Here’s the next in our series of bonus year-end top tens for 2010 (as seen in the current issue of MRR magazine). This one’s from MRR columnist John Fahey!

This was a pretty awesome year. I’m really excited about the originality on display lately from all corners of punk rock. I’m bridging three categories to create A True Top Ten: LPs, singles and cassettes. Still happily riding the crest of the cassette onslaught, a trend I hope continues as bands experiment more freely and release more often on an inexpensive format.

LPs:

NEON BLUD – B Girls 12″ (Drugged Conscience)
This record starts with a long, atmospheric noise intro before dropping into the frantic, disturbed, catchy punk. Samantha’s vocals have so much personality and force, they’re so accusatory and haunting! I fear this band is undergoing some changes since the record’s release — a potential bummer, but then again I thought the same thing about MERCHANDISE’s transformation. This record is essential. Truly original, artful and commanding of attention, any description will fail to do this justice. Silk-screened covers look appropriately trashy in color scheme. Is this the record of the year? The band’s earlier work and cassettes could easily take places in the EPs and tape sections, but this is their crowning record. A group of people who can’t stop eating culture and art, regardless of the trans fat contained therein.

POLLUTION – Registered Smut LP (C6 Recordings)
Consistently knocking me on my ass the last couple of years, POLLUTION change only the sound on this record. The atmospheric, haunting noise tracks are still here, along with the short, raging hardcore numbers, but the tracks that truly kill me are the ones that place you in the gutter with their sleazy, hypnotic riffs. I hope this band continues for some time, they’re doing something fresh and doing it well. Appropriately disturbing artwork sets the mood. This is the kind of record that brings uncomfortable thoughts to the surface. A raging bummer, a bulldozer of bad vibes.

CLOUD RAT – s/t LP (Otherwise Dead/Midwestern Decline/IFB Records)
A beautiful cover that looks Art Nouveau and DIY at the same time holds a record of pulverizing viciousness. This record has ’90s-esque, emotional, melodic parts that give way to furious, fast, bludgeoning hardcore. Madison’s vocals are absolutely shredding and brutal. The amazing thing about this three-piece is that live, they completely pull off the devastating impact this record conveys. Heavy, thoughtful, important hardcore that will fucking kill you with speed, impact and precisely executed fury. Great music made by awesome people.

MERCHANDISE – Strange Songs in the Dark LP (Katorga Works/Drugged Conscience)
Dark, noisy, haunting music with gorgeous vocals. Simultaneously haunting and uplifting, the ambling noise covering up the melody on here is what makes it genius. A left turn for this band that ended up working in their favor, Strange Songs is at its best for me when venturing into darker territory like the creepy tune, “In the Dark.” Living in a shitty house in Tampa and consuming all forms of youth culture, past and present, with a steady diet of NEW ORDER brings out music like this. Also, perhaps record of the year? Lots more to come from this outfit — they’ve already released a tape of alternate mixes and new songs.

RESURRECTIONISTS – s/t LP (IFB Records)
Furious, swirling, emotive, hardcore panic. Sounds like ORCHID listening to lots of very heavy metal. Lars writes frantic, insane riffs with feelings of despair and doom behind them. Sabine’s shrieks destroy the high end of the vocal spectrum while Bjorn carries the burden of beasting up a lung with growl duties. The energy of these songs simply reeks of fear and panic — not a bad thing! People watching the world go to waste should make music that sounds this way. German lyrics and English explanations, this is militantly political hardcore that means every word. A beautiful, crushing EYEHATEGOD cover will have you replaying the B-side time and again.

Singles:

LIBYANS – “Paralyzed”
Lyrics of the title track etched beautifully into the B side, housed in a translucent sleeve, this is a gorgeous package for a one-sided single. Two songs here, but the title track is an instant hit. Maybe one of the most infectious choruses ever, Liz’s vocals are hauntingly catchy. LIBYANS sound right at home alongside the Dangerhouse catalogue of yesteryear, with a clean guitar sound and a raw approach to songwriting. Well worth the packaging, this is a classic fucking punk song. Top notch.

DADS – “Invisible Blouse” (Soft Languages)
Ah, DADS. A fucking mess. One of the most fun bands to see, ever, Dave, Carson and Cammy keep it really loose and somewhat sleazy. Insulting their friends and fans alike, this band still manages to keep their charm and here they pull off their best song yet, a tune that soars above their own crappy expectations and delivers a noisy, whaling, rocking tune with just a hint of nostalgia to give it some depth and emotion. Get this record, it is superb.

PIGEON RELIGION – “Scorpion Milk” (Parts Unknown Records)
A dark groove permeates the A side of this record that I can’t shake. The lyrics have such a shitty, bratty ambivalence to them that I find so charming for some reason: “It doesn’t matter/Stupid losers everywhere/Go watch your boring movies/Go eat your shitty food.” All I’ve heard about this band is that their lineup is routinely changing and they have been banned from several venues in their home state. Hopefully, there’s more output like this single — this is great music for a bummer mood.

Cassettes:

FOREIGN OBJECTS – Live at Dead Air (Drugged Conscience)
A preview of their upcoming LP?? This band is stellar. Live, Terry is such a great, commanding singer to watch and the music is so rife with hooks that you can’t help but get into it. Great songs, catchy vocals, and an excellent overall sound. Their cover of THE EYES’ “Disneyland” on here is fitting and wonderful. The new songs here are a big step up from their demo/7″ material and I can’t wait to hear what they come up with next. Track this tape down!

Foreign Objects "Live at Dead Air" cassette

SHOPPERS – Demo I
Hard to pick between their two tape releases but I think this one is just slightly better. Another band I’ve talked about at length, this material needs to get to vinyl in a hurry. Their music is so chaotic and yet they pull you in like an undertow with the hooks and frenetic energy on display. Vocals are loaded with personality and emotion and their songwriting is definitely coming from a simple yet fresh and original perspective. Like much of what I like, their inherent beauty is covered up by a thick layer of noise and frustrated playing. Terrific work.

Honorable Mentions Are Many:
THE MEN – Immaculada LP, CERVIX – demo cassette, YEUNG – demo, BLANCHE DEVEREAUX – demo, DARK TIMES – demo, NATURAL LAW – EP, XTRA VOMIT/TROPIEZO split EP, ESCALATOR – Performance Anxiety demo, SWAMP TEASE – Mysterious Attractions cassette, WHITE GUILT LP.

Alright, folx, here’s another web-only, bonus year-end top ten for 2010 (as seen in the current issue of MRR magazine). This time, from guest writer Daniel of Sorry State Records…

Out of seemliness I’ve excluded records I put out on my label from this list, but rest assured DOUBLE NEGATIVE’s Daydreamnation and LIBYANS’ A Common Place would be at the top of my list, were I more inclined to self-promotion. Actually, now I’m realizing that these are at the top of my list am I am self-promoting, but I’m just going to go for it. Onto the goods…

VAASKA – Ruido Hasta la Muerte LP (540) Vaaska’s new LP is, without a doubt, the hardcore record of the year. I’ve loved past releases by the circle of people/bands in Texas from which this originates (stuff like Sacred Shock and Deskonocidos, if I remember correctly), but never has it all come together so beautifully as it does on this LP. It sort of reminds me of Articles of Faith’s Give Thanks LP if it was heavily informed by Discharge-inspired punk, and while the combination would probably be awkward in anyone else’s hands it’s just brilliant here.

PROTEX – Strange Obsessions LP (Sing Sing) I feel weird putting a reissue in my year-end list, but I listened to Strange Obsessions so many times in 2010 that it would feel weirder not putting it here. I’ve always loved Protex’s singles and I was elated to hear that an unreleased LP had been uncovered, but I never could have imagined that the LP would be even better. While their classic “Don’t Ring Me Up” is so straightforward and poppy that it sounds like a long-lost Buddy Holly tune, the raw production on this 12″ means the melodies are buried just a tiny bit deeper, making it all the more gratifying when they inevitably bury themselves in your head.

NIGHT BIRDS – demo, Killer Waves, s/t, and Midnight Movies EPs (Art of the Underground/Grave Mistake/No Way) Yeah, these are four different releases, but they’re all of a piece and I generally listen to them together in one big iTunes playlist anyway, so I think they deserve to be considered together. When I first heard Night Birds my reaction was, “Wow, this band sounds a lot like the Authorities,” but the more I listen to them the more I find them totally original. Sure, you can hear the reference points in surf punk, early ’80s hardcore, and even ’90s pop-punk, but Night Birds weave them all together beautifully. Plus, the hooks on “Killer Waves” and “Midnight Movies” are undeniable!

Night Birds (photo by Eric Rex)

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING – Rush to Relax LP (Goner) When a longtime favorite releases something new there’s always a period of acclimatization, and the new Eddy Current album was no different. At first I gravitated toward the spiky, near-hardcore of “Walked into a Corner,” then I got fascinated by the smart-dumb lyrics of “Gentlemen” and “I Can Be a Jerk.” Nowadays “Second Guessing” is my jam, but this is a record where I don’t skip a track. Sometimes I even listen to the 30 minutes of ocean sounds at the end…

KRIEGSHÖG – War for Peace 12″ (La Vida Es Un Mus) This is a record I almost had trouble processing at first because the anticipation and hype surrounding it were, at times, so intense as to affect the way that I heard the music. After a few listens, though, I realized that there’s no denying the beastliness of this LP… I love the burly as fuck bass sound, and if there was a catchier hardcore riff than the one in “Burn” written in the year 2010 then I did not hear it. The packaging on this was also a thing of beauty, particularly if you happened to be sitting by your computer during the 12 or so hours when you could buy the limited edition red vinyl with obi strip.

CRAZY SPIRIT – demo/EP (Toxic State) Crazy Spirit played a house show in Raleigh this past summer and my car broke down on the way there… My blood still boils every time I think of this band playing 30 miles away while I sat in a gas station parking lot trying to figure out how to put in a new battery. Like Kriegshög, Crazy Spirit offers a full aesthetic experience that you’re not likely to get from a simple MP3 download… you need to see those hand-screened sleeves on the 7″ and the crazy artwork on the tape, and you probably need to actually wear one of their weird-ass, Karate Kid-looking t-shirts to get the full effect. I also must say that I like this band’s demo a bit more than their 7″, as the sound collage stuff (which maybe they couldn’t put on the vinyl for copyright reasons?) and weird acoustic number really add to the sense of confrontational weirdness. Hopefully, they continue to move off the deep end on future releases.

Merchandise LP

MERCHANDISE – (Strange Songs) in the Dark LP (Drugged Conscience) This one came out of left field for me… I absolutely love bands like Psychedelic Furs, the Cure, Gary Numan, etc. (and, honestly, I probably listen to these bands way more than any current hardcore band), though it never even occurred to me that a new band could provide me with a fresh update on that style. Well, Merchandise went and did it, taking the big hooks of early ’80s new wave, adding in broad swaths of noise and feedback and a dash of the “mysterious guy HC” aesthetic. This LP would probably make it onto this list for “Worthless Apology” alone, and the fact that the other songs are nearly as good just clinches its place.

INSUBORDINATES – LP (Cowabunga) Way back in 2007 Insubordinates put out a demo proving that they could write extremely capable neo-Californian skate punk, but aside from a teasingly short 2-song single they remained quiet for the next 3+ years. When this magnum opus finally dropped I was aghast at its ambition. You can almost hear the band reworking and refining this set of songs to make sure that each song is its own, singular universe. Most bands eventually find a “sound” with which they’re comfortable and, at best, push themselves to produce variations on that theme, but the songs on this LP barely belong in the same genre together, much less on the same record. Further, I love how it’s the weird, abrasive parts of the band’s sound (like Brett’s vocals and the skronk sax) that tie the sound together and give them consistency… The hooks are fleeting moments of beauty, but the ugliness is here to stay.

White Lung LP

WHITE LUNG – It’s the Evil LP (Deranged) As with the Merchandise record, White Lung play a style of jerky, noodly post-punk that I barely ever listen to (aside from obvious classics like Drive Like Jehu), but this band was so undeniably powerful live that I had to get their records. While the rhythm section kept me transfixed live, it’s the guitar playing that keeps me coming back to this record again and again… it’s just so inventive and melodic in a completely non-obvious way. I’m hardly a proponent of technical virtuosity for its own sake, but I really admire people that can think outside of the box and do something with a song that no one else would think of doing, and this LP provides moment after moment like that.

ROUGH KIDS – “Into the ’00s/So Sophisticated” 7″ (Rough) THE LOVE TRIANGLE – Splendid Living EP (Dire) TOTAL CONTROL – Paranoid Video EP (Smart Guy)
OK, I know this is cheating, but I’m going to justify putting three singles in my #10 position because they each had one song that I could not get out of my head for a huge chunk of 2010. Try starting your next mix tape with Rough Kids’ “So Sophisticated,” followed by the Love Triangle’s “Splendid Living”, into Total Control’s “Paranoid Video.” You’re going to have do some real work to sustain that level of quality and catchiness on the fourth track… or you can just pull the ol’ mix tape trick of changing gears completely and put a song from John Cale’s Paris 1919 next… At any rate, if you are a fan of all that is good and catchy in punk, you are going to need these three songs.

From our record reviewer Sean Dougan, here’s the first in a series of 2010 year-end top ten lists that didn’t fit into the latest issue of MRR. Enjoy!

RED DONS – Fake Meets Failure LP (Deranged)
The second full-length from these soggy bottom dwellers from up in the land of bobble hats and half masked pants. Stripping it down to a more dark and minimal sound whilst maintaining those ever-important hooks. Get on board.

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING – Rush to Relax LP (Goner)
More herky-jerky and less driving than the previous two, but even a good ECSR record is still amazing.

THE POTENTIAL JOHNS – “Can I Really/Past Due” 7″ (Dirtnap)
Jeff from the MARKED MEN doing his all by himself project. Sounding like the MARKED MEN on downers with a hint of shoegaze but still firmly holding on to that ever important melody that makes Jeff and his buddies the envy of me eye.

AUTISTIC YOUTH – Idle Minds LP (Dirtnap)
More gloom from Portland, done with a wink and a nod to the WIPERS whilst taking in some early LA drive and punch. An addictive record that grows and grows with every listen.

THE BROKEDOWNS – Species Bender (Red Scare)
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT mixing it up with DILLINGER FOUR whilst having a big boy wrestle with NEGATIVE APPROACH. Weirder things have happened. When I’m feeling down this picks me right up, and I don’t even have to snort it. Roll on, Chicago.

MIND SPIDERS – Worlds Destroyed EP (Dirtnap)
Mark Ryan from the MARKED MEN doing his own thing and doing it so well. It’s got that MARKED MEN X-factor whilst adding a nice touch of garage and indie pop.

TERROR – Keepers of the Faith LP (Reaper)
Back to the brutal sound of their first two LPs. Stomping, karate-kick infused hardcore that could instigate a fight at Buddhist retreat.

AIRFIX KITS – Flex Time EP (Deranged) Playing Both Sides EP (Dirtnap)
One record set the world alight with its sexist rants, the other set the dance floor on fire with its post-punk grooves. The JAM meets GANG OF FOUR meets TV PERSONALITIES.

THE MARKED MEN – “On/Other Side” 7″ (540)
I really don’t think that my favorite punk band off all time could write a bad tune. Dare you to.

J.C. SATAN – Sick of Love LP (Slovenly)
Tight pants Europeans mixing some TY SEGALL with the OH SEES, and I must say I was very impressed.

Airfix Kits (photo by icki)

Honorable mentions: RED RED RED – New Action LP, WHITE NOISE SOUND – s/t LP, CHEAP TIME – Fantastic Explanations LP, SKIN LIKE IRON – Descent Into the Light LP, VAASKA – Ruido Hasta la Muerte LP, TOTAL CONTROL – “Paranoid Video/Real Estate” 7″, DESKONOCIDOS – En la Oscuridad LP, THE ESTRANGED – The Subliminal Man LP