Slimedog’s Top 15 Local Album/EP’S/Demo’s Of 2016
This has been, by far, my favorite year for reviewing music for two reasons. 1) Lots of honest-to-God punk bands to review and 2) the emergence of young grindcore/power violence/ d-beat bands blending hardcore with metal and punk brevity.
This year I did 48 music reviews and no way could I whittle it down to a top ten. And remember, I highly recommend everything I reviewed. We only review bands we love so the bands picked here are merely the ones I would marry and reproduce with.
The Top Five are first, after the number one pick they go chronologically from last January, as it does with the remaining ten.
I said about this album, “This is punk as it was, as it should be and as it is now.” That’s a Connecticut band The Lost Riots and their album “The Stories Are True.” This was my favorite album of 2016 maybe because it encapsulated all the original feeling of punk in 1977. “Punk is, above all things, about being honest and real and true. And this album and this band fits that description.” Song of the year: “Dead Boys”.
Whoopi Sticks “We Are Spunk” is led by my punk daughter, Lindsey WarNot, but what exists as a good live punk band- surprisingly, to me, turned into a great one in the studio. “Because what I hear is so full of energy and passion and creativity that I know it expresses the best of what I’ve tried and hoped to be…all I dreamed and believed in is in this EP and this music scene I write about.” Think of Johnny Rotten making an album with Poly Styrene. Think of an EP that is intense, angry and riot grrl raw.
Lucky United “Self-Titled” is Jenn Lombari’s band. Jenn is probably my favorite songwriter and this is, definitely, the best band she’s had. They describe themselves as “heart on sleeve pop/punk rock’n’roll.” I said, “When you lay your heart on the line, when your art is as pure and as true…when the pain and struggle of everyday life is turned into a cathartic, celebratory expression…Well, you can count me in.” A perfect album.
D-Sagawa “I Want To Die Suffering,” is a young band with a seventeen year old female singer along with a band who looks about the same age. I only saw this band play once this year but it was the best set I saw all year. They play d-beat, a style more metal than hardcore but super intense. “This is some awesome, brutal stuff. This is raw. This is true. This is like a corkscrew being driven into your brain that leaves you reeling but smiling.”
Rounding out the top five are The Martians, a new pop/punk band with so much grit and passion and great songwriting that they became, easily, one of my favorite bands. (And make note that two of the top five bands are new ones.) They had three releases that were all great but the only one available now is their last, a full album, “First Encounter.” “This is punk rock with the band members vomiting in the alley before the show or after. This is punk when the next dollar’s uncertain but the next party is guaranteed. This is punk rock where your life is swirling down the toilet but your band is the best and you’re having the most fun you’ve ever seen.” And they headlined our Xmas show!
The Pity Whores/Fast Times “The Split” two great, hardcore pop/punk bands for the price of one. “Where honest and passionate feelings are at, where fun and fury and intelligent wit is at. Where what is strong and beautiful, raw and wild resides.” No better pairings since peanut butter and jelly or beer and whiskey or punk rock and fun.
DestrOi is one of my favorite new bands. “Young punks who want to bulldoze your eardrums with a heavy arsenal of abrasive, uncompromising sounds…Oi for the 21st century.” They blew off our Xmas party but I still can’t wait to see them again. And if you see them live, I predict, you’ll be blown away, too.
Rictus Grin had two releases reviewed, “Over Produced Pogo Nonsense” was the first and “Beers For Queers” was the second. If Ganggreen were gay they would’ve been proud to make albums like these. “You won’t find music that is more fun than this or find music that has more of the true spirit of punk.”
“Disgust” by Neighborhood Shit. This band, for several years, has been one of my favorite local bands. “Very potent metal/hardcore/punk that moves musically in a direction you might want to follow.” This was the first band I heard leading me towards the grindcore/power violence sound that I now, love so much.
Crystal Methodist “Drear” is a great example of hardcore bands that move towards the metal/grindcore sound. This band represents other great, young bands who just missed being in this review like Horrible Earth and Exile. And for the record, this album came in at number six, just missing the top five.
The Grubs “I.V.” is the second release I’ve reviewed of this band, and like Rictus Grin, I’ve yet to see live. (I’m sure both are great live). They are a pure punk band that is “cannonballs full of spirit and grit, rocketships exploding with joy and madness, microbursts of energy and passion that espouse fun and realness.”
Mongorellis are a new pop/punk/garage band that produced “People Zoo” that harks back to the days when bands made a record as a total experience. As with the Whoopi Sticks I hear a lot of thought and time put into the production and one of the best albums I reviewed this year.
Goolagoon with “Life Of Crime” is my pick for best local power violence band (short, abrasive songs- hardcore to the extreme) and like D-Sagawa, have a female vocalist. “They play it fast and quick, true and strong, real and with substance…These young bands are the present and future of music.” And the future looks bright to my eyes.
The Guilloteenagers “Cheeseballs To The Wall” are one of the most fun live bands I know. “Music that still hits you like a jackhammer upon a city street but makes you laugh, too…Forget about if it’s punk or rock’n’roll, if you want music and energy, excitement and fun- well, look no further.” I won’t.
The Jack Bennies “Choppin’ Down The Weeds” from Brooklyn, New York may be the most partying, fun band I know. “The Jack Bennies remind me that music can shoot a lightening bolt of energy into your bones that makes the drab bleakness of life glimmer like gold for a few moments- remember that those moments are what you live for.”
And that last line, pretty much sums up why and what I do.
(Slimedog)
