy punk) - may make it seem generic, but that's only because it's near impossible to quantify the charisma of Miesha's vocals, not to mention the efficacy of her hooks.

10. Primal Scream Give Out But Don't Give Up (Original Memphis Sessions)

Scrapped sessions with super-engineer Tom Dowd (along with the famed Muscle Shoals rhythm section) might have cost them their audience in '94, but from a 2018 vantage point their commitment to sleazy southern soul could be the best thing the band ever did.

11. Simon Love Sincerely S. Love X

12. Bass Drum of Death Just Business

13. Beechwood Inside the Flesh Hotel

14. Bad Moves Tell No One

15. Minky Starshine Dirty Electric

16. Parker Millsap Other Arrangements

17. Damian O'Neill & the Monotones Refit Revise Reprise

18. The Sick Things The Sick Things

19. Shannon Shaw Shannon In Nashville

20. Twin Temple Bring You Their Signature Sound... Satanic Doo Wop

21. Rich Hope I'm All Yours

22. Blockhouses Greatest Hit Songs of All Time

23. J.P. Bimeni & the Black Belts Free Me

24. The Prettys ¡Tapas!

25. The Buttertones Midnight in a Moonless Dream

26. High Up You Are Here

27. Valley Lodge Fog Machine

28. Dot Dash Proto Retro

29. Bat Fangs Bat Fangs

30. Death by Unga Bunga So Far So Good So Cool

31. The Longshot Love Is For Losers

32. Daddy Let's Do This

33. Shannon and the Clams Onion

34. The Chills Snow Bound

35. Kurt Baker Combo Let's Go Wild!

36. Emperor Penguin Walnut Fascia

37. Extra Arms Headacher

38. Thomas Abban A Sheik's Legacy

39. Elise LeGrow Playing Chess

40. Deva Mahal Run Deep

41. Alejandro Escovedo w/ Don Antonio The Crossing

42. Neko Case Hell-On

43. The Sha La Das Love in the Wind

44. Lucy and the Rats Lucy and the Rats

45. Lovesores Gods of Ancient Grease

46. Taggart L'maskin

47. Walter Lure & the Waldos Wacka Lacka Loom Bop a Loom Bam Boo

48. Gin Wigmore Ivory

49. The Real Sickies Get Well Soon

50. Handsome Jack Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Honorable Mentions:

The Furies The Furies

Ruen Bros. All My Shades of Blue

Bee Bee Sea Bee Bee Sea Deluxe

Skytone Jangle Waves

The Vibrators Past Present and Into the Future

Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis Wild! Wild! Wild!

Willie Nile Children of Paradise

The Connection Wish You Success

The Blank Pages Before Your Summer Fades

Leon Bridges Good Thing

EPs:

The Dahlmanns American Heartbeat

The Pandoras Hey! It's the Pandoras!

The Number Ones Another Side of the Number Ones

Nick Lowe Tokyo Bay

The Regrettes Attention Seeker

The Best of 2016

The Un-Herd Music Top 40 of 2016

1. Hunters Dead End

Shaggy pack of garage punks from Finland summon the typical scuzz lineage from the Stooges to the Dead Boys, but also have the style and sense to throw in a classic pop sense of melody, with the end result sounding a lot like what you'd get if Rancid's Tim Armstrong fronted the New York Dolls while mangling a cover of "Suffragette City." 

2. Public Access T.V. Never Enough

Comparisons to a certain NYC nu-garage band seem to accompany every review of Never Enough, but a) the Strokes haven't managed this amount of ear candy hooks since Is This It, and b) Public Access T.V. is less a summation of 70s Noo Yawk and more a party hearty compendium of every cool sound since.

3. Twin Peaks Down in Heaven

Continuing their trajectory towards a growing command of pop song perfection, this time out Twin Peaks opted for a cleaner, clearer production style that allowed their seemingly effortless melodicism to stand on its own.

4. Slick! Slick!

The songs mostly clock in under the two minute mark and yet they still manage to touch on 50s rock 'n' roll, 60s bubblegum, 70s glam, and classic punk.

5. The Prettys Soirée

Vancouver band came out of next to nowhere with this one. What could have been standard indie punk bamalama gets rudely goosed by an ultra-melodic guitarist, an advanced sense of dynamics, and a honking, squealing saxophone. More please!

 6. Elijah Ford & the Bloom As You Were

Extremely satisfying album that hues closely to conventional classic rock - think Tom Petty for the old school, James Younger for the new - without sacrificing energy or hooks.

 7. Pat Todd & the RankOutsiders Blood & Treasure

Madman rock 'n' roll alchemist continues his noble life pursuit of mixing equal parts Johnny Cash and the New York Dolls, which might be slightly less impressive if the songs weren't so damn good.

 8. Pale Lips Wanna Be Bad

Slammin' Montreal sirens play girl group melodies at Mach III speed with lyrics (sample title: "Mary Lou Sniffin' Glue") that refuse to give a single inch of ground to the patriarchy. All hail.

9. Nick Waterhouse Never Twice

The cover image perfectly places Waterhouse in a classy black & white past, out of time with current trends but no less hip for it. This is sleek old time rhythm 'n' blues that moves and grooves without the need for over-bearing volume or hysterics.

10. Telephone Lovers Telephone Lovers

Twelve great proofs that rock 'n' roll is most effectively delivered in a three minute single. Somewhere, Paul Collins must be smiling with an "I told ya so" glint in his eye.








11. Role Models Forest Lawn
12. The Fleshtones The Band Drinks For Free
13. Javier Escovedo Kicked Out of Eden
14. Sheer Mag III (ep)
15. Ronnie Spector English Heart
16. Tim Easton American Fork
17. The New Frustrations Dee-Bacle (ep)
18. Somerdale Shake It Maggie
19. The I Don't Cares Wild Stab
20.  The Connection Just For Fun

21. Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms Basement Punk
22. Hey! Hello! Hey! Hello! Too!
23. The Seratones Get Gone
24. Dot Dash Searchlights
25. The Excitements Breaking the Rule
26. Farewell Milwaukee FM
27. Propeller Fall Off The World
28. Margaret Glaspy Emotions and Math
29. Steve Conte International Cover Up
30. Ulysses Law and Order

31. Izzy Bizu A Moment of Madness
32. Belleville Turn the Medicine Down
33. Watts The Black Heart of Rock & Roll
34. Lydia Loveless Longer
35. Kurt Baker In Orbit
36. Ian Hunter Fingers Crossed
37. Papernut Cambridge Love the Things Your Lover Loves
38. Car Seat Headrest Teen Denial
39. Earth Girls Wanderlust
40. D Generation Nothing is Anywhere

The Best of 2015

The Un-Herd Music Top 40 of 2015

1. The Barreracudas Can Do Easy

Power pop punk glam trash armed with an amazing arsenal of hooks and a fearless hold on that old rock & roll rhythm. True believers.

2. Ike Reilly Born On Fire

Connects the dots between '65 Dylan, '77 punk, ancient blues & right fuckin' now with an earned swagger.

 3. Royal Headache High

Band crashes & bashes, the singer soars, the album targets nothing less than pop immortality & hits it right between the eyes.

 4. JD McPherson Let The Good Times Roll

JD flirts with the rock & roll revivalist retro ghetto but imbues every classic move with a modern sheen, turning old dead ends into a freeway of fresh thrills.

 5. Dot Dash Earthquakes & Tidal Waves

Dot Dash have expanded from the brittle post-punk of their previous albums to incorporate ever more melodic strains in their DNA, from the 80s all the way up to the immediate future.

 6. Minky Starshine Pop Jewelry

Streamlined and sleek power pop with its focus squarely set on gorgeous, laid-back songcraft.

7. Diane Coffee Everybody's A Good Dog

It turns out the true follow-up to Foxygen's masterful "We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic" was by drummer Shaun Fleming's side project Diane Coffee. A cuinsinart of genre fuckery that doesn't forget the tunes.

 

 8. The Role Models The Go-To Guy

Rough, tough Replacements-style what-the-fuck, complete with the requisite doses of hopelessness and world-beater arrogance.

9. Simi Stone Simi Stone

There's equal streaks of 50s doo wop and 70s Laurel Canyon singer/songwriter cool running through Simi's mellow take on modern R&B that is endlessly awesome.

 10. Lucero All A Man Should Do

Lucero all grown up and glossed with big time production. Old time fans might miss the sharp punk edges, but Ben Nichols' songs carry the depth and melody to merit a place in the Memphis soul tradition.





11. The Sonics This Is The Sonics
12. Simon Love It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
13. The Ballantynes Dark Drives, Life Signs
14. Sugar Sugaar - Strange Kicks
15. Orange Humble Band - Depressing Beauty
16. Terra Lightfoot - Every Time My Mind Runs Wild
17. Turbo Fruits - No Control
18. Donald Cumming - Out Calls Only
19. Dr. Boogie - Gotta Get Back To New York City
20. Dan Kelly - Leisure Panic

21. Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
22. Ryan Hamilton - Hell Of A Day
23. Baby Shakes - Starry Eyes
24. Biters - Electric Blood
25. Downtown Boys - Full Communism
26. Leon Bridges - Coming Home
27. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages - Under A Savage Sky
28. Shovels & Rope - Busted Jukebox Vol. 1
29. White Reaper - White Reaper Does It Again
30. Nikki Hill - Heavy Hearts, Hard Fists

31. Reno Bo - Lessons From A Shooting Star
32. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think...
33. Blow Monkeys - If Not Now, When?
34. Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms - Heart String Soul
35. Andra Day - Cheers to the Fall
36. The Connection - Labor of Love
37. Jesse Malin - New York Before The War
38. Thunderbitch - Thunderbitch
39. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
40. Tenement - Predatory Headlights

Favorite EPs of 2015:

The Breakdowns - Heavy Metal Bombs
Modern Kicks - The Kicks Ain't All Right
The Pilgrims - Shred Savage
Rooni - Yodo
Rooni - Pilot

And, finally, a sampler mix of some of my absolute favorites from that list. There's no specific order to the mix - just tried to keep the flow - and to that end I've picked fairly randomly from the entire top 40. I'm hoping you'll find something that'll lead you to an entire album (or albums) of new faves.If that's ever the case (or is never the case), let me know in the comments. 

And thanks for hangin' around and hangin' in.  All the best in 2016!
 

Final Boarding Call For The Chosen Ones 
 

1. Ike Rei11y Notes from the Denver International Airport

2. Roya1 Headache Wouldn't You Know 

3. Dot Dash Flowers

4. The Ro1e Mode1s Lie For Today

5. The Barreracudas Long Explanation

6. JD McPherson It's All Over But The Shouting

7. Ryan Hami1ton Records and Needles

8. Minky Starshine Drive

9. Simi Stone Good Girl

10. Simon Love The New Adam and Eve

11. Terra Lightfoot Never Will

12. Diane Coffee Mayflower

13. White Reaper Sheila

14. Low Cut Connie Both of My Knees

15. Nikki Hi11 Nothin' With You

16. Lucero Young Outlaws

17. Sugar Sugaar Sweet City

18. Turbo Fruits Don't Change

19. Downtown Boys Wave of History

20. Baby Shakes Teenage Cloud

21. Dona1d Cumming Workin' It Out

22. The Ballantynes My Place Your Town

23. Dr. Boogie Life On The Breadline

24. Biters Dreams Don't Die

Top 30 Albums of 2011

1. The Breakdowns - The Kids Don't Wanna Bop Anymore
2. The Booze - At Maximum Volume
3. Biters - It's All Chewed Up, OK?
4. The Meows - All You Can Eat
5. Yep - Once
6. The Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
7. Meyerman - Who Do You Think You Are?
8. Oh Mercy - Great Barrier Grief
9. Van Buren Boys - Up All Night
10. Watts - On The Dial

11. Barreracudas - Nocturnal Missions

12. The Kills - Blood Pressures

13. Redondo Beat - Meet Redondo Beat

14. Marvelous Darlings - Single Life 

15. Apex Manor - The Year of Magical Drinking

16. Locksley - Locksley

17. Daniel Tashian - Arthur

18. The Weight - Nowhere Now

19. Ryan Allen - Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms

20. The Postelles - The Postelles

21. Butch Walker & the Black Widows - The Spade

22. Black Rabbits - Hypno Switch

23. Warren Zanes - I Want To Move Into The Daylight

24. Giuda - Racey Roller

25. The CRY! - The CRY!

26. Sun Wizard - Positively 4th Avenue

27. Bare Wires - Cheap Perfume

28. King Louie's Missing Monuments - Paint It White

29. The ACBs - Stona Rosa

30. Tommy Keene - Behind the Parade

more about each release here