should something something be forgot

2006 has just about run its course, and all the cool bloggers are posting retrospectives and predictions. I could try and follow suit, but seeing as how:

1. this is a music blog
2. much of my attention is focused on the past rather than the present

…a “Best of 2006” post would be rather absurd. Unlike 2005, where several favorite bands released albums – some great (Ladytron’s Witching Hour, The Epoxies’ Stop the Future), some disappointing (Franz Ferdinand’s and Fischerspooner’s sophomore efforts) – musically, 2006 really didn’t unleash much that caught my attention. I won’t rule out that five years from now I’ll give the Scissor Sisters’ Ta-Dah another spin and hail it as a modern classic, but at this moment I’m content with my playlist of things culled from decades past.

The year wasn’t totally bereft of musical bright spots. Two of my favorite bands, The Clash and The Byrds, got excellent box sets of their material released in time for the holidays. I was also able to locate and cross off several much-wanted albums on my want list, mostly punk, cowpunk, and synthpop from the early 1980’s. There were even a couple of contemporary releases I found myself enjoying…with certain degrees of hesitation. Here’s the short list:

The Grates – Lies Are Much More Fun (from Gravity Won’t Get You High, 2006) – A swell bit of quirky indie pop out of Australia. I wish the rest of the album sounded like this track, instead of settling into a derivative mid-90’s Veruca Salt/Letters to Cleo vibe.

Nouvelle Vague – Dance With Me (from Bande a Part, 2006) - I’m not sure the world needed a second Nouvelle Vague album. The central conceit – new wave and punk classics redone as old school Euro pop – was genius the first time around, but it’s dodgy business trying to make an ongoing concern out of a single gimmick. (The same applies to fellow re-imagineers Richard Cheese and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.) At least they were clever enough to cast their nets a little wider for the source material on their second album, and not merely rely on the familiar standards. A Lords of the New Church cover? Ok, count me in.

The Checkers – The Invitation (from Running With Scissors, 2006) – The Checkers’ won’t win any awards for originality, but there will be a place in my heart for tightly executed, catchy punk pop.

Speaking of killer punk pop, swing on by the Deranged Records website and check out the two sample tracks they’ve posted from Vancouver’s The Tranzmitors. In these days where “punk pop” has become synonymous with whiny, corporate play-by-numbers product, it’s gratifying to know that someone out there has a bit of fire in their belly.