The Ass Is Half Full – Mike’s Top 10 of 2020

Mike Elfers is the host of TGEFM’s Who’s Zoomin’ Who? video interview series. He is also a former member of pop-punk act The JV All Stars, as well as currently drumming the The Killigans and involved in some strange project called Thirst Things First. He also drinks too much hard seltzer.

#10 – Our Frontline Hospital Workers & Educators

So this is an important one, I’m putting it here so we can keep it light throughout my list, but still give credit where credit is due. Our health care workers and teachers didn’t ask for the giant wad of horror that had been dropped in their laps this year, yet they collectively hit the ground running, exhibiting a strength and fearlessness that instills my confidence in human beings. I would be remiss to publish a list of top positive things without literally thanking the thankless. *Wipes tears* Okay, White Claws in the air, let’s complete this top ten! <3

#9 – The Vandals – Live Fast, Diarrea [Reissue]

2020 stapled to a (top ten honorable mention) exclusive (and very well done) live-streaming of their 25th annual Christmas show and a b-side riddled Halloween EP, the Vandals showed the most publicized activity in years, with the silver anniversary’s reissue of the classic LP Live Fast, Diarrea, reminding Vandals fans why we hooked on in the first place. The untouchable full length reflected the growth and maturity the Orange County four piece has developed in decades with a never-before-seen “poo splatter” vinyl reissue, and a reminder to have a little fun during these dark times.

#8 – The Lawrence Arms – Skeleton Coast

Chicago’s Lawrence Arms surprised all of us with not only their first full length release in over six years, but perhaps the most cohesive album in the band’s discography since 2002’s Apathy and Exhaustion. Skeleton Coast has all of the elements that the three piece has honed during their legacy, and the dueling songwriting contrast between guitarist Chris McCaughan and bassist Brendan Kelly is stronger than ever. Drummer Neil Hennessy carries the fourteen songs in a brilliant showcase, and the audio clarity of the mix, recorded at Sonic Ranch in remote Texas, breathes as if the amplifier tubes are glowing in the same room with you. Fantastic.

#7 – “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” Interview Series

As soon as shit hit the fan this year, I sensed something very strange among my creative friends, this varying surge of inspiration and motivation, verses this foggy “fuck everything,” complete with fourth naps and mindless YouTube binging. I was kicking and screaming in the former when I started working with TGEFM, and very thankful that our overlord Jeff Sorley was as well. Armed with Jarret Nathan from PEARS’ Instagram username, I asked him if we could do an interview about the new self-titled album that was now released with no tour dates, then I asked if Zach Quinn could join us, a phone interview turned into a Zoom interview, and it suddenly dawned on me, “Why don’t I just record the Zoom interview?” Jeff green lit my idea, showed me an Aretha Franklin song that I didn’t know existed, and the result was some of the coolest conversations I’ve had in music, …and like three hundred spiked seltzers, well no one is actually counting. Thanks to Jeff, Tiffany, and the kindest musicians that have joined us, and here’s to season 3, 2021!

#6 – Apathy Cycle – Apathy Cycle

Apathy Cycle’s 2020 self-titled effort is the Punk-O-Rama for the tired old listener, yelling at clouds while refusing to step away from their Epi-Fat vinyl collection from 1997. It is fucking brilliantly crafted. With much detail, bassist/singer Gregg Armen and the four piece steer the album through rallies of what made us fall in love with punk rock in the first place, while avoiding anything sounding unoriginal or forced. Not only did Apathy Cycle bring the albums I grew up on closer to my attention, but it made me want to branch out, and an album with an opener about the failed health care system in the United States being released without a release tour because of a global pandemic… you have got to be kidding me. Great record, this band has got a lot of future.

#5 – Freezepop – Fantasizer

Boston’s Freezepop rightfully delivered from a Kickstarter campaign with a complete return to form, pumping Fantasizer into our anxious Autumn. The first LP in a decade picks up right where Imaginary Friends left off, dripping expert duel vocals from Liz Enthusiam and (brilliant/now veteran hire) Christmas Sagan over expert synth production from Sean Drinkwater and Robert “Bananas” Foster. The 13 song masterpiece floats over subgenres and decades, exhibiting Freezepop’s girl-power anthems through a Robert Moog wet dream of layered tones, clever “kitchen sink” crescendos, and (as usual) delightful percussive variation. Killer AF.

#4 – Suicide Machines – Revolution Spring

As a long time Suicide Machines fan, I’ve always taken a moment to reflect on the increased reports of police brutality, political corruption, reality show POTUSes, and just how much the world has continued to go to shit in the fifteen years since War Profiteering Is Killing Us All came out, and think: “What would Jay Navarro yell about on a song, nowadays?” Our boy delivered, and Revolution Spring was thrown out into a cold, terrified, planet this March, tethering the four piece’s classic thrash/ska hybrid to a narrative of today’s systematic racism and uncertainty, oh and with the band returning to their purest sound and songwriting, with their best bass player to date, produced by Less Than Jake’s Roger Lima, and released on Fat Wreck Chords?! An excellent treat to a wounded world.

#3 – “A Late Show” with Stephen Colbert

It will be fun to look back in history to see how all aspects of entertainment adapted to Covid-19, but Stephen Colbert knocked it out of the park. His initial shooting-from-home, complete with silent pauses for a laughter-less laughter, spoke boundlessly for how different of a time in our lives we’ve been. He grew his hair long and let us lose our minds with him, his jokes about Donald J. Trump turned into no-holds-barred assaults, until Stephen himself, voice wavering, admitted that he now never has to utter the man’s name ever again. Thank you for your transparency this year.

#2 – PEARS – PEARS

I can admit this here, because there is YouTube proof on the #WhosZoominWho pilot! I slept on PEARS, for a long time. I have only myself to blame for it, I shoved myself into a greying bubble where Oh No! It’s Devo would pivot between Plastic Surgery Disasters and Hard Rock Bottom on a pretty steady rotation. I’ve got to tip my hat to Jeff and TGEFM for helping me evolve, I had made up my mind about music a long time ago, and closed up shop. This band, and this album are fucking immaculate, and the growth in character and root structure are busting through the concrete on this one. There is a sense of trust handed to the listener at the opening lyrics, a guided tour of Zach Quinn’s brain, scored by a three piece fucking powerhouse that (I’m going to say it,) could out-ALL the Descendents if they truly wanted to.

#1 – Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server is a client-server media player app that is available on all streaming boxes and mobile devices, it was also my fucking pacifier this year. With 24/7 work-from-home, co-parenting, and high stress levels since St. Patrick’s Day, it became increasingly difficult to top the night off with another violent Netflix original crime drama. Plex blessed my home this year by giving me the chance to keep it light, and obscure, enjoying old torrent-ed seasons of The State, Upright Citizens Brigade, and every pirated Eugene Levy/Catherine O’Hara movie I could find, all from the privacy of my bedroom Roku. With advanced meta-data retrieval, and the ability to share your libraries with other Plex users, your friends can watch with you, off of your computer, safely from home, and on an interface that looks identical to Netflix or Hulu, but with the appropriate artwork cover to Cannibal: The Musical in 1080p.