Denis' Best of 2012

                                                                 
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1.    Om – “State of Non-Return” – I’m really into Eastern Religion so it makes sense that I would love Om. I’m really into fat booty bass so it makes sense that I would like Om. The lyrics are about Buddhism and elder gods that are not Cthulhu. These days the band leans more towards the long, drawn-out, atmospheric songs with an emphasis on percussion and other instrumentation rather than the older bass-heavy jams. This track has plenty of fuzzy bass and gets nice and loud, just like I like it. The rest of the record is great for chants or an epic joint-rolling sesh. What did I just write???

2.     Dinosaur Jr. – “Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know” – I think we can all agree that the best music came out in the 90s. Hello? Hello??? Anyway, the new Dinosaur Jr. record contains a lot of the elements that make this band great…come on, you love that one guitar solo, but his song switches it up a bit with a dance-y/Cure vibe PLUS the solo. BOOM, we all win.

3.     Screaming Females – “Rotten Apple” – I hate new music. Ugh it’s all different and you have to get used to it and it isn’t that one record that you love and you’re used to and you can actually sing the guitar solos because you’ve listened to it that much. That being said, this is one of the few newer bands that I have really gotten into the past few years. Guitar rock with a pop-punk feel and sick solos. My only complaint is that lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Marissa Paternoster loves doing weird shit with her voice (which you can hear some of on this track), but if you can look past it this band is really good.

4.     Beastie Boys – “Gratitude” – Admit it, you love the Beastie Boys. Okay, you haven’t listened to them in years, but you still know the words to (ENTER SONG HERE) and sing it loud when you hear it. Plus, you were kind of bummed when you heard MCA died. How many groups admit that they were stupid kids at one point and grow up to be really politically active adults? Anyway, MCA has no vocals on this track, but holy shit that bass line is great. Is he playing bass or rapping in heaven? I guess we’ll never know since we’re all going to hell.

5.     Propagandhi – “Devil’s Creek” – So you listened to Propagandhi when you were into pop-punk in the 90s and thought they were fine. Well if you haven’t listened to the last four records from this band you’ve missed their transformation into a melodic thrash punk/prog-metal powerhouse. In my opinion this is one of the best bands around currently that know how to mix a few different genres of music and stay fresh with each record.

6.     Led Zeppelin – “No Quarter” – Yes, I am aware that this song came out a few years ago. A few hundred, amirite? Today I am your classic rock radio DJ and I invite you to get the “led” out. Actually, I insist. GET THE LED OUT.

7.     Milk Music – “Fertile Ground” – Fuzzy rock by dudes that maybe don’t really know how to play instruments. Luckily, I am usually that dude so I can appreciate this. Also, has a 90s feel (see above somewhere)

8.     Royal Headache – “Psychotic Episode” – This band follows in the footsteps of Marked Men to bring you super-fast but melodic punk rock. Other tracks on this record almost have a punk meets Motown/Northern Soul feel. I’m sure they sound like some other bands that have existed but fortunately for myself I don’t really listen to a lot of music so derivative things sound fresh and new to me. I WIN!

9.     I Hate Myself – “To A Husband At War” – I lived most of the 90s as a sad sappy fucker and this was the band that really captured how I felt: miserable and corny. I recently found their entire output in digital form on the internet and had myself a look back and laugh fest. No really, I laughed about the fact that I was such an idiot…that listened to great music. Enjoy?

10.  2 Chainz – “Birthday Song” – I really didn’t have a #10 but I just heard this song last week and needed to include it here. The best part about this is the video so maybe skip this track and just watch that instead. I like most of my rap to be absurd and insane, so this jam really fits in there. “When I die, bury me inside the Gucci store”. Wow, this guy gets me.