Will The Horrors' Primary Colours be picking up album of the year awards come December? We've still got half the year to go but it's definitely got a chance - "Do You Remember" is one of many outstanding tracks and perfectly showcases the drone and shoegaze influences that pervade it.
Faris and friends will face some serious competition from White Denim who have taken MC5's imprint and twisted it into something that is wholly their own, with some brilliantly experimental on new album Fits.
Forget best (though it's up there) Titus Andronicus' 2008 album The Airing of Grievances .is without doubt my favourite of the past year. Having seen them twice, their live show matches the quality and intensity of the literary punk-shoegaze on record. I urge everyone to pick up the record and catch a show next time they're in town.
The second time I saw Titus Andronicus (at the 100 Club) was also the second time this year I'd seen The Soft Pack. In that time the Californians have evolved from an over-hyped, kinda sloppy Strokes-alike to an incredibly tight, top quality garage rock band. Their latest single "Nightlife" proves it.
"We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" is the title track of one of my favourite albums of last year. Los Campesinos! released two very good long players in '08, but this latter one saw the band hone their skills into a really special album.
Black Lips were the first signing to Vice magazine's record label and as such, should by rights be making some sort of post-ironic, hugely pretentious, self-congratulating music. However, it isn't. It's great. "Bad Kids" is a doo wop rock classic that you won't get out of your head for days.
Richmond Fontaine are pretty much the best band in the world. With new single "You Can Move Back Here" out on Trash Aesthetics soon and live dates in September, it's as good a time as any to revisit "Barely Losing" from the alt-country classic Post to Wire.
The '59 Sound is another album I have absolutely worn out over the past year. There is simply not a duff track on there, and it is great that The Gaslight Anthem seem to be getting at least some of their dues with a string of successful singles and a sold out show at the Forum. It's an album where you have a different favourite song each week. For me it's "Miles Davis and the Cool" right now.
I couldn't resist throwing some Blur in there on the eve of Glastonbury, as their reunion is the highlight of the musical summer. It could have been anything but I've gone for "Badhead" off Parklife.
More to follow...
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