Best of 2016: Punknews.org's picks

Best of 2016

Punknews.org's picks (2016)

Adam White

Once again it's list time, and that means we've got to talk math.

Punknews.org is an odd duck of a publication, a loosely organized group of volunteers that somehow manage to churn out content day after day, week after week without much of an editorial edict or any firm plan. It's fitting then that our site-wide Best Of list is always such an afterthought. There are publications out there that fret over the albums they choose, but that's not us. We just add up everyone's individual picks and what's revealed is revealed. The chips fall where they fall.

This overall list is tallied up based on the individual lists written by our editors, interviewers, and staff reviewers. We've tracked the results of everyone's lists in a spreadsheet you can find

here. You are welcome to check our math. The individual lists are weighted so that a person's #1 pick is worth 20 points, #2 is 19 points, and so on down. Overall 175 full-lengths were voted on.

If we've missed your favourite album this year, let us know by

submitting some

news on the band or tossing

a review our way. We're on the hunt for new team members for 2017 so you're welcome to join us and help get the word out about the music you love.

Punknews.org's Top 20 LPs of 2016

20. (tie) Tegan and Sara:

href="/review/14573">Love You to Death

Vapor / Warner Brothers

You asked for it, they did it: Tegan and Sara went one hundred

percent pop. But, whereas everyone expected a Madonna-inspired dance

soundtrack ala Gwen Stefani’s first solo album, instead, Tegan and Sara

looked to the gloomier side of the 80s and crafted a release more akin to

Modern English than Ms. Ciccone. It’s sad and earnest and, really, it’s one

of the rare records where indie-stalwarts go mainstream and hold onto their

former values and core identity. - John Gentile

20. (tie) AJJ: The

Bible 2

Side One Dummy Records

I wasn't sure how AJJ would follow up Christmas Island

however upon hearing this release, I was glad to find they did so in

spectacular fashion. This album has everything people have always loved

about

the band, but finds them building on their strengths and expanding their

sound in new directions. No, it's not the same as when Sean and Ben were

cranking these tunes out solo … but I'm thankful for that. There's only

one

band that could make the same album multiple times, and they said adios

amigos before I was a teenager. - John Gallienne

17. (tie) Kicker: Rendered

Obsolete

Tankcrimes / Pirate's Press

I'll be honest I'm late on Kicker, but I am so glad that I gave

them a chance this time around. Rendered Obsolete is what punk rock

should be: mean, gritty, obnoxious (in a good way), and full of

metaphorical

middle fingers. They are a great throwback to early UK punk rock with an

updated edge. The 'in-your-face-ness' of this album is staggeringly high

and

I love it. - Ricky Frankel

17. (tie) Nothing:

href="/review/14368">Tired of Tomorrow

Relapse Records

Philadelphia's Nothing released a follow-up album to their 2014

debut album titled Guilty of Everything. Tired of Tomorrow encompasses very

personal lyrics of mortality, mental health, and other depressive subject

matter meshes perfectly with the melancholy, dark and shoegazey tone to the

entire album. - Samantha Barrett

17. (tie) Face to Face:

href="/review/14232">Protection

Fat Wreck Chords

A handful of my favorite 90's punk bands (see also Bouncing

Souls and NOFX) put out new records this year. This is the one that really

hit the spot for me. The return to Fat Wreck Chords seems to have breathed

new life into the Trever Keith and the boys. Protection is sometimes angry,

sometimes introspective and always catchy. It has the passion of a young

man

and the wisdom of an older man. Check out "Middling Around". - Tom

Crandle

16. The Coathangers:

href="/review/14330">Nosebleed Weekend

Suicide Squeeze Records

The Coathangers are a badass all-female band and, now that

they’re down to being just a three piece, they’re churning out some very

old-school style, back-to-basics punk that could have easily graced the

stage

of CBGBs in the mid-70s. Brimming with girl power and a whimsical style--as

evidenced by one song featuring a child’s squeak toy as a lead

instrument--Nosebleed Weekend is the Coathangers’ strongest album to

date and just promises that the band is going to keep getting better and

better. - Julie River

13. (tie) Joyce Manor:

href="/review/14680">Cody

Epitaph Records

Never Hungover Again was perfect. Joyce Manor do a

helluva job in its wake though with songs that are slightly longer but

similar in vein. It's tailored more towards melody and pop appeal as

opposed

to the grit of the last album, which was steeped in fast-paced punk. They

keep similar tempos here but what they do is dial things back and try to

fuse

all their albums together so they meet the garage-anger of old midway with

the more polished and produced sound of new. It's a great middle-ground to

be

honest and one that's as foot-tapping and head-bobbing as I could have

asked

for. - Renaldo Matadeen

13. (tie) Jimmy Eat World:

href="/review/14715">Integrity Blues

Dine Alone Records

I may have fallen off the Jimmy Eat World train sometime after

Futures, but Integrity Blues brought me right back as if I hadn't missed

anything. This record reminds me of why I loved Jimmy Eat World in the

first

place. One of my favorite of the year. - Dan Donald

13. (tie) John K. Samson:

href="/review/14698">Winter Wheat

Anti- Records

Samson gets more hushed and introspective than ever on Winter

Wheat. While that left me disappointed at first, I realized it lets his

lyrics shine more than ever before. I just need more of this guy’s voice in

my life and whatever way he wants to get it to me is just fine. - Greg

Simpson

12. Car Seat Headrest:

href="/review/14520">Teens of Denial

Matador Records

This isn’t just my favorite album of the year. It may be the

best one I’ve heard in the last five. I don’t know why. I didn’t

particularly

care for anything Will Toledo released before this. But everything about

Teens

of Denial clicked with me. He tells full stories in his songs like

Dylan but bathes in noise rock like Sonic Youth. It’s the extended intro in

“Vincent,” the youthful catharsis of “Destroyed By Hippie Powers,” the

agony

of admittance in “Cosmic Hero,” the wordy, confused bridge in the

eleven-minute”The Ballad of Costa Concordia.” That list could go on

forever.

I’d call this a perfect album, something I don’t remember ever thinking so

immediately before. - Dan Donald

11. The Falcon:

href="/review/14258">Gather Up The Chaps

Red Scare

I loved the Falcon circa 2006, but I never expected A) that

Brendan Kelly would use the name again, B) that the resulting album would

be

their best release yet, or C) that Dave Hause would show up. All of these

surprises are delightfully welcome. Gather Up the Chaps merges

Kelly's

favorite topics (drinking too much, failing too much) with some of his best

hooks. Hause and bassist Dan Andriano take the mic for a track each and

deliver some of their best material in years. Everyone's a winner and

everything is fine and we are all one. - Joe Pelone

10. The Dirty Nil:

href="/review/14206">Higher Power

Dine Alone Records

There are academically better records than this, so I'm told,

but there's none I've had so much emotionally invested in. Through

geographic

happenstance I've had the pleasure of seeing this three-piece slowly build

a

catalogue of excellent singles, supported by blisteringly energetic local

bar

shows. A band in love with vinyl singles and limited releases, it took the

Dirty Nil longer than most to take the leap from EPs to this, their first

proper album. It's strange for me to even call it their debut, as I've had

a

few summers driving through the Niagara wine country with these songs

blaring

from my car window. Familiarity may be clouding my critical objectivity

here,

but I'm not a very good critic anyways. Nothing makes me happier than

listening to these songs with the volume up. - Adam White

8. (tie)Jeff Rosenstock:

href="/review/">WORRY.

Side One Dummy Records

It's tough picking singles to highlight off WORRY because it’s

so surreal. Everything Jeff Rosenstock touches turns to gold and here's

another example why. The album's comprised of so many sonic signatures,

it's

damn hard to pin down. It's all over the place but in a good way as it

prides

itself on attributes and characteristics that can best be described as

rushes

of earnest shoutalongs, candidly told and catchily brought to life

musically.

All with a songwriting vulnerability like he's never shown before. When it

ends, you want more of Jeff's snarky take on punk. - Renaldo Matadeen

8. (tie) Direct Hit!:

href="/review/14458">Wasted Mind

Fat Wreck Chords

This is pop punk at its best: upbeat yet depressing and real.

Drugs and jaded tendencies register personally. Maybe a little too much?

But

it’s catchy as hell. Looking at Direct Hit! from Brainless God to

Wasted

Mind shows exactly how Fat Wreck capitalizes on a ripe apple at the

right time. This is another excellent addition to both the band and label’s

catalogue. - Nick Poyner

7. PEARS: Green

Star

Fat Wreck Chords

No surprise, right? Well I really have to say that PEARS truly

out did themselves with Green Star. I was so happy for them when

they

signed to Fat Wreck Chords, but I had no idea how they were going top Go

To Prison and they absolutely did. This album is thrashy, hardcore

and

melodic in all the right places. I can't get enough. Every song is

interesting, which keeps it fresh from front to back. “Hinge By Spine,”

“Green Star,” “Cloverleaf,” “Anhedonia”… GAH! The musicianship was taken to

a

new hight of maturity as were the vocals. I still very much stand behind my

5

star review and I could not be happier for this band's success. They

absolutely deserve the top spot on my list this year. Green Star is

a

phenomenal record as is every show I have seen them play. - Ricky Frankel

6. NOFX: First

Ditch Effort

Fat Wreck Chords

NOFX is a band that I've grown up and grown old with. Their 90's

records are some of my all time favorites. I love a lot of the later stuff

too, but it's far less consistent. This is solid front to back. It manages

to

be a little more mature while remaining mostly obnoxious. Check out "I

Don't

Like Me Anymore". - Tom Crandle

5. White Lung:

href="/review/14356">Paradise

Domino Records

I like Renaldo’s description of this album as “angry dream-pop,”

because that’s what makes Paradise such a unique album. It rages on

powerfully with a punk rock pace, but the keyboards add in this bizarre

sense

of jagged beauty to the album. Mish Barber-Way is one of the best punk

frontwomen out there right now, and her lyrics and her voice simply wreck

me

as they tear through this furious yet dreamy album. - Julie River

4. Descendents:

href="/review/14530">Hypercaffium Spazzinate

Epitaph Records

Milo comes back from the workplace and the original pop-punkers

demonstrate why they are as heralded as they are. You can make the argument

that later day Descendents records are uneven, which is why Hypercaffium

Spazzinate is so effective. The band takes the best points from their

career and stitches them into a single, wild, but thoughtful, record.

Despite

their earlier declaration, the Descendents DID grow up, but, as it turns

out,

we head nothing to worry about. The Descendents are still the Descendents,

be

it ’82 or ’16. - John Gentile

3. David Bowie:

href="/review/14116">Blackstar

Sony/Columbia

2016 suffered an unbelievable number of losses in the music

world, but the one that hit me the hardest was David Bowie. That has little

to do with this number one ranking. His final album was one of the most

challenging, boundary-pushing and unique album of his career, a career full

of twists and turns, reinvention after reinvention. A dark rock record with

jazz and hip hop elements, Bowie leaves us with one final bit of proof of

his

genius. - Greg Simpson

2. Against Me!:

href="/review/14634">Shape Shift With Me

Total Treble

Way slower and sadder and Replacements-attuned than Transgender

Dysphoria Blues, Shape Shift With Me is this jumbled, ugly mess

of

a breakup record that dares you to love it. And after many, many car rides

spent shouting along to the likes of "Crash" and "All This (And More)," I

suppose I do. - Joe Pelone

1. PUP: The

Dream

Is Over

Royal Mountain Records / Side One

Dummy

Records

The breakneck segue from the album opening "If This

Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will" to lead single "DVP" is perhaps my favourite

single moment of any album this year. It tops a list of seemingly endless

small charms that PUP heaps onto their second full length, which

singlehandedly makes the case that modern punk rock can retain its youth

and

vitality without falling in line with the trends du jour. With huge

shout-along choruses and WOAH's abound, PUP's repurposing the hooks and

flourishes of the mid-90s pop-punk. Those are the bands of my youth but

they're sounds I'd long tired of. PUP somehow plays those familiar cards

without sounding stale. - Adam White