2013....a year in review...(PART 1)

Here is the first installment of my round up for the year. These are by no means an "ordered list of my favorite albums from 2013" like you will see elsewhere..... However these are releases that have had real staying power for me through the year. More to come soon.

Our Daily Fix - Tour Singles 
The fix is in... (North of America reference anyone?) but seriously ODF has a formula that should be the envy of any band going. High energy fun with loads of jazz love, great math twists and cohesive songwriting chops. does it help that their sax player rips? yes possibly. Tour Singles has been a go to for myself this year and after having seen them for the second time it has only made my feeling's all the more fond.
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Piles and Piles - Premonitions Say
Boston based Piles maybe a fresh faced group but that certainly didn't stop them from landing a 747 on the head of pin. By that I mean their first effort is absolutely brimming with great ideas executed well and doesn't dwell on any one for too long. I can easily see their next release being an even greater barn torcher because of this, mark my words. Also the under lying shoegaze element these gents pass around cloaks these already great songs with some pizazz. Add in some more than capable vocals and an ability to launch from gauzy to full bore rock at a moments notice and you've got a top contender for my heart in 2013.

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Toasted Plastic - June Highs
Jersey band number 2? better check the water. Toasted win the award for melding that punk rock sound/energy into impossibly delightful pop delights while still careening around the landscape like a drunken master. That would be enough for me but couple that with some insanely catchy vocals both sung and screamed and its a recipe for me loving the junk out of this release. Somehow sounding like a throwback to the golden years of math rock in the 90's while still smelling so fresh and so clean clean. A must on my list for bands to see in 2014.


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Gulfer - Transcendals
What can I say about Montreal's Gulfer that hasn't already been said by myself this year? An impossible understanding of rhythm displayed and juxtaposing that in their song writing. Everyone in this group is firing perfectly. Carrying the delicate melodies to music that realistically shouldn't sound this gorgeous is no easy feat. Oh? whats this? another member and a new song? and its somehow better?
yes, yes it is.
Get used to this name because 2014 will be the year of the Gulfer

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Our Daily Fix - Tour Singles (2013)

Last Time on Swords o Plenty....

Once you have stood in a crowded room full of your peers in various stages of undress pouring sweat and genuinely being hypnotized by the shear brilliance in front of you....there is no way you can be "on the fence"  I am a soldier ready to do battle for them. Our Daily Fix is my perfect example of this. These guys play like the factory is about to blow at any second....seriously. It's a very organic and honest look at modern math rock today. Sure they salt and pepper with various other genre's but its the tight corners they take and the memorable structures that grant character and heart to their music.  Also to quell any doubting Thomas's that saxophone rips hard.  Sometimes its like a friendly battle between the sax and guitar for awesome riff supremacy. Need an example? Listen to "Two Cats" and check out that dueling riff work at 1:24 straight to the heavens.  You can be sure ill be seeing these gents again in about a week so expect more overly excited screaming from me.