IN REVIEW // Top 10 Albums of 2018

The older I get, the weirder my musical preferences become. It’s hard to track the reasoning behind the subtle shifts and occasionally seismic jumps, however, this year represents perhaps my most diverse collection of favourite records to date. Snarling punk and space-faring alt-hardcore jostling for the ‘post-whatever’ genre title? Sure. British djent-pop-rock hybridity versus Boston metalcore revisionists? Why not? Ladies serving up some sugar-sweet dance pop AND a dose of textured, aggressive, progressive and thoroughly empowering metal? You bet ya. EDM-flavoured, nostalgic synth-wave saddled next to some straight-up OSDM worship? Abso-fucking-lutely. Uplifting, socially-conscious hardcore-punk standing toe-to-toe with anti-social, violence-as-the-supreme-authority, studded-jacket crust punk? Yeah dawg.

Here are my picks for the Top 10 Albums of 2018:

Don Broco — ‘Technology’

“On their third album, Don Broco have gone full creative beast-mode, fearlessly blending heavy riffs, dancefloor pop-funk fusion and stratospheric choruses, to make one of the most inventive, daring and undeniably-catchy rock records of the decade. Clocking in at 50 minutes, with 14 whole tracks, ‘Technology’ feels like a rock revelation in our single-oriented, self-curated, playlist-dominated world. It’s clear that the band and long-time collaborator Dan Lancaster (Bring Me The Horizon, Blink-182, Lower Than Atlantis) aren’t afraid to take risks, and thankfully, almost every single one here yields a dead-set banger. Simply put, ‘Technology’ is good, fun, pleasurable shit-guilty or otherwise.” Read the full review here.

Drug Church — ‘Cheer’

To be honest, I never really ‘got’ Drug Church… Well, at least, not at first. As “ a hardcore punk band who write fast-paced, aggressive songs that take a sardonic approach to issues of social concern,” the Albany, NY quintet should totally be my jam. I thought ‘Paul Walker’ was a curious and decent record, despite the ‘click-baity’ title. I remember giving ‘Hit Your Head’ a solid plug too, but nothing really appeared to stick. However, this all changed with ‘Cheer,’ the group’s brilliant third LP. Lyrically, instrumentally and thematically, ‘Cheer’ finds Drug Church in their most rousing, succinct and derisive form. As frontman Patrick Kindlon (also of meta-punks Self Defense Family) attests: “ I’m not trying to lecture anybody. But I also think that shit is kind of scary if you actually care about any of the things that are going on in the moment. When you make something risible, you make it dismissable. The more that hypocrisy becomes blatant, the more that people just tune out. “ As evidenced with Kindlon’s incendiary take on minimum wage on ‘Weed Pin,’ the neo-grunge swell of ‘Avoidrama’ or the tear-jerking crescendo in the touching closer ‘Tillary,’ this particular message rings loud and true and relevant now more than ever before.

Funeral Chic — ‘Superstition’

The idea of a superstition is a belief or practice that is-on the surface at least-considered irrational. However, for North Carolinian gutter punks Funeral Chic, there’s nothing inherently absurd or foolish about their vitriolic blend of metal, punk and hardcore. Indeed, when it comes to sounding loud, crass and decisively pissed-off, Funeral Chic make the whole experience feel positively ritualistic. With each and every sonic burst across their 14-track sophomore album, Funeral Chic appear to revel in their own violence as an exercise in perverse torment: an empty glass cracked on your skull; the jagged twist of a prison shiv; the sizzle of the electric chair; a hand grenade clutched between two closed fists. As the band’s own manifesto states: “V.I.T.O.A.: Violence Is The Only Answer.” Opener ‘Rotten To The Core’ pitches a Disfear-aping, D-beat anthem to your earholes as the single-dread-adorned crust lovers answer to melancholy. ‘Baptized’ sounds like mid-00s Cursed playing their instruments with sledgehammers and then a wild Chris Colohan (Burning Love, Sect) appears to have a go at shredding his larynx one more time. ‘Superstition’ is the act of deriving maximum pleasure from giving the least amount of fucks, and it sounds absolutely glorious.

Genocide Pact — ‘Order of Torment’

“On their second full-length album, ‘Order of Torment,’ Washington D.C. death metal trio Genocide Pact have served up one hell of a treat. It’s essentially a straight-forward, meat and potatoes affair: no entrée bullshit, all musical-fat trimmed away, leaving only a main course of heavy, grimy and thoroughly headbang-worthy death metal. It’s dense, delicious, carnivorous carbs for our collective earholes, pretty much. Everything about this record is murky, lumbering and truly ugly in the best possible way. If contemporaries like Power Trip worship at the altar of 80s heyday thrash, then Genocide Pact are making a blood sacrifice to the gods of 90s death metal — think Bolt Thrower, Incantation, Obituary, and so forth.” Read the full review here.

Gunship — ‘Dark All Day’

In a year of strong showings for the progression of the synth-wave genre (the gleeful nostalgia of The Midnight’s ‘Kids’ or the bubbling moods of The Black Queen’s ‘Infinite Games’), the undisputed kings of the retro banger returned to take the title. One cursory listen to ‘Dark All Day’s lead single and title track is all you need to truly understand the allure of Gunship’s ethos: dark and ominous synth warblings, guest vocalist Indiana’s sultry range bumping and grinding against guest saxophonist Tim Cappello’s bombastic flexing, and some of the most infectious and earth-shattering bass drops in recent memory. Across 13 tracks, the UK outfit continue to showcase their talent for inventive song-writing and creative left-turns: a spoken-word tribute in ‘Woken Furies’ from Altered Carbon author Richard K. Morgan, the futuristic house slam of ‘Thrasher,’ and a misty-eyed re-imagining of Cyndi Lauder’s 80s pop smash ‘Time After Time’.

Hopesfall — ‘Arbiter’

“Listening to ‘Arbiter’ in full, it becomes immediately apparent just how cohesive and comprehensive this record is. The material on the record was originally conceived by guitarist Joshua Brigham for another unrelated musical project. However, once the various members of Hopesfall reconnected over the years, and the desire to create new music together grew, this demo material eventually morphed into a fully-fledged Hopesfall album… Returning to producer Mike Watts, who worked on the band’s last two full-length albums, the soundscapes on ‘Arbiter’ run the gamut of the latter Hopesfall discography: the kinetic energy of ‘The Satellite Years’ (their most explosive album); the stadium-ready hooks and dynamism of ‘A-Types’ (their catchiest album); and the ominous, moody atmospherics of ‘Magnetic North’ (their darkest album).” Read the full review here.

Now, Now — ‘Saved’

“With the departure of Jess Abbott, who left the group to focus on her solo material in Tancred, Cacie Dalager (vocals/guitar/keys) and Bradley Hale (drums/backing vocals) focus on raw, emotional beats and fully embrace a wider selection of dance, synth and electronic elements. The acoustic plucking in ‘SGL’ is about as close to the familiar Now, Now sound as the record gets, while glorious tracks like ‘Can’t Help Myself,’ ‘Holy Water’ and the triumphant stalker-anthem ‘Window’ find the duo in control of immensely rich instrumental backdrops. Dalager’s vocals are particularly central to the pervasive mood of lust, devotion and religious iconography that soaks through this album, thoroughly captivating for saints and sinners alike. Six years coming and well-worth the wait, ‘Saved’ is a hot contender for the make-out record of 2018.” Read the full review here.

Shame — ‘Songs of Praise’

“Sometimes, it’s ok to feel like shit. And when that particular mood strikes, the debut album from UK post-punk outfit Shame might be just what you need. It may be titled ‘Songs of Praise,’ but after your first cursory listen, you’ll quickly realise that the title is firmly tongue in (arse)cheek. Instead, this record is chock-full of every other emotion diametrically opposed to praise: disgust, rage, anger, hopelessness, apathy, fear and loss. And it’s all wrapped up in a package that’s so overly smart, snarling, self-assured and infectious, that you won’t be able to put it down. Frontman Charlie Steen is cool, mildly calm and in complete control on this record, as he leads the quintet through a selection of dark, morose yet strangely upbeat cuts that ooze with wit, charm and a healthy dose of indignant “Get fucked, ya geezer” attitude… While the whole album itself is full of catchy licks and quotable ear-worms, the positively anthemic chorus on ‘One Rizla’ takes withering self-deprecation to triumphant new heights: ‘Well I’m not much to look at/And I ain’t much to hear/But if you think I love you/You’ve got the wrong idea.’” Read the full review here.

Svalbard — ‘It’s Hard To Have Hope’

There’s a bit in ‘Pro-Life?,’ the fourth track on British metal quartet Svalbard’s glorious second album, where I suddenly get the urge to close my eyes, drift away and ignore the goosebumps crawling uncontrollably across my body. Towards the track’s end, there’s this booming, percussive build-up that feels like Isis covering Defeater, which then opens into a riveting crescendo that would make Taken green with (both literal and metaphorical) Envy, while frontwoman Serena Cherry rails against the hypocrisy at the heart of abortion legislation: “This body is mine, so the decision is mine/How dare you dictate/That I cannot terminate/These unexpected cells inside/Is it pro-life, to have no rights?/To bear unwanted children, in the name of Jesus Christ?” With a sound that takes the blissful energy of Deafheaven’s blackgaze and weaponises it with the impactful and resonant ferocity of War On Women’s hardcore-punk ideology, ‘It’s Hard To Have Hope’ takes issues of wage theft, violent misogyny, class privilege, feminism, “designer” pet breeds, and endemic sexual assault all to task, speaking truth to power like never before.

Vein — ‘errorzone’

Sometimes, in the midst of all this music journalist, word-salad wankery, you latch on to a fleeting moment of apt description which only becomes more relevant over time. In my case, this came about in reviewing the re-issue of the ‘Self Destruct’ EP from Boston hardcore underground reps, Vein, as part of my ‘2017 In Review’ wrap-up. In an effort to get my point across, I labelled the band’s musical bomb-track “ somewhat akin to an auditory nightmare, like waking suddenly to the sound of your own home invasion, as a ring of masked strangers stand over you with boom-boxes, blaring ‘Jane Doe’ and ‘Calculating Infinity’ and ‘Life Is Peachy’ simultaneously, and at an ear-splitting volume.” And now, part of me thinks that on their debut LP ‘errorzone,’ Vein somehow took this idea, ran with it and then jumped right off a fucking cliff, because HO-LY-SHIT, what a record. I didn’t think that in This Year of Our Lord, 2018, metalcore could still sound this cutting-edge, let alone this dangerous. Listen to the 56k dial-up drop in ‘Virus//Vibrance,’ the double-kick concussion of ‘End Eternal,’ or the haunting, goose-bump melodies of ‘Doomtech,’ and try to contain your innate mosh instinct. I double-dare you. Believe the hype and enter the ‘errorzone’.

Originally published at thepitchofdiscontent.com on December 31, 2018.