Cover illustration of the owner's manual for the Pulsar arcade game unit, 1981
My top five contains albums that I've listened to countless times, but I doubt I'll be able to come up with something original to say about them. Time to use those "Original review here" links!
#5 Rolling Blackouts by the Go! Team (Memphis Industries)
With all that's going on in the world, how can it be that my Top 5 records of 2011 are all light pop fluff? I guess I needed music that makes me feel happy, and Rolling Blackouts can really "bring the happy", as the kids say. Apart from a stinker of an opening track, the latest Go! Team record mixes girl-group, J-pop, and shoegaze signifiers with pure sunshine to deliver yet another addictive sugar-rush of an album. (Original review here.)
"Buy Nothing Day" by the Go! Team
#4 Hit After Hit by Sonny & the Sunsets (Fat Possum)
2011 was also the year that I fell in love with Sonny Smith. Hit After Hit was the first thing of his that I bought, so it will probably always be my favorite. This is okay, though, because I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing this deliciously frayed-at-the-edges set of garage pop tunes. (Original review here.)
"I Wanna Do It" by Sonny & the Sunsets
#3 Cults by Cults (In the Name Of)
What? More frothy retro-pop? Not too surprising to see this one here, probably, because Cults delivered the hybrid of Saturday Looks Good To Me and Sleigh Bells that absolutely no one but me was asking for. A lot of people underestimated the level of craft behind Cults' tastefully "blown-out" beats, reverb-heavy girl vocals, and corny pop hooks - contrary to what most people say about this music being "disposable", I think that this one might stick with people and still be in circulation years down the road. (Original review here.)
"Abducted" by Cults
#2 Only In Dreams by the Dum Dum Girls (Sub Pop)
There are a lot of groups trying to do what Dum Dum Girls are doing right now, and, as a result, they got lost in the noise for some people (guilty!) But it was Only In Dreams (and, to a certain extent, the He Gets Me High EP that preceded it) that pushed their work to the next level. The difference? Well, for one thing, lead Dum Dum Girl Kristen Gundred knocked my socks off with her vocals on some of these songs. And the songwriting continues to improve without straying from that girl-group/dream-pop/garage-rock amalgam I love. (Original review here.)
"Bedroom Eyes" by Dum Dum Girls
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