Best Albums of 2012

Twenty-twelve saw the musical pendulum continue its swing, this time through the wide and welcoming middle ground of Americana pop toward good old fashioned rock and roll. In the end, the amber waves of textured stories woven by folk-rock mainstays Band of Horses, The Avett Brothers, and Mumford and Sons amounted to more of the same, making room for scuzzy guitars and a beer or two at the top of what's new.

1.   Bob Mould Silver Age Mould growls through the title track "Never too old to contain my rage" and he's not kidding. Silver Age finds Mould pissed off and at the top of his game... and the top of my list, reminding everyone that even the best can learn a thing or two, and guys like Dave Grohl owe their careers to more than just Zeppelin.

2.   Japandroids Celebration Rock The name pretty much says it, but it's important to note that it's not "Party Rock," it's "Celebration Rock." There is something more purposeful and grown up about this. Still, I'll bring the ice, if you bring the local micro-brew.

3.   Men Open Your Heart These Men are a rock and roll machine built to last, crafting a well balanced album full of emotion and great big American rock music.

4.   King Tuff s/t The dirtiest, most contagious garage psych rock out there. This is what T. Rex sounds like playing Apples in Stereo covers on their day off. On acid. On fire.

5.   The Lumineers s/t The current high point in a stomp/clap landscape populated by The Head and the Heart, Ages and Ages, and Imagine Dragons. VH1 accessibility aside, The Lumineers have stories to tell and a sound beyond their years. 

6.   Titus Andronicus Local Business New Jersey's rockin'est LLC strips back a layer of focus cultivated on The Monitor to find renewed and reckless abandon in the basics: drums, guitars and yelling.

7.   Liars WIXIW When the world zigs you can count on Liars to zag. At first listen WIXIW proves the point, but the avante noise punks stop short of fully inhabiting the album's looking glass world of electronic whiz-blippery to create an ethereal companion to float above their earthy opus Drum's Not Dead.

8.   Divine Fits A Thing Called the Divine Fits Britt Daniel (Spoon) and Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) offer a promising start to their collaborative Fits. Impeccable grooves and inscrutable lyrics update the best of 80s pop with more soul (Daniel) and urgency (Boeckner). 

9.   Godspeed You! Black Emporer Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! So many exclamation marks, and all of them warranted. GY!BE are back and redefining epic. 

10. Lost Lander DRRT Portland's Matt Sheehy stole the rug out from under a lot of bigger acts for me this year. Edgy pop and practiced harmonies to hold on to.

11. Kelly Hogan I Like to Keep Myself in Pain Kelly calls on some very talented friends (M. Ward, Vic Chesnutt, Stephin Merritt, John Wesley Harding, Robyn Hitchcock...) to pen original songs just for her, a brilliant concept beautifully done. And that voice...
 

12. Of Monsters and Men My Head is an Animal Iceland's answer to Edward Sharpe and Arcade Fire makes good with the tuneful, quirky boy/girl pop. Plus, any song that can inspire my children to spend the afternoon quietly illustrating a book about talking trees and woodland creatures is a hands-down winner at my house. 

13. Justin Townes Earle Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now Apparently moving to NYC and getting on the weed maintenance program can turn a guy into Van Morrison. Whatever keeps you whole, brother. 

14. Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror The duo that rewrote loud on Treats now seems less bombastic than deliberate, but if it aint broke... 

15. Avett Brothers The Carpenter Everything that makes them great is there, but a little more carefully made. The good brothers with a conscience might have been more fun when they were shouting at each other about girls and playing at break-neck speed, but we all have to grow up don't we.