Dave Zero, owner of local record shop MadCity Music Exchange, shares his favorite new albums of the past year.
I felt this past year was underwhelming new-music-wise. Up until September, my favorite release of the year was a reissue of Sugar's Copper Blue with the Beaster EP included. The remastering and packaging are great.
But leave it to Bob Mould himself to make one of the best albums of the year, and the best of his solo career. Silver Age is wonderful blast of fury. His songwriting is as strong as the Sugar years, and the band is a force to be reckoned with.
This wasn't the only album that caught my attention, though. Here are four more that impressed me this year.
1. King Tuff: King Tuff
What happens a garage-rock kid finally understands T. Rex and is not just trying to nick one of their songs.
2. Bill Fay: Life Is People
An album that feels like a big, relaxing sigh of relief,a world-weary yet optimistic look at everything in life.
3. Los Straightjackets: Jet Set Just because they wear Mexican wrestling masks doesn't mean they're a novelty band. These guys are the always under-appreciated kings of the underappreciated genre of instrumental rock.
4. Tav Falco's Panther Burns: Behind The Magnolia Curtain/Blow Your Top EP
Another great reissue of an album with EP included. It's '80s Memphis rock: raw, trashy and addictive.
Here are the best-of-2012 lists from the entire MadCity Music staff.
