Bad Copy

Well, December is upon us and besides the jolly old fat man leaving either gifts of coal this year, it also brings up another end of year list. 2022 was a crazy year. It wasn’t nearly as horrifying as 2020 of course but there was still a lot of weird shit going on in the country and across the world this year. We lost some big names this year such as Kevin Conroy (voice of Batman in the Animated Series), Christie McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Jerry Lee Lewis, Oliva Newton-John, Loretta Lynn, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Ronnie Spector, Andy Fletcher, Meat Loaf, and many others. In the realm of music, there was a ton of stuff released. With the dissipating of the pandemic scare, more bands starting recording and releasing music and playing shows. There were so many good releases that it was not only difficult to keep up with them but even more challenging to try and decide which ones stood out amongst the others. So without further delay, here is the list of my favorite albums that came out in 2022.

10. Something To Tide You Over – Playing Dead
West Babylon, New York’s Playing Dead is a band that I have never heard of prior to late this year. A song from this album popped up on a playlist of mine and it stood out so well that I knew I had to listen to the rest of the album. Something To Tide You Over was released in February. The thing I really like about the songs on this album are the shared vocals between Sam and Jessica. Sam has some great vocal ability on his own but, without Jessica’s backing vocals being so prominent, I think this album would not have been as good. The melodies on this album are great. The bass really stood out to me and was a solid complement to the vocal melodies as well as the brilliant guitar riffs. My favorite tracks from this one are “No Apologies,” “Stay Home,” and “Paid in Full.”
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9. Don’t Wanna Dance Because I’m Told To – The Roxies
My first experience with this band came from a song of theirs that was played on the second episode of my music podcast Radio Unfriendly. Immediately after playing it, I knew that I need to listen to the rest of the album. Don’t Wanna Dance, released in January via Dirt Cult Records, is the band’s debut album and what a debut it is! Taking inspiration from Garage Rock, Post-Punk and Indie Rock, it was hard not to recognize the influence from The Thermals that is prevalent from this German-based band. My favorite songs from this album are “Underdog” and “Lovedrunk.”
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8. FTHC – Frank Turner
You really can’t go wrong with a new Frank Turner album. On FTHC, released in February via Xtra Mile Recordings, Frank does what he does. He writes great material that is both personal and poignant. It is also one of the more Punk Rock sounding albums that Frank has put out. It comes as no surprise that Frank’s new album is appearing on my list this year considering many of his albums have shown up on previous lists such as Be More Kind in 2018 and Tape Deck Heart in 2013. The album bursts out of the gate with the rocking “Non Serviam” and continues to chug away with inspiring melodies. Favorites tunes on this album include the aforementioned “NonServiam,” “Haven’t Been Doing So Well,” “Untainted Love,” and “Miranda” (an amazing ode to his transgender father).
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7. Hidden Vigorish – Nightmarathons
Hidden Vigorish, released in October via A-F Records, is the latest from Pittsburgh, PA’s Nightmarathons and is the follow up to their 2019 LP Missing Parts. This record is 11 tracks full of catchy punk excellence. Kicking off with a scorcher asking the question “Do you want to get better?” this album continues with a mix of both Midwestern and East Coast sounding vigor with hints of Against Me!, Hot Water Music, and Iron Chic. Chock full of tunes with passion and anthematic singalong choruses with amazing give and take vocal harmonies that I’m a sucker for. My personal favorites form Hidden Vigorish are “Better,” “Complicated,” “Deadline,” “Not the End,” “Enough,” and “Senseless.
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6. Beg A Promise – New Junk City
Released in October via A-F Records, Beg A Promise comes from a band that I had never heard of previously. This one is the follow up to this Atlanta-based outfit’s 2018 album Same Places. This band knows how to write great Melodic Punk songs that give off an air of Indie Rock and 90s Alternative. Beg A Promise is a fresh blast of energy with great hooks and big riffs that make you wish you were in a club listening to this band. Quote from ReleaseWave.com says it best: “If you’re not familiar with New Junk City, now is a perfect time to get to know them.” Everything on this album is great but if I had to pick some favorites, they would include “High Contrast,” “Rosey,” and “Sold in Bunches.”
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5. New Ruin – The Flatliners
The Flatliners are no strangers to my end of year lists. Their 2018 EP Mass Candescence made that year’s list. I have been eagerly anticipating the release of this album ever since I first heard about it. New Ruin, released in August via Fat Wreck Chords, was something to look forward and it did not disappoint. It comes out of the gate kicking strong with “Performative Hours” with ripping guitars and continues to crush. I love the way that “Top Left Door” starts off as a mono recorded acoustic ditty and then kicks you ass by turning into another mid-tempo rocker. The guitar riffs are full of energy and the gritty vocal melodies are fine balance between aggression and catchiness. The Flatliners show us here that they are growing past their original Skate Punk sound and diving into melodic hardcore territory. I love every song on this album. My favorites are “Performative Hours,” “Rat King,” “Top Left Door,” “It’ll Hurt,” “Recoil,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Heirloom,” and “Under a Dying Sun.”
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4. Chaos in Bloom – Goo Goo Dolls
While I was a big fan of their Hold Me Up/Superstar Car Wash era, I have to admit that I was not really into their commercially successful mid-’90s material and I more or less quit listening to them entirely after 1998s Dizzy Up the Girl. However, when I heard the single “Yeah, I Like You,” I was intrigued by what they had to offer with this newest batch of tunes. The album was released in August via Warner Records and, in my opinion, is better than anything they were doing in the mid-’90s. Chaos in Bloom is ten well-crafted melodies and harmonies with both Rzeznik and Takac trading vocal duties more so than I remember them doing so in the past. Tracks that really stood out to me on this album included the lead single “Yeah, I Like You,” “Day After Day,” “Going Crazy,” and the late ’70s/early ’80s sounding ballad “You Are the Answer.”
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3. Born to Bleed – Dion Warlocke
After a batch of singles and EPs, Oklahoma City’s Dion Warlocke has finally released their first full-length. Unless you count last year’s Nickelback Is My Safe Word which I think, technically, is still an EP. After hearing a couple of the singles that were slated for this project, I was really looking forward to what the guys were about to release and what we got was certainly worth the wait. With hints of Indie Rock in the vein of the Pixies, and even some hints of Progressive Rock in the vein of Pink Floyd (specifically with “Morning Star”) this quartet has put something together that will satisfy any genre fluid music fan. The addition of keyboardist Chris Cody has given the music a refreshing boost as this band just seems to get better with every release. I also really like how the singing styles of Jeremy (guitarist) and Elektra (bassist) complement each other so well. My favorite tracks from this album are “Cyclone,” “Cosmonaut,” “Landmine,” “One Fell Tree,” “Morning Star,” “Fresh Out of Fucks,” and “Second Shift Christmas Eve.”
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2. Bigger Than Before – Ex-Void
Bigger Than Before jumps out at you with “Churchyard” a poppy number that makes you can’t help but move your feet around. Next, the album moves onto “Chemical Reaction” which starts out with a more Hardcore-Punk sounding song with Alanna McArdle taking the lead on vocals and then returning to the Indie Pop feel that transpires throughout the album. One of the things I love about this album is the magical sound of Alanna and Owen Williams singing together. Ex-Void is a London, UK-based quartet featuring former members of a Cardiff, Wales-based band called Joanna Gruesome. Bigger Than Before is the band’s debut album released by Don Giovanni Records in March. Although picking out which of these songs are my favorites was a difficult task, I will have to highly recommend the break up song “I Couldn’t Say It To You Face,” “Boyfriend,” “Chemical Reaction,” “Churchyard,” and the acoustic almost Beatles-esque closing number “My Only One.”
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1. Free LSD – OFF!
This one came out of left field for me. Although I was a fan of Keith’s band Circle Jerks, nothing about his current project OFF! never really appealed to me. That is, until I came across a couple of songs from Free LSD, released in September via Fat Possum Records. Described as a companion soundtrack to a feature film of the same name, Free LSD is a blistering set of twenty tunes that merge old school Hardcore with Psychedelic Rock. And do I detect a note of some Jazz inspired Progressive Rock in there at times? I really enjoy the way that guitarist’s Dimitri Coats angry playing treads that fine line between Punk and Metal while Morris bangs sociopolitical lyrics against greed and capitalism warning in “War Above Los Angeles” that “the hour of reckoning is here.” Free LSD is an intense post-apocalyptic soundtrack that punctuates the current state of the world. Favorite tracks from this one include “Slice Up the Pie,” “Circuitry’s God,” “Peace or Conquest,” “War Above Los Angeles,” “Kill To Be Heard,” “Smoking Gun,” “Murder Corporation,” and the title track and closes out this crazy ride.
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