It is that time of year when everyone looks back on the past 12 months. Here at Already Heard we have once again been blessed with some superb releases this year. That is why for this year’s Record of the Year list we have decided to cover more releases and highlighted the top 25 releases from 2015.
As always, the Already Heard team have discussed (and argued) to make a definitive list of album releases from the past year.
We are now into the top 10 and getting closer to what topped our Records of the Year list. Here’s records 10 through to 6.
10. Beach Slang – The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us (Polyvinyl Record Co./Big Scary Monsters)
The most affecting tribute that can be paid to Beach Slang’s excellent game-changing debut is that it’s rare an album can lift you out of a funk or from under a grey cloud as instantly as ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’. Shitty day? No fear, James Alex and his swashbuckling cohorts are on hand to make you get busy living.
And boy, does ‘The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us’ make you want to live. There’s so much bruised, heart-on-sleeve charm flowing throughout ‘The Things We Do…’, it’s impossible not to get swept along with the infectiousness of it all.
With such a title, you may think ‘The Things We Do…’ engenders some kind of “us vs. them” dichotomy. In fact the opposite is true. It’s an album that is as welcoming and inclusive as the band themselves. It’s a loser-done-good triumph filled with pathos and energy and an album that, for all its surface simplicity, rewards repeated and concerted listens. If you’re not yet one of the “us”, quite simply, what are you waiting for? Sit back, sink a beer and punch the air in delight to James’ tales of life and living. It’s the best decision you’ll make all year… (RM)
9. Turnover – Peripheral Vision (Run For Cover)
Where to start with Turnover and this record, so much to say and not enough words to articulate it. We’re all so happy here at AH to have this make our top records of the year because honestly, this is one of the most perfect releases of 2015. Every single track on ‘Peripheral Vision’ shows honesty and a real emotion is evoked throughout the record.
Standout tracks include the incredible opener ‘Cutting My Fingers Off’, the heart wrenching ‘Humming’ and the wonderfully catchy ‘Take My Head’ but honestly, it’s like picking out a favourite child. There is not a single bad track on this record, and that’s always the sign of something special.
I’m sure everyone here at AH can agree that we’re very much looking forward to what Turnover come up with next. Incredibly exciting. (RK)
8. State Champs – Around The World and Back (Pure Noise)
The ascent of State Champs since 13’s breakthrough album ‘The Finer Things’ has been a swift and substantial one. With a support slot with the worldwide phenomenon that is 5 Seconds Of Summer and a fan base bloating with each passing day, the New York quintet needed to pull out a stunner of a record to keep the wheels rolling. Thankfully they did.
With the burrowing melodies of ‘Secrets’, the loveable honesty of ‘All Or Nothing’ and wide grinned agility of ‘All You Are Is History’, the band pull out all the stops to produce an album that puts emphasis on the pop in pop punk without losing any rousing energy or gleaming enthusiasm.
‘Around The World And Back’ is ultimately State Champs at their most assured, sincere and irresistibly catchy, and it is a pleasure to hear. (JR)
7. The Sidekicks – Runners In The Nerved World (Epitaph)
It felt like a long time coming, but ‘Runners In The Nerved World’ was absolutely worth the wait. The Sidekicks are a consistently incredible band, both live and on record, and this record in particular shows the growth and maturity of their sound. The album begins with the hauntingly beautiful ‘Hell Is Warm’ and continues into one of the album highlights, ‘Everything In Twos’.
Further through the record you get the ultimate sing-a-long track ‘Summer Brings You Closer To Satan’ with the line “you wanted your tile ceiling, you wanted floors and beaming”. We then continue on with hit after hit until we reach the final track, ’All Things Run’ which showcases the slow beauty of this band. The whole record is beyond incredible, and that’s why it features in our top records of the year, and if any band deserve it, it’s The Sidekicks. (RK)
6. We Are Harlot – We Are Harlot (Roadrunner Records)
Sassy, seductive and sensational, Harlot’s debut showcases everything classic rock has been missing lately. Ex-Asking Alexandria vocalist Danny Worsnop wraps his versatile chops around an unadulterated, unfettered and unashamed classic sound.
The infectious energy of ‘Dancing On Nails’ meets the ruthlessly sexy ‘Dirty Little Thing’ and produces a perfect hybrid for ‘The One’. Danny’s range exhibited throughout the catchy lead single ‘Denial’ swerves neatly around Jeff George’s stellar fretwork that could rival Aerosmith any day. “I’ll close my eyes, I’ll follow my feet in hopes that somehow they’ll take me home someday,” laments the ballad ‘Someday’ as if you needed reminding that they can easily cover morose emotions just as well as horny. (AC)
Words by Rob Mair (RM), Rosie Kerr (RK), Jack Rogers (JR) and Ali Cooper (AC).