December 12th, 2007
5. Band Of Horses, Cease To Begin (56 points]
"Is There A Ghost" by Band Of Horses
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Band Of Horses is often described as an amalgam of other bands: a little My Morning Jacket, a little Built To Spill, maybe some Flaming Lips and Shins. On its sophomore effort, Cease To Begin, Band Of Horses sets itself apart by being more emotionally direct than its influences. No longer burying his voice in reverb like he did on the band's 2006 debut Everything All The Time, singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell positively swoons on gorgeous slow jams like "No One's Gonna Love You" and "Window Blues." The lack of self-consciousness on Cease To Begin links Band Of Horses with the great Southern-rock bands of old, as it embraces the simple pleasures of being young and alive—without air quotes.
4. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver (61 points]
"North American Scum" by LCD Soundsystem
Everyone expected monumental beats and shrewd allusions from LCD Soundsystem's sophomore album, but nobody could have accounted in advance for its profound emotional heft. Bandleader James Murphy announced himself as a formidable songwriter with heartrending songs like "All My Friends" and "Someone Great," and he also managed to up his status as a disco-rock producer with a store of musical ideas yet to fully vest. He's complicated, too: Take "North American Scum," a rousing anthem that somehow both flays and celebrates Yankee provincialism while registering as funny, pathetic, defiant, and ambiguously on-point.
3. Radiohead, In Rainbows (63 points]
"Bodysnatchers" by Radiohead
First, Radiohead announced the completion of a new album that few people even knew was in the works; then, the band said the record would be for sale in a week. And the price of this unexpected bounty? Whatever people wanted to pay, be it £100 or sweet fuck-all. After all that brilliant hype-stoking, the biggest surprise was that In Rainbows wasn't some collection of afterthoughts or off-putting avant-garde exercises, but an honest-to-goodness Radiohead album—and an excellent one at that. Matching the glitchy sound of Kid A and Amnesiac to the fully developed rock songwriting of Pablo Honey and The Bends, Radiohead delivered its best album since OK Computer, renewing its heartfelt exploration of how the organic and the electronic can exist in creaky harmony.
2. The National, Boxer (66 points]
"Fake Empire" by The National
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Based on the success of 2005's Alligator, The National might have been tempted to make a disc full of more upbeat rockers, something to draw an even bigger crowd. But Boxer is beautifully muted and understated, drawing its intensity from slow burn. "Fake Empire" and "Start A War" are still absolutely crushing, though, and they're the centerpieces of an album that plays like an album. It feels like an agitated rainy night ("Apartment Story"] giving way to a hopeful rainy morning (the magnificent "Gospel"]. No 2007 disc was as perfectly consistent in its vision.
1. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible (81 points]
"No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire
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The biggest little band in indie-rock (both in sheer numbers and in friends-with-Bruce-Springsteen status], Arcade Fire went from unknown to ubiquitous with Funeral, then used its newfound fame to explore Big Issues on album number two. That shouldn't have worked, but Neon Bible bites off exactly as much as it can chew, tackling religion with fierce humor ("Antichrist Television Blues," "Intervention"], but never forgetting that its music is ultimately about celebration ("No Cars Go"]. Unabashedly earnest and unironic in a world (and scene] that devalues those traits, Neon Bible is a huge rock album built to endure. Never mind the sophomore slump—it's the next one that will find it hard to raise to this bar.
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