Best of 2007

Note: This was written in December 2007/January 2008. Since then, I’ve found albums that rightfully belong here that I simply hadn’t known about at the time. I’ll probably add those in later.

Top 10 Albums of 2007
in no particular order (except the first)

  • Big D and the Kids Table – Strictly Rude
    • Notable Tracks: “Shinin’ On,” “Strictly Rude”
  • Bad Religion – New Maps of Hell
    • Notable Tracks: “Requiem For Dissent,” “Heroes and Martyrs”
  • The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
    • Notable tracks: “Black Mirror,” “Intervention”
  • Bishop Allen – And the Broken String
    • Notable Tracks: “Click, Click, Click, Click,” “The News From Your Bed”
  • Mustard Plug – In Black and White
    • Notable Tracks: “Hit Me! Hit Me! Hit Me!,” “Who Benefits?”
  • Streetlight Manifesto – Somewhere in the Between
    • Notable Tracks: “Somewhere in the Between,” “One Foot On The Gas, One Foot In The Grave”
  • Erasure – Light at the End of the World
    • Notable Tracks: “I Could Fall In Love With You,” “Sunday Girl”
  • Editors – An End Has a Start
    • Notable Tracks: “The Racing Rats,” “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors”
  • M.I.A. – Kala
    • Notable Tracks: “Jimmy,” “$20″
  • The Queers – Munki Brain
    • Notable Tracks: “Girl About Town,” “I Think She’s Starting to Like Me,” “Brian Wilson”

Honorable Mention:

  • Dropkick Murphys – The Meanest of Times
  • Reel Big Fish – Monkeys For Nothing and the Chimps for Free
  • Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
  • Pink Martini – Hey Eugene!
  • Rihanna – Good Girl Gone Bad
  • Bomb the Music Industry! – Get Warmer
  • The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
  • Blood Vessels – s/t
  • High on Fire – Death Is This Communion
  • The Toasters – One More Bullet
  • Buck-O-Nine – Sustain

Best Album Title:

  • Electric Six – I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master

Undeniably catchy singles:

  • Rihanna – “Umbrella”
  • Fall Out Boy – “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs”
  • Kaiser Chiefs – “Ruby”
  • Peter, Bjorn & John – “Young Folks”

Epic Disappointments:
- Interpol – Our Love to Admire
What Jeff said.
- VNV Nation – Judgement
though really, everything after FuturePerfect has been utter shite.
- Fall Out Boy – Infinity on High
From Under the Cork Tree was super-catchy and consistent throughout, which made it a great release bolstered by even better singles. The follow-up, by contrast, has 1 1/2 good singles, and they’re really all the album has going for it. Too much identity crisis happening here.
- Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War
Nothing was going to live up to Set Yourself On Fire, but I would have preferred treading water to this.

Excellent Compilations/Reissues:

  • Ska is Dead!
  • Pop Punk’s Not Dead
  • The Queers – A Day Late and a Dollar Short
  • Operation Ivy – Energy

Finally, 2008 albums I’m most excited for:

  • Lemuria – Get Better
  • Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Updated as of 2008

So there were some great albums that came out in 2007 that I totally missed out on at the time, that need some love. Here’s a short list:

  • The Methadones – This Won’t Hurt
  • The Copyrights – Make Sound
  • The Ergs! – Upstairs/Downstairs
  • The Gaslight Anthem – Sink or Swim
  • Feist – The Reminder
  • Girl in a Coma – Both Before I’m Gone
  • Ben Weasel & His Iron String Quartet – These Ones Are Bitter