TEN

OMG IT IS OFFICIALLY DECEMBER! 25 days until Christmas when we wake up on Christmas morning to find presents under the tree, have a few mince pies and some wonderful turkey, and in the case of my family celebrate my sister's birthday in the evening (my sister's a total Christmas miracle what with being rather premature and my family's love of Christianity and everything - she's 15 this year).

I don't have an Advent Calender this year until I decide to buy one on the 13th or something. My blog's going to act as one though, with an album of the year and two songs of the year until ... well, the 10th. Whatever, that doesn't matter. 

albums of the yr

10. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

2008 saw the end of riotous Nashville rockers Be Your Own Pet as they decided to call it a day in August last year after 2 LPs and new members. The latter of their two albums, Get Awkward, was released in March of this year and delivered some punk gems - notably the high school homicide tale Becky which borrows riffs from The Locomotion. While fans continue to argue over whether their debut LP was better (I personally think their debut LP was better too), Get Awkward definitely shows some maturity in the way they play and write - and then they remind you that they're still oh so young with 51 second stormer Food Fight and Zombie Graveyard Party, a song about ... well, you do the math.  One thing's for sure, Be Your Own Pet will never release a duff album - this is just awesome if you need something to kick some ass to.

Tracks of The Yr

So I guess this'll be an odd list ... my original top two tracks are actually from last year but were released from albums last year. I didn't know whether to include them or not. I've chosen not to, but I'm gonna write a bit about both of them when I've finished the list just cos they're both so crazy fantastic.

20. White Lies - Death

Smallville adverts made bearable! Late last year White Lies formed from the ashes of Fear of Flying to go from indiebopping Maccabees co-horts to Joy Divisionesque maturer musicmakers. Death, while not being the happiest of song titles (and songs - it's about fear of dying ... I think), doesn't exactly have the most depressing use of guitar in the world and the synths are awesome. Definitely a band to watch for next year. 

19. Late of the Pier - Hot Tent Blues/Broken

Technically this could be cheating seeing as it's two songs, but for me it acts as one song. The opener on the brilliant Fantasy Black Channel album, Hot Tent Blues opens as an 80s glam keyboard introduction meshing into a Death From Above-style ending which leads perfectly into Broken. A song which is simply wonderful, and perhaps with the exclusion of Heartbeat the most 80s influenced song from the album. The guitar solo from 2.55 to 3.19 is probably one of my favourite bits from their album. It also leads beautifully into Space and the Woods, but more about that song in a few days time ...