I intended to finish this run of "best of 2014" lists by posting my top 10 songs but I found it impossible to narrow it down to 10. So I decided on a top 20. I failed. So here's my favourite 30 songs of 2014. Only 1 entry allowed per band and still I had to leave out loads of great stuff (even an awesome new Lillingtons track missed out and I love The Lillingtons). No honourable mentions as if a song from 2014 was featured in the blog, take it as read that I'm a fan and it's unlucky to have missed out. The top 3 deserve to be in the top 3, they were the easy picks, the rest are numbered 4-30 but the positions can easily change at any given time. Anyway, enough chat, here's the important stuff.....
Today it's the turn of Josh Rutledge to select his 10 favourite songs of 2014, this follows up his selection of his favourite albums of the year which he posted on his Faster And Louder blog yesterday. If you've not checked it out yet, make sure you do, it's the best blog out there : http://fasterandlouderblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/my-top-ten-albums-of-2014.html
Here's Josh's selection, you'll struggle to find a catchier top 10 anywhere :
Chris Parker is guitarist and songwriter with Chain Letters (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUME32g7_HA). He's made a few contributions to this blog over the course of the year and now he's kindly compiled a list of his 10 favourite songs of 2014 (not all of them were released this year but it's when he first heard them). He says they're in no particular order but he did choose a number 1 so that'll be the video you see at the bottom of the page.....
Today's top 10 of 2014 list comes from Shawn Abnoxious. Shawn, who plays
bass with Ohio's The Socials (https://www.facebook.com/TheSocialsBand) also authors the long running Blog, Thwart (http://shawnabnoxious.blogspot.co.uk/). As he says of his top 10, "...not all these releases are done in 2014 but it was stuff I got into. This top 10 is the releases I listened to in 2014." He also plans to post numbers 11-20 on his blog so keep an eye on Thwart. Thanks Shawn.....
One creature I return to, one habit I neglect I cannot slow the pace at which I yearn Frank and unabashed I become a frozen servant Smiling asking nothing in return Fang-tooth woman foaming at the mouth as she addressed me Not with moving lips, but with the rabid wild arresting Words not yet intended to identify emotion Scrawling bold and oblique in my head I've hung out at your service jobs I've watched you, waited and be ignored Bled into the clatter, as they sipped at what you poured I cling to your perimeter as you float in their margins Oblivious to being stung, there satellite becomes my son I've flown into that trap before When things have gotten dark In the depths of strangers glances lies the most ferocious spark
Most freedom is deceiving If such a thing exists When I was young I knew but didn't care Faces change and shape to represent the same old beast I want to flee but I can only stare It's the sound a captive heart makes as it sizzles into vapor The title hum of fondness like a spike-wave oscillator The rabid UV grin that beckons me into approaching Grasping as it recedes into space Who greets me first when I arise Who breaking into my half shut eyes It's in the blaze of your embrace where I feel more real and alive The bosom of 1000 watts into my skin into my guts Running circles so proud until he got caught In his brief emancipation he can feel what I cannot
There's a patch of light that hits the floor I'll often occupy Stretch my arms and legs and close my eyes I now can hear my pulse alone, this manic pace I cannot slow I do not miss the child you stole Frying and abiding, I'm in your control Like a sunbathing animal A sunbathing animal A sunbathing animal A sunbathing animal A sunbathing animal A sunbathing animal A sunbathing animal A sun
For the next week or so I'll be posting some top 10 lists of regular blog readers' favourite songs of 2014. Not all of the songs on the lists were released in 2014 but the people selecting them only heard those songs in this year. Thanks to all involved.
First up, and going that extra yard by adding a commentary, is Kevin Patrick McGovern. Kevin is the vocalist with The Prostitutes (he's currently looking for Long Beach musicians to collaborate with on new material), he's also a writer at Long Beach Independent and editor in chief at Fear & Loathing In Long Beach. Here's his list (in his own words)....
"This past year has been pretty random for music as far I am concerned. That’s not a complaint either, with a back catalogue of every song ever recorded available for free on YouTube, release dates don’t hold the same importance they used to. In fact, I would describe the whole year as “random”. The way I rate individual songs depends on the situations that were going on in my life when I first heard them. I always think an emotional connection to your playlist is crucial, especially in maintaining or throwing away your sanity. The following tunes stayed with me through a year in which I moved four times and travelled through five different states."
1) Neighborhood Brats - 50 Shades of Fuck You
Jenny and the Brats tear it up on their official debut full length. This track in particular exemplifies how sexy anti-social behaviour really is and I’m serious on that one. A pounding beat, chainsaw guitar, and an icy cool vocal smash their way into your face. The world always needs angry anthems to keep things in balance.
(see below)
2) Midnite Snaxxx – Don’t Wake Me Up
Punk as fuck! Nihilistic, monotoned, and slick, this tune has a great early Bags feel mixed with Dee Dee Ramone sensibility. I love stuff like this and it reminds me why I feel in love with obscure punk rock singles to begin with. The real deal and yet another female fronted unit in my list. https://soundcloud.com/totalpunkrecords/midnite-snaxxx-dont-wake-me-up
3) Chain Letters – Bad Reflection
This fine slice of sugarcoated gutter glam just came out of nowhere. I heard Sophia Dilley of Young People with Faces had a new single out and was pretty blown away by her great voice and the crispy chord crunching of guitar player Chris Parker. This one was on repeat for at least a month. If Paul Collins had the chance to pen songs for the Avengers, it might sound something like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUME32g7_HA
4) Bad Cop/Bad Cop – Asshole
These bad girls from in and around Long Beach have solid and snotty harmonies with a sleek bite of early No Doubt in the vocal department. Musically they’re a throwback to 90's Epitaph fast punk if you know what I mean. It shouldn’t work but it definitely does and the bratty vocals make this band pretty irresistible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tuDIWe1MzI
5) Tunabunny – Coming for You
Strange band with a strange album called Kingdom Technology. I like it. This song is perfect pop rock candy. The rest of the album doesn’t sound like this track. What makes this song so great is that it sounds exactly like Red Five, an amazing nineties band that somehow flew underneath everyone’s radar way back when. Beyond catchy with sinister-sweet song structure. Intense pining and nonchalant brevity. Perfection.
6) Honeychain- Lucky One
A band that Kim Shattuck of the Muffs turned me on to, Hillary Burton summons the ghost of the Ronettes and fuses it with the high energy and rawness of the Runaways. I saw Hillary and her top-notch band play live and they kicked serious ass. The Futura EP that features this shamelessly catchy composition is just as awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnWkFpRZV_Y
7) Miscalculations – Dead Vocabulary
From the United Kingdom comes this angular and moody injection of post-modern post-punk. Indecision and frustration combined with whirling Joy Division inspired leads; create a nice little number with deranged disco vocals that bleed perfectly into the cacophonous mess. Check it out. http://miscalculations.bandcamp.com/track/dead-vocabulary-2
8) Cars Can Be Blue – You Should be Begging
From Athens, Georgia this band tears it apart from start to finish. Loud and distorted with intellect, this deadly mixture of the Angry Samoans and Negative Approach is a hit. Check out the entire album, which bounces between aggro-core and clever country punk. Worth your while…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwmQmXMYtgM
9) Radiohearts – Nothing at All
A perfect punk/pop tune courtesy of Long Beach, CA…while reminiscent of early Clash, the band adds enough modern stylings to keep this track short, sleek, and tight. Catchy to say the least and a nice entry into the Power-Pop genre that isn’t totally derivative of the Bomp! Records catalogue. Good job… http://radiohearts.bandcamp.com/track/nothing-at-all
10) The Dwarves – Get Up And Get High
2014 was definitely the year of the Dwarves. Blag and company came back to set the record straight. If you find yourself starting to get too “emo” in your bad relationship habits, just blast “Get Up And Get High” and learn about what you’re really supposed to be doing when you wake up in the morning from a hopefully memorable one night stand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZLe7G7Yhxg
Happy Christmas everyone, I just want to quickly say thanks to everyone who's visited this blog over the last 12 months, hopefully you've enjoyed the music and maybe found some great songs you'd previously been unaware of. Thanks to all the bands and labels who haven't complained when I've uploaded their songs to youtube in order to include them herein. Also thanks to the groups and sites that haven't complained when I've over enthusiastically spammed their pages with updates, in fact thanks to everyone, 370 posts and no one's made a bad comment.
Obviously what I'm doing isn't anything revolutionary. All the songs are available elsewhere, but you can probably never have enough webpages shouting out "listen to this, it's great." Thanks to the people who submitted their top 10's, and to the few who let me interview them, there's going to be some top 10 of 2014 lists coming up over the next few days.
As for next year, I'm not sure i can manage another 300+ updates, I'm not sure I'll find enough music of the same quality as this year's songs so there might not be daily updates. Time will tell. I started a Facebook group solely for new punk music ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/360453610783131/ ) so please feel free to join and upload any songs you're excited about (then I can post some of them here).
Finally, in case anyone's interested, here's the 10 most viewed posts since the blog begun.....
Today, Im very grateful to Simon "Wolf" Howard for selecting his all time favourite songs (and to Chain Letters' Chris Parker for asking him for them). Wolf is a painter, poet, pinhole photographer and drummer. His drumming duties have seen him play on a plentiful number of records, many of them with long time collaborator Wild Billy Childish. His most recent release was the CTMF album, Acorn Man. For an idea of his prolific output click here : http://www.discogs.com/artist/911465-Wolf-Howard?page=1
As the selections weren't numbered I'll list them in the order they came :
Nearly Christmas, in a few days I'll be posting some top 10 lists comprising of the best songs of 2014, in the meantime the quality songs keep a coming with this one, a song which was recorded in May 2013 but it's only recently been made available for free digital download ( http://meeps.bandcamp.com/ ).
The Meeps! are a pop punk band comprising of A J Small (vocals, bass), Jason Ingrodi (vocals, guitar), Jordan Olsen (guitar, vocals) and B J Lewis (drums), they hail from Cumberland, Maryland. Influenced by the likes of Teenage Bottlerocket, The Lillingtons and a host of other old school favourites, they released a 9 track cd called Bad Girl in 2012.
They seem to have been fairly inactive of late though they did get round last month to finally releasing the Troublemaker ep. Some of pop punks greatest hits have a sci fi theme and this beauty is one of those, this is Death Ray Gun.....
Today I'm featuring a song by a 5 piece band from Melbourne who recently released their debut album, When You're Gone, on Off The Hip records. http://prontofanclub.bandcamp.com/releases . The band is called Pronto and they play a punk infused brand of power pop that's been compared to the likes of 70's acts like The Nerves and Protex. It's certainly as infectious as those bands but they don't just copy the classic 70's sound, they bring plenty of their own ideas to the table. I posted one of their songs on Facebook and it got several very positive comments and so here it is for your enjoyment. This is Sick Of You.....
A band I don't know too much about today, not that they were overly prolific. Solvent Abuse hailed from Nottingham and were together between 1981-85. Originally called The Government, the members were Shelley Eaton (vocals), Jar (Lynda Sanderson) (vocals), Jono (drums), Gig (guitar) and Cookie (Graham Cooke) (bass). They got together after a chance meeting on a bus travelling from Nottingham to Watnall and bonded over a shared love of bands like The Sex Pistols, X Ray Spex and Discharge. I think their only proper release was a track called Last Salute which appeared on the (I've Got Those) Demo-lition Blues compilation though they recorded 3 or 4 demos which were released in 2007 on an album (also called Last Salute). I might be able to find out more about them and if I do I'll add it below.
Featuring Jar on vocals, this is a classic example of early 80's era UK hardcore punk, it's called Heroin Girls.....
Don't take non of your junkie shit Why should I get sick? Kill your mind See your brain washes down the drain Sold your soul for the dole Let it pump down to your soul One shot more and you're in hell Heroin girls, let your mind go Heroin girls, have you got enough dough To make the last trip? Or are you really sick?
If you had a knife Would you take my life? The world's a spinning top Stop, I wanna get off Will you live to 21? Or as that fix really gone?
A band today that I've been listening to quite a lot recently, they come from Forli and they are "an Italian power punk rock trio who all dress in black, playing fast, no stops, love songs only."
Just like The Ramones, they're all siblings, Ally Bubblegum sings and plays bass, Billy Bubblegum sings and plays guitar whilst Mingu Bubblegum pounds the drums. 2012 saw the release of their debut album (released on Monster Zero), Learn From Yesterday, Live For Today, Pray For Tomorrow and this was followed up in Feb 2014 with a Valentines split ep (with Maladroit) which contained a couple more killer bubblegum punk love songs.
Long time readers of this blog might remember me banging on about how great The Bat Bites album was earlier this year, Teenage Bubblegums aren't a million miles away in both style and quality. Please, if you love your punk to be upbeat and sunny, check 'em out..... http://teenagebubblegums.bandcamp.com/
Besides the album and ep, they've also had a couple of songs released on Groovie Ghoulies tribute albums. this is one of my favourite Ghoulies songs and they've done it proud. Let's Go To The Moon......
This should be a short write up as I know absolutely bugger all about The Reporters other than that they were on the Bored Teenagers Vol.2 compilation. A quick search reveals that what appears to be their only release was a 3 track 7" ep which came out on Clogg Town Records in 1981, it was recorded at Cargo in Rochdale and only 500 copies were pressed.
More digging leads me to the Bored Teenagers webpage where I discover that they got together in the north west of England, in Bolton (which is about 10 miles away from where I'm sat typing this) in 1980. They consisted of brothers Nick Jackson (singer/songwriter) and Ben Jackson (drums) plus Phil Abram (lead guitar) and Keith Rigby (bass guitar).
If anyone knows more, please add a comment. This is Office Staff......
Describing themselves as "Raw Wakefield street punk. No, fucking about, in your face Noise!", Yorkshire's The Krayons aren't lying. They also claim to be "Raw, brutal and straight to the point, loud, pissed and proud." I think this video, released to promote their debut album, Ready, Steady, Nuke goes some way towards confirming that there's an anger burning inside of them and they aren't afraid to let it spew forth.
Formed in 2006, as The Crayons, they took a break between 2008-12 before emerging with a new sound and a new attitude (as well as the new name). Featuring Jambo (vocals, guitar), Grease (drums) and Luke (bass) and influenced by the likes of The Restarts, GBH, Dead Kennedys, Melt Banana, Anti Nowhere League, Subhumans etc, etc, etc, they're here to sonically assault your ears. Give them your attention. http://underdogzrecords.bandcamp.com/
This is Gaza......
I think it's fair to describe Los Angeles' The Drips as being somewhat of a punk rock supergroup. Amidst their ranks they could boast members of The Bronx (Matt Caughthran and Joby J. Ford), The Distillers (Tony Bevilaqua), Suicidal Tendancies (David Hidalgo Jr.) and Bullet Treatment (Vincent Hidalgo). They got together in 2000 but due to the commitments of their other bands it took them 5 years before they got round to releasing their debut, self titled, album. This was preceded by 3 singles (Mexico, Broken, 16,6,6) but it wasn't until earlier this year that a 4th single saw the light of day. Featuring a couple of tracks (Fountains/Destroy The Chemistry) from the band's 2002 Tower 13 session, they show why they were hailed as "muscular and melodic....a thrilling blur". If you've seen the Darby Crash movie, What We Do Is Secret, you may have noticed The Drips playing the part of 1980 era Black Flag.
This is the album version of Fountains......
Top notch punk n roll today from New York City garage punks Devil Dogs. Following the demise of Rat Bastards in 1989, Andy Gortier (guitar, vocals) and Steve Baise (bass, vocals) got together with drummer Paul Corio. Despite several line up changes along the way (Corio was replaced on drums by Dave Ari who was replaced himself in '91 by Mighty Joe Vincent, Baise eventually moved on to play in different bands, including one featuring members of Turbonegro) they released a string of rocking albums during the early to mid 90's. Their first album was originally designed to be a Rat Bastards release (produced by Billy Childish) but ended up a self titled Devil Dogs debut.
Taken from the 1995 compilation 30 Sizzling Slabs! this is the coolest song on the block, it's called Baby I'm A King.......
Today's update came about after I saw a very impressive video that was made by Angelo Ruggiero promoting the forthcoming new album by The Spent Idols. I recalled that a while back Angelo had conducted a great interview with the band's frontman, Mike Spent, ( http://rawkunroll.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/oh-no-here-they-go-again.html ) so I decided to ask him to write today's intro. Thanks Angelo :
San Diego's punk rock legends, the Spent Idols, celebrate their
anniversary in 2014. It's been 20 years since the band's formation.
To commemorate this event, a killer album is going to be released
on December 25, 2014.
It's a decisive moment in history when Land Of The Lost CD comes
out. The album is a Spentcity/Rawkunroll co-release, comprising
some original previously unissued studio tracks, and in the good
tradition of Lousy Rock N Roll, mono lo-fi off cassette rehearsals
covers songs, recorded in the nineties until 2003.These forgotten
songs, will prove you that the Spent Idols are for real. They are for
real, they are punk rock, and live in every one of us...
Didn't have a clue what I was going to post today, plenty to choose from but what do I go with? I fancy something catchy and with an upbeat tempo and as I run down the list of songs that are lined up one jumps out at me. I think you'll enjoy this.
Screaming Sneakers started life in South Florida before relocating to New York City. As far as I'm aware, the band only released the one ep, 1982's Marching Orders, and out of the 4 tracks featured on it, only one really gets the blood pumping, but what a great song it is. Featuring a top vocal from Lisa Nash, as well as the talents of Gary Sunshine (guitar), Bud Gangemi (bass) and Mark Evans (drums), this is a song that wraps up dark lyrics in a bright fizzing rush of a tune. This is Violent Days......
"All I've Got Is Work To No Avail
All I Want's A Giro In The Mail,....."
A song with a killer sing along chorus today. Originally formed in England but then relocating to Los Angeles they released a debut single, Down Town/Passport To Women in 1991 but it wasn't until they signed to Pelado Records that they really hit their stride. A split 7" with Dimestore Haloes was followed up with an ep called No-Go Girl. They featured on several compilations before releasing their only album, 2000's On The Job. Another 7" containing the songs No Control and Slots Of Fun came out the same year.
If you like your punk rock catchy with a classic '77 sound you should check 'em out, this is U.S. Dole Queue.....
A new band today who've been compared to The Zero Boys if they had Penelope Houston on vocals. They hail from Olympia, Washington and earlier this year they released their debut ep on M'lady's Records. They're called Vexx and they feature a line up of Maryjane Dunphe (vocals), Mike Liebman (guitar), Ian Corrigan (bass) and Corey Rose Evans (drums). Browsing through a few reviews of their ep I'm reading stuff like "in your face," "explosive" and "incendiary" and I can't argue with those descriptions. You can check it out here : http://mladysrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mladys-12-vexx-12-ep-cs-cd
Today's song is by a band who were formed in an embryonic state in Leeds in 1977 by guitarist James Alan and bassist Gerard Swift and were originally called SOS though this was changed to Butterflies after they were joined by vocalist and convent schoolgirl, Judy Evans. They then changed their name again, this time to Girls At Our Best!, the new name was taken from a line in Warm Girls, a song which was the b side of their debut single, Nowhere Fast. They released another 3 classic singles (Politics, Go For Gold and Fast Boyfriends) before they put out their sole album, Pleasure on 7/11/1981. After this, the band ceased to be, their record contract had run out and after a tour of America they decided they'd had enough.
The album has recently been re released on Optic Nerve Recordings on "transparent yellow vinyl with pink, red and blue splatter" plus a bonus 12" which contains tracks that were originally on the singles. One of those songs is Go For Gold and it's featured below.....
Far away from the desert I can recognize the sound It's coming from the sea and the channel I can see them they're lying in the sun They don't work much they're busy having fun They're not artists you never see them frown They play loud music and vamoose out of town They got guitars they drink in bars they come from Mars They don't drive cars they big pop stars Funky cowboys take a gamble go for gold Funky cowboys very many records sold They've all got girlfriends at home Running riot at the local rodeo Hear their records on the national radio Their girlfriends go out with other boys Señoritas with smiles on their lips 'Cause funky outlaws wear leather on their hips Sell-out Sundance is looking at his sex gun He don't know how the west is won They got guitars they drink in bars they come from Mars They don't drive cars they big pop stars Woo! Funky cowboys take a gamble go for gold Funky cowboys very many records sold They've all got girlfriends at home Running riot at the local record store Big discounts keep you coming back for more Their girlfriends go with other boys Funky cowboys never fight red Indians Funky cowboys often look like Indians They always guarantee a good show that's where to go They're very flash get paid in cash They're so young I hope they don't grow old
18) Kill That Girl - Zombie
15) The Number Ones - He's Too Good
4) Frau - Punk Is My Boyfriend
