My Top 100 Albums of the Decade (30-21)
30. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
"Called to see if your back was still aligned, and your sheets were growing grass, all on the corners of your bed"
Chutes Too Narrow is quite the rarity — even though it's easily the best of the three Shins albums, it's become the forgotten one. Garden State came out in 2004, which means that songs from Oh, Inverted World became more popular after the release of Chutes Too Narrow. The next album, Wincing the Night Away, benefited from anticipation. Chutes Too Narrow doesn't have the highs and lows of those other albums — it's one long, impressive high. The Shins don't need lo-fi to be relevant, as this concise collection showed. After this album, it would be more about the songs than the sound.
The Shins - "Kissing the Lipless"
29. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (2008)
"Back then, it was unified: The punks, the skins, the greaser guys. Then one summer, two kids died. And one of them was crucified. Now it's so competitive: The sleeplessness and sedatives. I know it sounds repetitive. Every show can't be a benefit."
Every Hold Steady album feels like part of one long story, even if a harpsichord enters the mix ("One for the Cutters") on Stay Positive. Just listen to the title track, which is essentially a rowdy callback to the last three albums. A song for the fans, from a fan band if there ever was one. The good thing is, it's never too late to become a fan. So sure, the middle of this album can lag a bit at times, but the ends of this album are so undeniably strong (as are the hidden tracks on the limited edition CD) that we'll forgive 'em. Why wouldn't we?
The Hold Steady - "Stay Positive"
28. Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus! (2007)
"Baby ... baby ... baby ... baby ate my eightball"
It's as if the Furries took a gigantic album and distilled it down to its absolute catchiest pieces. After the first few listens, I thought it felt slight and forgettable. I could have written it off after that, especially considering the prior disappointment of Love Kraft, and the merely good (not typically SFA great) Phantom Power. But the earworms in Hey Venus! grew and grew, until they were too big to remove.
Super Furry Animals - "Run-Away"
27. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)
"I was following the pack all swallowed in their coats, with scarves of red tied 'round their throats, to keep their little heads from fallin' in the snow, and I turned 'round and there you go, and Michael, you would fall, and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime"
Those lyrics represent the entirety of "White Winter Hymnal." Fleet Foxes were the hyped band of the moment when this album was released. Which is peculiar (but refreshing), because this album was built on gorgeous harmonies and lush instrumentation — it sounds like a forgotten collection of folk classics. Nothing about it really screams, or even says, hype. Though Robin Pecknold's voice can soar with the best of them, as a whole, this album is an assured, soothing whisper.
Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal"
26. eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)
"My kind of love is an ugly love, but it's real and it lasts a long, long time"
They rarely make 'em like this anymore. A long, ambitious double album. Loosely, a concept album about one human life — the idea is basic, but it allows for complete freedom in topics and styles. The themes here — family, God, love, birth and death — are universal. One could argue that theoretically, every album could be a concept album about life — the concept is too big. But an album that starts with the lyrics "Ten pounds and a head of hair, came into without a care," and ends with a song called "Things the Grandchildren Should Know"seems fairly clear in its intentions. Like any life — or any double album — some parts meander and some parts you might not like. But you might be surprised how much you do enjoy. For me, it's nearly everything.
eels - "Railroad Man" (live)
25. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)
"You used to get it in your fishnets, now you only get it in your night dress, discarded all the naughty nights for niceness, landed in a very common crisis"
A few of the Monkeys' biggest hits on the group's debut were fun Franz Ferdinand-esque jaunts, like "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor." But that never felt like the real Monkeys to me. The true Arctic Monkeys made their mark on the back end of that album, and continued it here. The sound is fuller and more substantial. It's heavier and darker, but still packing the pop chops to pull off a song like "Flourescent Adolescent." The kids are alright.
Arctic Monkeys - "Flourescent Adolescent"
24. The Strokes - Room on Fire (2003)
"I want to be forgotten, and I don't want to be reminded"
Do we really need another Strokes album? First Impressions of Earth was no great shakes, and plenty of time has passed since then. Julian Casablancas went and made a fine record on his own. Plenty of great bands have produced no more than one great album — getting two from the Strokes seems just fine to me. As a relevant entity, the band fits quite neatly in the early part of the decade. There's no need for greed.
And yes, this is a great album, with plenty of the band's best songs. My personal favorites being the irresistible "What Ever Happened?" and "Under Control." Who knew the band could be so ... smooth?
The Strokes - "Reptilia"
23. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)
"Fell in love with a girl, I fell in love once and almost completely"
Speaking of Is This It, this album was nearly as influential. Now, the Stripes are one of the biggest bands around, but shortly after White Blood Cells came out, I asked for the album at a college town record store and drew only a blank stare, then a question. "Who did you say they were again?"
The clerk probably hadn't heard the charming "Hotel Yorba" or the massive "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." And he definitely hadn't heard "Fell in Love with a Girl," which is everything rock 'n' roll should be. It shoots out of the speakers, straight into your heart. If you haven't heard it in a while, have a listen. It's lost none of its power, and it probably never will.
The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl"
22. Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus (2001)
"Promise me, you will always be, too awake to be famous, too wired to be safe"
After leaving the best band of the 1990s, Malkmus really didn't have anything to prove. And so, he just had fun on his solo debut. Pavement fans already knew how great Malkmus was with a melody, but it's easier to hear on this album, as the songs come all polished and glistening, swirling around subjects like Yul Brynner and Cabin Boy.
Stephen Malkmus - "Jo Jo's Jacket"
21. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak (2003)
"And the French Foreign Legion, you know they did their best — but I never believed in T.E. Lawrence, so how the hell could I believe in Beau Geste?"
"Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" is an ode to ska, and in particular, The Specials, but it's also a wake-up call: Remember good music? What happened to it? Why don't people make it anymore?
So, Leo does his part to will it back into being. He's always been a dynamo, but this second Pharmacists album hits the most high marks. There's a passion here that never lets up, but the first half of Hearts of Oak is what really floors you. As great as "Rude Boys" is, after a few spins, I had trouble picking a favorite song on this disc. I still do.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?"