The PanTENmic: Poor Writing and Other Lazy Puns – Bad Dad’s Top 10 of 2020

Ed, aka- Bad Dad, is a Jersey boy (the good kind, not like Jersey Shore) who’s been on the periphery of the New Jersey scene, and punk in general, for over twenty years. He used to base his worth on which bands he saw at hall shows for under $10, now he measures himself through the eyes of his 12 & 7 year old daughters.

#10 – After the Fall – Resignation

After the Fall’s Resignation is an exemplary short, fast and loud skate punk record for those of us who forgot when punk could still feel new and dangerous. I’m old, a good amount of the kids I went to shows with two decades ago have long since outgrown the scene, an even larger majority have just planted roots in the Y2Punk Epi-Fat era. For that second group After The Fall could easily become the re-entry point in the scene with this 12 minute full length.  The Albany-based four piece blast through their cuts with reckless abandon. The first three tracks top out at 60 seconds or less, but that doesn’t leave them lacking for content or musicality. Resignation cuts out all the fat and filler and slaps the listener across the face with strong bursts of angst and anger.  The kind of record that the listener can close their eyes and hear the faint shattering of broken lights commonly caused by dog-piles and gang vocals in VFW halls of bygone eras. After the Fall has crammed strong melodies with commanding power throughout the record, recalling the skate-punk bands of days long gone. Two decades ago, I have no doubt that After the Fall would have been a main-stage main-stay on the Warped Tour, instead today they have the chance to lead the rebirth of skate. The technical melodies, strong vocals and overall authoritative musicianship make Resignation a brilliant addition to the skate-punk oeuvre.

#9 – Tay Tay and Carly Rae

As if 2020 wasn’t cuckoo bananas enough, somehow Taylor Swift and Carly Rae Jepsen managed to release 3 of the best records of the year. When T.Swizzle dropped Folklore my then six-year old insisted we listen to it on the ride to swim practice and it only took about 43 seconds before I felt like a grade-A moron for objecting. Records are supposed to have filler, Taylor Swift albums are supposed to be entirely made up of shitty filler, but not in 2020. Folklore is a perfect record from start to finish. Her year-end follow-up Evermore may not have been as flawless, but “champagne problems” and “’tis the damn season” hit me in the cockles of the heart in a way I’m not really comfortable admitting to. Jepsen on the other hand completely shed the saccarine and sophomoric sensibilities of “Call Me Maybe” when she released 2019’s Dedication, and on 2020’s Dedication Side B, Carly shows herself to be all growed up and ready to influence the future of pop. Further honorable mention in the “females in pop shattering preconceived notions” genre go to the solo album from Hayley Williams and the latest, rock inspired, record from Miley Cyrus. While neither artist is worthy of the crowns earned by Swift or Jepsen, they both managed to show growth and diversity of sound in 2020.

#8 – Bob Nanna – Celebration States

Bob Nanna has been crafting emotional tunes for close to 3 decades already, and one would think the proverbial well is bound to run dry… but it hasn’t yet. The Midwestern emo-punk pioneer is probably your favorite songwriter’s favorite songwriter. In what might be the most splendidly spiteful act in music history, the former frontman of Friction, Braid and Hey Mercedes recorded Celebration States almost entirely on what would have been Nanna’s wedding anniversary and documents the year surrounding his divorce. Although there are ten tracks on this effort, Nanna walks us through the five stages of grief, a cathartic healing over an acoustic guitar in a whispered pipe-bomb of blame, that sings off the ex. “This album is quite possibly the most beautiful “fuck you” ever uttered. Celebration States is honest and personal, a quintessential break up album that hits just as strongly no matter what the listener’s relationship status is. This hits all the notes, dissonant and harmonious, and shows off Nanna’s excellence with both a pen and a guitar.

#7 – NJPP Nostalgia

I get it. Its super weird that my 2020 top ten includes an entire entry based on a local music scene from 20 years ago. 2020 has been a weird god damn year too though so why not right? This year the New Jersey Pop-Punk scene circa 1994-2002 had something of a renaissance. The NJPP Facebook group wasn’t new in 2020, but it took on a whole new level of importance in 2020. Starting in April, Jay Red Rover organized Quarantunes, a live stream event featuring members of some of the best bands to play at the best firehouses in Northern Jersey. We got to see members of NJ flag-bearers Midtown, Humble Beginnings, Lanemeyer, Armor For Sleep, Avery, The Ergs and more, along with Jersey-adjacent performers from Far, Farside, Weston, Braid, Dead Milkmen and so many more. I can’t speak for any other member of that group, but to me these streams meant so much more than the performers. The sense of community that I haven’t felt since the early 00’s came on strong but more than the nostalgia I felt it was absolutely amazing for me to share this with my daughters. Getting to share the music of my youth with my kids in real time was surreal and one of the most gratifying moments I had the chance to share with them thus far. The resurgence of the scene helped me take New Jersey Out of My Rear-View, guaranteed we didn’t have A Shitty Summer and whatever you do do not Slag Off On this Scene (if you don’t know these references check out the archives because you’ll be All Screamed Out pretty damn quick).

#6 – American Fail – American Fail

American Fail snuck up on me and handed me the soundtrack to a modern-day storming of the Bastille.  A band of whom I had no previous knowledge of before they dropped their self-titled opus on Election Day. The Seattle-area band features guitarist Bobby Darling of the criminally underrated Gastbys American Dream, drummer Yuri Ruley of MXPX and Grammy-nominated producer Casey Bates. That is not a trio one should ever sleep on.  This is a group of men who have proven their ability to make music as contagious as a White House Garden Party. To call this a Trump-era version of NoFX’s The Decline or even Green Day’s American Idiot would be accurate but its honestly more than that.  The album is a politically-driven punk rock aural orgasm chock-full of melodic shreds, snarling vocals and slamming rhythms.  This is the issue filled rock record I’ve been waiting for since 2016, the political power that is the bedrock of punk and the modern musicianship that is accessible for the masses.  American Fail doesn’t want you to wonder where they stood on the platforms of this year’s election. Every track has a brilliant turn of phrase and lyrics holding the feet of the GOP’s failures to the flames and deserves to be heard. Loudly.

#5 – Quarantine as a super spreader of super groups

The COVID-induced lockdown brought together some of the best musicians in the scene to bring us some of the best covers imaginable. Punk Rock Karaoke is nothing new this year, but the way the scene legends have reimagined their own project in a post quarantine world has led to some amazing team ups of artists from across the spectrum even letting Mark McGrath channel his spirit of ’77. Gwarsenio Hall brought together some of the best artists in metal and hardcore for the Two Minutes to Late Night Bedroom Covers Series. Mikey from The Fairmounts organized a rotating cast of musicians helping him with the Mikey and His Uke project covering punk classics while the Housebound Ska Collective formed to bring a global cabal of ska artists together for fun and inventive takes on Rage Against the Machine, Backstreet Boys and My Chemical Romance. The previously mentioned NJPP community even got in on the fun thanks to Jersey Interchange and its collaborations of Jersey musicians covering covering Jersey artists (or the exceptional track from Jersey comedian Chris Gethard who covered Pennsylvania’s Weston).

#4 – Catholic Guilt – This Is What Honesty Sounds Like

The This Is What Honesty Sounds Like EP from Melbourne, Australia’s Catholic Guilt is an album overwhelmed by consternation, uncertainty and self-doubt.  It’s also one of the most honest albums of the last few years, combining the many common thoughts kept quiet with a raw punch.  This is an album musically built to explode out of stereos at parties in suburban woods, where the smell of bonfire and burning Solo cups breeds a sense of family while lyrically there is so much said about how that sense is fleeting.  Featuring an anti-hipster sentiment and biting humor the album would have been higher on the list if the runtime exceeded 30 minutes. Twenty minutes is far too short and I need more of this band in my life. The record is loaded with toe tapping rhythms that nearly belies the seriousness of the lyrics. The album is comfortable, endearing, and uplifting like a grandmother’s hug, which in my personal experience is the source of most Catholic guilt. The songs were brilliantly crafted with smart lyrics, punchy melodies and raw and intense vocals by a group of individuals I can’t wait to hear more of.  Bonus points for the 8-bit Furrend Finder, 100% free and 100% adorable platformer in the vain of The Emo Game the band released to hype the EP’s release.

#3- Experiencing Trump Lose Again… and Again

Call me petty, call me mean-spirited.. hell, you can call me a pinko scum but few things in 2020 have brought me as much joy as watching Donald Trump lose over and over… and over… and over.. and over again. I am not saying Joe Biden is a good human, I’m simply saying he is not a demagogue, a grifter, a clown or a bowel movement in human form. This isn’t about Biden winning, this entry about Trump losing the popular vote and the electoral vote and every subsequent attempt he presented to destroy the integrity of America’s elections. The failures served as therapy for me because no matter how awful things were going for me, I was overjoyed by the incompetence of Trump’s election, his objections and the hair dye skidmarks of his legal team. The not-so-slow descent into madness from Trump and his cult as they watch leaders on the right stand behind their state’s election integrity, then the Trump appointed head of the DOJ admitting there is no evidence that any investigations will lead to a change in the results, and the two Justices Trump helped put in place refusing to even hear his arguments because they lack a basis in reality. After the euphoria his repeated defeats provided me, I am almost excited by the prospect that he will run again in 2024 if only for the opportunity to watch him fail and refuse to accept his own inadequacy.

#2 – Be Well – The Weight and The Cost

Featuring members of Bane, Fairweather, Converge and Darkest Hour behind Brian McTernan of DC’s Battery and super-producer behind Salad Days Studios it would hard not to have preconceived notions of who Be Well would be or what their debut full-length The Weight and The Cost would sound like. Be Well doesn’t need its past platitudes though because despite all of the classics its members have worked on, this may be the most sincere, fulfilling and enjoyable release in any of their resumes.  Be Well presents a musical tug of war, showing off a wide range of influences including harDCore, Long Island Hardcore, and Midwestern emo littered with “wait.. play that again” moments spoiling listeners with ingredients perfectly measured out, a pinch of gang vocals, a dash of feedback and a dollop of aggression. A perfect balance of self-doubt and uncertainty are peppered throughout the record as McTernan and company tackle the emotional toll of depression, fatherhood and a few decades trying to figure yourself out in the scene. McTernan’s vocals run the gamut, seamlessly alternating between anguish pleas and melodic harmonies without any pauses to reset a not-so-internal monologue of regret and worse with driving drums, swelling guitars and grooving bass lines displaying the major themes of self-doubt, uncertain futures, and taking action (for better or otherwise).  Written from the unique perspective of a father apologetic for the way his mental state presents to his children it will resonate hardest with people who’ve lived that moment when you realize your silent suffering isn’t yours alone. When you combine the multiple sub-genres with the apologetic introspection it is the aural definition of resiliency. The album rambles through a push-pull path of self-loathing and self-discovery. As a father and a fan of the scene, The Weight and The Cost hits in all of the feels. 

#1 – Forced to be a family again

No surprise here…. the schmuck who uses a byline to hang his hat on having kids, who referenced his daughters as major impetuses behind multiple entries in his top 10 is putting the wife and kids as his number 1 of 2020. The quarantine was hard for millions of families, and I understand how lucky I am for the little ladies of my lockdown. If you asked me a year ago how I’d feel about being told to spend a few months in the house with the kids and wife I’d have started looking into sedatives but our months at home were amazing. My wife and I got closer than we had been since our second year of college, turns out not having any option but to spend time together makes me slightly more tolerable. Then there were the girls… I never could have imagined how gratifying it was having the opportunity to be a full-time partner with their teachers (because remote learning did not turn either of us into educators). 2020 fucked up a whole lot of lives but it was a wonderful for me. I was reminded how to appreciate normalcy. Getting takeout was a delight, going out for a family hike stopped being a chore that prevented me from binging Netflix and became something I looked forward to. We became closer, we had more fun, we remembered inside jokes we had from 15 years ago and created new ones and all of it because we were given the chance to rediscover our own bliss rather than running around worrying about work, extracurriculars or responsibilities. Before 2020 I always thought maintaining a happy family is a lot of work but now I know that its really just a lot of fun if you’re doing it right.