Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums Of 2014: Jay Edition

It can feel anti-climactic, writing the intro blurb to the year-end list. The choices are made, the listening, the re-listening, the consideration all put to bed. But here's the thing: just listen again and the records spring to life -- and particularly these records: their greatness is re-greatened, just add water, and volume, the more the better. We revealed our top songs of the year here last week, and that list certainly was a strong indicator of what you'll find below. Namely: the best of the best, our favorite 10 records of 2014. Every year with a new Johnny Foreigner release is a great year, our position on that has been clear for the better part of the last decade. But there were plenty of things that were revelatory when we first heard them this year. We expected the Lubec record to be great, but did anyone expect it to overachieve so much? Certain street-level Ava Luna or Perfect Pussy fans might have expected those records to rule as hard as they did, but we were blown away. Ditto for Cookies, Literature and the mighty, mighty shoegaze concern She Sir, whose LP Go Guitars probably logged the most spins on our turntable this year of any new release. So below we break it all down (and maybe you already heard us talk it out with KoomDogg during one of the last three episodes of the Completely Conspicuous podcast). Our default position on indie rock and electronic music and the various permutations of same that we champion is decidedly optimistic. 2014 only strengthened that belief, and so we are totally stoked for 2015, which already looks like it will be brilliant based on the early notices of forthcoming LPs from Pile, Krill, Speedy Ortiz and Colleen (and maybe even The Replacements), as well as possible reissues from Lilys. Bet you can't eat just one. We humbly thank you for reading the blog in 2014.

1. Johnny Foreigner -- You Can Do Better -- Alcopop!/Lame-O

The Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans are not only amazingly prolific, but also remarkably consistent. Pessimists can sit around prognosticating a slump, but Johnny Foreigner gives no indication of obliging, even in the wake of releasing a sprawling masterwork, its third LP Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything. As we summed up here in March, the successor album "You Can Do Better is a powerful, diabolically catchy set, a compact firecracker of a record that ably and convincingly delivers the band's intelligent brand of bash and pop. The music is as dramatic and as emotionally vital as ever. The Brummies have stared down the challenge of its own album title." The lean and mean record touts potent ballads and brawlers and somehow, remarkably, was as strong as any prior release from the act. Johnny Foreigner will mark its official 10th anniversary next year, and we know fronter Alexei Berrow has already set to work on new songs for the next LP, and we couldn't be more stoked about what comes next whenever it gets here. Stream the set via the embed below, and buy it from Lame-O right here.



2. Lubec -- The Thrall -- Like Young

Oh how we waited and waited, but when Lubec's proper-ish full-length debut The Thrall finally arrived, it surpassed every expectation. The Portland dreampop unit's debut is like an ideal mate, both really smart and super pretty/handsome, and while the set didn't necessarily breach the overground, the magnificent guitar pop speaks for itself. As we said here in our review in September, "The Thrall is, simply put, a revelation, a fully realized and kaleidoscopic guitar-pop masterpiece that presents the band's striking songcraft and bright optimism within a shifting aural landscape that brilliantly balances clean, jagged leads, crystalline reverbs and thunderous percussion and fuzz." The band has already been writing new material and has studio time booked early next year, so there is more where that came from. Still, one could understand if Lubec rested on its laurels just a bit more, given the remarkable accomplishment this LP represents. Stream the set via the embed below, and buy it on cassette from Like Young right here.



3. Cookies -- Music For Touching -- Self-Released

Cookies' terrific full-length debut was preceded by a series of four 10" EPs packed with immaculate pop tracks, but even so Music For Touching was surprisingly excellent. The set synthesizes fronter Ben Sterling's affinity for contemporary pop and yen for engaging experimentalism, and the album's tracks hit the mark across the board, from the boundless groove of "Go Back" to the electrified euphoria of "1,000 Breakfasts With You." While the icy cool in meditative closer "The Dream" echoes certain tunes from Mr. Sterling's increasingly remote former life as part of the dynamite act Mobius Band, the path forward for Mr. Sterling's present project feels extremely ripe for exploration. Hopefully a new record isn't as long in coming as this one was; we reviewed Music For Touching here. Stream it via the embed below, and buy the set from the band right here.



4. Krill -- Steve Hears Pile In Malden And Bursts Into Tears -- Exploding In Sound

The smartest, most intellectually challenging act in contemporary indie rock this year scored big with an EP highlighted by a song in which the fronter imagines he is a literal piece of shit. Indeed, the tension between Krill's academic, "high art" idea/ls and visceral everyman narratives is perhaps the act's most potent calling card, but the band's very relatable humor and inclination toward rock songs that rock make Krill's work connect no matter the level at which the listener (or reviewer) chooses to engage. Steve Hears Pile In Malden And Bursts Into Tears was a triumph, and we are expecting big things from the band's next LP, A Distant Fist Unclenching, as well. The forthcoming collection is slated for release in February; buy Steve from Exploding In Sound right here.



5. Perfect Pussy -- Say Yes To Love -- Captured Tracks

The meteoric rise of Perfect Pussy in 2014 created a platform for the band's fiery, progressive politics, and set the stage for a planned 2015 solo set from brilliant fronter Meredith Graves. But, more importantly for us, the Syracuse noise-punk quintet's dynamite Say Yes To Love placed hardcore-influenced music center stage -- at least in the underground, which as we all know is the only 'ground that matters. The exhilarating record is arguably the best melodic hardcore collection since Fucked Up's David Comes To Life. We spent a lot of time listening to straightedge hardcore at the turn of the '90s, so Perfect Pussy's ferocious collection felt a bit like coming home, and a bit like sticking one's head out the window of a car at 60 miles per hour. The future feels bright for the act, and we're hopeful that its pronounced stances on social issues might also spur a revival of the liberal politics of two decades ago in independent rock music. Dillon Riley reviewed Say Yes To Love for Clicky Clicky right here in March. Buy the record from Captured Tracks right here.



6. She Sir -- Go Guitars -- Shelflife

Oh how we waited and waited and waited for this one, too. After all, She Sir's triumphant preceding set Who Can't Say Yes was released seven years -- an Internet lifetime -- ago. What we finally got in 2014 was the year's most lush and pristine dream-pop record. As strong as label Shelflife's roster is, and as focused as its aesthetic is, we were still overjoyed when the Portland-based enterprise announced it had signed the Austin quartet, as the pairing seemed ideal. Senior Writer Edward Charlton deemed Go Guitars, which he reviewed here in February, a "tour de force of sunny, spectral and shimmering rock" music. The Clicky Clicky Brain Trust expected it would be one of the year's best, and the Clicky Clicky Brain Trust was right. Buy Go Guitars from Shelflife right here, and stream it via the embed below.



7. Ava Luna -- Electric Balloon -- Western Vinyl

Something about the phrase "art-funk" really bothers us -- it's the built-in presumption that there isn't any art there unless you make sure to tag it on the front end (same deal with the phrase "art-pop"). Our personal hang-ups aside, the aforementioned descriptor is perfectly fitting for Ava Luna's ridiculously smart and tight LP Electric Balloon. We've seen the band live a couple times over the last couple years and their shows are mesmerizing. But the music on the LP is somehow even tighter, slightly frenetic, and rich and soulful despite a claustrophobic punk edge. We suppose it's that edge that translates more directly on the record as opposed to the stage. But, either way, it's a curious party record with a head on its shoulders. And it's one of the best records of the year. Stream Electric Balloon via the embed below, and purchase the set from Western Vinyl right here.



8. Literature -- Chorus -- Slumberland

Big, fizzing melodies and fuzzy guitars are a hallmark of the Slumberland sound, and Literature's diabolically catchy LP Chorus delivered perfectly on the Bay area label's pleasing proposition. We were surprised to learn Literature was operating out of Philadelphia, as we like to think we have a good idea of what is going on back in our former hometown. But it was a most welcome surprise, of course, and this record in particular did us a lot of good during some long and grueling stretches of work. We recall at least a couple days during which we listened to Chorus on repeat for a good five or six hours -- it's just that good, and what more could you want from a guitar-pop record? Like an ideal piece of chewing gum, the set stays fresh and flavorful for hours on end, and we look forward to hearing more from these pop savants. Buy Chorus from Slumberland right here.



9. Soccer Mom -- Soccer Mom -- 100m

Dark, beautiful and majestic, Soccer Mom's long-anticipated self-titled debut arrived and burned brightly, but the combustion was apparently too much for the act, which by the end of the summer had already announced that it was decommissioning the battle station and going into mothballs. Five-year-old Soccer Mom's record reigned in the band's overwhelming live sound, and in doing so illuminated the elegance, passion and pathos that make its songs so powerful. We highly recommend picking up the vinyl of this one, as finally hearing it on a proper turntable after listening to digital files and early mixes for about a year revealed a low-end punch we had not previously appreciated. Soccer Mom is a huge record, and sadly, is also now a monumental reminder. Will Scales and Dan Parlin recently announced they have formed a new act called Gold Muse with Young Adults' Chris Villon, Earthquake Party!'s Justin Lally and musical journeywoman Deb Warfield, and we are very excited about the possibilities there. Buy Soccer Mom -- which we premiered here in April -- from 100m Records right here.



10. Radiator Hospital -- Torch Songs -- Salinas

Sam Cook-Parrott's facility crafting catchy indie pop approaches awe-inspiring, and -- as good as Radiator Hospital's sophomore LP Torch Songs was -- there were signs that his estimable talents were seeping into more experimental territory. But his proverbial bread and butter, hook-laden power-pop anthems and poignant downer ballads, were still well-represented. The prolific songwriter's scrappy, fizzing anthems brim with emotion on this distinctly summery record. Staff Writer Dillon Riley reviewed Radiator Hospital's Torch Songs here in July. Stream the set via the embed below, and purchase it from Salinas right here.

Review: Cookies | Music For Touching

We spent more time than most in the first decade of this century watching Ben Sterling bend like a hinge over electronics in darkened rock clubs, the rhythm of the music and his duties on guitar for the visionary indie trio Mobius Band pulling him up while his obligations to punch pads on a sampler pulled him down. When the trio disbanded at the end of the oughts, we were more than a little disappointed, but that feeling was eventually ameliorated by a stream of 10" EPs that Mr. Sterling issued under the mildly ludicrous Cookies moniker starting in 2010. Finally, after life got in the way for a while, after Sterling patiently wrote and re-wrote the songs that would comprise it, Cookies issued last week the debut LP Music For Touching. It is a striking and rich collection of brilliantly conceived electropop, and proof positive that there are few songwriters -- at any sales level -- as smart as Ben Sterling.

It may surprise some that the set takes more cues from Prince or The Gap Band than the post-punk and post-rock that informed much of Mobius Band's work. Of course, given the four Cookies 10" records, those who claim surprise just haven't been paying attention. That aside, one need look no further than Mobius Band's swan song Heaven -- as well as certain of the cover tunes on the informal Valentine's Day EPs the trio still gives away for free -- for evidence of Sterling's affinity for more groovy and relatively conventional sounds. But it is a mistake to think that, just because Sterling's tastes have gravitated toward more traditional (or at least more traditionally listened-to) sounds and structures, that he has abandoned his marked yen for experimentation. The beautiful, languid rumination "The Dream" which closes Music For Touching illustrates that Sterling instead uses the latter to inform the former. The song works a slow R&B vamp, features some gloriously liquid guitar soloing, and lays both over minimal, clattering electronic rhythm tracks that gently remind of Sterling's bona fides as a former Ghostly Records signee. Maybe Sterling's aesthetic has always fed a conventional/experiemental duality, but it has never before been so purely expressed than on Music For Touching.

While the collection closes by fading into reverie, it pops open on the front end like a can of tennis balls. Staccato hand-claps and a foregrounded bleep establish a head-bobbing groove over which Sterling and vocalist Melissa Metrick coo from within the optimistic halo of young love gone right in "1,000 Breakfasts With You." That song claps itself out and is warmly met ("Hello. It's nice to see you.") by a robot voice introducing Music For Touching's second preview single, "Go Back." That joinder is the first of many snappy sequencing choices, the best of which may be where the primary descending three-note melody of the deliriously catchy "July 17" abuts the ascending three-note bumping bass line that drives the next tune, the funky -- and we do not use that word lightly -- standout "Crybaby." But it isn't just the sequencing of Music For Touching that makes it shine so bright; it's not even just the songwriting. During the four years it took to germinate the record, Sterling selected very arresting sounds, from the kalimba that provides the hypnotic counter-melody entering with the first chorus of "Spill Of Sugar," to the neon-dripping synth stabs and mind-scrambling baritone sax solo in the aforementioned "Crybaby," to the thick, Beatles-implying piano chords underpinning the title track.

We like to think of Mr. Sterling as the next generation's Daryl Hall -- "next generation" because he is that far ahead of the pack in terms of style -- but akin to Mr. Hall in his appreciation for substance, which is to say, actually substantial pop and, yes, even soul. As an aside, it's interesting to think how Sterling's arc as a songwriter roughly traces the rise of the music crit viewpoint known as poptimism, which rise itself tracks recent critical acceptance of music marked by glossy (even unrealistic) production and a distinct contemporary R&B influence. Clicky Clicky itself does not embrace the poptimist perspective ("rockism" forever! get off my lawn, youths! -- Ed.), and it will never aspire to be "in touch with the taste of average music fans." We expect Sterling would bristle at a reference to his music as poptimist, if only because, really, what makes music less fun than yoking it to some fairly bullshit intellectual name-calling. What we will say is that, while poptimism strains to make excuses for contemporary pop music, Sterling's only concern for pop or music is to make it smarter. While the above-linked article posits that poptimism stands in opposition to adventurousness, Sterling clearly carries with him that same sense of adventure that first manifested itself in the earliest Mobius Band music. Indeed, that adventurousness is even more intensified as a result of Sterling's sole responsibility for writing and producing all of Music For Touching. And it is what makes us such ardent fans of the musical places Sterling takes us. We are very eager to hear what comes next.

Music For Touching is available now as a very attractive 12" vinyl LP and digital download, both of which can be ordered via the act's Bandcamp outpost here. The vinyl edition comes with a "newspaper of companion images by Emily Keegan titled "Tools For Touching." Cookies fête the release of Music For Touching with a show at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn Tuesday; the night also features performances by Superhuman Happiness and The Great Void. Boston-area fans should set aside the evening of Sept. 24, as Cookies will be making a very rare area appearance at Cafe 939 in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. The Boston date is part of a short strand of shows Cookies will embark upon with tourmates Dawn Of Midi Sept. 22 that swirl through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Full dates are below.

Cookies: Bandcamp | Facebook | Interzizzles | Soundcloud

09.22 -- Washington, DC -- The Black Cat
09.24 -- Boston, MA -- Cafe 939
09.25 -- Portland, ME -- Space Cafe
09.26 -- Burlington, VT -- Signal Kitchen
09.28 -- Hamden, CT -- The Space
09.29 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Johnny Brenda's



Related Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Cookies
Today's Hotness: Cookies
Today's Hotness: Mobius Band

Today's Hotness: Cookies, The Swimmers

>> We find it hard to believe we haven't written about Brooklyn-based electropop duo Cookies for almost a year, especially because of its wonderful second single which was released late this past spring, but there you go. The duo of former Mobius Band guitarist Ben Sterling and singer Melissa Metrick has just dropped its genius third single, the apparently digital-only pairing of "Wilderness Tips" b/w "The Dream." The thumping A-side is deftly composed, an arresting mid-tempo hand-clapper that croons and thumps. The flip, "The Dream," is perhaps even more remarkable, as spare and soulful vocals float over rhythm tracks that echo certain of the best German electropop acts of the last decade. Mr. Sterling's loose, Frisell-esque guitar lead at the tail end of the track is life-affirming, and Ms. Metrick's layered backing vocal here is pleasantly reminiscent of that of the chorus to Zero 7's "In The Waiting Line," which you likely first heard on the 2004 soundtrack to the Zach Braff vehicle Garden State. Two previous Cookies singles, last year's "Summer Jam" b/w "Throw A Parade" and "Boycrazy" b/w "1,000 Breakfasts With You," were released on 10" vinyl. For the physical media-impaired, you can download MP3s of all three singles at the Cookies Internet Home Page right here, and we highly recommend you do. One thing we didn't know is that Mr. Sterling also devotes a fair amount of time to composing for hire, and you can sample some of his "professional work" right here. Cookies also has a Tumblr, because, you know, why not? Check out "Wilderness Tips" via the Soundcloud embed below and then go download all that stuff, it's wonderful.

Cookies' "Wilderness Tips" by clicky clicky music blog

>> Philadelphia-based indie rockers The Swimmers make a long-awaited return to the stage Sept. 24 at Kung-Fu Necktie in its hometown; we haven't heard from the band since its unsettling but superlative 2009 sophomore set People Are Soft [review here]. An email from the quartet promises the show will contain material from The Swimmers' wonderful debut Fighting Trees as well as "some new surprises," so hopefully we'll be hearing more from the act soon. Fighting Trees was one of our favorite records of 2008. If you'd care to have your face rocked off, why not watch this video of "Drug Party," filmed at Piano's in New York in Nov. 2009. The tune was the highlight of People Are Soft.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Mobius Band, Yuck

Oh, the things we haven't had a chance to report during our very busy last several weeks. Let's catch up together, shall we?

>> Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner are presently in the midst of their first full tour of North America (mostly the U.S.), where they've been supporting the truly terrific Los Campesinos! But the big news is the announcement of two releases on new label Alcopop! The first is an EP confoundingly titled You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm, and it contains six songs: "The Wind And The Weathervanes," "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives," "Elegy For Post Teenage Living (Parts 1 and 2)," "Robert Scargill Takes The Prize," "Harriet By Proxy" and "Yr Loved." Alcopop! will issue the EP in November in physicial and digital editions, but the EP is already available to North American ITunes shoppers [LINK] as a way to harness the hype the band hopes to generate during the current tour. The physical release of You Thought You Saw... will feature unique art for each unit shifted, which art is being crowdsourced from actual photos being submitted by fans. More deets about that right here. The second release Johnny Foreigner will do with Alcopop is a split single with new labelmates Stagecoach. The split, limited to 500 copies and carrying a Nov. 15 release date, features each band performing one of their own songs as well as one song by the other act. Johnny Foreigner's contributions are the new track "Tru Punx" and Stagecoach's "Good Luck With Your 45;" Stagecoach turn in what is apparently an amazing acoustic version of Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" and the new track "Not Even Giles (... Would Say We'll Be OK)." The two bands tour the UK from 18 November through 11 December, and you can see all the tour dates here at ThisIsFakeDIY. Pre-orders for the Johnny Foreigner EP will be taken imminently; the JoFo/Stagecoach split will be sold on the bands' tour, but we have it on good authority there will be some copies stocked in the Alcopop! store and Banquet Records is already doing pre-orders as well.

>> Reformed post-rockers/electropop geniuses Mobius Band officially announced its hiatus. This is sad, in a rented hatchback. The very fine trio has released to date two excellent full length recordings and a seemingly endless number of EPs, and we're sad to see the band taking an indefinite break, although that break has been going on for what seems like a couple years at this point, so it is not exactly a shock. Each band member continues pursuing musical interests. Guitarist Ben Sterling's Cookies project already has a 10" record on offer with the tracks "Summer Jam" b/w "Throw A Parade." The a-side sounds very much of a piece with the Heaven-era Mobius Band stuff, and features a very solid female vocalist whose identity we don't know. Both tracks can be downloaded or streamed at the Cookies web hacienda right here. Ah, what the hell, here's the link to the .zip file, have at it, music aficionadoes. Cookies will make its live debut Nov. 5 in Manhattan at Mercury Lounge. Mobius Band drummer Noam Schatz -- seriously, the drummingest mofo you will ever meet, by the way -- has a new project LOLFM and an album of electropop gems titled We Are Its Waves freely downloadable from Bandcamp right here. Bassist Peter Sax also has free rock on offer under the nom de rock Ladies And Gentlemen; check out "Up To Us" here and "What You Could" here. All of these new musics have their charms, but we certainly harbor hopes the trio will be reconstituted at some later date. Mobius Band, we salute you.

>> Superlative upstart indie rockers Yuck, who make their US debut in Boston at Paradise Rock Club next Wednesday who recently cancelled their planned US dates (see comment), have signed with Fat Possum. The label will release the London-based act's full-length debut -- as-yet untitled -- in early 2011; the set will be issued in Europe by The Pharmacy Recording Company around the same time. Preceding the full-length will be a US single on Fat Possum for Yuck's "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty." The single will be issued Nov. 23; fans, of course, know that "Georgia" was previously issued as a single in the U.K. in March. U.K. fans have a new, 12" Yuck single to look forward to as well: "Rubber" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty" and "Dark Magnet" will be released Nov. 1 on The Pharmacy Recording Company. If you haven't yet heard "Georgia" in all of its Yo La Tengo-esque deliciousness, feast your ears on this.

Yuck -- "Georgia" -- "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"
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[pre-order the single from Fat Possum right here]