JIM TESTA

BEST ALBUMS

Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts – Manhattan (Rough Trade)
The last living rock star on the Lower East Side with his best solo album in years

Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (Mom+Pop)
Aussie wunderkind Courtney has a bit of Liz Phair's musical DNA but it's the way her lyrics transform the mundane into the magical that makes this debut album stand out.

Roadside Graves – Acne/Ears (Don Giovanni)
Hoary veterans prove they haven't lost their touch for nuanced Americana, this time turning their gaze inward at their own lives and foibles rather than at societys.

The Front Bottoms – Back On Top (FBR)
Local boys make good, sign to major label, don't suck.

Night Birds – Mutiny At Muscle Beach (Fat Wreck)
Best HC album of the year, one that tempers ferocity, speed, and anger with wit and melody.

Yo La Tengo – Stuff Like That There (Matador)
Ageless veterans look back at some old favorites and some of their own old hits, with charming results

Beach Slang – The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us (Polyvinyl)
Jimmy from Weston finds a second career with this

Screaming Females – Rose Mountain (Don Giovanni)
After years of producing themselves live in the studio, the New Brunswick trio hired a producer, upped the production, and came up with another winner.

PWR BTTM – Ugly Cherries (Father&Daughter)
Gay duo from Brooklyn reinvigorate 90's queercore with big chords and bigger hearts.

Worriers – Imaginary Life (Don Giovanni)
The best punk album of the year features one of the most diverse lineups in pop music, which wouldn't matter if the music didn't hit so hard as well.

Various Artists - Have Moicy 2: The Hoodoo Bash (Red Newt)
Forty years after Have Moicy! set the template for freak folk and anti-folk, Peter Stampfel rounds up a new bunch of weirdos, misfits, and folk lifers and proves there's still magic to be mined from this genre.

Recommended Reissues:
Bruce Springseteen – The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (Columbia)
Ork Records – New York: New York (Numero Group)

LOCAL BANDS RULE!

Speed The Plough – Now (Coyote)
The Deafening Colors – Carousel Season (self released)
YJY – Couch Surfin’ USA (self released)
Damfino – Crossed Eyes & Mixed Motives (self released)
The Graveyard Kids – It’s Been A Wonderful Evening
Thomas Wesley Stern – Never Leaving (self released)
The Brooklyn What – Room EP (self released)
The Harmonica Lewinskies – Suck Berry (self released)

PAUL SILVER

Paul Silver’s Top “10” Records for 2015

The end of the year is always a time for reflection; it’s a time to look back at the year ended and take stock. In the case of “music journalists” (go on, laugh!) that includes putting together a list of favorite releases of the year. I didn’t always do this – I used to think of it as a chore. But over the last several years, it’s become something I look forward to, because it gives me an excuse (as if I need one!) to go back and re-listen to some of those favorites, and an opportunity to share some great music with other people.

As usual, my list is based off the music I’ve reviewed over the course of the past twelve months. And, as always, the order has nothing to do with ranking and everything to do with the order in which I reviewed the records.

BIG DICK – Disappointment LP – The year started out with a bang, with this sophomore release from the Canadian drum and bass duo, Big Dick. The album was anything but a disappointment, with great melodic songs being played with just drum and bass.

SEAGULLS – Great Pine – Dreamy, and shimmery, with songs that feel like they come from that place between waking and sleep, where reality ends and dreaming begins.

ST. LENOX – 10 Songs About Memory And Hope – Google the word, “soulful,” and I’m pretty sure you’ll find a photograph of St. Lenox’s Andy Choi and a download of this album. Choi belts out the vocals with a power and intensity that reaches right through you and grabs your inner being.

TOYGUITAR – In This Mess – Jack Dalrymple (Dead To Me, Swingin’ Utters), Miles Peck (Swingin’ Utters, Get Dead), Paul Oxborrow (Primitive Hearts), and drummer Rosie Gonce team up to deliver some great melodic garage rock’n’roll, bursting with jangly sunshine. If this record doesn’t get you dancing, you’re already dead.

WESTERN SETTINGS – Yes It Is – It’s hard to believe how rapidly this band has grown to be one of the best of its genre – which is hard to pin down. They play emotionally charged melodic pop punk, and are a band to watch for.

DISAPPEARS – Irreal – Their album “Guider” made my Best of 2011 list. This album is nothing like that one. In a world of bland alternative rock trying to fake indie cred, it’s a rare thing indeed for a band to swim so completely against the current and create music that is, essentially, cubist artwork made with sound waves.

SUCCESS – Radio Recovery – This album is so joyous and uplifting! This is strong “working class” pop punk, with songs about hard lives and hard work, but always with a positive attitude.

BAD COP/BAD COP – Not Sorry – This album is thirteen tracks chock full of snotty pop-punk awesomeness, blending hard-edged gritty attitudes and punk music with soft, beautiful melodies and three-part harmonies.

DER FADEN – Best Guess b/w Filament – Great modern power-pop from Canada, featuring Rob Seaton from the band Statues.

DETACHED OBJECTS – Detached Objects – The six songs on offer present modalities, darkness, and noisiness. This is primal, guttural music of the best kind.

THE STUPID DAIKINI – Everything Is Fine – The juxtaposition of Melissa Zavislak’s gorgeous voice against her gritty, distorted ukulele and Brittany Hartin’s primitive drum beats, and that of Zavislak’s bubbly personality against the dark, bitter, angry lyrics, make this one of the most amazing releases of the year.

WORRIERS – Imaginary Life – Lauren Denitzio’s solo project turns into a real band and gets its debut release. It stays true to Denitzio’s pop punk roots, but with a more mature indie sound. It’s one of this year’s strongest releases, and also has one of the year’s best and most important songs, “They/Them/Theirs.”

THE HUM HUMS – Back To Front – What do you get when you cross the Ramones with The Beach Boys? You get The Hum Hums! They play great, fast melodic pop-punk music with a surf-style and beach Boys-like harmonies.

VACATION – Non-Person – To quote Davey Tiltwheel, “This record represents everything that is right with music today.” They blend garage, pop-punk, and psychedelic sounds, with fuzzed-out guitars and distortion coating the mix, and clear, jangling back-up guitars providing a sweet counterpoint. They seem to be a band teetering on the brink of collapse, with so much musical chaos. It’s like an out of control locomotive that keeps going faster and faster, bits of the machinery flying off, and always in danger of careening into who knows what. But it never does! In that tension is where genius lies. This was, quite simply, my favorite album of the year.

BEACH SLANG – The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us – Beach Slang is a band that occupies the space between dark pop punk and shining shoe-gaze. There’s tons of fuzz, and glorious singing guitars echoing in the background, like great shoe-gaze, but the music is more up-tempo, aggressive, and raucous than any shoe-gaze band you know.

CIVIL WAR RUST – Help Wanted – Very seriously, if Civil War Rust weren’t just kids around 20 years ago, on the basis of this album, it would have been them and not Green Day breaking through to mainstream success. This is some of the best pop punk you’ll ever hear.

Honorable Mentions:

There were a few releases this year that I didn’t review, but I still love them, and they deserve the recognition. They are:

RADIOACTIVITY – Silent Kill – This Texas garage punk band is simply one of the best outfits making music today. This second full-length LP proves that.

G.L.O.S.S. – Demo – I missed this when it came out. I heard people talking about it, endlessly. I finally found out why. Holy. Shit. Powerful, pissed off hardcore music from powerful, pissed off queer and transgendered punks.

NIGHT BIRDS – Mutiny At Muscle Beach – This is another record I missed when it came out. Lots of people were saying how good it was, and they were right. Raging hardcore punk, awesome danceable punk, and surf-edged tracks make this a strong release.

Paul Silver’s Top “10” Live Shows of 2015

Sometimes I think I go to too many shows. I’ve been going to more and more shows, including on weeknights, though I still have to get up for work in the morning. Lack of sleep has been taking its toll. I also have started actually travelling to other cities just because there’s a show there I really want to see and won’t be able to if I don’t go to wherever it is. That’s been taking its toll on my wallet. But, ultimately, it ends up being worth it, because I get to see some really great shows. This year I was able to see some outstanding bands in great places – some bands I thought I would never get the chance to see, or at least not in the sorts of intimate small clubs in which I was able to see them. So, here’s my list of the best live shows I saw in 2015.

As with my top “10” list of records for the year, these are not in any order other than the order in which I saw them.

1.) Olivelawn, Deadbolt, White Murder, Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’ Driver – Casbah, San Diego
The long-awaited off-again, on-again Olivelawn reunion show was a roaring success. Olivelawn was one of my favorites of the grunge-punk genre back in the day, and I was ecstatic to get the chance to see them.

2.) Retox, Whores, The Long and Short of It, Ghetto Blaster – Casbah, San Diego
Retox raged; they were fast, loud, and powerful. The biggest surprise, though, was Whores. I usually don’t go in for the heavy metallic stuff, but Whores killed it – they were so loud, too, that the whole club was shaking.

3.) Lenguas Largas, Underground Railroad To Candyland, Robot (re)pair, John Denver’s Last Flight, Detached Objects, Japanese Monsters – Yucca Tap Room, Tempe, AZ
Tempe, Arizona’s Johnny Volume turned 40 years old, and celebrated in style, with an all-star lineup of some of Arizona’s best bands, plus California’s URTC.

4.) Masked Intruder, Success, Caskitt – Soda Bar, San Diego
Masked Intruder is always a great show, and this was my first time seeing Success, a band from Seattle, who put a smile on my face and kept it there all night. Their latest album, “Radio Recovery,” also made my Best Records of 2015 list.

5.) Drive Like Jehu, Casbah, San Diego
For two Tuesday nights in a row in April (the second show added because the first one sold out in five minutes), Drive Like Jehu killed it in the intimate confines of the world famous Casbah. After seeing their “one-time only” reunion show last year in Balboa Park, to be able to see them in a small club—twice! Astounding! The great roster of supporting bands included Ghetto Blaster, Octagrape, and Big Bad Buffalo.

6.) Teenage Bottlerocket, The Copyrights, Sic Waiting, Western Settings – Soda Bar, San Diego
I mean, just look at that line-up. How could it not be on this list, right? Plus, sadly, it turned out to be my last time seeing Brandon Carlisle behind the drum kit.

7.) D4th of July, with Dillinger Four, Against Me!, Toys That Kill, Scared of Chaka, Off With Their Heads, Tim Barry, Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band, Pink Mink, Lifter Puller, United Teachers of Music – Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis
This was my first D4th, and their first being held outdoors in the parking lot. It took on the air of a festival, with a special beer brewed just for the event, vendors, and a killer line-up. It was also my first time seeing D4 live, even though I’ve known Erik and Pat since before there was a D4.

8.) Boom Boom Kid, Calafia Puta, Santa Ana Knights – The Hideout, San Diego
“Who the hell are Boom Boom Kid?” I wondered, as everyone was telling me this was a show not to be missed. They were right! Argentina’s Boom Boom Kid has an energy that’s incredible, as do Tijuana’s Calafia Puta.

9.) Screaming Females, Vacation, Toys That Kill, Hillary Chilton – VLHS
I actually saw the Screamales and Vacation twice, the second time being in San Diego at Soda Bar. But this show at Southern California’s best DIY venue was incredible, with Marissa Paternoster finishing the set by playing guitar while crowd surfing. Vacation was so good, too, and their newest album is on my Best of 2015 list, too.

10.) Sparta Philharmonic, Fuzzy Math, RedRumsey – McCoy’s Tavern,
Olympia, WA
I waited five years to see Sparta Philharmonic play live, and they did not disappoint. You can read about the band and this show here...

Awesomefest 9 – San Diego, CA
This was my sixth Awesomefest, and it was definitely the best one yet. Read about my experience at this year’s fest and see photos here:

And...) Radioactivity, Tiltwheel, Cruz Radical – Soda Bar, San Diego
Radioactivity play some of the best garage punk you’ll ever hear, Tiltwheel are legendary, and Cruz Radical is a hot up-and-coming band from San Diego, singing all of their songs in Spanish.

And...) Swingin’ Utters, The Bombpops, Beach Slang, Success – The Hideout, San Diego
This was my first time seeing the Utters, and my first chance to see Beach Slang live. This show was a stacked line-up if ever there was one, and to be able to see this in the small Hideout was awesome.

And finally...) Pegboy, Canadian Rifle – Liar’s Club, Chicago
I hadn’t seen Pegboy live in about twenty years, and I had never seen Canadian Rifle (whose records I’ve raved about here on Jersey Beat), so when the tiny Liar’s Club announced this free show, as part of their twentieth anniversary celebration, I knew I had to be there.

RICH QUINLAN

TOP TEN RECORDS of 2015

1. Screaming Females-Rose Mountain
2. Night Birds-Mutiny at Muscle Beach
3. Insect Ark-Portal/Well
4. Shilpa Ray-Last Year’s Savage
5. Cattle Decapitation-The Anthropocene Extinction
6.The Sword-High Country
7.Gruesome-Savage Land
8. Author and Punisher- Melk En Honing
9. Myrkur-M
10. Grim Deeds-Psychologically Displaced