Here we go! My favorites of the year!! I didn’t get everything I wanted to hear this year… but what I did hear kicked my ass all year long.

10. Off With Their Heads - In Desolation 

    This would be a lot higher on the list, but I felt like it wasn’t much different than their previous album ‘From The Bottom’. Buuuuut… since they have a killer sound and quickly became one of my favorite punk bands they have to be on this list somewhere. What they do works, and it works well. I also got to see them again for the first time since the first time I ever heard them as a band. And live and in person they rock my face directly off, and definitely deserve to sneak in at the end to take the last spot on the best of list!

9. Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits

    When this album was released it was exactly what I needed in my life. I was totally burned out on Dead To Me and needed another good ass poppy punk jam. This delivered. Really fun to sing along with and totally reminds me Chicago… even though it really has nothing to do with Chicago. Odd.

8. Menomena - Mines

    Every song on this album is a hit in a weird way. My favorite Menomena release so far. They create some really memorable hooks in otherwise strange songs. I don’t really have much else to say about this… It’s really hard to catagorize and describe Menomena. They are also near the top of my list of bands I need to see live before I keel over and die!

7. Smoke Or Fire - The Speakeasy

    ‘The Speakeasy’ was my most anticipated album of this year. After falling in love with their previous album ‘This Sinking Ship’ and lead singer Joe McMahon’s half of the ‘Wasted Potential’ SPLIT CD with Brendan Kelly, I was ready to hear what the new music would be like. To my surprise they enlisted Darkest Hour drummer Ryan Parish to record on the new album and he is so damn good. So that was cool. But my favorite thing about this release are lyrical topics. Politics and the media and how the U.S. is so fucked up right now aren’t exactly fun things to sing about day in and day out… but they do it. Which makes me think they are creating this as something above themselves. It’s selfless and it’d be great if more musicians approached music in that way.

6. Vampire Weekend - Contra

    This pick for me has a lot to do with where I was when I first got into it. I had only heard the band name, ‘Vampire Weekend’ all over the place… but I had never heard any of their music. Until a trip out to Arizona changed everything. I was asked to be a ‘best man’ at my good friend Joe Hauge’s wedding, and of course I humbly accepted. Little did I know it would turn out to not only be an amazing experience with old friend reunions, love on display everywhere, tons of great food, jokes, and a lot more… but it ended up being one of the best vacations of my life. Anyway, back to the Vampire Weekend…. I was following Joe up a mountain. Driving his car as he was driving his soon to be wifes ride ahead of me. It was a beautiful day, and some of my closest friends I hadn’t seen in years were all around me. I looked up at Joe’s visor CD holder thing and saw he had Vampire Weekend’s new album. With pure curiousity, I grabbed it down and inserted the greatest soundtrack to driving up through a mountain on a beautiful Arizona day. At least that’s the way I see it. Now everytime I hear that album I am transported in my mind to Mt. Lemon.. in Arizona.. with friends.. on a clear warm day.

5. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

    Honestly, I subconsciously had given up on The Dillinger Escape Plan. My best friend and roommate loves them, so I was brought back into the world of Dillinger by hearing it from across the apartment. I loved what I heard. They went back to a more brutal and metal approach that I had been missing. I also was able to see them live this year because I can never pass up an opportunity to witness The Dillinger Escape Plan with my own eyeballs. An insane and unbelievable experience as always. The video they put out for the single ‘Farewell Mona Lisa’ is also one of my favorite videos of the year. All around great album all the way through, and it truly brought back my love for this band and what they do. Which is something so unique and innovative that they still stand alone in my eyes after all these years…

4. Sundowner - We Chase The Waves

    Welllllll you knew I wouldn’t leave this off my list right?! Lawrence Arms front man, Chris McCaughan, A.K.A. Sundowner comes through bigtime with his second release of his semi-acoustic solo side project. This one is perfect for those early early mornings or late late nights. This was just what I needed to ease me into my work days at those insane early hours. There is a very sad depressing aura about this album… yet it still has a slight hopeful feeling throughout that everything is alright where it doesn’t really bring you down like it could and probably should. That’s what I like most about it. Also, I saw Sundowner about a year before this came out and he played the song ‘Mouth of a Tiger’. It was a very long wait to finally hear that song again after it had been stuck in my head since then. This album was also home made and it makes the whole thing seem very organic and warm feeling. ‘We Chase The Waves’ should be enjoyed by anyone, no matter what musical style you prefer I think there’s something in there that can identify with every human.

3. None More Black - Icons

    In my opinion, this is their finest work to date. And looking back at their previous releases that is saying a lot. Lyrically, Jason Shevchuk is on top of his game. There are a few songs that continuously rock my face off no matter how many times I hear them in a day. ‘Mr. Artistic’ & ‘Iron Mouth Act’ are the greatest NMB songs I’ve ever heard. The album artwork was done yet again by the always amazing Paul Romano (workhardened.com) and fits the mood of the music perfectly. For some reason I didn’t expect None More Black to even come close to creating another great album, but fortunately they haven’t given up. They even came back stronger than ever with ‘Icons’ that sets a scene for a world of magicians and escapists.

2. Against Me! - White Crosses

    The much anticipated and controversial new Against Me! album. Controversial because a lot of people hated it, and a lot of people loved to hate it, and a lot of people love it. I am one of the ones that love it. Though, if you’re going to get this CD, make sure you get the one with the 4 bonus tracks!!! Two of those bonus tracks (Bitter Divisions & One By One) are my favorite songs from the release. This album was in heavy rotation this year while I was working. It’s great to get the days going, and to keep you motivated throughout. Also, that video they put out for the single ‘I was a Teenage Anarchist’ was pretty goddamn killer. This CD ain’t nothin’ to fuck with.

1. ORBS - Asleep Next To Science

    ORBS is a project of Adam Fisher (Fear Before), Dan Briggs (Between The Buried & Me), and Ashley Ellyllon (Cradle of Filth). This epic album was an extremely easy choice for album of the year. From the very first moment I heard it I knew it was something special. Long songs, strange/intriguing lyrics, top notch musicianship, beautiful artwork, and an all around complete album. Adam Fisher’s vocals turn a lot of people off, but they get me going. This album has everything I’ve ever wanted in a musical project. If you want to hear something new and fresh and exciting and original you should really get into ORBS. I also got the rare opportunity to see them live this year. With only about 30 people in attendance they put on an amazing set that only amplified my love of the record. I feel lucky that this even exists.

So there you have it! What’s your top 10??
Goodbye now.