2012 Review

“Why haven’t you posted anything on your blog for months?” “When is there going to be something new to read on your blog?” “Aren’t you the bloke who was in 2 episodes of Albion Market?” These are just a few of the questions I’m constantly not being asked when I’m out and about.

So what better way to answer these questions and belatedly start 2013 than a look back at the best releases of last year? There weren’t many releases of merit in 2012, but this is what I reckon were the ten best.

And for the record: I was never in Albion Market. It was Eldorado.

10. Anti-Flag: The General Strike

Anti-Flag are infuriating as they have consistently released albums of average songs peppered with a couple of masterpieces. This is no different, but at least they stayed true to themselves, unlike The Offspring (terribly weak effort) and Green Day (3 albums in the same year? Corporate rip-off merchants). This is, however,  a pretty decent punk album that gets better the more you listen to it.

9. Municipal Waste: The Fatal Feast

If you put D.R.I. and Nuclear Assault in a blender you’d end up with Municipal Waste. That isn’t a bad thing either, unless you’re a member of D.R.I. or Nuclear Assault. The latter’s vocalist escapes any blender-related shenanigans and provides guest vocals on the title track here. Municipal Waste have barely changed at all in 5 albums, but at least they’re making real thrash metal, which is more than can be said for most of the genre’s pioneers (I’m especially looking at you, Metallica, with your stupid Lou Reed collaboration nonsense).

8. Madball: Rebellion EP

This would probably have been higher up the list if it were an album. For years I’ve criticised Madball for going through the motions and releasing records of songs that sound like leftovers, but now they seem to have hit their stride again. A mixture of excellent new songs and re-workings of some of their older material makes this a mouth-watering taster for the album that should be released this year.

7. Bouncing Souls: Comet

The Bouncing Souls have been hit or miss with their last few albums too. I’d rather they just kept doing stuff that sounds like the fantastic How I Spent My Summer Vacation, but they have to “evolve” and “experiment”. Apparently. All of that seems to have come to fruition though, as this is the best album they’ve released since then. That’s not to say it’s perfect, but it has the required amount of poppy singalong songs to keep you amused whilst drinking with friends.

6. Vision Of Disorder: The Cursed Remain Cursed

New York Hardcore oldtimers reform after 10 years away. The result? Plenty of heavy riffage, shouty vocals and a general never-been-away vibe that makes this perfect circle pit and stagediving fodder. Probably best not to play this around people who have heart conditions.

5. Bad Brains: Into The Future

Bad Brains have tried for years to make an album that sounds as good as they did in the early 80s and they have finally achieved it. I’m still not a fan of their dub stuff and there are a few such offerings here, but the first three tracks serve up enough old school-style hardcore punk to forgive them their mistakes. The absolute worst thing about Bad Brains is that bald techno-dullard Moby is a huge fan, but that’s hardly their fault.

4. Biohazard: Reborn In Defiance

Biohazard have been one of my favourite bands since I was 16, which is just* over 10 years ago. Their combination of metal, hardcore and occasional hiphop has been a mostly winning formula for them for over two decades now. Their previous two albums did kind of see them lose the way a little, but this is at least as good as the classic Urban Discipline record. They may have broken up again now, which is sad.   *significantly

3. Voodoo Glow Skulls: Break The Spell

Ah, the combining of ska and punk. A formula which has worked for so many bands. Nobody else does it with this intensity though. Break The Spell gives you all the usual tongue-in-cheek, fast-paced material you would expect from this band who have always refused to compromise and become more “mainstream”. Good for them.

2. Pennywise: All Or Nothing

A brief synopsis of recent Pennywise activity: Singer quits band; Ignite’s singer joins band; band release album sounding like the bastard lovechild of Ignite and Pennywise; tour; original singer decides he wants to come back (probably because his new soundalike band didn’t really take off). A veritable punk rock soap opera. Brilliant album.

1.  NOFX: Self Entitled

And so we come to the best album of the year. NOFX have been accused of selling out, being to poppy, rehashing the same lyrical themes, sounding too much like themselves (?) and a whole host of other “crimes”, but who cares when it’s this good? I think we’d all like to have the energy they do when we get to our 50s. This album is full of their trademark (not samey) quirky and quick songs and brings a smile to the face of even the miserablest bugger (me).

And that was 2012.There were no other releases that came close to making this list, which is a bad sign to be honest. Hopefully 2013 will have less emo shit and more blistering hardcore.