My Top 250 Albums (101-110)

101. TINY MOVING PARTS – SWELL

(2018 – T10 G10 B5 UB0)

Emo-math noodlers Tiny Moving Parts are back with their latest album and highest placed. On this one the formula is the same, more noddle, more shouty, more sporadic riffs and quiet loud sections. Added into the mix is more female vocals which I understand are done by the lead singers other half. This is probably their most accessible work so far and so was my entry level into them, perhaps also to do with timing when I was on the hunt for new bands to like. The lyrics are fairly basic stuff but just act as another instrument to support the guitar melodies which are the main feature. “Applause” kicks off the album with its stop start nature before settling into a more meaningful rhythm. “Feel Alive” and “Caution” are the other 2 main feature songs (ie. they have a video on youtube for them). There are a couple of times on the album when you just wish it would break into a big ending but then they just end apbruplty, in particular “Malfunction” which sounds like it’s going awesome places, just to … stop. The album then finishes with the chilled horn section of “Warm Hand Splash” after the jittering chaos before.

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102. RISE AGAINST – APPEAL TO REASON
(2008 – T13 G12 B5 UB0)

So it’s the 3rd of 6 Rise Against albums in the list and this time its their 5th release from 2008 “Appeal To Reason”. This album started to show more of a shift from punk stylings to a more straight rock influence and also more radio friendly. There’s not too much more to add to this than that really as Rise Against albums are never experimental affairs and they usually stay in the territory they know and execute well. Opener “Collapse (Post-Amerika)”, begins in their traditional heavier punk manner before the more mid paced “Long Forgotten Sons”, both of which are great in their own way. “Hero Of War” is an acoustic song that takes the viewpoint from a soldier who has done some things he may regret but got carried along with, so he doesn’t feel like the hero he is seen as. “Saviour” is a great 2 parter song, with its uptempo beginnings before the big slow down in the middle. The album finishes with a big chunky riff filled “Whereabouts Unknown”, which seems to have 5 or so parts to it. It may have a weaker middle to the album but its still a great album for me and worthy of its place just outside the top 100.

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103. SHED SEVEN – INSTANT PLEASURES
(2017 – T12 G11 B5 UB0)

Well, well, well, this album was an unexpected surprise (one of those words not needed there), from York’s 90’s brit pop B-listers Shed Seven. I say B-listers not in terms of quality but in stature, I love “A Maximum High” as will be seen higher up the chart. Usually though when a band has a 16 year break and their peak was 20 odd years prior its unusual for the next release to be any good. This though is great! its just like being transported back to secondary school in the 90s but with it still sounding fresh (although these are 38 year old ears so perhaps not the best radar for that). The opener “Room In My House” is probably the weakest on the album though is still ok, so don’t judge the album by that. “Nothing To Live Down” is a summery little number, “It’s Not Easy” is the new “The Heroes”, “Said I’m Sorry” is the new “Disco Down” and “Better Days” is the new “Chasing Rainbows” (though clearly not quite as good, thats not possible) and “Invincible” is a great last track. So if you liked Shed Seven at their peak, you should love this also. This album has nearly been on the list several times before this, but each time when listening to it again its got bumped up, it could go further but I’ll leave it just out side the top 100 for now.

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104. HAVE MERCY – MAKE THE MOST OF IT
(2017 – T11 G10 B5 UB0)

This is the 2nd album and highest placed of Have Mercy’s on the list. It’s there 3rd and most recent until the new album comes out in a couple of months. Its another mid-paced american emo-rock band along the lines of Jimmy Eat World or The Dangerous Summer but unique sounding due to the singers rough voice. They also have an ability to make cracking choruses, that find a way to open up a song with seemingly no effort., a criticism could be that its all a bit samey which holds it back, but these songs are definitely growing on me over time. On this album they have a few songs like opener “Smoke And Lace” and the glorious “Good Christian Man” (about the singers rejection of his strict Catholic upbringing), which have a dark kinda haunting atmosphere to them. “Reaper” is a song fantasising about killing someone. Things are a bit more upbeat on album highlights “Begging For Bones” and “Coexist” with its emote dial turned up to 11 chorus.

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105. I THE MIGHTY – CONNECTOR

(2015 – T11 G11 B4 UB1)

San Francisco’s I The Mighty have been likened to Coheed & Cambria and even Muse, but they are musically far less up their own arse than that. To be honest I don’t really see the link, but their ya go. They are a post-hardcore band with progressive tendancies, but in general keep it below the 3 to 4 minute limit. This is their 3rd album of 4 released and the only in my list, not that the others are bad, they just don’t have the highs (or just aren’t the one I got into them on, as that in general is always your favourite or close to as thats why you liked them). The song that suckered me in was “The Lying Eyes of Miss Erray” and its awesome little section after the chorus, (see around the 1:40 mark), can’t get me enough of that. The other highlights are the faster and gang chorus filled “Adrift” which has a bit more of the screaming vocal in. “Playing Catch With .22” is a jaunty little number which just about stays the right side of being over produced. One song with a lot of production is “Slow Dancing Forever” but its a nice little quiet song without an instrument in sight. The song “Friends” though not one of my favourites gets a little boost by the presence of Say Anything’s Max Bemis on a vocal section.

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106. PUNCHLINE – 37 EVERYWHERE
(2006 – T11 G11 B4 UB1)

Punchline from just outside Pittsburgh, PA are predominantly a punk-pop band, but on this album at least with a more old school kinda sound to them with the types of riffs and lots of solos added in, but also a bit more feels (as the kids say) in the vocals. Overtime this album has gradually grown and grown on me, to the point where it’s hanging just off the tails of my Top 100. They’ve done 7 albums overall 3 of which I really like but this is the only one to make the list, they have drifted to a more alternative style on more recent albums. The album burts in with a cracker in “Flashlight”, its an awesome punk song with a glorious final minute with time changes and little noodle guitar parts. love it. The songs have a nice variation to them from song to song and during songs, with the little random piano bit in the middle of “Don’t try This At Home” which also takes it away from your standard punk-pop fare. “For The Second Time” is a nice enough ballad followed by the spiky “The Fake, The Snake and The Birthday Cake”. As can be seen in the score I love every song on the album and listening to it again now, it can probably feel hard done by at #106.

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107. TWIN ATLANTIC – FREE
(2011 – T12 G11 B4 UB1)

Uber Scottish sounding alternative rock now with Twin Atlantic’s debut album and only one to make the list. They are so Scottish sounding vocally you almost expect “I would walk 500 miles…” to come in one of their songs. They have done 3 full albums overall and neither of the other 2 makes it close to the list, though they are still decent but without the stand out songs. This one is full of big choruses, big enough to have you shooten frrreee in as scittish an oocent as yee cud dey, such as in the title track “Free”. You almost feel like pulling up yer kilt and bareing your arse at the English. “Edit Me” kicks off the album and has a glorious loud quiet thing going on at the end. the highlight for me is “Yes, I Was Drunk” about drink driving. “Crash Land” is also a belter of an acoustic ballad. The album was rated at #120 on Rock Sounds Top 250 since the first edition of the mag saying it had “wall to wall belters and choruses for days”, so pretty much what I said. Their following albums had more of an indie vibe about them compared to the more ballsy sound on this album and for me weren’t as good.

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108. MALLORY KNOX – ASYMMETRY
(2014 – T11 G10 B4 UB1)

This is Mallory Knox’s 2nd album on the list and their 2nd in their career. It’s more of the same from them really at this stage, this album just carried on the goodness begun on their debut, which was at 136 on my list. It kicks off with 2 bangers and singles in “Ghost In the Mirror” and “Getaway” with it’s loved up carefree living (no concern for health & safety) video. The best bits of Mallory Knox songs are always the way they build the big endings with the layering of vocals and such. Sometimes the album does drift off into samey-ness but they are still good songs. In the middle of the album comes the 7 minute long “She Took Him To The Lake” which starts off quietly and slowly before it gradually builds to the traditional big ending. The albums highlight though is “Heart & Desire” and its NASA sponsored video, lyrically its pretty repetative but theres something about the sweeping feeling of the song that I love. The vocals of lead singer Mikey Chapman will be hard to replace on their upcoming album but the first single off it “White Lies” sounds promising.

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109. HARVEY DANGER – WHERE HAVE ALL THE MERRYMAKERS GONE?
(1997 – T10 G7 B5 UB1)

Harvey Danger were a foursome out of Seattle, who did alternative, perhaps quirky, rock. They are most famous for the song “Flagpole Sitta” which is the theme tune to the TV show “Peep Show”, but was made even more famous for being in “American Pie” which is where I first heard it. Took me a while to find what it was though as the main bit everyone remembers is “Paranoia, paranoia, everybody’s coming to get me…”. My search was hampered by the internet not being as good back then (or at home), millenials don’t know how lucky they are, it definitely wasn’t mentioned in my copy of Encarta!. Anyway music, “Flagpole Sitta” is obviously awesome, the album though kicks off with “Carlotta Valdez” which is a banger along the lines of a more aggressive Wannadies song, “Woolly Muffler” and “Problems and Bigger Ones” are longer gradually building songs, the singer’s vocals gradually go from nerdy sounding to aggressive near screaming on some tracks … which is nice. All the good tracks are 1 to 7 and the remainder are a bit meh, but when its good its good. Their 2nd album a couple of years later had some great tracks on too including “Meetings With Remarkable Men” but overall it wasn’t anywhere near as good. Then they split, returned a few years later with an ok album but nothing great and then split again.

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110. BIFFY CLYRO – PUZZLE
(2007 – T13 G11 B4 UB1)

Biffy’s 4th album and the one that marked the transition to major label and the beginning of the change toward arena band rather than sweaty little sideshow band. Unfortunately this also had an effect on the feel and sound of their songs. They are much more conventional and cleaner sounding, for me this was a negative as I loved old Biffy so much. Perhaps if I’ds never heard the first 3 albums I’d be more into them now but I have to compare everything to what they did before and it doesn’t come close. Still this one was the best of their newer albums and with opener “Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies” which is pretty epic sounding with it’s orchestra strikes and deep voiced “ahhh” choir. “Who’s Got A Match?” is more along the lines of their quirky earlier stuff but missing something (maybe a match? lolz). The middle section of the album from “A Whole Child Ago” to “Get Fucked Stud” is where all the stronger stuff is. The album ends with 2 ballad songs which are fine but not as good as songs like “Breatheher” and “All The Way Down (Chapter 1)” off earlier releases. It’s still a very good album, just in my head tinged with disappointment at the Biffy we lost.

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