Honourable Mentions 2013

As well as artists I already had plunged head first into the murks of fandom for there were several albums last year that I didn’t stay up all night in queasy anticipation for but when I came across them definitely enriched my life. Some are artists I knew of before, others are ones I’ve only discovered quite recently. All of them firmly deserve a place in 2013’s Honourable Mentions.

The Amity Affliction-Chasing Ghosts

I had come to the conclusion that I was only really into metalcore when I was younger. You know, that stuff with the brutally screamed vocals that blended into soaring anthemic choruses you could actually sing along with. Atreyu basically (but weren’t Atreyu brilliant?). I thought I’d probably grown out of it and the stuff I still listen to I did out of a combination of time-and-place nostalgia and having gotten used to it. Then I heard The Amity Affliction. They are very like Atreyu (only Australian) and I loved them immediately. The album follows the tried and tested formula of two styles of vocals mixing together over heavy guitars. In all fairness not big on originality, but I can’t say I minded. I’m quite pleased this kind of stuff is back in my life.

Stand out tracks: Chasing Ghosts, Life Underground, Open Letter

Deaf Havana-Fools and Worthless Liars

 

Hot on the heels of rediscovering my love of screamo I got into these guy’s first album, Meet Me Halfway at Least. I knew they’d gone down from two vocalists to one for their second effort and therefore had lost their scream, but I thought I’d give it a go. Turns out I actually preferred it. This album struck a chord with me as a lot of the songs are about being in your mid-twenties and wondering where it all went wrong (oh hai internal monologue). At times it drifts towards pretension and you sometimes get the feeling they’re trying to reach into the realms of jaded men of the world. Their age means it doesn’t always ring true but lyrically there was more than enough here to satisfy me.

Stand out tracks: The Past Six Years, Mostly I’m a Bore

Editors-The Weight of Your Love

 

I went through a phase in my first year of uni of being very much into the Editors. Then, as is oft the way, I got new music and started listening to them less and less. I didn’t feel bereft, but when I heard this I came to the conclusion immediately this was an oversight. It’s easy to believe that I would love this album no matter what with its low vocals, guitars and lovelorn lyrics but when it’s done this well it doesn’t really matter. Not bad for a CD I bought as the second half of a two for £15 offer with Bastille’s Bad Blood (which is nowhere near as good by the way).

Stand out tracks: Sugar, What is This Thing Called Love?, Formaldehyde.

The Gaslight Anthem-Handwritten and The ’59 Sound

 

Yeah, I know, two albums from the same band, but hear me out. My brother recommended them to me (he’s usually only good for dance music) and although I’d never really been into stuff like this I was hooked almost immediately. Having brought their most recent album (Handwritten) I then almost immediately bought the one before (The ’59 Sound) and neither left me disappointed. At first listen they could just be another guitar brandishing, macho, Springsteen tribute act, but lyrically they’re fantastic storytellers. They evoke a wonderful, downbeat Americana that’s almost folky and have everything from love songs to lamenting a lost youth to seeking out an absent father. OK, so they are very Springsteen. They also have a song that’s mentions my name and takes its title from one of my favourite films; Here’s Looking At You Kid and the line ‘you can tell Ana if she asks why that a thief stole my heart while she was making up her mind.’ Boom.

 

Stand out tracks; Handwritten-Handwritten, Biloxi Parish, Mae. The ’59 Sound-Great Expectations, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Here’s Looking at You Kid.       

Kittie-I’ve Failed You

 

Continuing the themes this year of metal and bands I forgot about then made myself very happy by re-discovering I give you Kittie’s latest album. It had been literally years since I’d heard anything by them and although it’s still definitely the same band they seem to have grown lot more confidant in their style. They’re prepared to mellow out a bit, have songs that are a bit longer and throw some more proggy, experimental elements in there. At its core however it’s still brutal guitars and their fabulous vocalist alternating between her distinctive pleading and gravelly scream. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Stand out Tracks: I’ve Failed You, What Have I Done?, Never Come Home.

 

The Highly Anticipated Albums of 2013

2013 was a pretty good year for me and music. Five (yes, five!) of my favourite bands either released new albums or, because I’m not very good at keeping up with music news and I often miss these things, I finally got round to getting an album they released at the end of 2012.

Either way I was pretty stoked. So, rather than do one Best Albums of 2013 list I thought I’d do two. One for the ones I was probably going to love due to blind devotion to the artist and another one of surprising pleasures.

Anyway without further ado I give you the albums I waited for, I counted down for and got excited about for months in advance.

The Birthday Massacre-Hide and Seek

 

I'm not gonna lie, the Birthday Massacre are probably my favourite band at the moment. They don’t have a weak album in my view (although the two before this one, Walking With Strangers and Pins and Needles were very similar sounding. But in my view you can never have too much of a good thing). This one is a bit simpler than the other recent ones. The songs are shorter and less grandiose but the trade off is they often have a bewitching calm about them. They also use a wider range of vocal techniques similar to their first album Violet which also helps mark it as different. The choruses are still rousing and anthemic though so it's good if you need a bit of get-up-and-go. One of the things I love about this band is that every song is so undeniably them. They have such a distinctive sound and even though they've gone for something a bit different this time round it's still so Birthday Massacre, and I adore it.

Stand out tracks: Leaving Tonight, Calling, In This Moment

HIM-Tears on Tape

 

 

Like the Birthday Massacre this is a band I’ve loved for a very long time, which is why their last album (2010’s Screamworks) being so disappointing was a hard thing for me to accept. I thought they might have lost their spark, but then they brought this out. It's brilliant. It’s dark and moody and much heavier than Screamworks. It reminds me of Love Metal, which is one of my favourite albums of all time, and I generally got the feeling of a band that tried branching out then went back to what they know. I was also lucky enough to see them play live in October and they were easily the best I’ve ever seen them. I’m now hoping that this is a return to form and they’ve got a few more albums like this left in them. Challenge accepted, lads?

Stand out tracks: All Lips Go Blue, I Will Be the End of You, Into The Night.

The National-Trouble Will Find Me

 

Seriously though, just how fucking good are The National? I am in awe of them. Every note and every word on this album works perfectly. It’s not really music you can have on in the background though. It’s so pervasive and evocative you have to stop and listen to it. I can picture the story in every song so easily and I sometimes still get goosebumps when I listen to it (I've had it since May). I think this band is a good example of being more than the sum of their parts. Every bit is good but when put together it creates something magnificent. I can’t exactly put my finger on how they get the reactions out of me they do, but I hope they never stop.

Stand out tracks; I Should Live in Salt, Fireproof, Sea of Love, Pink Rabbits, Hard to Find.

White Lies-Big TV

In honesty of all the albums on this list this is the one that disappointed me. I adore White Lies’ first two albums so was pretty psyched for this one, and it starts really well. The first two tracks are stonking, then it just started…drifting. It’s not an awful album by any means I just wanted it to be a bit bigger, a bit more self indulgent and bit more experimental. I wanted to love every song the way I did with Ritual (well, except Turn The Bells. I’m still not sure what’s going on there) so it’s probably my own fault for building it up too much. Sigh.

Stand out tracks: Big TV, There Goes Our Love Again, Tricky To Love.

AFI-Burials

 

AFI have gotten a lot of flack for how their sound has changed over the years. I’ve been a pretty avid fan of theirs for the last decade and I can understand where those criticisms have come from. The band that made Sing The Sorrow doesn’t sound much like the band that made this album. But I stand by them. Every record they’ve made has its own merits and Burials is no exception. It’s a very dramatic album and I like how they’ve put things together and where they’ve tried something new, even if I’m not always convinced by the results. And, as always, they appeased my angsty, melodramatic side perfectly so I still love them unconditionally.

Stand out tracks: I Hope You Suffer, A Deep Slow Panic, The Conductor.