via//chicago

2004: When the Ocean Met the Sky
So what will I remember most about the music I listened to in 2004? That's a great question, and one I've been pondering myself as I've prepared my year-end lists and this recap. It seems like everyone else is talking about how '04 will be remembered as the year "indie went mainstream", and to that I give a hearty eye-roll and a what-the-fuck-ever. I've been sick of hearing that one since I first heard it back in 1991/2 after Nirvana broke through. It just happened that last year the public discovered several bands that deserved every ounce of the attention they got, whether or not they had been initially embraced by the self-proclaimed watchdogs of indie culture. Anyway, I'm starting to get off topic, my point is that I don't want to waste this space talking about the same thing every other rock rag/critic/cultural pundit is spouting off about - namely the breakout performances of bands like Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, and The Arcade Fire. Not to say that I wasn't enamored by these bands at one point or another last year, because I was, but you can read about them pretty much anywhere else you look. However, I do have to mention one of the best musical moments I experienced in 2004 and that just happens to involve Modest Mouse. See, back in the middle of December I had attended a holiday party with my (at the time very new) girlfriend, whom I was in the process of madly falling in love with. Anyway, we were in the car on the way home from the party and my girlfriend popped in Good News For People Who Love Bad News, cranked it up to eleven, and headed south on Lake Shore Drive. As we sped towards the city and came into full view of the Chicago skyline the transition from "The World At Large" into "Float On" hit and I was suddenly struck with a feeling that the world was really a pretty fucking fantastic place once you slowed down and took a look around. To have Isaac Brock completely reaffirm this thought as he sang about us all floating on anyway was just icing on the cake. It may have been the wine I had at the party, it may have been the excitement of falling in love, or it may have been the breathtaking view of the city I love - but whatever it was, Modest Mouse provided me with the perfect soundtrack to a moment I will never forget. It was a moment that not only made me fall even harder in love with the driver of the car but also with an album that I already liked, hence its place atop my top albums of the year. With that obligatory Modest Mouse reference out of the way, here's a few things about my musical experiences with 2004 that you aren't likely to read about in many other 2004 recaps.

The Ponys- Laced With Romance (In the Red)
The Hiss - Panic Movement (Sanctuary)
The Ponys and the Hiss are two bands that received a little press at the beginning of 2004, but seemed to slip everyone's minds once it came time to review the best of the year. I think I'll attribute this to the garage rock backlash that has been steadily gaining steam over the past 18 months, but I think it's a crime to lazily dismiss these two albums like that. At the very least, they both represent time well spent when compared with the overrated Von Bondies album.
Laced With Romace is simply one of the most exciting straight-ahead rock albums that I heard over the course of the year. The lineage of The Ponys can be traced all the way back to Nuggets-era garage rock, but they can't be easily dismissed as serving reheated rock from that era. If you listen a little more closely, you can also hear a distinct link to the angular post-punk sound and the shoegazer wall of sound. Because of this mixture of influences, the band comes across as not just musicians - but huge music fans at the same time. See the band doesn't just take the cut-and-paste approach to their influences, instead they combine these into a spectacular original sound. But all of this talk of influences and genres would be for naught if the album didn't accomplish what it should and that is, well, to fucking rock. That is definitely not a problem, though, as the twin guitar attack of Jared Gummere and Ian Adams will grab your head as your ass struggles to contain itself once the rhythm section of Melissa Elias and Nathan Jerde start to lay down a beat. This isn't a band that's afraid to lock onto a groove and ride it for all its worth, check out the final few minutes of "I'll Make You A Star" if you need proof of that. What it all comes down to, however, is that this Chicago band put out an album that rocks from start to finish. I see great things ahead for this band, especially now that they've teamed up with uber-producer Steve Albini to record the follow-up.
The Hiss, meanwhile, seem to pull their influences more from the British side of the pond - with Led Zeppelin and Oasis being two of the most obvious. Now many might try to convince you that that would be a bad thing, but don't let them fill your head with such foolishness. Combining the stomp and swagger of the Zep and the pop sensibilities and blind (over)confidence of Oasis can only lead to good things. Because it takes a band with big riffs and even bigger balls to let loose with an album like Panic Movement in this day an age. It's loud, dense, and full of testosterone without the nod and the wink of a band like The Darkness. "Listen to Me" and "Riverbed" are spectacular examples of what this band can bring, chock full of the chunky riffs and searing solos that scream nothing but motherfuckin' rock music, maaaan. To be sure, this is cocky young man's rock and roll with nary an apology to be made. If you haven't forgotten how hard rock made you feel alive, then this album should be right up your alley.

Getting In Touch With My Inner Goth
2004 was also the year that I finally took the plunge headfirst into the world of Robert Smith and The Cure. I'd always been quick to dismiss the band in the past, expecting little more than whiny pop hits and overblown melodramatics. I know that sounds a little odd coming from a man who worships at the altar of Billy Corgan, in fact most fellow Pumpkinheads were usually shocked when I said I wasn't into the Cure, but it was where I stood. As I started hearing the hype for the (at the time) soon to be released self-titled album, I began to think that maybe I should at least give them a chance. My friend Patty was quick to give me a hand, burning me a three-disc compilation of singles, album tracks, live songs, and some rarities. It was a lot to digest, but I took some time with each disc and discovered that there were a few more layers to the band than I ever imagined there would be. I did find myself enjoying the melodramatic gloom and doom tracks (again, must be the Pumpkin thing), but I also found myself really digging Bob's way with a pop hook. His pop tunes didn't bang you over the head and demand your attention, instead they slowly wormed their way into your subconscious and just waited. Because they knew you would come around sooner or later. After exploring these discs, The Cure hit stores and I readily snatched it up. I was immediately into the album, as it seemed to be a culmination of all the aspects of the band I had discovered on Patty's discs. I found myself even going as far as searching out the import singles so I could hear the new B-sides, because sometimes I just go all out when into a new band. This tendency was really revealed when I found myself with a Border's giftcard near the end of the summer and decided to splurge on Join the Dots, the band's collection of B-sides. Probably not the best way to dig further into a band's back catalog as we all know how hit-or-miss a band's flipside stuff can be. It turned out that much like Radiohead or Oasis, The Cure was one of those band's that didn't just churn out crap for the rarities - there were some real gems on this box. I found myself attracted to the first disc especially, really digging the early stuff that reminded me of other post-punk bands that I've slowly been getting into over the past several years. So imagine my excitement when I learned of the plan to reissue the band's back catalog, seemed I had found the perfect time to get into them. My girlfriend gave me the Three Imaginary Boys reissue set for Christmas and I've been unable to pry it loose from my disc changer since. So, if nothing else, 2004 was the year I discovered a band with a ton of older material for me to get acquainted with. I also learned to never judge a goth by his make-up, you never know what you might be missing out on.

Letter from Memphis
A big event for me during 2004, one that is somewhat loosely connected to music, was a road trip taken in August down to Memphis. I had originally planned to head out to North Carolina with an ex, but when that went down the tubes I decided to use my time off for a solo trip down to visit a cousin. It was an enjoyable trip and the more I think back on it, the more I see that it was more closely related to music than I though. The first night there I joined the cousin and her boyfriend at a wonderful BBQ joint that I am kicking myself now for not remembering the name of. After dinner we hit downtown and B.B. King's joint to catch a performance by Ruby Wilson, the Queen of Beale Street. Now, I've never been really huge into the blues, but I found myself completely blown away that night. Watching the life and feeling she brought to the music made me realize that the key to enjoying the blues is watching a master at work live and in person. Since that trip I've tried to check out some more blues albums, but nothing can bring me back to the feeling of excitement I had that night. The next day I took a sidetrip down south to Graceland, because what's the point of a trip to Memphis if you don't stop in and visit the King? I was shocked by the level of devotion that the man still inspires in people to this day and I came away from the visit with a newfound respect for his music. Not enough to truly call myself a "fan" or anything, but enough for me to pick up a disc with some of his early recordings for the Sun label. Which leads me directly to the absolute highlight of my trip, a tour of the legendary Sun label recording studio. Notice I use the singular there, as I was shocked to discover that there is actually only one tiny studio in the building with the rest filled up with a more recent museum and cafe. Just to be standing in the very spot where rock and roll history was made by the likes of Elvis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash among others was breahtaking. It also helped that our tour guide was an extremely knowledgeable musician who had spent some time with his own band recording there, so he really had a personal connection which showed in a big way. It was quite strange, however, to imagine a mega-huge band like U2 crammed into the tiny space to record something (some portions of Rattle and Hum were put to tape there). After the tour I went to the gift shop and spent the most I've ever spent for one piece of vinyl, picking up an original Johnny Cash sun label 45 ("I Just Thought You'd Like To Know" b/w "It's Just About Time"). It may not be a really valuable slab of wax, but it will always remind me of the short time I spent in the presence of the ghosts of rock and roll history. My only regret is not making it to the Stax museum while I was in town, but then that just gives me good excuse to head back again soon.

The Disappointments of 2004
As with anything else you can't have the ups without the downs, so the following details some of the things I was left cold by over the course of the year.

The Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs: So this wasn't an awful album by any means, problem is that it wasn't a fucking spectacular album that I couldn't get enough of. Maybe I'm too used to being spoiled by the Beasties, but that excitement is something I've come to expect from them. Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique, and Check Your Head all spent months and months on constant rotation in my Walkman and high school ride, while Ill Communication and Hello Nasty were the soundtracks to countless college parties and late nights in design studio. I'm used to spending so much time with a Beasties album that it almost feels like cheating when I listen to something else, but I don't think I even made it through four listens of this before I filed it away.
R.E.M. - Around the Sun: Little needs to be said about this, other than I should have my head examined for still expecting greatness out of this band.

Northern State - All City: It just wasn't the year for white rap trios at all, was it? I'm not sure why I even bothered to pick this one up in the first place. Oh yeah, it was because I saw the names Pete Rock, High and Mighty, Questlove, Har Mar Superstar and expected to hear something good. My bad.
Sahara Hotnights - Kiss and Tell: I figured these girls could do no wrong after all the excitement I got out of Jennie Bomb, and I was even more excited after I heard that Pelle of The Hives was going behind the board to help produce this one. But listening to this album after Jennie Bomb was like trying to eat reheated McDonald's the next day - it sure as hell doesn't taste the same and frankly it kinda stinks.

Random 7"ers
* I wasn't looking to any metal albums to perk my ears up, but I'll be damned if both Mastodon and Lamb of God make me unexpectedly band my head.

* The Reputation is a criminally under-rated band, and Elizabeth Elmore deserves at least half the love that Jenny Lewis getting.

* I'm hardly the first person to say this, but kindly ask your favorite deity to bless all of the talented writers in the internet who brought more good music to me this year than ever before. (Look to your left for several of them)

* Am I the only one who doesn't think the Fiery Furnaces are the bee's knees? I can't be.

* I'm more excited to hear The Game's debut than 50 Cent's new one, and for those that know me - thats saying something. It's about time the LBC brought back it's A, um, game.

* Two Bright Eyes' albums and, if we're lucky, something new from the Desaperacidos. 2005 could shape up to be a very Conorrific year. Yeah, whatevs, I still got mad love for the kid.

* All Saints can get a hit over here, but we can't even get Girls Aloud on the charts? I mean, come on... what the fuck America?

I Got Next
And with that I close the book on the year that was 2004 and boldly turn my head in the direction of another exciting year of music. I have no idea what I will be talking about in this space a year from now, and that excites me more than any rumored release of the next 12 months can. But that's why I'm an obsessive music dork. Hopefully you enjoyed reading my wrap-up here, hit me up with some comments or e-mail. I'll gladly respond. Now, time to go take a listen to LCD Soundsystem and Superwolf to get 2005 rolling....