LNWF’s Best Of 2010: Matt
Posted on December 23rd, 2010 by Matthew
As you may have noticed, we have some new members posting their best of lists this year. I’d like to welcome my friends Dustin, Brianne, and Gabe to the site. I’ve said it before but I truly believe that Late Night Wallflower is headed in an exciting new direction with the new clientele assembled. Along with a face lift, you can expect this site to become a fully function zine again. More interviews, more columns (from both us and friends / musicians), and new….attitude (yeah!). I’m excited to welcome these three on board and I look forward to seeing where the site goes as it heads towards it’s fifth birthday.
Thanks for reading and here’s to an awesome 2011.
-Matt
And now, onward with my favorite records from 2010. It was definitely a good year for new music.
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)
Hands down, my favorite record of 2010. In a time where Pitchfork dominates what people give their attention to for 7.8 minutes and the chill-wave movement drapes its dreadful cloak of hip douchebaggery over the masses, it was refreshing to have these indie vets come back from a nine year absence and show everybody how it should be done. Every song on Majesty Shredding is so insanely infectious and lacking of any sort of pretension. No bullshit, just fun; certainly a mantra that more bands need to live by. Personal favorites include “Learned To Surf” and “My Gap Feels Weird,” but I’d be hard pressed to find one second of weakness on this record. It’s rare that you see a band this far into their career releasing their best material, but Superchunk has done just that.
Superchunk “Learned To Surf”
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Screaming Females – Castle Talk (Don Giovanni)
Yet again, Screaming Females released an absolutely stellar full-length this year that was slightly outshined by another band on my year end list (last year was Reigning Sound). I hope it doesn’t develop into Buffalo Bills syndrome. Regardless of all this ranking hoopla, Castle Talk is by far the best album the band has put out. It was pretty well-documented that the band had a rough year but instead of self-destructing, the band channeled that angst and frustration into powerful and inspired songs like “Normal” and “Boss.” If I had to pick one word to describe this record it would be urgent. Even though they’ve fallen short of the number one spot again, Screaming Females show the most promise of anyone on this list. When I talked to the band earlier this year, they spoke of expanding their sound for the next record. What that will be exactly, I can’t say, but I’m excited to see it.
Screaming Females “Normal”
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Read more after the jump.
