Spotify Playlist - Listen while you read!

1. Bleached - Don’t You Think That You’ve Had Enough? Picks 1-3 were really tough this year. It could have easily been a three-way tie. I went with Bleached because this record was such a dramatic step in a new direction. There’s still moments of that surf-punk/mega-hook sound they started with two records ago, and after their last record, it could have gone in one of a couple different ways, but there’s a discernible right-turn into the pop world on this one, with forays into disco, dance, bubble-gum, and pure pop. I thought the record was a little long early on, but I eventually decided it’s just right. “Somebody Dial 911” is one of my top songs of the year for sure, and “Just a Heartbeat Away” is right up there. This is a band still on the way up and it’ll be exciting to see what’s next.

2. Ex Hex - It’s Real - I loved their debut Rips but this is a more fully-realized record - more confident and cohesive, better songs, and more identifiable. The production is crisp and clean and the performances are spot on. It was also one of the best shows I saw in 2019. “Rainbow Shiner” is my jam here, by guitarist Betsy Wright, with it’s Holy Diver-era guitar riffs and great vocal melody. Love cranking the vinyl.

3. Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury - I haven’t been able to latch on to Stu’s previous albums, but not for lack of trying. I love his politics, and that he’s got some Michigan connections in his band, I just couldn’t dive in like everyone said I should. That all changed when I heard Sound & Fury. It took me two listens to realize something special had happened, and another two to be up to my neck trying to figure it all out and digest it. I’m still working on that - but the record is fearless, and that alone is not enough to make it great, but the songs and production are, and it’s gonna be at the top of a bunch of lists this year. This is a ROCK album, not a country record, though you can catch a glimpse of Waylon here and there. It’s not for everyone - it takes a little work - but it’s worth it.

4. Foxhall Stacks - The Coming Collapse - This came out of nowhere and kicked me in the ass like an unexpected record seems to every year. Ex-members of Jawbox, Velocity Girl, and Minor Threat/Bad Religion make it a bit of a supergroup but the record plays like a well-oiled machine. If I have a wheel-house, this is it. Killer hooks and melodies, loud AF guitars, a real live sound and feel, and tempos that are upbeat but held back just enough to keep you squirming in your seat. At the top of the list though is just really great songs. Killer album, huge surprise. Really hope it’s not a one-off.

5. Micah Schnabel - Teenage Years of the 21st Century - Micah’s follow up to my #1 of 2017 Your New Norman Rockwell is a logical step forward into themes that are even more personal, more political, and more daring than those on ...Rockwell. The spoken-word introspective narratives have not been abandoned, but there is a familiar rock and roll aspect to a lot of these songs that fans of Micah and his Columbus-based band Two Cow Garage will embrace with open arms. He’s got a kid-like innocence and vulnerability but the skepticism, wisdom, vocabulary (and maybe just a dash of bitterness) of a well-read old man. There’s an underlying optimism that rears its head from time to time too, lest we jump off the nearest skyscraper at our earliest opportunity. It’s a special combination and Micah continues to set the bar of what one guy and a guitar can accomplish.

6. Todd May - Let’s Go Get Lost - Another Columbus entry. I can’t imagine why Todd May isn’t a superstar and Ed Sheeran is selling out arenas. These songs are masterpieces and his voice and delivery just tear me up. I hear elements of a lot of different things going on, more in spirit than sound, from Tom Waits here and there, to Jeff Tweedy, to his raspy Columbus colleagues Colin Gawel and Micah Schnabel in other parts. The record feels very Midwest - honest and melodic.

7. Juliana Hatfield - Weird - This was released in January, on the heels of her amazing album of Olivia Newton John covers (my #1 of last year). It’s more along the lines of her previous album of original material and homage to our political climate, 2017’s Pussycat. It’s got some really smart songs, played in her more recent indie-pop-rock, not quite lo-fi style. She’s made some life changes that have allowed her to make music a priority, so her productivity has been off the charts these last couple years. With quality standards like this being met, we’re on board.

8. North Mississippi All-Stars - Up and Rolling - Another band I never latched onto before. The production is amazing, the songs are fun, and the performances are killer. The guitar playing is engaging and inspiring. It’s a really comfortable and timeless record, sounds super warm, and made me a fan.

9. The Highwomen - S/T - These things usually don’t work. Take the two Highwaymen records, for example. Great story, amazing artists, not great records. This record is more unified, more thought out, and better executed. It suffers from a bit of sameness across the three-sides, and it’s at it best when it strays in style from that formula, but it’s an easy listen and at-times goosebump-inducing experience.

10. Taylor Swift - Lover - Don’t be a h8r. This record is the first one of hers I’ve been able to sit through. It’s got some stuff, probably half of it, that I’d classify as pure drivel - over-produced, formulaic, cookie-cutter, dime-a-dozen pop-radio garbage meant for girls 1/3 my age. But….there are a handful of songs that are really, truly great when you get right down to it. Interesting production, challenging arrangements, good vocal performance, and a super-sticky melodies. I’m not taking the TayTay train to Little Caesars Arena to pay top dollar for a nosebleed seat, and I’m not in the “greatest artist of our time” camp yet, but there’s some really good pop music on here that transcends its genre and social stature.

Other Cool Things (EPs, Reissues, Honorable Mentions, etc):

Shane Sweeney - Love The Dynamo (EP) Columbus mention #3. Great songs a la Cohen/Cave/Waits recorded on an iPhone. As raw as it gets. A beautiful collection.

Royal Scene - Meet You At The End (EP) Lansing, MI Replacements tribute band member’s collection of fantastic original songs - sounds great, high-energy, and super fun. Fans of well-executed Midwestern rock and roll should take note.

Drinking Mercury - S/T - GTG Records full-length recorded in a cabin in northern Michigan. Reminds me of some different British things - Who, Oasis. Super smart songs and instrumentation.

Popular Creeps - Bloodshot Red (EP) - Detroit-area dudes with a great batch of songs that remind me a bit of early `80s garage-alternative stuff. Think Murmur-era R.E.M., a less-punk Hootenany-era Replacements, stuff like that. It’s loose and raucous and raw with great, efficient songwriting and tight guitars. Great stuff.

The Replacements - Dead Man’s Pop - Desperately needed remix of their 1989 album Don’t Tell a Soul. Finally, the record it was meant to be. The extras are cool, but the album remix is pure gold.

The Stick Arounds - Hot Single Of The Month - Each month these dudes gave away a new song for free. The cover images are takes on classic album jackets. The songs are to the Stick’s standards - very well written and executed Michigan powerpop with a couple great covers thrown in. Look for #12 - their Cheap Trick cover coming out Christmas week on their Facebook page!!!

Keith Richards - Talk Is Cheap (box set reissue) - Long overdue remaster of this amazing record with a great book and some extras in a Telecaster case-like package. It was overpriced, the extras are forgettable, and I thought hard before I pulled the trigger, but it’s a great package and I’m glad I did. Now, where’s Main Offender?

Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police - I like this record, but it falls a bit short of her Olivia Newton-John covers album. Maybe the material is too familiar, maybe it’s not executed with quite the same level of commitment, maybe it’s just me. But that’s not to say it’s bad - it’s a fun listen - especially if you love Juliana and you love The Police - and I’ve gone back to the vinyl a few times.

Top Two Albums of the 2010s

Lydia Loveless - Real - The 4th Columbus record here, though she’s since relocated. This record is still in rotation. The best songs, the best band, great production. But that voice is what ties it all together. I find myself writing my own versions of these songs again and again. I just can’t get sick of it.

Jason Isbell - Southeastern - I still get goosebumps when I hear “Outfit” or “Decoration Day” live, but this record is so intimate, honest, and raw. The two follow ups are solid, but, for me, lesser extensions of this record, and haven’t quite had the staying power. “Elephant” is the best cancer song I’ve ever heard. A very personal and intimate record, and never a dull moment.

Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos.

www.thetucos.com

Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.

www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic

Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic

www.rockandrollrestrooms.com

Photos by K.D. Bodnar. Do not share or use the photos elsewhere without permission.

On the Weeknight Brutality Scale (WBS), Monday nights fall just short of Sundays and just above Tuesdays as the worst night of the week to play or go out. But sometimes a record just grabs ya by the privates, drags you out to the garage, puts you behind the wheel, and sends you down Woodward Avenue to get out for some rock. That’s what happened to me. I really liked the last Ex Hex record Rips, but the new one – It’s Real – really sunk its claws in deep. It’s got all the hooks and guitars and clever songwriting, but all notched up into what is so-far my album of the year. I wasn’t going to miss the show, even after one bud bailed (out of town with wife), then another (too much going on), then another (“Gotta pass, man.”).

There was a good Monday night crowd at The Loving Touch, a one-time massage parlour converted into a great music venue in a hip suburb just north of Detroit, for Moaning’s direct support set. We did our best to stay engaged, but the mix was muddy, reducing the bass to low-end sludge and too dominant a presence in the sound. There were some interesting reverb-drenched Tele licks here and there, but it was a bit shoe-gazey and just didn’t keep our attention. Sorry guys. Come back to Detroit and we’ll give ya another chance.

Ex Hex came out looking every bit the part in leather and spandex pants and line checked their Gibsons, Fenders, and Koll guitars. I hadn’t even heard a note but I loved them already and was feeling the sting of regret about missing their past Detroit shows. A few minutes later the lights went down and “Breakin’ The Law” by Judas Priest played over the PA. What followed was an hour of smart and hooky pop-punk-surf-metal (heavy on the pop-punk, light on the surf-metal) that sounded familiar and consistent, but kept reinventing itself throughout the set. Singer Mary Timony (Ex-Helium) led the way, providing vocals on most of the songs and playing most of the leads, but Betsy Wright stepped in to break it up a bit every few songs with some different vocal flavors and some solos that fell just on the other side of KK Downing. Laura Harris laid down a powerful and steady back-beat and lended a beautiful layer to the harmonies that give them such a great, deep sound. Touring bassist David Christian stood back and stayed in the pocket, but wasn’t disengaged or reduced to a hired-gun role on stage. Just when you started to think it was getting a little samey, they pulled it back to a slow roll for a song, teamed up for some killer guitarmonies, incorporated some unexpected slap-back effects, or pulled out the Flying V for some heavy riffs that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Holy Diver outtake.

It’s probably not PC to say, but I love women-led bands. Always have. Juliana Hatfield, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, The Avengers, Bangles, The Go-Go’s, and more recently Best Coast, Bleached, The Muncie Girls, and Ex Hex. There’s an element to the female voice that adds a deeper layer to the “pop” in power-pop, a distinction that magnifies even further the dichotomy between melodic vocal lines and layered harmonies and loud, overdriven guitars that define the genre. Ex Hex have it down – a REAL rock show that was every bit as raw and dirty as it was melodic and beautiful. As good as this record is and that show was, I can’t wait to see what they do next.