So, here we are on the final day of a year which has been one of the most emotionally polarising mixed bags in my 22 years on this earth. Despite Brexit, Trump and the deaths of Bowie, Tom Searle and Princess Leia, it has also fortunately been one of the best years in recent memory for new music.
I've obviously already spoken at borderline unecessary length about the best albums of 2016 (of which there were many) alongside George Phillips and Joey Ashworth on the latest episode of Bitchin' Brew, which you can still check out on ITUNES, SOUNDCLOUD and ACAST.
I could've very easily included EPs in my list this year, as they sometimes merit the same amount of praise as a record twice its length, but I figured: why not give the EPs their own moment to bask in the spotlight?
There have been so many great extended plays, mini-albums and double A-sides put out in 2016, so even whittling these down to a Top 10 was a struggle. That's why I've kind of cheated by listing <just a few> honourable mentions at the bottom.
However, without further ado, here are the 10 EPs that really took the yule log (and yes, I'm still feeling festive) this year...
10. CHENTI - CHENTI
My old hometown scene at the turn of the decade has been given the odd shout-out here and there on Randon's Reviews in the past. Even though they stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the abundance of local pop-punk and breakdown-core bands, one band from that Sussex circuit that never got the amount of praise they were due was Pirate & Cobie. It's great to hear the P&C guys (well, 3/4 of them, with the awesome addition of Pip O'Neill on vocals and electronics) going back to making meticulously crafted and deeply alluring math-pop in CHENTI, not to mention the fact that this is just one of the many brilliant records produced by the Southampton supremo that is Neil Kennedy this year. Big up that man.
9. SAD BLOOD - LEGION OF GLOOM
Here's one for all you drunk punx out there (and the straight-edgers too, I guess). You can read a fuller, slightly more coherent review of SAD BLOOD's second EP by clicking HERE, but allow me to give you a quick breakdown of it here: it's fucking ace. Little more can be said, but for the sake of half-decent music journalism... LEGION OF GLOOM is five tracks of jovial power-pop awesomeness with more than its fair share of melancholic lyricism; from the swooning sincerity of 'Ten More Years' to 'Heavy Petting Zoo', one of the most outrageously catchy moments of the year. It's short, sharp and #ohsorelatable.
8. TURNOVER - HUMBLEST PLEASURES
7. ITOLDYOUIWOULDEATYOU - I AM NOT YOUR FAULT
6. EAT ME - MELON ENEMA
As we already established on the Albums of 2016 special of Bitchin' Brew, Venn Records are right at the top of the British indie labels that have made done their best in making 2016 a better place. They've put out cathartic anthems from Nervus, sheer punk rock fury from Youth Man, but most importantly, they snapped up EAT ME: a band with the rare gift of capturing their onstage sense of humour on record without straying anywhere near 'comedy band' territory. MELON ENEMA is a joyfully juvenile affair that seldom lets up on its catchiness. As if that wasn't enough, there's the guitar solos which would put Rivers Cuomo to shame. That's bold stuff.
(Bonus S/O to Nick Suchak of Anabasis Media for the hilarious video for 'Liar' above)
5. WEATHERSTATE - DUMBSTRUCK
The biggest trap for a music critic to fall into is not allowing a record to really sink in before you're required to write your review. It always leaves you with a slight sense of shame when you look at your 3/5 review and go 'actually, that record deserved so much more'. WEATHERSTATE were sadly the most tragic victims of that circumstance this year. As the year has ticked on, their snarling punk rock has only gotten more and more infectious since I reviewed DUMBSTRUCK for Upset (if you really must, you can read my initial judgement HERE). The EP is a sterling progression from the band's Dead Ends EP; with tracks like 'Ill' and 'Stuck In A Hole', it's faster, it's leaner, and it's fucking badass. Sorry lads, I seriously misjudged you.
4. CAN'T SWIM - DEATH DESERVES A NAME
A lot of the list has comprised homegrown talent, but the international circuit of new punk talent has certainly had something to shout about this year, particularly Australia and America. It's been a while since a band from whatever scene you would undeservedly lump a band like New Jersey's CAN'T SWIM into have made an EP that's as intense and as DEATH DESERVES A NAME. Once again, it's a very multi-dimensional affair that dodges being pigeonholed into a single genre extremely well. There's the headfirst entrance of 'Your Clothes' that brings hints of menace with its pacy, offbeat rhythms, and then there's the arms-aloft choruses of 'Come Home', and then there's the sprawling, Americana-tinged title track. As confirmed by the follow-up track 'Stranger', there's serious potential in Can't Swim as we segue into 2017.
3. RAIN - SYMPHONY PAINS
What can be said about RAIN that I haven't already spewed out on this blog throughout the year? SYMPHONY PAINS made a bright and early claim to be one of the biggest releases of Britain's DIY's scene overall in 2016, on account of it being sonically mahoosive. This expansive trilogy of songs takes on the trend of channelling nostalgic vibes of 90s alt-rock, but it hurdles over the obstacle of sounding mollycoddled or completely drowned in an ocean of reverb. There sure is a lot of reverb throughout, but the punch that is perpetually packed by the rhythm sections gives tracks like 'Slur' and 'Dandelion' a stratospheric amount of oomph.
2. PUPPY - VOL. II
You thought that Can't Swim were a genre-dodging band? Fucking hell, you're in for a treat with PUPPY. Quite how a band can sound like Black Sabbath and Pantera, while also sounding like the Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer and Deftones, eludes me to this day. On VOL. II, Puppy don't only do that, but they've certified themselves as one of Britain's most exciting new bands in the process. If the barrage of riffs that form the sturdy framework of 'Entombed' and 'Arabella' doesn't rattle your brain around in your skull, then you're either deaf or a Vulcan. Puppy will be the band to unite generations in 2017 for their batshit melding of tones and influences, and what a brilliant precedent that sets for the year in general.
AND THE #1 EP OF 2016 IS...
CREEPER - THE STRANGER
CREEPER - THE STRANGER
Well, this is hardly a surprise. By the time their self-titled EP settled in, CREEPER were one of the country's most exciting new bands. Once they stepped it up with The Callous Heart EP, they were one of the most intriguing. Now, with THE STRANGER EP under their belts, they're one of the most important.
It's one thing to bring the more grandiose stylings of Bowie and Meat Loaf to your sound, but it's an achievement in its own right to sound energetic and vibrant and punk as fuck at the same time. When it seemed like Creeper had ticked all the boxes by the time 'Black Mass' rang out, they happened to pull out what will be the 'Welcome To The Black Parade' of its time with 'Misery'. Oh yeah, and then there's the absolutely devastating finale of 'Astral Projection'.
The Stranger is an astonishing gateway into an expansive and fascinating concept that no other band of Creeper's stature would have the gall to try to pull off...
(A SHIT-TON OF) HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CHEAP MEAT – THE PARTS THAT SHOW
THE HARD ACHES – I FREAK OUT
KAMIKAZE GIRLS – SAD
FAUX – INHALE
WACO – UPRISE
RORY INDIANA – RULING CLASS CROOKS
WARHORNS – WARHORNS
SORORITY NOISE – IT KINDLY STOPPED FOR ME
GUILT – EVERBLUE / LOW SCENE
MURDERHOUSE – SELF HELP
ACID TONGUE – BEAUTIFUL DISASTER
FRUITCAKE – TOTALLY ORIGINAL SONGS
TERRIBLE LOVE – CHANGE NOTHING
YOUTH MAN – WAX
LONELY THE BRAVE – DUST & BONES
NO BETTER – ...FORGET ME NOT
GRIEVING – DEMONSTRATIONS
GRADER – WHOLLY
SWEDISH DEATH CANDY – LIQUORICE
HUNGOVER – WILT
SHIT PRESENT – MISERY + DISASTER
SLØTFACE – EMPIRE RECORDS
Thanks for making 2016 bearable, pals. Here's to a rad 2017...
Danny
CHEAP MEAT – THE PARTS THAT SHOW
THE HARD ACHES – I FREAK OUT
KAMIKAZE GIRLS – SAD
FAUX – INHALE
WACO – UPRISE
RORY INDIANA – RULING CLASS CROOKS
WARHORNS – WARHORNS
SORORITY NOISE – IT KINDLY STOPPED FOR ME
GUILT – EVERBLUE / LOW SCENE
MURDERHOUSE – SELF HELP
ACID TONGUE – BEAUTIFUL DISASTER
FRUITCAKE – TOTALLY ORIGINAL SONGS
TERRIBLE LOVE – CHANGE NOTHING
YOUTH MAN – WAX
LONELY THE BRAVE – DUST & BONES
NO BETTER – ...FORGET ME NOT
GRIEVING – DEMONSTRATIONS
GRADER – WHOLLY
SWEDISH DEATH CANDY – LIQUORICE
HUNGOVER – WILT
SHIT PRESENT – MISERY + DISASTER
SLØTFACE – EMPIRE RECORDS
Thanks for making 2016 bearable, pals. Here's to a rad 2017...
Danny
