December 12th, 2007
19. Against Me!, New Wave (25 points]
"Thrash Unreal" by Against Me!
Forget for a moment that it was released by a major label, was greeted with cries of "sellout!", and was glossily produced by Butch Vig: New Wave is a solid, hook-filled rock album that—while it can't avoid sounding hypocritical to anyone who's followed the band from its unforgiving DIY days—manages to translate the band's usual anti-capitalist screeds and industry-related laments into digestible, sing-along packages. If the title track ("We can be the bands we want to hear / We can define our own generation"] didn't inspire a hundred kids to pick up guitars this year, then there's no hope left for punk rock.
18. Ted Leo, Living With The Living (25 points]
"Colleen" by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
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The story isn't that Living With The Living, Leo's fifth album with the Pharmacists and first for Touch & Go Records, made this year-end best-of list. It would've been a story if it hadn't. And as long as Leo keeps writing songs like "A Bottle Of Buckie," "The Sons Of Cain," and "C.I.A.," he'll be here next time, too.
17. Low, Drums And Guns (26 points]
"Murderer" by Low
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Low may have been attempting to smash perceptions about a genre it essentially created—"slowcore"—with 2005's The Great Destroyer, and though it was a huge step, the transformation wasn't complete until Drums And Guns. A scary, lustily engaged set of songs, it's violent ("Murderer," "Pretty People," "Breaker"] one minute and beautifully sweeping the next (the electronics-assisted "Belarus"]. It's also nothing short of a complete recreation for a band that could've gone slow and steady forever.
16. The White Stripes, Icky Thump (27 points]
"Icky Thump" by The White Stripes
After the only intermittently rewarding experimentation of Get Behind Me Satan, Jack White seemed prepared to become another cranky obscurantist, spending the rest of his career playing for a dwindling cult of die-hards. Instead, The White Stripes came back with arguably the most accessible and straight-up fun record of their career, packed with songs that cajole listeners to dance, shout, and pump fists. White lost some of his trad cred in the process, but sometimes the world needs rock stars more than prickly idealists.
15. Les Savy Fav, Let's Stay Friends (28 points]
"Patty Lee" by Les Savy Fav
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"There was a band called The Pots And Pans / They made this noise that people couldn't stand / And when they toured all across the land / The people said, 'No, no, no' / But the drummer said, 'Yes, yes, yes' / This tour is the test." As barely veiled self-mythology, a statement of intent, and a smoldering anthem, "Pots And Pans"—the opening track of Les Savy Fav's Let's Stay Friends—is nearly perfect. The rest of the disc follows suit: The influential band's first full-length of new material since 2001, Friends cements Les Savy Fav's position as a band that paid its dues, stayed grounded, and never forgot how to deftly assemble prismatic, brainy pop.
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