the decade in albums, part 6

60. L'Antietam, Family (#1-10) (2006)

Family is a compilation of vinyl and unreleased tracks from the young screamo band, but the first 10 tracks are obviously a cohesive whole album. It goes "Intro to "Outro" of songs that all bleed into each other. Too bad they didnt't release it properly, as it's their best music to date.

59. Malady, Malady (2004)

A group featuring former Pageninetynine and City of Caterpillar members, they play hard rock with screamo influences. Crushing guitars and nasally bellowing singer. The quieter passages within the songs are where the real gold is.

58. Kenmores, Lorpor (2003?)

Lorpor was never released, only passed around on CD-Rs after the greatest local band from Baton Rouge to ever exist broke up. The story of a janitor who accidentally inherits the government secret that the world is about to end. Insane stuff. Brilliant emo rock masterpiece. On track 9, the world ends, it's the greatest sounding apocalypse I've ever heard.

57. Japandroids, Post-Nothing (2009)

Young Canadian rock duo that knows exactly how to convey the need to get away from everything, and the pains of young love. Some people say it's immature music. I say their simple, minimalist songs convey exactly what they're going for. "I Quit Girls" is full of this young energy, and is a wonderful ballad to the hopeless lover.

56. Boris, Flood (2000)

Boris' crowning masterpeice finds them mixing their stoner/doom sound with beautiful, ambient post-rock. It's well over an hour long, but stays engaging the whole way through. Maybe I like it so much because it never dips into the harsh noise that they put into most of their releases.

55. Mclusky, Mclusky Do Dallas (2002)

Andy Flakous (now of Future of the Left) started here, in a punk spirited rock outfit shooting bile all over its dumber-than-them listeners. Mclusky is funny, witty, angry, and you're stupid. "Lightsable Cocksucking Blues" is one the greatest songs ever written.

54. Explosions in the Sky, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Thos Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever (2001)

Definietly the Texas post-rock outfit's greatest acheivement to date. It's all your standard soft-loud-soft-loud modern post-rock formula, but these songs are energetic and beautiful enough to transcend what would normally be just another pretty album in the genre.

53. The Weakerthans, Reconstruction Site (2003)

The Weakerthans dip into a country accented indie rock is remarkable in its emotional scope. John K. Sampson imbues every longing line with a nostalgic sadness for childhood, friendships, lost relatives, and even his hometown. Even though he constantly reminds us how much he hates Winnipeg.

52. Taking Back Sunday, Tell all Your Friends (2002)

Yeah, everybody laugh, but I love this emo/pop punk's debut. It feels more honest than the other bands of the same genre and time (NFG, The Used, Midtown), and a little less cheesey as far as the emo lyrics go. They also get pretty clever with making their adult themes teenage accessible. "Great Romances of the 20th Century" was a great single, and "Head Club" is a wonderful closer. Emo/pop punk can be good, Dammit!

51. Tunes for Bears to Dance to, Tunes for Bears to Dance to (2003)

The happiest screamo band you'll ever hear. They shout things like "We'll stay friends forever", "Where did Waldo go", "Livejournals suck" (back when that was timely), and most amazingly in the closer "Take my hand as dirft towards happiness." All these songs are impossibly fun and uplifting.

50. Gospel, The Moon is a Dead World (2005)

A prog-rock band hiding inside the body of a creamo band, Gospel play huge, operatic songs that are simply flooring. The experimentalism aspect make this a fresh screamo album.

49. Every Time I Die, Hot Damn (2003)

Metalcore that leans heavily on the metal side of the equation. The is fast and chaotic, tinged with a good bit of southern rock. People don't give this band much credit, but they were one of the few innovative metalcore bands before they started to suck. Check out single "Ebolarama" for proof of this.

48. La Quiete, La Fine non e La Fine (2004)

This section of the list has been very screamo heavy. I don't think it lasts, but this entry is easily one of the best of the genre. La Quiete explodes out the gate and never stops with La Fine. This is really just a giant burst of energetic, emotional music.

47. Bright Eyes, Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)

Conor Oberst's masterpiece is a long epic of folk art about politics, lovers, and the loss of one's way and faith in the world. It's angry, harsh, pretty, and thoughtful.

46. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, No More Shall We Part (2001)

Nick Cave's most contemplative album to date might be a masterpiece in his career, but he's done so much great stuff it's really hard to say. This one's heavy on the piano rock, and it's the most emotional album I've heard of Cave's, although I've not heard them all.