Top Ten Albums of 2009: #2

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

I’m still not entirely sure how they did it. I don’t know how Japandroids made one of the most pulsating, re-listenable albums of the year with just guitar, drums, and vocals - and hardly a single overdub to speak of. I’m not sure how they turned what would have otherwise been merely an exuberant album about girls and drinking into something provocative with just a few scattered, harrowing lyrics about feeling your youth slip away. Part of me doesn’t care to know.

Top Ten Albums of 2009: #3

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Top Ten Albums of 2009: #4

Ida Maria - Fortress 'round My Heart

Ida Maria has one of the best voices in Rock and a knack for writing killer hooks, but above all else, she has a fascinating persona. Fortress ‘round My Heart’s references to casual fucks, whiskey, and losing control are more than just titillating though; they also make the narrator so human that the tales of jilted lovers, loneliness, and love that outlasts a relationship become that much more poignant.

To boot, Fortress ‘round My Heart has the most hilarious lyric of the year in its favor: singing about a lonesome man who offers to give a prostitute the world in return for staying the night, Ida wonders “how it will go when God hands over the whole wide world to a 43-year-old hooker from downtown.