Ten Raddest Records of 2019*

Plus, the making of Bad Religion's Age of Unreason

I do this list every year and every year it becomes more irrelevant. I’m a middle age man who loves punk rock and hardcore. My taste is slightly more sophisticated than a teenager’s but I lack the enthusiasm of youth to stay up-to-date on all the new releases. That’s my caveat. Also, the word “rad” is kind of a sign. If you’ve never used the word to describe a song, album, or band you loved, then move along to the expensive cheese aisle at Whole Foods because this isn’t for you.

I do, however, seek out new music on Bandcamp, I’m friends with legendary punk artists, my work with bands takes me to shows I wouldn’t otherwise go to, and from time to time my esteemed colleagues at Razorcake point me in the right direction.

*What’s with the asterisk, you ask? Every year two things happen: I fall in love with a reissue and I get obsessed with a record that came out the previous year. This year, I’m folding these categories into my top ten: Rad Retreads and Late to the Party.

Also, I’m not doing a best of the decade list. If you want to see what I liked in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011, be my guest. It’s a free country. (For now.)

These are the records that moved me the most in 2019. Yours will be different, but these are mine.

10. A.A. Bondy Enderness (Fat Possum) digital

This album wouldn’t have made the list if I hadn’t listened to his previous album Believers about bajillion times. Nor would that record have made its way to my turntable if I hadn’t seen A.A. Bondy play at the Casbah way back in 2011. The word that springs to mind when I think of A.A. Bondy is lush. It’s a full sound, freighted with feeling, and I generally don’t go for that kind of thing because it can be too on the nose, like a cello suite with warbly violins during a sad part of a movie. We don’t trust the story or the actors to generate those intense feelings so we’re doing it for you. A.A. Bondy doesn’t just write songs, he creates soundscapes. Big spaces with sturdy melodies to sustain the embellishments. Enderness is a bit different. More minimal, more experimental, druggier and Bon Iver-ier, but still lush. It’s not for everyone, but this record takes me places.

9. L7 Scatter the Rats (Blackheart Records) digital

One of the many fascinating people I talked to while working on the Bad Religion book is Jennifer Finch, the bass player for L7. She was a teenage hellion in the L.A. punk scene and L7 was a big part of the grunge-punk explosion in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Some day she’s going to write an amazing book about her life, but she still has unfinished business as a musician. L7 put out a new record—its first in 20 years—on Joan Jett’s label. L7 has a heavy rock sound that’s instantly recognizable: mid-tempo, sludgy bass lines, driving guitars. “Stadium West,” my favorite track on Scatter the Rats, has all that and more.

8. Mannequin Pussy Patience (Epitaph) digital

I’ll be honest, I don’t know the entire album as well as I know the first two songs that came with the pre-order, but I was hooked from the moment I heard the big hooks, soaring riffs, and wounded vocals of “Drunk II.” It’s a song about breaking up, having fun as a single person, and drinking way too much, only to find out you weren’t having fun at all. You’re hurt and will stay hurt until you do something about it. Sound familiar? It’s the stuff songs have been written about since the invention of amplifiers. But you could give me the lyrics to “Drunk II” and it would be years before I stumbled upon the arresting way Marisa Dabice sings the song. I saw these rockers from Philadelphia when they opened up for Bad Religion at Riotfest in 2018 shortly after they’d signed to Epitaph, and they were noisy and loud and in-your-face. This song, and the entire album, is so much more nuanced, and I love it.

7. Zig Zags They’ll Never Take Us Alive (Riding Easy Records) LP

I was on the fence with this record the first few times I listened to it. The band has pivoted from noisy thrash act to noisy stoner metal band, and I think I prefer the older stuff. The opening track, “Punk Fucking Metal,” feels like it’s meant to assuage old fans and introduce themselves to new ones, but it’s kind of a silly song and doesn’t mesh with the rest of the album. But the more I listened to They’ll Never Take Us Alive, the more the doomful vibe on songs like “God Sized” grew on me. I think Zig Zags have taken over the place Wavves used to occupy in my brain as the band I keep thinking I’ve grown out of but can’t seem to quit. Based on the number of times I listened to this record this year, it should be higher on the list, but they were a last-minute cancellation at a show in Tijuana I went to and I’m still low-key annoyed about it.

6. The Spits S/T #2 (Slovenly) LP

RAD RETREAD! There have only been a handful of moments in my life when I was at a club or a bar, and when a band I didn’t know started playing I instantly fell in love. The Spits were one of those bands. Some time in the early aughts I went to see the Briefs at the Three of Clubs and the opening band all had Mohawks and mustaches and wore sleeveless denim jackets sans shirts. The Spits were ferocious that night, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. Their three-chord onslaught makes the Ramones seem complex, but the brutality is laced with infectious humor. So when Slovenly Records announced a limited reissue of the Spits 2003 release (multiple albums by the Spits are self-titled) on slime green vinyl, I had to have it, and listening to it has brought back many fond memories. I wasn’t at this show but here’s a taste of the chaos…

5. The Hussy Looming (Dirtnap Records) LP

I think it’s a testament to how much I miss Jay Retard that I hear his influence everywhere, and I definitely here it in Bobby Hussy’s vocal styling (but not at all in Heather Hussy’s songs). This isn’t a Lost Sounds type deal. Looming is fast and loose and a lot of fun. These punk rockers from Madison, Wisconsin got their hooks into me from the opening track and never let go.

4. Bothers S/T (Dirt Cult Records) digital

Three-piece blunt force punk rock from Portland, Oregon, with punchy guitars and a mean-ass vibe. The opening three songs “Loose Teeth,” “Brain Matter,” and “Lost Vision” serve as a summary of my year: multiple oral surgeries, getting used to wearing hearing aids, new eyeglass prescription. (Getting old sucks; I don’t recommend it.) Bothers remind me of a heavier version of Rocket from the Crypt circa Circa: Now! Bothers brings the intensity on every track and I’m here for it.

3. Clowns Nature/Nurture (Fat Wreck Chords) digital

If you crossed NOFX and Anti-Flag you’d get something like this super intense band from Melbourne, Australia. I like bands that go for it on every song, regardless of tempo or style. There’s an epic quality to songs like “I Wanna Feel Again” that NOFX seldom achieves because the band doesn’t take itself seriously. On the other hand, every Anti-Flag song feels like an anthem because, given the subject matter, the stakes are so high. On Nature/Nurture even songs with whimsical titles like “I Shaved My Legs for You” and “Soul for Sale” go hard. There’s a lot to sink your teeth into on this record and although it came out in the spring I’m still finding new things to get excited about.

2. Idles Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan Records) digital

LATE TO THE PARTY! My infatuation with this record started when I bought tickets to see Surfbort at the North Park Observatory in San Diego in early October. Surfbort was opening up for an English band I’d never heard of. The week before the concert, Ryan Bradford pointed me to Idles’s NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert and it was so strange I kept watching it and watching it and watching it. Then I went to the show and had an amazing experience and enjoyed both bands. Most of material Idles played was new to me but I was incredibly moved by the performance. Equal parts earnest and enthusiastic. And when the entire audience sang all the lyrics to “Never Fight a Man with a Perm” I was sold.

Since then I’ve listened to Joy as an Act of Resistance about a million times and I still have no idea how to classify it. It’s not really punk, but it’s not not punk. (I realize this isn’t helpful.) To put it another way, Joy as an Act of Resistance has been my soundtrack for the decade’s last gasp. I listened to it while walking the streets of San Francisco, sitting in airports in the U.S. and Mexico, driving back and forth between San Diego and Los Angeles.

I know it’s weird to have an album that came out in 2018 as my second favorite record of 2019 but that show and the experiences that followed had the biggest impact on how I process the intersection of art, music, and politics, which is a massive part of my brain these days. Here’s the performance that started it all, which took place in 2019. If you’re only going to watch one of the videos in this newsletter, watch this one. It just might change you life.

1. Bad Religion Age of Unreason (Epitaph) digital album

I think I finally understand why many bands are reluctant to commit to opinions about their work. It’s really hard to be unbiased about something you helped bring into the world. Witnessing that creation is at least one step removed from that, but it clouds the critical faculties all the same. That’s how I feel about Bad Religion’s 17th studio album Age of Unreason.

In my role as biographer of Bad Religion’s book (I don’t mean to be coy about the title, but the cover and new title will be revealed early next month), I was present for parts of the writing, recording, and producing of the album, and as a result I feel very close to it.

The first time I heard songs from the album was in early February of 2018. After swearing me to secrecy, singer/songwriter Greg Graffin played some tracks for me at his home studio in Ithaca, New York. The first song was a classic Bad Religion ripper that opens with a pick slide and swirling guitars. Greg empathized that it was very early in the songwriting process, but “Chaos from Within” felt pretty polished to me. Greg sang and played guitar along to a drum track. The song was complete and demo ready, but he was still working some things out and hadn’t shared it with the rest of the band (hence the secrecy). But what I heard that winter morning was very close to what’s on the album.

The second song he played for me was “Profane Rights of Man,” which was recorded and released before the album came out, but didn’t make the final cut. This song, which I like a great deal, impressed me for entirely different reasons. I’d spent the weekend at Greg’s house interviewing him for the book. One day we took a break and drove to Cornell University to check out the punk archive at the Division of Rare Books & Manuscripts Collection in the Carl A. Kroch Library. Greg plays hockey with one of the librarians who works there and he gave us a tour. In the space of an hour I held in my hot little hands one of James Joyce’s notebooks, the First Folio of Shakespeare’s Collected Works, one of five copies of the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the 13th Amendment. Also, did you know that Cornell has the largest rap music archive in the country? They do! They’ve only been collecting punk material for a few years and already have an amazing collection. It was a mind-rearranging experience.

Throughout the day, Greg told me about Cornell’s history and some of the research he was working on for the album. I was impressed by both the quality of the music, and the seriousness of the intent. After being given a glimpse of how Greg processes his world and distills it into art, I can tell you there is nothing slapdash about the way Greg writes a Bad Religion song.

A few months later, I met with Brett Gurewitz at Epitaph Records on Sunset Boulevard. Although Brett doesn’t tour with the band anymore, he’s deeply invested as a songwriter. In the middle of our chat, he said, “Hey, you wanna hear my new song?” Brett is an audio junkie and had the song in his Dropbox folder playing through a smart TV in the conference room in a matter of seconds. He had recently returned from a vacation in Iceland. While he was away, the news dropped about Trump’s separation policy at the southern border that had resulted in what amounts to the incarceration of thousands of children. Being away from home, Brett felt removed from the media spin but closer to the horror of what Trump’s policies were doing to families. Brett’s song, “End of History” synthesizes those feelings with the philosophy of Karl Popper.

Musically, with its ’77-style song structure, “End of History” reminds me of the Briefs while Brett thought it sounded more like the Dead Boys. The lyrics contain some of the most explicit references to Trump on the album:

I don’t believe in golden ages
Or presidents who put kids in cages

In October, the band assembled in Los Angeles for three weeks to record the album and I was on-hand for a few days each week. I’d hang out in the lounge area and talk to whomever wasn’t busy. Sometimes when everyone was in the studio, I’d find a quiet place to sit and observe. On one occasion I watched Brian Baker lay down some guitar tracks that Brett was considering adding to a song. He wanted Brian to play something slow and somber. Not a solo per se but something he could layer into the background.

We’ve all seen movies, TV shows, and videos of singers putting on their game face when it’s time to record vocals. But for guitar players it’s different. The music from the guitar goes right to the board so there’s no need to go into a soundproof booth. When Brian recorded the new tracks, he sat in a chair about a foot away from me and laid them down. If I wanted to, I could have reached out and touched his guitar, and the weird thing is I really wanted to. He played so beautifully I was mesmerized by how effortless he made it look. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Brian Baker is one hell of a guitar player.

The next day, Brett asked me for my impressions. I told him how moved I was by Brian’s playing. “Well, you’re going to be disappointed then,” Brett said. “I decided not to use those tracks!”

During that first week in the studio, I was talking to the bass player Jay Bentley while he made a chart on a big piece of poster board that would hang on the studio wall. The chart listed every song and had a column for each instrument as well as the vocals. As the pieces were recorded, the boxes were crossed off. One song, “Lose Your Head,” was listed twice because there was a slow version and a fast version. I didn’t have strong feelings about the song, but IMO fast is always better than slow.

Well, I was wrong.

The day the band recorded the slow version of “Lose Your Head,” I did a long interview with Jay in the lounge and I could hear them tracking the guitars . After I left the studio, the song kept me company in the car during the ride out to Razorcake HQ where I crashed for the night, and it was still rattling around my head the next day when I woke up. It was stuck in my head and as I sang along while driving back to San Diego I realized I not only liked the slow version, I loved it.

Now, whenever I hear that mournful sounding guitar that opens the song, I get strangely emotional and can’t really pin down why. Sadness for the state of the country? Maybe it’s the realization that despite the song’s somber tone, it’s a message of hope from a broken place. It hits on so many levels from the personal to the political. For most of my life, I don’t think that message would have gotten through to me. But here we are in the heart of the Age of Unreason trying to figure out how to make things right.

Lit Pics for 12/19-12/25

Slim pickings for literary events this week, but here are my recommendations for San Diego. Also, some good news for Mysterious Galaxy. The store has new owners and will be moving in mid-January to 3555 Rosecrans Street near Midway Drive.

Thursday December 19 at 8:30pm (SD)

VAMP, a monthly storytelling showcase, presents its final show of the year: Home for the Holidays: Black Sheep at the Whistle Stop Bar.

Friday December 20 at 3pm (SD)

Mike Wells and Marie Simovich will discuss their book A Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region: Then and Now at 200 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs, 92004 in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Free and open to the public.

PLAN B (SD)

The personal growth book club will convene at The Book Catapult at 6pm to discuss The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson at 6pm.

PLAN 9 (SD)

Golondrina in Barrio Logan is having a storewide sale of 15%, including books and zines by yours truly. There’s even a copy of My Damage signed by Keith Morris. Sale runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thanks for reading Message from the Underworld. Next week’s newsletter will feature my year in reading so if you’re not already a subscriber, now is a good time to sign up. I hope you get to unwrap many new books this holiday season.