—Mona Lisa
TOP ALBUMS OF 2011
And so, we’ve reached the end of the year, and it’s time of the annual roundup of the year’s albums. This year’s total number came out to 46, for some reason. We’ll be counting down the albums to number one this whole month.
16. Parallax - Atlas Sound
The cover art for Bradford Cox’s latest solo album, Parallax, is a photo taken by famous photographer Mick Rock, who also did album covers for Raw Power and Syd Barrett’s solo album The Madcap Laughs. Both of these albums, despite being releases by essentially rock gods, have a slight twist to them that leaves the listener feeling almost like they listened to something more than standard. In Barrett’s case, Madcap is a journey in and out his mind, full of mistakes and roving thoughts and just about everything you’d expect from someone like Barrett - and there’s a connection here with Cox and the type of music he makes. Sure, Cox and his band Deerhunter are much more complex than the work of Barrett, but the character of Cox finds itself relatively interesting; to here him interviewed, or even to hear him speak, you don’t really know whether to hate the guy or love him. And Parallax, to a certain extent, is the turning point from an album of indie rock obscurity to indie rock stardom, even though Parallax probably won’t get much notice. The progressive leap from Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel to Logos, and now the jump from Logos to Parallax, is almost as immense as one that can be made - and there’s a direct comparison between the jump from MIcrocastle to Halcyon Digest; in a way, these newer albums are disappointing in their range, but more mature in their listenability. Parallax is, above all, an attempt at a mainstream album without the effort. It can be played on the radio, it can have a cover photograph among the ranks of other successful rock stars. It might not have the experimental twinge of his earlier albums, but it packs quite a punch.
Parallax doesn’t flow together as an album, but more as a collection of songs, which is a bizarre transition from the opening moments of “That Light That Failed” to this album’s “The Shakes.” The newer track is rooted severely in songwriting as opposed to any sort of emotion, while still finding itself much more grown up than what we’re used to: “I’ve made lots and lots of friends, I don’t even get to pick,” Cox sings, and it’s not clear how much of the album is storytelling and how much of it real to him. It’s like “Te Amo,” which seems to not know whether to be a love song or a simplistic one, wound up in Cox’s new fascination with overlapping instruments with simple electronics: it’s a winning combination for Cox’s more folksy moments. The album’s best, however, is probably “Mona Lisa,” which finds itself more rock-based like the heavy-hitting “Revival.” It’s a pretty easy going song, from someone you wouldn’t expect to be so easy going, but the change from experimental to mainstream is one that Cox understands to be a strange one - it’s like the change from Danse Manatee to Merriweather Post Pavilion. And even if you do prefer a Logos, as a probably do, you can acknowledge the fact that Parallax is a much more broad brushstroke, and one that is closer to Cox and his many influences. Instead of bombarding us with absurdity, he slips it on, like in moments on “Amplifiers” or the startling “Terra Incognita,” which I still really can’t make heads or tails of. As a whole, you might not get to see Cox as clearly as you might want to, but you understand that as a musician its a step towards what he wants to be, which can only come from the leader singer of such a cemented band like Deerhunter. And it’s been a bit strange to watch them and Cox grow up, and realize that the music they make has repercussions, and in the case of Parallax, repercussions that appeal to a wide audience.
15. Family Portrait - Family Portrait
Family Portrait released their debut album this year, after a few singles and an appearance on an Underwater Peoples compilation, “Mega Secrets,” which essentially proved their worth as a band. From those who know them from that song, or perhaps their other lo-fi original tracks, their first album sounds essentially like a different band, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it’s a different, cleaner sound, but we shouldn’t really expect anything less from a group who hasn’t put out much – and if this is their first real stab into the music scene, it’s an amazing one. It’s reminiscent of Real Estate’s debut, both in its rambling guitars, but also in its sense of reluctance to proclaim itself – the difference being that Real Estate’s debut was a collection of songs placed very well together, while Family Portrait is a debut album in the truest sense. Sure, there are a lot of kinks to work out here still, but just as many self-reliant bands are still nailing down their sound, Family Portrait seems to have a pretty good sense of it, and to be comfortable with it was well.
Sure, the majority of the sound is rooted in the easy-going drums and fuzzy guitars, which other bands have done. And so if it isn’t that that makes the band stick out, or the insanely catchy tunes, what is it? Well, I can’t really peg it down myself, and probably on first listen the album doesn’t sound like much. But as the repetition of the album builds up, one sees the true genius at work here, and sees that the album is really something quite incredible for a debut one. A good starting place is “Come Back To Me,” which feels like a love song just as much as it does a traveling one. But after digging into this nugget, you find that songs like “Wait,” “Other Side,” and “Instrumental” feel like much more than the simplistic songs Real Estate crafts (not that there’s anything wrong with those). It’s a short album, yes, with parts that don’t fit as well to the style Family Portrait is trying to convey, but when they get it right, they get it so right. Probably most noticeably is the album closer, “Killer Statements,” which – in addition to ending with a killer riff (much like “Snow Days”), we find the lyrics just as interesting: “Every time I flick my wrist, it hurts a little so I won’t even twist. She just struck me with her first – but I don’t care, it was an accident,” and isn’t this a refreshing change from the lovesick songs we here from bands like this? Sure, Family Portrait isn’t a finished product that another better established band might be able to produce, but in an era where rock music is feeling remarkable similar, we get a taste at a band that might be more than we expect.
