My Top Ten Albums Of 2020

So, 2020 then? A year where nobody was having fun, apart from members of the government at the expense of people’s lives but let’s keep this light, yeah? Despite the troubles, the pandemic had an amazing soundtrack to it. There were so many hours spent cleaning the house to these artists and without gigs that’s as rock n’ roll as things got in my life. Here are my top 10 albums of the year and firstly, my playlist of the year:

10: LIELA MOSS -WHO THE POWER

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“There was always abandon, there was always deception”

The Duke Spirit singer changed direction with immense effect as she used her husky tones for eighties synth tinged doom anthems in place of the bluesy rock. It takes a few listens to fully access the landscapes she has conjured up. Deep bass and heavy drums add to an overall mood of sorrow. That’s not to say there aren’t catchy moments, opener Turn Your Back Around is sublime and Atoms At Me is a relentless anthem. Just don’t think I Think We’re Alone now style eighties.

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9: IDLES – ULTRA MONO

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“Fuck you, I’m a lover”

The Bristol snowflakes continue to be an avalanche. IDLES wear their punk principles on their chest but slay with kindness. Mostly. “Not a single thing has ever been mended / by you standing there and saying you’re offended” Joe growls on the viscous Grounds, Model Village is a fun tirade against small town mentality and The Lover is a gloriously self-indulgent rant against the band’s critics. Nobody is safe from the bands glare, even themselves. While it’s fair to say their verses are getting a bit samey, the musicianship has developed further. Their future is bright but they’re the kind of band that will purposefully fuck it up. Enjoy them while you can.

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8:BUGEYE – READY STEADY BANG

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“Electric fever sensation!”

Bugeye are exactly what 2020 needed. A pop punk disco band that’ll shake off your worries. With their ragged guitars and tinkly keyboards they could just easily be sent from 1995 to come save us. You’ll hear Elastica and you’ll hear Sonic The Hedgehog (yes, Sonic the Hedgehog) but Bugeye’s ability to write an earworm is all their own. Ready Steady Bang is so fun that it could ignite a Britpop revival all of it’s own. Every song is a banger.

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7: THE BLINDERS – FANTASIES OF A STAY AT HOME PSYCHOPATH

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“I am a gentle man of considerable charm and violence”

The Blinders developed their sound with album number two. They got darker, dirtier and grimier but not in the Stormzy sense. A lot of these songs sound as if they were written with the next series of Peaky Blinders in mind. They would and probably will fit into Small Heath perfectly, especially the opening Something Wicked This Way Comes which is only missing a Nick Cave vocal. Mule Track kicks likes one and Forty Days And Forty Nights charges along with all the energy of Arthur Shelby on his way to the drug dealer. Whatever The Blinders plan to to next, it’ll be interesting for sure. Perhaps the Call The Midwife soundtrack?

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6: DREAM NAILS – DREAM NAILS

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“One day we’ll make you pay”

This debut album flies by with ambition and ferocity not often heard. In just 25 minutes Dream Nails fight through issues such as toxic masculinity, sexual abuse, transgender politics and the suckiness of capitalism. To name just some. While there’s justified anger in the likes of Payback, a rage Against The Maschine style assault on the senses and the closer Kiss My Fist (“do you want us your screen / do you want to hear us scream”) there is also a lot of fun at play. Swimming Pool, a pisstake of fifies rock n’ roll being a prime example.

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5: DOVES – THE UNIVERSAL WANT

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“I feel your presence pressing on a nerve”

No band should return with this much splendor after such a hiatus. After eleven years Doves returned to a world very different from 2009. Not just because there’s a pandemic on but because the music industry is unrecognisable from eleven years ago. Yet, with their brand of soothing and soulful anthems Doves just slotted right back in. They felt just like home. Yes, the general formula remains but they’ve excelled themselves with what could be their strongest collection yet. The swirling and atmospheric For Tomorrow might even excel The Cedar Room. It is THAT good. Cycle of Hurt pangs with huge regrets as a beautiful guitar melody floats around it reassuringly. Like a comfort blanket to help with all the hurt. That’s Doves in 2020. WE didn’t just welcome them back, they welcomed us in..

4: FALSE HEADS – IT’S ALL THERE BUT YOU’RE DREAMING

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“The loser leaves in a body bag”

Post punk and grunge combine with exhilarating results. The London trio’s debut is a brash, confident take and injected an energy into a 2020 where EVERYTHING took longer (shopping, working, crying etc). Rabbit Hole is cavalcade of riffs piled on existential angst. Wrap Up is a filthy dirge with added screeching solos. Ink makes it’s mark with an infectious chorus. Fall Around has an almost ditty like quality as they proclaim the Queen to be dead. A riotous album, the kind that some claim aren’t being made nowadays. They are, it’s just not enough people are listening.

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3: JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD – EVEN IN EXILE

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“Bondaged citizens make the best revolutions”

A concept album from the Manics frontman (with lyrics by Patrick Jones) about the Chilean musician, poet and activist Victor Jara. Even In Exile could easily have been a Manic Street Preachers album, in fact let’s just say it’s their official thirteenth album instead of Resistance Is Futile! Bradfield’s voice bring more gravitas to an already huge life story and it is done with affection and compassion. Recalling Jara’s music with a cover of La Partida, his political stance with the solemn There’ll Come A War and his family life on Without Knowing The End (Joans’s Song) – “I lived, I danced, I loved and I fought / This life I had to defend”. Thirty Thousand Milk Bottles is a celebratory stomp despite the subject at hand. Bradfield’s voice sound incredible but it’s worth noting his exceptional guitar work too. Here he does things unheard in the Manics. A resounding musical and political achievement in 2020 and we didn’t get much of the latter did we?

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2: THE BIG MOON – WALKING LIKE WE DO

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“Days like this I forget my darkness”

Walking Like We do is literally a bright light shining in the dark sky so The Big Moon have never been so aptly named. As far as we know they haven’t flashed their bums at anyone anyway. Their second album is like laying down in a silk sheet of musical beauty. Is that a thing IKEA sell? These are lovingly crafted songs, not just in the hooks and melodies but in the lyrical attention to detail. The guitars have been toned down for a more synth based collection but that is not to their detriment. It’s Easy Then has a choir like chant of a chorus and Waves is a relationship breakdown put to a lullaby, Holy Roller has a darker edge involving porno sites and red wine (“I’m gonna start a religion / Something to keep my hands busy”). Barcelona might be the stand out in a packed field of quality. It’s a song about a friend leaving for Spain. The lyrics of “I’m at the party wondering if it’s alright / For me to toast her future and drink heavy for mine” sum up the album succinctly -melancholia and joy together in harmony. And oh, what harmonies.

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1: BLACK FOXXES – BLACK FOXXES

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“THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO GO OUTSIDE!”

Triumph from the jaws of defeat and yet, in the best possible way, it still sounds like adversity. Black Foxxes looked to be over after the three piece lost a bassist and a drummer. Frontman Mark Holley surveyed the ruins and built from the ground. New band members came in and with album number three Black Foxxes have never sounded so vital. Musically there is a spring in their step as they push boundaries. Holley’s words however, are adrift from the new positivity. I Am builds from stark beginnings, an insular anthem howling “I AM ALONE!” before it kicks in and immediately drifts back into the abyss at the end. Sister song Badlands ups the ante, twisting the knife into a self-hate rage fest that pounds and pounds for eight minutes. Each second the guitars feel heavier and the tension more unbearable. The shouted refrain of “Now is not the time to go outside, now is not the time to go outside!” couldn’t be more 2020, In fact, as a mood board of the year just lay these nine songs out. The ambient Panic softly lulls you into a false sense of security before having an electronic meltdown. Swim is fucking glorious. Discordant strums mixed with soothing harmonies that surges into incredible soloing. Pacific is a brass led stunner, Think Morcheeba – until it breaks into a fit that sounds like Nirvana falling down the stairs. The Diving Bell is the final punch to the gut. A nine minute monster that cheekily claims “We can do better” You don’t think they can and then that heavy as fuck moment changes the mood. Black Foxxes will leave you exhilarated and overwhelmed. You’ll love every moment. Stay inside and play loud.

My Top 10 Albums of 2017

 

10): The Charlatans – Different Days

“I’m a known quantity / Too well known for The Machinery not to be interested”

The Charlatans are a band who continue to furrow their own brow and each time they come up with the goods. They survived Baggy, Britpop and everything else that’s come and go because they’ve never really been any of those things. Free of any such labels and with their reputation safe they are free to make the music they want. For  a band that has suffered so much trauma and heartache, Different Days is an LP covered in glorious sun rays. While the world at large stresses out, The Charlies have clearly been lying on a beach immersing themselves in rich, warm sounds.

There a hooks aplenty and even a bit of kookiness by their own standards. There are even spoken word segments, one read out by none other than novelist Ian Rankin. Johnny Marr and Paul Weller also make contributions, which is just showing off. Different Days embraces the listener with a warm glow and is a more than worthy addition to a thirty year back catalogue.

 

9) Idles – Brutalism

“The best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich”

Idles have named their debut perfectly. It is fucking harsh. Coming across as the narcissistic love child of Slaves and Future Of The Left, the Bristol band have been bubbling under the surface for a few years. Their social commentary is straight to the point and with tongue slightly in cheek. Most of the songs are aggressive mantras that take potshots at people the Tories and people called Tarquin. Let’s face it, Tarquin is probably a Tory. While their approach is well meaning, there’s something about Brutalism that makes you feel sordid. That’s part of the fun though, right?

 

8): Juanita Stein – America 

“Gaze into the night again”

Juanita’s first solo exploration finds her cruising route 66 and other famous American roads I can’t think of. There are elements that sound like her band (Howling Bells) and that is not an insult at all for they are vastly underrated act. The big sounding, catchy Black Winds being the most prime example. When she does go off the beaten track and away from the indie, Juanita literally ends up in the country. Don your stetsons for a soulful, atmospheric album that compliments her soothing voice perfectly.

 

7): Spectres – Condition

“Milking my adrenaline / drink it all in”

Spectre’s second album is a discordant wall of noise which sounds full of rage at the world one moment and then apathy the next. The mood is dark, the tunes are mostly hiding behind metallic guitars and a pounding rhythm section but they are there. It’s an industrial sounding album that sounds like it’s trying to escape the factory.

‘The Beginning Of The End’ and ‘Dissolve’ are sprawling epics, jabs of guitar sporadically breaking out of the mire. ‘Neck’ and ‘Welcoming The Flowers’ are boiling furnaces of rage, unsettling and uncompromising. If you let Condition wash over you the splendour will seep into your soul. Just so long as you don’t want to be in a good mood.

 

6) Royal Blood – How Did We Get So Dark?

“You’re not so hard to forget with all the lights out”

The way Royal Blood dealt with the pressure of the hype and awards their debut generated was satisfyingly simple: If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The rough edges might have been blunted slightly but the result is still a treat to the ears. An element of glam rock on the likes of Look Like You Know and Where Are You Now? confirms album number two is a bit more pop in its mindset but they still make a noise though. The riffs of Lights Out are enough to cause tremors and Hook, Line & Sinker judders like a metal Stevie Wonder. Next time around, Royal Blood probably need to step away from the short, ten song album formula and they are certainly more than capable of causing surprises should they want to.

 

5): Shed Seven – Instant Pleasures 

“No spunk in your trunk and no fun in your funk”

Sixteen years is a long time ago. The world has changed so much that when Shed Seven last released an album George W. Bush was the worst president in history. In truth, Rick Witter’s band of merry men never truly disappeared as they’ve toured their hits on and off for years. Their greatest hits truly was the indie equivalent of ABBA Gold and anyone who disagrees is just plain wrong.

The biggest surprise that Instant Pleasures offers is that this is their best studio album to date – both instant and pleasurable. Even songs about depression, like It’s Not Easy have a joy running through them Hang On is another example, especially when it breaks out into a hybrid of Sympathy For The Devil and Boyzone’s Picture Of You. They can even be forgiven for aping The Killers with Enemies and Friends because they slay it more than Brandon Flowers has done for years. It’s a heart warming, fun, and beautifully melodic riot that shows Britpop shouldn’t be the swear word its become.

 

4): Trampolene – Swansea To Hornsey

“The silence makes the darkest sound”

“Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as PARKLIFE!” said the great philosopher Phil Daniels back in the day.  Confidence is also a key attribute for a debut album and Swansea To Hornsea walks the walk and talks the talk in the same way that Oasis and Artic Monkeys did first time round. Those comparisons are not made lightly. Here we have the swagger of the Gallaghers and the poetic sneer of Alex Turner. Singer Jack Jones even uses the album to get exactly those kind of compositions out there with three spoken word rants covering youth, drugs and Poundland. The holy trinity.

For the most part it’s energy is all consuming, Guitars that veer from jangly, heavy and everything in between. Solos that fly out of the speakers, Fantastic bass lines that are groovier than Austin Powers in a washing machine. It’s an unpredictable listen because the softer moments astound just as much as the bluster. Songs, especially those nearer the end, go down different paths to where they were hinting and unlike the album’s title, go off map. It’s youth, with all it’s highs, lows (and awkward fumbles with girls) soundtracked to near perfection. Today they may be at Hornsey but tomorrow it could be…I dunno.. Norwich? Keep believing and maybe, just maybe..

 

3): Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life

“I dream of death, its violent breath”

The world is there for the taking for Wolf Alice but Visions Of A Life only serves to proof what contrite, perverse gits they are. When they could be stepping up their mainstream appeal in a bid to play arenas they’ve gone further into their own world. They seem oblivious to what’s going on around them musically and while the old school influences that ran through the debut are still here, it’s run through their personal filter. There isn’t a band out there who doing what Wolf Alice are doing. Visions Of A Life is more expansive, more ambitious and more unique. Ellie Rowsell’s ever changing voice fits Wolf Alice’s attention span perfectly.

Heavenward isn’t really shoegaze because  it reaches for the sky and when they aren’t blasting you with punk pop ditties such as Yuk Foo and Formidable Cool they serve up a rich soundscape of the future. Planet Hunter feels like being in a vortex until the bass breaks out at the end. Sky Musings is a Ryanair induced panic attack (and we’ve all had those). Sadboy and St. Purple & Green show off their quiet/loud tricks at their best. The former in particular is a devastating, surreal anthem for the forlorn. The title track’s dark guitars chime as if notifying us of the end of the world but no matter how bad 2017 might have been we survived it, Which is good. We can listen to Wolf Alice more.

 

2): Paul Draper – Spooky Action

“If medication’s no answer then is ignorance bliss?”

The Stone Roses? Elastica? They’ve got nothing on Paul Draper, who finally released an album that was fourteen years in the making. Inspired by an online petition, Paul went back to the drawing board, recorded his unheard solo material and even wrote new stuff, such was his regained passion. It’s magnificent to have his vocals back again and while he may not like his own voice, there are many who have missed it. I was fortunate to be at the first album playback in the summer and will never forget the goosebumps and joy that I felt listening for the first time. Spooky Action, as fans would expect, is an epic jumble of grand ideas, dark themes and utter silliness. There’s meaty prog rock beasts like Don’t Poke The Bear,  dirty disco stompers like Who’s Wearing The Trousers (which has the weirdest “solo” ever committed to tape) and late night, soul bearing epics like Jealousy Is A Powerful Emotion.

His voice sounds more soulful than ever before and as they’re on a record that covers a lot of the Mansun split in the lyrics, emotion coats everything in an HD gloss. It’s almost like watching a fly on the wall documentary of a band falling apart. The production is busy yet crystal clear. There are elements of Mansun’s different eras in the sound but there’s also a refreshing, new feel in the mix too. It’s been worth every minute of the wait but don’t tell Paul that because we sure as hell can’t wait until 2031 for the follow up.

 

1): The Franklys – Are You Listening?

“It started friendly but things got ugly”

Well, are you? If not then why not? This is everything a debut should be and more. Noisy, articulate and confident. It might not match the raw power of their live shows but these ten songs thrive off an adrenaline that would make Ed Sheeran shit himself. They are more than simply “garage rock” because thankfully they’re not The Hives. There’s plenty of snarling, sneering and deliciously squawking guitar solos. The songs batter you round the head with a punk rock energy that puts to shame Bono’s ludicrous “music has got too girly” statement. Since when did U2 rock anyway?

It’s an album that blitzes by pretty relentlessly. The “quieter” moments still stun though. Keeper chugs along, it’s melody barely disguising evil intent. Imaginarium (“I’m imagining a future we will never see”) wears a Sleater-Kinney top with pride and yet shows great ambition. With Bad News the whole thing ends up in a noisy racket of kick ass joy. In short, Are You Listening? is a riot and has more balls than anything Bono has dared inflict on the world. Actually, who needs balls? Bono, you can keep them. The Franklys are proof, as if it was needed that the music industry is actually too manly.

My full and (in my opinion) best of 2017 playlist is here if you want to check it out..