It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a local band cause a stir like The Smith Street Band did this year. Sunshine and Technology was a massive success, equaling – if not surpassing – the quality of the band’s debut release No One Gets Lost Anymore. The album also caught the attention of triple j and eventually the broader public. It’s really nice to see a band get the broad recognition they very dearly deserve but the planets aligned for these guys this year and it was a wondrous thing to behold.
Hot Water Music (Exister), The Gaslight Anthem (45) Cancer Bats (Dead Set On Living) and Propagandhi (Failed States) also returned to our stereos this year, and they did not disappoint. None of these bands have ever produced a lackluster release in my opinion so it was reaffirming to see them deliver once again.
Tasmania’s Lincoln LeFevre came out of nowhere this year to steal our collective hearts with Poison City release Resonation. Likewise Japandroids were quite the surprise packet. Celebration Rock is a front-to-back banger that despite becoming incredibly popular in indie circles had more lo-fi punk rock undertones than anything.
Death Grips, Diplo, Fiona Apple and Lana Del Ray were my random pop picks. Del Ray’s Born To Die, maligned as it was, was the most morose masterpiece of sultry tune-age I’ve ever heard. Death Grips proved some music is well and truly capable of genre-mashing beyond categorisation and Diplo and Fiona Apple made magical works of wonder that delivered more and more with every listen.
Pennywise and OFF! delivered some of the best straight-up, unabashed punk rock of the decade. Pennywise’s year was a confusing one: their decision to replace new guy Zoli with old singer Jim Lindberg still puzzles the shit outa me, whereas OFF! can always be trusted to deliver no-surprises pit-happy punk.
2012 saw me narrow my musical focus slightly towards the local scene. As glamorous as the international acts can be, there was a point this year (perhaps due to Smith Street’s success, perhaps due to getting a whiff of a rather lackluster local vibe in New Zealand) where I realised Melbourne is totally, ridiculously spoiled when it comes to musical talent. Bands from around the country are falling over themselves to book a show in our venues and to draw even the most modest of Melbourne audiences. The effect an impassioned Melbourne punter can have on their local scene is also not to be underestimated. I see friends throwing themselves into promoting locals bands for free. Keen to lend support, time, hugs and even just attendance wherever it is most deserved to ensure real talent doesn’t go unrecognised. That, my friends, is unique to only a handful of music scenes in the world. How lucky are WE?
Enjoy your Christmas. Go see a band. Stand up the front. Fist pump with reckless abandon.
