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1.
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Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
The peak of their career, imo. While The Lonesome Crowded West shows many excellent leanings of what was to come, and Good News for People Who Love Bad News showed a strong cross-over with the mainstream, this album is their moodiest, most cohesive and beautiful album to date. |
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2.
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Say Anything - ?Is a Real Boy
Here we lean heavily towards pop-punk, but that is not a tag I ever felt comfortable giving this group. Like the album below, the lyrics here are excellent?just crank up the acerbic qualities to 11. Max wrote much of this album while struggling with mental illness (Bipolar, I believe). For an album with so many songs, I can't name one that I don't rock out to. Even the second disc on the longer edition has some of my favorite tracks. "Little Girls" is amazing. |
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3.
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Death Cab for Cutie - Translanticism
Those lyrics. Yes, they can be a little pretentious at times, but the introspective and often biting commentary is extremely clever. "Title and Registration" is a worthy hit, but the deeper cuts here are every bit as good with their hooks and excellent flow. |
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4.
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Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me
I saw these guys perform much of this album live at Lollapalooza. Man, were they pissed off. Chucking guitars at the stage, kicking amps, screaming their lungs out. This is a very emotional record with a lot of epic crescendos to scream along with. Highly consistent. |
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5.
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Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Swinging to something a bit more on the fun side, Bloc Party absolutely hit it out of the park with this one. Again, I saw these guys at a different Lollapalooza and the energy was amazing. Everyone in this band is an amazing player. The drums are danceable, the guitar hooks rocking, and the vocals catchy. I also adore the more subdued third album, Intimacy, but this fits the list better. |
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6.
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Mew - Frengers
Despite what Skwisgar may have to say about the Dutch, they sure can make some great rock. There are some arena-worthy anthems on this album from "156" to "Snow Brigade" to "Am I Wry? No." Infectious falsetto vocals, deceptively complex time signatures, and great guitar hooks. Their follow-up album, And the Glass Handed Kites, is also an excellent progressive rock offering. |
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7.
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Mr. Gnome - Heave Yer Skeleton
One of the smaller groups on this list both in notoriety and number of members. This female singer-guitarist and male drummer duo from Ohio made a lasting impression on me at a little club in Chicago. They have several stellar albums, but this has some of my favorite tracks. The interplay of the quiet and beautiful with the sudden crunchy guitar chords and warbling vocals is hypnotic. |
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8.
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Death from Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
Caught a reunion performance at, you guessed it, Lollapalooza. Another duo. These guys are so heavy they don't need a guitar. Slap a bunch of distortion on a bass and have the drummer belt out some chaotic vocals on par with The Blood Brothers. Those familiar with the comedy group Human Giant will recognize their theme song. |
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9.
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Cursive - The Ugly Organ
Sooooo depressing, but no less creative and different. This is the soundtrack to an imploding relationship. It gets ugly. REALLY ugly. Don't listen to this if you are in a good mood. |
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10.
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Tegan and Sara - The Con
Before they were making pop hits and singing a Lego song on the Oscars, these twin sisters were making some great acoustic rock with plenty of teen angst. It's sappy, but also quite honest and beautiful. |
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11.
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The Faint - Dance Macabre
Electro-synth pop that still strikes me as having a bit of that indie vibe. Songs about the dreary realities of modern life, but played in a way that makes you want to dance. There are also some darker sounding tracks, one of my favorites of which is "Violence." Great string implementation on that one. |
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12.
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mewithoutyou - [A-->B] Life
Swinging over to a more post-hardcore vibe, mewithoutyou is like some chaotic, spoken (yelled) word in the form of mind-bending poetry set to clangy guitar strikes and bouncing bass lines. Interesting stuff. |
