End of a Year 2020 - Albums Pt 1.

 *Staind Voice* It's been a while.

I haven't posted anything on here for eight months. I know it's not entirely out of character for this blog, but I've still been busy. Check out my new podcast and follow me on Twitter for fuck's sake. 

Part 2 is here.

I've had more time to listen to new music this year than ever before, due to circumstances I'm sure you're aware of. That means I've got 20 fuckin albums to talk about instead of the usual 10. I'm doing the rankings a bit different this year too. This year is gonna be a lot more personal, and that starts with dividing the albums into three categories based on listening habits.

Category 1: Good albums I didn't listen to often.

I only spun these albums like five times all year, despite thoroughly enjoying them. I feel like I'm going to revisit a lot of these down the line, but for whatever reason, they just weren't top of mind in 2020.

Ecostrike

20. Peace Maker - Peace Be With You (Self-Released)

This album is arguably the best thing I reviewed on my podcast. Peace Maker spits complex bars over mellow production with a gritty but honest sensibility. It's hard without having to front and smart without smelling its own farts.

19. Internal Rot -- Grieving Birth (Iron Lung)

I don't know how to contextualize this album because the world of DIY caveman grind is pretty new to me. Grieving Birth is brutal to the point where it's hardly even music. It's way too cool to leave off this list, though.

18. Ecostrike -- A Truth We Still Believe (Triple B)

The lyrics on this record push it into contention for one of the corniest albums of the year. I don't think you'll catch a single "cool" hardcore kid saying they like this. Fuck those kids though. Ecostrike moves further into their own lane and away from the cries of "Strife worship" on this album. They also write some of the best riffs of their career.

Three Knee Deep

17. The Fight -- Their New Aesthetic (Triple B)

Triple B are the masters of finding the best and most accessible bands in every subgenre of hardcore. The Fight, like Restraining Order, are playing basement music to festival kids. Their New Aesthetic is ferociously catchy d-beat with oi and street punk garnish that every stripe of hardcore kid can enjoy.

16. Three Knee Deep -- Three Knee Deep (Triple B)

Holy shit. Three Triple B records in a row! This album is incredibly fucking stupid, but in the most endearing and enjoyable way possible. The Florida band's first full length is a cacophony of mosh parts interspersed with numerous strange vocal stylings, including a rap song (featuring hardcore legend Danny Diablo). This might suck if it took itself even a little bit seriously. Luckily, 3KD are fully in on the joke.

15. Heavy Discipline - Heavy Discipline (Painkiller)

The saturation point of the Disembodied revival has been reached. Sanrio-hoodie-gate has laid the fashion-core posers bare. Discerning hardcore aficionados are now looking for something punk inspired but with a bit of crunch. Heavy Discipline scratch that itch. This is idiot hardcore for the thinking man. Or thinking man's hardcore for the idiot. Really though, it just sounds like Rival Mob. Who's complaining? Not me.

Gag

14. Burning Strong -- The Fire Rages On (From Within)

This album comes out strong with the 90's worship vibe of bands like Magnitude and Ecostrike, but it doesn't take long to roll over and show its Amazingcore belly. The stomp on Fire Rages On is all New Age, but the melody and structure conjure up ghosts of Have Heart and Bane. I don't know if that's intentional. Either way, people aren't browbeating that style to death these days. Burning Strong also manage to avoid the corny pitfalls of over-earnestness. This album is a winner for those reasons.

Category 2: Great albums that didn't thoroughly resonate.

These albums are (mostly) a cut above in quality, but didn't quite move me in the way my favourites of the year did. I don't think I'll revisit them often, but it would be silly to leave them off this list.

13. Seed of Pain -- Flesh, Steel, Victory (Plead Your Case)

This album kind of grew off me after being one of my early-year favourites. Still, it's ferocious, high energy, and full of ass-beating mosh parts. Seed of Pain nail the 90's metallic sound without the nu-metal bullshit I wish these bands would either lean into fully or completely avoid. This record gets a little repetitive, but on a good day it will have you bedroom moshing like an idiot.

12. Gag -- Still Laughing (Iron Lung)

I don't really want to like the new Gag, because the people in my town who go to these shows kind of annoy me. I don't have a choice, though. This record is too good. Still Laughing displays a deft songwriting skill, an infectious ear for melody, and a weirdness that's often imitated but seldom replicated. It's a great hardcore record, all in all. I probably would have been at the back of the show watching this with my arms crossed while idiots pogo'd into each other.

Freddie Gibbs

11. Conway the Machine -- From King to a God (Griselda)

The Griselda collective dominated online hip-hop discourse this year, dropping a staggering number of projects. Conway the Machine's "debut" studio album, From King to a God is the most interesting and well-crafted of them. The typical Griselda "64 bars over a piano loop" formula is here, but it's interspersed with actual attempts at songwriting and a desire to do something different production-wise. Mix that with Conway's expert pen and you've got something worth going back to.

10. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist -- Alfredo (ESGN)

Freddie Gibbs is one of my favourite rappers ever. He consistently appears on my year-end lists and 2020 is no different. The Alchemist doesn't hold up his end of the bargain on this album, otherwise it probably would rank a lot higher. Either way, Afredo is the most lauded "coke rap" album to come out in a year when that style dominated the discourse. It's also the best.

9. Mil-Spec -- World House (Lockin' Out)

World House is a late-year drop. I expect it to grow on me once I see it (again) in a live setting. Hometown heroes Mil-Spec take a big step forward from their already great 2018 EP Changes on this new record. The Revolution meets Revelation hybrid has been tweaked, with nods to bands like Leatherface and maybe even The Tragically Hip. Some physical copies of the 12" came with a beautiful 90+ page coffee table book, boosting World House to "must cop" status in 2020.

Young Dolph

8. Rat Cage -- Screams From the Cage (La Vida Es Un Mus)

I find D-beat to be miss more than hit. Bands can come firing out of the gate on a record, just to get bogged down by rhythmic sameness. Rat Cage completely avoid that pitfall by being unreal songwriters. The riffs are super catchy and creative. The vocal melodies are ripping and infectious. The band's feel for dynamics and transitions are immaculate. Screams From the Cage has an almost-pop sensibility, but it's being played sloppily at breakneck speed. Not bad for only playing two different drumbeats. 

7. Young Dolph -- Rich Slave (Paper Route Empire)

Young Dolph would be the biggest rapper in the world if he was flowing over snare-less piano loops. The Memphis rapper has all the braggadocios, pimp-a-liscious swagger of your favourite coke rapper. He just approaches his craft from a distinctly southern viewpoint. "Manny Fresh was my Jam Master J" he remarks on "Benz", a line that perfectly encapsulates this project. Dolph spits Cash Money inspired schemes over splashing hi-hats (including a few beats from the legendary Juicy J). The relatively out-of-vogue style mixed with the independent release made Rich Slave a bit of a sleeper this year. The substance is there, though.

~~~

That's the first part of my year end list. Part 2 is here. -- the rest of the albums and my favourite EPs. I might also do some extra fun shit this year, Who knows?

End of a Year 2019 - Albums

It's March 2nd, and I still haven't gotten around to posting my "albums of the year" list for 2019. I don't know why. It's not like I've been busy or anything. Oh well, here they are.

10. Wristmeetrazor - Misery Never Forgets (Prosthetic Records)

I don't think I could come up with a more melodramatic band/record name if I tried. It's fitting of the music though. This scratches that old "wave" itch of mall-emo influenced hardcore for me, but with more chugga-chuggas and an intense scene aesthetic.


9. Polo G - Die a Legend (Columbia)

One thing that pisses me off about rap these days is how lazy and forgettable the choruses are. Two of the choruses on this album are among 2019's most singable ("Pop Out" and "Finer Things"). The rest are kinda standard issue boring, but Polo's flow, bars and beat selection make the songs enjoyable anyways.


8. Knocked Loose - A Different Shade of Blue (Pure Noise)

Two years ago, Code Orange was the coolest heavy hardcore band and Knocked Loose was "for posers". Those roles have now been reversed thanks to the fickleness of hardcore kids. Code Orange has gone off the deep end into twiz territory and everyone hates them now. Knocked Loose are the heavy hardcore kings, thanks this album, where they sped up and trimmed the cheesy parts away. ADSOB will probably be remembered as a tent-pole hardcore release in a few years.

7. Youngboy Never Broke Again - Realer (Never Broke Again LLC.)

Up to this point NBA has always struck me as a singles rapper, putting out great songs amid a ton of sameness and mediocrity. He finally nailed a full project on Realer, with no skip-able tracks and four or five legit good songs. He then followed it up by releasing a shitload of watered down mixtapes amid some genuinely interesting singles.


6. Denzel Curry - ZUU (PH Recordings/Loma Vista)

I didn't get enough time with this album, but I really liked it. Denzel is like a throwback to 2012, when people were actually trying to be lyrical AND make great songs at the same time. He reminds me of a young Cole or Kendrick before they got too heady. This earnestness and creativity is gold in a landscape of 35 year-olds too high on coke to be hungry and literal children being exploited by their labels for baby formula.


5. Abuse of Power - What on Earth Can We Do? (Triple-B)

AOP took the Turning Point formula and made it fast as fuck. There's nothing revolutionary about this, but it's still really good. I feel like the band will be more remembered for their EP, but the full length might actually be the more interesting release.


4. Freddie Gibbs - Bandana (ESGN/RCA)

Of the aformentioned 35 year-old cokeheads making easy-listening rap in 2019, Freddie Gibbs is the only one who feels like he has a stake in it. He's getting structurally inventive, improving lyrically, and not entirely up his own ass. He spits some unhinged "aging hip-hop dude" nonsense occasionally, but it only adds to the charm.

3. Magnitude - To Whatever Fateful End (Triple-B)

The only thing more idealistically satisfying this year than listening to a 35 year-old rapper freak out about slutwalks and vaccines was hearing a group of 22 year-old hardcore kids shriek about their commitment to straight edge and veganism. It's deeper than that, too. If nothing else, this album gets by on sheer conviction. I'm interested to see how this will hold up in five years, but in 2019, it was thoroughly enjoyable.


2. Never Ending Game - Just Another Day (Triple-B)

This album took me back to the time when I was an earnest 21 year old spinning that Xerxes LP three times a day. It's not at all sonically similar. It's just that I haven't been as excited about an album in easily six or seven years. This sounds like kids who grew up on Trapped Under Ice trying to sound like Cold as Life. Which is fucking sick. It's so unique and so re-listenable.


1. Wild Side - ...Who the Hell is Wild Side? (Triple B)

If I'm being objective, the NEG album is better than this one. But I'm not being objective, my g. I saw Wild Side three times this year and that definitely coloured how I'll remember their long awaited full length. It's a pretty great album, regardless. It's classic NYHC, coloured by some high-risk/high-reward songwriting and an undercurrent of classic rock worship.


Honourable mention:

42 Dugg - Young and Turnt, Fury - Failed Entertainment, Hangman - One By One, Young Thug - So Much Fun, Pandemix - In Condemnation, Blueface - Famous Cryp, DaBaby - Baby on Baby, Kodak Black - Dying to Live, Sunami - Demo 2019.

Top Five EPs

5. Ekulu - Half Alive
4. Rejection Pact - Threats of the World
3. Gulch - Promo 2019
2. Friction - Demo 2019
1. Deniro Farrar - Re-up

This was a great year for music. Probably the best in the last half of this decade. Everyone PLEASE check this shit out.

ATTN HARDCORE KIDS: Slipknot is clown ass bullshit

Y'all be listening to these guys?

It has been widely accepted that nu-metal is terrible since it was invented in 1994. However, in the last five years, kids who listen to extreme music have gone from sheepishly admitting they liked nu-metal when they were 12 to aggressively stanning it. Slipknot seems to be at the forefront of this revisionist history, as they appear more credible now than they've ever been. I have no idea how, because that shit sucks ass. Before I break down why, here are some caveats.

1. It's okay to enjoy music you liked when you were 12 years old. I listen to Hybrid Theory once a year and rock the fuck out. It's also okay to like shitty music. I will unabashedly listen to at least three Limp Bizkit songs on occasion. Liking music for nostalgia or novelty isn't much different from liking it because you think it's good. We can accept this and come to the objective realization that something is bad.
2. I am not Slipknot's target market. I grew up in a white-collar household and had a pretty serene childhood. I am not trying to belittle your experience. If this band genuinely helped you through a tough time, you get a pass to like them non-ironically and also to send me hate-mail. However, if your feelings on Slipknot are anything other than "this band saved my life and I owe them a lot" you should aggressively reconsider taking them seriously.
3. I've only ever listened to Iowa and a smattering of singles. I am open to suggestions. I used to think Youth of Today was clown bullshit for herbs and now I think they're pretty okay. I approach most music with an open mind, so feel free to try and sway me.

With that out of the way, let's begin.

My first introduction to Slipknot was watching the 2004 Grammys. My initial thoughts, as a pre-teen, were: "Wow. Nine dudes who wear clown masks and beat on garbage cans. That sounds pretty fucking stupid." 

I was a bright and discerning child. 

For many years, my opinions on Slipknot were never challenged. I got my music opinions from MuchMusic and Classic Rock Q107, whose snobby, Toronto-based talking heads constantly affirmed my disdain for nu-metal. Slipknot was sold to me as objectively bad and for weirdos.

Then I went to college and got into hardcore (haters: feel free to screenshot this, as if the fact that I started liking a genre after you did somehow makes Slipknot good). The people I met in the scene admitted that they used to like Slipknot in high school. Not anymore though, of course *hehehe*. Then, slowly but surely, the tide started to change. I would see a Slipknot shirt here, a positive tweet there. I distanced myself from the scene for a few years to focus on making rap (c'mon haters, I'm giving it to you on a platter), and when I came back, the love for Slipknot was full blown.

Like I said before, I have a pretty open mind when it comes to music, so I said to myself, "maybe Slipknot isn't as bad as I thought." I decided to listen to Iowa after about a year of seeing the band name plastered everywhere. I listened to it distracted, on the train. I didn't love it, but I could totally see why a hardcore kid would be into it when they were 12. I put it on the shelf for about a year, until last week, when I decided to listen to it with a more discerning ear.

I got four tracks in before I had to turn it off. 

Yo, I'm sure this shit was sick back before you had pubes on your dick, but you're a grown adult. Please think critically. I guess it's kinda cool that they were playing blast-beats on a major label release, but there are three corny butt-rock riffs for every one "cool" part. The lyrics sound like they were written by Dylan Klebold. I'm sure hearing "people equal shit" 64 times in one song made your heart pound when you got grounded in Sixth Grade, but for fuck's sake, that was 15 years ago. It totally baffles me that some of the people I see on Twitter will clown on Code Orange for saying "It's real now, motherfucker" and then go listen to a band that says "I wanna slit your throat and fuck the wound" like that isn't some stupid edgelord shit the trenchcoat kid in high school would be too ashamed to carve into his desk. Let's also not forget the fact that Slipknot, well into their 40's, are still a costume band. They're the fucking Wiggles in gimp masks, my friends. This shit is CORNY.

10x cooler than Slipknot

It's the year 2020. Let's all stop pretending Slipknot is geared towards anything except being a 12 year old in Middle America, watching StickDeath and drinking Jolt Cola. And if you're one of these GOOFS on Twitter aggressively shitting on Code Orange out one side of your mouth and then jizzing over Slipknot out the other, just wait till I'm crowned Supreme Leader. You're getting a one way ticket to the fucking gulag for being a grade-A poser. Might want to get deleting those Tweets while you still can.

Which Democratic Primary candidate can beat Donald Trump? A PR perspective

The American Democratic Primary is all but underway. Voters in Iowa will be heading to the polls on February 3rd.  Twelve candidates are vying for the unenviable task of taking on Donald Trump in November's general election, where they will be most likely brought to tears by the Donald's incessant bullying and stubborn refusal to recognize material facts. Nine of the primary candidates don't have a shot at winning the party nomination. They're essentially wasting fossil fuels and donor money flying across the country. Three candidates -- Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, have an actual chance to win nomination. I've analyzed their messaging, strategy and policy for a couple weeks. I think only one of the three has an outside shot at beating Donald Trump.

I believe Joe Biden has the worst chance of the three major Democratic candidates to become President. He does, however, have arguably the best chance to win the primary. He was a good Vice-President in a likable regime. He also looks and acts like the type of dude who would be President. This gives him enough cache to sway the people who vote in primaries -- namely, politically savvy party-lifers who are out of touch with common people. The buck stops there, though. Americans on both sides are sick of boring centrist platforms. They're also sick of stuffy, quaffed white dudes in well-tailored suits. Can you imagine a single soul who didn't feel obligated to do their civic duty getting off the couch and voting for Joe Biden? The dude is like a Democratic Mitt Romney. He looks like a President, but he has no messaging, no platform, and no chance.

Elizabeth Warren is a more likable and PR-savvy candidate than Biden. Her base is riled up and ready to support her. Unfortunately, I don't see her appealing beyond that base in a way that can meaningfully challenge Trump. Her angle seems to be "I'm With Her 2.0". After last week's primary debate, she attacked Bernie Sanders on stage for lying on her name. This has been the most memorable part of her campaign to date. I feel like her game plan, if nominated, would be to bring that same energy at Trump. She'd attack him for being sexist, racist, brutish and uncouth. In a sane world, that would be a pretty good plan. However, Trump has proven --for five years-- to be the Teflon Don when it comes to that shit. Everyone who thinks Trump's a bad person already knows he's a bad person. Everyone who thinks Trump's a good person is convinced he's some sort of divine machination sent to dismantle a pedophile cabal. There's no point in beating a dead horse. Besides, Warren might have some good progressive policies, but honestly I don't know what they are. That speaks to her lack of a cohesive message.

From a PR standpoint, the only candidate I think has a snowball's chance in hell of beating Trump is Bernie Sanders. Sanders' campaign is humming. He has a target audience, messaging, and a strong brand. He's targeting working class millenials -- many of whom face student loan debt or precarious work. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau can attest to how powerful this voting block is if you can mobilize it. Sanders' messaging is crystal clear - It's time to reduce wealth inequality in America. He's going to do that with higher taxes on the rich. This will provide the funding for universal healthcare and student loan relief, without burdening the working class. That's his message, whether it's realistic or not. The "Bernie brand" is strong. Sanders comes across as someone who's consistently championed progressive ideas. This consistency has earned him an endorsement from podcast superstar Joe Rogan, whose massive fanbase is largely apolitical or populist. The primary may have left some chinks in Sander's armour. He's faced criticism about the sexist undertones of the Warren beef and some blowback from people who think Joe Rogan is alt-right. The people who care about this stuff aren't voting for Trump, though. If Sanders wins the primary, I expect this will be swept under the rug.

There are two major things working against Sanders, should he win. The first is the connotation of the socialist bogeyman in America. You can be sure Donald Trump will call Sanders a socialist at every turn, as that word definitely has power among people over 40. Sanders would do best to ignore this. Admitting he's a socialist could be political suicide. The next thing is Sanders' poor health. Expect Trump to pull at this string as hard and often as he can. Trump destroyed opponent after opponent using personal attacks in the 2016 campaign. Nobody is going to beat him at character assassination, and trying to reason with him is a fool's game. Any Democrat who wants to be president in 2020 needs to rise above. They need a strong message and the willpower to stick to it. So far, it seems like Sanders has that. Warren and Biden do not.

T O H C COMP, Vol. 3 review

T O H C Comp, Vol. 3 is a comprehensive snapshot of Toronto’s “metallic hardcore” community. The Greater Toronto Area is big enough to have at least four distinct flavours of hardcore, and this one is probably the biggest. The fact that there are 20 active bands on this comp demonstrates just that. This scene has glimpses of outside support, but most of the momentum is being carried on the backs of the TOHC faithful. Locals-only shows do well. When local bands open for touring acts, people show up early and go off. These bands are doing it right – hitting the road and building support from all corners of the GTA. As a result, it’s not rare to see someone sporting TOHC merch when you’re out on the town.

With that in mind, I’m afraid an earnest review of this comp might get my head split.

Most of T O H C Vol 3 is basically the same song idea, played with varying degrees of competency. You could have told me ten of these songs were by the same artist and I would have believed you. In fairness, a scene is supposed to be cohesive. Homies are gonna share records and go to the same shows. A lot of these songs sound like they were produced in the same spot. My question is, would this comp sound different if you had made it in any other North American city (besides New York)? I don’t think so.

A lot of these bands aren’t doing their own thing. Most fall into what could loosely be classified as Midwest hardcore. It’s very Expire-ish – mid-tempo, tuned down a step or two, full of breakdowns and sprinkled with the odd panic chord. By about song 14, I was thinking “I’m going to jump out my window if I have to hear another one of these two-step parts.” The sameness is a big knock against the comp, but it’s to be expected. It would be impossible to have a 20-band local comp with every band being a genre pioneer. Still, I would encourage whoever’s making T O H C Vol. 4 to reach out beyond the homies, to other avenues of what the city has to offer.

With that being said, the bands who stand out on this comp are worth mentioning. These bands are pulling from the same well, but do the formula a little spicier:

• Powerbomb – totally by the book metallic hardcore, but with strong musicianship and structure.
• Die Hexe – incorporate some Deadguy/atmospheric metal type noodling for a rather dynamic song.
• Perfect Limbs – the only band with clean singing. They have a Rise-core/Ghost Inside type thing going on. They’re not reinventing the wheel, but they do that style well. I would listen to a full EP from them.
• Jock – from what I can tell, they have the only female vocalist on the comp. They have a nu-metal/Rage Against the Machine vibe and possibly the worst (but most charming) recording.
• Mourn – These guys are veterans compared to most of the other bands. They mix in a modern NYHC flavour a la Bitter End. While they don’t stick out like a sore thumb, you can tell they’re digging a bit deeper.
• Writhe – part of the last quarter of the comp, which has flourishes of death metal/powerviolence influence. Interesting vocal effects create a jarring juxtaposition over their fast parts. They’re probably the fastest band on the comp.
• Damage Control – have far and away the most flavourful song. It has a punk energy, but shows the band’s metallic hardcore roots in a tasteful way. Best vocals on the comp.

Despite my objections, I’d call this comp a “must listen” for any Toronto-based hardcore fan. There’s a good chance you’ll discover a couple tracks to spin and some cool bands to support. The music on T O H C Comp, Vol. 3 isn’t objectionable. It’s just not as creative as we may have hoped.

End of a Decade - Albums 10-1

Huge thank yous to everyone who has been following my list so far! I wouldn't do this without you guys so thanks for the feedback, engagement and attention. Here's some fun stats for you. Over the past 10 years, I've lived in four cities, had three dogs, gotten two degrees, and one girlfriend! Happy decade, y'all!

Here are records 50-11: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

10. Young Thug - Barter 6 (Atlantic Records, 2015)

Young Thug's flow seems almost quaint, now that he's been imitated to death by his Atlanta understudies and a handful of less creative biters. There was a time, however, when Thugger's high-pitched warble sounded unlike anything else. In 2015, you could have told someone Barter 6 was an alien transmission played over arpeggios and they would have believed you. The album scores major points for being the breakout and high water mark for one of this decade's most influential rappers. It also scores major points for creativity and execution. Thug's flows are never-ending. His assortment of vocal runs, harmonies and ad-libs don't stop either. Producers Wheezy and London on The Track build Thug his own musical universe. They flesh out his otherworldly voice to its fullest potential, allowing him to seemingly travel through dimensions. Thugger  tackles and conquers beats that mere mortals never would. Songs like "Halftime" and "Amazing" border on avant-garde pop art, but still knock as hard as more conventional tracks like "Numbers" and "Check". Barter 6 is the best trap album of the last decade, and five years after its release, has left a major mark on hip hop's evolution.

9. La Dispute - Wildlife (No Sleep Records, 2011)

Wildlife is melodramatic. Before La Dispute recorded it, they spent weekends cutting a series of acoustic EPs at someone's Northern Michigan cottage. Peak whiteness. The music is aggressive but it's not tough. It's moody but not angry. For vocalist Jordan Dreyer, there's not an emotion to earnest or metaphor too on-the-nose. At points, it seems like he's reading right from his diary. On paper, it's too much. La Dispute came from a family of bands who mixed a type of melodic hardcore derided for its fans' propensity to cry at shows with the teen angst of Thursday. There's no way, almost a decade later, this could possibly hold up. Or so you think. Then, you find yourself on a train platform, fighting back tears, trying to hold your too-cool composure as Dreyer shreds his vocal chords into your headphones: "Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?/Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?/Can I ever be forgiven cuz I killed that kid?/It was an accident, I swear it wasn't meant for him." Wildlife is melodramatic, but there's a reason soap operas stay on TV for 50 years. For every cheesy moment on the album (there are a few), there's a moment so bright it burns in your psyche forever.

8. Title Fight - Floral Green (SideOneDummy, 2012)

Title Fight won the kids over before Floral Green. Their earliest releases did Lifetime worship so proficiently that a soon-to-be prominent pop-punk band would name themselves after a Title Fight song. Then they dropped Shed, inspiring dozens of bands to name-check Seaweed and Helmet. Still, the old heads weren't convinced. Queue Floral Green, a mature, fleshed out album blending the energy of hardcore with the melody of pop-punk and the dynamics of alt-rock. Suddenly, Title Fight were undeniable; beloved by gateway kids and gatekeepers alike. The album saw the band add reverb and delay to their pedal chain, inspiring countless imitators. Bands like Nothing and Whirr were already in the hopper in 2012, but I doubt they'd have been half as successful without Floral Green. The countless Run For Cover Records bands who all of a sudden claimed to be "dream pop influenced", should have just been honest and said "we heard Floral Green and started a band". Title Fight were always one step ahead of their contemporaries. It's one facet of what makes them arguably the most important independent band of the last decade.

7. Self Defense Family - Heaven is Earth (Deathwish Inc., 2015)

Self Defense Family vocalist Patrick Kindlon has never been shy about his lack of traditional talent. SDF got more and more melodic with every release, but for years, Kindlon's sandpaper bark stayed the same. Sometime around 2015, he started working with producers who were able to coax him out of his comfort zone. Nobody would ever confuse Kindlon's vocals on Heaven is Earth for Mariah Carey's, but it's hard to deny his dynamic ability. Whispers, groans and a host of production tricks supplement Kindlon's yelp, allowing him to adapt his poignant, hard-hitting lyrics to both the subject matter and the music. Speaking of the music -- is it possible for a post-hardcore band to write their hardest material after they've completely embraced alt-country weirdness? The answer, according to Heaven is Earth, is yes. The guitars have a sheet-metal sheen that wouldn't sound out of place on a Negative Approach album. The drums hammer and crash with furious intensity. Even the softer material is arranged in such an isolating fashion that Kindlon's hardcore heroes, 108, would have to give props. Self Defense Family released more great music than anyone else this decade. Heaven is Earth is their greatest.

6. The Menzingers - On the Impossible Past (Epitaph Records, 2012)

There's nothing better than listening to music that gives you nostalgic feelings. Being transported back to a time and place by a song is something everyone appreciates. That's why Backstreet Boys tickets go for hundreds of dollars. When music gives you nostalgic feelings the first time you hear it, you've found something special. On the Impossible Past is one of those musical moments. Lyricists Tom May and Greg Barnett do a masterful job of capturing the life of any teenager who drinks irresponsibly and has an abundance of black in their wardrobe. Young love, restaurant jobs, watching shitty bands -- it's all here. The 13 masterfully crafted PBR-punk tunes are perfect for drunken singalongs, long walks and late nights. The Menzingers apply a pop sensibility to their gruff, gravelly production for an album full of push-pit anthems that could just as easily work on an acoustic guitar around a fire. OTIP is a true classic, the type of album you can show to your non-punk friends and have them fall in love with.

5. Drake - Nothing Was the Same (OVO Sound/Cash Money Records, 2013)

Hip-hop's traditional classics have been bloated, 20 song smorgasbords where the artist and a gang of producers throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. In the 2010's, the standouts began to take the Illmatic approach -- shorter tracklists with a unified production sound and almost no room for fat. Drake told Q's Jian Gomeshi around the time of Nothing Was the Same's release that he had been challenged to write such an album. The result is a full-fledged listening experience that's engaging start to finish. NWTS is when Drake's production team nailed down his signature sound. The jagged edges of previous projects are smoothed away, replaced by cleaner, sultrier beats. There are no skippable moments on NWTS. Everything sounds like it belongs. There's also a lot of structural experimentation -- "Worst Behaviour" and "Tuscan Leather" being the best examples. Then there's the perfect moments of pure pop bliss Drake is known for, like "Hold on We're Going Home" and "Started From the Bottom". Nothing Was the Same is --start to finish-- the best album from the decade's biggest rap superhero.

4. Coliseum - House With a Curse (Temporary Residence Ltd., 2010)

Coliseum's third full length, compared to the rest of 2010's hardcore, doesn't fit. The band started as a somewhat remarkable d-beat project and finished as a Torche/Mastadon-esque alt-metal outfit. Smack dab in the middle, they dropped House With a Curse, a straightforward hardcore album that borrowed from 80's legends like Fear, Negative Approach and the Misfits. Nothing (except maybe Burning Love) sounded like it at the time. I still haven't heard anything that sounds like it. Perhaps the reason for House's uniqueness is its daring ability to pull from bands who aren't easily replicated. Perhaps it's the perfect (I'll say it again -- PERFECT) guitar tone. Perhaps it's the Nirvana-like mastery of the loud/soft dynamic, making the songs creak just as hard as they knock. Maybe Coliseum just wrote better songs than anyone else. Whatever the case, House With a Curse is truly a special album. Brilliantly crafted and perfectly executed -- it's outsider art for those outside the outsiders.

3. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city (Top Dawg Entertainment, 2012)

Kendrick Lamar made three essential hip-hop albums this decade. 2017's DAMN. won a Pulitzer Prize, perhaps on the strength of Lamar's back catalog. 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly is, from a political standpoint, the most important piece of music released this decade. good kid, m.A.A.d city might be the least critically acclaimed of Lamar's big three albums. However, if you strip away the context and focus on the music, it makes a strong case for being his best. The Compton rapper's major label debut is his certainly his hungriest. Lamar was sitting on the album's concept for years, slowly developing the tools to execute it. When he finally unleashed it, people began calling him a generational rapper. For good reason. Lamar speaks like a street scholar. His bars are hard but intelligent, technical but catchy, and autobiographical but tasteful. The beats on GMKC are also Lamar's strongest. The album's production totally out-muscles the the tin-can-rattling of TPAB and the pop corniness of DAMN. The Cali-by-way-of-Atlanta sound perfectly compliments Lamar's perky delivery, resulting in the most sonically digestible project of his career. GMKC is a rapper's rap album. No bullshit, no throwaway lyrics, and no bad songs.

2. Taylor Swift - 1989 (Big Machine Records, 2014)

Major label pop music is an interesting beast. It's always subject to commercial expectations and the bullshit that comes with them. However, its artists have access to the best songwriters, producers, musicians and recording equipment. So while pop albums are often plagued by structural monotony, cliches, and the idea diarrhea of too many cooks are in the kitchen, they always sound incredible. When a pop album can buck -- or more accurately, excel within -- the confines of a major label, there's a great chance it will stand out. 1989 does way more than just stand out. For one, it's mixed and mastered perfectly. Its songs certainly don't reinvent the wheel when it comes to structure, but there's more than enough variety to keep the album interesting. "Style" and "Shake it Off" nail the pop formula with machine-like precision. "How You Get the Girl" is a big buildup with an even bigger payoff. The bridge on "Out of the Woods" is unforgettable. Every song on the album could have been a hit single on a lesser album. In fact, half of the album's 13 songs were released as singles, 5 of which reached the top 10 on Billboard. 1989 was critically acclaimed, commercially successful, and cleaned up at award shows. It also bangs harder than anything else released in the past 20 years.

1. Title Fight - Shed (SideOneDummy, 2011)

Title Fight's genre changes depending on who you ask to define it. Hardcore kids will tell you they're a hardcore band. Pop-punk kids will tell you they're pop-punk. A less codified listener might say they're "post-hardcore" or "alternative". The true answer is that Title Fight is simply greater than the sum of their parts. They synthesize a ton of disparate ideas into something familiar and cohesive. Then they execute with the type of rhythmic precision and ear for dynamics that makes you want to engage in a primal release, like jumping around your bedroom or driving your car really fast. Shed doesn't compromise an inch. It's 27 minutes of unrelenting punk rock that somehow manages to have just as many singalong moments as a Taylor Swift album. It's the Start Today of our generation, except infinitely darker. It only makes sense that hardcore legend and Gorilla Biscuits mastermind Walter Schreifles produced it. Shed is an essential piece of hardcore cannon, shaped by four kids who worshiped at the genre's altar, but knew how to stretch its limitations to create something unforgettable.

~~~

Thanks again for reading! Here's some fun stats about my list that you might find interesting.

• The most represented year on my list was 2011, with nine albums finishing in the top 50.
• The least represented year was 2016, with only two albums.
• No albums from later than 2015 cracked the top ten of my list. Only two of the top 20 records were released after 2015.
• The record label with the most albums on my list was Triple-B records, with four albums. Deathwish Inc., was second, as they put out all three Self Defense Family records.
• Eight labels put out albums by multiple artists on this list. Those labels were: Top Dawg Entertainment, Triple-B Records, No Sleep Records, Closed Casket Activities, Southern Lord, Reaper Records, and Def Jam.
• SideOneDummy, Deathwish Inc., and Cash Money/Young Money Records all had multiple releases from the same artist.
• The artist with the most albums on the list was Self Defense Family (credited as End of a Year on You Are Beneath Me). They had three entries on the list. They're featured on the Mixed Signals comp as well.
• Title Fight and Drake are the only other repeat artists. Each had two projects on the list. Interestingly enough, all four of those albums cracked the top 15. Drake's 2015 retail mixtape If You're Reading This... it's Too Late barely missed the top 50.
• Only four of the albums on my list are from female artists or bands with permanent female members. Self Defense Family has two records with contributions from women. The other two artists on the list were Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift. I see this more as a personal problem than a reflection on the talented women in music.

I know I've said this twice already, but THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH to anyone who has read, shared, commented on and encouraged my writing over the past ten years. Thanks to all the bands who let me interview them in the last decade. It means the world to me. This blog has been one of the most enriching things in my life. This particular "End of a Decade" project was so fun and fulfilling for me to complete. Here's to another 10 years!

End of a Decade - Albums 20-11

Surgeon General's warning: the majority of albums on this section of the list are ass-beating, depressing and inaccessible to normies. Herein lie the heaviest records the decade had to offer. Proceed with caution.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 5.

20. J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive (Dreamville Records, 2014)

J. Cole always had the tools to be a generational rapper. He started with lyrical skill, and a tendency to be intelligent, if not conscious. This made his early material a hit with the Genius crowd. His hook-writing and ear for melody later garnered him radio attention. Still, his early projects were bogged down by lack of cohesion, too many words, and some high-key cheesy moments. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is where he put it all together. Cole, who's always had a major hand in production, crafted 13 beats that sound like they belonged together. Then he took his great lines, and turned them into great songs. Tracks like "Wet Dreamz" and "'03 Adolescence" are heartfelt coming of age stories, while "Fire Squad" and "No Role Modelz" are poignant reflections on society. 2014 Forest Hills Drive sees Cole step into his rightful place as one of the greatest MCs of our generation.


19. K Camp - K.I.S.S. 4 (FTE/4.27 Music Group, 2017)

As I mentioned in a previous write-up, the 2010's were the decade hip hop and RnB became almost indistinguishable. Crooners like Jeremih and Trey Songz started incorporating hip-hop jargon and swagger over DJ Mustard beats. Rappers like Chance and Kanye started basically singing their verses. This decade was also the dawn of a new breed of artist -- the chameleons, like Dej Loaf, Kid Ink and Tory Lanez, who melded genres seamlessly depending on what the song called for. K Camp is nowhere near the highest-profile of those artists, but his 2017 tape K.I.S.S. 4 is arguably the perfect snapshot of their genre. The tape is overflowing with equal parts RnB sex appeal and hip hop aggression. Camp spins caricature-level tales of tricking, pimping and general fuckboy behaviour over the sensual, party-hungry vibe of MusicMajor's production. The result is a project that could rival a few choice Motown records in terms of bedroom vibe.


18. Teenage Bottlerocket - Freak Out! (Fat Wreck Chords, 2012)

Teenage Bottlerocket's 2009 masterpiece They Came From the Shadows made the Wisconsin band a household name. Their follow-up, 2012's Freak Out!, didn't garner nearly as much attention, but it's arguably just as good. Freak Out! is 13 tracks of the band's trademark Ramones meets Bad Religion pop-punk, meshing speed and gritty guitar tones with crystal-clear production, hook-laden songwriting, and a knack for silliness that makes even the most self-serious punx chuckle. It also spices up the formula, from parts that border on crooning to parts that could actually get hardcore goons swinging in the pit. 30 plus years after Ramones made Ramones-style pop punk formulaic, Freak Out! proves why so many bands lean on this style. When it's done right, there's no better vessel for a great melody than a fast, straightforward pop-punk song.


17. Trapped Under Ice - Big Kiss Goodnight (Reaper Records, 2011)

The fact that Trapped Under Ice's magnum opus has been omitted from every major "Best of the Decade" list goes to show how clueless the music press can be. Big Kiss Goodnight is a consensus classic among hardcore heads for not only the 2010's, but the genre's entire 40 year history. The album was recently voted hardcore's best of the decade by a bunch of rabid hardcore nerds on Axe To Grind's "Mosh Madness", and rightfully so. TUI started out indebted to mid-90's NYHC, but by BKG they were their own juggernaut entirely. The album juggles bouncy groove, bonecrushing heaviness, and infectious melody for 33 minutes of near-perfection. Seeing artists like Turnstile, Power Trip and G.L.O.S.S. on these "best of lists" is great, because any press for hardcore is good press. It's also a head-scratcher, because among hardcore circles, those bands live in the shadow of the almighty TUI.

16. Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights (Bridge 9 Records, 2011)

When Defeater started, they were heavily indebted to the melodic hardcore that dominated their hometown of Boston for the previous decade. They continued to evolve, stepping out of their influences while simultaneously holding a thread to their roots. The most interesting step in that evolution is Empty Days & Sleepless Nights, an album that, on repeat listens, reveals the diverse influences of "the wave" bands Defeater was reluctantly lumped in with. How a band makes arpeggios and cymbal-heavy, "jazzy" drumming sound hard and heavy is beyond me, but Defeater manages it on Empty Days...  The album is devastatingly bleak, moody, and unfriendly. Empty Days... came out around the same time as Big Kiss Goodnight, which turned the tide of hardcore away from Boston melody towards something harder. It would be fair, then, to interpret the train-whistle on "White Oak Doors" as the death-knoll of the Bridge Nine sound. An appropriate legacy for an album where death is the inescapable theme.


15. Xibalba - Hasta La Muerte (Southern Lord, 2012)

Latinos have been integral to the history of hardcore and extreme metal. Agnostic Front, Slayer, Morbid Angel and Madball all feature(d) prominent Latinx members, and no one would ever downplay the importance of those bands. Xibalba carries the tradition, with the added twist of wearing their heritage on their sleeve. From naming their band after the Mayan underworld, to singing a large portion of their songs in Spanish, to tackling race issues in their lyrics, Xibalba have become an example of how great hardcore becomes when it's informed by diverse perspectives. But to pidgeonhole Hasta La Muerte as a great Latinx hardcore album would be a disservice. The album perfectly blends the atmospheric and tonal heaviness of death metal with the groove and dynamics of hardcore. Most "hardcore influenced death metal" falls victim to corniness and riff-salad. Most "death metal influenced hardcore" can't play its instruments. Xibalba doesn't just avoid all the pitfalls on Hasta La Muerte. They go above and beyond. The album is an hour long and doesn't drag once.


14. Drake - Take Care (Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records, 2011)

Take Care didn't prove hip-hop could top the charts. Nor did it prove a rapper could be the biggest artist in the world. The genre had at least a decade of mainstream success by 2011, and it would take Drake five more years of grinding before he could anoint himself as the new king of pop. Take Care didn't prove anything. It did, however, set the stage and pave the way. The album topped the charts in the US, ushered in a new golden age of rap, and catapulted Drake to an international superstardom he would use to break records set by the Beatles and Michael Jackson. The album's seven singles are among the most infectious and innovative pop songs this decade. Its deep cuts are filled with introspective gems, unmatched bravado, and all the talent of a truly great MC. Take Care is a great record in its own right. In context, it shaped this decade's pop landscape more than any other album. Billy Eilish, Lizzo, Post Malone, and of course, Drake himself, owe a great debt to Take Care.

13. Nails - Abandon All Life (Southern Lord, 2013)

If you put a punk, a metal head and a hardcore kid in a room, and ask them to come up with a list of bands they all like, that list would be pretty short. Alongside Motorhead, Black Flag, Slayer, Napalm Death and Converge, would be Nails. That's high praise, considering Nails has never drawn as many kids as those other bands. It speaks volumes to their talent in a world where the internet is diverting our attention in a million different places. Nails released three stellar albums this decade -- none better than Abandon All Life. The album sounds like rage distilled. It's grimy, relentless and miserable. It's also extremely well written -- full of dynamic bursts, dance parts and even a few choruses. That being said, this album is not easy listening. Producer Kurt Ballou has a huge hand the album's bristly timbre, distilling the talent of Southern California's best hardcore musicians into something utterly unapproachable. But those who get it, get it. Abandon All Life speaks volumes to everyone who's modus operandi is anger.


12. ScHoolboy Q - Oxymoron (Interscope Records/Top Dawg Entertainment, 2014)

Sure, Young Jeezy made the ad-lib his thing way before the turn of this decade. But the 2010's saw rappers take his idea and run with it. Some ad-libs became catch-phrases. Some were notable for their absurdity. On Oxymoron, ScHooboy Q takes the ad-lib to a whole other level. Through a haze of reverb and delay, Q weaponizes his signature "yahs" and "yaks" to shift song structures, create buildups, and add flavour to verses. The result is the closest hip-hop has ever gotten to a "wall of sound" production style while being accessible. Songs like "Hoover Street" twist and turn while the ad-libs pull multiple parts together. Other songs like "Gangsta" use the ad-libs to provide bounce and propel scream-along parts in the vein of gang vocals. Whether this production style was meticulously crafted, or just the product of some loped-out studio fuckery is a mystery to me. I can only say with confidence that it works.


11. Candy - Good To Feel (Triple-B Records, 2018)

Hardcore is a genre which pays homage like no other. This leads to a codified sound where purists can easily identify a band's lineage. Even hardcore's biggest fans have to admit, rigid dedication to form results in scores of unremarkable bands. The beauty of hardcore is when a band can meld sounds in a new or remarkable way. Candy is one of those bands. They blend obscure Japanese hardcore, crust, and the moodiness of Integrity, into something special. On Good to Feel, the NYC-by-way-of-Richmond-and-Buffalo band find the rare trifecta of speed, heaviness and edge. Candy's sound is undeniably versatile. That they can tour with the melodic Abuse of Power and the crushingly heavy Knocked Loose is a testament to this versatility. It's also a testament to how well-respected Candy is among its peers. That respect is wholeheartedly deserved.