Ken's Top 10 of 2015 - #10 - Metz - II

I don't think I realized how much I was missing noise and bands playing loud just to be loud until I heard the new Metz album. II is just perfect for what it is. It's just loud and noisy and aggressive while being actual songs. 

These days, a lot of what is considered punk is just either a paint by numbers approach where a band mimics the last 30 years of music or it's this whiny emo nonsense that gets played on the radio next to a Taylor Swift song. Also, most noise rock is just pure noise with no song structure or just twiddling with some electronic instruments in what is technically noise but is just boring. II pushes punk into noise and noise into real songs. It's predecessors are Nirvana and Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come. If you listen to either of those for more than pure nostalgia, you'll end up loving this album. It's rare for me to hear an album that makes me wish I was 20 years younger so I could fully appreciate hearing it. I just know if I make it out to see them next month I'll be the oldest by a minimum of 10 years, probably 15. I might have to anyway.

Jeff's Top 10 of 2015 - #10: Langhorne Slim and the Law - The Spirit Moves

It's that time of year again where we look at the best of the year. Kicking off my Best of 2015 list? Langhorne Slim and The Law's The Spirit Moves.

Langhorne Slim has been an artist I've followed since I saw him open for Clem Snide many, many years ago. There's a punkish aesthetic of sorts to his brand of folk music, and his evolution from a solo artist to more of a band element has been a net positive. You may have recalled his song "Worries" from a few years back, and I really feel like The Spirit Moves is a natural evolution of his overall sound. This album goes in a few different places, and so many of the songs just keep getting stuck in my head long, long after I've listened.

Honestly, if you haven't sought this one out yet, you really should, especially if you're one for good, offbeat folk sounds. This might be Langhorne Slim's best album yet, and it speaks to the strength and consistency of his songwriting that I keep going back to this well so often. It's streaming below: