 
PAUL SILVER'S 2019:
This year, a ton of great records came out. And this
year, I reviewed way more records than in past years. So
the task of wading through all my reviews and all the records
is going to make my hair turn gray – or it would if
it hadn’t already happened. As always, this is listed
in the order that I reviewed them, not in order of preference.
AM TAXI – Shiver By Me (Mutant League
Records, www.mutantleaguerecords.com)
This Chicago band obviously has a blast making music, and
that comes through on this LP full of diverse sounds.
EVEN IN BLACKOUTS – Romantico! (Stardumb
Records, www.stardumbrecords.com)
The first all-new LP from Chicago’s Even In Blackouts
in ten years is chock full of songs with themes of separation,
loss, and regret. After such a long time apart, all of the
frustrations came pouring out to form one of the best records
of 2019.
STEVE ADAMYK BAND – Paradise (Dirtnap
Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com) This represents some of the
best garage and power pop to come out of Canada. It’s
music that’s bouncy, melodic, rockin’ yet has
a toughness to it.
PROBLEM DAUGHTER – Grow Up Trash
(Wiretap Records, wiretaprecords.limitedrun.com) The songs
are universally great and the songwriting is creative, way
above and beyond the typical pop punk band, with unexpected
shifts in tempo, in melody, and in feel. Front man Regan
Ashton’s vocals are among the most unique and recognizable
in the punk world, and only add to the excellent qualities
of these songs.
MARTHA – Love Keeps Kicking (Dirtnap
Records, www.dirtnaprecs.com) Martha’s sound has certainly
matured. And it’s diversified. The songs feel a little
fuller and lusher than the relatively raw songs of their
previous LP. But the exuberance is still there, the sheer
joy of the music.
PUP – Morbid Stuff (Rise Records,
www.riserecords.com) PUP songs are huge, loud, brash, exuberant,
and angry. Gang vocals are shouted as much as sung. A lot
of PUP songs seem to tell a story, too. It makes for amazing
catharsis, whether listening to the record or especially
when seeing them live.
THE SCANERS – II (Dirty Water Records,
www.dirtywaterrecords.co.uk) French garage punk, if The
Spits and The Ramones intermingled with the Dickies and
Devo. The songs are pretty simple, but powerful, bouncy,
and a lot of fun.
OTOBOKE BEAVER – Itekoma Hits (Damnably
Records, www.damnably.com) My declaration stands: there
is no such thing as a bad Japanese band! Otoboke Beaver,
hailing from the temple city of Kyoto, play manic garage
punk, with a sweet but nasty attitude. The mood shifts rapidly
from short song to short song, and even within a single
song. The songs go from simple rhythms to arrhythmic, from
violent, anger filled hardcore to rap to grungy melodies
and everything in between. This is some of the most creative
music I’ve heard in awhile, and I don’t understand
a word of the lyrics because they’re all in Japanese!
BRACKET – Too Old To Die Young (Fat
Wreck Chords, www.fatwreck.com) The great thing about Bracket’s
sound is that, while they certainly fit into the broad pop
punk category, they’ve got a distinct harder edge
to their sound, and the harmonized vocals a la The Beach
Boys on top of that edgy music makes the sound pretty unique
in the pop punk realm. It’s sort of like taking a
frantic band like Hot Snakes, slowing and grunging it a
bit, and mixing it with The Mr. T Experience’s sappy
pop punk songs. Bracket is one of the best bands on Fat
Wreck Chords today, and this LP is one of the best of the
year.
GEOFFREY C PALMER – Pulling Out All The Stops
(Rum Bar Records, rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com) The music
is right on that cusp between power pop and pop punk, with
some songs leaning a little more one way or the other, and
it finds just the right sweet spot. I guess one way to describe
this is that it’s sort of like Ramones-core, but a
little slower, a little heavier on the pop than the punk.
THE HAMMERBOMBS – Goodbye, Dreamboat (thehammerbombs.bandcamp.com)
The Hammerbombs are the essence of modern pop punk. The
band is super tight and the songs are bouncy and fun. The
lyrics range from inane to sappy, like all good pop punk.
RAMONA – Deals, Deals, Deals! (Red
Scare Industries, www.redscare.net) Ramona is also a band
that plays gloriously epic pop punk. The music is tight,
bouncy, melodic stuff, uniformly up-tempo. The instrumentation
is thick and rich, with a wall of guitar that’s all
fuzz yet still manages to jangle. This album rocks hard
from start to finish, and doesn’t let up for a single
second.
BILLY LIAR – Some Legacy (Red Scare
Industries, www.redscare.net) BillY Liar’s folk punk
roots are clear, with songs that wear their emotions on
their sleeve. The music is tight and gorgeously constructed,
but raw in sheer feeling. Most of the songs are raucous
and powerful. Lyrically, this record hits hard.
THE PROLETARIAT – Move (Radiobeat
Records, www.proletariatband.com) This 1980s Boston punk
band reformed a few years ago for a series of shows. But
instead of going the route of too many reunions, content
to play the old “hits” from time to time, The
Proletariat got to work on crafting a new LP of songs that
hit harder than ever and are still politically charged and
completely relevant to our modern day. Rather than resting
on their laurels, they released their best LP ever.
THE WHIPS DC – What We Talk About When We
Talk About Rock (Settle For It Records, www.settleforitrecords.com)
The long-lost album from the short-lived “super group”
from Washington, DC, formed in 2001 out of the ashes of
the DC post-hardcore scene of the 1990s and made up members
of Circus Lupus, Trusty, Squatweiler, and Worlds Collide.
The Whips distilled all of the best aspects of the DC sound
of the time, mixed it with pure rock and roll, and lit it
on fire. The result was explosive, and they called it “hot
rock.” It’s an apt name, and this is one of
the best albums released in 2019.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS – Be Good (Epitaph
Records, www.epitaph.com) Ryan Young needs a hug. He wears
his emotions on his sleeve whenever he picks up a guitar.
Though their musical style is quite different from what’s
typical of the genre, Off With Their Heads may be the most
emo band in the history of punk. Every song is huge, epic.
Self-deprecation, self-accusation, feelings of despair and
suicidal thoughts, all shouted with abandon to epic sing-along
punk are why OWTH shows and records are so cathartic. This
new record finds OWTH in top form.
THE ATOM AGE – Cry ‘Til You Die (Tiger
Dream Records, theatomage.bandcamp.com)
The Atom Age is a garage band. No, wait. They’re a
rockabilly band. No, wait. They’re a surf band. No,
wait. Yes. They’re all the above and more! Oakland’s
The Atom Age are an unrelenting, high-energy rock’n’roll
band. The whole album is played and sung with a sense of
urgency, like they have to get these songs out NOW or there
will be consequences.
THE SAFES – Winning Combination
(Action Weekend/Bickerton Records, www.bickertonrecords.com)
This is a gorgeous and unique album of songs that range
from gypsy folk to Burt Bacharach-esque pop music, to edgy
indie-rock. Guitars, bass, and drums are joined by piano,
Wurlitzer organ, accordion, violin, cello, clarinet, and
a host of other instruments on many of these songs. The
Safes live in Chicago, but musically they’re all over
the map, and it makes for a fun engaging listen.
WESTERN SETTINGS – Another Year
(A-F Records, www.a-frecords.com) Western Settings have
given us their best effort yet. These songs are brighter
and more melodic than anything from their previous releases,
and bassist/lead vocalist Ricky Schmidt’s vocals are
stronger and more confident. The arrangements are more intricate,
there’s more pop, and, dammit, they sound like they’re
having fun playing these songs!
JUMPSTARTED PLOWHARDS – Round One (Recess
Records, www.recessrecords.com)
Hailing from San Pedro, California, Jumpstarted Plowhards
is a new band featuring the legendary Mike Watt (Minutemen,
fIREHOSE, Mike Watt and the Missingmen) and Todd Congelliere
(F.Y.P., Toys That Kill, Underground Railroad to Candyland,
Clown Sounds). The result is some spare, menacing punk rock.
The music sounds dusty, right out of the California desert.
The vocals are urgent, and the guitars wail inconsolably.
THE RESTARTS – Uprising (Pirates
Press Records, www.piratespressrecords.com)
This is hardcore punk fucking rock! This is authentic early
80s hardcore punk, powerful and angry. Many of the tracks
contain some of the best rapid-fire hardcore I’ve
heard in years. Angular chord changes abound, and you can
feel the heat from the vocals. This band is on fire! The
Restarts remind of why I got into this music in the first
place: the energy, the anger, and the political statements.
This record is excellent.
BOTHERS (Dirt Cult Records, www.dirtcultrecords.com)
This rips! It’s like taking fast garage punk in the
vein of Radioactivity, then blending in hard-driving rock
and roll, like Motorhead. The guitars are used almost as
percussion instruments, with a strong, steady, rapid beat
of power chords. Vocals are sometimes shouted, sometimes
roared, and sometimes sung with harmonies. The distorted
guitars and lo-fi quality of the recording belie the tightness
and creativity of this band. The power is almost non-stop,
with minimal breathers.
SCHIZOPHONICS – People in the Sky
(Pig Baby Records, www.pigbabyrecords.com)
Damn, I love this band! San Diego’s Schizophonics
are a high-energy hard rockin’ band playing the best
retro crossover music this side of the pond. Imagine the
early Beatles as a super-charged garage band instead of
a smoothed out commercial pop band. Now triple the amount
of soul by adding in James Brown at his peak.
INGS – Lullaby Rock (ings.bandcamp.com)
Oh my god, this is beautiful! Ings is the Seattle-based
project of Inge Chiles, a purveyor of self-styled “lullaby
rock,” which I guess is a genre of rock suitable for
lulling one to sleep. But I sure don’t want to sleep
through any of these songs. They’re so delicate and
pretty. Acoustic bass, electric guitar, brushed snare drum,
strings, and multi-tracked harmonized vocals blend to create
jazzy indie-pop of the first order. The songs are dreamy
without having to resort to banks of synthesizers. It’s
hypnotic and mesmerizing. Chiles’ voice is lovely
and the songwriting is emotive.
THE SUBJUNCTIVES – Sunshine and Rainbows
(Top Drawer Records, tdrecs.com)
What would happen if you took members of Sicko and Four
Lights, two of the best pop punk bands to ever come out
of Seattle, and put them together in a new band? The songs
are bubbly, even effervescent. This is a perfect pop punk
record.
Paul Silver’s Top Records
of the Decade
It can be a daunting task to comb through a year’s
worth of records, just to pick out the gems hidden amongst
the pile of turds. And produce a “best of the year”
list. It seems, at first blush, even tougher to do the same
with a decade’s worth of material. Yet you would be
wrong to think so. There are certain records that make such
a large impression that they leave a mark on the brain.
These are the records we come back to over and over, the
ones we will listen to any time, any place. The records
we come to love and cherish. And these are such records
that have made their mark on me in the last ten years.
SPARTA PHILHARMONIC – “(Trans)migratory Birds”
An album of folk music, no pop, no noise-rock, no gospel,
no – just one of the most original, engaging albums
of the decade. It was this album that led me to trek to
the Pacific Northwest five years later to finally see the
band live, which you can read about here: http://www.jerseybeat.com/sparta.html.
SWANS – “My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope
to the Sky”
Gritty, intense, dark, noisy, but very accessible, this
is music that could be the soundtrack to a Western film
made by David Lynch. This is the album that brought the
Swans back to fans after a long hiatus.
LED TO SEA – “Into the Darkening Sky”
Beautiful indie songs arranged for chamber orchestra with
some great lyrics, too.
tUnE-yArDs – “w h o k i l l”
This album jumps up and down and grabs your attention. It’s
so awesomely cool and different. I can’t recommend
this one enough.
EMA – “Past Life Martyred Saints”
Achingly beautiful, you can hear the pain and desperation.
MUHAMMADALI –Self-titled LP
Super big sound, a sonic assault of massive guitar and vocals.
“Exploding Ego,” the third track, is an intense
killer of a track.
RUMSPRINGER – “Stay Afloat” LP
Up-tempo wall-of guitar sounds are punctuated with off-kilter
rhythms and plenty of powerful pop sensibility. Upon hearing
the first song, “Air Raid Curfew,” I thought
there’s no way the record could get any better. Then
I heard “Hindsight is 20/20, Foresight is $200 an
Hour.” And my mind was blown.
LIPSTICK HOMICIDE – “Out Utero” LP
Lipstick Homicide are simply one of the finest pop punk
bands of the decade. They’re fast, tight, super melodic,
and they’re downright nice people, too. There is not
a single bad track on this album, and there’s not
even one that’s just OK – they’re all
winners, all pop punk gold. I don’t think they play
much anymore, which is really too bad.
CYMBALS EAT GUITARS – Lose LP
Was there ever any doubt this would be on my list? The album
has a very large sound, with lots of reverb, fuzz and distortion,
and Joe D’Agostino still earns the nickname, “Joseph
Ferocious,” with his enormous vocals that he attacks
with glee. The music is expansive, melodic, chaotic, poppy,
and beautiful, all at once. Sadly, this year saw confirmation
that CEG is no more.
TOYGUITAR – In This Mess
San Francisco’s toyGuitar deliver some great melodic
garage rock’n’roll, bursting with jangly sunshine.
If this record doesn’t get you dancing, you’re
already dead.
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.
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 decade.
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.
FREE KITENS & BREAD – American Miserablist
There’s a range of styles here, from energetic guitar-fueled
tracks to Americana-laced songs to nerd-pop. The arrangements
are thoughtful, with judicious use of backing vocals and
even horns, to add the right flavor to the song. And the
song writing is really, really good. The lyrical content,
the melodies, the arrangement – it’s all top
notch. The band decided to change their name to Big Loser,
though, which I still can’t understand.
PEARS – Green Star
This sophomore release from NOLA’s hardest band charges
forth with more deliberate pop punk and hardcore music than
before. Where 2014’s debut, “Go To Prison,”
was “thrown together,” according to vocalist
Zach Quinn, “this, we slaved over it.” The time
and attention certainly shows. The songs rage as hard as
ever, but they show more cohesiveness than the debut.
FAINTEST IDEA – Increasing The Minimum Rage
Faintest Idea, hailing from the port town of Kings Lynn
in Norfolk, UK, are a pretty fucking unique band in this
world, and that should be treasured. This album features
tight, energetic ska music blended with tough working class
Oi, and the result is nothing short of astounding. And,
while most ska bands, and even ska punk bands, are generally
about fun times, Faintest Idea inject a heavy dose of economic,
social, and political justice into their lyrics.
MARTHA – Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart
This band from the northeastern corner of England presents
a dichotomy: the songs are sparkly and bubbly with a strong
sense of optimism, but the lyrics tend more toward uncertainty,
resignation, and even despair. Happiness and sadness, you
can’t have one without the other. The songs teeter
on the edge between pop punk and indie pop with the best
aspects of each.
YEESH – Confirmation Bias
This is some of the strongest post-punk music I’ve
heard in awhile. Angular intervals, generous use of overtones,
minimalist melodies, and repetition are the tools used in
constructing the ten songs on this, the band’s sophomore
full-length LP. The songs are powerful and edgy, loud and
insistent; they’re Chicago tough. It’s a tragedy
that the band broke up about a year after this record came
out.
GREAT APES – California Heart
Lyrically, this is an incredibly strong yet depressing record.
Listening to lyrics, such as from the title track, you get
a sense of hopelessness that a kid in a boring town with
nothing to do and no future in sight might feel. Musically,
the album continues to be Great Apes’ unique blend
of pop melodies and powerful punk, with some songs leaning
more one way than the other.
ST. LENOX – Ten Hymns From My American Gothic
St. Lenox’s debut LP, “Ten Songs About Memory
and Hope,” floored me with its soulfulness, its truth,
and its beauty, and it made my list of top records of the
year. I couldn’t imagine that Andrew Choi, New York
attorney and the alter ego of St. Lenox, could ever top
it. But a year later, Choi came back with the sophomore
St. Lenox release. The ten songs on this album are touching,
poignant, and they’re beautiful. They brought tears
to my eyes.
JIM JONES & THE RIGHTEOUS MIND – Super Natural
Jim Jones & the Righteous Mind aren’t fucking
around. Right from the start they’re in your face,
loud and oozing confidence. The tracks are pure rock’n’roll
with a strong blues and soul influence. The term “buzzsaw
guitar” has been pure hyperbole until this record
– those guitars sound like they could cut through
a giant redwood tree in seconds.
HOT SNAKES – Jericho Sirens
Back with their first new LP in over a decade, this San
Diego band is an intense as ever! This record is harder,
tighter, more intense, and more powerful than just about
anything that came out in the past decade.
ODD ROBOT – Amnesiatic
The songs on this sophomore LP are all hook-laden, bouncy
yet edgy, and they’ll instantly make you want to get
up and dance. Blending the sounds of The Alkaline Trio and
The Smoking Popes, yet making it their own, Odd Robot are
one of the most exciting new bands of the last several years.
SMOKING POPES – Into The Agony
The magic is back! The Popes’ previous LP, 2011’s
“This Is Only A Test,” was fine, but something
was missing. On this latest LP, with original drummer Mike
Felumlee back in the fold, we see what had been missing.
The songs on this record are classic Popes material that
sound familiar yet fresh. And The Smoking Popes even get
political on this record, with lyrics that address climate
change.
EVEN IN BLACKOUTS – Romantico! (Stardumb Records,
www.stardumbrecords.com)
The first all-new LP from Chicago’s Even In Blackouts
in ten years is chock full of songs with themes of separation,
loss, and regret. After such a long time apart, all of the
frustrations came pouring out to form one of the best records
of the decade.
THE PROLETARIAT – Move (Radiobeat Records, www.proletariatband.com)
This 1980s Boston punk band reformed a few years ago for
a series of shows. But instead of going the route of too
many reunions, content to play the old “hits”
from time to time, The Proletariat got to work on crafting
a new LP of songs that hit harder than ever and are still
politically charged and completely relevant to our modern
day. Rather than resting on their laurels, they released
their best LP ever.
THE WHIPS DC – What We Talk About When We Talk About
Rock (Settle For It Records, www.settleforitrecords.com)
The long-lost album from the short-lived “super group”
from Washington, DC, formed in 2001 out of the ashes of
the DC post-hardcore scene of the 1990s and made up members
of Circus Lupus, Trusty, Squatweiler, and Worlds Collide.
The Whips distilled all of the best aspects of the DC sound
of the time, mixed it with pure rock and roll, and lit it
on fire. The result was explosive, and they called it “hot
rock.” It’s an apt name, and this is one of
the best albums released this decade.
THE SUBJUNCTIVES – Sunshine and Rainbows (Top Drawer
Records, www.tdrecs.com)
What would happen if you took members of Sicko and Four
Lights, two of the best pop punk bands to ever come out
of Seattle, and put them together in a new band? The songs
are bubbly, even effervescent. This is a perfect pop punk
record.
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