Blog → Top Ten Albums of 2008

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Here's some runners-up in no particular order.


We Don't Make Music...We Make Rockets - An Aesthetic Anaesthetic


Earth To The Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols


Elephant Shell- Tokyo Police Club


Introducing Foxy - Foxy Shazam



Saturdays=Youth - M83


Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch


Seeing Things - Jakob Dylan


Attack and Release - The Black Keys


You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Yourself Into - Does It Offend You, Yeah?


10. Phantom on the Horizon - The Fall of Troy
More experimental than previous releases, set up in chapters like a post rock album. Also, awesome. I’m not putting up tracks to check out because there’s only five.



9. Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
Old sound on a new band, but still sounds new, if that makes sense. Check out: Stay Positive, Magazines, Slapped Actress.



8. Sweat It Out - The Pink Spiders
Pop rock with lots of synth. Really fun. On first few listens I preferred it over Teenage Grafitti, but I think I've changed my mind. It's poppier than the previous release, more polish, less grit. Check out: Busy Signals, Stranglehold, Sleeping On The Floor



7. Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Pretty classic rock sounding, a lot of jams. Plus, it’s Stephen Malkmus, that’s basically the same as saying “Guaranteed great.” I still want Pavement to reunite, though. Check out: Baltimore, Out of Reaches, Real Emotional Trash



6. Love Ire and Song – Frank Turner
Angry British folk rock. Lots of good one-liners. Check out: Love, Ire and Song, Substitute, Reasons Not to Be an Idiot



5. All or Nothing– The Subways
More polished than their last album, they’ve definitely grown since then. I was surprised that they made this album or are even still together, considering Billy and Charlotte's breakup. Check out: Girls and Boys, Shake! Shake!, I Won’t Let You Down.



4. Dig Out Your Soul - Oasis
Basically, to use an overused term, a return to form. They still haven't topped (What's the Story) Morning Glory, but this is far, far better than their last few releases. Tracks to check out: Bag It Up, The Shock of the Lightning, Falling Down.



3. Loyalty to Loyalty - Cold War Kids
Fun and depressing at the same time. It's pretty similar to Robbers and Cowards, but it's definitely more uptempo. Tracks to check out: Against Privacy, Something Is Not Right With Me, Every Valley Is Not A Lake.



2. The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem
Bruce Springsteen + Tom Petty + Social Distortion = Gaslight Anthem. They're grouped with a lot of popular groups, like Rise Against, but they are much better, much deeper than their contemporaries. The '59 Sound is fantastically written. Tracks to check out: Great Expectations, The ’59 Sound, High Lonesome, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.



1. Alopecia - Why?
There’s something very intriguing about the way Yoni writes and sings, you never feel like it’s directed at an audience, or at anyone in particular. It’s like he’s talking to himself or nobody at all. Definitely my album of the year. Hard to pick highlight tracks, but I really enjoy The Vowels pt.2, Good Friday, Fatalist Palmistry and By Torpedo Or Crohn’s, though there’s really no weak track on the album.Elephant Shell