30. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (Atlantic)
I love this band. You can find a more in-depth analysis of these guys in our review of this album. For whatever reason, The Odd Couple wasn't the same sort of hit with the critics that St. Elsewhere was. I'm guessing it's because the novelty of "Crazy" wore off. (Mario)
29. Sunn O))) - Dømkirke (Southern Lord)
Finally... pipe organ, medieval chant, and guitar drones on one album. Sounding great for a live album, Dømkirke is collectively some of Sunn's and Attila Csihar's best output. Recording in a medieval Norwegian cathedral certainly helps. (Tyler)
28. The Black Keys - Attack & Release (Nonesuch Records)
Although there's no way for outsiders to know exactly what role Dangermouse played in creating The Black Keys' new sound on Attack & Release, the Mouse's fingerprints are all over this. You have to be impressed with the way The Black Keys took a seemingly primitive sound and made it rock for four full-lengths and two EPs, but this album is a well-timed reinvention. Attack & Release shows that these guys aren't going anywhere, even if the organs, flutes, and other surprising additions to their sound threaten to alienate the blues purists among their fanbase. (Mario)
27. This is Hell - Misfortunes (Trustkill)
Long Island hardcore stalwarts This is Hell returned with their most potent release to date, filled with blistering hardcore from start to finish. Misfortunes might just be their best release to date. (Michael)
26. Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom (Earache)
Although not quite as cohesive as the last two albums, Eternal Kingdom sounds a bit more of a progression for Cult of Luna, tackling a more caustic sound while still incorporating the dynamics which they utilize so well on previous efforts. A much more focused and precisely executed record than its predecessor does, Eternal Kingdom is a strong album that is sure to win them over some new fans. (Bob)
25. Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom (No Idea)
If Dillinger Four are Minneapolis?s lords and saviors of pop-punk, then Off With Their Heads are surely their disciples. With 2008 being a banner year for the genre, Off With Their Heads gave us From the Bottom, easily the most up-beat album about self-depreciation, anger, anxiety, and depression you?ll ever hear. Normally it takes gallons of alcohol to get confessions like these, but on this album it took just four chords. Sorrow never sounded so catchy. (Scottie)
24. Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling (Matador)
Six full-lengths down the line, Mogwai clearly still has what it takes to create relevant and exciting instrumental rock. Post-rock never gets stale when you leave it to the pros. (Tyler)
23. The Loved Ones - Build & Burn (Fat Wreck Chords)
Build & Burn is as much a punk album as it is a no frills rock n' roll album. It?s a celebration of the themes common in these genres: romance, rebellion, and rigor. Here are a group of gentlemen capable of writing a great song without behind confined to genres. The Loved Ones do the same as their heroes Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, singing songs about dealing with heartache and trying to rise above the working class world, with an extended motif of building and burning. (Scottie)
22. The Night Marchers - See You in Magic (Vagrant/Swami)
Yeah, The Night Marchers file one hell of a rock and roll record with See You In Magic. Hearing this created an obsession that just will not go away. Good times and ass shaking rock and roll is what this band is all about on this album (live this is an understatement). But this is my #1 fun record. Thank god someone still knows how to rock n roll. (Bob)
21. Murder by Death - Red of Tooth and Claw (Vagrant)
Red of Tooth and Claw is an absolutely stellar album. The music is fun and intriguing, not to mention vastly different from anything else you'll hear. I've probably sung each lyric to this album a thousand times by now; that's how many times I've listened to this record. And the fact that Murder by Death's live show is equally as entertaining makes the songs from Red of Tooth and Claw so enjoyable. (Michael)
20. LaGrecia - On Parallels (Suburban Home)
Is Jason Shevchuk even capable of writing a bad song? The only downside to Lagrecia?s debut/final album was that they didn?t stick around long enough to tour on it. Distancing himself even further from his early days in Kid Dynamite and the lesser known Bound, Shevchuk gave us his most dynamic and varied album to date. On Parallels is aggressively melodic, thoughtful, and simply fun to listen to. Oh audiophiles and collectors take note, the vinyl version is immaculate! (Scottie)
19. Teenage Bottlerocket - Warning Device (Red Scare)
What if you made a cocktail containing the spirit of seventies New York Punk (i.e. The Ramones), the sounds of the early nineties Look Out! catalog, and every juvenile sensation you felt from seventh to twelfth grade? You?d have Warning Device, the latest offering from Teenage Bottle Rocket, the total embodiment of what pop punk is and always should be. Totally stupid while wholly sincere and unabashed, Ben Weasel would be proud. (Scottie)
18. Beck - Modern Guilt (Interscope)
Beck is one of music's most creative and original minds of the past two decades. With each new album he finds ways to re-invent his sound and bring something new to the table. Modern Guilt is typical of Beck in that idea, but that's where the expected ends. (Michael)
17. Lemuria - Get Better (Asian Man)
Sometimes I like cute. I don't go around and kick puppies and kittens all day. Lemuria, even though they probably hate being referred to it, are cute. There are some nice bubbly noisy indie rock gems on Get Better that are destined to make it on some mixtape to the cute barista with the nose ring at Starbucks. (Jason)
16. Skin Like Iron - Skin Like Iron (Independent)
This Bay Area hardcore outfit is the best-kept secret within the hardcore world. Skin Like Iron has been churning out release after release - whether it is cassette tape, CD, or vinyl - that pushes the limits of what a hardcore record is supposed to sound like. If you've put off listening to them, do yourself a favor and seek them out now, it'll be worth your time. (Michael)
15. Leviathan - Massive Conspiracy Against All Life (Moribund Records)
If this is the last release under the Leviathan moniker, Wrest has it going out with style. It seems that all hype surrounding USBM these days is in regard to Wolves in the Throne Room and Nachtmystium, but I think Wrest is still the best. (Mario)
14. Killing the Dream - Fractures (Deathwish Inc.)
Killing the Dream's latest full-length, Fractures, is fueled by the same ferocity, anger, and desperation that first drew me to the genre in the 90's hardcore records I fell in love with. I can't get enough of it; I just wish I could see some of these songs live? ahem? (Michael)
13. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
I've believed in Ben Gibbard ever since I heard The Stability EP some six years ago, and this record is no exception. Death Cab continues to live up to their own expectations, even now neck-deep in major-label fame. I think this band deserves all the attention they've gotten, and this may turn out to be one of the better albums of their career. (Campbell)
12. Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (Southern Lord)
Beauty and expanse abounds on the latest offering from Dylan Carlson's latest incarnation of Earth. This may not have the effect that the last couple of releases have had on a majority of listeners, but what this album delivers on is the subtle sense that Earth is settling into and refining this sound rather than experimenting with it. I have seriously only ever listened to this record from start to finish; The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is an album in every sense of the word, and it sounds as such because picking out separate tracks to listen to is virtually impossible and just screams to be listened to from start to finish every time. (Bob)
11. Ceremony - Still Nothing Moves You (Bridge Nine)
I didn't really want to put this on my top five, for fear of perpetuating the unbelievable hype. But this is the best stuff Ceremony has done since their demo. It's miles ahead of Violence, Violence, full of raw and sinister progressions that finally fit well together. Everyone has elevated this band to an almost impossible level, and this is the closest they've come to matching it. (Campbell)
10. Cursed - III (Goodfellow)
III: Architects of Troubled Sleep is the heavy and angry record here. There may be haters on this record for its production, but in my opinion, the production makes this record sound (at times) even more vicious, desperate, and angry than any of Cursed's other records. Arguably they are going out on top of their game, and thankfully this album came out for us to brutalize ourselves with wherever and whenever needs be. (Bob)
9. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (Vagrant)
If you're still sleeping on Brooklyn's the Hold Steady, you need to wake up and educate yourself on the finest meld of the best of classic rock (Springsteen, the Stones) and modern alternative (Weezer, Mountain Goats). Stay Positive veers between harpsichord-laden balladry to punk rock homage, and every minute of it plays like the accompaniment to the perfect summer barbeque, week-long roadtrip, night of carefree boozing or just plain ol' rock and roll. Highly recommended. (Matt)
8. Able Baker Fox - Voices (Second Nature)
A well written, well thought out record, but just an extension of the Small Brown Bike/The Casket Lottery split was my initial reaction to this album (don't get me wrong, that split is one of the few albums I use the world "amazing" for). And while considering that the members of this band come from those two bands, I've really been able to come and enjoy this as a separate entity all on it's own. A supreme piece of Midwestern post-hardcore that stands on it's own, I can't wait to hear more from this band. (Zach)
7. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
Is Fucked Up just another band pulling themselves up from dregs of underground punk to the upper echelon of mainstream success? Perhaps, but what sets them apart from the Rise Against's and Against Me!'s is that their records haven't lost a touch of the aggression since their initial days while upping the cerebral panache. If you still claim they've absconded into the Pitchfork world, Fucked Up is STILL playing basement shows complete with Cro-Mags covers! (Scottie)
6. Paint it Black - New Lexicon (Jade Tree)
Alongside Fucked Up, Paint It Black is pushing an outdated notion of punk to the precipice in both sound and content. Eschewing the idea that violence and volatility makes for the best aggressive music, instead opting for anger and intelligence, Paint it Black continues to prove why they are one of the best at what they do. (Scottie)
5. Young Widows - Old Wounds (Temporary Residence Limited)
When Young Widows's Settle Down City was released in 2006, I was glad to see that members of Breather Resist would continue to make music together. Old Wounds is sludgy, bass driven, and everything I expected from Young Widows. Seeing this band in 2008 made me appreciate Old Wounds even more. (Tohm)
4. Polar Bear Club - Sometimes Things Just Disappear (Red Leader)
Sometimes there's a newish band that comes out and just knocks you on your ass. Polar Bear Club is that band with a sound nestled clearly in the Midwest in 1996 and the most honest real lyrics that it makes Sometimes Things Just Disappear sound like a long depressing letter from your oldest friends. (Jason)
3. Dillinger Four - C I V I L W A R (Fat Wreck Chords)
The punk rock Chinese Democracy was finally released, and they even beat Guns n Roses to the punch by over a month. With Civil War, D4 continues to show the world everything that's good about pop punk. (Loren)
2. Blacklisted - Heavier than Heaven, Lonelier than God (Deathwish Inc.)
Blacklisted proves they are one few hardcore bands that still matter. Heavier than Heaven, Lonelier than God is a under just twenty-minutes constant smack in the face. (Jason)
1. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound (Side One Dummy)
2008 will go down as the year that The Gaslight Anthem lived up to the hype. I had bought Sink or Swim on a recommendation from a friend and found it to be a good album, not a great album, but something filled with lots of promise. The potential for something great was there, it just needed some time to be nurtured. The growth of the band as songwriters in just over a year is quite a feat as The '59 Sound is as good as all the praise it has received. This is the new sound of rock and roll and it is no surprise that it is our number one album of the year. (Michael)
The best records
This graph illustrates the proportion of the top 5 vote for SPB's top albums of the year. The first four records in particular have a fairly high lead on the fifth, showing the frequency they were nominated by SPB staff.
Up next: The SPB staff's individual lists.
