Year-End Critics' Polls 2014

Midnight
No Mercy for Mayhem

Over the past few years Cleveland band Midnight has been steadily attracting new followers in the metal underground with its simple yet irresistible and very raucous blend of Motörhead’s fierce rock ‘n’ roll and the deliriously sloppy blasphemy of Venom. As brilliant as 2011’s Satanic Royalty was—and it was one of that year’s finest underground metal releases—it had many, including yours truly, wondering just what Midnight had left in the tank. After all, when you’re a one-trick pony, it’s hard to keep audiences riveted; just ask Motörhead and Venom, who’ve had their share of duds. What makes No Mercy For Mayhem so extraordinary, however, is that it’s just as intense and primal as ever, but now there’s a flashier side to the riffs, often bringing a deathpunk swagger to the proceedings, guaranteed to remind many of Norwegian greats Turbonegro. Just listen to how the crazed boogie-woogie of “Prowling Leather” segues immediately into the title track, whose slick leads are more Hanoi Rocks than Jeff Mantas. The end result is one of the most undeniably fun metal albums of the year, one that’s far more musically rich than anyone could ever have expected. Adrien Begrand

rock lives

Is rock undead?

that sounds fun

(that cleveland band not being a zombie)

it's great ums

(that cleveland band not being a zombie)

― you say tomato/i say imago (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, December 5, 2014 2:08 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

feel like a cleve rock band made up of zombies would be even more fun imo

i don't have much of a theory on this but i think a lot of the metal-lives-rock-is-dead phenomenon is just down to demographics. i mean, i would like to listen to more rock music, i suppose, i listen to a lot more than i did 10 years ago, but it's hard to find things that really interest me and seem good enough, when it's of recent vintage. some combination of post-00s mainstreamification of indie, and the ongoing state of commercial rock/alt-rock/loud-rock, and the retreadism (like brad's faves hotelier - i liked that but it also seemed too one-note to me to be forgivable, for such a familiar sound), and the weird unappetizing puttering about that i find in a lot of the headline indie/rock names of the last 10 years or so… it's like they're not currently expressing feelings/existential outlooks using sounds that i wanna hear. catering too much to the sensibilities of well-heeled 25-45somethings, their lifestyle plans, etc, for one.

whereas in metal you can find more of an outright disinterest in sounding nice for indie-npr, soundtracking beer-flight tasting night at the local coffeeshop, etc.; more acknowledgement of the current shittiness of society, life in it; at least (even if obscure/incoherent) some kind of nod to class (owing to metal's long-standing disreputable status).

on the other hand, aside from its other qualities that can make it unapproachable to people who don't like noise, massive downers, etc., extreme metal just has a built-in barrier to entry with the voices, the at the very least facade of interest in eeeevil, different styles of imagery, etc. so to some extent there are rock listeners who may have been comfortable with some configurations of, i dunno, negativity/refusal in music, that cannot get with those that are more available at the moment in some metal.

modern rock music in the popular arena = country

i know somedude checks for actual radio-rock, as some other critics here do. i suppose one way of putting it is that extreme metal offers some cred-cover for critics/listeners who want features of rock but can't stand for whatever reason to get them from / admit to get them from radio-rock.

i'm listening to a prog metal album right now and it is barely distinguishable from radio rock

the last band i liked a lot that could be called radio rock was gaslight anthem, but they have gotten suckier with every album. also i guess like, NIN, who i'll always ride or die for, gets some radio play for elder-statespeople reasons, thats pretty much it

i feel like theres a decent amount of rock - regardless of whether it's technically ensconced in some subgenre like the emo revival stuff - that in theory could have fairly wide appeal but it never seems to end up there

or say, the last baroness album - that record is chock full of anthems that are more or less radio-ready without sounding compromised, but i dont think any of those songs got play (correct me if wrong)

the last band i liked a lot that could be called radio rock was gaslight anthem

this reminds me that i had the thought the other day that some dude might like this year's taking back sunday record

i think the midnight album is interesting because it's open and riffy and hooky enough somehow, even with a nice and regular vocalist-over-the-top frontman, and not much in the way of noisy/irritating technique from the band, that it hits just the right buttons for your typical rock-listener-requirements. in a way that, say, the obliterations album from this year, or the oozing wound album, don't. but his vocals are juuuuust snarling/tortured enough to seem a little OTT / affected / playacty / indecorous if you're thinking that rock music should, like, be ok to have on at your independent coffeeshop. too many customers would be, 'it felt… disturbing'.

play where, slothrop? that album did get some critical play, and some ilm play. i actually listened to it quite a bit! but something about it made it too much of a sell/chore.

(and i think maybe it didn't stick enough with enough critics for the same sort of reason. lots wanted to like it, but didn't in the end?)

oh i mean on rock radio. thats what i was talking about - that baroness has songs that are still unquestionably baroness but could in theory be liked by rock radio audiences & yet don't get airply. it got oodles of critic love and although i was not on ILX then i'm sure it was adored here

*airplay. personally i fucking love that album, it was my #5 of 2012

Shellac album is only on two of these lists, speaking of rock music that this noise fan can tolerate. new Six Organs is too late in this dumb spin cycle to get counted but it rocks too.

chances of "Yellow & Green" producing some sort of rock radio hit were probably slim from the jump BUT whatever chance it might've had probably ended when they crashed their van in Europe a month after it came out, effectively shutting down the band for a year and a half. touring stopped (they didn't do a post-"Y&G" tour of America until late 2013!) and promotional efforts were scaled back considerably. again, it's not like you could say "that cost them a hit" but it certainly didn't help matters.

(it was my #1 album of '12, btw)

"board up the house" tho??

totally true about the auto accident. & its 1,000x better that they're alive to make new music sometime in the future than dead while their first radio hit surfaces.

Yeah, the Midnight album makes me smile. They were always a great band, but the way they glammed up the new songs in that sleazy Hanoi Rocks/Turbonegro way turned out to be a perfect fit.

modern rock music in the popular arena = country

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Friday, December 5, 2014

there's a little truth to this, and shame on us as a community-of-nations for not nipping-this-in-the-bud earlier.

totally true about the auto accident. & its 1,000x better that they're alive to make new music sometime in the future than dead while their first radio hit surfaces.

― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, December 5, 2014 3:09 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This makes me sad in regards to the Exploding Hearts. Probably since I don't think they got anywhere near the radio either.

Naomi Punk isn't on nearly enough of these lists

PC music and deep tech suspiciously absent from these lists too, track lists at least

oh fuck off with that snob act xxxp

the last band i liked a lot that could be called radio rock was gaslight anthem

this reminds me that i had the thought the other day that some dude might like this year's taking back sunday record

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, December 5, 2014 2:50 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah? i feel like i still have to do my homework and eventually appreciate their old stuff

xp what act? I genuinely believe at least 90% of contemporary country is puerile horseshit.

ILM metal poll voting is open til next friday
~~~ ILM METAL POLL 2014 - ALBUMS - VOTING & CAMPAIGN THREAD~~~ (VOTING ENDS FRIDAY December 12th 11.59pm UK time/6.59pm EST) ALL ILXORS inc LURKERS WELCOME

xp was responding to Daniel not you, DJP, extending the dislike to "we have all failed" is what got me riled up

your analogy seems spot on, esp. considering I don't like much of either

some dude can vote for terrible idm with guitars if he wishes

if by which you mean extreme metal then no thanks

Didn't Squarepusher do a terrible idm album with guitars a couple of years ago?

A really good rock band from this year that I just discovered through the Quietus list are Ought. Very Televisiony, a little bit of early Radiohead in there but not as prissy and moany - tougher and hungrier sounding. Check em.

yeah? i feel like i still have to do my homework and eventually appreciate their old stuff

i mean their old stuff is kind of a direct antecedent to fob and mcr getting huge, so maybe you'd like it, but it's very, very emo, especially tell all your friends which imo was a template that everyone else refined. the new one is probably their least emo and most straightforward modern rock record, feels like a bunch of dudes who've written together for years just really locking into each other and crafting great songs

i am also literally the only person who feels this way about this record so idk

but i think you'd also like louder now which is one of the more expensive sounding mainstream emo records out there

where you want to be was always my fave

http://antigravitybunny.com/?p=9868#more-9868

Didn't Squarepusher do a terrible idm album with guitars a couple of years ago?

If by "with guitars" you mean "solo bass" and by "terrible" you mean "amazing" then yes.

TBS are no brand new, imo, but where you want to be is aight

brad I do agree with you about that new TBS album tho. I didn't love it but sonically it's as you describe

tbf deja entendu is the apex of the form

Long-time veterans have accounted for a lot of my favorite rock singles/tracks over the last few years. This year, I've got Yes ("Believe Again"), the new McCartney single, and that Jackson Browne song (plus Beck - I really like "Blue Moon"). Last year, I have Dot Wiggin Band, the Dirtbombs (that great bubblegum record they did), Eric Carmen, and Camper Van Beethoven. Year before, I have a ton - Peter Daltrey, Dylan, Asia, Susanna Hoffs, and Lee Ranaldo.

Yes, Ought is good. On this thread Rolling Post-Punk Thread my first impressions of them reminded me of Raincoats and early Clinic a bit. Have A Nice Life and Total Control seem to be favorites this year too. I'm also partial to The Sea Kings, The New Christs and Dark Blue.

Pretty Much Amazing Albums

60 ScHoolboy Q, OxyMoron
59 Chromeo, White Women
58 Trust, Joyland
57 Lykke Li, I Never Learn
56 Ariana Grande, My Everything
55 Death From Above 1979, The Physical World
54 Perfect Pussy, Say Yes To Love
53 YG, My Krazy Life
52 Liars, Mess
51 Ratking, So It Goes
50 Sia, 1000 Forms of Fear
49 Ariel Pink, pom pom
48 MØ, No Mythologies to Follow
47 The New Pornographers, Brill Bruisers
46 Shamir, Northtown
45 Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
44 Hundred Waters, The Moon Rang Like A Bell
43 Real Estate, Atlas
42 White Lung, Deep Fantasy
41 Röyksopp & Robyn, Do It Again
40 Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues
39 BADBADNOTGOOD, III
38 Azealia Banks, Broke With Expensive Taste
37 Caribou, Our Love
36 Grouper, Ruins
35 Parquet Courts, Sunbathing Animal
34 How To Dress Well, “What Is This Heart?”
33 Ben Frost, A U R O R A
32 Owen Pallet, In Conflict
31 Strand of Oaks, HEAL
30 Beck, Morning Phase
29 Neneh Cherry, Blank Project
28 Ought, More Than Any Other Day
27 Ty Segall, Manipulator
26 The Antlers, Familiars
25 Mr Twin Sister, Mr Twin Sister
24 tUnE-yArDs, nikki nack
23 Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire For No Witness
22 Cloud Nothings, Here and Nowhere
21 Future Islands, Singles
20 Wild Beasts, Present Tense
19 Iceage, Plowing Into A Field of Love
18 Shabazz Palaces, Lese Majesty
17 Taylor Swift, 1989
16 Freddie Gibbs / Madlib, Piñata
15 Todd Terje, It’s Album Time
14 Mac DeMarco, Salad Days
13 Spoon, They Want My Soul
12 Flying Lotus, You’re Dead!
11 Sharon Van Etten, Are We There
10 Lana Del Rey, Ultraviolence
09 Aphex Twin, SYRO
08 Swans, To Be Kind
07 Perfume Genius, Too Bright
06 FKA Twigs, LP1
05 Run The Jewels, Run the Jewels 2
04 Sun Kil Moon, Benji
03 St Vincent, St Vincent
02 War on Drugs, Lost In The Dream
01 Beyoncé, BEYONCÉ

I'm surprised that the Hundred Waters album hasn't been on more lists.

It's ironic how frequently Lost in the Dream is finishing above Benji. I wonder if Kozalek is happy for them?

I've no doubt the same will occur on the ILX albums poll

How ironic