A cursory glance at the side bar to the right reveals that, at the time of writing, there have been 47 posts this year. As anyone who is as keen a fan of basic mathematics and the Gregorian calender as I am will be aware, this means that I've missed out five greatest bands in the world ever this year. I have been neglectful.
But I will make amends.
Question is, how to make up the difference?
An obvious solution would be to turn the concept on its head and propose five of the shittest bands in the world ever; but that would be mean. I could try and go for the mammoth post of five greatest bands in the world ever, but that would be quite a lot to take in and in truth I think I'm just too damn lazy for that.
So, in classic everyone-else-is-doing-it-so-why-don't-I fashion, I think I'll take the opportunity to do one of those tediously predictable end-of-year reviews, thus allowing me to substitute any substantial amount of new writing new crap with hyperlinks to all my old crap. Smashing. So here, in no particular order, are the greatest bands in the world ever this year. And... go.
Echobelly
In part their place here is reflective of the hold that all girl-fronted-indie-bands-of-the-90's had on me for pretty much the entire month of August; but also because they were the most pleasant surprise of the lot, and the band that most had me kicking myself for not checking them out properly when they were a going concern. Like all good records, theirs just get better with each spin.
Deftones
These guys nearly made the list twice this year. Every time they release a new record, it's the best thing ever; I play it to death for a week, put it down for a while and eventually get back to it after a year or so. Except that I still haven't quite put Diamond Eyes down yet...
Enablers
As far as I know, there isn't another band in the world that sounds like them; and seeing them play live earlier this year was just an awesome experience. Definitively my all time favourite doom-poet outfit.
And So I Watch You From Afar
I'll be the first to admit that I listen to a lot of shit, and that as much as I love it, that shit's not for everyone. So I don't mind if none my friends like Sunn o))), for example. Not everyone enjoys the sub-bass droning sound of souls being crushed. With hammers.
But ASIWYFA... they're just too damn good. And the only reason for not liking them is because you don't like good things, and you are a force of evil, and you must be stopped. With hammers.
These Arms Are Snakes
It's been almost a year, and frankly I'm still reeling from their decision to split. I was fortunate enough to see them play once a few years ago; sadly the most enduring memory of that gig is frontman Steve Snere taking his hand out of the front of his pants and wiping a finger down my face.
I struggle to adequately explain just how great they are/were; so I won't bother. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Enablers have featured here before; and whilst I don't really like to repeat myself on this shitty blog, the fact is that I went to see them last night and was completely blown away. They were awesome.
