2010 in Albums

I figured that making a New Year’s resolution eleven days early gave me a jump on the competition, so here it is. Starting a new project with a retrospective might seem negative, but I might as well set a marker: the following is a list of what I loved and hated in 2010.

1) The Suburbs- Arcade Fire

After Funeral and Neon Bible, The Suburbs, sounds like a pretty soft title. It doesn’t have the small-town-America anger of their first album or the paranoid, apocalyptic statements of their second, and as a result it’s so much more accessible. Sure, Neighborhood #2 (Laika) and My Body is a Cage are great songs, but how many people can relate to runaway brothers and rock star angst? That’s where The Suburbs’ genius lies; it takes your life and makes it so much more interesting. People know what it’s like learning to drive, to break an arm or to be bored in the endless, repetitive sprawl of a city’s fringes. The fact that Arcade Fire make it so musically interesting is testament to genuine, extravagant talent.

2) Contra- Vampire Weekend

Bad News: Vampire Weekend's follow-up to their self-titled debut album was more difficult to listen to than their first LP.

Good News: "Difficult" Vampire Weekend is about as hard as being a moneyed Columbia University graduate. Contra had all the boomerang melody of Vampire Weekend, and showed that the band's grasp on Rancid-Lite ska (Cousins) was just as firm as their grasp on slick synth-pop (Giving Up The Gun).

3) Man Alive- Everything Everything

For me, one of 2010's high watermarks was the release of this bizarre, labyrinthine album. A succession of brilliantly insane singles pitch this album in a strange place. It's catchy as hell, but unmarketable. The lyrics are fascinating but unintelligible. As soon as you've started to dance, it changes time signature. Man Alive, much like Contra, is a knowing but enjoyable album. Though there is undoubtedly a touch of filler about some of the record's later tracks, the album's four singles can go toe-to-toe with any of 2010's best.

4) The Fool- Warpaint

Warpaint's debut was a loose, woozy fuck-you to all of 2010's female musical tropes. It was subtly sexy without any Katy Perry-esque innuendo, and classy without resorting to the tired revival du jour, the Spectorite girl-group- I'm looking at you Best Coast/Dum Dum Girls. Behind the apparent vocal and instrumental chops, The Fool had tunes in spades; Undertow, in particular, stood out, all saccharine harmonies drowning a genuinely menacing refrain.

5) Flaws- Bombay Bicycle Club

If originality was the only criterion, Flaws would not be considered for any list of 2010's top albums but taking into account songcraft and emotional pull, it's impossible to ignore. Jack Steadman's way with a melody has been readily apparent on any number of previous electric tracks, but stripped of distortion and pretence his songs shine like sunshine through clouds. Leaving Blues is quiveringly affecting, while Many Ways continues the BBC tradition of stiff upper lip self-flagellation.

And the most overrated...?

Deciding on 2010's biggest letdown was easy. No other band preened and twitched as annoyingly or frequently as The Drums. With every chokingly melodramatic swoon and arched eyebrow, the world's music hacks fell more deeply in love. I can say with some confidence that they are all wrong. I've seen the "bewitching live show" (© Everyone) and earnestly rank it amongst the worst gigs I have ever seen. If the mind-numbing mediocrity of every last instrumentalist doesn't put you off, the total absence of bass and backing-track vocals will. Please, please, please don't believe the hype.