Before I get into all this rabble rousing nonsense, I want to personally thank you for reading and visiting Late Night Wallflower this year. It’s been a great year for the site and we have some big things in store so please stick with us and continue being awesome. Onward!

Impending doom, failing economy, soaring unemployment rates and all, 2008 was a pretty awesome year in my mind. How so you ask? Well, first and most importantly, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series and I went into a state of europhia that I’m not sure I have left yet. The United States came to their senses and elected Barack Obama to replace Dubya. The Dark Knight slayed and owned the eyeballs of the world. The “pencil trick” scene; that’s all I gotta say about that. If Heath Ledger isn’t nominated for an Oscar, I’m declaring a full-on protest of the show. What else? Oh, of course, and there were a ton of great records released. So cheer up! Sure, there are plenty of reasons to feel depressed. Hell, with bands like Nickelback or All Time Low in existance, it’s hard not to want to break windows sometimes. Just read The Zombie Survival Guide and turn the volume up on some of these records. The end of the world might be a hoot after all.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds– Dig, Lazarus, Dig !!! (Anti-)
Going into this year, I was just a casual Nick Cave fan. Now at year’s end, I’m full-on obsessed with the man’s work. Hell, I think I have even mastered my impression of his voice. I think Lazarus is Cave’s masterpiece and his most complete and satisfying record. Like his Grinderman record from ‘07, Cave continued on his cockrockin’ machismo kick, with ballsy tunes like “Today’s Lesson,” “We Call Upon The Author,” and “More News From Nowhere.” All of these songs just sweat bravado and unprecedented cool.

Read more after the jump.

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Tags: Best of 2008 by Matthew
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Probably my utmost favorite album of the year is not something anybody I know that’s into punk, hardcore, or post-hardcore would truly like. Matter of fact, it would probably make people question my credibility and taste in music in general. Yet I see not guilt in something that I truly like, and see no real reason to have my tongue in my cheek as I write this. I can’t help but be rather defensive in describing my fandom of Journey’s 2008 album, Revelation.

What? Journey? You mean that band that’s so synonymous with corporate rock, aka, one of the big things punk rebelled against in the 70s? Yes, that one.

As much as I like Hot Water Music, face to face, and Wire, I consider myself a fan of music. Yes, there are styles I like more than others (and others I downright loathe), but at its core, music is notes and beats more than sociological implications.

Read more after the jump.

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Tags: Best of 2008, best of by Eric Grubbs
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Photo credit: Brian Froustet

When you listen to D.C-based Police and Thieves, it’s almost like you are hearing the perfect union between the new and old school approach to that area’s rich musical history. I could rattle the list off, but that would be a waste of time so let’s just focus on this amazing band and their new record Amor Y Guerra.

I can’t help but think of a recent episode of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” when I think about P&T. In that particular episode, Anthony explored the “other” D.C.; the one that exists outside the political spectrum. You don’t have to be from that area to know that Police and Thieves are the sound of that “other”  D.C., just like their peers before them. It’s politically-minded, pissed off, and progressive hardcore.

I had a chance to exchange a few words with lead singer Carlos Izurieta not too long ago. Read on and definitely check out this band.

You have been involved in the D.C. scene for quite some time now; notably with your old band Worn Thin. Over the years, what has D.C.’s music scene meant to you?
C: As I get older, I am beginning to appreciate and see the full scope of the musical history of this city and I am proud to be from here. The thing is D.C. was never a hotbed of commercially successful bands but it had bands that influenced many of those bands. One example of that is how many mainstream bands cite Minor Threat as a big influence. Awhile back, I was reading in Rolling Stone how Jack Johnson learned to play guitar by playing Minor Threat songs. I see the loose connection with surfing and digging aggressive music but it’s more than that. It spawned so many sounds and movements such as straight edge, emo and then later on the whole “Dischord sound” that so many indie and post punk bands have. But I think it’s biggest influence on the underground music scene was it’s sense of community and merging the music being made with political and social activism through concerts/protests and organizations such as Positive Force.

Read more after the jump.

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Tags: Interview, Police and Thieves by Matthew
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(No specific order!!!)

1. Title Fight-Kingston
2. Blacklisted-Heavier than Heaven Lonelier than God
3. Alkaline Trio-Agony & Irony
4. Mother of Mercy-Passing through the Fire
5. Cat Power-Jukebox
6. Cold World-Dedicated to Babies that Came Feet First
7. Foo Fighters-Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace
8. The Jealous Sound-Got Friends EP
9. Trapped Under Ice-Split with Dirty Money
10. Fucked Up-The Chemistry of Common Life
11. Ryan Adams-Cardinology

Other cool things: Phillies takeover in 2008, record release shows, seeing Breakdown at the Black N Blue Bowl, and Ryan Adams covering the Foo Fighters’ “Time Like These” on the BBC.

Tags: Best of 2008, best of by Lily
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I managed to dredge up my memories of news, shows, and records that happened this past year. It wasn’t easy. I’ve fried a lot of brain cells with black coffee and fumes from the subway, so remembering what I had for dinner the night before is sometimes a chore.  Not to mention that a lot of albums have come across my desk, I spent a lot of time listening to music, almost to an obsessive level sometimes.

So to highlight my favorite stuff of the year, never mind remembering what exactly came out this year, is sorta fucking hard.  I mean the last CD I really loved that I got is a CD version of two Scream records, and that band broke up in 1990.  Most of the bands I really like are off the beaten path even in punk rock, and a bunch of them aren’t even active any more.

Yes, I really am that hip.

But I figured that if I instead thought of what I remembered about the year in more general terms, then that’ll work.  So here we are. And while the names that you see here might not be ones you recognized this past year, what’s here was still pretty significant to me and in the end, in some way to everyone.

Read more after the jump.

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Tags: Hot Water Music, Jerry Finn, Lemuria, Memorial, News, Paint It Black, The Descendents, Worn In Red, Young Hearts, benard, best of, lipona, only thunder, polar bear club by Costa
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