This year’s list has been expanded to 30 entries and does away with numerical rankings. I hope everyone will survive without knowing how much more I liked BALANCE AND COMPOSURE’s Separation over SKELETONWITCH’s Forever Abomination. This year’s list is heavy on metal and pop-punk and a bit light on hardcore. There’s only one entry for a band that vaguely sounds like HOT WATER MUSIC. Let’s do this! (Above photo of TOUCHE AMORE used with permission via Ricky Photographe).

ANIMALS AS LEADERS – Weightless (Prosthetic)

Instrumental atmospheric metal that might cause you to tear an elbow ligament if you air drum too hard (paging Dr. Andrews). Unpretentious but meticulously crafted, Weightless really puts your brain to work without any kind of image sideshow.

BALANCE AND COMPOSURE – Separation (No Sleep)

Separation is a brooding, dark, exceptionally tense debut full-length for a bunch of dudes just north of 20. With all of the modern studio tricks available to artists, I am all the more impressed when a band can make a recording seemingly bleed with hurt and internal strife.

BANNER PILOT – Heart Beats Pacific (Fat Wreck)

It wasn’t a good year for SCREECHING WEASEL, but it was hopefully the best of times for BANNER PILOT, particularly with the release of their third full-length, Heart Beats Pacific. With some new warmth to their buzzsaw guitars, perfectly memorable melodic vocals, and a professional efficiency to their songwriting, the band brings comfort like a worn hat.

BANQUETS – Top Right Bottom Shelf (Black Numbers)

In a year without a new music from THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM or THE LOVED ONES, Top Right Bottom Shelf seized a prime opportunity to fill in that melodic, just gruff-enough pop-punk space to turn some heads. Barely 25 minutes long, the record drops down multiple earworm bombs and sharp musicianship peaks through all crevices.

BY A THREAD – Self-Titled (Revelation)

Twelve years in the making. No expectations, right? Objectively, I’m not so sure this would have made the cut on the list, but 1999’s Last of the Daydreams is a full-length that I hold extremely dear and when I finally heard this new record, I nearly ran my copy into the ground. Less heavy, but with deeper textures, the emo/post-hardcore group lingers with a haunting, icy glow.

CAPITAL – Givers Takers (Vinyl via Underground Communique)

I’ve struggled to find the right words to describe Tommy Corrigan’s voice since he was fronting SILENT MAJORITY all those years ago. And before me on Interpunk right now is the sentence “raspy emotive singing”. Yea, that works. Supremely sincere melodic hardcore that gets a little more refined, but no less intense with each new release.

CLOSE YOUR EYES – Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts (Victory)

I wish I could watch the activity in my brain when I play this record. You might know by now that I have a thing for bands that make me want to run around my home office with my arms outstretched, index finger in a properly a pointed position, and ready to self mosh myself into a wall if required, all while hitting every belted-out sing-along and quickly spouted verse. One of the best vocal performances of 2011 and a real step up from the band’s influence-heavy debut, We Will Overcome. Play “Erie” LOUD.

ED GEIN – Bad Luck (Black Market Activities)

Sticking a description on Bad Luck is a thankless task, but I think of it as metallic grinding skatepunk. The peculiar recording features a St. Anger-like snare drum (not a compliment), and a roaring, but dry guitar sound that could have come from an old Oxnard title. But you can’t argue with 11 songs in 22 minutes that make you want to skip out of work early and shred the day away.

FOUNDATION – When The Smoke Clears (Bridge Nine)

Am I the only one who wonders who is going to take the place of BANE as torchbearers when Aaron Bedard and company “End With an Ellipsis”? They’re not there yet, but Atlanta’s favorite straight-edge sons in FOUNDATION could be on their way. When The Smoke Clears ably communicates the intensity of the band’s live show and the group’s lyrical growth glistens with promise.

HEARTSOUNDS – Drifter (Epitaph)

HEARTSOUNDS reminds me of Twisted Design-era STRUNG OUT. Drifter features exceptional guest vocals by STRUNG OUT’s Jason Cruz. You can see where this is going. Drifter is a flashback to a 90s melodicore vision that was long on melody, technical musicianship, and the forbidden beat. Don’t make me snap out of this reversion.

JUNIOR BATTLES – Idle Ages (Paper + Plastick)

Now that FALL OUT BOY has receded from the spotlight, it isn’t immediately stomach-churning to hear a band with comparable vocals… and in the case of JUNIOR BATTLES, that’s just a small part of their overall schema. The Toronto-based pop-punk band combines speed and hooky guitars with effortless timing changes, dynamic tempo shifts and a general maturity that’s often left on the cutting room floor.

KHANN – Erode (Black Market Activities)

If there’s a sleeper hit on this list, it’s Erode. KHANN’s latest offering is less metal than earlier endeavors, embracing FUGAZI and THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES to some degree, but blasted through a 90s screamo/hardcore lens and occasionally set to explode. The coarseness of Erode is its biggest strength, but also its clear challenge to the listener.

LA DISPUTE – Wildlife (No Sleep)

Some bands make their lyrical mark through allegory. Tim Armstrong is an ace storyteller, and economical in the amount of words he needs to paint an image. LA DISPUTE’s lyrics read like analyst notes from an intelligence agency. If I was in a hurry, I would be afraid to ask LA DISPUTE’s Jordan Dreyer to describe the essential characteristics of a toaster. But without that depth, Wildfire wouldn’t be nearly as marvelous an offering, and the band’s legend should only grow from here.

MACHINE HEAD – Unto The Locust (Roadrunner)

The career 180 of MACHINE HEAD continues unabated. From the depths of nu-metal and back, Unto The Locust somehow became a press darling this year. All it took were a few more nods to early METALLICA, extended blackened death metal passages, and Rob Flynn’s relentless vocal performance, screamed, shouted, and otherwise. Unto The Locust is a sampler of contemporary revisionist metal attacked from multiple angles.

MASTODON – Hunter (Warner)

A streamlined MASTODON. Finally. A MASTODON that is both thoroughly metal and magically radio friendly. I was not confident that the band would survive to make a record like this. I thought that their stoner diversions of Crack The Skye would get the best of them while sacrificing the audience that still goes to sleep clutching copies of Remission. Hunter fucking rips and is potential achieved.

MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD – Do Not Resuscitate (Bullet Tooth)

In what is likely the band’s final recording (It’s not like they named this thing See You Again Soon), MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD turn out the lights on a lengthy and prolific run. Cue up more bulldozing riffs, agonizing shouts and snarls and breakdowns as dramatic as Greece’s economy. You won’t find a better pairing of two hardcore songs this year than “Blame It On Altered Beast” and “Stuart Is A Dead Man Walking”.

NEW FOUND GLORY – Radiosurgery (Epitaph)

The last time NEW FOUND GLORY wrote a full-length without their trademark hardcore influences, the result was something closer to piano-rock and SOMETHING CORPORATE leftovers. Not their finest hour. But on Radiosurgery, the band flirts with pop-punk perfection, again shoving aside hardcore bounce for more glossy harmonies, beautifully linear songwriting, and a deep-fryer full of sticky tunes. NEW FOUND GLORY have discovered the fountain of youth.

NIGHT BIRDS – The Other Side of Darkness (Grave Mistake)

An actual punk rock record on this list? NIGHT BIRDS debut full-length is a total trip, embracing early 80s California hardcore punk, a bit of surf in the guitars, and a lick of east coast horror theater. Even the gritty, weathered but punchy recording identifies with the ingenuity of earlier , inspirational times. Anyone seen my leather jacket?

OATHBREAKER – Maelstrom (Deathwish)

OATHBREAKER’s guitar sound communicates one thing: world of hurt. The mysterious metallic hardcore band from Sweden Belgium does not screw around, which is no surprise for a band that shows a similar musical vision to FROM ASHES RISE, TRAGEDY and CURSED. It’s that bury-me-in-concrete guitar tone that does me in, however. Maelstrom indeed.

POLAR BEAR CLUB – Clash Battle Guilt Pride (Bridge Nine)

Clash Battle Guilt Pride seems so… grown up. You could put material from this full-length on a mix with COLDPLAY and RIVAL SCHOOLS and it wouldn’t be out of place at all. More importantly, the hint of timelessness on Chasing Hamburg has become a bona fide characteristic to Clash Battle. If JIMMY EAT WORLD grew out of the hardcore scene…

ROTTING OUT – Street Prowl (6131 Records)

Smoldering hardcore with an inescapable toughness. There’s no joy in ROTTING OUT’s music, just a fire hose of invectives and charging guitars. The band’s keen interest in punk influences fill out the body of Street Prowl, however, taking cues from SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and RANCID (think 2000′s Self-Titled), making for an impressively rich display of an anger and melody in a very short period of time.

SKELETONWITCH – Forever Abomination (Prosthetic)

The thrashiest thrashin’ black and death metal thrasher of the year. Similar to MASTODON’s “putting it all together” session with Hunter, Forever Abomination seizes the moment, elevating SKELETONWITCH past the trappings of the thrash revival from the past few years and bringing them into the discussion of being one of the most electrifying current metal bands around. I love records that end on a strong note, and “My Skin of Deceit” leaves me winded every time.

THE WONDER YEARS – Suburbia, I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing (Hopeless)

A more serious and less charming record than The Upsides, THE WONDER YEARS wrote a full-length that brutally captures the personal flux of meandering through early adulthood. Dream chasing, romance burning, and dealing with the letdowns of humanity all have a place on Suburbia. It’s not always pretty, but neither is being in a full-time pop-punk band in your late 20s/early 30s.

THIS IS HELL – Black Mass (Rise)

Barely a year after Weight of the World, THIS IS HELL dropped their best effort to date with Black Mass, a delectable concoction of crossover NYHC that has as much in common with MADBALL as it does with SLAYER. The band has never been shy about their metal influences, particularly since the release of Sundowning, and while Weight brought CRO-MAGS into the discussion, Black Mass takes that angle to a whole new level, with Travis Reilly’s bellowing howl leading the way.

THRICE – Major/Minor (Vagrant)

If this is THRICE’s swan song for at least the next few years, they left a true gem as a temporary grave marker. The progressive heavy rock band that shed and showed so much of its personality over the past decade crafted Major/Minor as moody, momentum-stacked release that defies neat classification and description. THRICE’s gift was to keep people on their toes but not disappoint. Mission accomplished.

THURSDAY – No Devolucion (Epitaph)

If this is THURSDAY’s swan song for at least the next few years, they left a true gem as a temporary grave marker. The progressive heavy rock band that shed and showed so much of its personality over the past decade crafted No Devolucion as a moody, momentum-stacked release that defies neat classification and description. THURSDAY’s gift was to keep people on their toes but not disappoint. Mission accomplished.

TITLE FIGHT – Shed (Side One Dummy)

This might be the full-length that I struggled the most with in 2011. With TITLE FIGHT, you’ve got a band heavily influenced by LIFETIME and GORILLA BISCUITS, who got Walter Schreifels to record Shed, and the end result was something like a sped up TEXAS IS THE REASON record with awkwardly nasal yet soaring, convincing vocals. That doesn’t exactly scream “Best Of” material, but it works because despite the band’s popular ascension, you still get the feeling that you’re listening to a band that can absolutely kill on a basement show while barely breaking a sweat.

TOUCHE AMORE – Parting The Seas Between Brightness and Me (Deathwish)

If you want to measure a band/release’s impact, just wait to see if the copycats show up 6-9 months later (“for fans of TOUCHE AMORE” serves up several thousand Google search returns). TOUCHE AMORE’s tenacious hardcore/screamo mix works because there’s just enough vocal clarity through the rhythmic blur to provide a path to navigate. Short bursts of tension personified, Parting The Seas, has certainly made waves.

TRAP THEM – Darker Handcraft (Prosthetic)

Grrrrrooooooooooooarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. When my basement flooded this fall and I stood helplessly on the carpet watching the water seep in from the walls, circulating around furniture, toys, and everything else in its way, all I could do was watch while battling an ill feeling within. Darker Handcraft should have been playing in the background.

WE CAME AS ROMANS – Understand What We’ve Grown to Be (Equal Vision)

I described To Plant A Seed as a “grandiose… symphonic” melodic metalcore effort that outshined the musical pestilence of its lesser peers (looking at you CHOIDOS!). WE CAME AS ROMANS pulled more tricks from its hat on Understand What We’ve Grown to Be, embracing even more digital editing and flourishes and taking their synchronized guitar and percussion crunch to new heights. These guys are the polar opposite of “raw” and “roughshod”, but I am mesmerized by their talents nonetheless.

Best Collections/Compilations/Covers

• AGAINST ME! – Total Clarity (Fat Wreck)
• H2O – Don’t Forget Your Roots (Bridge Nine)
• LAGWAGON – Putting Music In Its Place Box Set (Fat Wreck)
• PLOW UNITED – Sleepwalk: A Retrospective (Paper + Plastick)
• RESSURECTION – I am Not: The Discography (Deathwish)
• SICK OF IT ALL – Nonstop (Century Media)
• STRUNG OUT – Top Contenders (Fat Wreck)
• V/A – “Mixed Signals” (Run For Cover)
• V/A – “Striving Higher” (Six Feet Under)
• V/A – “Take Action Volume 10″ (Hopeless/Sub City)
• V/A – “Ten Years of Think Fast! Records” (Think Fast!)

Honorable Mentions

• AFICIONADO – S/T (No Sleep)
• ALL SHALL PERISH – This Is Where It Ends (Nuclear Blast)
• AUGUST BURNS RED – Leveler (Solid State)
• BASEMENT - I Wish I Could Stay Here (Run For Cover)
• BAYSIDE – Killing Time (Wind Up)
• BRIDGE AND TUNNEL – Rebuilding Year (No Idea)
• COLISEUM – Parasites EP (Temporary Residence)
• DARKEST HOUR – The Human Romance (E1)
• DAYTRADER – Last Days of Rome EP (Run For Cover)
• DEAD END PATH – Blind Faith (Triple-B)
• DEAFHEAVEN – Roads to Judah (Deathwish)
• DEFEATER – Empty Days and Sleepless Nights (Bridge Nine)
• FAREWELL CONTINENTAL – Hey, Hey Pioneers (Paper + Plastick)
• GHOST BRIGADE – Until Fear No Longer Defines Us (Season of Mist)
• HARVEST – Years of Defiance. Years of Disgust EP (Good Fight)
• HAWKS AND DOVES – Year One (No Idea)
• HUNDREDTH – Let Go (Mediaskare)
• INTO IT. OVER IT. – Proper (No Sleep)
• JAWBONE – Loss Of Innocence EP (Blood and Ink)
• JOYCE MANOR – S/T (6131)
• JUNIUS – Reports From The Threshold of Death (Prosthetic)
• LIVING WITH LIONS – Holy Shit (Adeline)
• MAKER – Mirrors (6131)
• MOVING MOUNTAINS – Waves (Triple Crown)
• OPETH – Heritage (Roadrunner)
• RED FANG – Murder The Mountains (Relapse)
• REVOCATION – Chaos of Forms (Relapse)
• RISE AGAINST – Endgame (DGC)
• RIVAL SCHOOLS – Pedals (Island)
• SAMIAM – Trips (Hopeless)
• SET YOUR GOALS – Burning At Both Ends (Epitaph)
• SILVERSTEIN – Rescue (Hopeless)
• SMALL BROWN BIKE – Fell & Found (No Idea)
• STRAY FROM THE PATH – Rising Sun (Sumerian)
• TEXTURES – Dualism (Nuclear Blast)
• THE COPYRIGHTS – North Sentinel Island (Red Scare)
• THE HORRIBLE CROWES – Elsie (Side One Dummy)
• THE NEW LOWS – Harvest of the Carcass (Deathwish)
• THE STEREO STATE – Have All My Friends Gone Deaf? (Creator-Destructor)
• THE STORY SO FAR – Under Soil and Dirt (Pure Noise)
• THE WARRIORS – See Who You Are (Victory)
• TRANSIT – Listen & Forgive (Rise)
• TURNSTILE – Pressure to Succeed EP (Reaper)
• UNEARTH – Darkness In The Light (Metal Blade)
• WAR HUNGRY – S/T (Six Feet Under)
• YELLOWCARD – When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes (Hopless)

I Can’t Believe It’s Been Ten Years Since I Bought:

BANE – Give Blood

Two Labels That Had MVP Seasons:

Deathwish and No Sleep. Hard working labels featuring hard working bands, and challenging, honest music for all. Runner up: A389 Records.

Label That Will Be Too Big to Fail in 2012:

Rise Records. Upcoming titles from HOT WATER MUSIC, MAKE DO AND MEND, SHARKS, DAYTRADER, THE EARLY NOVEMBER, and CHEAP GIRLS, among others.

The Best $5 I Spend A Month Is On:

Rdio. Its recommendation engine could use some work (the DROPKICK MURPHYS do not sound like AS FRIENDS RUST), and several prominent independent labels refuse to have their music on it (ahem… Metal Blade), but its user interface is fantastic, features exceptional sound quality, and perhaps mostly importantly, does not let social features take over the music listening experience.

Will It Float in 2012?

PENNYWISE with Zoli Teglas. Can Zoli breathe new life into a stale band, or do both IGNITE and PENNYWISE crash and burn in the process?

Will It Sink in 2012?

FURTHER SEEMS FOREVER with Chris Carrabba. Is this still going on? Anyone?

Three Cheers For:

Soundcloud. Never has making music available for streaming and/or download been made so easy and aligned with the interests and requirements of all stakeholders.

CAVE IN’s White Silence Was So Disappointing…

… that it had me wishing for another STOVE BREDSKY full-length…

For 2012, I’m Calling It Now:

New KID DYNAMITE music.

Pros:

1. Kiddo number two was born this summer. To capture the particular evening, I offer this: We’re driving (rapidly) on the interstate at night on the way to the hospital. Baseball is on the radio. Roger Bernadina has just hit a home run and while I’m making the Washington Nationals submarine horn sound in celebration (HUUUUUU! HUUUUU!), my wife is punching the front seat cushion in fits of agony. Great times. Matthew Baker arrived a short time later. I am so glad we didn’t stay home to watch the end of the game…

2. Pastepunk earned zero ad dollars this year and I couldn’t be happier.

3. I’ve gone through 13 K-Cups writing this thing…

Cons:

1. The Mets losing Jose Reyes. Sure, there’s the chance he’ll snap his hamstring again like a Slim Jim and devastate the Marlins, but Reyes was the living embodiment of a complicated, but exceptional New York baseball star. Talent and baseball magnetism like that only comes around so often…

2. The closing of the Borders chain. We are running out of third spaces, especially in the suburbs. As a teen I bought copies of MRR and Punk Planet at Borders. In college, I spent hours and hours studying for the LSAT at Borders. In law school I’d blow off stress (and cash) shopping for music and books at Borders. As a parent, I’d spend time with my son snacking and going through the children’s section at Borders. Our conversion to an encompassing digital world is inevitable, but where are we going to roam and play indoors?

3. The Return of Newt Gingrich. Gaaaaah…