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DS Band Spotlight: Proper.

If you’re unfamiliar, Proper. are a three-piece formed in NYC roughly 5/6 years ago (as The Great Wight initially) but hailing really from a variety of locations across the country and bringing with them all of their collective experiences and musical influences and creating something that hasn’t really been done before. I remember hearing their […]

If you’re unfamiliar, Proper. are a three-piece formed in NYC roughly 5/6 years ago (as The Great Wight initially) but hailing really from a variety of locations across the country and bringing with them all of their collective experiences and musical influences and creating something that hasn’t really been done before. I remember hearing their last album, I Spent The Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better admittedly a little late and thinking “damn…I’ve never really heard anything like this before.” The new album, The Great American Novel, takes all of the things that were great about the last one and pushes the needles way past 10. It’s important music. It’s music about alienation and about not fitting in and about being a queer person of color in a land that, despite it being 2022, is at times becoming even less comfortable with people that check those boxes. It’s raw and it’s powerful and it’s somehow still hopeful. Oh, and if fucking rips. I feel lucky that I was able to catch up with the whole band (not just with Erik Garlington who spearheads the whole thing shredding on guitar and vocals but with the full band, new mom Natasha Johnson on bass and Elijah Watson on drums and whom you may also know from his “day job” as a journalist for Okay Player) for the (*both laugh*) podcast a couple months ago – you can check that our here or wherever you listen to your podcasts. In the meantime, fire up The Great American Novel and be ready to be blown away. we were able to catch up.


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DS Playlist: Jay Stone’s Favorite Things of 2022

Ahoy, comrades! It’s your friendly neighborhood punk rock website co-head honcho Jay Stone here! It’s been a big year for us here at Dying Scene headquarters, mostly because of the obvious fact that WE’RE BACK! The site obviously relaunched back in June after a prolonged absence. If this is your first time checking us out, […]

Ahoy, comrades! It’s your friendly neighborhood punk rock website co-head honcho Jay Stone here! It’s been a big year for us here at Dying Scene headquarters, mostly because of the obvious fact that WE’RE BACK! The site obviously relaunched back in June after a prolonged absence. If this is your first time checking us out, thanks for stopping by! If you’ve been with us since the beginning or since the relaunch or since any other point in between, thanks for keeping us on your radar. It means a lot and it’s why we do what we do. I suppose now is a good time to insert a shameless plug for our merch store, run by the amazing Gaby Kaos of Kaos Merch and, of course, of The Venomous Pinks (more on them later). Anything you pick up goes a long way toward helping us keep the lights on!

Okay, now on to the reason we’re all here – the music of 2022!! As with most years, there was plenty of exciting new music to choose from, and as with most years, my status as a child of the early 1990s alternative and punk scenes is readily apparent. I do appreciate how the blending of those genres has become more acceptable as time has marched on, because LET ME TELL YOU, you’d get some shit within the punk rock circles for saying you were a fan of Springsteen or Gin Blossoms or Wilco or Depeche Mode or whatever for a while there, but now more than ever I think those styles have bled into the punk rock scene and I, for one, am here for it.

So what do we find on the playlist below? Well, it’s 50 of my favorite tracks from 50 of my favorite artists of the year. All of these songs were released this year (some, like Lucero‘s “One Last Fuck You,” appear on albums that’ll be released in 2023 but the singles hit Spotify this year so it counts). No repeat artists (technically, because Sarah Shook And The Disarmers and Mightmare are different projects on different labels, even though they stem from the same creative mind). They’re essentially in a sonic order, not a numerical one – my actual year-end ranking write-up will follow toward the end of December.

Stylistically, it’s pretty good representation of the new music I listened to this year, though I didn’t include Kendrick Lamar or Czarface or T-Swift because…reasons. I like to think there’s a little something for everyone. You like alt-country songwriters? American Aquarium takes us for a ride right off the rip (before The Flatliners come in and punch us right in the collective throats), and they’re later joined by Lucero and Cory Branan and Tim Hause and Will Hoge and The Vandoliers. There’s of course the one-of-a-kind Tim Barry, and his fellow former Revival Tour veteran Kayleigh Goldsworthy. There’s Sammy Kay and Lydia Loveless teaming up for a Misfits cover. If you like bands that put the rock in punk rock, there’s Mercy Union and Thick and Celebration Summer and New Junk City and Dosser and Timeshares and Talk Show Host. If you like your punk rock a little more raw and wild and heavy, you’ll find Be Well and M.U.T.T. and Sweat and New Jersey’s School Drugs and Suzi Moon. You like some of the longtime scene vets? We’ve got them too: NOFX is in there, as is Dan Andriano and Samiam and The Interrupters and Hot Water Music and Eve 6 and Frank Turner‘s tearjerking ode to Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison. Dropkick Murphys put out my favorite album of theirs in probably two decades (it’s chock full of Woody Guthrie songs, so that stands to reason). Speaking of the locals; it’s no surprise that I hail from the mean streets of the Boston suburbs, so the 617/781/978 area codes are well represented by Mint Green and Diablogato and Michael Kane and the Morning Afters and Cave In and No Trigger and obviously Lenny Lashley, who is one of my all-time favorites (plus the sweet power pop stylings of Donaher, who hail from my old southern New Hampshire stomping grounds). There’s plenty of music that sort of defies genre, from Bartees Strange to Escape From The Zoo to Proper. to Sweet Pill and Rip Room and The Pieces of Shit. There’s modern ska-infused punk from Flying Racoon Suit and Catbite and the inimitable Slackers.

Check it all out below! Maybe you’ll find a new favorite band, or maybe you’ll remind yourself of an album that you forgot came out this year! (Seriously, I almost forgot FTHC came out in 2022. Time is a social construct or whatever.) And stay tuned for your favorite Dying Scene staffers year-end countdowns over the next few weeks!


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DS Playlist: Jay Stone’s Favorites of 2023 (Samiam and Bouncing Souls and the Hauses and Sammy Kay and Lucero and Chris Cresswell and more!)

As I was sitting here in my spacious corner office at DS HQ fanning myself with our quarterly profit-sharing checks earlier, it dawned on me that the close of 2023 brings with it the close of the first full calendar year since the resurrection of Dying Scene a couple of summers ago. It’s still a […]

As I was sitting here in my spacious corner office at DS HQ fanning myself with our quarterly profit-sharing checks earlier, it dawned on me that the close of 2023 brings with it the close of the first full calendar year since the resurrection of Dying Scene a couple of summers ago. It’s still a colossal work in progress (seriously – buy some of our merch so we can keep feeding the hamster in the wheel) so whether you’ve been reading us for years or you just checked in for the first time in 2023…thanks! Now let’s get on with the wrap-up!

I know what you’re thinking: “Jay usually does a super long Top 25 or whatever at the end of every year so I can’t wait to see how many he listed this year!” Well the joke is on you! I looked back at a lot of my old year-end lists and realized how many albums I had ranked super highly and then never listened to again, and how many albums I missed or ranked like #22 that became desert island albums over time, so I decided to go a different route. Yes, Samiam is a clear #1 “Best Album Of The Year.” The rest…well…you’ll see! Every release mentioned appears in the handy dandy little Spotify playlist at the bottom, so maybe pull that up while you read, yeah?

#1 HANDS DOWN BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR

SAMIAMSTOWAWAY

Much like its predecessor, 2011’s Trips, Stowaway had me hooked from the opening alarm bell guitars in the opening track “Lake Speed.” By about the 30-second mark, I had pretty much made up my mind that Stowaway would be my favorite album of the year, and ten months later that’s still the case. That’s not to say there weren’t other killer full-length records this year. You’re probably aware of my love of all things Lucero-related, and Should’ve Learned By Now is another dynamite album in ever-diverse catalog. The Fiddlehead record was excellent as always, and the debut Codefendants record has been in constant rotation since the summer. The new Bollweevils record is a welcome addition to any diehard punk-rock record collection. The Crossed Keys record rips. The new Gaslight Anthem record is not only great, but also great to have because it means they’re back and as good as ever. Northcote‘s new record was a great, stylistic departure that brought him in some new songwriting directions. Both Hause brothers put out home runs. Even the new Rancid record was super enjoyable. But this was Samiam’s year. This album is damn-near perfect in just about every tangible way.

COVER SONG OF THE YEAR

ULTRABOMB – “SONIC REDUCER”

This was a tough one. The national treasure that is Joshua Ray Walker put out a pretty killer album called What Is It Even? that consists of eleven covers of tracks made popular by female pop artists like Lizzo and The Cranberries and Cher and Whitney Houston. The other national treasure that is Austin Lucas also put out an EP called Reinventing Against Me! that is – you guessed it – an album of reworked Against Me! classics. But as a standalone song, I had to go with UltraBomb’s take on the Dead Boys’ classic “Sonic Reducer.” It’s the one song Greg Norton actually sings on the record, and it’s a cover of one of the first punk rock songs I remember ever hearing.

BEST SOLO RECORD BY SOMEONE WHO USUALLY FRONTS A PUNK BAND

CHRIS CRESSWELLTHE STUBBORNNESS OF THE YOUNG

This was another tough one. Jason Cruz put out another Howl record this year, and while I have loved Strung Out for many, many years, I really dig the Howl project and I’m glad he leaned back into it this year. But my goodness, the Chris Cresswell record floored me. Granted, it would probably floor me if Cresswell put out a record of him reading the York, Ontario phone book, but still. His voice is unique and his careful attention to the way he crafts a melody and a song is as tremendous here as it is in his “day jobs” with either The Flatliners or Hot Water Music.


BEST BOSTON AREA RECORD

REBUILDERLOCAL SUPPORT

This was another tough one, as there are so many cool bands in a scene that is growing ever more musically interesting and diverse. Fiddlehead obviously put out another amazing record this year. We can sorta claim Warn The Duke, and their record was great as well. Jesse Ahern has long been a personal favorite and he put out his best record to date. Cape Crush and Trash Rabbit and One Fall and Trailer Swift were all new on my radar this year. The K.C.U.F. record is super enjoyable in a throwback Lawrence Arms sorta way. Matt Charette‘s “4×4” is one of my favorite individual songs of the year by anyone. But I’ve gotta give the nod to Rebuilder. They capped off their tenth year as a band by releasing their long-long-long-awaited new full-length, Local Support. Their sound has grown – matured? – over the last decade and they’ve damn near perfected their melodic pop-punk thing. Stellar job, fellas.


BEST EP OF THE YEAR

SAMMY KAYINANNA

Another bang-up year for releases of the sub-full-length variety. Depressors released a few new songs for the first time in way too long and they’re wonderful and Rachel Quarrell is a wildly talented songwriter. The new Proper. EP is wild and aggressive and raw. Grumpster put out a new single that has me eagerly-awaiting their new record, which is exactly the point of releasing a new single, isn’t it? The Space Cadet Suede Originals record is so, so fun. I love those guys. The Drowns continued their flawless run. But the nod hear goes to Sammy Kay. You may have heard some of these songs in other iterations, but the work-ups on Inanna are raw and sparse and allow Kay’s one-of-a-kind voice to add layers of depth and gravity to the material.


BEST GOOD OLD-FASHIONED PUNK ROCK RECORD

TESS & THE DETAILSRUNAWAY

We should probably talk about the surprisingly solid Rancid record here. We could definitely tip our caps to the new Bollweevils record here. We could definitely give some love to the Grade 2 record here. We could definitely give props to the new Bouncing Souls record here. But holy hell, the debut record from San Francisco’s Tess & The Details rules. I have to admit that I had no real prior knowledge of this band before I heard the record, which landed in my email inbox which is and always shall be embarrassingly full of stuff I haven’t gotten to. I decided one day back in September to start sifting through it and came across a press release that started “Punk Rockers Tess & The Details…” and decided that’s what I’d listen to as the soundtrack for sifting and what a great choice. This album hits like a buzzsaw. The melodies are tight and catchy and the rhythm section keeps the pedal down and Tess’s voice and storytelling are honest and raw and compelling.


BEST RECORD I’M NOT REALLY SURE HOW TO CLASSIFY EXCEPT TO SAY IT’S GREAT

CODEFENDANTSTHIS IS CRIMEWAVE


The Codefendants’ record gets a category of its own because realistically, the Codefendants band exists in a category that’s all their own. Sure they’re probably best known in these parts for being Fat Mike’s latest side project, but the real stars of Codefendants are Get Dead‘s Sam King and New Haven’s own Ceschi Ramos (shout out to the Elm City). King has long brought his hip-hop background and sensibilities to Get Dead’s unique sound, and Ceschi is a compelling storyteller and songwriter in his own right. Plus, the album features cameos from Onry Ozzborn and the incomparable Stacey Dee and the one-and-only D.O.C. (no one can do it better).


BEST COMEBACK ALBUM

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM HISTORY BOOKS


Is it weird that even though I think the Samiam record is my hands-down favorite record of the year AND that it marked their first record in eleven years, I don’t really consider it a “comeback” record? Samiam didn’t really break up or go on an official hiatus. They still toured periodically – or at least played a handful of shows most years – so they didn’t really “come back.” But Gaslight did. They went on an official hiatus and then kinda got back together for the ’59 Sound anniversary shows, but stayed busy putting out solo records (Brian) or joining new projects like Mercy Union and Dead Swords and Bottomfeeder, and so it seemed like they were really gone. But now they’ve returned older and no doubt wiser and with new sounds and textures and perspectives to refresh their sound. I already reviewed the album earlier this year, but it’s good enough to deserve mention on this list.


BEST ALBUM BY A HAUSE

TIE: DAVE HAUSEDRIVE IT LIKE IT’S STOLEN & TIM HAUSETIM

Okay, yes, I took the easy way out here. Whatever, it’s my website, and if you’ve ever checked in here previously – say, over the course of the last dozen – you’re no doubt aware that Dave Hause is one of my favorite songwriters and performers and, frankly, people in this scene. Drive It Like It’s Stolen is my favorite of his solo records since Devour, and that’s high praise in my book. His personal and songwriting relationships with his younger brother Tim have been nothing short of admirable to watch grow and develop, and Tim has turned into a powerhouse songwriter and melody crafter in his own right. I hope they continue to write and record together for many, many years because it seems to me like they’ve got different enough styles and influences to continue to grow separately as artists while collaborating on their core.

There are definitely a few albums that didn’t fit into one of the above categories but are no-less worthy of mention too. The Nathan Mongol Wells record is super fun. Lydia Loveless’ new record is a grand slam home run. The Le Big Zero album is solid post-punk garage rock goodness. Oh wait, the new Sincere Engineer is awesome too. The Billy Liar album is a great listen, especially that song with Frank Turner. Oh, and let’s not forget the Structure Sounds record. The best thing to come out of Rhode Island since Del’s Lemonade or at least since Dave’s Coffee Syrup. The Inciters are a great DapTone-style soul group. The new Flying Raccoon Suit is probably the best ska record of the year. Wait, why wasn’t that a category? Next year, I guess. Check out all that and more in the playlist below (if you haven’t already)!


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DS Staff Picks: Jay Stone’s Top 25 of ’22

We’ve made it to the end of 2022, comrades! In some ways, it feels like it was long year. It was certainly a year that was chock-full of great releases, almost overwhelmingly so. In part, that’s because we’ve started to hear the fruits of the labors that songwriters and bands and artists cooked up while […]

We’ve made it to the end of 2022, comrades! In some ways, it feels like it was long year. It was certainly a year that was chock-full of great releases, almost overwhelmingly so. In part, that’s because we’ve started to hear the fruits of the labors that songwriters and bands and artists cooked up while they were in Covid-related lockdown. A lot of really talented people had a lot of time on their collective hands and had to get creative about how they wrote and recorded and released their material, and it was to all of our benefit.

And so here we go. The top 25 of 2022. You know the drill (at least you know MY drill): studio full-lengths only; no EPs or singles or live albums. All “punk rock,” although the older I get, the more I identify with the concept of punk rock being less about three chords and Les Pauls and Marshall stacks and more about and more about people making music that’s true and authentic and that doesn’t care about fitting into sonic boxes but does care about speaking truth to power and holding mirrors up to society. If you want a broader listen to the full scope of stuff I dug this year, that playlist is here. Without any further ado…


#25 ThickHappy Now

I don’t remember when Thick first came on my radar, but I’m glad they did. The Brooklyn-based trio followed up their dynamite 2020 album Five Years Behind with the even more dynamite Happy Now. It’s smart and it’s fun and it kicks you right in the teeth and it’s exactly the kind of record that I’m glad Epitaph got back to putting out.



#24 Rip RoomAlight And Resound


If you haven’t put Bay Area art-punks Rip Room on your radar yet…what the heck are you waiting for?! Alight and Resound is their debut full-length and it’s killer. It’s got a real heavy 90s post-punk sort of vibe; think Fugazi meets Sleater-Kinney.



#23 Michael Kane & The Morning AftersBroke but not Broken

Michael Kane and The Morning Afters have been a staple in the Boston-area scene for a decade or so at this point. The lineup has solidified itself and the result of years of gigging and writing coalesced into Kane’s finest and most focused work to date. There are whispers of Petty and the Replacements and some old Boston street punk snarl.



#22 No TriggerDr. Album

I think No Trigger‘s last album, Tycoon, came out when I had only been with Dying Scene for like a year or so, and I think it was on like half the staff’s year-end best-of lists, and so I thought this would become a perennial thing. An effing decade later, the Worcester natives are back…and dare we say better than ever? Or at least weirder and more frantic and more diverse than ever, and that’s like the same thing. No wonder they’ve found a new home on Red Scare. This album takes a few listens to fully appreciate because there’s so much going on in it.



#21 Bartees StrangeFarm to Table


Bartees Strange first popped up on my radar when he appeared on Dave Hause’s Patty Smith covers EP, Patty, a couple years back. Strange’s sophomore full-length, Farm To Table, was released on 4AD this year and it’s as fun to listen to as it is hard to nail down genre-wise. It’s emo but it’s hip-hop but it’s R&B but it’s rock and roll, and it’s personal and it’s powerful and it feels important.



#20 Sarah Shook & The DisarmersNightroamer

Sarah Shook and the Disarmers went into the studio to record a brand new album and then, as it turns out, the world closed down for a while. That, coupled with the demise of their former label home, meant that this album took a little longer than many of us had hoped for to finally make its way to our ears. The wait was well worth it. This is a grown-up record: focused and fun and personal and experimental. They might have cut their respective teeth in whiskey-and-beer-soaked barrooms but the future is much wider for Shook and company. Here’s our interview with Shook about the album!



#19 The Venomous PinksVita Mors

The Venomous Pinks formed in 2012 and finally put out their debut full-length album in 2022 and holy smokes does it rip. It’s loud and fast and aggressive and cathartic and it finds the crew full of fire and brimstone. Let’s just hope they don’t wait another decade until their second album! Here’s our (*both laugh*) episode that featured all three of the Pinks!



#18 Tim BarrySpring Hill

There are a few things in life that we can be certain about: death, taxes, and Tim Barry putting out a killer album of high-quality, working-class anthems every couple of years. There are gut-punches and tear-jerkers and anthemic singalongs, and Barry appearing as comfortable in his skin as he ever has.



#17 The VandoliersThe Vandoliers

The Vandoliers put it all together on their self-titled record, so perhaps it’s perfect that it’s a self-titled record. They’ve been called “country punk” for years, and they are at the core, but they’ve really morphed into their very own thing: a marauding batch of shirtless, whiskey-infused bandits singing songs of love and heartache and, occasionally, good times!



#16 MightmareCruel Liars

Realistically, this should be a top-ten album for sure, but that just speaks to the strength of the music that was released this year. In case you missed it, Mightmare is the side project of Sarah Shook and the Disarmers centerpiece River Shook. It’s a project that was birthed out of quarantine isolation and it takes some of the stylistic differences they’d been hinting at on Nightroamer to new and different heights. Dark pop and fiercely independent. Here’s our recent chat about the album!



#15 DonaherGravity And The Stars Above

I’ve been doing year-end best-of lists for Dying Scene since like 2011, so I’ve got a couple of hundred albums that have been present and accounted for, and yet I’m about 99.9% sure this is the first album to hail from the great State of New Hampshire, where I was born and raised and first introduced to this thing we call punk rock. Donaher play a super catchy, super fun, wicked joyful brand of power-pop that sounds like the Smoking Popes if they hailed from the Chicken Tender Capital of the World!



#14 Adeem The Artist White Trash Revelry

Okay so holy shit this record is great. This record is great enough that it came out this month, after I’d already completed my year-end list, and forced me to completely reevaluate it. I can think of very few things as punk rock as growing up outwardly non-binary and pansexual in a Christian household in the working-class South. Adeem is unafraid to call out hatred and bigotry and at the same time to embrace love and compassion and has crafted a wonderful record that’s equal parts Against Me! and Homeless Gospel Choir but with, like, Will Hoge or American Aquarium’s pop-infused country melodies. If we re-rank this list a year from now, White Trash Revelry might end up quite a bit higher.



#13 American AquariumChicamacomico

I remember first hearing American Aquarium a number of years ago and thinking “hey that’s kinda good but I think it’s a little too country for me.” The lineup has changed a few times and frontman BJ Barham has gotten sober and has himself a family and, with it, I think a newfound focus, and he’s become one of my favorite songwriters – and figures, really – in the scene. There’s a recurring theme here about people growing up in the South and yet not standing for the sort of traditional negative Southern stereotypes and railing against some of the bigotry and backwardness and I’m here for it. Also, the title track is one of my most-listened-to songs of the year.



#12 Frank Turner FTHC

Hey, remember when Frank Turner put out the most “punk rock” record of his career and it also happened to be his first #1 album in his native UK, and then we spoke to him the morning after receiving that award for our quarantine-inspired podcast and coincidentally, the day before he announced his “50 States In 50 Days” tour which he told us about off the record after we stopped recording, so we knew about it first? That was just this year! (Also, yes, FTHC has the most nods to his hardcore past as any record in the Turner oeuvre, but his somber ode to the life of Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison is among the album’s standouts.)



#11 New Junk CityBeg A Promise

Okay so I get a lot of press emails. Like…A LOT of them, spread out through the various different Dying Scene email accounts. I have to say that I don’t always read beyond the headlines or the opening paragraphs, but this one caught my eye. I don’t know why I’d never heard New Junk City before, but I chalk it up to my history of not reading all the way through emails…but I’m glad I got this one. Anytime a band is referred to as “Tom Petty as played by Green Day,” I’m going to stop and honestly probably roll my eyes because really…but then I’ll also listen because what if it’s actually as good as that portends to be. And I’ll tell you what…New Junk City is exactly as good as that portends to be. It’s like the best parts of 90s alternative and early 00s emo but with a classic Americana rock filter.



#10 Lenny Lashley’s Gang Of OneFive Great Egrets

It’s a pretty remarkable thing when a person who has been in the game for as long as Lenny Lashley has continues to raise the bar for themselves musically and professionally, but that’s what we’ve got on Five Great Egrets. There’s nobody quite like Lenny, who can write a gut-wrenching song about relationship troubles and then a ballad dedicated to Boston-based 1930s comic Eddie “Parkyakarkus” Cantore, and have them both come across as genuine and sincere.



#9 Will HogeWings On My Shoes

We’re starting to get into the territory where o the right day and in the right light, any of these albums could realistically be #1 on the list. Will Hoge might be alt-country or just Americana or Southern rock-and-roll or he might be all of those things together. What he definitely is is a guy who can write a down-and-dirty concise rock song and he can also write a lengthy narrative that’s both smart and thoughtful and razor-tongued and that will make you appreciate it more the more times you listen to it. Plus, the very first line on the album is “Meatloaf and mashed potatoes/Jesus Christ ain’t gonna save us” and that’s about the most John Prine intro to a song that wasn’t written by John Prine.



#8 Proper.The Great American Novel

Holy shit this album melted my brain. Here’s the intro I wrote to (*both laugh*) Episode 56, which featured the three-headed monster that is Proper.

Every now and then you come across an album that becomes a benchmark moment for you; like, life existed before that album and then the world shifted and things weren’t the same after that.  My own personal list includes the likes of: Vs. Recipe For Hate. Question The Answers. Badmotorfinger. The ’59 Sound. The Low End Theory. Stay Positive. 36 Chambers. Caution. 1372 Overton Park. And now, realistically, The Great American Novel.



#7 Sweet PillWhere The Heart Is

Leave it to the greater Philadelphia area to come out with another one of those “where have you been all my life” bands. Where The Heart Is came out in May and I was maybe a little slow on the uptake at first but I’ve since made up for lost time. This band rules. This album rules. It’s poppy (in a good way, not a cheesy overproduced way) but it’s also super intense melodic hardcore and it fills a lot of gaps in my catalog that I didn’t know existed.



#6 Mercy UnionWhite Tiger

Whether through The Scandals or his solo career or now Mercy Union, we’ve been big fans of Jared Hart’s musical output since the earliest days of Dying Scene. White Tiger raises the bar on that previous output in every possible way (in no small part due to the noted presence of fellow scene vets Rocky Catanese and Nick Jorgensen and, in his last appearance on a Mercy Union record, Benny Horowitz). Much like the Sweet Pill record above, it fills a gap in the record catalog that you didn’t necessarily know existed, blending a sort of Americana rock with hook-infused late-90s alternative rock. A wonderful amalgam of styles and big swirling guitars and vocal harmonies for days.



#5 The InterruptersIn The Wild

Okay so I know that the idea of scene vets putting out their best work this deep into their respective careers is a bit of a recurring theme twenty albums deep into this list, but this might be the best example of that yet. You’d think that writing and recording the album from the comforts of your own garage/practice space/studio might make you develop lazy habits, but on In The Wild, The Interrupters managed to pull off an album that remains true to the band’s stylistic roots but does everything better. It doesn’t hurt that Aimee wrote her most personal – and powerful – songs to date.



#4 Hot Water MusicFeel The Void

Yet another dynamite album that found a group of veterans having to switch up their normal processes during quarantine and having the results bear serious fruit. Hot Water Music reconnected with producer Brian McTernan (whose own band, Be Well, put out my favorite EP of the year, Hello Sun) for their first full-length since Chris Cresswell joined the ranks and turned the forever four-piece into a five-piece. Hot Water Music have expanded their sound in myriad ways over the years, and on Feel The Void, it sounds like they’re still having fun doing so.



#3 Kayleigh GoldsworthyLearning To Be Happy

If I weren’t using the base ten number system, this album might actually be #1a or 1b. If you’ve been a fan of the punk and punk-adjacent scenes at any point over the last, say, decade, you know doubt know Kayleigh Goldsworthy from her Revival Tour spots or for filling out the sound in Dave Hause and the Mermaid for a while or for Frank Iero and the Future Violents or with Bayside or with Kevin Devine, and she’s a wonderfully talented addition to each and every project she joins. But all of that glosses over the fact that she’s also been a powerhouse songwriter in her own right for a long time, and that shines as bright and as focused as ever on Learning To Be Happy. It’s honest and it’s melancholy but it doesn’t wallow in the dark parts, but it instead cherishes the bright parts and life’s harmonies. Opening track “Losing My Mind” is probably my favorite song of the year, and “Little Ghost” and “You’re Good” aren’t far behind. Probably should have actually reviewed this album when it came out so I didn’t have to spend 500 words extolling its virtues at the end of the year.



#2 Cory BrananWhen I Go I Ghost

It’s been just about 20 years since Lucero’s “Tears Don’t Matter Much” was released; in it, Ben Nichols states emphatically that “Cory Branan‘s got an evil streak / and a way with words that’ll bring you to your knees.” I’m not sure that’s ever been more true than it is on When I Go I Ghost. The haunting parts are more haunting; the evil parts are more sinister (see “The Pocket Of God,”) and the rare occasions where he’s writing about his on life (see “That Look I Lost”) are gut-punches, albeit with Memphis horns to lighten up the mood. Read our recent interview with Cory here.



#1 The FlatlinersNew Ruin

Okay, so we’ve reached the pinnacle. Numero uno. The Album Of The Year (AOTY if you’re nasty). It of course belongs to none other than The Flatliners. The Flats’ career arc has been really impressive to behold. From starting out as upstroke-infused punk rock whippersnappers to signing to Fat Wreck and sharpening their teeth in the process for a series of increasingly caustic, anthem-driven albums, to the stylistic left-hand turn that was Inviting Light to the absolute kick-in-the-teeth that is New Ruin right from the time you drop the needle on track one. More than two decades into their career, Canada’s finest are as sharp and focused and targeted as ever, and have another benchmark album to show for it.


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Festivals & Events: Proper. to replace Like A Motorcycle at Pouzza Fest 2024

Pouzza Fest has announced that Proper. will be replacing Like A Motorcycle at this year’s fest. A statement posted by the festival on Instagram reads in part, ”The band Like A Motorcycle unfortunately canceled its performance at Pouzza this year. As a replacement, we are happy to welcome a band we love to the line-up: Proper.” Pouzza Fest will take place this year in Downtown Montreal on May 17-19.

Festivals & Events: Sparta, Pageninetynine, Proper., more to play Post. Festival 2024

Post. Festival has announced its lineup for this year. This Will Destroy You, Sparta, Pageninetynine, City of Caterpillar, Proper., The Casket Lottery, Caspian, Into It. Over It, Dikembe, The Ocean, Night Verses, Rezen, Outrun The Sunlight, The Depth Beneath Us, Black x Sea, Unwed Sailor, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, The Supervoid Choral Ensemble, Chew, Man Mountain, Deserta, Nygma, The Color of Cyan, Greybloom, Necromoon, Hiroe, Karate, Guns, Tanning, Idiot, If These Trees Could Talk, And So I Watch You From Afar, Sleepmakeswaves, Leech, Maserati, Their/They’re/There, Metavari, Athletics, Wess Meets West, It Was A Good Dream, Of The Vine, Girih, and Eyes To Argus will be playing. Post. Festival will take place July 25-27 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Photos: Pseudo / Proper. at The Hard Luck Bar in Toronto, ON 03/10

On March 10, Pseudo and Proper. played at The Hard Luck Bar in Toronto, Ontario. Pseudo released their album Renovations in 2016 and Proper. released their album The Great American Novel in 2022. Our photographer Stephen McGill was there to capture all the action. Check out his photos below.

Proper.

If you’re unfamiliar, Proper. are a three-piece formed in NYC roughly 5/6 years ago (as The Great Wight initially) but hailing really from a variety of locations across the country and bringing with them all of their collective experiences and musical influences and creating something that hasn’t really been done before. I remember hearing their last album, I Spent The Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better admittedly a little late and thinking “damn…I’ve never really heard anything like this before.” The new album, The Great American Novel, takes all of the things that were great about the last one and pushes the needles way past 10. It’s important music. It’s music about alienation and about not fitting in and about being a queer person of color in a land that, despite it being 2022, is at times becoming even less comfortable with people that check those boxes. It’s raw and it’s powerful and it’s somehow still hopeful. Oh, and if fucking shreds. I feel lucky that we were able to catch up not just with Erik Garlington who spearheads the whole thing but with the full band (Natasha Johnson on bass and Elijah Watson on drums and whom you may also know from his “day job” as a journalist for Okay Player). (Words by: Jay Stone)

Proper. – “Part-Timer”

"Part-Timer" - Proper.

Release Date: September 08, 2023 Record Label: Father/Daughter Records Release Type: EPBandcamp Link: Listen on Bandcamp

Proper. are a great example of a band who quickly became one of my favorites during Covid, particularly surrounding the release of their last full-length, The Great American Novel. They’re back – and dare I say better than ever? – with a brand-new EP called Part-Timer, and it’s REAL good!

Part-Timer is due out September 8th on Father/Daughter Records; you can pre-order it already on their bandcamp or on their label’s page and more importantly, you can check out the lyric video for the lead single, “Potential,” right down below!