My Top 250 Albums (111-120)

111. 28 DAYS – UPSTYLEDOWN

(2000 – T12 G10 B4 UB1)

Ahh this is so 2000, though with a twist. At the height of nu-metal with its rap metal stylings, 28 Days came along from Australia with rap-punk and oh how I loved it at the time. The appeal has lessened to some extent but when I give this album a listen its still great in many ways (if a little cheesy now). 28 Days (not related to Sandra Bullock movies or the period before waking to a zombie apocalypse) started out on their debut album, 2 years before, as more of a straight punk band with some hardcore influences on songs like “He Could Be”. Importantly on that debut album they had a song called “28 Days” which was a rap song with turntable scratching, so for their 2nd album “Upstyledown” they ramped that up a bit, not in every song, thankfully, but most successfully in “Sucker” (which included a nice bit of self censorship in the line ” if I had a pound every time I saw a sucker, I’d be a rich man mother *turntable scratch*)”. “Rip It Up” is also a pure rap-rock song, but it wasn’t rap on everything. “Goodbye” is not far away from sounding like a Get Up Kids emo song and “Rollin’ Gang” brings back the hardcore sound. I remember one time on a train having this song on in my headphones and an old lady facing me when the breakdown kicked in with the line “Because you’re going to fuckin’ die, Fuckin’ die because you’re going to fuckin’ die, Yeah you’re gonna die gonna die”. If only she knew what the voices in my head were saying. 28 Days went on to do 2 more albums but both were wack as they themselves may have said in 2000.

112. WEEZER – WEEZER (THE RED ALBUM)
(2008 – T10 G6 B4 UB3)

This is the 5th Weezer album so far on the list (the clear best 3 are left and will be a couple months away from appearing yet). As with all the Weezer albums of the mid-to-late 00’s it wasn’t a very cohesive album and more a collection of separate tracks. This one especially. The first half of the album is a strong start and on first listen excitement was high for a return to form (ish), but then came “Everybody Get Dangerous”, which has its moments but a very bad chorus, then the ok “Dreamin'” but the main problem with the album is the 3 songs written by the other 3 members of the band and sung by them. Yes they have their own side projects but please keep them off a Weezer album. They don’t sound Weezer and are shite songs. Then the album closes with one of the best Weezer songs from any period in “The Angel And The One” its just a shame it gets lost after the dodginess before it. Returning to the better start of the album, “Troublemaker” is pleasant enough apart from some dodgy lyrics, then comes 2 Ultimate Bangers in a row in “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” which is 6 minutes done in about 11 different styles of rock and is Weezer’s attempt at Bohemian Rhapsody. “Pork And Beans” was the big single fromt he album with its YouTube star inspired video and then comes “Heart Songs” which I personally love but it splits Weezer fans opinions strongly. So a game of 2 halves with an awesome ending, plus some decent extra time in bonus tracks “Miss Sweeney” and “Pig” the latter describing the life of a pig before slaughter, not enough to convert me to vegetarianism but its a class story song.

113. JIMMY EAT WORLD – CHASE THIS LIGHT
(2007 – T11 G9 B4 UB1)

Jimmy are back in the list with their 2nd one to appear of 5. This was the beginning of their drop off before returning to form on their latest release. It’s still a damn good album though, just nowhere near as good as the prior 3 albums. It kicks off with “Big Casino” which was the main single from it and is def up with Jimmy Eat World standards, infact the first 5 are all great. “Let it Happen” flows along with its chorus involving “ha ha ha ha I can laugh it off”, Jim Adkins vocals makes “As Always” a great song when sung by many others it may just be average. After “Electable (Give It Up)” comes a bit of a lull and the 2nd half of the album being fine enough but perhaps a sign of the more average quality of songs released on albums after this one. The album comes with a great bonus track in “Distraction” but bonuses don’t count towards the rankings, not sure how it didn’t make the album though.

114. LLAMA FARMERS – DEAD LETTER CHORUS

(1999 – T13 G9 B4 UB2)

 

 

Llama Farmers! we are going deep Evening Session with Steve Lemacq here! These were one of the up and coming UK alternative bands with bands like Idlewild, Biffy Clyro around the turn of the millenium. In fact I saw them 3 times 1999 and 2001, initially supporting Idlewild at Warwick Uni (first time i met Paulos and the seeds of My Cousin Walter, my first band, were sown), then in 2000 supporting the mental The Crocketts at the colly and finally headlining with Biffy Clyro and Cov’s own Thoria supporting. How careers changed after that point, with the Farmers only managed to do 2 albums before splitting and Biffy now big enough they can decide to release a soundtrack album (today) to their own film (or something like that), with no publicity for it before. Llama Farmers were almost what you could call slacker rock, as in their songs just sounded lazy and chilled but then could blast into a noise like “Lull” and “Big Wheels”. The album kicks off with one of the more livelier tracks in “Get The Keys And Go”, this and (obviously) “Jessica” are my favourites on the album, the latter being a fuzzy guitar 2 minute blast-a-thon. another highlight though is “Forgot To Breathe” which is predominantly acoustic and effortlessly (lazily) builds without you realising it towards the end. Not every song is great, hence the 4 tracks that aren’t even “good” but overall its a fondly remembered romp.

115. FAVEZ – FROM LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
(2002 – T12 G8 B4 UB2)

Favez are from Lausanne, Switzerland (oh you knew that already, wonder how?), they are a straight up rock band, but a very inconsistent one. They’ve done 11 albums, 7 of which I’ve heard and only 3 of which are decent and 1 makes the list. The album kinda has a rough sounding mix but it definitly helps it and gives it a heavier bassier edge. It kicks off with the driving “The Ages of Wonders”. Each song has its own uniqueness and it can’t be classed as samey at all. From the dancey riff laden “Show Me How To Groove” and awesome bass lead-ish “Son of Steve McQueen”. at times they sound a bit like 3 Colours Red if I had to liken them to a band people are more likely to know. The 2 ultimate bangers are complete opposites; “Chasing Honesty” starts loud and gets bigger as it goes a long, where as “Memories of the Ones We Hate the Most” is based around a chuggy riff, that lasts basically its full length and is like some kind of impending doom storm, if that was a sound. It’s glorious. The other album of theirs which may make the list as a late entry as I have only just got listening to it is “Old And Strong In Modern Times” which is the one most like this one. I have no idea how I heard of this band by the way, they have very few videos and none for this album and I’ve never seen them do a gig or be on a festival line up and definitely not on the radio.

116. MICROWAVE – STOVALL
(2014 – T10 G10 B4 UB0)

We first met Microwave back in late January with their 2nd album “Much Love”, this time its their debut “Stovall” (no idea what that means). This one is a lot more “emo” sound influenced without sounding generic mainly as a result of the singers kinda folksy southern half scream vocals. Most of their songs build as they go along or have a catchy guitar riff throughout the song. Today I learnt that the singer was actually brought up in a strict Mormon background, and Microwave was his escape after it with songs about all kinds of debauchery. “Trash Stains” is one of the highlights of the album with its more alternative US rock sound and “Work It Out” has a big ending. the scream vocals are used sparingly and seem appropriate when used. This may be one of the first albums we’ve come across in the list where all songs have made the good playlist for me car. A landmark moment indeed.

117. HOME GROWN – KINGS OF POP
(2002 – T12 G11 B4 UB0)

Home Grown are a classic sounding pop-punk band from Orange County, California which sounds like a place that 90% of pop-punk bands come from. This was their 3rd album and last. I can’t say I really like their other 2 albums based on what I’ve heard and they sound like a lot of pop-punk bands early albums with rough production and “fun” lyrics, but “Kings of Pop” is a perfect hit of chuggy bouncy pop punk with great break downs and those flowy bits towards the end. As time goes by the appeal of this album has never waned on me. It kicks off with “Tomorrow” with its cymbal crashing bouncy riff and continues in that vein. Yes the lyrics on most of the album are mostly only valid when your under 25 (at max) but balls to that the tunes are cracking. “You’re Not Alone” is a perfect pop song filled with “woah”‘s in the chorus and cheesy jokey video. Whats not to like?!

118. THURSDAY – WAR ALL THE TIME
(2003 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

Thursday the band named after a day of the week (Thursday also known as Gentlemans Friday to some). They are a post hardcore band from New Jersey and released 6 albums over their time, but only 2 of them make my list. This is their 3rd and the follow up to “Full Collapse” which is Full Awesome. Initially I loved this album too, I remember just going on a long drive one night after it came out to listen to it properly. I’m not sure why that memory is so strong but it is, I even remember for some songs which bits of road I was on!. Over time the appeal has dropped off a bit compared to its predecesor but its still a damn good album. It is full of references to 9/11 which obviously was still clear in the memory, in 2002 when it was written, but apparently the “War” mentioned in the songs is more a relationship war (so emo), but in songs like “For The Workforce, Drowning” with lyrics like the opening ones on the album “Falling from the top floor your lungs, Fill like parachutes, The windows go rushing by, The people inside they’re, Dressed for the funeral in black and white” the inspiration is quite obvious and in the title track “The pieces fall its like a last day parade, And the fires in our streets start to rage”. To be honest listening to the album as I write, I may need to re-assess this and it perhaps should climb a bit. Too far in now, so here it is at 118. Personal favourite part of the album is 3 mins into “Steps Ascending”, glorious build up to the ending.

119. THE DANGEROUS SUMMER – REACH FOR THE SUN
(2009 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

This is the 3rd Dangerous Summer album (of their 4) to make the list and they are all pretty much on the same level. This one however is also on Rock Sound’s Top 250 albums since the start of the mag at number 172. As described before they do mid-paced emo-rock with a gentle flow through the songs as in the choruses are there but you blend into them without noticing. This album was their first and is the highest up on the list (for now, the others are growing on me also so they could all end up much higher in a few years). The best parts of their work are the way the vocal melodies and lead layer of guitar are done, best demonstrated in “The Permanent Rain” and “This Is War”. Check out the very 00’s emo looking neck scarf on show in the “Where I Want To Be” vid (PS I never had one, never been fashionable). If you like what you hear or like bands like Jimmy Eat World or Hot Rod Circuit then keep an eye out for their new album out next month “Mother Nature”

120. PRESS TO MECO – GOOD INTENT

(2014 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

 

Press To Meco are a new british band who kinda sound a bit like early Biffy Clyro but at the same time nothing like them. They have the quick changes in riffs and timing, and multi-person vocals, but very clean vocals but sometimes with heavier riffs. It can all be a bit jarring at first and sometimes I’m not sure if I fully like it or love it. There’s definitly an upward trend though and their 2nd album released last year is def a step up on the debut we find here. Their distiguishing feature is definitly the style of the vocals, its just so different from what you would expect. It almost sounds like some of those late 90s bands I’ve mentioned before (Midget, Snug etc) but with a different sound behind it. They are definitely not afraid to be different anyway and go full in on those style vocals. Some of their acoustic versions of their songs are incredible. As for this album in particular, it kicks of with a NASA message saying “Press To Meco” as apparently the name comes from a NASA code.Then your into probably one of the more conventional songs on the album in “Family Ties”. 2nd track “Diffusion of Responsibility” takes you to the crazed mix their songs can be like, with a heavy riff then some light harmonised vocals. Anyway they are one of my favourite new bands and I have only just discovered an awesome song they did on a debut EP I missed and which other than youtube doesn’t appear to be available to buy or listen to anywhere. I’m desperate to hear what the other 3 songs sound like.