The Top 25 Songs of 2017

25: Scott H. Biram - Long Old Time"
24: Ted Leo - "You're Like Me"
23: Bash & Pop - Not This Time"
22: Alvvays - "In Undertow"
21: White Reaper - "Judy French"
20: Future Islands - "Ran"
19: Joyce Manor: "Fake I.D"
18: The National - "Day I Die"
17: Shout Out Louds - "Oh Oh"
16: Surfer Blood - "Matter of Time"
15: Jaime Wyatt - "Wishing Well"
14: Ted Leo - "Anthems of None"
13: Chuck Prophet - "Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins"
12: Split Single - "Untry Love"
11: Sleaford Mods - "TCR"
10: Japandroids - "Near to the Wild Side of Life"
9: Teksti-TV 666 - "Silmät kiinni ja kädet ristiin"
8: Nikki Lane - "Jackpot"
7: Kevin Morby - "1 2 3 4"
6: Sam Coffey and the Iron Lungs - "Tough"
5: Now, Now - "SGL"
4: Waxahatchee - "Never Been Wrong"
3: The Paper Kites - "Electric Indigo"
2: Lo Tom - "Overboard"
1: Superchunk - "Up Against the Wall"

Autumn and the rest of 2017

The National - The Day I Die
The National - The System Dreams in Total Darkness
Alex Lahey - Every Day's The Weekend
Ted Leo - Anthems of None
Hold Steady - The Entitlement Crew
Weaves - Walkaway
Wolf Parade - You're Dreaming
Sam Coffey and the Iron Lungs - Tough
Teksti-TV 666 - Silmät kiinni ja kädet ristiin
Lo Tom - Overboard
Stars - Real Thing
Destroyer - Tinsel Town Swimming in Blood
Sheer Mag - Meet Me in the Street
Trouble - Snake Eyes
Calexico - End of the World With You
Superchunk - Up Against the Wall
R. L. Boyce - R.L.'s Boogie
Kevin Morby - 1 2 3 4
Metz - Cellophane
Ted Leo - You're Like Me
Goodbye June - Liberty Mother
Shout Out Louds - Oh Oh
Dan Croll - Bad Boy
Waxahatchee - Never Been Wrong
Curtis Harding - On and On
Graveyard Club - Ouija
Jesse Malin - Meet Me at the End of the World
Alvvays - In Undertow
Daddy Issues - Locked Out
Inara George - Young Adult
Iron & Wine - Call It Dreaming
Alvvays - Dreams Tonight
Margo Price - A Little Pain
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - It's a Matter of Time
Kasabian - Bless This Acid House
SGL - Now, Now
Jade Bird - Cathedral
Jenny Johnson - Solar Eclipse
Whitney Rose - Better to My Baby
Wolf Parade - Valley Boy
JD McPherson - Lucky Penny
Son Little - Oh Me Oh My
Stag - The Bedazzler
Hamish Anderson - Trouble
Langhorne Slim - Zombie
Worriers - The Possibility
Sweet Spirit - Pamela
Blitzen Trapper - Wild and Reckless
ГШ (Glintshake) - Убожество

Albums:
The National - Sleep Well Beast
Ted Leo - The Hanged Man
Alvvays - Antisocialites
Wolf Parade - Cry Cry Cry
Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm

Reverend Horton Heat @ Irving Plaza

Reverend Horton Heat

@ Irving Plaza

New York, NY - December 15, 2017

Christmas time is not what it used to be but Horton, Jimbo, and their new (TWO!) helpers (including drummer RJ Contreras) made the most of it with their "Holiday Hayride". The Rev appears to be taking it easy these days, ceding singing duties to his pal Big Sandy this particular night (more on that later) and to new keyboardist Matt Jordan on "Martini Time" (what?) and telling stories in length greater than most of the set. Highlights include a Chuck tribute of "Havana Moon" (with Sandy), "Ace of Spades", "Jimbo's song" (accordingly)" and "Cowboy Love". Also there were Christmas songs.

A scheduling mishap resulted in missing the Blasters. The bill was mislabeled as Big Sandy did not play with his own band and Junior Brown I am told did not appear, leaving only the Blasters as openers, despite what the bill said. Yours truly didn't help matters by taking one's sweet time in the snow and so I missed Phil and the gang. This is beyond too bad. In addition to being favorites in this parish, it was a dream double bill. Horton spent of some his chatter remarking on early Rev visits to Los Angeles and seeing these cats who they very quickly looked up to and learned from. Sigh. 

The Hold Steady @ Brooklyn Bowl

The Hold Steady; Patterson Hood
@ Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY - November 29, 2017

The first of the four nights at Brooklyn Bowl for the Hold Steady started off with a "Positive Jam". A decade after their love affair with a strong fan base and considerable respect, a decade far removed from how the world looked (even though events of 2000 through 2008 merited much of the same vibes now in overdrive), the Hold Steady have revitalized themselves with a relatively new approach: Residencies in core cities (New York, Chicago), no seeming pressure to put out an album (a single will gladly suffice if it works and boy does the new one, "Entitlement Crew", work), and most importantly of all, the return last year of Franz Nicolay to the fold.

For some, Franz was the magic glue, the transcendental element that made Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America and Stay Positive and the Hold Steady as a band, stand out. When he left, some of the heart went out of it for some folks. His replacements were more than able, notably Steve Selvidge on guitar, but something was missing and it showed in performances and new records. But Franz is back. And Steve is still there, playing excellently. Craig Finn said it accurately at the show: this is the best line-up in band history (there haven't been that many line-up changes, far from it, he means they are now at full strength, reinvigorated and sounding better than ever. He is right).

Can't tell a lie - in a write-up of the National's Forest Hills show (and these two bands always seem to be complimenting each other), I alluded to bands of the same class who are already nostalgic for themselves, and I had the Hold Steady in mind. One was hesitant (and avoided this residency last time) about the band these days, even with Franz back. But One was stupid. The band, as far as this whole rock n roll thing goes, is still immediate. "Positive Jam" now serves as a history of what was to come. The Post-War Interstate Empire of Midwestern Cities, the promise and fall of the Baby Boomers, the turgidness of the 70's and 80's. "Constructive Summer", one of the all time anthems to end all anthems, now also has a chilling (no pun intended) note ("Work at the mill until you die") to the consequences of those bored days. Even "Stuck Between Stations" rings with a call to a dark fate. And the songs of Holly and the characters who make up the Craig Finn storybook, the mix of sex, drugs, and Jesus, has a canonical ring to the confused society in which we now reside. Will the ending be redemptive as in "How a Resurrection Really Feels"? Or we all going to stop short at a "Multitude of Casulties"?

Around that, it was the same old rock n roll nirvana. From "The Swish" and "Rock Problems" to "Hot Soft Light" (anytime that follows "Constructive Summer", it's like they put the setlist together just for me), "The Weekenders", and "Sequestered in Memphis". Opening act and GFOB (Great Friend of the Band) Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, helped the boys out on a cover of AC/DC's "Ride On", a tribute to Malcolm Young, the late, not-so-unsung bedrock of that power house, though Craig and Co. keenly showed off AC/DC's one, technically speaking, slow song, a straight true blues. The Hold Steady are all about rock n roll legacy (while not being a Legacy Act...not yet...?) and the honor to the forefathers who were once the young standard bearers for the Greats before them, is how it's meant to be done, no matter what strange days we are in.