#483

Impressions:  Weird that I never heard of these guys before. Unlike the previous album on this list, it’s  completely in my wheel house: no-nonsense, angular, angry-ular punk rock with a touch of dub and funk. “Not Great Man” sounds like, and better than, all of those spiky-punk-pop bands who came out in the 2000s (ie The Futureheads,) but with actually something to say. Their robot-droning vocals echew sentimentality, politics, and general bullshitness of society (“At Home He’s A Tourist,” “Guns Before Butter”)… it’s like punk with the emotion turned inward. Love the scratchy, precise guitar work that prefaces D. Boon by a few years. In fact, the whole record sounds like it’s a touchstone for thousands of different bands (Fugazi, Minutemen, The Jam, Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads, XTC, etc.) yet still sounds fresh and startling. Songs like the skewed Reggae of “Damaged Goods” and the “I Found That Essence Rare” are uncompromising, very ahead of their time and still, surprisingly enjoyable…not just “good for you.” A big win.