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Michelle's Best of 2007!

Article posted on Jan 5, 2008 by Ian Lashbrook

By: Michelle Stoffel

I love these lists; love reading and writing and comparing and hopefully finding a couple unheard albums to break in the new year. So here goes...

Best Records of the Year:

1. Gaslight Anthem/Sink Or Swim

 

Hands down, absolute best, knew from the first listen. I read Kev's review here at Punkbands and it convinced me I had to buy it. Add in a tracklisting that included a nod to Joe Strummer and I was sold. This was before I even listened to it. Once I did, I knew it would be my favorite album of the year. Actually, over the past five years, my favorite release is Apathy & Exhaustion and then probably Sink Or Swim. And seriously Apathy & Exhaustion may be my favorite album of all time. I'd oversell this album before I hid my love for it...as evidenced by this paragraph.

 

 

 

2. is a TIE between Chuck Ragan/Los Feliz and Sundowner/Four One Five Two.

 

I couldn't decide: Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music or Chris McCaughan of the Lawrence Arms? Both albums had distinctively different sounds, Chuck's was warmer and a little more spiritual while Chris' was a little quieter and more intellectual. Both were heartwrenchingly sincere, beautiful works and I love them lots.

 

 

 

3. Nothington/All In

 

Nothington essentially has it all: the gritty voice, wistful lyrics firmly grounded in reality, coarse guitars, strong drums, straight punk with a bit of twist (a bit of twang, here), lots of references to booze and remorse with a tinge of optimism, sing-a-long choruses, sincerity, honesty, big feelings, all of that crap that I can't help but fall in love with.

 

 

 

 

4. The Weakerthans/Reunion Tour

 

I put a lot of emphasis on lyrics. It's the difference between a nothing band a something band and John Sampson's lyrics make The Weakerthans a something special band. I was pretty sure this record was going to disappoint, particularly because I didn't love Reconstruction Site, but instead I was left quite impressed.

 

 

 

 

5. Wednesday Night Heroes/Guilty Pleasures

 

I haven't loved "street punk" this much since the heyday of Rancid. These represent the polar opposite of their Canadian brethren, the Weakerthans. WNH is that full-throttle punk, the album is loud and relentless and full of energy. Also, the best gang vocals of 2007 can be found here. All in all, everything you love about straight-forward punk music condensed into one album.

 

 

 

 

Two albums that don't count because they're really not "new" but worth mentioning anyway:

Operation Ivy/Energy (re-release)

Even though this is just a re-release and brings nothing new to the table, it's one of the best records to be released since '77. Now that it doesn't cost 25 bucks, go get one.

Alkaline Trio/Remains (compilation)

After their past two albums left me with little to celebrate, it was really nice to pick up a release that reminded me of why I love the Trio in the first place.

Honorable Mentions:

The Copyrights/Make Sound

Bedouin Soundclash/Street Gospels

Fake Problems/How Far Our Bodies Go

 

Worst Records of the Year:

I went five over on the best, which I now subtract from the worst, cause who gives a shit about the stuff that sucked, especially when the disappointments sting so much worse...

 

Biggest Disappointments:

These albums were like the first time I drank Guinness. It has this reputation, where I thought it would you know, not taste like corpse backwash.

Against Me!/New Wave

I really don't want to go in-depth here since any discussion of Against Me! is like getting stuck in a mammoth net of arguments about selling out and anarchy and blah blah. I was prepared for disappointment with New Wave, but I still wasn't amply prepared. There were moments in "Americans Abroad" and "White People for Peace" that felt like Against Me! but as a whole, I just didn't feel like this album reflected anything the band was about. While Searching For a Former Clarity may not be their best album, it was very real, as in it felt like Gabel and crew were expressing what they were really going through at the time. While that album felt disillusioned and depressed but still all in, New Wave felt like "I give up." And that's what sucks about it. That and "Stop."

Holy Roman Empire/The Longue Duree

This was disappointing only because of the pedigree in which it was born. Raised by some of the best musicians and producers in Chicago, this album should've rocked this city. Instead it sounded overproduced and the vague and generic lyrics made the listening experience a major drag.

To a lesser degree Strung Out/Blackhawks Over Los Angeles and to an even lesser degree Cobra Skulls/Sitting Army. Both were good, just not as good as I expected them to be.

 

Revelations:

The Wunder Years. They were my crush of the year. I broke out the old stuff when I reviewed the Wonder Years and have since ordered all that remains of their catalogue plus the new Ghost stuff. For fans of bands like The Lawrence Arms, Jawbreaker, and Braid, The Wunder Years were pissed off emo with a crunch and I really can't advocate them enough.

Green Day. So my sister is a huge Green Day fan, like she has Green Day lyrics painted on her wall at home. Painted. Thus she has spent the last three years playing American Idiot. This brought me dangerously close to hating Green Day. This November, she played Warning: and, well, it's not that bad. In fact it's quite good. So that's why people used to like them.

 

Anticipating:

Build and Burn by the Loved Ones (I'm such a sucker for Fat Wrock), new Copyrights, new Fake Problems, new Falcon, Gaslight Anthem EP due Jan. 29, full-length to follow, plus upcoming tour with the Loved Ones, Alkaline Trio (both the Goddamnit re-release and any possible new stuff); Rancid's new album will probably make me nostalgic and sad but I'm excited anyway; Ryan's Hope has been doing demos since February or March plus they're under contract so something must be coming soon.

 

Best show, by the way, Cornish Gay Men/Cobra Skulls show at Ronnie's in Chicago. It was kind of my quintessential punk rock experience.

And that's 2007. All that's fit to print. What a year it was. And other such clichéd closing lines.