The Top Fifty Favorite Albums Of 2003 - Pt.5

When I perused the projected releases for 2003, I had no idea what my Top Ten would look like. I had a sneaking suspicion that the Pernice Brothers and The New Pornographers would end up there, but as for the other eight slots … I had no idea. Two debuts and three sophomore outings represented in my Top Ten suggest that I was indeed looking for something new in 2003. Still, it was a good year for the rock. The previous twenty or so spent a considerable amount of time in my CD player (or iPod), but these ten undeniable affected me more than the others. It’s been quite a ride. I hope you enjoyed this past week, I know I enjoyed sharing my thoughts on my favorite records.

10. The Sleepy Jackson – Lovers 79.33
Genre hopping on yer debut record is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because critics and fans give you slack, especially when the songs are there; a curse because you are compared to Beck (and all those connotations that accompany that). The Sleepy Jackson may be all over the place on Lovers, but Luke Steele (who is The Sleepy Jackson) pulls it off flawlessly. Steele makes all sorts of pop: dreamy (“Good Dancers”, “Don’t You Know”), angular post-punk (“Vampire Racecourse”), 80s electro (“Rain Falls For Wind”, “Tell The Girls I’m Not Hanging Out”), Beatles-esque (“This Day”, “Come To This”, “Mourning Rain”), or alt.country-leaning (“Acid In My Heart”, “Miniskirt”, “Old Dirt Farmer”). Steele has the songs and punctuates them with a bit of armchair psychedelia. It’s fun to play name the influence, but such an exercise misses the point. Steele brings a sundry quirkiness to the simple pop formula that makes this record more than the sum of its parts. It is one of the complexly simple records that leave you craving more.

09. The Joggers – Solid Guild 77.08
Ever since Lou Reed mumbled-talked-sang his oddball lyrics, singers have found solace in not having to sing well (see Mark E. Smith, J.Michael Stipe, Stephen Malkmus). Darrell Bourque (bass), Murphy Kasiewicz (guitar), Jake Morris (drums), and Ben Whitesides (guitar) all sing – while “better” than Reed, they are more in the vein of Malkmus. The reason I even bring it up is that the vocals, from straight leads to four-part harmonies, are a big part of Solid Guild, differentiating the band from the field of hot post-post-punk-new-wave-of-new-wave-of-new-wave acts. “Back To The Future” is the best example of this with its four-part indie rock harmony breakdown, but, in reality, it’s all over the record. Lots of gaunt guitar riffage, herky-jerky rhythms, disco-funk-rock beats, and hooks galore, The Joggers play caustically catchy songs. This is one of those records you put on for your friends, and smile while they stop mid-sentence to ask, “What is this?”

08. Belle & Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress 82.00
I’ll admit it. I was one of those folks who gave up on Belle & Sebastian. I clung to the brilliant If You’re Feeling Sinister like a security blanket. There was no way they could top that record. And further, how long can they continue to recycle that fey-Nick-Drake-magna-cum-pop thang? It just seemed to be getting too formulaic, too static, too detached. I was especially confounded by the EPs, Sing Jonathan David and I’m Waking Up To Us, which disallowed the said “formula”. When I first heard DCW, I couldn’t believe my ears: the glam stomp beat of “Step Into My Office”, the lush orchestration on the title track, the bizarre Motown of “You Don’t Send Me”, and a jagged Squeeze-like “Stay Loose” (that was almost too much!), what was going on? If it weren’t for “Wrapped Up In Books” (three cheers for this track!), “Lord Anthony”, and “Asleep On A Sunbeam”, I would say the band completed reinvented itself. Stuart Murdoch’s lyrics are as quotable and clever as they have always been, great couplets, funny observations, and bittersweet tales of crestfallen youth. Every track is worth a million bucks, shoot, the band sets the template on how to make great songs to make a great record. “I’m A Cuckoo”, “Roy Walker”, “Stay Loose”, and “Step Into My Office” are some Belle & Sebastian’s best songs (and there’s a lot of those).

07. The Ladybug Transistor – The Ladybug Transistor 78.62
When a band has two distinctive lead vocalists, it gives ‘em a leg up on the competition. Gary Olson’s trembling semi-creepy baritone and Sasha Bell’s sweet as sunshine alto makes The Ladybug Transistor a more diverse record. “In December” (vocals by Olson) bounces along for a minute to be interrupted by a swelling orch-pop wordless bridge that ends as abruptly as it began; and back to the bouncy melody (and then repeats). Bell delivers “Hangin’ On The Line”, a giddy up pop tune (a true toe-tapper), and the amazing “The Places You’ll Call Home”. “A Burial At Sea”, “Song For The Ending Day”, and “Splendor In The Grass”, sung by Olson, typify Ladybug Transistor’s exceptionally captivating songs. The All Music Guide’s Tim Sendra states it wonderfully, “a killer batch of songs that are catchy and involving.”

06. Supergrass – Life On Other Planets 81.00
2003 was the year of Show-Off-Yer-Glam-Influence and Supergrass did it best. These twelve tracks move with a serious T.Rex/Bowie sexy snotty swagger while ripping off hooks like they were parchment (see “Za”, “Funniest Thing”, “Grace”). This is one of the most entertaining and charismatic records of the year. “Never Done Nothing Like That Before” shreds like a post-modern Kinks meets The Sex Pistols – shaming the Libertines into shatting their Diesel jeans. The aforementioned “Grace” is such a killer, kick ass track, that if you don’t jump up to shake yer booty, then you have no soul.

05. Pernice Brothers – Yours, Mine, & Ours 79.32
Emphasizing the guitars and banishing the strings, Joe Pernice made the sneakiest record of 2003. Yours, Mine, & Ours is so bloody consistent, each track flowing wonderfully into the other (only the plaintive “Judy” disrupts the record). Peyton Pinkerton’s leads jangle and quiver under Pernice’s amazing vocal performance. The band is in full stride, playing off each other and the melodies without a hint of struggle. Lyrically, “I think it’s the same bummer it’s always been,” said Pernice when I interviewed him. “Baby In Two” is a haunting down-tempo track that is utterly brilliant on both a lyrical and musical level. 80s Brit rock is the touchstone here (check out the homage to New Order on “Sometimes I Remember”), but as always, the melodies and hooks are all Joe Pernice.

04. The New Pornographers – Electric Version 81.42
Initially, I considered this record a let down. Being a discerning music listener, I knew I had to give it time. While it definitely is not as immediate as 2001’s Mass Romantic, the songs are still as crazy and energetic and hooky. Carl Newman kicks out the jams in mega-force style – fist pumping anthems, fat dirty guitars, unpredictable changes and countless hooks. Neko Case’s contribution is critical as evident on “Miss Teen Wordpower”. Full-time Destroyer, Dan Bejar, contributes three unbelievable tracks (“Chump Change”, “Testament To Youth In Verse”, and “Ballad Of A Comeback Kid”). It’s as if the NPs are a three-headed-indie-rock monster, each snapping and tearing your flesh with unrestrained pop brilliance. It never has felt so good to be attacked.

03. The Tyde – Twice 79.23
Incredibly buoyant melodies injected with plenty of guitar jangle, impressive drumming (courtesy of Velvet Crush’s Ric Menck), and complimentary keyboards with flashes of heavy guitar crunch. The Tyde know how to take a great melody and just keep it out front and center, while the instruments fervently rock out (see the breakdown in “Henry VIII”). Freelancer extraordinaire J.Edward Keyes says, “The Tyde is sprawling, sunny, buoyant songs that sound like Felt would have if Lawrence lived in California and not the UK.” Most definitely. The Felt influence permeates the record, but like all great bands, they transcend that influence. “Go Ask Yer Dad” is just a sick, sick song. The record ends with “New D”, it throbs like the limitless ocean; a most appropriate way to close the record.

02. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow 82.48
The Shins style isn’t so much that they are indie rock band, but rather that they dodge simple genre/sub-genre classification. In 2001 they released the stunning Oh, Inverted World that not only garnered critical acclaim, but it sold very well for an independent release. The dreaded “sophomore slump” was bandied about in the press. Fear not, with Chutes Too Narrow, the Shins made an even better record their the debut. The record is richly produced, the driving acoustic guitars, percolating drums, vintage synths, and perfectly placed electric guitar crunch/jangle/leads/etc. The record has it all: infectious acoustic based pop-rockers (“Kissing The Lipless” and “Mine’s Not A High Horse”); a sweetly 60s drenched ballad-of-sorts (“Saint Simon”), two-steppin-out-shuffle (“Fighting In A Sack”), and all out rockers (“Turn A Square” and “So Says I”). This record is big time songwriting, cementing The Shins as one of the best new bands of the 21st Century.

01. Black Box Recorder – Passoinoia 80.90
And here we are, at number one. Luke Haines is the most underrated, overlooked, and ignored songwriter of his generation. The brain behind the once hyped Auteurs (Mercury Prize nominated in 1992, only to be beat by Suede), Haines has continued to burgeon as a force in rock n roll (even if no one is paying attention). Black Box Recorder is his “synth-pop” group with John Moore (guitars/keyboards/etc.) and Sarah Nixey (sexy-n-dominate chanteuse). Passionoia is the third BBR and it pulls no punches; Haines wouldn’t even dream of having it any other way. Passionoia is an exhortation and a condemnation of popular culture: from rock-n-roll know-it-alls (“The School Song”) to wannabe American/Pop Idols (“Being Number One”, “Girls Guide To The Modern Diva”) to extolling Andrew Ridgely (“Andrew Ridgely”). The lyrics are biting, divisive, humorous, and, obviously, thought-provoking. There are too many great lines to quote in this space, just trust me, they are that good. Haines and Moore take songwriting credits, so I’ll give credit where credit is due. Each song is incredible, from the melody to the hooks to the actual performance; Haines/Moore put Nixey’s vocals where they belong: front and center. Her delivery can be sexy sweet, even cutesy and the next line outright bitchy. Even the packaging is amazing with it’s naughty-upper-class-elite murder scene, as the members of BBR relax by the pool there are broken bottles of Cristal and champagne flutes and a naked dead body floating. The record ends with an epic tale of twisted childhood dysfunction (to say the least!) that is simultaneously beautiful and grotesque. Passionoia is great because of the songs, the lyrics, and the packaging are unified into a single and concise vision; pure Rock that is uncomfortably stirring. "Destroy your record collection, it's for your own protection."