A HUGE batch of Helen Love singles (rips n' scans) were donated to MRML by the amazing Bristolboy from the world-rocking blog, My Life's A Jigsaw.
Helen Love (more HERE) and friends wish you the best for the New Year, as do we here at MRML!
1 The School – Kiss You In The Snow 2 Caitlin And Shauna Love (Helen Love) – Joey Ramone Snowman 3 Corazón – El Regalo 4 My Little Airport – 阿波馬草結婚了 (Por And Macho Got Married)
I have a thing for bands who refuse to quit in the face of indifference and another thing for tribute songs, which makes '77 era Scottish punk vets, The Zips latest single, "The Road to Strummerville", released as a benefit for the the Strummerville charity, a touching find. (via the Clash Blog)
As I said in the Albums of the Year post (see HERE), this list cannot claim much omniscience but rather it just offers my perspective on the kind of undervalued but ferociously alive releases that the big name lists tend to ignore.
Our second BotY list covers all those EP's and singles not applicable for that "Best Underappreciated Albums That Rocked 2012" (see HERE). As usual, this list is heavy on the punk and pop-punk heavy 'cuz punk bands have always had a thing for short, explosive releases.
(All artist name links go directly to a homepage - or some such place - for your further listening pleasure.)
1. Channel 3 - Land of the Free EP
A viscous comeback by Cerritos, California's CH3 (more HERE), who have kept at it for thirty years just for the love of loud n' fast rock and anthemic song-wring!
2. Max Levine Ensemble - Elephant in the Room EP
Washington D.C.'S Max Levine Ensemble (more HERE), a quirky loud-guitar band beloved in the pop-punk community, put out what might be their best single this year.
3. Japandroids - House that Heaven Built 7" Celebration Rock by Vancouver's Japandroids was huge on indie-rock-based lists, which is fitting because with songs like 'The House that Heaven Built', a loud, fuzzy anthem, they deserved some damn accolades.
4. Kurt Baker - Want You Around EP
Portland power-pop-punk Kurt Baker (more HERE) keeps racking up the hits (his album Brand New Beat would've been on my Albums of the Year list if I'd had more room).
5. Will Hoge - Modern American Protest Songs EP
A rough country-rock attack on American indifference by Nashville misfit, Will Hoge (more HERE).
6. The Street Dogs - G.O.P. 7"
A sing-along street-punk attack on the Grand Old Party (courtesy of British Oi! band, Menace) by The Street Dogs (more HERE), a Boston-based off-shoot of the Dropkick Murphys.
7. Dead Ending - Self-Titled EP
Some might call Dead Ending (more HERE), featuring Rise Against bassist Joe Principe, Alkaline Trio drummer Derek Grant,
The Bomb and Noise By Numbers guitarist Jeff Dean and Articles of Faith
singer Vic Bondi,
a Chicago punk super group but judging from
this furious E.P, they're really more of a celebration of the joy of rage.
8. Capitalist Kids - Sarah/Ayn 7"
T'was a big year for political singles and Austin, Texas's Capitalist Kids (more HERE) knew they had to go big and consequently went after two movement conservative babes, Sarah Palin and Ayn Rand who's influence in right wing circles subsequently declined - COINCIDENCE?
9. Big Eyes - Back From the Moon 7"
On this single, Seattle punk/pop band Big Eyes (more HERE) puts
the hooks and the crunch together just so, in a decidedly Fastbacks-ian manner
10. Teenage Bottlerocket - Joy Division 7"
Wyoming pop-punkers Teenage Bottlerocket (more HERE) branch out by effectively covering two less-known tracks by Manchester's favourite doom merchants, Joy Division.
11. The Dahlmanns - Dumb Me Down 7"
Norway's Lords of Punk-Powereed-Pop, The Dahlmanns (more HERE) just go from strength to strength!
12. House Boat - 21st Century Breakroom 10"
This concept 10" jumps from brilliant idea to brilliant idea to dizzying effect - far and away their best release (more HERE)
13. The Swingin' Utters - The Librarians are Hiding Something
Punk rock + librarians = Utter perfection (more on San Francisco's Swingin' Utters HERE)
14. TV Smith - Dangerous Playground EP
Just when this four-song'er, recorded to accompany a German play, threatens to be a minor entry in Englishman TV Smith's (more HERE) catalog along comes the anthemic "The Rock n' Roll" to blow you away.
15. The Mockers: Man of la Mancha EP
Long-running Virginia band The Mockers (more HERE) are a straight-up power-pop with a weakness for show tunes and political satire.
While I'm sure I missed some great little releases, that covers almost everything - EXCEPT YOUR VOICE!
Did you hear anything you liked on this list? What wold make your list of best singles/E.P's of 2012? LET US KNOWIN THE COMMENTS SECTION!!
I can't kvetch much about 2012; pop radio's song-writing improved a bit, some indie-rock got spikier, pop-punk kept its 21st century momentum, dub-step gave us all a genre to crack-wise about and, Hell, I even found a hip-hop album to love. As usual, I make no bones about the narrowness of this old geezer's listening regime, and hence this list reflects my taste for hard-hitting albums that didn't dominate the big name 'Best of the Year' lists.
(All artist name links go directly to a homepage - or some such place - for your listening pleasure.)
1. Masked Intruder: Self-Titled
Wisconsin's Masked Intruder (more HERE) breathe fresh life into pop-punk not only by writing killer songs but also by taking it's favoured lyrical stance to its most extreme conclusion:
2. Jake Bugg: Self-Titled
Bob
Dylan-Lonnie Donnegan-Donovan-Oasis-Tallest Man on Earth. Fill in the
dashes and you've got every review ever written about this young
song-writer from Nottingham, the year's winner of my annual "Dylan-Was-a-Punk' Award.
3. OFF! - Self-Titled L.A.H.C. - fuck, yeah!
4. Undecided by Default: Totally Undecided
Australian indie-surf-punk-garage-pop group were heralded by The Un-herd Music (and not many others), despite stand-out songs like, "Way Too Cool": Undecided by Default - "Way Too Cool"
5. Graham Parker and the Rumour: Three Chords Good Three Chords Good is a cool, confident comeback from England's Graham Parker and The Rumour (more HERE), who've been estranged for thirty years.
6. Duncan Reid: Little Big Head
Duncan "Kid" Reid from London's seventies pop-punks, The Boys, put out a solo album that expertly re-assembles all the pop, glam and punk elements that made his band so original.
7. Chuck Prophet: Temple Beautiful
San Francisco singer-songwriter-rocker, Chuck Prophet (more HERE), formerly of eighties alt-rockers Green on Red, has been quietly releasing albums full of incredibly well-written songs for years to way-too-little acclaim.
8. The Coup: Sorry to Bother You
Incendiary, rapier-witted but still catchy, Sorry to Bother You by Oakland's The Coup (more HERE) proves that this group's in it for the long haul.
9. Teenage Bottlerocket: Freak Out
Despite being devout members of the Church of the Ramones, Wyoming's Teenage Bottlerocket (more HERE) are always up for a few heretical ideas - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse - which keeps their albums inspirational.
10. Gentleman Jesse: Leaving Atalanta
Former Atlantan Gentleman Jesse (more HERE) delivers his finest set of driving rock n' roll songs.
11. Futureheads: Rant
Scottish art-punks The Futureheads (more HERE) go A Capella to stunning effect.
12. Terry Malts: Self-Titled
As I said about this California band recently (see HERE), "maybe the ever-fickle British press will get Terry Malts synthesis of
various strains of independent guitar rock of the last thirty years
(c86, indie-pop, new wave, pop-punk et al) and anoint them the next
Kaiser Chiefs."
13. Dan Vapid and The Cheats: Self-Titled
After an ignoble end to their long partnership, Ben Weasel kept the Screeching Weasel moniker for his shitty Carnival of Schadenfreude EP, while Chicagoan Dan Vapid (more HERE) got down to putting out this sing-long, pop-punk barn-burner. Dan Vapid - Torture Chamber
14. John K. Sampson: Provincial Winnipeg's John K. Sampson(more HERE), also of The Weakerthans (more HERE), returned to working solo on this record, which was full of his usual mix of wistful longing, local history and electric-folk.
15. The Dahlmanns: All Dahled Up For our 'Anachronism of the Year', the one album from last year that whipped past our porous defenses, it's the a-fuckin'-mazing debut by Norway's Lords of Punk-Powereed-Pop, The Dahlmann's (more HERE) - one of my most listened to albums of the year.
While I'm sure I missed some great albums, that covers almost everything...
Did you hear anything you dug on this list? Did we miss
something that might've fit? Let us know in the COMMENTS section!
Not only do I enjoy and appreciate the works of Blink 182 but I also think that their smash albums were miles better then then early work. Sometimes the radio gets it right. While I'm not particularly engaged with their current comeback attempt, this folk-song-with-a-beat, "Boxing Day", at least proves the band is trying to do more than re-capture old glories.
Truth be known, I still prefer their earlier attempt at a seasonal standard, the crude-but-catchy, "I Won't be Home for Christmas":
MRML is a blog about the devestating effects of culture: music, politics, comics plus etc. blah blah blah. At times MRML will post fine, unpurchasable three-chord obscurica (punk, pop-punk, new wave, mod, power-pop, gospel, reggae, hardcore, rockabilly, folk, country...whatever.) - - - - - - "The otherwise unavailable files in this blog are posted for a limited time and are intended for educational, non-commercial use. These files were transcribed from what are believed to be out-of-print sources. If you are aware of any of these items being readily available from commercial sources, or if any of these files infringe upon rights that you hold, please notify us so that we can quickly remove the referenced items immediately." - - - SUPPORT THE ARTISTS - BUY MUSIC!
If you have any questions or music to donate you can contact me at musicruinedmylife (at) gmail (dot) com
Re: Re-Ups
MRML does not plan to restore all of the content lost in The Great Mediafire Gutting of 2012. Polite requests may be made in the appropriate section, regular commenters will get priority.
