Here is a video montage (made by the people who run The Square Room) that represented the night pretty well:

Full set list is below:

1. The Sweet Part of the City 
2. Magazines 
3. The Swish 
4. Your Little Hoodrat Friend 
5. Hurricane J 
6. Navy Sheets 
7. Chips Ahoy! 
8. Stuck Between Stations 
9. Girls Like Status 
10. You Can Make Him Like You 
11. First Night 
12. Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night 
13. Barely Breathing 
14. Sequestered in Memphis 
15. Rock Problems 
16. Lord, I’m Discouraged 
17. Massive Nights 
18. Separate Vacations 
19. Stay Positive 
20. How a Resurrection Really Feels 
21. Encore:
22. The Weekenders 
23. Constructive Summer 
24. Slapped Actress

A couple of videos that highlight the night.  The first is a song from the album The ’59 Sound called Casanova, Baby!  It missed a little at the front, but it doesn’t hinder the fact that the song is pretty awesome.  This is one song that really displayed the “campfire sing-a-long” feeling as the entire crowd sang the harmonizing back-up part during the bridge.  Also, can see us in the front row towards the end.

The second video is a cover of Tegan and Sara’s “Call It Off” when Dave Hause came back up to do covers.

All in all, it was a fantastic show and I highly recommend you  check out either Brian solo or The Gaslight Anthem when they roll through your town.  Also, I can’t wait till this band blows up big this summer when their newest release American Slang comes out.  And by “blow up big” I mean “big like, er, The Kings of Leon big” and maybe not “U2 big.”

It’s that time of year again. Snow, hot chocolates, presents, and end of the year lists from every person in this world with a blog start to show up everywhere. My list is going to be a little different in that, it’s not a best of, but a favorite list. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that, objectively speaking of which albums were the best, we all know that Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion is not only number 1, but number 2, 3, 4, and 8. I get it; that album might be the best and Animal Collective is talented, but that CD is not making it’s way on my top ten because, well, I just didn’t like it that much.

So here are the releases that I did downright love. Objectively, they may not be the best of the year, but they are damned good and I highly recommend them.

The Narrative – Just Say Yes
This NY indie band gave us the best EP I’ve heard in a couple of years. This band inspired the term Adoracore and it’s very fitting. Slick production, smart lyrics, and fantastic songwriting dominates this male/female led group. It’s an EP, so it’s short and sweet and extremely recommended. If you like what you hear, you can always buy it from the band’s myspace for just a few bucks.
RIYL: Lydia, old Straylight Run (with Michelle Nolan), Snow Patrol with a second (female) vocalist.

Thrice – Beggars
My how far Thrice have come. Beggars is nigh unrecognizable from their early catalogue (just listen to Identity Crisis) but is light years better. Dustin Kerensue is on top of his game as a lyricist, combining intelligent and complicated lyrics with great harmonic rhythms. This is by far the best and most dynamic Thrice album and completely took me off guard how well executed it is. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
RIYL: Radiohead, Coldplay but infinitely more awesome, Frodus, Cave-In.

Silversun Pickups – Swoon
Easily one of my most listened to albums of this year. The fuzzy distortion, distinctive vocals, and fantastic songwriting turned me into a huge SSPU fan. I was aware of this band from their last album, Carnavas, but Swoon topped that album tenfold and set the bar really high for anything else they do in their career. This album also contains the song Panic Switch, which is one of the most dynamic indie rock songs of the year!
RIYL: Awesomeness wrapped in fuzzy, distorted guitars, The Smashing Pumpkins of old, Secret Machines

fun. – Aim & Ignite
Nate Ruess’ new project is jam packed full of almost every instrument known to man, in the catchiest way possible. Most catchy and sing-alongy albums have a little bit of cheese in them, but not this one. It’s sincere, yet fun, and their songs will get stuck in your head for days on end.
RIYL: The Format, The Jellyfish, Steel Train, non-cheesy pop music, springtime and singing along with your music with the windows down.

P.O.S. – Never Better
This is the best rap album of the year, without a doubt. Rhymesayer Stefon Alexander delivered slick beats, smart lyrics, and a killer flow on his album. The album also brings more energy than most punk rock bands. If you enjoy rap or hip hop at all, Never Better is a must listen from this past year.
RIYL: Doomtree, Atmosphere, indie hiphop

Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion. Probably the most technical, creative, and overall “best” album on this list due to the sheer impressive amount of talent represented on this album. There are great melodies, impressive rhythm changes, progressive songwriting, and downright creative guitarwork pop up all over this album. Highly recommended for those who actually like to hear creativity in their tunes. If there’s one album that can give the aforementioned Merriweather Post Pavilion for technicality, it’s this one (albeit different genre)
RIYL: Dream Theatre, Mars Volta, Muse, Coheed and Cambria

Thursday – Common Existence
These punk veterans have crafted a textured, atmospheric, and amazingly executed album with their fourth CD, Common Existence. The band pushes the envelope with it’s song structuring, impressive percussion, and arrangements. Most songs rarely follow the simple verse/chorus/verse/chorus/chorus flow and they really succeeded in blending guitars and effects to create a noise atmosphere that parallels the mood of the album. This album also contains my favorite hard rock song of the year “You Were the Cancer,” a complicated apex of raw energy and some of the best drumming I’ve heard all year.
RIYL: Brand New, A smarter alexsetsfire, a more creative and heavier Against Me.

30 Seconds to Mars – This is War
This band’s last offering, A Beautiful Lie, remains the only album to this day that I bought on Monday at midnight the day it came out, and promptly returned it the next morning. It was that disappointing and I had pretty much given up on this band. So when This is War was released, I was completely taken aback at how good it was. The band has reverted back to using albums to tell stories (their self titled was like a soundtrack to a movie that didn’t exist.) It was technical, creative, produced very well, and overall catchy album that was executed very well.
RIYL: Incubus without the DJ, epic, U2 inspired music, Angels and Airwaves with an actual singer.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
This album is leaps and bounds over their previous work and safely lands a spot on my top releases. The melodies and the vocals go everywhere from soaring heights (Zero), soft and low (Skeleton), to dancy pop (Heads Will Roll.) This album is everywhere and every turn it takes is better than the last. Surprisingly awesome, you’ll be spinning this one for quite a while.
RIYL – Metric, The Kills, Be Your Own Pet.

Honorable Mentions:
Closure in Moscow – First Temple
Dashboard Confessional – After the Ending
…and you will know us by the trail of dead – The Century of Self
Brand New – Daisy
Blacklist Royals – Six Strings EP
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
Au Revoir Simone – Still Night Still Light
John Mayer – Battle Studies
Metric – Fantasies
Tegan & Sara – Sainthood

To see if my last.fm matches up with my favorite albums here (so I don’t put anything on here just for “name dropping” or “radness points”) here’s the top artists of my playlist for 2009:

The Gaslight Anthem – I was still pretty much in love with their 2008 release The ’59 Sound all year, so this gets a pass.

Butch Walker – Same with Butch’s Sycamore Meadows that I didn’t fully get into until early this year.

Silversun Pickups – Check

Brand New – Check

U2 – These plays came because I saw this band this year, not because of the disappointing No Line On the Horizon

Old Crow Medicine Show – No new album, but I always play their back catalogue fairly often.

Thrice – Check

Thursday – Check

Brian Fallon – This goes with the Gaslight love from point number 1.

The Narrative – Check

Other thoughts of 2009.
This was the year that neon bands took over our scene, with disturbing results. Every year poppy, autotuned, made for radio music does surface, but it’s usually not backed by some of the pioneers of the current scene (Gabe Saporta, Kevin Lyman, etc.) These scene vets paved the way and promoted artists like Millionaires, 3oh3, BrokeNCYDE, and the like found their way on Warped Tour.
Also, 2009 was the year of crabcore.

Crabcore.

(You have to watch through to the end.  It is highlarious.)

Crabcore.

So it looks as if I’m going to be venturing to DC next month to check out the Brian Fallon solo acoustic show (January 16.)  I’m pretty excited about it, as Fallon’s band The Gaslight Anthem is one of my absolute favorite indie bands out there right now.  Their combination of heartfelt lyrics, impressive musicianship, punk energy and Americana (read: Springsteen influenced) songwriting is pretty unrivaled (and yes, I’ve heard of The Hold Steady.)  A year and a half ago, they released the brilliant album The ’59 Sound which pretty much raided my last.fm charts and quickly became one of my favorite releases ever.   Every song from TGA’s library translate beautifully into acoustics and I’m pretty stoked about the ordeal.  Below is a video of Fallon doing Gaslight’s heaviest song (1930) in an “unplugged” version.  If you ignore the drunks shouting, it’s pretty digable.  I’ve also added the “band version” for comparison.

Edit:

Here’s another one that just got me doubly-stoked!  Good times ahead!

I love Amanda Palmer.  You should love Amanda Palmer too.   Hell, she should probably love you as well.  Apparently, she loves Tegan and Sara a lot.  So much, in fact that she made her own version of their new single “Hell.”  I always thought that Amanda is that cool, creepy, artsy, talented, hot-in-her-own-way girl that probably would be the best lay you’ve ever had, yet you’re not sure if you would ever tell anyone you slept with her afterward.  That has absolutely nothing to do with how awesome this video is.

fun. The band that formed from the ashes of the super poppy indie band The Format is back on the scene with one of the catchiest albums of the year (Aim & Ignite.) Nate Ruess’ excellent vocals and pop writing sensibilities show in their latest single, “All the Pretty Girls.” Check out the video for all of the pinata busting good times you can handle

All the Pretty Girls, by Fun

Fun. New York, New York.

In less than 150 characters: The brainchild of The Format (Nate Ruess) returns to the scene with the band Fun.  It’s catchy as hell with more instruments than your brain can fathom, and you’ll be singing their songs all day.

Eyes Closed, by The Narrative

The Narrative. Brooklyn, New York.

In less than 150 characters: This quintent from NYC sings adorable indie rock, and I’m dubbing them “adoracore” because of it.  Their EP, Just Say Yes, is one of the better things I’ve heard all year.

Big Mouths by Destry

In less than 150 characters: Michelle Nolan (of Straylight Run) helms this surprisingly fun and stellar band.  There’s an array of influences just bleeding through, and I tell everyone about their tour EP which you can snag on their myspace.

I Do Not Hook Up, by Brian Fallon

Brian Fallon New Brunswick, NJ.

In less than 150 characters: One of the more important songwriters of the past half-decade, and frontman for the absurdly good band The Gaslight Anthem, pulls off a cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “I Do Not Hook Up.”  This man could make BrokeNCYDE songs sound good.

Cage the Elephant is a band hailing from the great state of Kentucky. They released their fantastic self-titled on EMI about this time last year, and have toured relentlessly to promote it since then. They made a super video for their single “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked,” which you can see above. If you like what you see, then check out their album or go see them in concert (preferably September 29 at The Electric Cowboy in Johnson City, TN. Then you could be seeing them with me and my friends as an added bonus.)

Races to April was a Virginia band that was my absolute favorite DIY/non-mainstream band circa 2002-2004. They played at my very first basement show, blowing the top off of the 708 House and making a huge impression on my scope of music at the time. Somewhere, I still have a demo of theirs that I bought that night boxed up with those other basement bands that, sadly, go the path of many other DIY acts. Races to April broke up in 2005, leaving a huge void in the Virginia rock scene. Cheers RTA, you are missed.