Casey's End Of The Year Extravaganza

More than likely this is going to be a clusterfuck of information, so I'll keep this intro short. Below, I've put together a list of my favorite EPs, albums, and songs of 2011. My tastes have widened drastically this year, so much that I currently have over 9000 songs in my library just from 2011. While the top of my lists focus more on my customary pop punk and pop rock realms, the deeper cuts of my lists are full of albums that before this year I never would have expected to like. Fireworks, The Wonder Years, Childish Gambino, M83, Farewell Fighter, Yellowcard, SBTRKT, and many more can be seen below. For a Spotify playlist containing the songs of the year list, click right here.

Kyle's Albums of the Year 2011

2011 has been a year of both disappointment and pleasant surprises. My taste in music is in constant motion, but at the end of the day, the following are, in my humble opinion, the most impressive and enjoyable releases of the year. 

Album Review: Transit - Listen and Forgive

Boston, Massachusetts' Transit have had a quick rise to the top. Transit has been less interested in gathering a following based off of standard gimmicks such as big hooks and cliché lyrics, preferring to have a more 90’s emo influenced sound. This approach gave Transit a unique vibe, garnering critical acclaim and recognition from the industry itself, earning a surprise signing to scene giant Rise Records. Rise has a reputation for being concerned more with the viability of a band to be successful rather than having quality music, quickly catching on to trends within the scene, and they have been so successful in doing so that they are now in a position to set the trend. Rise saw the potential in Transit and quickly scooped them up. Thankfully, Transit has much more substance than most of the rest of Rise’s roster, and with the financial resources of Rise, Transit has managed to create their most impressive effort yet, Listen and Forgive.

Transit - Promise Nothing 7" (Record Store Day Exclusive)

For vinyl collectors as well as music fans in general, Record Store Day is huge. It's the day where vinyl takes to the front of the music industry, and reignites those stores on their last breath. Transit is releasing a new 7" tomorrow titled Promise Nothing, and the two new tracks are an excellent addition to the Transit discography. "Take What You Can" sounds like it could be right off of Keep This To Yourself, with aggressive vocals and powerful instrumentation backed multiple times by shouts from the rest of the band. "I've Never Told That To Anyone" is extremely long by Transit standards, clocking in at 4:50, a whole minute and thirty seconds longer than any track on Keep This To Yourself. Twinkling guitars guide the slow ballad-like sections of the song, sandwiching a faster bridge. Many record collectors are planning to spend most of their savings on this special day tomorrow. Transit's contribution needs to be near, if not at the top of your purchase list. You can check out which stores are containing Record Store Day exclusives here.

Rise Records' Curious New Signings

Seemingly just days after I rag on them in the Decoder post, Rise Records will add two of the best pop-punk bands of 2010. Man Overboard and Transit announced today their signing to Rise. The promised "WTF Week" has definitely been full of WTFs so far, with an expected more to come in the next few days. Man Overboard released one of my favorite albums in the year, the superbly catchy Real Talk, though it will fall just outside my top ten while Transit has been praised for their honest and hard hitting Keep This To Yourself. What make these signings surprising is that these bands just don't fit the Rise standard. It definitely seems that Rise is trying to break their awful reputation by signing some credible bands, while diversifying in the process. I'm extremely curious to see what the next signings are, and if the label will stay on this hot streak. Check out Man Overboard on Bandcamp here and Transit on Myspace here.