So after, like, 2 years of no new lists, I have some time 'cause, well, like that kid on Fat Albert would say, "He's like a school teacher in the summer--no class!", in he sense that, well, I'm a school teacher and it is summer. So I have some more time to waste between fixing my porch and being a good house husband so that my poor "I have a job that doesn't give you two months of unpaid vacation" wife doesn't kick me into the streets. In any case, here is a list of the more fantastic albums on the top of my CD player these days.

LP I, II, III The Soviettes: Every once and a while, you pick up an album blind, put it on, and as soon as the first song starts playing, you say to yourself "Oh. Of course I love this band..." The Soviettes are that band. Well, for me at least. A fantastic lefto quartet from Minesota that I found on the highly partisan 2004 Rock Against Bush comp CD from Fat Wreck Chords, and immediately went out and found all their albums. Their new album, LP III was just released on Fat Wreck (they were previously on Adeline Records) and is just as good as the previous two. Lots of fantastic, short, fast, poppy punkish tunes with great vocal harmonies that sound not at all unlike a fusion of The Go Gos, The B52s, and The Ramones. Some stand out tunes include Tailwind and The B Squad (LP I); Number I is Number 2 and Tonight (LP II); Multiply and Divide and Gotta Decide (LP III). They get bonus points for having an amazing and consistient graphic design concept for all their albums--each album (simply named I, II or III) uses the same very simple, 2 color design scheme that clearly harkens back to Russian Constructivist propaganda imagery (they aren't actually communists, not that there is anything wrong with that :-) It is totally worth visiting their website to download some MP3s or videos.

King Me Visqueen: Another excellent female fronted rock band that anyone who knows me would be like "Yeah, of course he likes them". I discovered Visqueen by hearing a story about them while listening to smarty pants NPR, and ordered their CD immediately. Originally, Visqueen included bassist Kim Warnick (ex of The Fastbacks), but she recently retired from the band after a couple of albums. Kind of sounding like a peppier Belly, songs like Zirconium Gun and Ms. Elder rock like the good kind of rock. That, ya know, rocks.

The Woods Sleater-Kinney: As always, SK are still one of the best bands ever. Their recent album (which I got for free, a week before official release date, as one of my ex-students works at a college radio station, saw an extra copy, and pilfered it for me. Jake is the best.) is getting a lot of good press and even some radio air play on college stations. There is a great deal of discussion about how they wanted to leave behind the punk rock sound and explore crazy classic rock stylings, but really, aside from one, like, 12 minute acid rock jam number (Let's Call it Love) on the album, it mostly just sounds like good old SK. Which is nice, as that is why I like them. The single Rollercoaster is superb, as are standout tracks The Fox and Modern Girl. As always, their tour schedule always seems to be specifically designed to not get to see them. But maybe one day I'll see them again.

So Jealous Tegan and Sara: Clearly, I like the female vocals. Canadian twins T+S's second big release continues to move in a super folk tinged-alterna-rock direction, with excellent tracks like Walking with the Ghost, Take Me Anywhere, and Downtown, Tegan and Sara continue to amaze. I recently got to see them headline in a club in town, and partially due to being the tallest person in the room (everyone else being, well, a short woman--I think I was the only dude in the room...), it was a great show. Not that it wouldn't have been if I had been shorter, but not having anyone in your way is always a plus.

Bows and Arrows The Walkmen: So my sister Mary, who is super cool and lives in Brooklyn selling these fantastic knit pouches and stuff, gave me this album as a gift, and it totally lives up to the hype. Yeah, ok, they were on an episode of The OC, but really, that was only for the best of the country. Droning high speed organ rock (word is, the keyboard is the new guitar!) that is as hypnotic as it is jumpy. The Rat lives up to Mary's boyfriend Dave's assesment as "The best single of 2004".

Antics Interpol: Another band that got a great deal of crazy, fawny press (especially in the incredibly fawny English music rags), but man, they live up to it. Their radio hits Evil and Slow Hands just made the radio worth listening to. The whole album is like that. Kind of sounding like a faster Joy Division (another press comparison that isn't actually wrong), they have everything going for them. Plus, bassist Carlos D looks just like Crispin Glover dressed up like an SS officer. Hysterical. They recently were on a live double bill with The Pixies at a show that I couldn't go to (I think it was the day after the SK show in Manhattan I couldn't go to either--have I mentioned recently that I think the Gods of Rock have it in for me?). At least I got to see the Pixies last winter.

Fever to Tell The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Apparently, I'm a sucker for the bands that the critics seem to love these days (well, really in the case of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the bands that the critics loved, like, 2 or 3 years ago...). I'm not quite sure what this says about me--am I drawn in by the critical praise, or is rock and roll kind of phasing in with my tastes. Who knows. When they hit the scene, the English rock press were all like "Remember how we said The Strokes were going to save Rock and Roll? Well, yeah, ok, they didn't, but the Yeah Yeah Yeahs really are! We mean it this time!" Regardless, this is a great album that lives up to the fawny press. A nice, short, buzzy album with only two instruments and crazy Karen O's rollercoaster vocals that fails to disapoint on any track. I think Karen O has taken off to go solo or anything, and I suspect that they aren't going to make it in the long run. But that's ok, as Fever to Tell will hold up on its own.

Charge!! The Aquabats!: So, like, I love The Aquabats! Some people hate them. I can't figure out why, as they are both catchy and hysterical. And they dress up like superheroes. Charge!! is their first new album in, like, 5 years or something, and it lives up to all expectations. A lot of fun, ska-tackular songs about robot gorillas and other absurd things involving lots of exclamation points. Tunes like Fashion Zombies! and Nerd Alert! are just as ska-pop-rocking as their only significant radio hit, Super Rad! This album sadly sees the loss of Prince Adam, and with him, the horn section (which is replaced by synth horns), but overall, a fine return to form. The thematic premise of this album is that The Aquabats are called up to battle their evil android twins (you can tell the evil ones from the good ones, as the evil ones wear black spandex...), and ya know, what else do you need?