The Best Rock Albums of 2011
In which Thee Oh Sees save us as we wait for Queens of the Stone Age
Note: occasionally songs will appear on the top list from albums that I don't talk about. The reason for that is simple - I didn't enjoy the album! Three such songs appear on today's list.
ps i think i've now listed more albums than vince and giggs combined HAR HAR IN WIN
The Black Keys | El Camiro
The Black Keys hit it big with Brothers. Not only was it their best album since Thinkfreakness, Brothers also turned The Black Keys into an arena rock band. No, seriously – they're touring arenas. Good for them! So I can forgive them for taking a victory lap with El Camiro, an album that eschews the band's blues rock roots and moves head first into hard rock with only one song to break up the momentum / monotony (the album lowlight, “Little Black Submarines”). That may sound overly negative, so here – this is still the same Black Keys that made Brothers, and of the eleven songs on here, only three are outright bad. It's not a great album, and it doesn't have the problem that its predecessor did (too many good songs!), but hey, it's still p good. And I guess that's all you can expect of rock bands these days.
Destroyer | Kaputt
If an eccentric, verbose, hyper-literate frontman, who often is compared to David Bowie, releases a smooth jazz album, is that a safe move? In this case, yes. Bejar and Co. swing for the fences with every album, and that approach has served them well for the last 13 years, but for every note-perfect Rubies or frantic Notorious Lighting And Other Works there's a dull Your Blues or stale Trouble In Dreams. Despite Kaputt's drastic departure in style, it lacks the wide-eyed ambition of past releases. That ambition is what I've come to expect from Bejar, and why I was initially disappointed in Kaputt (and probably why this is the most successful Destroyer album yet). Still, a muted Bejar eventually won me over, and Destroyer-as-smooth-jazz accomplishes what hundreds of chillwave artists have attempted over the last couple years. Shame about the neutered version of “Bay of Pigs,” however.
The Kills | Blood Pressures
“Future Starts Slow,” the standout opener, sets the tone for Blood Pressures: The Kills are once again making fuzz-laden garage rock. In the process, they've made their best album since their debut. Alison Mosshart puts in her best vocal performance yet, pulling out poppy hooks like nothing the Kills have done before. This is just a very good garage rock record. Hince tries a few new things – he brings in a Mellotron for the brilliant “The Last Goodbye” - but for the most part it's guitars, drums, and Mosshart, with the occasional Hince backing vocal. Blood Pressures is not without its bumps, and I could do without “Heart Is A Beating Drum,” but there's just not many bands making rock music anymore, so when you come across something as good as “Baby Says,” you hold on just a little tighter.
Papercuts | Fading Parade
This album is better than the dull cover, trust me. It's laden with sweet melodies and Jason Quever's soft voice. More dream pop than ___ rock, Fading Parade is included here for three reasons: it fits in more with the rock entries than any other category sans maybe the songwriter category, it boosts the total number of rock entries, and it reminds me to listen to this album more. Every year there's an album or two you wish you gave more time because you really enjoy the time you do have with it, but for a variety of reasons simply forget about. Fading Parade fits that bill for me. There's no bad track on here, and this is the most dreamy, soothing record of 2011 outside of A I A. If your name is Vince, listen to this record.
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ICON:
When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set Bidoof on fire.