2022 was supposed to end with a bang for my family. The missus, who is undeniably the brains and breadwinner of our little clan, got a big promotion coupled with a transfer out to the San Francisco/Bay area, which was supposed to have happened right before Christmas. Instead a health scare caused us to postpone that move at the last minute (literal paralysis could have occurred unless the issue was addressed) and now we’ve had another health scare, still undiagnosed and still ongoing, with our 10yo daughter.

Seriously, fuck you 2022.

Still, aside from family and friends, throughout the past three years my illustration business (as Asplenia Studios) and TGEFM have been a kind of therapy to help me through all of the madness that has been going on in the world (and there has been so much).

I wish I had had the time to make this list more robust than it is, goodness knows that there have been so many bands this year that deserve acknowledgment and accolades. But, simply put, my mental facilities are just about fried due to the efforts to keep our family afloat. We’re strong but oh so very, very tired.

As such, I’m going to point out a few albums that hold a big place in my heart, in alphabetical order (it’s really hard for me to rank things), and then some honorable mentions. So let’s start with the detailed stuff, shall we?

Avem – Three Birds Stoned

Few sub-genres of punk rock are as gimmicky as “ramonescore”. So many “The” bands that live and breath (at least on stage) their adopted themes or personas. Avem, on the other hand, seem to just really, really fucking like birds. Frankly, I was swept up in their undeniable enthusiasm and publicity campaign leading to the August release of their debut LP Three Bird’s Stoned. Hell, TGEFM even did a Roll of the Dice interview where I replaced almost every damn word with a bird sound, adopting the band’s penchant on social media for announcing, replying, or sharing bird facts with “birdspeak” (don’t worry, we published the “English” version the next day). It was, to us at least, hilarious. Let other publications be all super serious. I say if you’re not having fun, you’re likely dead in some way (inside or, just, you know… kaput).

But back to Avem, they really know their stuff, and populate their music with subject matter about, for, or by birds to the extent that you might actually learn something. Sometimes laugh (“No, Homo!”) sometimes get bummed out (“It’s Such a Mess”), laugh and get bummed out (“Pre Suburban Paradise”, “Nigel”) or simply just get one of the best pop-punk songs in years, which also happens to be about the instinctual urge to migrate (“Really Gotta Go”). If I had to peg a sound for Avem, it’s more like the Cody Templeman end of the Teenage Bottlerocket/The Lillingtons, if that helps.

Caw!!!

Grey blue ashes – Shallow People

2022 was the year I truly started paying attention to what the small Texas indie label Otitis Media Records has been putting out. This label releases music from a variety of bands across different genres from all over the world. A lot of their releases are pretty awesome, so I definitely suggest you check out what they have to offer, but one that really stuck out to me is the November release of Shallow People by Italian act Grey blue ashes (sometimes styled as Greyblueashes).

Like Otitis Media, GBA runs a pretty wide gamut of styles from 60s rock to 80 post-punk and almost every genre in between except for disco. Shallow People scratches a particular itch of mine that has rarely been satiated. Early DEVO scratches that itch. So does Flop‘s 1992 debut LP ...and the Fall of the Mopsqueezer. Like all good music, the total package comes together in a stellar way. Musically, the rhythm section really anchors this, the bass lines are so cool and smooth. But a lot of it what makes this work (and so catchy) are the lyrics and the cadence of the vocal delivery.

If I had to narrow it down to one song to sample first that displays all of the above, it would track #4 “Foxes”. Such a good chorus!

Heart To Gold – Tom and Live at Studio 4

OK, so that’s a bit of a double-dip but, trust me, it’s worth it. I’ve been keeping an eye on Minnesota’s Heart To Gold every since I (somehow) got in touch with vocalist/guitarist Grant Whiteoak sometime back in my Punknews days. The band has always displayed some of the best that you see come out of the Twin Cities music scene: combos of punk/indie/emo that trace their origins back to the legendary Hüsker Dü.

Their April LP Tom is a masterclass in energetic songs that aren’t always on the “happy happy joy joy” end of the spectrum. It’s a powerful pack of ten songs from a band that just keeps getting better, and I was content to just leave it at Tom as one of my “best of” albums for 2022.

… and then Heart To Gold released the video for their in-studio performance of “Respect” from that album, done at Studio 4 outside of Philadelphia. For me it quite literally felt like the sensation of falling in love with someone all over again. Culminating in the December release of their Live at Studio 4 EP, HtG (H2G? that should be a thing) take four songs from Tom and strip them down ever so slightly. The bass is still electric and drums are loud no matter what you do, but Whiteoak switches to an acoustic guitar which removes a lot of the aural “oomph” from the songs. You might think this all takes away their power, but I think you’re guessing now that I’m going to say that’s wrong. You’re right, it only helps to emphasize how strong these songs are.

With guitar distortion out the window, you get a much better feel, and appreciation, for the work of the rhythm section in bassist Sidian Johnson and drummer Blake Kuether. Right there it is worth the price of admission. It also works to demonstrate Whiteoak’s expressive vocals. It’s like if Kurt Cobain and Laura Jane Grace had a baby and imbued the best qualities of both of their voices into their progeny. It’s soulful, a little sad, and oh so very expressive.

Recent tour photos show a new bassist, and the band hasn’t released any statements as to what has happened to Sidlan. Let’s hope all is OK on that front. They’ll be out on tour supporting Free Throw in Mar and Apr 2023 so be sure to check them out of they swing by your town. (maybe I’ll get to see them in Berkeley?)

No Matter – Bad Chemistry

In a scene that is chock full of awesome people (yeah, and some bad ones, too) it can be hard to stand out from the crowd, let alone find a band where each member simply rock as people. Northern Ireland’s No Matter is one of those bands. I know I gush about them all the time. But that’s because I think they are one of the best pop-punk bands in the business today.

I first heard No Matter when I was living in the UK and got to review their 2016 LP Ill Advised over at Punknews. I described the sensation that album gave me to Screeching Weasel‘s seminal My Brain Hurts, and still stand by that. In the Interim the band released the Excess Baggage EP, building on their growth and locking in tight as an act even more. Flash forward to 2022 and Bad Chemistry comes along. How does this band keep getting better?

On Ill Advised it seemed like they might have hit a ceiling. Their triple threat vocals were near perfection (both guitarists Dan and Jarlath, and bassist Cat split lead vocals amongst the songs, with the other two backing up constantly), but on Bad Chemistry they skip 11 and go all the way to 12. Of particular note is drummer Jamie Wilson (now DOCTOR Jamie Wilson, lad got his PhD!), who was already a fun drummer, and has only improved his percussion while still keeping a style that is his own.

I talk of this band as friendly people because I am friends with them. The handful of times we met in person after the release of Ill Advised they’ve just been the nicest folk, and we’ve been internet friends since. But don’t think that clouds my judgment on their music. Bad Chemistry really is just a damn fun album. You should listen to the whole thing, for sure. But if you really need a couple of samplers, “In Spite of You” and “Tinfoil” aren’t really “standouts” per se, just good entry points among an album full of standouts.

Spacenoidz – Colony Drop

Would I have liked this album just on it’s ramonescore cred alone? Yep.

Would I have liked this album just on it’s Mobile Suit Gundam theme alone? Yep.

Would I have liked this album even if I didn’t draw the album art? Yep.

So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, yeah. In 2021 Classic Pat of The Putz and, like, a million other bands, embarked on a project combining his love of pop-punk with his love of the popular, long-running sci-fi franchise Mobile Suit Gundam. Taking the entirety of the original 1979 show and turning it into a 12-song theme album, covering events from the start of the TV series to the end.

My involvement in the project came from my art side of life, having done the cover art for Grim Deeds‘ 2021 album Only the Beast III, my info was passed on to Pat who reached out to me to discuss a potential album art commission. Unbeknownst to him I am also a huge Gundam nerd, and love drawing fan art from the franchise. The connection between us was immediate.

Still, even without all of that, this album pops. Even if you’re as dense about Gundam as the Minovsky field around a battle fleet, you can still dig his fairly traditional take on the ramonescore style of pop-punk. But if you DO know the original Gundam, this album transcends its own awesomeness into a realm that few pop culture-themed acts can reach. The attention to the original story and details translated into song are just exquisite. I was too close to this album to review it, and had to reach outside of TGEFM’s pool of excellent writers for someone who could do a review speaking to both the music and the subject matter (luckily Timothy David of Bathroom of the Future was able to step in and knock that review out of the park).

As with all of the albums above, this whole thing slaps like Sleggar laying one on Mirai. On that note, notable tracks are “Sleggar’s Gonna Slug Her”* and “No Zaku”.

*TGEFM doesn’t condone violence, but Spacenoidz stay true to the theme, and the significant event described in this song, while minor in the over-arching story, does provide detail and context to the personalities of several important characters.

Notable notables

Premieres

This year TGEFM had the honor to premiere a lot of great music from a bunch of great bands. We’d like to thank them for entrusting us with sharing their creations with the world. In alphabetical order they are: Among Legends, Bathroom of the Future, Blind Marc, Bluprint, Choices Made, Clearfight, College Radio, The Crooks, Damned By The Night, Dead Fucking Serious, Down Not Out, Freddie Freeloader, Guilty Party, GVRDEN, The Hallingtons, Harpoon, the Whale; Heavy Thoughts, In Utero, James Domestic, Johnny Cab, Laces Out, Let’s Go, Liquid State, Mark Murphy and the Meds, Mighty Tortuga, Monkey Mind, NC17, No Matter, Øff Guard, Penny Rich, The Raging Nathans, The Readymen, Run Home Jack, Rushing Spring, Spacenoidz, Überyou, The Usuals, Vampire Slumber Party, Waterfront, You Over Me, and Zero Cost.

Craig’s Brother and People of Punk Rock Records

Craig’s Brother put out a new album, Easily Won, Rarely Deserved, but were releasing tracks beforehand. Like Avem above, some of the tracks on the digital version were collected from previous singles, EPs, etc. When writing about the album, I kept referring to how most of was already released as singles, and PoPR corrected me with the previous information, but in good spirits. So for the next actual single released, I wrote it up as “Craig’s Brother drop “Rodeo Clown”, 472nd* single from upcoming album“. This got a chuckle out PoPR’s social media department and, really, that’s what this is all about: having a good time.

More genres, more labels, more international(s?)

As TGEFM expands we definitely have a coterie of PR firms sharing news with us. However we still pride ourselves on our organic discovery of new music, bands. 2022 we ramped up how we find this music and keep track of smaller bands. As such, we continue to bring you, the music lover, great new tunes and acts that otherwise may never have popped up on your radar. Our international spyglass reaches farther than ever before, and everyday I myself am hearing new stuff that shows just how global our community is, and yet how close we all are now due to the power of the internet.

We’ll keep covering the big acts, don’t you worry. But TGEFM was founded on the idea of giving a leg up to the smaller ones who really, truly, deserve your attention. We’ll gladly spend our time doing that.

Back in October I updated our Facebook page banner with this…

… and I wasn’t kidding.

TGEFM Contributors

Obviously none of this would be happening at the level it is without TGEFm’s contributors. A dedicated bunch of freeloaders… (checks earpiece) sorry, people who work for free–volunteers, really–who do so for the love of music and, it’s true, having promos and review passes to gigs helps a lot, too.

2023

Like I said in the intro, personally my family has been having a tough go of it towards the end of 2022. But you know what they say: “what doesn’t kill you just hurts a lot”, right? We’ll there’s been a lot of heartache, but here’s too hoping that 2023 brings fair winds not just to us, but to all of you. Thank you, dear readers, for making TGEFM a part of your day, and what it has grown into since its humble beginnings on 01 May 2020. Cheers!