Top 50 of 2013: 21-30

Top 50 of 2013: No.21: Mark Pickerel and his Praying Hands – Tess

Originally this album was a little lower on the list, then I gave it another listen and it’s genius sunk in, Mark has a rich history of being in some amazing bands including Screaming Trees and Truly, and he’s released some pretty decent solo albums of his own, but ‘Tess’ takes it to another level, coming off like a modern day Leonard Cohen weaving twisted tales with a dark ambience washed out over theatrical flourishes, I can’t say I’ve heard anything like this before and it’s a disgrace that more people haven’t heard this wonderful album.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.22: Wet Nuns - Wet Nuns

This is a sad album, not that the music’s depressing gothness, it’s a testament to how great a band can be and then call it a day as soon as their album is released, Wet Nuns were one of Leeds brightest stars for a while and having caught them live they could have gone onto much bigger things, but alas no. At least we have this epitaph to enjoy, full of scuzzy sabbathesque blues stompers like debut single ‘Throttle’ and while the world is fawning over every other two-piece out there, all happy days can do is mourn the loss of another amazing band.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.23: Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

Finally Pearl Jam have come out with something consistently good, let’s face it, there’s only been a handful of truly great songs released since No Code, well that’s just the happy days opinion anyway. Lightning Bolt is in fact that, a bolt of energy up their arses and the ability to write great songs seems to have been the result, so Pearl Jam fans of old, come out of hiding, they’re good again, the world’s good again.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.24: Arctic Monkeys – AM

Okay so I agree that Alex Turner seems to be a bit of a douche these days, but I disagree with all the people who just wanted him to sing about life in Sheffield his whole life, that’s just stupid. However there’s no denying that AM has some massive songs on it like future classic ‘R U Mine?’ and it’s good to see them rocking out a lot more instead of trying to be all arty a la ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’ I mean what the fuck was that, where they’ll go from here who knows, let’s hope they keep the rock direction.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.25: Sponge - Stop The Bleeding

Around 20 years into their career Sponge haven’t exactly been what you’d call consistent, starting out with two classic albums and on a bit of a steady decline since, singer Vinnie Dombroski has kept himself busy throughout this time with various projects but finally Sponge have returned with vigour and a new spring in their step, now this may not be as exceptional as Wax Ecstatic but it does a bloody good job, full of massive anthemesque choruses and touches of modern mixing techniques, there’s a few different versions of this album out there with alternate track orders, I recommend getting all of them, a proper return to form!
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.26: The Computers - Love Triangles, Hate Squares

Easily holding the honour of being punk rock’s suavist band, The Computers second full length oozes class with a strange hybrid of what I can only describe as soul punk, you heard it here first a new genre. There’s not a bad song on here, just energetic catchy as fuck, fist in the air anthems, it amazes me when I hear people complaining that there’s no good new bands out there, there’s tons of them, and The Computers are shining a light for originality in a genre usually stagnant with mediocre.
8.5.10

Top 50 of 2013: No.27: The Night Marchers - Allez Allez

While the world waits with baited breath to see if there’ll be another Rocket From The Crypt album, leader Joh Reis is doing what he does best, releasing music under any moniker he sees fit, The Night Marchers are definitely a band that can keep you satisfied if you’re wanting his brand of energetic rock n roll swagger, and not swagger like fucking Jagger or whatever shit that’s called. This is pure attitude ridden rock with massive hooks, so stop your cryin’ get this album now.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.28: The Thermals - Desperate Ground

Thank you Thermals for making up for the Personal Life mess of the previous album, The Thermals were on a roll prior to that with masterpiece ‘The Body, The Blood, The Machine; and in my opinion the equally as good ‘Now We Can See’ the previously mentioned album just seemed a bit of a disappointment. Kicking off literally with ‘Born To Kill’ The Thermals show they’re back to what they do best, scuzzy punk with intelligent lyrics, the production seems off but that’s a small fault when the songs are this good.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.29: Wounds - Die Young

Opening song ‘Killing Spree’ perfectly sets the tone and pace for this punk rock punch in the face, energy levels are up to 11 and the attack is relentless, just as I like it. Previous single ‘Dead Dead Fucking Dead’ is another highlight, this album has been on regular rotation at happy days headquarters, another class release from In At The Deep End, one of the UK’s best rock labels.
8.5/10

Top 50 of 2013: No.30: The Greenery - It's Looking Grim

The Greenery deal in an extremely pissed off style of chaotic punkrock, somewhere along the lines of a band called Breathe In if anyone remembers them, completely self-released and promoted they deserve every bit of exposure they can get and happy days is happy to do this. And just remember, according to opener ‘Acid Flash’, they’ll piss on your god damn grave, nice!
8.5/10