Top Ten Albums of 2005

I’ve been doing a top ten albums of the year list for the last three years, and since traditions are harder to break than your sister's hymen, as well as the fact that this will easily be the most unique year-end top 10 of any blogger in New York City, I am of course doing one for 2005. Chances are the majority of you will never have heard of most of these bands, as I am one of roughly three power-pop fiends in the country, but if nothing else, I hope I can compel some of you to check out the music I really enjoyed this year.

We’ll start out with the disappointments. Two bands I have been longtime fans of, Weezer and Foo Fighters, both released horrendous albums this year. Weezer seems to be incapable of recapturing the sound they flourished with on “Pinkerton,” but I had high hopes for the Foo double record. Unfortunately, Dave Grohl once again left his bag of hooks at home and instead has opted for paint-by-numbers tripe like “Best of You” and whatever the hell else the other songs on the album are called.

Other disappointments included The New Pornographers’ “Twin Cinema” (apparently even A.C. Newman’s God-like ability to craft the perfect pop song has an apex); Tsar’s “Band-Girls-Money,” which fans waited five years for and were able to dispose of in five seconds; and The All-American Rejects’ “Move Along,” which contained a handful of OK songs, but felt like a far weaker effort than the band’s brilliant eponymous debut. It’s always shitty when bands you love release disappointing records, but such is the nature of the beast.

On the flip side, it’s always hard to pare down these lists to a mere 10 selections; as such, here are some of the albums that didn’t quite make the cut but were still noteworthy: OK Go’s sophomore effort “Oh No” showed just how diverse the catchy Chicago power-poppers really are; Pernice Brothers once again released a fine effort, “Discover a Lovelier You,” although it might be the weakest entry in their catalog – still, given the standards Joe Pernice has inadvertently created for himself, he could record a 55-minute long car alarm and have it turn out brilliant; Fireworks Go Up debuted with “You're Welcome,” one of the more interesting albums I had the pleasure of hearing this year; and Bryce Avary issued his second effort as the Rocket Summer, “Hello Good Friend,” which didn’t quite match the absolute pop delirium of his excellent debut, but still presented enough varying ideas to keep it fun. Anyway, on with the list proper:

10) The Wellingtons - "Keeping Up With" – I didn’t grab this album until September or so, but the band quickly made quite an impression on me. “Keeping Up With” is packed with sugary power-pop that doesn’t stray too far out of the box, but mixes things up just enough for a fresher sound than a lot of the other bands making this brand of music. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it baffles me that bands in this genre simply aren’t commercially viable.


9) Bottom Line - "Eloquence" – Each year I get older I tend to stray further and further away from pop-punk, but this happened to be a very strong year in the genre I was obsessed with as a 15-year-old. Bottom Line’s debut is a strong first offering, replete with a plethora of poppy hooks and eerily reminiscent of Home Grown circa 1999’s “Act Your Age.”



8) Fall Out Boy - "From Under the Cork Tree" – Easily the most mainstream choice on this list, but I’d be remiss in not pointing out just how good “Under the Cork Tree” really is. Ridiculously catchy songs, awesome vocals and back-up vocals? Yea, it’s all here, and it’s really fucking good. I don’t give a fuck how much MTV may be up their asses; this is one guilty-ass pleasure I’m damn proud of.


7) Tim Cullen - "Fun Razor" – Whiny, helium-voiced singers aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I eat this shit up. Cullen’s songs are cheesy, syrupy, lyrically atrocious, but catchy as all get-out. Additionally, I could give a rat’s ass about what some singer is saying. All I care about is how melodic the song is, and “Fun Razor’s” songs are more addictively catchy than heroin.


6) Waking Hours - "The Good Way" – This band is fucking awesome, and that’s really all I can say about them without repetitively attempting to come up with superlatives for catchy. Just toss on the one-two punch of “Sunshine” (try and get this fucker out of your head) and “Jade,” sit back, relax and enjoy the effortless beauty of this fantastically pleasurable album as a giant smile crosses your face.


5) Sparkwood - "Jalopy Pop" – In a weaker year, this could’ve been my top album. How could anybody not love a band that plays insanely great power-pop, buoyed by keyboards, sunny vocals sang over depressing-ass lyrics (a tried and true power-pop staple) and an incredible knack for a great hook? You can’t; which is why if you buy this you will love it.



4) Motion City Soundtrack - "Commit This to Memory" – Propelled by one of the most charismatic singers in the business, “Commit this to Memory” was Motion City’s statement to the world that they're here and they mean fucking business. It’s impossible not to want to play the band’s keyboard-tinged pop-punk on full blast as every single song on this album is an instant classic.


3) Checkpoint Charley - "Songs One Through Twelve" – Fans of Jellyfish (all two of you) – the wait is over. As the Tories, previous heirs to the Jellyfish throne, have long since folded, Checkpoint Charley has ascended to “the next Jellyfish” status and may have even surpassed the early-90s power-pop revivalists. This is an outstandingly strong debut, anchored by (say it with me now) fantastic vocals, back-up vocals, and songs that are guaranteed to take up residence inside your skull.

2) The Like - "Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking" – Hands-down one of the best debut albums of all time. What could be hotter than a three-woman band? A three-woman band in which they play unbelievably catchy music, and sound as if they’ve been doing so for years. Like Phantom Planet before them (who they just so happen to be friends with), the girls have some serious familial industry connections, but they are the real fucking deal. Z. Berg’s sultry soprano is absolutely spellbinding, and the rhythm section of Charlotte Froom and Tennessee Thomas is spectacular.

1) Yellow Second - "Altitude" – They could’ve simply recorded lead-off track “Silhouette” and been done with it, as said tune is by far the number one song in my iTunes top 25 most-played list, with 63 spins. But they had to go and create a phenomenal album, brimming with absolutely brilliant power-pop. These are the kinds of songs that make you wonder why few others are writing songs this dynamically catchy at this level. Sadly, the band has apparently broken up, but kudos on a truly fantastic effort.

But wait – there’s one more album that, had it been a full-length and not a 5-song EP, would’ve almost certainly been #1. Regardless, what an unbelievably, insanely, disgustingly catchy five songs Second Saturday has bestowed upon the world with “Greetings from Mount Rockmore.” Simply put, “Arianna” and “The Fox” might be the catchiest fucking songs of all time. And that’s a bold statement coming from someone like me who tosses around the word catchy as if it were the slut I slept with last night.

Just try to get “Arianna’s” cheerleading spell-it-out chorus out of your damn head. You. Can’t. Do. It. And tell me “The Fox” doesn’t sound like the theme song to an '80s Saturday morning cartoon, right down to ending on an up-stroke power chord. The female backing vocals during the pre-chorus still send chills down my spine.

The rest of the EP sounds like the bastard child of Fountains of Wayne, The Argument, Rooney and (pre-Strokes fetish) Phantom Planet. Seriously, songs like these are enough to make one cry in sheer and utter ecstasy that such incredible music exists. Just thinking about how fucking great Second Saturday is makes me outstandingly happy, which means they’re probably already broken up.