TOP 10 BANDS/ALBUMS/MUSICAL MOMENTS OF 2006
(in no particular order)

1.Seeing Lifetime perform at the Bowery Ballroom
One of my all-time favorite bands, back from the dead so to speak? Hells yeah! When the beginning to “Young, Loud & Scotty” started up I knew that there was no way my life could get any better than at that moment. I got the tickets for this show months in advance, and the month before it happened I actually remember counting down the days. It was worth it, trust me.

2.Latterman
How did I not know about this band before this year? Clearly the best thing to come out of Long Island, ever. I got …We Are Still Alive a month before its release when I saw them perform in July at North 6, which was an incredible experience in of itself, in a tiny club full of happy, rad folks. Easily one album I can listen to anytime, anywhere, and one band that makes me happy and smile no matter how shitty my day has been.

3.Armalite finally releasing their album
I’ve only been waiting for this for like two years. Dan Yemin from Lifetime/Kid Dynamite/Paint It Black, Adam Goren aka Atom and his Package, Jeff Ziga from Affirmative Action Jackson, and Mick McKee of Kill The Man Who Questions. How can you not love it?

4.The “end” of Hot Water Music
Yeah, The Draft are great and Chuck Ragan’s solo material is also awesome, but still, there was something magical about HWM that made them one of a kind, and when they “officially” called it quits this year it was the end of an era. I had the privilege of seeing this band perform and I ended up arm-in-arm with some random guy just singing along like I was in the band. Un-fucking-beatable.

5.The Loved Ones blowin’ up and getting the attention they deserve
Heartfelt lyrics. Great riffs and melodies. No-frills punk rock ’n roll. Keep Your Heart is one of the best records of the year, and a great follow-up to their phenomenal debut EP. I’ve seen them 4 times, once twice in just shy of two months. There really isn’t anything I could say that describes just how great this band is, and I was super-stoked to see them all over the place this year.

6.Rise Against
Man I love this band, and there was a point this year where I listened to The Sufferer and The Witness every day for almost two months.

7.Polar Bear Club, Dear Tonight, and The New Dress
Three little bands I discovered this year that not only renewed my faith in New York producing some incredible punk rock, but also got my toes tappin’ and my fist raised. PBC are another great band in the whole Lifetime/HWM school you can’t help but love, Dear Tonight tear it up like nobody’s business and make your face melt off, and The New Dress are an awesome folksy punk duo wrapped in the American flag and Billy Bragg records. Check them all out.

8.O Pioneers!!!
Texas punk rock. Vouched by everyone’s favorite internet celebrity and punk artist Mitch Clem. Black Mambas may not have turned up on your radar, but this little band finally started getting the notice they deserve this year.

9.Frank Portman and King Dork
You probably know him as Dr. Frank of the Mr T Experience. This year is his book King Dork was everywhere, including TIME magazine. And in case you missed the news, Will Ferrell of SNL fame’s production company bought the rights to it recently. I’m sure the photo on Frank’s blog of Mick Jones from The Clash reading the book didn’t hurt at all, haha!

10.Seeing The Queers live
That’s right, the fucking Queers. “Little Rich Working-Class Oi Boy” anyone? Holy shit, Joe Queer is the man. Always has been and always will be.

TOP 10 SONGS OF 2006
(not all of which were released in 2006)

1.“Punk Rock Girls” by the Queers. I don’t know why, I just listened to this song a lot this year. It’s a good song, what can I say. Yummy yummy punk rock girls, man!

2.“Clap And Cough” by Discount. I really REALLY like this song, I think I listened to it once like 3 times in a row in the span of like an hour.

3.“You’ve Got So Far To Go” by Alkaline Trio. Dan Andriano is an incredibly underrated singer/songwriter, he could easily blow Matt Skiba out of the water if the two had to go head-to-head.

4.“I Wanna Be A Homosexual” by Screeching Weasel. I sang this song aloud on the subway a lot for some reason. Made for some good times.

5.“Instinct” by Strike Anywhere. There’s a line in here where Thomas goes “like the moments you might shake yourself awake from those horrible dreams the only ones we never talk about” that just gets me every time and sends shivers down my spine. Not many songs can do that.

6.“How Low” by Against Me! The only time punk and country gets the mixture right. Well, not counting Lucero, but they’re another band for another time.

7.“Setting Off Alarms” by The New Dress. From their demo, which is a shitty CD-R with The New Dress written in marker on it. The line “well you can call me a misfit runt but I learned from the best” is awesome and sometimes I’ll put that demo on just to listen to this song. Look out for this band.

8.“Samson” by Regina Spektor. I love her, I love her voice, her lyrics, she is perhaps one of my all-time favorite songwriters. Seriously…I don’t care if you’re the most hardcore, smelliest crust punk in the squat, if you aren’t touched by this song then there’s something wrong with you.

9.The entire Hidden World album by Fucked Up. I can’t pick just one song, but seeing as how the whole thing just flows, I’ll put the whole thing down. And it’s my list, so go fuck yourself.

10.“Bad Scene, Everybody’s Fault” by Jawbreaker. This gem’s easily the best track off of Dear You, and every time I listen to it it brings to mind so many shows and parties, you can’t help but sing along. “Why why why oh why, why is it always like this?”

TOP RANDOM MOMENT OF 2006

Either Colin Kimble of Cloak/Dagger making fun of the CMJ’s as hipster major-label bullshit when I saw them perform recently (probably stemming from what he said was a shitty vibe he apparently got when Cloak/Dagger played Jade Tree’s CMJ back in November), or discovering Joe Meno’s fantastic book The Boy Detective Fails on a whim, which is easily one of the most original books I’ve read in a long time. So full of hope, but still made me incredibly depressed for some reason. Good thing I finished it otherwise I’d be deeper in the blue than Picasso was. Go check him out.

Tags: best of, staff //