Best albums of 2011: The top 20
A good rule of thumb for making a year-end list: Ask yourself will you still play this album in a year or two? That thinking has me rating Thee Oh Sees much higher than Tune-Yards on this year’s best albums list. Even though WHOKILL is a really interesting album, Thee Oh Sees are just a whole lot more fun.
Click here for the rest of the list, Nos. 21-40. Here’s my top 20 of 2011:
20. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread: A much more refined offering than last year’s scorcher Melted.
You Make The Sun Fry – Ty Segall
19. Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams: It’s maybe better than the band’s first album — great old-school, girl group rock.
18. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake: Framing war through images of World War I’s toll on England, this is one of the greatest albums she’s made in years.
PJ Harvey – The Words That Maketh Murder by Vagrant Records
17. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong: These guys bring the rock for their second album. No, really.
Belong – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
16. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life: Forget that it’s a concept album — or a punk rock opera. It’s just as hard as the older stuff.
15. Yuck – Yuck: A cool throwback sound to the early ’90s and even a little ’80s-era Dino Jr. guitar.
14. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy: More crescendo-heavy, genre-defying pop from Annie Clark.
13. War on Drugs – Slave Ambient: If you like the brilliant singer/songwriter Kurt Vile, you’ll definitely like his former band, War on Drugs.
Come To The City – War on Drugs
12. Thee Oh Sees – Carrion Crawler / The Dream: Led by indie vet John Dwyer, this band just keeps cranking out infectious garage rock.
Carrion Crawler – Thee Oh Sees
11. Woods – Sun and Shade: A breezy, laid-back sound with a little kraut rock mixed in.
10. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde: Sickeningly sweet, ’70s sugar pop. I love it.
9. Cass McCombs – Humor Risk: Considered uptempo compared with this year’s other release, Wit’s End. I like this album better.
8. White Fence - Is Growing Faith: A side project of the Strange Boys’ Tim Presley, this collection of psychedelic nuggets is the most interesting truly lo-fi offering this year.
7. Tristen - Charlatans at the Garden Gate: Tristen made my favorite alt-country album in 2011.
6. Iceage – New Brigade: Twelve songs in 24 minutes. These youngsters from Copenhagen didn’t reinvent punk but they revive it.
5. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo: If you don’t know Kurt Vile’s music, hang your head in shame. Then go check him out.
4. Panda Bear – Tomboy: Noah Lennox didn’t try to simply remake the remarkable album Person Pitch. Good call.
Last Night At The Jetty – Panda Bear
3. Wild Flag – Wild Flag: If you like Sleater-Kinney and guitarist Mary Timony, this indie super group is for you. It actually exceeded my expectations — just a great rock album.
2. Wilco - The Whole Love: Wilco made one of its best albums in years — an excellent collection of songs that highlight Jeff Tweedy’s love of pop and noise.
1. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost: Sonically more far-reaching than Girls’ excellent debut Album, this release has a little bit of everything from Beach Boys melodies to Deep Purple guitar to great ballads. It’s just awesome from beginning to end.
December 15, 2011 at 2:56 pm
[...] Punks A music blog « Wilco kicks off Chicago run with epic show at Civic Opera House Best albums of 2011: The top 20 [...]
December 15, 2011 at 2:58 pm
[...] Wilco’s The Whole Love isn’t as cohesive as the band’s two best albums, Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Indeed, it doesn’t rank among the very best Wilco albums, but it is the strongest release the band has put out in years. Rather than a thematic offering, The Whole Love seems like more of a collection of songs spanning the band’s various styles over the years. There’s nothing wrong with that. I like the album so much that it will rank second on my list of top albums this year behind Girls’ Father, Son, Holy Ghost. (Look for the list this week.) [...]
December 20, 2011 at 4:05 pm
[...] All the Young Punks A music blog « Best albums of 2011: The top 20 [...]
January 29, 2012 at 12:53 pm
[...] albums last year, the somber Wit’s End and the more uptempo Humor Risk. I named both top albums in [...]