Music Review

'Year of rock' comes to an end

by Taylor Kingsbury
Staff Writer

I am not a big fan of Top-10 lists. However, as this year draws to a close, I find myself locked in the critical custom of reflecting on the musical output of the last 12 months.

2002 has been the year of "ROCK!," with the media and music buying public clamoring over marginal acts like the Hives and Vines, mistaking their mediocrity for brilliance. We have also seen the continual demise of punk rock that reached a low of abysmal proportions.

The apex was this summer's Inland Invasion, where bands like the Sex Pistols and the Vandals celebrated their pioneering punk spirit alongside pop bands like Blink 182 and New Found Glory; meanwhile, shirts for all four bands were on sale for $30 each.

We have also been bludgeoned under the weight of countless Sept. 11 fallout albums, and for the first half of the year, our record companies stopped at nothing to exploit sympathetic dollars from a mourning populous.

Still, there were moments of clarity in the cloudy water of major label music. A handful of records were powerful enough to make all of the terrible crap on the radio seem forgivable. These are the ones that shaped my year, in no particular order, as they pop into my mind.

Thrice - "The Illusion Of Safety". Thrice plays punk rock that is invigorating, intelligent, emotional, and expertly crafted. So in other words, they are nothing like punk. This disc never left my CD changer for more than a few days in 2002.

Foo Fighters - "One by One". Though Dave Grohl spent most of 2002 in court (enough said of that), he found time to scrap an album worth of material and reassemble it into the Foo Fighters' best record. Another step forward for a band that just keeps getting better.

Jucifer - "I Name You Destroyer". I actually do not want anyone else to hear Jucifer, because I love having them to myself. This band paints dark, fierce, and seductive sonic landscapes, and with their most recent offering, they have constructed a masterpiece.

Sparta - "Wiretap Scars." Three fifths of At The Drive In press onward, showing us that band was far done when they called it quits. Sparta is a more consistent and balanced outfit, integrating melodies less oblique than those produced with their previous incarnation. Emo, or whatever you want to call it, has never sounded better.

Pearl Jam - "Riot Act." Pearl Jam is a band in a class by themselves. Though people who abandoned ship after "Vitalogy" will still hate them, their latest opus combines the familiar dirty rock that we have come to expect with new textures that further expand the boundaries of their seemingly limitless creativity. Familiar, but in the best way.

Queens of the Stone Age - "Songs For the Deaf." A simply breathtaking collection of songs that just rocks hard. Period.

Sonic Youth - "Murray Street." The legendary indie godfather sound as fresh as ever on "Murray Street," their most focused collection of tunes in several years. With this record, this band insures us that they will be called Sonic Senior Citizens before they hang up their guitars.

Melvins - "Hostile Ambient Takeover." Ah, the Melvins. Like an old friend that drops by once a year, the Melvins deliver the goods each time out, though you never know just how they are going to go about it. If there is only one band that sounds like themselves, and no one else, it is the Melvins.

Toadies - "Live From Paradise." A stunning live set from a band who deserves to be heard. Most people only know the Toadies as a one-hit wonder, but they are overlooking the two stellar records this band has delivered. Combining the dark eccentricity of Oingo Boingo with the raw crunch of garage rock, the Toadies write tunes that are demented but oh, so much fun.

Audioslave - "Audioslave." Though inconsistent and often over-familiar, this debut definitely adds up to the sum of its parts. The powerhouse duo of "What You Are" and "Like A Stone" gives us an indication of how ample this surface-unusual fit really is. Yes, the name is terrible, but certainly better than Ragegarden.

Those are the best records of the year, to the best of my recollection. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I am proud to bestow the "Worst Album of the Year" honors.

Until a couple of months ago, the prize was practically owned by Bright Eyes, whose "Lifted, Or The Story Is In the Soil, Keep Your Ear To the Ground" is as interminable and pretentious as its title would suggest. Connor Oberst demonstrates a real flair for ambitious composition, but his theatrical pandering and melodramatic singing distract from the tunes. For much of its running time, "Lifted" is just unlistenable.

Then Bright Eyes got let off the hook, courtesy of the Transplants, an indescribably dismal off-shoot band of punk luminaries. Exactly what motivated these guys to pursue a project of migraine-inducing pseudo-rap-metal is unclear. Try not to laugh when the vocalist belches, "not claimin' no set is what I'm all about." To paraphrase my friend Paul, they are called the Transplants because you'll need an ear transplant after hearing them. This may be the worst record I have ever heard.

I recommend any of these titles to soothe the monotony of the post-Christmas months. Have a loud and festive holiday.