THE STRIPWAX TOP TEN TRAX OF 2011 (!!!)

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10. Kurt Vile – “Puppet To The Man” from Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)

Rockcritz were really doing full-blown somersaults over Smoke Ring For My Halo, and sure, it was extremely alright, but this track towered above all others for me. Dig Vile’s vocal lethargy; dig how he totally lifted the flutter and sting of mid-seventies era Richards’ & Wood’s guitar work. DIG THE NARCOTIC GROOVE. Like much of the music I enjoyed most this year, “Puppet To The Man” is a track reflective of the mood in these shitty economic times, and here’s what I originally wrote about it: “Vile’s response to injustice is more like a wearily-raised middle finger and the stink-eye, like when you’ve spent all yer outrage and a finger is about all you’ve got left to muster.” Yeah, that sums it up.

9. St. Vincent – “Northern Lights” from Strange Mercy (4AD)

Annie Clark’s best amidst the trax that comprise what is a career-topping elpee. In “Northern Lights,” she sings like a daughter of Achelous, ratcheting up her voice to an other-worldly pitch. I’ve long thought of her as a being that may be something more than human, and her performance here bolsters my theory that Annie Clark is from the future, pushing the limits of our antiquated instruments here in the present. At the 2:20 mark, she sends the building tension through the roof, her voice rising alongside some electronic whatsit (in her live act, Clark switches from guitar to theramin at this point in the song) until the whole thing thrashes with blindingly intense energy. It’s one of the best moments of 2011.

8. TV On The Radio – “Will Do”   from Nine Types Of Light (Interscope)

Achingly beautiful with futuristic simplicity, this one is easy to miss due to its subtlety, but in the right circumstances, hearing it is like falling down the rabbit hole. Tunde Adebimpe’s voice is a gift, and the genius of this band is in the completely unique sound they continue to build around that gift, and this track more than any other in this excellent new collection exemplifies that fact.

7. Mr. Lewis & The Funeral 5 – “Running Into A Clothesline” from Delerium Tremendous (Chicken Ranch)

What I wrote about this track earlier in the year: “Mr. Lewis guides you along with a slinky graveyard rhythm that is deliciously accented by church bells and an unexpected blast of mariachi horns that throw the song into an entirely different dimension.” It’s an extremely theatrical, nuanced piece of work, and while I can identify many flavors in this stew (The Tijuana Brass, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Calexico, Gary fucking Puckett even) it is completely unique and irresistible.

THEE BEST JUICED UP AND SLOPPY PUNK ROCK SONG I’VE HEARD ALL YEAR. Had this been released in, say, 1975, or 1985, or even 1995 perhaps, this would’ve been a punk anthem, and Milwaukee’s Uh Oh would be enjoying some level of iconic stature. When I wrote about this back in October, I foolishly believed that this track should/could/would be a NATIONWIDE FRATHOUSE SENSATION, forgetting what year this is and how kids who respond favorably to this brand of racket are an ever-dwindling minority nowadays. Sad, true, whatever. I also wrote in October that this song is “wonderfully insensitive” but after some thought, I think that they are actually being sincere; Being ugly DOES make you stupid in our superficial, disposable culture, and I’ve imagined it’s more likely some emo kids will discover this song, slow it down, and turn it into some weepy acoustic coffeehouse bullshit and sell TONZ… which would be fucked up, but would make Eric Schultz and friends some money. IT’S ALL SO COMPLICATED…

5. The Dirtbombs – “Cosmic Cars” from Party Store (In The Red)

I love it when musicians put a new spin on an old song, and I especially love it when rockers take soul and/or funk numbers and make them their own. The Rolling Stones had this ability in their blood, and The Afghan Whigs were just as good as the Stones in this regard. So the first time I heard The Dirtbombs’ “Cosmic Cars,” I was just digging its nasty, grinding groove, and had no idea that it was a cover of an 80’s techno hit by Detroit’s Cybotron until my wife recognized it. Party Store is a pretty cool concept with mixed results overall, but this jam is the shit.

4. Victory & Associates – “Get Tough, Get Through It” from These Things Are Facts (Latest Flame)

Rock music with punk edges as sharp as the tip of the sword on the cover of the elpee, this track sets the tone for These Things Are Facts, a record that is a powerhouse of positivity at a time when we actually need it, which is why this track is not only great, it’s important. “Get Tough, Get Through It” is the polar opposite of Kurt Vile’s “Puppet To The Man”… where Vile sounds weary in his protestations, V & A are grabbing their swords and whatever else they have lying around and rushing into battle: “Working on a checkmate, with a bishop and a knight, get tough, get through it alright” As a guy who struggled through much of 2011 working six day, 60-plus-hour weeks, as a person who strongly identifies with the notion that the working class is being taken advantage of during these depressed economic days, this became my fight song.

3. Wire – “A Flat Tent” from Red Barked Trees (Pink Flag)

This was the track that kicked off 2011 for me, and here’s what I wrote: “With buzzing guitars and an economical Gotobed drumbeat, it’s instantly identifiable and it’s an instant Wire classic.” I stand by that, and I love this track now as much as I did then. It’s cold, jittery, brittle and British, and the best thing to be found on “Red Barked Trees.”

2. Future Of The Left – “With Apologies To Emily Pankhurst” from Polymers Are Forever EP (Xtra Mile)

Andy Falkous is a blunt force object both in terms of lyrics and sonics, and here he is at his brutal best:

“I fear most women like I fear tomorrow, absolutely”
“I can’t let something as French as fear determine this insecurity”
“I need my heroes dead, my heroes bald, my dreams disabled”
“She is the opposite of sex, but the opposite of sex is still better than love”

Funny and sick and nakedly honest, Falkous takes on the role of boorish male and makes the character disturbing yet likable, all to a positively merciless, ripping soundtrack. Then, he drops the track dead at the end of this line:

“A full-length mirror – the greatest love a man could ever know”

The man is brilliant, and I can’t wait for this new incarnation of FOTL to appear in the coming year.

1. Police Teeth – “Summertime Bruise” from Awesomer Than The Devil (Latest Flame)

It is astonishing to me how raw and powerful and beautiful this song is in terms of both sonics and sentiment. This is what I wrote about it last spring: “This band (James Burns on vocals/guitar, Chris Rasmussen on bass, Adam Grunke on guitar and Rich Boyer on drums) rampages out of the gate with some totally amplified guitars that sink in like grappling hooks and pull you in to tell a quick story about friendship in terms any normal working-class person can understand. Who hasn’t propped open a window with a bottle? Who doesn’t want to skip work in favor of staying up all night, hanging out and talking to old friends? “Summertime Bruise” is loud and beautiful, two words that pretty much sum up the entire elpee.”

As I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time at work in 2011, away from family and friends, but at the same time, I took advantage of any spare moment I had to spend time with them, and even found time to make some new ones. This was empowering, because even when I felt like I was drowning in details that ultimately mean nothing outside of the factory I worked in, I had old and new relationships with people to look forward to maintaining. That, to me, is what “Summertime Bruise” is about, and that’s what makes it so special. I don’t know that it’s the best track on the record, (honestly, the entire thing is bulletproof; look for more on that next week) but it resonated in a meaningful way, more so than anything else I heard this year.