My Favorite Albums from 2012- #15 to #11

#15- The Sword- Apocryphon

The Music-

Let’s be honest, any new album by The Sword was probably in the running to make this list. I love every one of their albums, and the fact that Apocryphon is probably their most focused and cohesive offering yet should have sealed the deal easily. As you can see, they’re right in there at #15, but the choice was far from easy. The fact that this record ended up being included over a lot of other excellent albums is a testament to how good Apocryphon is. They have taken their riff-heavy Black Sabbath style metal to new and epic levels on this one. The formula really hasn’t changed much since their debut album (Age of Winters), but they have perfected their execution of it. The band sounds tighter, the vocal melodies and riffs are at their most catchy, and the subject matter is as epic as the end of the world. All of the things that made me love The Sword are present, but to a greater degree. What more could you possibly want?

The Vinyl-
 

This might be the nicest overall vinyl package I bought this year. Being a fan of punk rock sometimes means that the vinyl releases I get, although often on rad colors, are pretty much no-frills packages designed to appeal to punkers on a budget. I’m a big fan of paying less for records, but sometimes its nice to be able to splurge, and a big, epic sounding rock album like Apocryphon deserves an epic presentation. I opted for the more standard “Orange Lava” vinyl over the glow-in-the-dark, mostly because I’ve heard how terrible those things sound. Orange Lava sounds great though, and the album comes with a beautifully printed gatefold jacket and full color inner sleeve with more artwork. The record itself is over standard weight at 135 grams. Really nice package, but it’s going to cost you a bit more. I think I paid something like $23 for it. An album this epic requires an epic presentation. Feel free to splurge.

#14- Hotel Chelsea- El Pee

The Music-

Hotel Chelsea holds a special place in my heart. Since they’re a local band, I’ve gotten the chance to watch this thing they are doing evolve and change over the last couple of years. In fact, El Pee serves as a kind of musical chronicle of this evolution. As with a lot of band’s debut albums, the songs on El Pee were written over a long period of time, through line-up changes and semi-break-ups and every other damn thing a band could possibly go through. This mix of old and new songs actually serves to give the album a good amount of diversity, something that is sometimes hard to achieve in the pop-punk genre. The older tunes tend to be straight-forward, snotty affairs with instantly memorable choruses. These are the ones you will see fans drunkenly singing along to at any given Chelsea show. If the album just consisted of those, I would be pretty satisfied. Where things really start getting interesting though is on the newer songs where the band are beginning to branch out into a sound all their own. Newer songs like “Milo Goes to Hawaii,” “Getting’ Schizophrenic,” and especially “I Wouldn’t Give You the Steam From My Piss” feature more complex guitar leads and dual vocals that have me really stoked to see where they go with their next release. Hotel Chelsea especially shine in their ability to write witty, quotable lyrics that can be as funny as they are inflammatory, something that should serve to differentiate them from the rest of the pop-punkers out there.

The Vinyl-

This is actually the only album on this list that was never pressed on vinyl. It’s a bummer, but understandable since they are a band just starting out. Vinyl ain’t cheap to press.

#13- Dan Vapid and the Cheats- Dan Vapid and the Cheats

The Music-

I didn’t see this album show up on one “Best Of” list this year. I’m completely floored by this, but at the same time I suppose it is to be expected. For whatever reason, Dan Vapid’s projects are always criminally underrated. From The Riverdales to The Methadones, the guy just never seems to get the credit he really deserves for writing insanely catchy power pop songs. Oh well, at least some of us know what’s up, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be getting the guy down considering that this album is absolutely packed with fun and punky sing-alongs. He even delves into a little doo-wop on “Girl Group,” with pretty outstanding results. Pick this thing up and find yourself belting out “Devo on Speed” while cruising down the freeway. You deserve to have this much fun.

The Vinyl-

I was really fortunate to be able to score one of the “splatter” editions of this album when the vinyl went up for preorder on The Cheats bandcamp page. It’s a rad color, and the vinyl production sounds pretty good too. Not out of this world good, but its enjoyable to listen to. It was $13 bucks with the digital download, making it well worth your money.

#12- Classics of Love- Classics of Love

The Music 

Imagine for a second what it would sound like if Operation Ivy had really loved Discharge and Black Flag while still digging that ska sound that made them legendary. Sounds like an outstanding combination, doesn’t it? Luckily, you don’t have to imagine it, because Jesse Michaels and the dudes from Hard Girls got together and wrote an album that seemed to have just that in mind. The results are an in-your-face, politically conscious, and rollicking record worthy of the legendary status of its front man. Jesse hasn’t sounded this good since Op Ivy, and although its nice to see such a rad album from a rad frontman, the record doesn’t really need that pedigree to stand on its own two feet. Now I just need to see them live…

The Vinyl-

The fantastic Asian Man records released this one, and true to form, I feel like I got a great deal on a great record. $11 on limited red vinyl (I tried to find the pressing numbers for the red, but couldn’t seem to locate them.) The record sounds pretty damn good. Good volume, good presentation. Support this band and support this label. They’re some of the good ones.

#11- Jack White- Blunderbuss

The Music-

Remember when I said that Japandroids was an album that SPIN and I could agree on? Well, I guess this is the one Rolling Stone and I agree on. I’m a big White Stripes fan, and so anything that Jack White has released has pretty much been gold to me. The Raconteurs had always served me pretty well for getting that whole “What would Jack sound like with more instrumentation available beyond the somewhat limiting format of White Stripes?” thing covered. That being said, this record is better than anything else he’s ever done. I feel like that question of what he could do with any musical resource at his disposal and the ability to follow whatever whim took his fancy has been fully realized with this album. It’s still Jack and that blues guitar sound, but he delves into a greater range of styles and with greater focused instrumentation than ever before. I absolutely love the piano parts on this album. There’s soul, gospel, and rhythm and blues for days on this record. Believe the hype and pick this thing up.

The Vinyl-

Third Man records, Jack White’s label released this thing. It’s got a big, thick gatefold jacket, heavy 180 gram vinyl, and absolutely fantastic vinyl mastering. It sounds so good. As with other Third Man releases, expect to pay at least $20 for this. Sometimes that quality is worth it though. Personally, I appreciate what I get from them for the added cost.