Biggest Disappointments of 2008

I'll keep this short by saying I was looking forward to a few albums at the beginning of the year and I was let down. I will also mention that you just barely missed this list, Beck. I knew that doing an album with Danger Mouse wasn't going to be a great idea in the first place, so there you go.

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life



This album wasn't terrible by any means, but it was disappointing because of just how great Hidden World was. I guess I can't expect every album to live up to those standards, but the concept for The Chemistry of Common Life was just as good, if not better than that for Hidden World. Fucked Up is one of the best live hardcore bands I've seen, and I've seen more than my fair share. The songs off of this album sounded good live, but something about the album just didn't seem right.

Man Man - Rabbit Habits



Another instance of, "How could you do better than the last one?" In this case, it was Man Man's second album, Six Demon Bag. This album felt like you were falling down on your face over and over, whereas listening to Six Demon Bag was like listening to the soundtrack for an imaginary Tom Waits pirate-themed cartoon, which was awesome.

Love is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night



I don't know much about the What's Your Rupture? scene. I know that they put out Love is All records and they've put out a Fucked Up 12" and that's about it. From what I gather, all this retro 60s-cum-no wave stuff all sort of sounds the same nowadays and that's what was most disappointing about this Love is All album. I loved the high energy stuff from the last album and the slower stuff was mediocre. This whole album seems to be full of slower, more "vintage" sounding cuts.

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping



Kevin Barnes keeps getting crazier and putting out worse music, but his Outback Steakhouse money keeps him costumed and happy, so I guess that's alright. I guess if I wrote and toured on The Gay Parade, I'd be a little nutty too.

Crystal Castles



I guess I'm just disappointed that a band like this exists.

PS. image via the wonderful toothpaste for dinner.