Last December I posted a list of my favorite albums of 2011, so here’s part 1 and part 2. But now that I’ve lived with all those albums a little while longer, I’ve made some revisions to the list. While it’s essentially the same as it was some 7 months ago, there are a few additions and few records that have moved around the list. The numbers in parentheses reflect the original positions and those albums noted with (NR) were not ranked on my original list last year. Oh yeah, there’s a new number one.
50. (50) Static Radio NJ – We Are All Beasts (Kiss Of Death)
49. (49) Russian Circles – Empros (Sargent House)
48. (48) Water Tower Bucket Boys – Sole Kitchen (Cohouse)
47. (47) The Heat Tape – Raccoon Valley Recordings (Red Scare)
46. (46) Mike Park – Smile (Asian Man)
45. (43) New Found Glory – Radiosurgery (Epitaph)
44. (42) William Elliott Whitmore – Field Songs (Anti)
43. (9) Good Luck – Without Hesitation (No Idea)
42. (40) Big Kids – Phone Home (Protagonist)
41. (38) Woods – Sun And Shade (Woodsist)
40. (39) Banner Pilot – Heart Beats Pacific (Fat Wreck)
39. (37) Algernon Cadwallader – Parrot Files (Big Scary Monsters)
38. (36) The Wooden Birds – Two Matchsticks (Barsuk)
37. (35) Basement – I Wish I Could Stay Here (Run For Cover)
36. (34) How Dare You – The King, The Clown, & The Colonel (Anchorless)
35. (33) Left Lane Cruiser – Junkyard Speedball (Alive)
34. (32) Nothington – Borowed Time (Red Scare)
33. (31) Flashlights – I’m Not Alone (self-released)
32. (28) Living With Lions – Holy Shit (Adeline)
31. (27) Chuck Ragan – Covering Ground (Side One Dummy)
30. (24) Michael Dean Damron – Plea From A Ghost (Suburban Home)
29. (23) Dave Hause – Resolutions (Paper + Plastick)
28. (26) Direct Hit – Domesplitter (Kind Of Like)
27. (25) Elway – Delusions (Red Scare)
26. (22) The New Rochelles – It’s New! (Bright & Barrow)
25. (20) Spraynard – Funtitled (Asian Man)
24. (29) Future Virgins – Western Problems (Starcleaner)
23. (11) Fucked Up – David Comes To Life (Matador)
22. (10) Bomb The Music Industry – Vacation (Quote Unquote)
21. (19) Banquets – Top Button, Bottom Shelf (Black Numbers)
20. (18) Junior Battles – Idle Ages (Paper + Plastick)
19. (17) Great Cynics – Don’t Need Much (Kind Of Like)
18. (16) Wilco – The Whole Love (dBpm)
17. (14) Patrick Stump – Soul Punk (Island)
16. (13) Dude Jams – How To Abuse Everything (ADD)
15. (NR) Kite Party – Baseball Season
14. (30) Into It Over It – Proper (No Sleep)
13. (7) Andy Wagner – Silos & Smokestacks (self-released)
12. (21) Signals Midwest – Latitudes And Longitudes (Tiny Engines)
11. (8) White Wives – Happeners (Adeline)
10. (NR) Night Birds – The Other Side Of Darkness
9. (12) Young Statues – Young Statues (Run For Cover)
8. (6) Joyce Manor – Joyce Manor (6131)
7. (5) Restorations – Restorations (Tiny Engines)
6. (2) The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)
5. (1) Red City Radio – The Dangers Of Standing Still (Paper + Plastick)
4. (15) Polar Bear Club – Clash Battle Guilt Pride (Bridge Nine)
3. (4) Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones (Epitaph)
2. (NR) Samiam -Trips (Hopeless)
1. (3) The Copyrights – North Sentinel Island (Red Scare)
That is the problem with year end lists. Some records have been played consistently throughout the year, while others are still new and you don’t really know how it fits overall.
I like that you did this though. I’m still happy with the North Sentinel Island, and though I don’t listen to Trips that often, I’m always happy with it when I do.
Some records just blow you away and then after a few months they lose their replay value. Others are growers and take a while before you can figure out where they go on the list.