Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums Of 2012: Jay Edition

Man, what a thrilling year of music we had. So many surprises, and so many favorite bands making some of the best music of their careers. It was gratifying to sit and listen to it all go by, to see and feel the shows we were able to make it out to see. But there can only be 10 favorites in our list below, and we're super pleased to be able to share them with you below. We'll reiterate our position: music is important. This thing we all share, the fandom, the making, the considering, the camaraderie of being out in the clubs: you get to a point in your life where you realize how important that is. It's inherently optimistic, in a way, our collective pursuit -- whether that be a pursuit of artistic perfection or the hedonistic thrill of having the music just wash over you -- innit? We thank all of the bands we wrote about this year for inspiring us, and we thank all of you readers for sharing our passion for it all. We're more excited than ever for the future, and as difficult as recent events have been for so many, let's remember: the potential for greater things is always sitting out there. The bands whose albums are below certainly chased that and made good. Take a few minutes to reflect with us upon the best 2012 had to offer.

1. Karl Hendricks Trio -- The Adult Section -- Comedy Minus One

Was anyone expecting a new record from Karl Hendricks Trio back when the calendar flipped to January? Was anyone expecting it to be this great? We're betting for most of us the answer to those questions are no. While we weren't looking, Mr. Hendricks was slowly writing rock hits in his beloved home town of Pittsburgh, at the pace of a few a year by his own reckoning, and retrofitting his Rock Band back to its original Trio configuration. Gone -- obliterated under the delightfully excoriating guitars of "The Men's Room At The Airport" -- are the lighter touch and looser feel of 2007's The World Says, which is a fine record indeed [review], but it didn't contain the sort of mint condition Hendricks losercore found on the Trio's classic records. Does that make The Adult Section a "return to form," a phrase we loathe? Whatever it is, it resulted in a collection of fiery rockers and thoughtful ballads, a collection that was our favorite of 2012. Stream "The Men's Room At The Airport" via the embed below or stream the entire record via Spotify via this link. We were pleased to be able to publish a comprehensive interview with Hendricks in July that you can read right here.



2. Golden Gurls -- Typo Magic -- Self-Released

Ever since Baltimore-based Golden Gurls' record was brought to our attention we have written about it early and often, so it should surprise precisely no one to find it firmly lodged here in the upper echelon of our year-end list. Along with the above-referenced The Adult Section, Typo Negative was among the first things we grabbed (well, you know, digitally grabbed, "grabbed") whenever we had some mental headspace and music-listening downtime, meaning it was the thing we listened to a lot because we WANTED to, not because it was sitting in our queue awaiting our critical attention. The tune "I Can See The City From Here" was one of our favorite songs of the year, but song-for-song Typo Magic is remarkably strong all the way across the record, from the delicately burbling ballad "Cars On Mars" to the cracking anthem "Excited." We reviewed Typo Magic here in May, and published an interview with Golden Gurls' fronter Andrew Mabry right here in September. Stream the whole thing via the Bandcamp embed below.



3. Ringo Deathstarr - Mauve -- Sonic Unyon

Because of a successful PledgeMusic campaign mounted by the band to fund it, Ringo Deathstarr's sophomore set Mauve didn't enjoy the element of surprise as did Typo Magic, which dropped out of nowhere upon on us, but nonetheless the record's length and depth made it incredibly enjoyable. We spun the Austin-based trio's LP constantly during the waning days of summer and into the early fall, side one for days and then side two for days because our turntable is a real pain in the ass to access to rock the flip. No matter. Mauve is bursting with lysergic stargazing rockers ("Slack," "Waste") and dance-inflected, moody groovers ("Brightest Star," "Drag"), and the Deathstarr sounds almost eerily at ease working within its various idioms. Perhaps it is the greater emphasis on ambience and atmosphere that distinguishes much of the music on Mauve from the band's prior releases, but truly nothing seems out of the band's grasp on the record. As such, we're eager to hear where Elliot Frazier and his cohort take the band next. Stream "Rip" via the Soundcloud embed below, or listen to all of Mauve at Spotify via this link.



4. Infinity Girl -- Stop Being On My Side -- Self-Released

What else is there left to say about Infinity Girl? The young Boston band's star has burned very brightly over the course of the last six months on the strength of this record and the band's impassioned live shows. In light of the news that the band is entering a hibernation of indeterminate length, Stop Being On My Side (and the recently issued, sparkling Just Like Lovers EP) takes on even greater importance as a document of a great shoegaze band. It's all about the songs, of course, and readers already saw us name "Please Forget" as one of our favorite tracks of 2012 here. But the record is filled with great music from front to back, until the final moments of "Cannons" fade out. Seeing the band close its EP release show earlier this month with a crushing iteration of that tune was the perfect way for Infinity Girl to close this chapter. Until another one begins, we've got this record, which we reviewed right here in June. We were privileged to publish a long-form interview with fronter Nolan Eley and drummer Sebastian Modak right here in July.



5. Johnny Foreigner -- Names EP -- Alcopop Records

Just having the Birmingham, England-based noise-pop titans come to America would have been enough. That they played our benefit show in Boston early last month was completely unreal and awesome. But to top it off by dropping a sterling EP this fall as well? Johnny Foreigner have always been the band that kept on giving, but despite not releasing a full-length this year we can't help but feel lucky as a fan. The four songs released on Names (three each in the U.S. and the U.K., although one title was exclusive to each territory) are all electric, fist-banging rockers of the first order, and the EP -- the band's fifth -- is another in an impressively lengthy strand of brilliant releases. We reviewed Names right here last month. Stream the whole dealy via the Bandcamp embed below.



6. Big Science -- Difficulty -- Self-Released

It's a very compelling transformation, that evolution of San Diego-based The North Atlantic's post-hardcore/Archers alloy into the brilliant, crystalline, reggae-influenced space pop of Chicago's Big Science. The quartet released in May its debut full length Difficulty, and it is a slow-burning, certified indie rock classic. Drawing from the band's strengths as first mapped on the excellent 2008 EP The Coast Of Nowhere, Difficulty captures the band's music in full, dewy bloom. Opening with the spectral ballad "All Of The Heat Has Escaped" and climaxing with the spine-tingling, wide-screened guitar anthem "Subliminal," Big Science's record was a jaw-dropper at every turn. With its lush sonics and sturdy rhythms, the record is an embarrassment of riches, and certainly one worthy of wider attention and critical kudos. Stream all of Difficulty via the Bandcamp embed below.



7. Swearin' -- Swearin' -- Self-Released

Sometimes we think this record is almost cheating, the way Brooklyn quartet Swearin's self-titled debut LP gives us exactly what we want: great melodies, punky attitude, raw production. And so maybe Swearin' is doing us two great services: not only is it giving us music we love, that reminds us of The Breeders and early Built To Spill, but also it's a reminder that maybe the seriousness with which we typically focus our critical ear upon music can sometimes cause us to miss the point. That point being that great music can also be fun. Not to discredit any of the brilliant songwriting here, or the propulsive energy with which Ms. Allison Crutchfield and her band of merry persons deliver these twelve numbers. For much of the year Swearin' was available as a free download, but it was subsequently released by Salinas Records and is available as an LP or CD right here. It's a crucial record, it includes one of our favorite songs of the year, and you should buy it. In the meantime catch the stream via the Bandcamp embed below.



8. Hospitality -- Hospitality -- Merge

It seems like every year there is one pure indie pop record that comes along and wins our heart outright. And while it was a tight battle for that distinction between this and Allo Darlin's Europe, the ITunes playcounts don't lie, and Brooklyn-based Hospitality's delicious self-titled debut full-length takes the prize. From the odd disco of "The Birthday" to the nostalgic, pretty strummer "Betty Wang," from the shimmering wall of sound in "Argonaut" to the relatively rocking album highlight "The Right Profession," Hospitality boasts gems at every turn that only gained more luster as we listened repeatedly in recent months. Listen to "Friends Of Friends" via the Soundcloud embed below or stream the entire thing via Spotify right here.



9. Ted Billings -- American Bedrooms -- Self-released

Ted Billings' first solo full length is the most recent entry into our list, a feat made possible by the collection's forthright hooks, near-palpable energy and rich narrative. That Boston rocker Mr. Billings was able to turn this set around in only one year after his band Age Rings' epic 2011 release Black Honey -- which was made available as both a double album to Kickstarter backers and an abridged, single disc set released by Midriff Records -- is a remarkable feat. Perhaps the short window of time to work in helped inspire Billings. No matter what incited it, the well-sequenced American Bedrooms is an eminently listenable record, eight tightly composed power-pop songs that inexorably proceed to a startling conclusion in the sweet and dour ballad "Rotten World." Highly recommended. Stream the entire record via the Bandcamp embed below.



10. Everyone Everywhere -- Everyone Everywhere (2012) -- Self-released

Philly-based emo heroes certainly seem to go about things in their own way, be it the clever blog tour that promoted their first self-titled set a few years ago or the fact that its most recent record -- also excellent -- was self-released on the band's own imprint and promoted with a huge UK and European tour months ago, but will only see a local record release show next month (Jan. 19 at The Barbary in Philadelphia). Indeed, Everyone Everywhere has already sold out of its first pressing, and the band hasn't even celebrated the thing in its hometown yet. It's certainly worth the fuss, as the album showcases the band taking its big guitars and punchy rhythms and using them to make a record dealing with markedly more mature issues. Album highlight "No Furniture" was among our favorite songs of the year, and we reviewed Everyone Everywhere [2012] in September right here. Stream the entire thing via the Bandcamp embed below.

Clicky Clicky's Top Songs Of 2012: Jay Edition

2012 provided another year of incredible music, from both Boston bands and the wider world. Music continued to transport us, to provide opportunities for celebration and for solace. Our simple mantra, that "music is important," drove us to engage with it in more and deeper ways, and -- not coincidentally -- our care and attention consistently was rewarded by bands finding new methods of knocking our proverbial socks off. And so we arrive at the end of the year, where we cast a long look back, we take stock of our ITunes playcounts, we think about the songs that occupied our mind and heart. The fruits of that examination are below, where we present our 10 favorite songs of 2012. Frankly, there are certain songs we are surprised not to see there (Karl Hendricks Trio's "The Men's Room At The Airport" immediately jumped to mind). But what did make the cut are tunes that moved us and continue to move us many months on. Expect to see our top albums list later this week, and perhaps lists from Michael and Edward before the year is out -- or before the new year has off-gassed a substantial amount of its newness -- as well. For now, we wish you and yours a peaceful and hopefully joyful balance of the year. If the songs below are not yet in your life, take some time and get into it.

1. Sun Airway -- "Close" -- Soft Fall

We try to stay sort of scientific with our top picks of the year, relying largely on data (basically, ITunes play counts). But there is also something to be said for the aggregate amount of time one spends singing a song to himself, something you will see us reference over and over below, and Sun Airway's "Close" ranks highest for us in 2012 based on that metric. The lovelorn lyric "I tried to get close to you," delivered by Sun Airway fronter Jon Barthmus, is among the most affecting of any this year, simple though it may be. The composition and arrangement on this brilliant single is anything but simple, however, with technicolor melodies and layered guitar and synths steadily spiraling around a stuttering rhythmic axis. Listen in via the embed below, and check out the amazing video right here. We reviewed the record for The Boston Phoenix in October right here.



2. Golden Gurls -- "I Can See The City" -- Typo Magic

A jaunty rhythm, big dense guitars modeled on Dinosaur Jr.'s Bug record, and a series of great melodies: what more can an indie rock fan ask for? "I Can See The City" is but one highlight of the Baltimore trio's exceptional debut full-length. From the undeniable, gestural guitar riff to the light, bouncing melody that complements it, to the peanut butter-thick guitars in the bridge, this is an understated piece of genius from one of the most thoughtful songwriters we've encountered in recent years. We're terrifically excited for Golden Gurls' planned sophomore set, but the band has set an extremely high bar for itself with Typo Magic and brilliant songs like "I Can See The City." We reviewed Typo Magic right here in May.



3. Everyone Everywhere -- "No Furniture" -- Everyone Everywhere (2012)

Although it opens with chugging fuzz bass and pummeling drums, Everyone Everywhere's "No Furniture" eventually exposes the still, desolate heart of the Philly punk heroes' second self-titled full-length, which the band self-released in 2012. The lyric describes the dismantling of a domestic situation, and at the tail of its second minute, the drums drop out momentarily, parting the composition like clouds to reveal the line "spare me the car ride home..." -- an indignity the apparently jilted just can't face. It's the receding water line chasing the final surrender of a narrator who's been worn down. And that moment of stillness that sets it off, it's also a momentary fissure in the fourth wall wherein our hero unburdens himself to us. In contrast to the quartet's prior two releases, Everyone Everywhere (2012) is substantially more mature, more emotionally weighty, as "No Furniture" perhaps best illustrates. We reviewed the record in September right here.



4. Swearin' -- "Movie Star" -- Swearin'

There were a number of excellent, excellent records in 2012 that we just didn't have the time to turn our critical ear upon, but that doesn't mean we enjoyed them any less. And so it was with Swearin's self-titled effort. The songs from the collection merged everything we love about pre-Warners Built To Spill -- you know, the brevity, the fizz and melodic sense -- with everything we love about The Breeders -- you know, the spunk and hooks... so pretty much the same thing, right? Chief among the songs on Swearin' in our cold little heart is the album closer "Movie Star." It's got insistent and scritchy guitar and bass, a patient pace, and the cheerfully self-effacing line "no one likes you when you're as old as we are." While we never got around to reviewing this record, we did play "Movie Star" during the September iteration of New Music Night and dozens and dozens of other times as well. Swearin' is an act we expect to hear a lot from for years to come, so if you do not yet know the name, mark it well. Dig the embed below.



5. Infinity Girl -- "Please Forget" -- Stop Being On My Side

This tune explodes out of the gate, even more so when the Boston quartet plays it live, and we never got tired of spinning it this year. In fact, we don't envision getting tired of spinning it any time soon, although the tunes on Infinity Girl's brand new Just Like Lovers EP certainly give this one a run for its money. If it had money, you know, which it doesn't, 'cause it's a song. What were we talking about? Oh, right: "Please Forget," the uptempo, visceral and blurry highlight of Infinity Girl's powerful full-length debut that we reviewed here in June. It's a tidal wave of melody, noise and sentiment.



6. Hop Along -- "Lament" -- Get Disowned

It was really a toss up, which tune to choose from Philly's Hop Along. The promo track "Tibetan Pop Stars" is an unabashed, high-octane, big-statement rocker with a killer hooks and a barely contained rage. But the deeper album cut "Lament" surpasses even that excellent number on the strength of a percolating, addictive vocal melody in the chorus and the greater degree of sophistication in the arrangement. We suppose it helps that the chorus has shouty vocals apparently abetted by at least one of the dudes in the late, lamented Algernon Cadwallader, whose label Hot Green Records released Get Disowned -- a windows-wide-open-to-the-gathering-heat, coffee-cup-in-hand kinda record -- last summer. And every time we listened, when fronter Frances Quinlan hit the line "the one on the left said to the one on the right," we couldn't keep from singing along. A brilliant, brilliant song.



7. Speedy Ortiz -- "Taylor Swift" -- "Taylor Swift" b/w "Swim Fan"

At the top of this piece we referenced singing songs to ourself, and Speedy Ortiz's very catchy single "Taylor Swift" was another we found ourselves absent-mindedly singing a lot. Which made us laugh. And so we made that the hook to a brief piece we wrote for The Boston Phoenix last spring. What's funny is the chorus, "I've got a boy in a hardcore band..." certainly doesn't apply to us, but that didn't make us sing it any less. Speedy Ortiz is a band destined for a national profile, and its facility for pop hooks paired with muscled compositions boasting big guitar parts is the reason why. Years from now, fans will probably remember this single as the thing that started the whole train rolling. It's certainly unforgettable. Dig "Taylor Swift" via the embed below.



8. Dikembe -- "Not Today, Angel" -- Broad Shoulders

Apparently one never outgrows an affinity for the beautiful, brooding ballad, as Florida-based emo heroes Dikembe's "Not Today, Angel" echoes the sort of heart-rending slow burners we loved in the early '90s from bands like Codeine and Seam. We've marveled for month and months at the understated, left-field production on this number: the odd clattering percussion, the guitars just slightly feeding back to fill the ambient space, gathering like a thick, quick fog shifting around the cycling melody. The tune isn't wholly representative of the rest of the music on Dikembe's amazing full-length, Broad Shoulders, but it also isn't completely out of character either. It's a beautiful, slow-spinning center of a collection of songs bristling with energy, edge and promise, and we listened to it a hell of a lot of times, reflecting on things so remote now that they might as well have happened to completely different people.



9. Los Campesinos! -- "Tiptoe Through The True Bits" -- Hello Sadness outtake

So it's a non-album track from an album released last year, but Cardiff-based indie rock giants Los Campesinos! gave "Tiptoe Through The True Bits" an unofficial release via its blog earlier this year and the patient, pretty song permanently burrowed its way into our subconscious not long there after. Fronter Gareth Campesinos! explained that while the tune was his favorite from the sessions for the band's excellent 2011 collection Hello Sadness, the band all agreed that it didn't sit well within the context of the rest of the songs on the album. The song is amazing and soulful, but -- more importantly for us -- it speaks to our fixation on bands' unreleased material. If Los Camp! had never put this song on its blog, few of us would ever have known about it and how awesome it is. What other gems does the band, or others, have laying around? That's the sort of thing we think about a lot. Perhaps almost as much as we sang the chorus "I've been waking on your side of the bed..." to ourself this past year. Download the song here, or stream it via the embed below.



10. Johnny Foreigner -- "3 Hearts" -- Names EP

As prolific as Birmingham, England's noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner are, for some reason we were surprised when the quartet released an EP this fall. Given how monumental the task of creating and promoting 2011's epic Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything must have been, we just didn't think the band would have much in the tank. But happily we were wrong, and Johnny Foreigner in late October released its brilliant Names EP, which we reviewed here last month. The short set was released both in the US and in the UK, with each territory having one exclusive track. But it is the EP closer "3 Hearts" that sticks in our head most. The tune memorably repurposes the line from Talking Heads' "Girlfriend Is Better" to power a characteristically overdriven, exasperated tale from the quartet. The tune provides a series of huge moments that make us very, very excited about what the band will do next, an excitement that has stuck with us for going on about six years now.

WEDNESDAY: Clicky Clicky Music Blog Presents A Benefit Show For Community Servings Featuring Guillermo Sexo, Johnny Foreigner, Speedy Ortiz And Infinity Girl

It is hard to believe, but after a year of planning, the date is almost upon us. This Wednesday -- no matter if tomorrow the guy we love wins the White House of the guy we hate wins -- is Clicky Clicky Music Blog's most important event of the year, a benefit show for the terrific and important local charity Community Servings. In case you missed our original announcement in August, Community Servings is a Jamaica Plain-based organization that delivers 395,000 free, home-style meals to 1,300 people per year, persons who are too sick to cook for themselves or their families. Community Servings cares for clients with 35 different life-threatening illnesses; its service includes a customized, nutritionally-packed lunch, dinner, and snack for sick clients, their caregivers and dependent children, 95% of whom live at or below the poverty level. The group performs a vitally important function supporting those who need it the very most.

So what's Clicky Clicky got to do with this? Well, we wanted to find an opportunity to leverage the blog to make a difference in people's lives, so we got in touch with reps from the organization early this year to pitch the idea of a benefit show, and Community Servings got on board right away. Then we turned around and asked some of our favorite bands whether they'd like to help support the cause, and each one agreed to help right away, without hesitating. From there the idea was off and running. And so, finally, Wednesday will feature a killer night of music, top-lined by local psych-pop veterans Guillermo Sexo, but featuring also the Boston debut of England's greatest contemporary guitar pop band Johnny Foreigner. Speedy Ortiz, who earlier this year were named the best band in Massachusetts by The Phoenix, and new-ish Boston shoegaze heroes Infinity Girl will also perform. It's going to be amazing. Doors at 9.

Tickets for the event are $10, and all proceeds from the evening go to help feed Community Servings clients. Buy tickets here; buy tons of tickets. To help raise even more cash, we will be raffling off prizes including New England Revolution tickets, tickets to the superfun F1 Boston go-kart facility, and even a brand new vinyl copy of Everyone Everywhere's excellent 2012 LP Everyone Everywhere, because, well, they sent us two by mistake. Community Servings is also currently running a larger fundraiser called Pie In The Sky, details of which are here, and show-goers will also have the opportunity to buy pies to help support Community Servings. Pie! Everyone loves pie! Jeepers, we wish we had some pie right now.

What else can we say? Please come. It's going to be awesome. We are beyond excited. Here's the Facebook event page; please RSVP, share the event, and invite all of your friends. Now how about some songs?

Review: Everyone Everywhere | Everyone Everywhere (2012)

We flip through Martin Esslin's "The Theater of the Absurd" occasionally, driven by a recollection of how the book miraculously seemed to illuminate everything -- not just theater, not just literature -- when we read it a couple decades back. Criticism of texts concerned with the innate absurdity of the human condition and the inane social constructs created to deal with it: it seemed like the ultimate decoder ring for a disaffected late teen.

And while we can never regain that feeling of encountering a unified theory of everything within the pages of the book, its summation of Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming," seems particularly relevant to the work of Philadelphia-based emo heroes Everyone Everywhere: "the play presents a sequence of realistic (or at least realistically explicable) events which at the same time could be, might well be, fantasy, a wish-fulfillment dream. On either level the play makes sense. But its poetic force lies in the ambivalence between them."

It's a broad leap, the one that gets you from criticism of modern theater to the key to the latest record by a superlative contemporary punk rock act, but not an impossible one. Everyone Everywhere's wide-eyed observations and elegant arrangements of electric guitars, vocals and harmonies, and rhythm section regularly steer toward the absurd. One of many highlights from the band's first full-length (also self-titled, an especially absurd move post-Weezer), the song "Music Work Paper Work," contains the lyric "look in the mirror and try to raise one eyebrow... it's pretty weird." Out of context it seems like an arch statement, but the majority of Everyone Everywhere fronter Brendan McHugh's lyrics address the mundane and frame it with a sense of innocent wonder. And maybe it's delivered with a wink and maybe it's not: as stated supra, the poetic force lies in the ambivalence. Accepting that ambiguity doesn't render confronting it any less tiring, however, as acknowledged by McHugh's weary yen for escape in opener "I Feel Exhausted" ("live in daydreams / I choose fiction / I feel exhausted"). Indeed, ambiguity (a critic dealing with a larger subject might instead here say modernity) and efforts to confront it echo the attractive, prickly friction between Mr. McHugh's Slacker-styled lyrical bent and the cracking, buoyant punk the quartet (rounded out by drummer Brendan Graham, guitarist Tommy Manson and bassist Scottoline) emits.

The music on the new long-player is as bracing as ever, and it continues to rely on big melodies, pulse-quickening tempos, wiry guitar leads and well-measured dynamics to please the palate of today's discerning indie rocker. Everyone Everywhere has somehow managed to up its already very substantial pop game to Davey Von Bohlen-levels of genius, a prime example of which is album closer "Wild Life," which would have been at home on any of the recent Maritime LPs. Like those of New Order's Bernard Sumner, McHugh's lyrics have historically seemed less than weighty ("Cool Pool Keg Toss Pete" from the 2008 EP A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around describes a really awesome party), but succeed every time because of a throbbing emotional resonance. On the new collection they are perhaps as emotional as the tag "emo" suggests: far from playfully threatening to throw an empty keg and lawn chairs into a pool, McHugh here is anxious, worried, sweating the big things and deeply personal things. The stunning emotional core of the record is laid bare during the chorus to "No Furniture," when -- after describing the atmosphere of a recently cleaned-out apartment, collateral damage to a collapsed relationship -- the rhythm section and guitars back off and McHugh pleads "spare me the car ride home." He desperately reasons "we can move around, do nothing, say nothing" and later, sardonically, "I guess it's fine we can all go and do whatever we want." It's a tragic resignation to a new reality. And it is the sort of powerful narrative that, coupled with the band's increasingly deft composition, leads this reviewer to where he doesjn't want to go, because the assessment oversimplifies the very significant accomplishment that is Everyone Everywhere (2012): the new record is the product of maturity as much as it is a product of skill. Whatever the reason, Everyone Everywhere, self-released by the band last month and available for sale right here on blue-green vinyl and digital download, is a triumph.

Everyone Everywhere: Internet | Facebook | Bandcamp

Clicky Clicky's Top Albums Of 2010: Jay Edition

What an amazing time for indie rock. Each year we take issue with proclamations that any given set of 365 days was better or worse than any other set of 365 days, but we were very excited by what we heard this year, and what we think we'll be hearing next year. Musical trends ignore the calendar, of course, but we feel like in 2011 a lot of music is going to be informed by sounds characteristic of our favorite bands of the early '90s. Just a hunch, and this isn't the place to make that argument, but we feel it. We're excited. For now, we'd like to celebrate the 10 best records of 2010, by our humble estimation.

Long-time readers will be familiar with our ground rules from lists in prior years; here it is in a nut shell. We look at our ITunes play counts, we see what was played most, and those are our picks. Simple. Some related comments: Arcade Fire does not make it into our list, and probably should, or at least would have come close. We didn't connect with Neon Bible, and as bracing as Funeral was, we felt like it was over-wrought in places. But The Suburbs, released (as we are sure you know) in 2010, really spoke to us; we connected with the themes of adulthood, distance and alienation. But we listened to the disc a lot in our car, and plays in the car aren't captured in our rankings. Sorry Arcade Fire. Other records that certainly should be heard include Bettie Serveert's Pharmacy Of Love, Joie De Vivre's The North End and Tears Run Rings' Distance, just to name a few. So what did make the proverbial grade? Read below, and avail yourself of the many streams scraped from Soundcloud.

1. Los Campesinos! -- Romance Is Boring -- Wichita/Arts+Crafts

Heavier, denser, and more focused than all prior efforts, Romance Is Boring -- to use a hackneyed phrase we hate -- finds Los Campesinos! at the peak of its powers. We've grappled with how to articulate the strengths of the Cardiff-based octet's record all year. It doesn't necessarily have Los Camp!'s catchiest jams -- indeed there are things that drive us crazy about the record (what is that grinding sound laced through the mix in the verses of "In Medias Res?" Why is it there? It reminds us of how a song on A Ghost Is Born was supposed to represent Tweedy's migraines). But the songwriting, composition and production is fully realized, impervious and whole. We really wonder where the band can go from Romance Is Boring, because the record is flawless. The musicianship of the players has wrongly taken a critical back seat to fronter Gareth Campesinos!'s personality and (at times comical, at times harrowing) lyrics; that is understandable, but if you mentally strip the words out of this set it is still gripping. That said, Gareth's performances here are amazing, and none more so than the cataclysmic album closer "Coda: A Burn Scar In The Shape Of The Sooner State," where the devastating and searing final lyric "I can't believe I chose the mountains every time you chose the sea" makes for the most crushing moments in recorded music in 2010.

REVIEW/BUY

Romance Is Boring by Los Campesinos!

2. Walter Schreifels -- An Open Letter To The Scene -- Dine Alone/Big Scary Monsters

As we quipped in a recent episode of CompCon, if you told us in 1990 that Walter Schreifels would release our favorite record of 2010, and that it would be a largely acoustic pop affair, we'd have thought you were crazy. But, of course, it is true. Mr. Schreifels has crafted what is perhaps the most listenable, catchy collection of the year. The fact that he is working in a sonic vernacular that to us seemed very unlikely (since we haven't really followed Schreifels' career closely since Quicksand) underscores the amazing songwriting and performance chops at his command. In fact, the more unlikely the scenario, it seems, the more convincingly Schreifels succeeds. A song about pop rapper Lil' Kim? Called "The Ballad Of Lil' Kim?" Ridiculous, right? Wrong -- somehow our hero turns out a scrappy, yearning and wistful pop classic. A song eulogizing hardcore like it was a person, called "An Open Letter To The Scene," with lyrics including "at the hardcore funeral I cried and cried?" Ridiculous, right? Wrong. This song is awesome. As is the rest of An Open Letter To The Scene. Schreifels returns with a new Rival Schools record in 2011, and the first single is great, to be sure. But it will be a very tall order for it to be as good as An Open Letter To The Scene, which is, in a word, superlative.

REVIEW/BUY

07 Arthur Lee's Lullaby by Dine Alone Records

3. Everyone Everywhere -- Everyone Everywhere -- Tiny Engines

We know what you're thinking. "Really? This unassuming, straightforward and sometimes a bit silly collection of pop-tinged hardcore?" To which our response is this: do not to make the mistake of underestimating the self-titled debut full-length from this Philly-based foursome. Everyone Everywhere is sneaky, just understated enough to not attract much attention, but the collection is perfectly paced, packed with hooks and Hoovers up all the right influences (The Promise Ring, Superchunk). In a way it's like those drinks that were just banned in the US that had booze and tons of caffeine. Everyone Everywhere wins with glorious guitars and big vocal melodies, which power both soaring choruses like that of "Raw Bar OBX 2002" and the dream-like reverie of "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture." It all adds up to something surprisingly irresistible.

REVIEW/BUY

Blown Up Grown Up by beartrappr

4. Calories -- Basic Nature -- Tough Love

Calories' hotly anticipated, but delayed sophomore set was certainly worth the wait. The perennially under-rated Birmingham, England-based power trio here delivers characteristically hooky, brawling post-punk anthems while expanding its sound to include additional textures and temperaments. "The Brink" clocks in at nearly seven minutes in length, challenging Calories' reputation for bluntness and brevity, and deconstructs into a motorik jam. Two pleasantly disorienting set pieces, "Basic Nature 1" and "Basic Nature 2," set off sections of Basic Nature and offer evidence that the trio can thrive outside its winning format for fist-banging shouters. Even so, the record's finest moments are not the singles or odd appendages, but rather the desperate quasi opener "You Could Be Honest" and the upbeat album cut "Even Stephens," which touts melody to spare, bludgeoning drumming and a brilliant sinewy lead guitar in the chorus. Basic Nature is all of your favorite things, only better.

REVIEW/BUY

Basic Nature by Calories

5. Johnny Foreigner -- You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm -- Alcopop!

While we predictably loved this EP from our first listen, the more we listen the more we feel like we under-estimated You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm. The more we listen, the more we hear the themes, the hurt and the desperation. Opener "The Wind And The Weathervanes" ends serenading, its final 90 seconds a stirring and beautiful coda of feedback and strings that almost makes you forget the stinging admission that the narrator's ex-lover was probably right. The coda butts against the thrashing opening of "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives," which at first seems like a ham-fisted bit of sequencing until one realizes the discord is entirely the point. Indeed, the achievement of You Thought You Saw... is how well it conveys the discomfort of being in one's own skin, stewing in one's own thoughts ("this is how he'll spend forever with you...," "I wish I had a part in this...") when the world seems to be moving on without you. There is solace in the goofy, beat-driven and D Plan-referencing half of "Elegy For Post Teenage Living (Parts 1 and 2)," and even deliverance in the cymbal crash and guitar crash of the verses and conclusion of the song's front half. Whether considered in parts or as a whole, the EP is further evidence that Johnny Foreigner is among the best bands working today.

REVIEW/BUY

6. The Henry Clay People -- Somewhere On The Golden Coast -- TBD

Ah, the thrill of the perfect pure rock record. Time was you could count on The Hold Steady to deliver the sort of goods delivered here, but while that act has begun experimenting out of its comfort zone (actually quite successfully: Heaven Is Whenever is a sleeper record full of charm), The Henry Clay People have stuck with its son-of-the-son-of-The Replacements sound and attitude. Somewhere On The Golden Coast is chock-a-block with rootsy, narrative shouters, melodic and self-deprecating odes to slackerdom. As we said in our review (link below), the People spread their wings a little wider here, going beyond the bar room for atmospheric, textures and feedback on the standout "A Temporary Fix." Of course, there are still plenty of rockers, including the driving winner "Your Famous Friends." You need this record, and having a back-up copy ain't a bad idea, either.

REVIEW/BUY

Somewhere on the Golden Coast by C3 Artist mgmt

7. Spoon -- Transference -- Merge

While the early warning was that this was a difficult record that the band created for its own satisfaction, the fact is Transference is characteristically strong. Perhaps, as we speculated on CompCon, the message was supposed to convey that Spoon's newest collection wasn't likely to win over news fans, wasn't likely to cross over into the more broadly embraced radio formats. At any rate, Spoon fans bought the record and have probably reached the same conclusion we have -- Transference is a taut, economical and flawless record of minimalist indie rock. Fronter Britt Daniel's lyrics are a bit more impressionistic, and there are some entrancing production flourishes (mostly just expertly applied delays and reverbs), but there are no missteps here, just great songs you can dance to or drink beer along with. Win.

REVIEW/BUY

Spoon -- "Out Go The Lights (Demo)" -- Spoontheband.com Bonus download.

8. Titus Andronicus -- The Monitor -- XL

We didn't review this record from Glen Rock, New Jersey's finest indie punk quintet. Frankly, we saw no reason to draft anything after reading our friend and former bandmate Jim's review (link below). So while we haven't spent much time thinking critically about this record, doing so would have missed the point. Titus Andronicus' music is visceral, pounding with a desperate energy and exalted angst. The fact that there is a U.S. Civil War theme draped around the collection, the fact that fronter Patrick Stickles coopts and spins Springsteen lyrics to his own ends, doesn't dispel the immediacy of the driving guitars or hollered vocals, or the emotional punch of a Boston/Jersey long-distance relationship collapsing -- one Fung Wah bus ride at a time -- like so many arranged dominoes. While chronicling a crippling break-up, The Monitor never broods, but instead revels in the anguish and pain, celebrates the strife, and all the while rocks right along the precipice of forcefully strummed, bluntly chorded chaos.

Jim's REVIEW/BUY

TITUS ANDRONICUS // A More Perfect Union

9. Distractions -- Distractions -- Plus Tapes/Infinite Best

This selection for the year-end list reminds us of that snarky t-shirt that proclaims "I Listen To Bands That Don't Even Exist Yet." That's because, as it turns out, our number nine selection is kinda sorta not out yet. The collection is a self-titled cassette put out by a Chicago-based outfit called Distractions. Said cassette version was serviced digitally to bloggers at the beginning of the summer to build hype for a pending reissue from Infinite Best. However, due to other stuff coming up, Distractions, remixed and remastered by Dev from Twin Sister and now titled Dark Green Sea, is not due for release until Jan. 18, 2011. We find it hard to believe that the cassette version can be improved upon, as it is perhaps the most specifically evocative set among the 10 we list here. Distractions just sounds like it was made by a Zombies-influenced pop band that has worked the same subterranean bar room in a seaside town for a decade. The tunes -- often awash in reverb, organ-led and paired with a deep baritone lead vocal -- just sound murky, even with the sunshiney melodies. Even if the lead track "All Night" was the only song on there, the record would be worth whatever anybody would charge for it. And that "anyone" at this point is Midheaven, the price is $13 for the LP, and you should just buy the thing now, because it is awesome. Pre-order Dark Green Sea at the link below.

REVIEW/BUY

10. Screaming Maldini -- And The Kookaburra EP -- Alcopop!

Note to indie labels that are not Alcopop!: keep an eye on Alcopop!, because the small label has two entries on our year-end list, which means it is doing something right, and you are probably doing something wrong. Screaming Maldini's And The Kookaburra, in case you didn't know, is the best pure pop record of 2010 -- well, EP, anyway, as the collection touts only five songs. Imagine, if you will, that Spandau Ballet was cryogenically frozen at the height of its popularity and then reborn today as a prog-pop entity with embarrassingly excellent songwriting skills: this is Screaming Maldini. And The Kookaburra's first three songs are brilliant, but the gentle, wistful penultimate track "I Know That You Know That I Would Wipe Away That Snowflake From Your Eye" is the winner of the lot, covering lover's rock territory with its spine-tingling chorus and then -- in typical Maldini fashion -- going widescreen and panoramic and diorama and maparium into a dizzying crescendo of horns and distorted guitar. It's the song that all pop will be measured against going forward. Screaming Maldini will release a new EP Dec. 18, and the act has also completed a new video that we wrote about here Saturday.

REVIEW/BUY

Screaming Maldini - The Albatross by fadedglamourblog

And Then Some Days We Get Awesome Mail 8

Chicago-based, fourth-wave (count on your fingers and start with Embrace or Rites Of Spring...) emo superheroes Castevet finally released its The Echo & The Light EP on 12" in mid-August. The set was originally set to see release on Big Scary Monsters early in 2010, but the quartet and label parted ways before the set hit racks, which created an opportunity for Tiny Engines to step in and deliver an expanded, re-recorded version of the goods (the iteration contemplated for release by BSM only had six tracks). You remember Tiny Engines, right? They released that amazing Everyone Everywhere full length earlier this year? Good times. Anyway, we had forgotten about the Castevet record until a very promising box arrived on our doorstep about a week ago. As you might have guessed, said box contained Castevet's fiery opus, which sounds wonderful on vinyl. It sounds wonderfuller on thick white vinyl, we might add. Approximate the joy we've been getting listening to the band's melodic, screamy and intricate jams by hitting the stream of the sparkling opening anthem "Six Parts Summer" below. Buy the EP from Tiny Engines right here. We first wrote about the band in February here.

Castevet's "Six Parts Summer"

Today's Hotness: Footnotes, Superman Revenge Squad

>> We were inspecting the pending live engagements of Philly-based emo heroes Everyone Everywhere when we stumbled upon their recommendation that fans might also dig a band called Footnotes. The Clementon, NJ-based duo -- whose members appear astonishingly young -- somehow concocts Kinsella-influenced guitar music from just a single guitar, drum kit and vocal. The songs are necessarily lo-fi a la Japandroids, and the rhythms go wobbly now and again, but the results are still impressive. Footnotes plans to release sometime this summer a new EP charmingly titled Summer Shit; the collection is currently being mastered, according to this recent Tumblr post. The pair completes a short strand of tour dates this evening in Watertown, CT -- a/k/a the hometown of our former housemate Franklin Trench -- playing with Merchant Ships, Prawn and The Guru. Summer Shit will likely be available in a limited physical edition, and Footnotes plans to sell the set -- recorded at Gradwell House in New Jersey, otherwise known as the studio run by some of the Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start guys -- digitally at Bandcamp and elsewhere. What is especially exciting is it appears Footnotes are giving away every single previous recording digitally right here. Here's a hot track from the 2009 collection Everything Last Year to get you started.

Footnotes -- "It Get's Better" -- Everything Last Year
[right click and save as]
[download all that Footnotes goodness right here]

>> Fret not, Ben Parker devotees. Despite apparent quiet, the Superman Revenge Squad fronter reports that the duo has completed work on the planned EP Dead Crow Blues, which is slated for release by Smalltown America date TBD. According to a MySpace bulletin posted here, the final track destined for the EP was finished two weeks ago and now the short set is being mixed. Parker has also begun playing guitar with a surprisingly ace new act called The Jonbarr Hinge, and has contributed one track, "De La Fonte," to the fledgling outfit led by Sam Pluck Feezal. At first blush we'd say that The Jonbarr Hinge is a bit reminiscent of early (i.e. awesome) Built To Spill; check out the new act's MySpace page here. We predict The Jonbarr Hinge will be signed to an indie label by the end of the summer.

And Then Some Days We Get Awesome Mail

Philly-based emo heroes Everyone Everywhere's self-titled full length debut is out now on Tiny Engines. The quartet plays O'Brien's Pub this Saturday night in Boston. Read all of our Everyone Everywhere coverage at this link.

Everyone Everywhere Blog Tour: "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture"

So, seriously, have you been on the Everyone Everywhere blog tour yet? 10 blogs united to debut one each of the 10 tracks comprising the Philly-based indie punk act's superlative self-titled set due next week? We're the final piece in the puzzle: if you hit all the links below you'll be able to consume some nice bloggin' and pick up the first nine songs from the forthcoming full-length at one and the same time. It's so win-win, we think we should call it win-win-win. MP3s for all the songs will be available at the individual sites for download until May 4, at which time the files get yanked and Pun Canoes begins streaming the record. Clicky Clicky is the last stop on the tour, so if you haven't circumnavigated the links below yet, we'll wait.

01. "Tiny Planet" @ The Ripple Effect
02. "Raw Bar OBX 2002' @ Can You See The Sunset?
03. "From The Beginning To The Tail" @ Built On A Weak Spot
04. "Tiny Town" @ Dryvetyme Onlyne
05. "Tiny Boat" @ Battle Of The Midwestern Housewives

06. "Music Work Paper Work" @ Deckfight
07. "Blown Up Grown Up" @ The Album Project
08. "Fld Ovr" @ Familiarize Yourself
09. "I Feel Fine" @ Reviewsic

Which brings us to track 10, the amazing "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture." This song, perhaps more than any other on Everyone Everywhere's stellar debut, hits a well-defined musical sweet spot of ours: the juxtaposition of almost detached, murmured vocals underpinned by driving, heads-down rock. When fronter Brendan McHugh dreamily professes "I've never built a house myself..." as the band bashes away, guitars blazing, it's magic. It also sort of winks in the direction of the close of the excellent track "Thermal Dynamics" from the act's 2008 A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around EP.

The icing on the cake that is "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture" is a sly little production touch, first encountered by us in the opening track of Death Cab For Cutie's wonderful We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes, wherein the equalization or mix on the drums shifts from your typical pop sound to a clobbering, roomy treatment. Rather than throwing the switch after the opening verse as Death Cab did, Everyone Everywhere waits until the thundering climax of "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture," knocking the proceedings slightly sideways to delicious effect. Anyway, grab the track at the link below for a limited time, then pre-order the collection at the other link. Everyone Everywhere is available digitally and on limited-edition, colored vinyl (350 maroon, 150 white). The band launches a short strand of tour dates May 7 that includes a Memorial Day weekend stop at Boston's O'Brien's Pub; all of the dates are listed below.

Everyone Everywhere -- "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture" -- Everyone Everywhere
[right click and save as]
[buy Everyone Everywhere music from Tiny Engines right here]

ON TOUR:

05.07 -- Fennario -- West Chester, PA
05.08 -- Charm City Art Space -- Baltimore, MD
05.11 -- Kung Fu Necktie (Record Release Show) -- Philadelphia, PA
05.22 -- Bushwick Music Studios -- Brooklyn, NY
05.29 -- O'Brien's Pub -- Boston, MA

Everyone Everywhere Everywhere With Everyone: Blog Tour Starts Today

We're batting clean-up for a blog tour promoting the forthcoming, superlative full-length debut from Philadelphia-based emo superheroes Everyone Everywhere. Readers may recall that we've been anticipating this one for about six weeks, and while the May 4 release date draws nearer, there is still waiting to be done. But the quartet's label Tiny Engines has come up with a jazzy way to promote the release: namely, 10 blogs over 10 days will each post one of the 10 tracks from the self-titled set. "B-b-b-but Clicky Clicky," you are saying, "doesn't that mean they are giving away the whole damn record before it even comes out?" Well, yeah, it does mean that. But the tracks will all come down on or before the release date proper, so you have to stay on top of this thing. Which you will, because the record is awesome; Tiny Engines is doing you a favor, and who are you to look a gift horse in the mouth?* Anyway, we'll be posting our favorite song from the record, the closer "Obama House, Fukui Prefecture," Friday April 30. But the blog tour begins today at the blog The Ripple Effect. Other participants include Can You See The Sunset From The Southside?, Built On A Weak Spot, Dryvetyme Onlyne, Battle Of The Midwestern Housewives, Deckfight, The Album Project, Familiarize Yourself and Reviewsic. Everyone Everywhere has booked a fistful of live dates between now and the end of May, and we're posting them below for your reference.

04.23 -- (House Show) -- Malvern, PA
05.07 -- Fennario -- West Chester, PA
05.08 -- Charm City Art Space -- Baltimore, MD
05.11 -- Kung Fu Necktie (Record Release Show) -- Philadelphia, PA
05.22 -- Bushwick Music Studios -- Brooklyn, NY
05.29 -- O'Brien's Pub -- Boston, MA

(* Seriously, what's your problem?)

Be Prepared: Everyone Everywhere | Self-titled | 4 May

It's been a long winter, and we expect you're ready for the malaise to dispel. Maybe you've been downsized. Maybe your lady up and left you because she says she "could never love you like she loves Scott Baio." Maybe you've been kicked in the gonads one time too many. Fortunately, Philadelphia-based emo superheroes Everyone Everywhere have been thinking ahead to the care-free days of summer, and specifically how you'll need a soundtrack for good times and warm weather. While you won't be wrong saying Everyone Everywhere reminds you of The Promise Ring, we think it's more correct to say that this band, and this forthcoming set, sounds like summer. And so the quartet will release its full-length debut via Tiny Engines May 4th. The new set, which comes in the now-almost-imperceptible wake of the 2008 7" EP A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around, will be made available digitally and on limited-edition, colored vinyl (350 maroon, 150 white). Pre-order Everyone Everywhere right here. In the meantime, the band is cobbling together a strand of tour dates to support the record. We're pleased to see at least some of them are slated for "venues" in the Philly 'burbs near where we ourselves were born and raised (Grand Slam USA? Isn't that the indoor batting cages?). Inspect the full itinerary as it stands now below.

03.17 -- The Fire -- Philadelphia, PA
03.26 -- Grand Slam USA -- Malvern, PA
03.27 -- AVA House -- Philadelphia, PA
04.03 -- MacRock -- Harrisonburg, VA
04.23 -- (House Show) -- Malvern, PA
05.07 -- Fennario -- West Chester, PA
05.08 -- Charm City Art Space -- Baltimore, MD
05.11 -- Kung Fu Necktie (Record Release Show) -- Philadelphia, PA
05.22 -- Bushwick Music Studios -- Brooklyn, NY
05.29 -- O'Brien's Pub -- Boston, MA

Today's Hotness: Pavement, Everyone Everywhere, Yuck

The charmingly monikered Filthy Little Angels label released Monday its long-anticipated, freely downloadable Pavement tribute compilation Show Me A Word That Rhymes With Pavement. While the collection is uneven, it is not all that much more uneven than historically notable (or at least the first three at the top of mind) tribute comps Step Right Up, Give Me The Cure or Homage. The repertoire on the Pavement comp, of course, is untouchable, but certain of the covers struggle (some fail) to convey either the emotional heft or the Shakespearean wise fool tone set down by Mssrs. Malkmus and Stairs and their cohort. That said, there are sterling covers to be had here, including Mascot Fight's delightful "Carrot Rope" and Olympic Swimmers' moody (moodier?), droning take on the gem "We Dance." Another highlight of Show Me A Word That Rhymes With Pavement is Benjamin Shaw's haunting interpretation of "Starlings Of The Slipstream," from Pavement's flawless Brighten The Corners release. Mr. Shaw's adaptation approaches with a deceptively diminutive scale but builds to a short, tasty cacaphony. Readers may recall that Shaw's I Got The Pox, The Pox Is What I Got EP was released by the fledgling label Audio Antihero late last year. You can download the entire Pavement tribute comp here, but we're offering the cover of "Starlings In The Slipstream" below.

Benjamin Shaw -- "Starlings Of The Slipstream" -- Show Me A Word That Rhymes With Pavement
[right click and save as]
[download the entire compilation from Filthy Little Angels right here]

>> We're going to start talking about contemporary emo quartet Everyone Everywhere now and probably not stop talking about them for quite a while. The act is based in Philly and creates music not all that dissimilar to that of defunct emo heroes The Promise Ring, which basically means we are genetically pre-disposed toward loving Everyone Everywhere. The label Tiny Engines will release the band's self-titled full-length on May 4th, and we can already tell you the thing is super. "But Clicky Clicky," you're saying, "we want to get with this band now!" Believe us, we understand. Fortunately for you, web 'zine If You Make It is currently hosting a free download of Everyone Everywhere's very good 2008 7" A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around. The single sold out but more recently was reissued by Evil Weevil, so if you need that stuff on vinyl go here. As for the forthcoming full-length, it can already be pre-ordered from the band's MySpace dojo right here. The vinyl version will be a limited edition of 500, with 350 pressed on maroon vinyl and the rest pressed to off-white. We're posting a track from A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around below because it is awesome.

Everyone Everywhere -- "Cool Pool Keg Toss Pete" -- A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around
[right click and save as]
[download A Lot Of Weird People Standing Around here]
[buy the 7" here]

>> So, yes, thank you commenter with the information about the awesome London-based band Yuck, which we first wrote about here last month, and which we now know is a quartet that is sometimes a quintet, two of whom used to be in an act called Cajun Dance Party. We actually discovered some of this for ourselves after scouring the Yuck blog and watching this video of the band playing somewhere at a club called The Lexington. Or maybe the song is called "The Lexington?" The band continues to offer us more questions than answers, but that is how we like it. Yuck issues its undeniable debut track "Georgia," one side of a split single, March 15 on Transparent Records. We are sure we'll have more to say about these guys soon.