The Body, The Blood, The Machine

Band: The Thermals

Released: 2006

I really blew it by not including The Body, The Blood, The Machine on my “Best of ’06” list. A concept album about a future dominated by conservative Christian fascists may sound a bit strident, and lyrics like “God told his son ‘it’s time to come home / I promise you won’t have to die all alone / I need you to pay for the sins I create’” wouldn’t necessarily dissuade someone from thinking otherwise. The Thermals, however, manage to pull it off with aplomb, by matching their words with energetic, careening melodies that create an added sense of urgency. It’s as though James Dobson is breathing right down the bands neck as they plow through “A Pillar of Salt,” or “Here’s Your Future.” TBTBTM may be a bit trad in its musical stylings, but the album makes for an exhilarating listening experience.

Top Ten of 2006

Like death and taxes, year-end best-of lists are inevitable. Here’s my contribution to this swirling vortex of opinion:

1. Return to Cookie Mountain (TV On the Radio) – Light years ahead of their debut, TVOR have created a sound that is nearly uncategorizable – try indie rock/hip-hop/doo-wop and that still doesn’t come close. Listen to the sad groan of “I Was a Lover” or the punkish stomp of “Wolf Like Me” and hear a band coming to terms with their place in the world.

2. I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (Yo La Tengo) – an impressive return to form that finds YLT once again mixing Velvet-inspired fuzz jams with AM Radio pop songs.

3. Pink (Boris) – Japanese noise bands like the Boredoms are some of the last artists I expect to embrace, but Boris broadens their thrash metal sound to include stoner rock, garage blues, and ambient textures, in turn creating a surprisingly engaging experience.

4. Serena-Maneesh (Serena-Maneesh) & Citrus (Asobi Seksu) – The two sides of the new shoegazer coin, with Serena-Maneesh going for the jam-based theatrics, while Asobi Seksu embrace their inner Blondie and churn out pop nuggets with oodles of guitar effects.

5. Nine Times the Same Song (Love Is All) – Post-punk grooves meet up with a cowbell-playing Swedish vocalist to create one of the more danceable albums of the year. Love Is All stir up an even more intense experience when seen in person.

6. Rather Ripped (Sonic Youth) – Sonic Youth head back to the economical Goo and Dirty for inspiration on Rather Ripped. If it were 1994, this album would be platinum.

7. Paper Television (The Blow) – The Blow make literate, catchy dance music that echoes both old-school Madonna and au courant glitchy indie pop. Very fun.

8. The Life Pursuit (Belle & Sebastian) – B&S smooth out some of the rough edges of Dear Catastrophe Waitress and fully embrace a fuller band sound for The Life Pursuit. The polar opposite of If You’re Feeling Sinister, but who wants another one of those ten years down the line?

9. Everything All the Time (Band of Horses) – The bastard child of Built to Spill and My Morning Jacket, and with “The Funeral,” Band of Horses created this year’s “BIC Lighter Moment” for indie rock.

10. Let’s Get Out of the Country (Camera Obscura) – Camera Obscura improves upon their prior work by upping the lushness and crafting fully realized compositions.