Shanies: Album of the Year

Yup... it's that time again... time for the big one, or should I say... the big 10. 2014 was a huge year for music, especially heavy music. There were so many incredible releases from acts like Band of Skulls, Jack White, The Barr Brothers, D'Angelo, and Rival Sons didn't even make the cut... but sometimes, hard calls have to be made, and I'll be damned if I'm going to second guess myself.

10. Michael Cera - True That

I hated myself a little bit for enjoying this album as much as I did, but you know what... I was eventually able to divorce Michael Cera the actor (save his part in The End...brilliant) from the musician. This creepy album feels at times like it's dredging up the Ghosts of the Beatles, not just because it kinda sounds late-Beatlesque, but also because it's really gloomy and weird. But I like it.



9. Baptists - Bloodmines

And now for something completely different. What blows my mind the most about this album isn't how drivingly heavy it is, nor is it even Nick Yacyshyn's monsterific drumming, but the fact that Bushcraft was only realeased a year before in 2013. This is how you do loud music... thanks again BC!



8. Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World

10 years between albums? Did waiting suck? Yes. Was it worth the wait? No. This album could have easily been released in 2007, but that doesn't stop it from still being one of the best releases of 2014. What do we get after waiting 10 years? Likely a lot less anger and a lot more groove, but that really works for this gritty two-piece's sound.



7. Black Jesuses - Black Jesuses

Who? A random side-project of one of my favourite bands, The Parlor Mob, Black Jesuses' release was met with a bit of a whimper, but it still contained an album full of incredible hard rock tunes, especially for a two-piece (though I feel like that excuse doesn't hold weight anymore after the incredible history of rock duos we've seen now). Either way, go listen to 7 to 3 right now.



6. Obliterations - Poison Everything

Just when you thought Baptists were going to have the hardest album of the year, you could not have been more wrong. As a huge Black Mountain fan, I remember being very excited with the early news of Stephen McBean's new loud-as-shit side project. To add to that excitement, after producing a couple of mind-blowing EPs, the crew went into Grohl's Studio 606 to lay down Poison Everything. Throw 'em on Southern Lord and you've got a recipe for sexy.



5. Napalmpom - The Unconditional Love of Napalmpom

In addition to winning the award for greatest band name ever, Napalmpom was a band I stumbled upon a couple of months ago thanks to Public Animal. This Calgary 5-piece is a great reminder of what rock n roll is... not just in sound, but in spirit, effort, and fun! You can hear their massively contrasting influences in their debut LP, yet somehow, these Westerners manage to pull it together into a record that rocks, inspires, moves, cries a little, hugs you, bitch slaps you in the mouth, dumps a beer on your best friend, punches your girlfriend in the left tit and drops the mic and leaves this dimension. But in a really fun, cool way.



4. Destrage - Are you Kidding Me? No.

I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL IT IS OR HOW THE HELL THESE CRAZY ITALIAN BASTARDS DO WHAT THEY DO. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IS THAT I ENJOY IT IMMENSELY AND THEREFORE WILL NOT FURTHER QUESTION THE ITALIAN MADNESS-NOISE.



3. Alert the Medic - The Phantom Moves

From the moment I heard the opening drone of this album, I was hooked. While I would nearly wear out the first two tracks on the record, the entire album would become a place of comfort and solace that I would return to whenever I wanted to feel good about myself. These easterners know how to write exceptional, harmonically layered rock that can in one moment bring a crowd to their feet, and in another, bring a tear to your eye.



2. Public Animal - Habitat Animal

The live shows, while amazing, are simply not frequent enough to keep my inner animal satiated. Fortunately, this disc unleashes the beast with great volume. Who would have ever thought that a supergroup formed of some of my favourite bands of all time could come together to produce another of my favourite bands of all time who would make one of my favourite albums of all time? Funny that, huh?



1. Royal Blood - Royal Blood

Granted this British duo are sweeping up awards and acclaim across the globe at an unprecidented rate. Their meteoric rise to fame is ridiculous given the recent state of the music industry, however, when you listen to their self-titled debut, you understand why: this album is near perfection. Nearly each of the 10 tracks could have stood alone as a single and may still - 5 of them already have, with each breaking the UK top 50 and 2 hitting the #1 spot. Yes, look at me raving about this album just like everyone else... aren't I so unoriginal? Shouldn't I be focusing more of obscure music?

Deal with it. Sometimes there's a reason shit gets insanely popular, and if you can't hear it, I don't understand how you hear the world... you and I just got different ears, son.



Thanks for reading! It was fun as always to spout my musical tripe all over the internet... see you in 2015!

-Bow down to my thick cerebral cortex, don't let logic get in the way