Keepin' Time...

For some reason, a lot of my favorite albums have come out during the summer. I start to get antsy around March, wondering when release dates will be set for my favorite band's new records and whether or not artwork and track listings will be posted before school gets out. I don't know why, but it feels so much better to walk out of a record store with your arms full of CDs in July than it does in February. There's something about getting into your hot car with sunglasses and flip flops on and lovingly peeling the plastic off of the newest additions to your collection on that gets me every time. So here are five albums I'm really, really looking forward to jamming in a lawn chair with a cool drink in my hand this summer:

1.) Far – "At Night We Live"
One of my favorite ‘90s bands have reunited and recorded their first new material since 1998's superb "Water & Solutions." I have done everything in my power to avoid hearing anything off this record, and I hope I can hold out until it's actually in my hands. I would be excited for anything genius/madman/far front man Jonah Matranga released, but I am especially excited to hear him back where he really belongs, crooning beautifully over Shaun Lopez's jagged, distorted riffs.

2.) Nachtmystium – "Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2"
If you're a metal fan, this is going to be the must have album of the summer. "Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1" was one of my favorite albums of 2008, and I'm sure "Addicts" will be up there for 2010. I have not been able to avoid listening to a few songs off of this, and they are absolutely killer. More synths, more ambience, more distortion, more of Blake Judd's agonized wail, more everything. This record is going to absolutely slay.

3.) Norma Jean – "Meridional"
Are you a huge Norma Jean fan like me? Did you hate "The Anti-Mother" as much as I did? Well, worry not. The band has promised a return to form this time around, and if that means what I hope it does (insane, nonsensical riffs, less singing/more screaming, everything heavier and louder) then I'm excited. Hopefully lead throat Cory Brandan has realized he is, in fact, not in the Deftones, and no one wants to see or hear him play guitar. Cory, we just want to hear you scream your head off, man. You do it so well.

4.) Against Me! – "White Crosses"
Lastly and most importantly, the summer of 2010 marks the "Return of the Great American Rock Record." That's right, there are a couple albums coming out from American rock bands that actually have a shot at being classics, resonating with people and meaning something. Florida punks Against Me! have mellowed out a little bit and cranked out 10 songs that recall Heartbreakers-era Tom Petty and are going to stick in your head all through the warm months. Never has political dissatisfaction sounded so clean and catchy.
There is nothing Tom Gabel does better than make self righteous punk rock kids angry, and he has really outdone himself this time. Check out future hit single "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" and see if it melts those old Choking Victim patches off your jean jacket. Against Me! are back and poppier than ever, and they could really care less what you think about it.

5.) The Gaslight Anthem – "American Slang"
Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the future of Rock N' Roll. I honestly do not remember the last time I was so excited for an album to come out. I am going to go out on a limb and say that, in my personal opinion, the Gaslight Anthem is the most important band on the face of planet earth right now.  These Jersey punks are doing their best to inject some heart and soul back into the radio, and they've done a damn fine job so far. Their 2008 album "The '59 Sound" is the single greatest piece of music I have heard in the last five years, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life if "American Slang" is better. I might literally start dressing like a ‘50s greaser and try to get girls to go to drive-in movies with me in my Cadillac.
Brian Fallon and his band of tattooed, bedraggled everymen mean something in a time when musicians don't really stand for anything. Or sing about anything. Or bother to sit down with a guitar and write their own songs. He is our Springsteen. He is our Sam Cooke. Brian Fallon gives me hope that maybe music isn't dead, it's just been sleeping for a little while, waiting for him to come and wake it up. The Gaslight Anthem deserve to be the biggest band in the world. Hopefully, this summer they'll take the next step with "American Slang."