Crash Street Kids - Sweet Creatures (2011)

Not to be confused with the '80s power poppers of the same name (whose lone album, Little Girls, is a classic of the genre), these Kids were born in the 2000s. Sonically, they reach back even further than their titular predecessors and clutch convincingly at '70s glam. There are definite echoes of Bowie, T. Rex, and Alice Cooper, but the main muse here seems to be entirely Mott the Hoople. The band name openly derives from a Mott song, and Ryan McKay's vocals are often unmistakably a dead ringer for Ian Hunter, but it goes deeper than that. Mott was a complex band that never fit comfortably into the genre they're most known for. Always at war with itself, Mott followed seemingly incompatible influences (Jerry Lee Lewis, the Stones, and Dylan) that, when combined with David Bowie's fey glam cabaret, created one of the more truly odd hybrids of their era. Amazingly, the Crash Street Kids hit that same ambiguous point, so you get a similar war between '50s rock 'n' roll, Exile guitar sleaze, swirling Blonde on Blonde organ, pounding piano, glam androgyny, honking sax, melodramatic balladry, handclaps, and an earnestly poetic intellectualization of junkie streetlife, all while delivering something of a concept album about a teen hooker. The band may not yet have the knack for a killer hook like Ian Hunter, but songs like "Sad Julia", "Bang Bang (You're Beautiful)", and, especially, "Mary, Queen of the Rock" come remarkably close. Somewhere out there, Ariel Bender's ears are perking up.

Sweet Creatures on Amazon

I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House - Menace (2002)

These Portland shitkickers mine the same southern rock goldmine as the Drive-by Truckers, although being from the Pacific North-West they're understandably less interested in myth and tradition than the Truckers (though thankfully much more likely to goose their tunes with punk rock irreverence). So while the epic heaviness of songs like "Dust And Sun", "Fall Down", and "Pauline" could form the basis of their own Northern Rock Opera, tracks like the profane "Westboro Baptist Church" and the steamrolling "Gone" are closer in spirit to Mojo Nixon than Lynyrd Skynyrd. It's a good mix, to my ears, both fun and thoughtful without sacrificing anything in either direction. These are some good ol' boys capable of tolerance and introspection, bringing some dignity back to the term redneck, and having a blast while they do it. When vocalist Mike D. commands "C'mon y'all, let's fuck the president!" in a voice that lands squarely between Mojo's rasp and a swamp frog's croak, it's as much a gesture of solidarity with gays and lesbians as it is a fun call to arms against Bush 43. And on top of everything else, they may possess the best band name of all time.

Menace on Amazon

Grouplove - Never Trust a Happy Song (2011)

Although an occasional tune bubbles to the surface, this reeks of what L.A. major label music executives must think "the kids" are listening to these days. Jump rope singalongs, schoolyard backing vocals, plus arrangements that borrow cliches from both rock and electronica. It's like some exec called for the next Foster the People, even while we're still not sure if we want the first one. Ultimately, I suspect "the kids" won't be all that interested in this, but TV commercials will lap it up.

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

Dirty Wings - 30th Avenue Heartache (2011)

Any band that titles a song "Scott Walker, Motherfucker" is on my good side right from the get-go. That song, a grim pro-union anthem curdled in righteous anger amongst the recent Republican machinations in Wisconsin, grinds along with the earnestness of an old folk song powered by punk instrumentation. And really, the entire album has the same feel. It's like Springsteen without the arena rock aspirations, or the Gaslight Anthem minus the mall punk mannerisms, or like the Constantines with a slightly more populist sense of melody. Or, to call a spade a spade, it's the Harry Smith Folk Anthology run through a Marshall stack. There isn't a great deal of hooks, humor, or dynamic variation here, although if the band picks its political rallies wisely they'll be getting the intended audience singalongs regardless.

Dirty Wings on Amazon

Daniel Tashian - Arthur (2011)

Daniel Tashian is perhaps better known for his work with the Silver Seas, whose Chateau Revenge made my top 20 last year. Like that album, this solo joint is sleek modern pop, although considerably more mellow and self-reflective. The level of songcraft on display here is extremely high, with each song building to its chorus in a way that's always effective yet never obvious. A few reviews have deemed this '70s AM pop, which is accurate enough as long as you filter out the novelty tunes and unctuous, pandering pap from whichever '70s AM pop universe that description might suggest. Personally, I hope Tashian isn't finished with the Silver Seas, because I miss the uptempo energy the band brings to his compositions, but for what this album is (which seems to be some kind of unofficial companion piece to the movie of the same name) it works better than anything Christopher Cross might have imagined.

Daniel Tashian's "Arthur" on iTunes

Ryan Allen - Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms (2011)

This is something of a one man band effort, with Ryan Allen playing most of the guitars, piano, and drums. The credits also include a small army of collaborators, however, so this isn't quite the insular, introspective affair one might initially fear when faced with that dreaded "one man band" phrase. So instead of Emitt Rhodes, this is more Devin Davis. And, like Devin Davis, Allen isn't afraid to rock while he's sitting by himself in a studio. In fact, a lot of this release conjures up what the Replacements might have sounded like if Tommy Stinson had been their main singer and songwriter: 3 minute (or less) constructs of melodic power pop shot through with a little punk buzz, fortified by a classic rock foundation, and topped off with witty, self-deprecating lyrics. "Heart String Soul" and "Headache Nights", in particular, are gonna spark up many future mixes. And not just mine.

Ryan Allen on bandcamp