I know this is pretty late, and i’ve been pretty slack with updating the blog in general recently, due to the fact that I’ve been concentrating on the zine quite a lot in recent weeks and months. But not wishing to leave out those of you who like to read stuff for free rather than buy bits of paper with writing on, i’ll try and pick it back up now.

And so, without any further ado and in the spirit of mindless conformity, here are my top albums of 2008. Enjoy!

30) Death After Death- Fuck Your Life

29) Cower- The First Two Years

28) We Are Scientists- Brain Thrust Mastery

27) Elle Milano- Acres of Dead Space Cadets

26) Blood Red Shoes- Box Of Secrets

25) Dirty Money/Trapped Under Ice- Split EP

24) Good Times 5 Way Split

23) Kasms- Tin Of No Cigars EP

22) Lightspeed Champion- Falling Off The Lavender Bridge

21) Semifinalists- 2

20) Sunpower- Pain For Profit

Amazing DK’s inspired hardcore from Belgium.

19) International Superheroes of Hardcore- Takin’ It Ova

As much as I hate to admit it, and try to blame my girlfriends love of all things NFG related, this is both funny and catchy hardcore.

18) Shai Hulud- Misanthropy Pure

They are back, they still hate people, they still rule! http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/shai-hulud-misanthropy-pure/
17) Blacklisted- Heavier Than Heaven Lonlier Than God

Not quite as good as their earlier stuff if you ask me, but nevertheless a great return.

http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/blacklisted-rhythm-to-the-madness-the-grosvenor-london-11th-september/

16) Cold Ones- S/T EP

More great UK hardcore from Liverpool. Fast and shambolic, drunken hardcore how it should be played.

15) United Nations- S/T

Speculation over members and legal issues aside, this lived up to the hype in my opinion, although not quite in the way I expected.

Review- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/united-nations-united-nations/

14) The Shitty Limits- Here Are The Limits

They’ve been called the best UK punk band all over the place, and this showcases why, fusing 60s garage, 70s punk and 80’s hardcore into something new, and most importantly, something quite brilliant.

Live review- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/the-shitty-limits-others-the-grosvenor-london-19th-december/#more-669

13) Mystery Jets- Twenty One

The best indie/pop album I’ve heard all year. Although I got sick of hearing ‘Two Doors Down’ everytime I switched on the telly or ventured out at night, its still a great song, and this is an album full of pop goodness.

12) Maths/Throats Split EP

Showcasing two of the best hardcore bands in the UK today, my favourite side of the split changes all the time, although Throats probably shade it slightly. Review-  http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/maths-throats-split-ep/
11) Trash Talk- S/T

Their first full length doesn’t disappoint, and is 15 minutes or so of brutal, heavy, sludgy hardcore.

Live review of the Paint It Black show- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/paint-it-black-trash-talk-the-fighting-cocks-london-22-september/

10) The Steal- Bright Grey

If it wasn’t for Fast Point this would be my favourite UK release this year, and its unsurprisingly brilliant. Building on their 2006 debut, this is even better, recalling melodic hardcore bands such as Paint It Black, as well as old school DC bands, but maintaining a almost unique sense of Britishness. Awesome.

9) Ceremony- Still Nothing Moves You

The follow up to Violence, Violence and the EP ‘Scared People’ again showcases why Ceremony are streets ahead of their counterpart’s. Never boring, always about to do something different out of the blue, this is in equal parts slow and pounding, fast and adrenaline fuelled, and completely brutal. The sense of anger that underpins the bands output remains here, and is far more effective than any other band that comes to mind. A blistering 20 minutes or so, than only intensifies live. Read my live review here- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/ceremony-carling-academy-islington-1st-december/
SSS- The Dividing Line

The second effort from the Liverpool based thrash/crossover band was released this year on Earache, showing a more clinical side as apposed to the S/T album. It took me a while to fully get into this, but it’s well worth a listen and pursuing with as the rewards are excellent. Another great effort from the kings of UK thrash. They recently toured with the almighty Doomriders, my review of this can be read here-

http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/doomriders-sss-1st-november-the-queen-charlotte-norwich/

7) Rolo Tomassi- Hysterics

Probably my most anticipated debut album of the year, this didn’t disappoint, I like it even more as it has some personal meaning to me as well, but I won’t bore you with the details. Read my full review of the album here-

http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/rolo-tomassi-hysterics/

6) Half Man Half Biscuit- CSI:Ambelside

Continuing to release albums every couple of years, and tour sporadically, nearly 30 years after their inception, Half Man Half Biscuit remain a cult following, despite being more worthy of a place as a national treasure. Hilarious, catchy, satirical and just a bit different from everything else, this album ranks up alongside their best. ‘Petty Sessions’ is a definite highlight. I also got to see them live this year, my review can be found here- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/half-man-half-biscuit-the-waterfront-norwich-12th-november/

5) Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Common Life

I took my time getting hold of this, as I was originally waiting to see them live, and then for some reason wasn’t able to go to the show I had intended to, so had to wait til the second time round in December. It was well worth the wait though. Furthering their crossover into mainstream concioussness, this manages to maintain the challenging aspects that made ‘Hidden World’ so great, but is also more accessible, ‘Son The Father’ for example is a hardcore punk anthem featuring amazing riffs and bratty choruses. Maybe a little too much meandering for my taste, but this continues to be interesting on the tenth listen and beyond, and proves just why Fucked Up are so highly regarded in so many spectrums. Unafraid to experiment, this is the sound of the best modern hardcore band in the world.

Live review- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/fucked-up-camden-underworld-18th-december/

Check out the NME darlings being ‘oh so punk’ live on MTV. Gotta love them.

4) H20- Nothing To Prove

Without a doubt the best comeback record of the year, H20 returned with their first album for 7 years. Probably my favourite album of theirs, this is fast, fun, singalong melodic hardcore at its very best. And they still kill it live after all these years. They may have had nothing to prove, but this album showed H2O have still got it and ‘What Happened’ is one of my favourite songs all year.

3) Deny Everything- Speaking Treason EP

One of my favourite bands around at the moment, hailing from Germany, Deny Everything channel the spirit of Kid Dynamite and co. but from a modern perspective. I reviewed this EP properly a little while back, you can read what I thought here- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/deny-everything-speaking-treason-ep/

2) Paint It Black- New Lexicon

Only just missed out on being my favourite album of the year and I nearly changed my mind at the last minute. I first listened to this via illegal downloading, but I picked it up on vinyl when I saw them in Kingston in September, and its not been far away from my record player since then. They were incredible live as well, one of my highlights of the year almost. Dan Yemin is a wonderful man, this is classic Paint It Black, and I’m sure you don’t need any more convincing if you have heard the other two albums and don’t already own this. Read my review of the live show here- http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/paint-it-black-trash-talk-the-fighting-cocks-london-22-september/

1) Fast Point- Good Evil

Probably the album I have listened to the most in recent months, and for good reason. Its awesome. These boys from Grimbsy combine pretty much everything I love about punk and hardcore in every song; fast old school inspired hardcore, recalling bands like early Black Flag/Dead Kennedys/Germs/ Circle Jerks, combining them with a UK feel, a love of skateboarding and a nice amount of thrashing. They are also really good live, so catch them, and make sure you get your hands on this. Read a live review here-  http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/running-riot-pre-show-dead-swans-dirty-money-honour-among-thieves-fast-point-more-than-life/

I probably forgot a load so feel free to add your own suggestions. I’ve included EP’s in this list, but not bothered with singles (anything with 3 or less tracks).

‘An exclusive club to make exclusive kids feel better about themselves’

Germanys Deny Everything don’t do macho bullshit, and they don’t do hardcore snobbery either. What they do, however, is channel the best aspects of bands such as Kid Dynamite, Paint It Black and old school hardcore legends like Gorilla Biscuits, in sub two minute slices of fast paced, melodic hardcore.

Subjects tackled on this EP concern the hardcore scene in general, often focusing on the prevalent ‘macho’ aspects, politics and working together to change things, questioning everything, and hypocrisy in different aspects of life. Whilst these aren’t exactly new subjects for a hardcore band to talk about, Deny Everything are set apart in terms of their lyrics from all the other hardcore bands singing about the same things, not only in their complete and utter conviction for what they are saying, but also how well expressed they are.

Adjectives like biting, aggressive, cutting and witty can all be applied to the lyrics on this EP, all the more impressive when you consider the band call Cologne home. Unabashed and unafraid to tackle their targets, with gusto, energy and an effectively conveyed, true sense of anger, Deny Everything are incisive, and unafraid to speak out. It would be good if they had a few more answers to many of the problems they outline, rather than just having a ‘we’ve got to do something about this’ approach, but you cant have everything, and when no one has the answer, its unrealistic to expect Deny Everything to.

Their sound is not particularly innovative, but it’s fast and tight, and performed well. The band seem well aware of this though, going as far as to describe their sound on MySpace as ‘Shook Ones might call any minute to tell us Kid Dynamite need all those riffs back they borrowed from GB and Minor Threat.’ That’s pretty accurate, and Deny Everything aren’t really doing anything that will revolutionise the genre, but its far preferable to shitty ‘metalcore’ bands that aren’t really metalcore, and they really have created a sound that is infectious and a lot of fun. Mixing melodic fast, old school hardcore, alongside elements of contemporary hardcore like the anger and intelligence of American Nightmare and The Suicide File, is just what more bands need to do. Many of the guitar riffs featured here stray from the typical melodic style, but the vocals add an extra layer of harmony much of the time, which compliments the abstract and often discordant guitar work well.

EP highlight is probably ‘You and Your Friends Are Dead’, not only for the great recurring theme in the sing-along chorus of ‘We Will Prevail’ which is almost impossible not to believe. They even do the thing that I don’t know what it is called that bands like New Found Glory and other pop punk bands do, where for a brief second everyone stops at the same time, before picking up again. I realise I haven’t described it to well, so listen to it for yourself. The song tackles tough guy hardcore shit that people pull with choice lines such as ‘In my book you fucking suck because hardcore still spells punk rock, and punk means question everything but you’d rather hang out in the gym’.

In case it wasn’t obvious I’m completely in love with this band right now. I’ve hardly stopped listening to their also fantastic Full Length LP ‘Fire This Time’ from a little while back and this has only gone a small way towards satisfying my appetite. You need this band in your life.  This is fantastic, pissed off, hook-laden hardcore, guaranteed to grab your attention for the full length of the EP, whether you like it or not. Get this EP, you owe it to yourself.

9.5/10

Check out this live video featuring songs from ‘Fire This Time’, not bad quality either.

You can find them at www.myspace.com/denyeverythinghc

The EP and also their LP (which is also highly reccomended) is available at

http://www.banquetrecords.com/search.jsp?query=deny+everything and also

http://www.majorthreat.de/ which has their debut EP too.