THE TOP 50 ALBUMS OF ‘09

10

Future Of The Left
‘Travels With Myself And One Another’
(4AD)

The return of fierce, independent, awkward genius bastards provides twelve new tracks that wreak havoc with fast-filthy rock-punk and poetic, portentous lyrics and ringworm-catchy stomping choruses that speak of the grubbier parts of our own thoughts. FoTL stare up from the bottom that same abyss and smile, scarred and triumphant.

JS

9

…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
‘The Century Of Self’
(Richter Scale Records)

Texas’ finest came back from the brink on this, their sixth record. ‘The Century Of Self’ mixes their traditional sonic layering on ‘Halycon Days’, stunning epic rock on ‘Luna Park’ and, on ‘Isis Unveiled’ offers the sort of pounding, apocalyptic carnage that only Austin’s finest rockers can muster. Back from the dead, leaving a trail of brilliance.

LD

8

The Temper Trap
‘Conditions’
(Infectious)

Tipped though they were in the start of year polls, it wasn’t until the release of ‘Sweet Disposition’, omniscient of airwave, at the end of summer that The Temper Trap found the spotlight upon them. It was the perfect encapsulation of ‘Conditions’’ epic euphoria, that voice spiking the songs with a searing, skyscraping swoop.

ND

7

The Cribs
‘Ignore The Ignorant’
(Wichita)

Putting one of the most famous guitarists EVER in The ‘band of brothers, let’s all bleed together’ Cribs? Really?! Heck yes, and ‘Ignore The Ignorant’ is twelve slabs of distorted, visceral genius that shows that adding a Marr may be their best decision yet.

LW

6

Bombay Bicycle Club
‘I Got The Blues But I Shook Them Loose’
(Island)

BBC may be one of the best young bands around, but ‘I Got The Blues…’ is the sound of a band well ahead of their years, a debut of spiky, song filled intensity, the pick being ‘Always Like This’, where Jack Steadman’s voice groans with a hearty weariness and guitars are layered with a striking freshness.

JH

5

The Horrors
‘Primary Colours’
(XL)

The band infamous for being walking clichés do what no-one expects and reinvent themselves, stripping away gimmickry to make a soaring, at times astonishingly beautiful record of My Bloody Valentine-esque anthems. Snarled vocals are traded in for a lovelorn croon, cynical tales of murder and revenge swapped for honesty and optimism – ‘Three Decades’’ refrain “forget your regrets” epitomising The Horrors’ new ethos. A masterfully constructed record, eight minute epics ‘I Only Think of You’ and ‘Sea Within A Sea’ sit snugly next to ‘Who Can Say’s vibrant pop. What’s that, Faris – a slice of humble pie? Yes please. Om nom nom.

ST

4

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
‘It’s Blitz!’
(Polydor)

From the opening synth drawls of ‘Zero’, it was clear that Yeah Yeah Yeahs three-year slave to make
‘It’s Blitz!’ hadn’t been time wasted. The New Yorkers eschewed guitars in favour of keys, funneling a new electro stomp sound and swiveling their way to the middle of the dancefloor. It’s an onslaught from the first minute – ‘Zero’ makes way for the 70s New York disco throb of ‘Heads Will Roll’ and ‘Dull Life’ is one of their rockiest rampages yet. It’s bold, it’s risky and a far cry from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs of old. More than that, though, it’s bloody amazing, too…

MG

3

Florence And The Machine
‘Lungs’
(Island)

Florence Welch marked herself out as a (slightly scary) force to be reckoned with from the get go. The never-ending legs and that fiery red hair aside, her voice – in all its jaw-dropping, billowing bolshiness – was enough to render most mightily stunned, and a good few completely in love. ‘Lungs’ lets her roam free in all her feral glory, as rolling drums and echoing melodies wrap around all that fantastic howling. While the Mercury judges regrettably didn’t recognise her as quite worthy enough, she’s most definitely The Fly’s Woman of the Year.

MJ

2

The Big Pink
‘A Brief History Of Love’
(4AD)

Variously branded as skagheads, well connected posh kids, and celeb-hangers on, The Big Pink’s Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze have fought battles on numerous fronts in 2009. Fortunately, their argument-winning catch-all has been the fact that their debut album, ‘A Brief History Of Love’, is a brilliantly slowgrinding mesh of late 80’s atmospheria, steady-thumping drum programmes, and dark, sprawling songcraft, augmented by the anthemic single ‘Dominos’. You could call them the Kasabian it’s cool to like; after all, they’ve been called much worse this year…

JJD

1

Wild Beasts
‘Two Dancers’
(Domino)

The blueprint the Kendal crew established on ‘Limbo, Panto’ was remarkable enough, of course, alternating
Hayden Thorpe’s feathery falsetto and the sumptuous croon of Tom Fleming over some obtusely-angled, joyously-jangled panoramas with a positively vaudevillian vocabulary, but for its swiftlyassembled successor they pounded the epic pedal even harder. Consequently, the bacchanalian swagger of ‘The Fun Powder Plot’, the sunkissed swing of ‘All The King’s Men’ and the spatial, glacial expansiveness of ‘Underbelly’- not to mention the bracingrisqueness of the whole affair – ensured that, even in this golden year for albums, Wild Beasts still galloped ahead of the competition.

IM