Well, it was another fantastic year for rock and roll! Plenty of surprises and some great comebacks from the past. Dig in and check this stuff out - and share what you loved in 2022!

1. Scorpions – Rock Believer After much debate Rock Believer gets the coveted No. 1 spot on my list. If you’d told me 10, 20, 30 years ago that Scorpions would release my favorite album in 2022 I’d’ve laughed you out of town. What can you say? This album is way better than it has any right to be. Sure there’s a little energy missing from Klaus’ voice, sure it’s a track or two longer than it should be, but it’s such an out-of-nowhere surprise. Look, I can’t sit here and tell you that this album is better than Lee Bains’ or Butch Walker’s, but this hit my turntable more and was a bigger part of my life than any other record this year. 

2. Drive-By Truckers – Welcome to Club XIII DBT just continue to release really super records and branch out into new directions and keep it exciting. They are my favorite band of this century and they’re on a hot streak at the moment.

3. Urge Overkill – Oui Another out-of-nowhere surprise. It’s been a decade and a year since the awesomely named but underwhelming Rock and Roll Submarine album and 27+ years since the tail-end of their heyday, but damned if this record didn’t liven up the living room this summer. Who else would open with a convincing cover of Wham!? If you loved ‘em in the `90s, and even if you didn’t, it’s worth getting. 

4. White Lung – Premonition This unexpected gem came at the zero hour, with a December release right as the band announced they were breaking up. I like my rock and roll a little noisy, but White Lung has always fallen just on the other side of that line for me. Always dug it, bought every record, saw them when they came to town, but just wanted a little more sugar, a little less vinegar. Premonition delivers that perfectly – just a couple more hooks and sweetness, and it’s my fav from them. Bummed they’re over. 

5. Michael Monroe - I Live Too Fast To Die Young His post-Hanoi Rocks career has been consistent and rockin’, and many from his generation have fared much worse. This record is full of energy, volume, and fun. I’d love to see him come around in 2023.

6. Lee Bains + The Glory Fires – Old Time Folks Another solid outing from one of the South’s most important and poignant (and criminally under-appreciated) writers. Great lyrics and what a vocalist Lee is. It’s fast and angry at times, and soulful and heartfelt at others. Showing the world that there’s more to Alabama than backwards politicians. 

7. Ultrabomb – Time to Burn All-star punk-rock royalty’s debut. Anything former Hüsker Dü gets my money, and bassist Greg Norton’s presence is heavily felt, but ex-UK Subs and Mahones too and there’s no lightweights here. Does anyone really need another cover of “Sonic Reducer”? Probably not. And it’s very-Hüsker, almost too much at times, but 35-years after their demise who’s complaining? 

8. Butch Walker – as...Glenn Butch consistently rules. His last couple records have made my lists, or they should have if they didn’t. as…Glenn is a concept album and it helps to approach it as a listener that way. You can’t argue with the guy – it sounds great, the musicianship is top notch, and the songs are incredible. 

9. The Right Here – Northern Town Minneapolis buddies best record yet with smart songs, quirky arrangements, and up-tempo, rowdy backbeats. Fans of that other great Minneapolis band will dig, but it’s not derivative or digging for something old – it’s new and exciting and fun. 

10. Naked Raygun – Over the Overlords Come-back album from Chicago punk legends. Fun to hear these guys do their thing again, and that’s all this is. One of the more consistent albums in their catalog, and up there next to Ultrabomb and White Lung for great punk rock in 2022. 

 Noteworthy Mentions

Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here Skid’s first album since `06, and it’s been nearly 30 since `Bas was last heard on one of their records, but Finnish Idol star Erik Grönwall does the best-Bas anyone could do in voice and swagger. Solid effort, fans will love.

The Wild Honey Collective – Volume 2 Cosmic American music from Lansing, Michigan and GTG Records that hits in all the right spots. I toured with these renegades in 2021, dodging Covid-19 and spreading the gospel up the northern Atlantic coast. Songs are amazing. Playing and picking has always been there, but the addition of Adam Aymor on pedal steel has taken them to the next level. I lent a lap steel contribution on one song. 

Popular Creeps – All Of This Will End In Tears Detroit buddy’s sophomore album that improves on ground set with their debut Bloodshot Red in every way – and that’s sayin’ something! Yeah I co-wrote a tune, but it’d make my list anyway. These guys are shades of early `mats, a little bit of GBV, hints of Cheap Trick, and a bit of good old Detroit rockers like Iggy and MC5. Dig the middle-eight stop and pick-up in this tune. 

Slide Off Saturn – Spider’s Kiss Didn’t see this coming. Ann Arbor noisy, ass-kicking label-mates from back in the day (cheers to Red Eye Growler Records!) reunite for a rockin’ three-song ep that takes me back to raising hell together in the Blind Pig and the 8-Ball in 1994. 

Thundermother – Black and Gold If I had a top 11, this would have made the list. Saw these Swedish women open for the Scorpions at their first ever U.S. show in August and bought the discography the next day. It’s loose and loud and raw. Think AC/DC meets The Runaways. Would love to see them come back on a club tour. 

Shows

Scorpions / Skid Row – Las Vegas, NV Amazing concert we waited through a pandemic for. I didn’t get a tee-shirt, but I got Covid in that cesspool of humanity. [Pencil Storm Review] 

Scorpions / Thundermother – Clarkston, MI Encore of our Vegas night on TrooperGirl22’s birthday back home. A great night, a great show.  

Drive-By Truckers/Lydia Loveless – Kalamazoo, MI A beautiful night in the Bell’s Beer Garden for a wonderful show.

Tom Kiefer/LA Guns/Faster Pussycat – Westland, MI Three great bands, hadn’t ever seen any of them. It was hot and sticky and packed just like you’d expect and want.

Cheap Trick – Maumee, OH Not my fav-ever show by one of my fav-ever bands. They were fine, but it was a weird night. A debacle of a shitshow getting in and around and all that, but it was good to see Colin and the ribs weren’t bad. Cheap Trick sounded great, as always, and I’ll probably go see them again (haha).   

Mudhoney/Easy Action/The Black Clouds – Ferndale, MI Great sets by all. Mudhoney still brings it 100% and Easy Action with Detroit punk-rock royalty John Brannon in front is always a face melting experience.

W.A.S.P./Armored Saint – Detroit, MI First saw W.A.S.P. in `85 on the F*CK Like a Beast Tour in Marquette, MI. I’d’a stayed home for this and saved my $40 if I’d known he’d be piping in and singing to a track. You owe us better, Blackie. Shame on you with that horseshit. There should be a disclaimer when you buy tickets if the artist is using tracks. It’s fake, it’s deceptive, it’s dishonest, it’s lame, and I have no interest in it. If you don’t care then you’re part of the problem. It was visually great and Armored Saint was great (and real), and it was super cool to be back in Harpo’s again, but that’s not enough. I paid good money and spent a night out to see you play music.   

Dokken/George Lynch – Woodhaven, MI I’ve seen a lot of shows in my many years, but this was possibly the worst performance I’ve ever seen anyone give. Don was not only flat, and lazy, but a half-beat behind the already lagging band. If he wasn’t drunk, I wonder what his excuse was? George came out for the encore and lit the place up, and hey, at least Don was really at least trying to sing without the help of a laptop, so I’ll at least give him that, but really, just retire. It was embarrassing.

TV/Movies

Yellowstone – It’s worth the hype. Dark and sexy, well-written and acted, and shot against the beautiful Montana landscape.

Big Shot Disney+ series where John Stamos plays a Bobby Knight type who’s been relegated from the Big 10 to coaching a private girl’s high school basketball team. It’s everything a jaded, cynical, bitter, aging, northern-midwestern punk rocker should hate. But it’s so good!

Andor Another Disney+ home run. I love everything Star Wars they’ve done, even Boba Fett, widely panned by fans and geeks.

Dio: Dreamers Never Die – One of the best rock-docs ever, certainly #1 of 2022.  [Pencil Storm Review]

The Offer – Bio-pic about the making of The Godfather [Pencil Storm Review]

Unrivaled – Documentary about the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry [Pencil Storm Review]

Pistol – Sex Pistols biopic [Pencil Storm Review]

Randy Rhoads – Reflections of a Guitar Icon  [Pencil Storm Review]

Sheryl (Sheryl Crow Doc)  [Pencil Storm Review]

Where Are You, Jay Bennet? [Pencil Storm Review]

Favorite Pencil Storm Article of 2022

Well, of course…. Thanks JCE!!!

Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
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Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic