2008 Woodie Awards
The '04 Five
Albums We Liked A Lot
Paul Meyer Adam
Issue date: 12/27/04 Section: Arts & Culture
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The Obvious Choice:
Brian Wilson: SMiLE
Even though this album has been discussed and praised half to death, no top five list would be complete without mentioning the surviving Beach Boy's old/new magnum opus. For the two or three people who do not know about this album, it was supposed to be The Beach Boys' revolutionary response to Sgt. Pepper, which itself was a response to Pet Sounds and so on, and so on. But then Wilson went potty, was unable to complete the album and we assumed that it was gone for good. Thankfully, we were wrong. SMiLEa modal, three-part concept album composed of looped chords and lyrics, a sort of miniature symphony that flows elegantly to its orgiastic conclusion- an unfathomably good take of "Good Vibrations." The album may not have changed rock and roll history, as many (including Wilson) prophesied, but it still would have been one of the high water marks of American pop. In fact it still is.
The Real Deal:
Ted Leo + The Pharmacists: Shake the Sheets
The comparison of Ted Leo to The Clash is well deserved. Leo, in Shake the Streets, serves up a subversive political masterpiece. Even more amazingly, he does so on the punk rock holy grail: his third (good) album! Ted Leo has the unique ability to drive his message home without hitting you over the head with it. He also knows how to be hard without telling you how hard he is. These, of course, were The Clash's trademarks and the reason people justly called them "the only band that matters." Frankly, if Ted Leo keeps rifling off songs as maniacally catchy as "The Angel's Share," and penning lyrics like "roll out your dented car/ maybe it won't roll far/ but if you do everything you can/ well babe that's more than a start," he might be the next only thing that matters. Take that, Good Charlotte.
The Indie 500:
AC Newman: The Slow Wonder
AC Newman is actually Carl Newman of Canadian indie supergroup The New Pornographers and this album grows naturally out of their style. Newman has put together a debut that's decadently good, with guitar hooks so big and juicy you could lose our mind. The sound is reminiscent of Kinks with shades of Todd Rundgren and Brian Wilson- pure power pop delight. The lyrics are sly and emotionally varied, mostly cheeky but occasionally sharp and punchy, as on "Better Than Most" and "35 in the Shade". Mind you, with Newman's perfect rock and roll voice and sensationally good band, he could read the product warnings from a bottle of Vioxx and still sound great. This will be the best indie offering of 2004, unless The New Pornographers have something else up their sleeves.
Brian Wilson: SMiLE
Even though this album has been discussed and praised half to death, no top five list would be complete without mentioning the surviving Beach Boy's old/new magnum opus. For the two or three people who do not know about this album, it was supposed to be The Beach Boys' revolutionary response to Sgt. Pepper, which itself was a response to Pet Sounds and so on, and so on. But then Wilson went potty, was unable to complete the album and we assumed that it was gone for good. Thankfully, we were wrong. SMiLEa modal, three-part concept album composed of looped chords and lyrics, a sort of miniature symphony that flows elegantly to its orgiastic conclusion- an unfathomably good take of "Good Vibrations." The album may not have changed rock and roll history, as many (including Wilson) prophesied, but it still would have been one of the high water marks of American pop. In fact it still is.
The Real Deal:
Ted Leo + The Pharmacists: Shake the Sheets
The comparison of Ted Leo to The Clash is well deserved. Leo, in Shake the Streets, serves up a subversive political masterpiece. Even more amazingly, he does so on the punk rock holy grail: his third (good) album! Ted Leo has the unique ability to drive his message home without hitting you over the head with it. He also knows how to be hard without telling you how hard he is. These, of course, were The Clash's trademarks and the reason people justly called them "the only band that matters." Frankly, if Ted Leo keeps rifling off songs as maniacally catchy as "The Angel's Share," and penning lyrics like "roll out your dented car/ maybe it won't roll far/ but if you do everything you can/ well babe that's more than a start," he might be the next only thing that matters. Take that, Good Charlotte.
The Indie 500:
AC Newman: The Slow Wonder
AC Newman is actually Carl Newman of Canadian indie supergroup The New Pornographers and this album grows naturally out of their style. Newman has put together a debut that's decadently good, with guitar hooks so big and juicy you could lose our mind. The sound is reminiscent of Kinks with shades of Todd Rundgren and Brian Wilson- pure power pop delight. The lyrics are sly and emotionally varied, mostly cheeky but occasionally sharp and punchy, as on "Better Than Most" and "35 in the Shade". Mind you, with Newman's perfect rock and roll voice and sensationally good band, he could read the product warnings from a bottle of Vioxx and still sound great. This will be the best indie offering of 2004, unless The New Pornographers have something else up their sleeves.