Tuesday, January 05, 2021

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 of 2020, #1-50.

And without further ado, here's the top half of the list in reverse order to heighten the suspense.

The Top EPs of 2020 list will be up in the next few days.

50. The Breakup Society-Before the Intervention Ruined Everything
49. Bryde-The Volume of Things
48. Nick Costa-Tell My Mother I Love Her
47. Paul Melancon-The Get Go's Action Hour!
46. Kev Sherry-Foxy Orthodoxy
45. Eric Harrison-Gratitude
44. Sunbourne Rd-Teenage Lyrics
43. Mo Troper-Natural Beauty
42. Joel Sarakula-Companionship
41. Nick Pipitone-Thiensville
40. Sadler Vaden-Anybody Out There?
39. Nada Surf-Never Not Together
38. Painted Doll-How to Draw Fire
37. Blitzen Trapper-Holy Smokes Future Jokes
36. Brian Jay Cline-Power Lines in Paradise/Love & Quarantine/True Lies & Other Stories*
35. Mason Summitt-Negative Space
34. Brian Bringelson-Desperate Days
33. Ezrat-Carousel
32. Kyle Vincent-Whatever it Takes
31. Rob Martinez-Maybe Miss America
30. Eugene Edwards-A Week of Sundays
29. Marshall Holland-Paper Airplane
28. Dan Israel-Social Distance Anxiety Disorder
27. Brendan Benson-Dear Life
26. Andrew Weiss & Friends-The Golden Age of Love & Chemistry
25. Mike Viola-Godmuffin
24. Eric Hutchinson-Class of 98
23. Dave Caruso-Radiophonic Supersonic
22. Greg Pope-Wishing on a Dark Star
21. Glenn Thomas-Reassure Me There's a Window
20. Steve Balbi-I Think I Know for Sure
19. Surrender Human-Surrender Human
18. Nite Sobs-Do the Sob!
17. Dead Stars-Never Not Here
16. Rob Fetters-Ship Shake
15. Nick Frater-Fast & Loose
14. The Coffis Brothers-In the Cuts
13. Ryan Tanner-Crushed Romantic
12. High on Stress-Hold Me In
11. Dolour-The Royal We
10. JP Cregan-Twenty
9. The Szuters-Sugar
8. The Suitesixteen-Mine Would Be the Sun
7. Warren Zanes-The Biggest Bankrupt City in the World#
6. Taylor Young Band-Mercury Transit
5. The Foreign Films-Ocean Moon
4. Coke Belda-Coke Belda 4
3. The Lees of Memory-Moon Shot
2. Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men-Downtime
1. Rick Hromdaka-Better Days

(Note: In case you're looking for Joe Giddings' Better from Here, which was ranked highly on some other lists, it originally came out in 2016 and was ranked #39 in my list that year)

*rather than have him dominate my EP list, I treated his 3 2020 EPs as one album and ranked it accordingly

#this was released to his PledgeMusic (or whatever crowd-funding platform he used) subscribers in 2018 but not released publicly until this year

Friday, January 01, 2021

The Absolute Powerpop Top 100 of 2020, #51-100

Here we go. Although I haven't been doing the usual reviews lately, it doesn't mean I'm still not listening to new music. So here is the back end of the 2020 Top 100 list with the front end to follow in the next day or two. The usual list caveats apply: I liked all of these albums - in fact, I liked a lot more than 100 albums released this year, so if your favorite seems too low, it doesn't mean I didn't like it, and it also probably means I've listened to a lot more stuff than you have. And of course, everyone has their own preferences, so no two lists will be alike. Anyway enough throat clearing, here's #51-100:

51. The Well Wishers-Shelf Life
52. The Nines-Reflections
53. Skydragster-Skydragster & The Hit Song Writing Machine
54. Gal Gun-Critical Hit
55. Intercooler-Read the Room
56. Theo Katzman-Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe
57. Diamond Hands-III
58. The Great Affairs-Everybody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt
59. The Electric Soft Parade-Stages
60. Dave Kuchler-It's Pronounced...
61. Goodman-Goodman vs the Nostalgia Machine
62. Dropkick-The Scenic Route
63. Kiwi Jr-Football Money
64. Toleco Dunes-The Lost Girl
65. Trevor Beld Jimenez-I Like it Here
66. Eyelids-The Accidental Falls
67. The Yum Yums-For Those About to Pop
68. Tommy Ray-First Hits Free
69. Librarians With Hickeys-Long Overdue
70. Travel Lanes-On
71. Mothboxer-Accelerator
72. Tom Curless & The 46%-Almost Ready for the Future
73. The Tummies-9:30 Girl
74. Reno Bo-You Can See it All from Here
75. Bread & Butter-Psycho World
76. Cupid's Carnival-Color-Blind
77. Butch Walker-American Love Story
78. Icecream Hands-No Weapon But Love
79. Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts-Nowhere to Go But Everywhere
80. The Dowling Poole-See You, See Me
81. Open Sound-Album 1
82. The Invisible Strings-Kicking the Sky
83. Sanglorians-Odalisque
84. Ken Yates-Quiet Talkers
85. The Weeklings-3
86. Alpine Subs-Sweethaven
87. Steve Savona-20 Year Session
88. Silver Sun-Switzerland
89. Keith Slettedahl-You Know You Know
90. Devin Farney-Mega Deja Vu
91. Circa Waves-Sad Happy
92. Bill Lloyd-Don't Kill the Messenger
93. The Vapour Trails-Golden Sunshine
94. The Bye Bye Blackbirds-Boxer at Rest
95. Ward White-Leonard at the Audit
96. The Roseline-Good / Grief
97. El Goodo-Zombie
98. Anton Barbeau-Kenny vs Thrust
99. Peter Baldrachi-Slow Recovery
100. Chris Church-Backwards Compatible