It’s been a great year of music in 2011. There have been so many great releases this year that summing it all up is going to be a hard job and doing it ourselves would not do it justice – so much so that we have decided to enlist some help! Stay tuned for more guest contributions from various bands and people in the industry as they are added.
This is the first installment. Part two is available here and features I AmVillain, Man Overboard, We Are the Emergency, Marines, I Call Fives, and Seam Lam from UNFD/Hopeless.
These Kids Wear Crowns (Canada) – Guitarist Joshua ‘Gypsy’ McDaniel
What were your top ten albums of the year?
1. Fireworks – Gospel : I haven’t listened to a record back-to-front on repeat so consistently and for so many months since Sticks and Stones or From Under The Cork Tree. Since May when the record came out, Gospel has continued to impress me more and more every day. The production, the songwriting, the message and the shape of the album are everything I could ever ask for in a pop-punk record.
2. Drake – Take Care : I can’t say enough about this record, so I won’t even start. Get it. Besides… he shouts out These Kids. Twice. In the first track. Life = Made.
3. Kanye West + Jay Z. – Watch The Throne
4. The Weeknd – Echoes of Silence : If you haven’t got it, get it: www.the-weeknd.com and then pretend you had it, and his other two House Of Balloons mix-tapes, from the start. The best hip-hop/R&B on the scene right now.
5. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
6. Tyler The Creator – Goblins
7. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
8. Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
9. Prince Caspian – Late Night Calls : Local Canadian Independent Pop Music that will make your mom and your girlfriend love you and him.
10. Dan Mangan – Oh Fortune : True Canadian Folk. What could be better.
Favourite song of year?
Fireworks – Teeth
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Group I found this year that you need to know about: The Weeknd. His mixtapes are free, the production (“40″, Doc Mckinney) is at the front of the pack pushing the boundaries of sound design and hes doing something new. Oh, and hes Canadian.
In 2012…
These Kids will be heading out on tour with Simple Plan across Canada and around the world (Stay tuned…) as well as playing Main Stage at Soundwave 2012 and recording our sophomore effort at world domination.
Tonight Alive (Sydney)
What were your top ten albums of the year?
Thrice – Major Minor
The Script – Science and Faith
Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American
Missy Higgins – The Sound of White
Frou Frou – Details
The Starting Line – Direction
Explosions in the Sky – All Of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Rufio – The Comfort of Home
Brand New – Your Favourite Weapon
Favourite song of year?
Jimmy Eat World – If you Don’t Don’t
The Starting Line – Are you Alone
Frou Frou – Must be Dreaming
Musical Youth – Pass the Dutchie
I know some of these didn’t come out this year 
we just played them in the van a lot
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
I really enjoyed ‘The Word Alive’ who we recently toured with!
In 2011…
Favourite moment: First show of our album tour in Melbourne on its release date. It was probably my favourite set we’ve ever played!
In 2012…
Expect: A shit tonne of touring
Upcoming tour dates:
7th January – Annandale Hotel, Sydney AA w/ The Mission in Motion, Critics, Forever Ends Here
25th February – Soundwave Festival Brisbane AA – Sold Out
26th February – Soundwave Festival Sydney AA – Sold Out
2nd March – Soundwave Festival Melbourne AA – Sold Out
3rd March – Soundwave Festival Adelaide (Bonython Park) AA
5th March – Soundwave Festival Perth (Claremont Showgrounds) AA
12th March – Push Over Festival, Melbourne (Abbotsford Convent) AA
Dollarosa (Brisbane) – Vocalist Lachlan Dann
What were your top ten albums of the year?
In no particular order
Thrice – Major Minor
The Getaway Plan – Requim
Periphery – Icarus Lives EP
City And Colour – Little Hell
August Burns Red – Leveller
Awaken I Am – Resonance
Four Year Strong – In Some Way, Shape Or Form
Dream On, Dreamer – Heartbound
Architects – The Here and Now
And this was so good that we had to include it…
Skyrim – The soundtrack
Favourite song of year?
Thrice – Words in the water
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Sights and Sounds
In 2011…
Our favourite moment of 2011 was finishing up with writing our new release and being able to get back on the road in these last 2 months.
It has been an interesting year in general for music and music in Australia with venues closing down everywhere and Australian alternative acts finally getting the international exposure they deserve.
For us, 2011 was all about writing our new material and creating something special to hit back with. The last two months we have finally been able to try out the songs and have had a great reaction from crowds.
In 2012…
We kick things off in a big way for 2012, heading into the studio from the 1st of january to record our debut release with the new line up and new sound, Getting to work with the likes of JR Mcneely (Paramore, Anberlin, Underoath, VersaEmerge and MXPX), George Marino (AC/DC,Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay, The Strokes), Dan Mumford (Parkway Drive, A Day To Remember, Gallows) and our Producer Tyse Lee. We will be on the road a lot next year and hope to see everyone at a show!
A quick thank you and shout out to the following who have either helped us out or just been awesome this past year -
AltMusicHub, Monster Energy, DVNT Clothing, Electric Zombie, Mannequin republic Management, Truth Agency, Warrant Promotions, Blok Bookings, Loose Stones Studios, Awaken I Am, Caulfield, Villa Rise, Chasing Ghosts, Sights and Sounds, Ashes Of December, Hold Your Own, The Playbook, For This Cause, Goodnight Midnight, Guards of May, our awesome manager and everyone else we played with and everyone who came to one of our first few shows back…Thank you.
Have a safe holiday, a great new year and see you all in 2012!
Upcoming Tour Dates:
6th April – Easter Fest, Queens Park, Toowoomba QLD AA
Zebrahead (California, USA) – Matty Lewis (Guitarist/vocalist) & Ali Tabatabaee (Vocalist)
What were your top ten albums of the year?
Matty’s top 10 albums of 2011:
1. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
2. Aquabats’s – Hi five soup!
3. Dropkick Murphys – Going Out In Style
4. Rise Against – Endgame
5. Britney Spears – Femme Fatale (*she’s still hot)
6. Sum 41 – Screaming Bloody Murder
7. Vanilla Ice – WTF (*yes!!!!)
8. Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot III
9. Black tide – Post Mortem
10. Skindred – Union Black
Ali’s top ten albums of 2011:
In No Particular Order
1. Zebrahead – Get Nice!
2. Foo Fighters- Wasting Light
3. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part II
4. The Cool Kids -When Fish Ride Bicycles
5. Justin Bieber – Under the Mistletoe
6. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
7. New Found Glory – Radio Surgery
8. Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers
9. Young the Giant – Young the Giant
10. Tyler the Creator – Goblin
Favourite song of year?
Matty: Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning
Ali: Rebecca Black – Friday
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Matty: Jetty Boys
Ali: Failsafe
In 2012…
Matty: Well, you can expect tour, tour, tour, as well as us possibly working on another new record, mixed in between drinks, parties, and other shenanigans!
Ali: Zebrahead is going to be making babies, touring, and doing all other kinds of ill shit throughout 2012! Come chill with us.
Make sure to catch the band’s first Australian visit for Soundwave Festival 2012.
Australian Zebrahead fans make sure to join Zebrahead Movement – Australia
The Playbook (Melbourne) – Guitarist Brent Monkhorst
What were your top ten albums of the year?
1. The Wonder Years – Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing
2. Pianos Become The Teeth – The Lack Long After
3. The Story So Far – Under Soil And Dirt
4. Prawn – You Can Just Leave It All
5. Lydia – Paint It Golden
6. Transit – Listen And Forgive
7. Into It. Over It. – Proper
8. Crucial Dudes – 61 Penn
9. Man Overboard – Man Overboard
10. The Dangerous Summer – War Paint
Favourite song of year?
It’s a tie between “Came Out Swinging” by The Wonder Years and “I’ll Get By” by Pianos Become The Teeth. Both songs hit hard and are written perfectly.
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Crucial Dudes
In 2012…
At the moment we’re in the awkward transition between drummers haha. We were originally planning on doing a split EP but then Rudman decided to leave the band so we got held up on that and kept writing. We’re talking about either doing another EP or just go with a full length since we have more than enough new songs. We’re also doing a lot of touring. Playing both Plastic’s in January as well as hitting Sydney and Adelaide. We’ll be announcing more soon. We wanna play a house show in every state in 2012.
EP ‘All Jokes Aside’ is available for free download here.
Will Sell Out For Food Tour with Soapbox Summer & Some Time Soon
6th January – Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta NSW AA
7th January – SFX, Sydney NSW 18+
8th January – Liverpool PCYC, Liverpool NSW AA
14th January – Loophole Community Centre, Melbourne VIC AA
15th January – Fist2Face, Ringwood VIC AA
21st January – Fowlers Live, Adelaide SA AA
Luke Logemann – Head of A&R and Marketing at UNFD/ Manager of House Vs Hurricane & Dream on Dreamer/ Co-manager of The Getaway Plan
What were your top ten albums of the year?
1. Times of Grace – The Hymn of Broken Man
2. Transit – Listen & Forgive
3. The Bride – President Rd
4. Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math
5. Macho Distorto – To My Dead & Beloved
6. The Getaway Plan – Requiem
7. Drake – Take Care
8. Drive – Soundtrack
9. The Lonely Island – Turtleneck and Chain
10. Architects – The Here and Now
Favourite song of year?
Transit – “Long Lost Friends”
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
This year I discovered a tonne of acts – we signed Northlane and The Bride, who are ridiculously talented young bands who blew me away the first time I saw them (and every time since). I also back Macho Distorto hard – it’s a close friend who is making amazing electronic pop music. Listen to “Skulls” – http://machodistorto.bandcamp.com/. There is also Transit, who made me feel 19 again. We needed a new Get Up Kids because they haven’t released a good song since 1999.
In 2012…
from UNFD – new records from Silverstein, The Used and Say Anything from our international roster. New House Vs Hurricane album, Deez Nuts DVD, and The Amity Affliction completing worldwide domination with a new album. Plus tonnes more no doubt
Rebecca Reato – Deathproof PR
What were your top ten albums of the year?
In no particular order:
The Smith Street Band – No one gets lost anymore
Lo! – Look & Behold
La Dispute – Wildlife
Cerebral Ballzy – Cerebral Ballzy
Adalita – Adalita
Fucked Up – David comes to life
Sleepmakeswaves – …And so we destroyed everything
Tom Waits – Bad As Me
Harmony – Harmony
Mariachi El Bronx – Mariachi El Bronx II
Favourite song of year?
I Ain’t Safe – The Smith Street Band
Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
I’d always heard of Wil Wagner & The Smith Street Band, but they didn’t sound like something I would be into. My Deathproof partner Emily, sent me the album, and told me to listen and love, and that’s what happened! I’ve listened to “No One Gets Lost Anymore” so many times over the past few months, that it is perpetually stuck in my head. I need a new Smith Street Band release ASAP! Keep your ears out for these guys next year – we’ve got a feeling about them…
In 2012…
The most exciting 2012 release that I have heard already, is the new Pulled Apart By Horses record, which I can tell you is EXCELLENT. Much more solid and concise than the last record – it’s called TOUGH LOVE and its out in Australia Jan 27. Looking forward to hearing what The Gaslight Anthem come up with, same goes for Sparta – and isn’t it about time for The Bronx IV?
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