The Paulies 2007: The Year Mark Gave Up

I'm Mark Cichra. I know Paul from undergrad, study abroad, band membership, blogging activity, and the occasional phone call.

2007 was an important year for me. This year I realized that spending a lot of money on indie rock that continued to disappoint me just so I could make witty comments about it to people who don't care DOES NOT MAKE ME HAPPY. And so I stopped doing it. Instead I continued to amass old blues records and discover metal bands that I should have known about years ago. Consequently I didn't buy ten albums from 2007 that I think are worthy of praise. But I do believe the following seven are:

7.) THE NUMBER TWELVE LOOKS LIKE YOU: Mongrel
There's a fine line between unlistenable and brilliant, and The Number Twelve Looks Like You tread it perfectly. Sounds like Slayer eating Miles Davis.
Track to buy on iTunes: "Jay Walking Backwards"

6.) JIMMY EAT WORLD: Chase this Light
I won't let go of Jimmy Eat World; like Weezer, they were so important to me and I can't stop listening to them. Unlike Weezer, they haven't become disposable. "Here it Goes" gave me more silly bliss this year than any other song.
Track to buy on iTunes: "Here it Goes"

5.) DIVINE HERESY: Bleed the Fifth
Ex-Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares found a drummer who can keep up with his 250 bpm sixteenth-note guitar riffs ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSDOP6OqPnA). Standard-issue Angry Growling Guy and non-discernible bass player complete the lineup.
Track to buy on iTunes: "Failed Creation"
   
4.) DARK TRANQUILITY: Fiction
Swedish Metal stalwarts produce another gorgeous, textured, melodic death-metal album; something they've done seven times before. No objection to them doing it seven more times.
Track to buy on iTunes: "The Lesser Faith"

3.) BLOC PARTY: A Weekend in the City
One-half of the greatest album of the year. I think it falls second to their first album largely on production rather than songwriting grounds; too many unnecessary instruments bury Matt Tong's drums, in contrast to their first album which excelled largely due to its pointed, naked guitar tracks and prominent beats. As on their previous album, Bloc Party combine the trivial and the epic with charming awkwardness. "Waiting for the 7:18" washes away the foundation of our success-obsessed culture with a simple plea to take a weekend vacation. "Uniform" swings between reflections about mallcore kids and social change. "I Still Remember" is the most yearning yet futile song since "Disco 2000."  Anyone who dismissed the album early in the year should give it a re-listen.
Track to buy on iTunes: "Uniform"

2.) COHEED AND CAMBRIA: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World For Tomorrow
I'd include it in the list for no other reason than that I get to type the album's full title. For fans of emo space-rock prog epic concept albums only. That being said, Coheed and Cambria actually succeed most when they are least epic; on bizarre, cute songs like "Feathers" or on raw rock sledgehammers like "Gravemakers and Gunslingers."
Track to buy on iTunes: "Gravemakers and Gunslingers"

1.) AUGUST BURNS RED: Messengers
Five young liberal Christian kids from rural Pennsylvania who don't look metal, don't dress metal, and don't act metal, but who can shit on any other metal band in the world today. A perfect combination of complete but restrained technical mastery, honest songwriting, clever arrangements, and simple brutality.
Track to buy on iTunes: "The Balance"


Biggest disappointment of 2007
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Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight. Hearing Jenny Lewis try to sing in Spanish made me unable to listen to music for days for fear that I might hear something this horrifying again. Then I realized that no, something THIS horrifying could never happen again.


2007 non-music releases I loved:
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Rebelde: Tercera Temporada (DVD release). Rebelde was a Mexican telenovela for teens about preppy Mexican kids (called "fresas," literally strawberries) at a posh boarding school in Mexico city. The show spun off what is now the most successful music act in the Spanish-speaking world, RBD. It's too unbelievable for me to explain here; some Wikipedia reading should answer your questions. The third and final season brought the series to a satisfying conclusion. Roberta accepting that one of her teachers is her father! Mia and Miguel's near break-up! Diego finally standing up to his corrupt politician father! RBD meeting Hilary Duff, who as it turns out is a huge RBD fan!

Kitchen Nightmares: We love Gordon Ramsey because he gets to do what we all want to do: make money telling awful people just how awful they are.

TMZ (the show, not the blog): I think TMZ does a public service by showing that if you're an idiot, being famous doesn't make you special. It just makes you a famous idiot.

No Country for Old Men: I think it's about fate and free will. Everyone tells me it's about the increase of violence in our culture. In any case it's beautiful, suspenseful, and I want to see it five more times to think about it even more.

Juno: cried like a useless baby when the film revealed what Juno's note said.

Non-2007 things:
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Albert King: Live Wire/Blues Power. No guitarist will ever sound like Albert King. He smacked his fat, massive, construction-worker hands against his guitar strings like slapping a woman's ass. Buy his equipment (fucking Steven Seagal owns one of Albert's guitars now), learn all his songs, practice all you want, no one will EVER play the blues like Albert King.

The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society: late in coming to this, I know. More sweet than great. But that's what I want from the Kinks, I think.

Carcass: Necroticism and Heartwork: I guess Carcass are the most important metal band of the last twenty years; but for some reason I didn't learn that until this year. These two albums from the 90's were responsible for pretty much all subsequent developments in metal.