RIYL: Handsome Furs, New Order, The Rapture

On their third release, Montreal trio We Are Wolves polish and refine their unique brand of indie, post-punk and electro to such a shine it’s hard to find another band to compare them to. They’re most reminiscent of It’s Blitz!-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs but they are still strikingly different in the way they combine punk and electronic music. While the YYYs practically abandoned their punk influences to create their dance-happy indie rock, We Are Wolves still embrace it, combining scuzzy garage rock riffs with Moroder-influenced synths in a way that shouldn’t work as well as it does. Invisible Violence is a pendulum of a record, swinging back and forth between rock songs with an electronic edge like the opening track “Paloma” or electronic numbers with a slight rock edge, such as the epic “Reaching for the Sky.” It’s cold and detached while being energetic and in-your-face, like someone gave Gary Numan and fuzzbox and had him go to town. The term “dance-punk” doesn’t fit these guys, they could probably best be described as garage-electro; everything about them is lo-fi, with their wonderfully retro-sounding synths melding perfectly with their scuzzy guitars and howling vocals. This has to be the most hard-rocking, punk-friendly album ever to be obviously influenced by late-’70s disco. (Dare To Care Records 2010)

We Are Wolves MySpace Page

RIYL: Going to White Stripes concerts

Recorded throughout their 2007 Canadian tour, Under The Great White Northern Lights doubles as the White Stripes’ first live album and as the soundtrack to the tour documentary of the same name. A Canadian tour may be an unlikely source from which to cull live material, but it’s clear that Jack and Meg have enthusiasm for their neighbors to the north, since they absolutely shredded it for them.

Under Great White Northern Lights accurately conveys the manic, almost primal, energy of a White Stripes concert. The way the two tear through “Let’s Shake Hands” and “Blue Orchid” is brutal, Meg pounds every beat like it’s her last and Jack practically tears the guitar to pieces with every riff and yells every line with such sincerity and intensity that they all sounds like personal insults directed the person whom he hates the most. The spiteful “Citizen Kane”-inspired jibes of “The Union Forever” sound just as scornful and hate-filled as they did when they first recorded that song nearly 10 years ago. If Jack and Meg are sick of this material, they sure as hell aren’t showing it.

But when they are sick of a song it sure shows. Rightfully tired of “Fell in Love with a Girl,” they try to turn it into a slow jam to mix things up, but without the manic riff that’s present on the album version, that song just falls apart. They also try to turn it into a sing-along during the chorus but throughout most of the album the Canadians suck at audience participation. Their delays in prompted singing cause more than one stumble in Jack’s pacing and when it comes time for quiet songs like “We Are Going to Be Friends” they just don’t know when the hell to shut up. A gaggle of screamers ruin that recording, drowning out Jack’s heartfelt lyrics with constant high-pitched squealing. It’s unbearably annoying.

But when the audience shuts up and when Jack and Meg don’t radically deviate from the source material in distracting ways, there’s little to complain about on this album. Sure, it’s easy to whine about some notable omissions (no “Hotel Yorba,” “The Hardest Button to Button” or “Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground,” for instance) but instead focus on the rarities that are included. The Dolly Parton classic “Jolene” has been a live staple for the White Stripes since their inception, and this marks the first time it’s been included on an album proper. Same goes for “Let’s Shake Hands,” which was the band’s first release as a single back in 1998. Hardcore fans will more likely care about that than the bigger well-known tracks that are excluded. In fact, what’s probably most maddening about Under Great White Northern Lights is that it’ll have you jonesing even more for new White Stripes. The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs just aren’t cutting it anymore. (Third Man 2010)

The White Stripes’ MySpace Page

RIYL: Dinosaur Jr., Foo Fighters, The Replacements

In the Dark starts out by rolling over you with a wall of guitars that, far from dissonant and buffeting, instead envelops you like the wind before a promising storm, and like some great thunder, the Whigs continue to prove they are an experience not to be missed.

Coming off their well-received second album, Mission Control, and a series of acclaimed live shows (not the least of which was a standout performance at the 2008 SXSW), it is evident that the hard core touring and energetic playing has only invigorated their songwriting. In the Dark is the Whigs’ best album yet, and one that engages from beginning to end.

The album is power rock, through and through, but it never forgets that melody and rhythm shouldn’t be sacrificed for that power. It is the same for the lyrics, as throughout Parker Gispert is clearly singing from those hidden places where anger and regret fester, but he refuses to either rage or mope. There is as much a sense of resolute energy as anything, even when he sings “Kill Me Carolyn” or questions his lust for “Someone’s Daughter.”

Most of the album openly embraces their primary influence, the more hard-rocking post punk of the Replacements (most evident on “Automatic” and “So Lonely,” with no little bit of the Godfathers thrown in there on the title track and the opening “Hundred/Million.” The production is just tight enough and the arrangements original and lush enough to push it beyond any assumed imitation, and the first five tracks are solid Whigs.

Then, just when it feels like you have a handle on the album, they throw you a hard curve right in the middle. “Dying” comes on and everything shifts into a heavy rhythmic chant full of psychedelic influences. It tosses you into dark places only hinted at up until now. That is the flow of the album. An energetic, but evident descent into the viscera of the music, but then the steady, strong drive that leads us back out; an inverted emotional parabola that never slows, but never lets us off the ride, either. Check out “I Am for Real” as the perfect catharsis moment.

In the Dark ends with a mini-jam session of a song, “Naked,” at times minimalist and echoing, while at others a pulsing rocker. It is one of the more inventive and original works that lets the Whigs flaunt their talent, energy and idiosyncrasies.

Check out In the Dark. It is one of the better albums to come along so far this year, and it should win them new fans while pleasing their faithful. Listen loud! ATO Records 2010

The Whigs MySpace page

RIYL: Stiff Little Fingers, Sex Pistols, The Clash

Love Bites is the Buzzcocks’ second album. When it first came out in 1978, it was probably the closest punk rock came to a concept album at the time, the concept being just how much love can bite. Almost every single song on Love Bites is a blistering pop-punk piece of bitterness about the darker side of love and lust. Screw Morrissey and the Cure – no one has ever laid pop misery down like Pete Shelley and crew do here. If songs like “Just Love,” “Real World” and the immortal masterpiece “Ever Fallen in Love” don’t move you on some level emotionally, then you have either never faced the pain of a broken relationship or you are dead inside. Love Bites is a brutal trip to the dark side of love, but it’s one that sounds so damn good that it’s impossible not to revisit it again and again. Being miserable never sounded this good before or since.

And as if you needed another reason to own this classic of pop-punk, Mute’s new re-issue adds a whopping 30 bonus tracks, including several Peels Sessions, over a dozen demos and a live concert from 1978. Shockingly, none of these add-ons sound like filler, even though you’re getting some songs two or even three times. The Peel Session function as great mini-concerts, the demos (which sound amazing) work both as quality performances and as a study in how songs can change from conception to final recording, and the concert is a high-energy set that includes non-Love Bites classics like “What Do I Get” and “Autonomy.” If you like punk rock and you don’t own Love Bites already, you’re doing it wrong and you have even less of an excuse not to own it now. If you’ve already bought Love Bites you can re-purchase it feeling confident that you aren’t being bilked out of your cash for a cheap double-dip. This is the real-deal, a must-own no matter what. (Mute 2010)

Buzzcocks’ MySpace Page

RIYL: The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, Dead Boys

With “I Don’t Mind” and 14 other songs! In 1978, the Buzzcocks issued this album for the first time, solidifying their musical imprint in rock and punk’s history. It’s been resiussed and remastered a couple times since, but this time out fans get a John Peel session tacked onto the end of the original LP, plus a second disc filled with demos and a crucial live show at the Electric Circus in 1977. Suffice it say the main album here is as good as it ever was, with “Love Battery,” “Orgasm Addict,” and “Fiction Romance” upping the jittery, nerve-grinding ante. Pete Shelley and co. already had their own original Manchester take down cold, though perhaps these sides were less accessible than “Ever Fallen in Love,” but that’s usually the point of these recordings.

As for the bonus disc, the demos here are all alarmingly tasty. Sure, the unexpectedly great sound quality is a pleasure, but it’s the performances themselves that prove the band had the chops to make bigger waves. “I Don’t Mind” might actually be better in its demo form here, in fact. The live show is the only thing here that’s a bit of a disappointment, with the band perhaps sounding a little too speed-fueled and Shelley’s vocals a tad too loud. The brief Peel Session tracks on the first disc aren’t anything revelatory, but show the band in a bit more of a controlled atmosphere compared to the sound of the Electric Circus show. (Mute 2010)

Buzzcocks Myspace page

RIYL: Pissed Jeans, Minor Threat, FEAR

Fucked Up’s The Chemistry of Common Life was the best album of the decade (if you ask me). The downside to releasing an album that good, of course, is that now they have some pretty high standards to live up to. Couple Tracks is actually composed entirely of material that pre-dates that masterpiece, culling from the band’s extensive 7” singles discography, most of which were never released digitally or even on CD. While it may be unfair to compare this earlier material to what came later, it’s impossible not to.

Luckily most of Couple Tracks comes close to living up to the high standards set forth by the band’s later work. “Triumph of Life” and “Black Hats” both hint at the wall of noise sound that was to come on The Chemistry of Common Life, and pulse-pounding, ready-made moshers like “Ban Violins” and “Dangerous Fumes” show that before Fucked Up was tearing down the boundaries of what it meant to be a hardcore band, they were working within the confines of the genre damn well. The band even lets their artistic and avant-garde guard down with a series of covers, which include “Anorak City” (originally by Another Sunny Day) and “I Don’t Want to Be Friends with You” (originally by the Shop Assistants). It’s silly, for sure, but it shows the rarely seen lighter side of Fucked Up, as they transform both songs into Ramones-style punk numbers. Also showing off the band’s sense of humor is “Generation,” which is a purposely stupid anthem song meant to rally the easily led.

Unfortunately there is a bit of filler on here. Early versions of album cuts “Crooked Head” and “No Epiphany” seem like pointless additions, and the live tracks from a Daytrotter session are fun, but more vinyl-only rarities would have been preferred. Still, if you’re a hardcore fan of the band but missed out the singles the first time around (or you just don’t have the turntable to play them), then this collection is pretty much essential. If you’re new to the band and only know The Chemistry Of Common Life the more straightforward sound of Couple Tracks might surprise you, but you’ll still find something to like. (Matador 2010)

Fucked Up MySpace Page

RIYL: Ryan Bingham, Bruce Springsteen, Soul Asylum

1372 Overton Park is the sixth album from these Memphis blues rockers, but it marks their major label debut. There’s a rootsy blues rock sound at the core, but with a punk influence and soulful horn arrangements from Memphis session player Jim Spake. The band claims no one genre as their own, preferring to mix and match. Guitarist/vocalist Ben Nichols is the star of the show, delivering gritty vocals blending blues with punk and country vibes throughout the album. You rarely hear a punk influence blended with a horn section though, making for a relatively unique vibe.

The tunes are mostly bluesy rockers, accented with those soulful Memphis horns to create a sound that seems like it would go well with adult beverages. “The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo” builds slowly with piano and arpeggiated chords, and some tasty lead guitar that could open up nicely live. “What Are You Willing to Lose” shines with an up-tempo rocker where Nichols truly sounds like a man who is indeed ready to lay it all on the line, as he sings in the song. “Sixes and Sevens” is a high-energy party tune about gambling and carousing, with the horns and lead guitar intertwining nicely, while “Hey Darlin’ Do You Gamble?” brings things down a notch with a heartfelt romantic plea from Nichols to the girl of his affections to gamble on running with him. Overall, the album hits the mark as an homage to the musical heritage of Memphis. (Universal Republic 2009)

Lucero MySpace page

As I compiled my list of the best music of the decade (a much, much longer list than you see here) one inescapable conclusion reared its shaggy head: the last 10 years pretty much belonged to Jack White.

How many other artists produced five stellar albums in the aughts, not to mention a couple of killer side projects and (that old rock critic standby) incendiary live shows?

No one, that’s who.

So, the best album of the decade really came down to which White Stripes album did you like more, White Blood Cells or Elephant.

Thankfully there’s no wrong answer. I first became enamored of “Fell in Love With a Girl,” totally fell for “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” became quite close to “We Are Going to Be Friends” and spent a lot of time in “Hotel Yorba” and “Little Room.”

On the other hand, Elephant had “Seven Nation Army.”

“Seven Nation Army,” motherfuckers. How could a song released in 2003 sound like it invented the bass line? Not just that bass line, but the whole concept of bass lines.

So as we recap our favorites of the decade, rock lives on into the new century in various forms, from low down and dirty to high and arty to pulsating and poppy, while what was once the cutting-edge hip-hop has devolved into auto-tuned disco synth. No doubt something new will emerge in the next decade to take our minds off it.

1. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (or Elephant)
2. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
3. Outkast: Stankonia (or Speakerboxx/The Love Below)
4. Green Day: American Idiot
5. The New Pornographers: Electric Version (or maybe Mass Romantic)
6. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
7. LCD SoundsystemL Sounds of Silver
8. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain
9. Jay-Z: The Blueprint
10. The Strokes: Is This It?

Just a few of the runner-ups:

Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf, Rated R
Belle & Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Drive By Truckers: Southern Rock Opera, Dirty South
Sufjan Stevens: Come On Feel the Illinoise
Arcade Fire: Funeral
Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand
Decemberists: Picaresque, Crane Wife
Radiohead: In Rainbows
Ben Folds: Rockin’ the Suburbs
Missy Elliott: Miss E…So Addictive
The Roots: Phrenology

A lot of music came out this decade, some might say too much. (Definitely too much. -Ed.) Definitely more than any one person could keep track of. So as a public service, in our ongoing series on Music in the 2000s, here are some of the best songs and albums that you most likely haven’t heard (especially if you live in America). Some of these tracks are by established artists that have waned in popularity, so no one took note of their new material no matter how good it was. Others are by up-and-coming young artists, so hopefully they’ll serve as a solid foundation for which to build a solid fan base off of in the future. But sadly the best of the bunch here has since disbanded, so way to go for not discovering them sooner.

10. Oasis: “Falling Down (A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Remix)”
Most of latter-day Oasis was okay, but boring. And their last album (if their recent break-up sticks) didn’t really change that. However, this 22-minute remix of that album’s best single was a home run. Done by the guys from the Future Sound Of London, it transforms the simple Brit-pop ditty into a psychedelic freakout of epic proportions. Bring your own acid.

9. Polly Scattergood: “I Hate The Way”
Definitely an artist to watch in the coming decade, Scattergood lived up to her name on her debut, delivering a scattershot collection of piano-based rock that missed the mark as much as it hit it. And nothing on that record fulfilled the promise of this opening number, an seven-minute confessional that tumbles back and forth between “You Oughta Know” anger and “Landslide”-style sadness. If she keeps this up, she could be the next Tori Amos.

8. Division Day: “Ricky”
Beartrap Island was a perfectly fine record with perfectly fine songs. It was also boring as hell. The exception being this pulse-pounding trip into paranoia filled about one hell of a dangerous river (or something, it’s kind of vague). Since Beartrap Island, Division Day has changed their sound dramatically, so they’ll never record a track like this again, which is a shame since it’s what they do best, even if they don’t know it.

7. King Biscuit Time: “I Walk The Earth”
Steve Mason from the Beta Band seemingly had so many great songs in him during first half of this millennium that he released some solo under this awful stage name. The best of the bunch was this beautiful, minimalist track, which also had an awesome video. The Beta Band is gone, but King Biscuit Time remains, and Mason is still releasing amazing music under the moniker, but this track from the rarely heard No Style EP remains the best of the bunch.

6. The Young Knives: “Terra Firma”
Man, British nerd rock is way nerdier than American nerd rock. Check out the chorus for this wacky little number: “Fake rabbit, real snake, terra firma terra firma!” Wait, what? Don’t think about it too much, your head might explode. If you know a TMBG fan and you want to get them into post-punk, this track, and Superabundance, the 2008 album it comes from, is the way to go.

5. Ludo: Broken Bride
Ludo is a band on the rise for sure, and their 2008 album You’re Awful I Love You was one of the smartest pop-punk albums in recent memory (and you can read my interview with lead singer Andrew Volpe here). However, they preceded that record with this infinitely bizarre EP, a rock opera about a time-traveling scientist trying to save the life of his wife who died in a car accident in 1985. Instead his invention takes him to the time of dinosaurs, where he has to fight pterodactyls, and eventually to the Rapture. The subject matter is done dead serious and beautiful, if a little impossible to describe.

4. Tub Ring: “Bite the Wax Tadpole”
Mr. Bungle inspired (and produced) hardcore metal about a guy who dreams about a formula for cold fusion but is disappointed with its texture and flavor. It’s twice as awesome as it sounds. This Chicago-based act opens for Mindless Self Indulgence a lot, but they might even be weirder than that lot. Which is really saying something.

4. Bran Van 3000: Discosis
Best known for their minor-hit “Drinking In LA” from their 1997 debut Glee, Bran Van 3000 (aka BV3) really knocked one out of the park for their 2001 sophomore album. There was the brilliantly funky “Astounded” (which featured an unused Curtis Mayfield vocal), the spacey pop of “Speed” and the crazy two parter “Go Shoppin’/More Shopping,” which featured dub-style rap and Pet Shop Boys-style singing all at once. Unfortunately what they didn’t have was American distribution, since their label, the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal, folded right before the record was due to be released.

2. Air Traffic: “Charlotte”
Where the hell did this one come from? Air Traffic’s debut album Fractured Life was good but bland, with the sole exception being this brilliant piece of Brit-pop so good that it not only rivals anything Oasis and Blur did this decade, but last decade as well. This was a hit single in the UK, but not nearly as big as it should have been. In America I think it’s a safe bet that next to no one has heard it. Damn shame, since it’s probably one of the 10 best songs of the decade.

1. Vaux: Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice
One of the greatest musical tragedies of the 20th century so far is that no one has heard of this now-defunct Denver rock band who truly defied all genres with their brilliant (and entirely unheard) second album. The band was signed to Atlantic in 2005, but the label refused to release the album for reasons beyond me (they must not want to be associated with commercially viable rock music with artistic merit). The album sounds like a hardcore version of Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations, which is really amazing when you consider it was complete (if unreleased) a full year before that record.

RIYL: Avett Brothers, Daniel Johnston, They Might Be Giants

When you’re setting yourself up for failure by dubbing your first effort the Worst Debut Album Ever, suffice it to say you’re putting the bar so low that any redeeming quality whatsoever makes it seem as if you’ve succeeded. Then again, considering Henry Dillard’s self-deprecating sense of humor, any pronouncement to that effect is relative anyway. On the surface of it, Without a Face, Dillard’s nom de plume, purveys a slacker mentality, all strumming guitars, unruly ranting and a decidedly irreverent and irrepressible attitude. However, there’s something to be said for the entertainment derived from raucous revelations about substance abuse (“Druggie Love”), obsession with an older woman (“31”) and an ode to the dangers of dairy products (“Lactose Intolerance”). And with a goofy hillbilly phone chat (“Worst Intermission Ever”) tossed in for good measure, it seems that Dillard’s guile resides in his ability to play the fool and make the lowest common denominator appear a form of high art. Okay, so Worst Debut Album Ever may not aspire to be anything more than what its name implies, but its unabashed honesty conveys a charm all its own. (Redbird Records)

Without a Face MySpace page