Top 10 albums of 2014

Right! Time for my top ten albums of the year. In no particular order:

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Are we not men? We are diva!
More fun covers by the punk supergroup.

Antemasque - Antemasque
Omar and Cedric hugged and made up and put out something new and different. I dig the new style.

Shellac - Dude Incredible
Wait?! Shellac released a new album this year? Yep!

OFF! - Wasted Years
Another great energetic raw album, perfect for your next gym workout or prison riot.
(skip to 3:!5 in the video for the music)

Karma to Burn - Arch Stanton
Wait! Karma to Burn are back? And it's awesome? Yep!

Fu Manchu - Gigantoid
Best Fu Manchu album in years. This album is tops!

Weezer - Everything will be alright in the end
Best Weezer album in years. Some great songs on here. Fun for the whole family!

Orange Goblin - Back from the Abyss
Best OG album in years! I rate it right next to my favourite of theirs 'Coup de Grace'.

Wovenhand - Refractory Obdurate
Whilst knowing about Wovenhand for years I don't recall giving them a listen. It's the main guy from '16 Horsepower' if you remember them. This album is brilliant; dark, brooding, and heavier than anything else he's done.

And for those with keen observations skills, yes you correct there are only 9 albums above. Instead of a normal release for #10 I want to pay special mention two Swedish bands and one Aussie, while they didn't release anything this year they've had significant play time on my stereo.

• First up, The Hives: While I'd always known about these guys I never really gave them a chance. We saw them in Japan and were blown away by their music and live show. Instant fans, just add water (beer)! The most recent album Lex Hives is garage rock at it's finest.

• Second 'I Are Droid': a little known Swedish band that I randomly came across this year. They have a great unique sound that you need to hear for yourself rather than me explain it. Both albums are solid and a new one is due soon.

• Finally Aussie punk band 'Bodyjar': I used to listen to these guys a lot back in the day and even saw them live last year. But somehow a new album release in mid 2013 slipped past me (i blame Palau). 'Role Model' is a great album and I'd go as far as saying it's their most complete effort to date.

Japanorama: Punkspring music festival

Friends and regular readers will know that both Amanda and myself love seeing live music It's one of the things I've seriously missed while living in Palau.

Gimmie Gimmies!!

A band I've quite enjoyed over the years is called 'Me First and the Gimme Gimmes'. They are an all-star punk band who only do covers. They cover everyone from Dolly Parton to R Kelly to Billy Joel to Boys 2 Men. The songs and the band are a lot of fun. They have rarely toured Australia and I was very disappointed to see them head down under late last year (while we were in Palau). But when planning our Japan trip I was more than a little excited to see our trip timed with their tour.

Unfortunately I got a little sick the night before the gig so we went in a little late and I was a touch subdued. Going to a festival in Japan is rather hilarious. Like going to Pro Baseball games you can bring in any food or drink you like. You just have to transfer drinks into plastic cups. No bag checks either!

The crowd will either be very subdued and polite or crazy and completely into it. Up the back of the standing section there were people asleep on the floor. Many people left bags and belongings on seats with seemingly no concern of them being stolen (there is little crime in Japan).

At one point a few circle pits started but at least two of them seemed to very quickly into something more like a hippy love circle.

Good crowd in for the festival

The first band we caught was a Japanese one called Dragon Ash. They were a really weird mix between funk/metal/rap and pop music. They also had a couple of male back up dancers which at times left me wondering if they'd be better placed performing at the Sydney Gay Pride festival. The crowd seemed totally into it though.

Next up were the band we'd come to see. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were awesome. They sounded great, were very funny and played some of my favourites in Country Roads (John Denver), I Believe I Can Fly (R Kelly) and Jolene (Dolly Parton).

We missed most of the next band called 10-Feet, another Japanese band while doing a convenience store run for a snack and some beers. Unlike Dragon Ash they actually had one style and did it fairly well.

Part of the cool ceiling in the hall

Next up were Swedish band The Hives. I've been aware of The Hives before but they are one of those bands that I never managed to get into for whatever reason. I have to say I was quite impressed by them, they are a great live band with a very good stage presence. I enjoyed their garage rock style and will have to check then out more.

Last up were Bad Religion a band I'd listened to a little bit through the mid 90's but wouldn't say I'm much of a fan. As soon as they started it was immediately noticable the sound mix was completely off with far too much drum & bass and very little vocals and guitar. Unfortunately the mix didn't get much better through their set. This was a little bit of a let down as the major focus of the band would be Greg's vocal harmonies.

Overall a fun gig and I'm very happy we went. Many thanks to our friend Shinsuke for securing the tickets for us! I also have a cool new Me First tshirt with a Japanese inspired giant robots theme.