This isn’t a “10 best” list. I’m not qualified to say what’s best. I’ll leave that to the professionals, like my esteemed colleague Pat Ferrucci. He does a “Top 20” list. Dude!
10. “Going Way Out With Heavy Trash” by Heavy Trash: Me and about ten people saw Jon Spencer play with his new band, Heavy Trash, at Cafe Nine last fall. It was everything that used to be great about rock n’ roll.
9. “The Hair, the TV, the Baby and the Band” by Imperial Teen: Fun, poppy, punky, sometimes dark. My kids like the song “Sweet Potato.”
8. “Soap and Water” by Chuck Prophet: He should be a star, like Tom Petty. Because he’s better.
7. “Out of the Woods” by Tracey Thorn: Shockingly, this record by the Everthing But The Girl singer turned up on Kalefah Sennah’s Top 10 list for the NY Times. Sennah’s the guy who praises all those awful rap records about pimpin’, dealin’ and shootin’ because the NY Times has a lot of guilt issues.
6. “Rock en Espanol, Vol. 1” Los Straightjackets: A tex/mex/surf rave up of classic covers.
5. High School Musical 2: I play this record in my car a lot. Even when the kids aren’t in the back seat.
4. “Kala” M.I.A: Kalefa Sennah probably likes this record. With good reason. Lots of crazy beats. Another favorite of my kids’.
3. “Because of the Times” by Kings of Leon: The second best band on the planet.
2. “At My Age” by Nick Lowe: Wry. bitter, sublime tales of aging. Not that I can relate to that.
1. “Icky Thump” by White Stripes. The best band on the planet.
On shuffle: Grinderman, Hives, Of Montreal, Pierces, Jens Lekman, Ryan Adams.