Brett's Top Ten Albums of 2019

2019 has been another great year of music, and once again thanks to the folks here at CPRW I have been able to discover and explore more new music than I did before. Choosing a top 10 this year proved more difficult than I expected, with so many great albums released from some of my old and new favourite bands, and I had 5-way tie for 10th for a long time. After many weeks of listening and a lot of swap outs, here is the list of my favourite albums released this year (but I reserve the right to change it if asked in future).

10. Diffuse by Waterweed

Waterweed have been around since 2003 and, although they are fairly big in Japan, they have only recently started to build a reputation in the UK. Their second full length album, Brightest, and their set at MPF 2018 were met with much deserved high acclaim. Waterweed have an original sound and their style pushes the boundaries of what you’d expect melodic hardcore to sound like. Diffuse is not only a great melodic hardcore album, but a great punk rock album in general, featuring a wide range of dynamics in which you can feel the passion and emotion of the songs being sung and screamed into your ears.

9. Railer by Lagwagon

I think if you told me last year that Lagwagon, Good Riddance, and Strung Out would all release new music this year, I would have put money on all three making my top 10 list. As it turns out, Railer by Lagwagon is the only album that made the cut. Railer may seem like more of the same tried and tested sound with super tasty bass lines, great guitar riffs, and classic Lagwagon melodies but it’s just so good that it makes you want to put it on repeat and listen over and over.

8. Operation Exodus by Adrenalized

It’s no secret that I love fast technical melodic punk rock, and Adrenalized deliver some of the best I’ve experienced. Seeing the band live at MPF was one of my highlights, the band looked like they were having so much fun on stage and the music was tight while looking effortless. I had been anticipating Operation Exodus for a long time, since it had been 6 years since their previous album and I’d been listening to it for a few years already. Operation Exodus picks up right where they left off and delivers 12 blistering tracks of technical punk with a strong sense of melody, and that all sounds difficult to play in just under 40 minutes.

7. Grow Up Trash by Problem Daughter

Thanks to Colin for bringing Problem Daughter to my attention early in the year. I pre-ordered Grow Up Trash after hearing only a few songs on Bandcamp and then had to wait a few months to collect it while attending MPF with Colin and Emma. Because of the time and the sheer amount of music we brought back from MPF, Grow Up Trash was put on the shelf almost to be forgotten, but only almost. I got into it a little while ago when I started going through 2019 releases to begin building a top 10 list. The influences are hard to pin down, the song structures are interesting but catchy, and the vocals are gruff and melodic; all the things that make for an album that is a lot of fun to listen to and won’t be so easily forgotten again.

6.  Cut & Stitch by Petrol Girls

In a CPRW review of MPF 2017, Petrol Girls are described as a shouty hardcore band with strong feminist, humanitarian, and anti-fascist views, and at that point in my life it was exactly what I was looking for. Their debut full length, Talk of Violence, was full of powerful lyrics and songs that resonated with me immediately and it became one of my most played albums. I have been eagerly waiting for their new album with anticipation since then and Cut & Stitch did not disappoint. Each song is carefully constructed and there are some moments that remind me of early Refused, post-hardcore at its best with an important and meaningful message behind every lyric. Music like this cannot be ignored.

5. Age Of Unreason by Bad Religion

There isn’t a lot I can say about Age Of Unreason, other than it’s released by Bad Religion who are still so consistently good after nearly 40 years. This was always going to be on my list considering Bad Religion, No Use For A Name, and Propagandhi are constantly trading places in my personal list of top 3 bands ever. The album is filled with topical and politically conscious lyrics, three-way vocal harmonies, and of course fast songs. So really it sounds like a Bad Religion album. After nearly 4 decades and a fair number of albums, Bad Religion have pretty much perfected their sound and are able to consistently deliver without feeling stale or outdated, and Age of Unreason is no exception.

4. Set Us Free by Reconciler

Set Us Free was an instant favourite from the moment I heard it. With hints of Smoke Or Fire and Against Me!, Reconciler are able to create a catchy and familiar Fest-core sound without coming across as generic or insincere. Considering Set Us Free is their debut full length album, I can only imagine what the future holds for Reconciler and expect them to go on to release a few more favourites of mine. Until then, I am quite happy to keep spinning Set Us Free and singing along in my car on the way to work.

3. Flash Gordon Ramsay Street by The Decline

I can’t deny my love for The Decline, they are some of the friendliest guys and have yet to release something that I don’t like. Their brand of melodic skate-punk filled with vocal harmonies and catchy melodies speaks directly to my soul and takes me to a happy place every time. Flash Gordon Ramsay Street doesn’t stray too far from The Decline’s formula but does feature a more equal share of vocal duties between Pat and Ben, some varied song compositions, as well as more personal lyrics in some songs. Flash Gordon is skate-punk of the highest quality, featuring some great guest vocals, and is littered with (even going as far as two songs made up entirely of) pop-culture references.

2. Deals, Deals, Deals! by Ramona

To save on shipping when I’m ordering from labels overseas (they’re all overseas), I try to order multiple records. So, while browsing the A-F record store I found Deals, Deals, Deals! by Ramona which was a band I’d never heard, but the name was familiar due to Colin’s review on CPRW. I listened to a few songs on Bandcamp and thought it was quite fun, so I added it to my cart and checked out. After adding it to my library, I was barely able to stop listening. Ramona are probably my favourite discovery of the year and Deals x3 is the type of album that makes you happy to still be listening to pop-punk in 2019. It’s the new benchmark of what pop-punk should sound like going forward.

1. Get It Together by MakeWar

I missed the MakeWar set at Fest 15, as well as their 2016 album Developing a Theory of Integrity, so I feel a bit late on the MakeWar train but better late than never. I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to MakeWar until their album on FatWreck Chords was announced, but after I heard Oh, Brother I knew that the album would be great. Get It Together manages to bring a diverse range of influences together to create a dynamic album that also fits perfectly within the Fat catalogue, featuring some elements of grunge and hardcore, crisp production and just plain great song writing. A lot of people may think it doesn’t measure up to their previous work, but Get It Together has been my favourite album of the year.

In addition to the albums above, there have also been some great EPs released this year. I didn’t listen to nearly enough to fairly create an entire list. Chicago’s Much The Same released Everything Is Fine on Lockjaw Records living up to all the hype built up since their 2015 return from hiatus. Cape Town’s Crossfire Collision released Deadlock and All This For Nothing (ATFN) from Pretoria gave us Reverence, proving that even though the shows are small, punk rock is still alive in South Africa.

This end of year list was written by Brett Coomer.