2013: Year End Review by Cole Faulkner

9. Red City Radio – Titles – Paper  + Plastick Records

Sometimes all you need is a healthy dose of something you know you’re going to love.  Red City Radio has since become that title for me, even though I had barely started exploring the band’s past work.  It’s the type of music I couldn’t get enough of when Against Me!, Rise Against, and any number of other gravelly early 00’s punk rock acts first caught my ear, so it’s great to hear that same passion ten years later from the next generation.  

8. The Wild – Dreams Are Maps – Asian Man Records

Dreams Are Maps actually followed a few higher profile albums on one of my reviewing playlists and consistently overshadowed the discs I scheduled to review at that time.  The Wild is as if Andrew Jackson Jihad grew up, combed its hair and entered the workforce.  You’d still have every bit as much wit and sarcasm, but there would be a little more purpose than peeling one’s self while passed out on a booze stained couch and stumbling towards the toilet.  All being said, I love Andrew Jackson Jihad (and a very sober sounding Sean Bedford actually appears on “New Bedford (A Better Life)”) and The Wild for different reasons, but Dreams Are Maps truly is a class act.

7. A Wilhelm Scream – Party Crasher – No Idea Records 

Very few bands could retain a crown for five years between releases and still have fans and critics alike praise them unconditionally, but that’s just what Party Crasher lets A Wilhelm Scream do.  When it comes to technical punk, the quintet’s wizardry knows no bounds and the compositions on Party Crasher blows me away any time one of these songs appear on my playlists.  Even with five years of healthy competition since 2007’s Career Suicide, A Wilhelm Scream remain atop the pack. 

6. Reverse The Curse – Existent – Paper + Plastick Records

My undying love for Brand New might have overshadowed parts of my initial review, but Reserve The Curse is a very original force to be reckoned with.  Simply put, Existent is one of those albums that you can listen to while falling asleep in a quiet room and find new layers of vocals and instruments permeating every musical cranny; best experienced on your own, so go plug in your headphones and get listening!

5. Direct Hit! – Brainless God – Red Scare Industries

After a debut full length born from a spastic mind resembling that of an ADHD teenager comes the surprisingly deep and ambitious concept album, Brainless God.  And who would have guessed, they nailed it!  Superficially catchy, the disc tackles all sorts of theological questions and deathly fear of the unknown and does so in a way that relates to the many moral situations we find ourselves in daily.  It’s a real case of brain and brawn.

4. Billy Bragg – Tooth & Nail – Cooking Vinyl

Old man Bragg has long since assumed living legend status in the British music scene.  Tooth & Nail makes it very obvious why.  After a career of activism, each of these ten tracks offers a humble and honest connection of modest thoughts and grand aspirations.  From the admission of his own limited skill set (“Handyman Blues”) to lofty ideological aspirations (“There Will Be A Reckoning”), it’s all too easy to get lost in this man’s engrossing thoughts.

3. Streetlight Manifesto – The Hands That Thieve – Victory Records

Even with all the drama around this release, Streetlight Manifesto prove that they really are as big of a deal as the press would have you believe.  It all comes down to musicianship, and that’s where The Hands That Thieve shines like a beacon in the eye of a storm.  There’s nothing quite like a Streetlight album, and to this day they’re probably one of the only remaining ska bands that continues to move the mostly stagnant genre forward.

2. Old Man Markley – Down Side Up – Fat Wreck Chords 

I’ll admit, I really wasn’t a fan of Old Man Markley for their first release, Guts n Teeth, but Down Side Up completely changed that.  With a catchy, fast-fingered tempo, I ‘d have a hard time thinking of a better song to open any album than “Blood On My Hands.”  The album truly embodies what folk music on Fat Wreck Chords should be, finding that perfect balance between trendy folk tunes and faithful punk spirit.

1. Captain, We’re Sinking – The Future Is Cancelled – Run For Cover Records

Probably my single biggest surprise was just how much I got out of this album.  The raw emotion, the vulnerability, the ability to share and connect with an audience was unrivaled this year.  Combined with some of the most empathetic character driven narratives, The Future Is Cancelled is the total package for anyone looking for something outside of the status quo.