Joyce Manor > Joyce Meyer

[rating:8.5/10]

The loyal readers will likely notice no end of the year list for top albums of 2010. While some years are marked by too many albums to narrow the field and others have a clear cut group of favorites, 2010 was decidedly mediocre: a tons of albums that were good, but haven’t stuck with thepaintedman. Sure, a few bands made their mark with great releases in 2010 (The Prids, Cook & UNO, Awakening Mercury, Pigeon John, Telegraph Canyon), but as a whole the year was marked more by underwhelming efforts from great acts like Gorillaz. Perhaps thepaintedman will feel a bit more inspired to rock an end of the year list in a week or two, but at this point 2010 in music feels very “meh”.

On the other hand, 2011 seems to be off to a great start. Along with the promise of the forthcoming Social D rocker (which thepaintedman will receive in the mail today), the first two 2011 releases thepaintedman received in his mailbox have been gems, first Seryn’s This is Where We Are and now Joyce Manor’s self-titled debut LP. Channeling the angst and attitude of Dag Nasty and All, Joyce Manor remind us all that emo is not a dirty word and pop-punk doesn’t suck. Before the days of Dashboard Confessional and Simple Plan, emo was Sunny Day Real Estate, Jets to Brazil, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, and The Promise Ring. Before Bowling for Soup and Good Charlotte, pop-punk was Descendants, NoFX, and The Ramones. Not all too dissimilar from Midtown, Lanemeyer, Tuesday, and early Alkaline Trio, Joyce Manor are emo… Joyce Manor are pop-punk… Joyce Manor are punk rock… most of all, Joyce Manor are rock and roll!

Not to be confused with one of my least favorite “Christian” leaders, Joyce Meyer, this band of Jawbreaker fans has put together 10 awesome tracks, the opener “Orange Julius” and the closer “Constant Headache” perhaps the best of the bunch. This is going to undoubtedly be one of the best of 2011, a CD that has permanently permeated thepaintedman’s heavy rotation.

Don’t trust this guy… watch a live performance of another fave from the album, “Leather Jacket”, below:

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~ by thepaintedman on January 18, 2011.