To kick things off, I’d like to focus on the best five albums to have entered my iPod over the last five years.  These are discs that have never left regular rotation and carry my high recommendation.   

So, ladies and gentlemen (and I use the term VERY loosely)… let’s begin!

  
Black Lipstick - Sincerely, Black Lipstick
Who knew that the Velvet Underground was reincarnated in Texas?  I came across these guys myself a couple of years ago and this album has not left my iPod since the first listen. I tend to spin it at least once a week. This is great, bass-propelled garage rock with a serious VU vibe and choruses that will stick in your head like Velcro. There really aren't any bad songs on it, but if you need to listen to just one, choose from " B.O.B. F.O.S.S.E.", "Viva Max" or "Grandma Airplane". I've since gone back and collected older albums. None are as focused and good as this one.   

Pick this up if you like:  The Velvet Underground, the first album by The Strokes, hot chicks who play drums, whiskey and cigarettes in smoky clubs.

 

Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera
The Truckers hail from my adopted hometown of Athens, GA, and they have an immaculate record of great releases. This was the album that really put them on the national map and helped properly define a problem I’ve had all my life.  Patterson Hood, one of the three great songwriters in this band, defines it as “the duality of the Southern Thing”.  Listen to this album for great rock and roll from a decidedly southern perspective that isn’t made by racist redneck fucks.  Check out “Let There Be Rock”, “Get On The Plane” or “Zip City” to get a taste of this great album. 

Pick this up if you like:  Lynyrd Skynyrd, big guitars, rock clubs with sticky floors, the smell of stale beer.

 

Calexico – Feast of Wire
Holy shit are these guys great at creating a mood.  Two guys who got their start in Giant Sand branched out on their own and created a band that personifies the sound of the American southwest.  When you hear a Calexico album, you think of two-lane blacktop, tumbleweeds, boarded up storefronts and circling buzzards.  To top it off, this is a complete package.  The music sounds great but the lyrics really help sell it.  For example, check out “Not Even Stevie Nicks…” (a song about a man driving off a cliff), “Sunken Waltz” (a song about the never-ending search for a better life) or “Woven Birds” (a fable about a ghost town mission that suddenly comes back to life once the birds migrate back), and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

Pick this up if you like:  Iron and Wine, Califone, a bongload and good company.

Throttlerod - Nail
With a name like Throttlerod, you know you are in for some hard, hard rock music. I ran across this band when they released their first full length album, Marigold. It was the perfect blend of southern rock and Metallica-strength metal. On this, their follow-up, they blend in a healthy dose of aggro-noise and tone down the southern sound just enough to make the songs brutal, but still engaging and listenable. The lead-off track, "Prize Fighter", rides an extremely tight bass groove peppered with periodic blasts of overdriven guitar, before practically exploding into each chorus. "A Fly On The Fault Line", "Stand 'Em Up" and "Horse Paw" are also standouts. This one goes on the workout mix or just anytime you feel the urge to scream at the world.

Pick this up if you like:  Helmet, Metallica, something that will wrestle with all the other voices in your head.

 

The Kills – Keep On The Mean Side
Here’s the deal.  I’m not a big fan of the influx of two person bands that happened when The White Stripes hit the scene, but there are a couple of big exceptions to that.  The Kills are one of them.  An American woman and a man from the UK laid down one of the most blistering blues rock albums of the last decade.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, “This album makes me want to drink, fuck and fight… in no particular order.”  What more do I have to say?  It’s sexy, it’s confrontational and it’s brilliantly executed.  The duo share vocals on most tracks, and while I like Alison Mosshart’s vocals better, it’s probably because I think she’s an absolute babe.  Listen to her on “Wait” or “Cat Claw”.  Listen to her counterpart, Jamie Hince, on “Black Rooster” or “Fried My Little Brains”.  This album also contains one of my favorite songs EVER in “Monkey 23”, a slow, burning electric blues song about addiction and apology. 

Pick this up if you like:  Drinking, fucking, fighting, or all three.