Best of 2016 - Greg Simpson's picks (Cover Artwork)
Staff Pick

Best of 2016

Greg Simpson's picks (2016)

staff picks




Whuddup, Punknews?


Hey, Greg here. I’m the Punknews Podcast producer, co-host of the Best Midwestern podcast, and an occasional reviewer. We’re all well aware of how shitty 2016 was, but on the positive side of things for me personally, I starting working at the famous Sonic Iguana studios as an audio engineer. It’s been awesome.


MY FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2016


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Not as ambitious as Everything Will Be Alright in the End, but The White Album proves that Rivers Cuomo is locked in again as a songwriter, penning some of his most singable songs of the last decade in his ode to California.



Joyful Noise



Mike Adams, once frontman for Midwest powerhouse husband&wife, hits new heights with his third solo album. Dream pop meets power pop (power dream pop?) with emo touches, Casino Drone is fun and melodic while at the same time emotive and full of depth.





The last couple Thermals records have been hit-or-miss as they’ve slowed things down or let seriousness detract from their punky pep and fun factor. On We Disappear they bring it all back, and succes sfully make their dark lyrics into sing-alongs in a way they haven’t since 2009’s Now We Can See.





Real is the alt country songwriter’s rock record. I thought I knew what to expect from her, but the surprises are welcome and pulled off expertly.



Atlantic



The Scottish band’s newest is an atmospheric, lush rock record, putting their scrappy beginning long in the rear view. They’ve grown to inhabit a similar soundscape as another band I love, The National, and it makes perfect sense with that band’s Aaron Desner producing.





Nada Surf is 20 years into their career and are still a bastion of consistently good indie rock. You Know Who You Are is a summation of the band’s strongest suit: smooth, feel good pop rock. Not a challenging record, but in a year like 2016, you just want something that sounds familiar and warm and won’t let you down.



No Trend



The Chicago trio’s second full-length captures their powerful sound perfectly. Hard-hitting drums full of blast beats, fuzzed-out bass, and Lindsey Charles’ captivating and soulful wail will prove to you that you’ve needed this band in your life.



Total Treble



Not as strong a set of songs as the amazing Transgender Dysphoria Blues, but an album of love songs from a trans perspective is something this world needs to hear.





Mock Orange has been one of my favorite bands for a long time, and their record releases are far between making each one quite an event for me. Once again, they don’t disappoint, with this perfect documentation of the sound they’ve been honing for the past few records. If the world were a fair place, they’d be revered as much as bands like Built to Spill and Modest Mouse.





These old dudes still got it. With hooks, energy and tight performances, they are besting bands half their age.



Rough Trade



These undeniably cool motherfuckers knock out another batch of songs pulling from Modern Lovers, Velvet Underground and Pavement influences, which wouldn’t be much if the lyrics and delivery weren’t so perfect.





The London gothy post punk band return with the volume cranked up even more and Jehnny Beth howling some of the darkest love songs of the year.





Rosenstock continues to mature his songwriting without losing the fun singalongs, energy, or even the ska. He’s proving to be a force to be reckoned with as a solo artist.





The high quality of Dinosaur Jr.’s reunion records is no longer a surprise, but Give a Glimpse is their best since the first of the batch, 2007’s Beyond. An eclectic mix of tempos moves the record along, without getting too murky and long-winded (Farm) or slow (I Bet on Sky). The songs are super singable, and Lou Barlow’s two songwriting contributions are his strongest reunion songs to date.





I’m late to the party on these Wisconsin boys, just finally getting hip this year. Some of the catchiest pop punk hooks of the year, plus a pinch of hardcore and some top-notch production. I’m in.



Sinderlyn



Cymbals Eat Guitars are one of my favorite band of the past decade, nabbing my #1 spot in 2009. Joseph D’Agostino’s songwriting continues to grow as the band expands their shoegaze-tinged 90s indie sound by getting funky and sometimes nearly dancey without losing the rock and roll.



Golfshirt Records



Silly band or not, this was one of my most-listened albums of the year, so high on the list it goes! My favorite album of theirs since 2000’s How to Meet Girls, it’s a tight set of super poppy, super signable nerd punk. Read my interview with Parry Gripp from earlier in the year here.

Joyful Noise



Thomas Fekete was not the most famous musician we lost this year, but his music was special to me, and his death especially tragic with cancer taking his life at only 27. He was the lead guitarist for Surfer Blood, and he wrote and recorded this solo album Burner at home while going through treatments and unable to tour. While this technically came out on Joyful Noise on December 14th of 2015, that was past last year’s submission deadline and dammit, this record needs to be acknowledged. It’s the most eclectic record on this list, a mix of experimental folk, psychedelia, fuzzy rock, electronic creations and sound collage, a product of someone who never initially intended for the public to hear it. It’s a product of someone going through immense struggles and creating a record that, in his words from my interview with him last spring, “had to exist.”





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.





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.



It used to be a running gag of mine to say I was looking forward to a new Jesus and Mary Chain record. It looks like 2017 is gonna be the year it finally happens!Â