It's big end-of-the-year list time! Time to categorize all those favorite things that defined this past year. And while we'll forget everything about 2012 by April of 2013, we can still take time to recall the past twelve months before our abysmal short-term memory wipes everything clean.
Musically 2012 will be remembered as the year of the old friends, at least in my mind. We saw new releases by No Doubt, Garbage, Soundgarden, and many more. Most of that stuff I never bothered with. I try to leave my fond '90s memories untainted. But memories from the 2000s? Fair game. Check out who all came back from hiatuses, broken-upness, and generally long pauses. Pinback! The Casket Lottery!! Project 86?? And more!
So what follows for the next few weeks/months are the albums I liked. Old friends, new friends, guilty pleasures, etc. I tried to rank them, but I have such a hard time picking favorites and my opinion will change shortly anyway. BUT FOR NOW this is a temporarily definitive list of my top albums from 2012.
Like I mentioned before, I didn't listen to everything. There's a lot of good stuff I completely ignored for one reason or another. But of the things that slid across my radar, here are the ones that rubbed me the right way and struck those special chords that hold my guts together. Hopefully there are some nice things here you'll like as well.
Let's do this.
45) Further Seems Forever - Penny Black
It's hard not to compare Penny Black to The Moon Is Down. We associate a band so closely with its lead singer that when that particular lead singer leaves for a decade (maybe to pursue his own whiny solo career) and then comes back, we expect the band to sound like they did a dozen years ago. But no, these band members have been busy maturing as musicians and human beings, and when they decide to get back together and do something productive they're not going to spit out another The Moon Is Down. They couldn't if they tried, so they didn't. And I like these new songs, really! But I'm trying not to admit to myself that it means something when my summary of an album is only a defense of it that pays more attention to previous works. GUH.
Anyway, Chris Carrabba is still a hottie.
44) Eternal Summers - Correct Behavior
Honestly I don't know much about Eternal Summers. Sorry. But I know the band is from Roanoke, and I kinda like Virginia. And I know I dig the lead-lady's vocal style (direct, but not TOO direct, and pretty, but not TOO pretty). And I know I dig the music itself (teetering between post-punk and shoegaze, both of which I'm suckers for, especially if it's female-fronted). So Correct Behavior, it's full of all this stuff. I'd recommend this if you're running out of ideas for super-hip party background music.
43) Tilly and the Wall - Heavy Mood
It's been four years since their last album, so it's about dang time. Tilly and the Wall have foregone the tapdance-as-percussion schtick and have really matured as songwriters and musicians. You'd imagine that would translate to something more maudlin, but there are some triumphant and anthemic moments on this album. Sometimes it's okay to be less cutesy and more serious, especially where rock 'n' roll is concerned.
42) Dunes - Noctiluca
Noctiluca is cooool. Casual female vocals, airy guitars, muffled drumming, just-right distortion. It all comes together nicely and mellowly. And while listening you'll get the feeling that they're capable of completely shredding, like they're just on the brink. But this is a measured collection of songs, and the attitude and atmosphere is perfectly sustained from beginning to end. You'll like Noctiluca is consistency is your thing. This is the Dune's first album, so the future looks bright. But probably they'll break-up right away because all good bands die too soon.
41) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Man, where have these guys been for the past decade? You can't just put ten years between full-length albums. Well, maybe you can as long as the new stuff is as ambitious and lush and majestic and PARANOID as the old favorites. And this time around it is. If you're planning on tackling 'Allelujah you'll have to make an effort. Two of the album's four instrumental tracks are twenty minutes long, and breaking this thing down into bite-sized chunks would be like watching "The Godfather" in ten-minute YouTube increments. So take an hour-long drive by yourself and let Godspeed provide the soundtrack. The music is very cinematic and you'll feel like something serious is happening, and maybe you'll even have a nice panic attack.
"Mladic" 
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