It’s perhaps easier to judge how good a year’s been by what doesn’t make your top 10 at the end of it. In another time, Apologies I Have None, Chumped, Punch, Andrew Jackson Jihad, La Dispute, I Am The Avalanche or a different Joanna Gruesome release could have made the cut for this punk countdown, but instead they have to make do with standing outside making obscene gestures at the bands on the other side of the rope. Or something like that.
1. Martha - Courting Strong
The sort of record you want to hold close to your chest and never let go. Durham’s finest DIY/anarchist/vegan pop troupe paired wistful, perfectly-formed melodies with a few rough edges and lyrics that were sometimes funny, sometimes deadly serious but always sharp and thought-provoking. Just bloody lovely.
2. Cayetana - Nervous Like Me
Given the dent their demo made last year, this always looked like a winner. And it was. Augusta Koch’s tattered, soulful vocals played off some gleefully infectious basslines while her lyrics unpicked familiar, often anxious, social situations with an insightful eye. Another big tick next to the Philadelphia punk scene.
Eight years away and they didn’t miss a beat. Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan duelled over a set of songs that could go the distance with ‘Oh! Calcutta!’ and ‘The Greatest Story...’, fleshing out their tales of isolation in a cold, uncaring city with the sort of anthemic hooks that other bands still can’t get their heads around. Comeback of the year.
A mix of high-wire melody and confessional lyrics that hit like little else released in 2014. Christian Holden stood front and centre, beset on all sides by personal tragedy and crumbling relationships but determined to bind us together with a deep swell of catharsis. An emotional rollercoaster that twisted through some of the year’s best songs.
Vital, raw and drowning in the throat-shredding choruses that have underpinned the best Against Me! records. Laura Jane Grace underlined her position as one of punk’s finest songwriters here and, new look band in tow, also thrashed through live shows to shake your very foundations throughout the year. An important record by an important band.
Riffs that hit like a breezeblock to the chest (from a safe, non-death-related height) and the sort of choruses tailor-made for Jon Loudon’s gravelly bark. With Jon Low back on board to produce, Restorations elected to let their rock roots shine through on a warm, powerful record that allowed their songs to vie for space with the guitar pyro.
If ever a record deserved to start with whopping great ‘WOAHOOOOOH’, it’s this one. Caves landed on this list last year with ‘Betterment’ and it was never really in doubt that its follow up would deliver similar sweaty singalongs, although here Lou and Minty were happy to slow things down from time to time and indulge in a bit of fuzzy grunge worship. Shout out to Lou’s Personal Best EP, too, which is also a cracker from the last 12 months.
Right, this could have gone either way. Joanna Gruesome’s split with Trust Fund was also an absolute delight but here, with Psykick Espionage, they fused shoegaze pop and and snotty, ‘80s-indebted hardcore into a near-perfect whole. Perfect Pussy, on the flipside, raged through Adult World (The Secret) before stepping back from the brink with a squall of feedback and a gem of a Sugarcubes cover. The 7” concept - a comic designed by Phil McAndrew - was also very special.
Another point to Philadelphia. Like rewinding to mid-’70s New York and propping up one end of a bar while a band on a tiny stage shreds your mind. Sheer Mag emerged from the shadows with a four track 7” that left you wanting more, and fast. What You Want sounds like Big Star and Television hashing some things out. Which is amazing, right?
No fucking about. Another Copyrights album, another reminder that nobody does pop-punk better. No Knocks promised plenty and the full-length was more than up to the task, with the band benefiting from Mike Kennerty’s pop-savvy production as Direct Hit! did with ‘Brainless God’ last year.
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