ShockHound

Wait a minute, 2009 is over already? It seems like it just started — at least until you start looking back at all the killer records that came out this past year. For our second annual year-end “Best Of” poll, we asked ShockHound’s editorial staff and army of writers to pick their favorite records from 2009, and after several sleepless nights in smoked-filled rooms spent tallying their ballots, the results are finally in. Feast your eyes (and ears) on ShockHound’s Top 50 albums for 2009, starting with our Top 15…

1. Phoenix — Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix




A strange thing happened to Phoenix in 2009. After nearly 14 years together, the French synth-rock quartet got huge. First gaining notoriety in 2000 backing fellow countrymen (and Astralwerks labelmates) Air, this year found Phoenix graduating from touring US clubs to amphitheaters, making multiple TV appearances (from Saturday Night Live to The Tonight Show), receiving national modern rock radio airplay, garnering their first Grammy nomination (for Best Alternative Album), and landing on numerous Best of 2009 critics' polls...including number one overall on ShockHound's year-end list. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the band’s fourth full-length studio album, was their first effort recorded with outside assistance, bringing in Cassius' Philippe Zdar for co-production and mixing duties. The result was their most fully-realized effort to date, an album that expanded on the greatness of 2006's It's Never Been Like That, and at last completely shaking off any "Air wannabes" or "the French Strokes" labels. From the insanely infectious hooks of "Lisztomania" and "1901" to the sprawling Krautrock-inspired instrumental "Love Like A Sunset Pt.1," Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is an album you'll find yourself coming back to again and again.
— Randy Bookasta

2. Silversun Pickups — Swoon




The idea of a “swoon” conjures up images of boisterous southern preachers laying hands on lines of fainting devotees. While Silversun Pickups’ second full-length album Swoon isn’t quite a religious experience, per se, the LA-based indie rockers do manage to create miraculously catchy hooks out of a miasma of swirling sound on songs such as “There’s No Secrets This Year,” “It’s Nice to Know You Work Alone,” and their breakout hit “Panic Switch.” Layers of distortion cocoon Brian Aubert’s breathy, nasally vocals while Nikki Monninger propels the songs with her enchanting bass grooves, making for a captivating brand of shoegaze that’s well worth swooning over.
— Courtney Lear

3. The Dead Weather — Horehound





With the possible exception of Them Crooked Vultures, with whom they share some DNA (guitarist Dean Fertita previously played with Josh Homme in Queens of the Stone Age), the Dead Weather were alternative rock’s hottest “supergroup” of 2009. Headed up by Jack White of the White Stripes/Raconteurs and Alison Mosshart of the Kills, and abetted by Fertita and Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence, the Dead Weather went deep into the everglades on Horehound, a wild, swampy and creepily claustrophobic affair — equal parts Howlin’ Wolf and PJ Harvey — wherein you could hear White and Mosshart pushing each other to new heights of musical brilliance on tracks like "I Cut Like a Buffalo," "Treat Me Like Your Mother" and "Will There Be Enough Water?," albeit quite possibly at the expense of each other’s sanity.
— Dan Epstein

4. Manchester Orchestra — Mean Everything to Nothing





If you're one of those early Manchester Orchestra fans that wanted to keep these Atlanta indie rockers all to yourself, we're sorry — with the release of 2009's Mean Everything to Nothing, your secret is permanently out. While frontman Andy Hull created a cast of fictional characters to express himself on their 2006 debut I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, he takes a much more vulnerable and personal approach on this album, filling it with lyrics about religion, spirituality, and desperation that are as soul-shattering as they are soul-baring. Combined with punching drums, swirling guitars, infectious hooks, and artful piano arrangements, the raw power of Manchester Orchestra really shines through on Mean Everything. Bask in its glow.
— Courtney Lear

5. White Lies — To Lose My Life





Numerous bands have channeled Joy Division in the past decade, though none with the authenticity that White Lies bring to the table. As evidenced by their stunning debut To Lose My Life, White Lies frontman Harry McVeigh possesses the similarly stoic stance, baritone vocals and dark post-punk aura of the legendary Ian Curtis, while his band serves up haunting anthems that are underscored by moody synths and driving beats. Fittingly, the title track’s refrain, “Let’s grow old together/And die at the same time” could serve as the perfect bookend to the late Curtis’s adage that “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
— Tatiana Simonian

6. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart — The Pains of Being Pure At Heart





Listening to the wash of fuzzy chords and sweet-and-sour melodies on this New York group’s self-titled debut album feels a bit like finding an old NME sampler cassette in the back of your closet, rife with vintage cuts by Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine. But get past the simple nostalgic kick, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart go for the gut. Songs like “Everything With You” and “This Love Is Fucking Right” bristle with timeless desire and lust while the band’s stellar melodies put them just ahead of fellow noise-pop revivalists Vivian Girls, Times New Viking and Crystal Stilts.
— Aidin Vaziri

7. Grizzly Bear — Veckatimest





If Grizzly Bear didn’t already have enough pressure to top 2006’s much-revered Yellow House album, they most certainly must’ve felt it when Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood declared them his “most favorite band in the world” onstage in 2008. With Veckatimest, the Brooklyn-based outfit surpassed all expectations, crafting one of the most engrossing and ambitious albums released this year. Named after a small, uninhabited island off Cape Cod, Veckatimest is both experimental and conventional, layered with lush string arrangements, electronic flourishes, and gorgeous harmonies. There’s a lot to digest here — from the epic chamber pop of “Two Weeks” to the stripped-down subtleties of “Dory” — with each listening revealing more and more nuances, recalling such classics as Van Dyke Parks’ ‘60s masterpiece Song Cycle and Radiohead’s Kid A. How they manage to top this is anyone’s guess.
— Randy Bookasta

8. Them Crooked Vultures — Them Crooked Vultures





The surprise musical union of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme was the buzz of the late summer, especially after the super-trio’s afterhours August debut at Chicago’s Metro managed to upstage the entire Lollapalooza festival. While there was probably no way for a band featuring the leader of the Queens of the Stone Age and ex-members of Led Zeppelin and Nirvana to truly live up to expectations, the debut album from Them Crooked Vultures was pretty nifty in its own right, reverberating with thickly textured, psychedelia-tinged jams that were as dark and twisted as they were heavy. With Homme’s distinctively laconic vocals and snarling guitars leading the way, Them Crooked Vultures did sound a lot like a new QOTSA album; still, it was easily the best, most focused and least pretentious QOTSA record since 2002’s Songs for the Deaf, and that’s gotta count for something.
— Dan Epstein

9. Band of Skulls — Baby Darling Doll Face Honey





Seemingly out of nowhere, Band of Skulls — an explosive power trio from Southhampton, UK — emerged in 2009 with one of this year’s most impressive debut albums, a series of scorching US live dates, and a prime spot on the coveted Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack. ShockHound was fortunate enough to witness their meteoric rise from the get-go: after hearing a demo track of their striking, fuzzed-out glory on “I Know What I Am,” we knew we had to hear more, and arranged to have the band perform their second-ever show at our headquarters for a Shock Sessions taping. (We dug ‘em so much we brought them back several months later for another taping to break in our new recording/film studio.) Combining elements of classic rock, alt rock, blues, southern rock, and shades of Kings of Leon, Radiohead, and the White Stripes, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey captures this powerful trio with the inappropriate band name (no, they’re not goth or death metal in the slightest) in their earliest, rawest form. Whereas most bands produce their first album after months of practicing and playing gigs, Band of Skulls recorded their debut first, then hit the road to hone their craft. Perhaps the best thing about Baby Doll Face Honey is the promise it represents. As their recent commanding live performances suggest, this is a band that just keeps getting stronger and stronger, and clearly the best is yet to come.
— Randy Bookasta

10. Gallows — Grey Britain





Just when it seemed as if punk rock had totally run out of creative gas, Gallows blasted some much-needed life into its battered and safety-pinned corpse with the scarifying Grey Britain. Like the Clash’s London Calling or the Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come before it, the British band’s masterful second album forcibly redefined the parameters of punk music — in this case, employing Black Sabbath-heavy guitars and a full orchestra — while losing none of the anger or frustration that galvanized the original British “Class of ‘76.” If anything, the apocalyptic rage of take-no-prisoners tracks like “London Is the Reason,” “I Dread the Night” and the epic closer “Crucifucks” take the “We mean it, maaan!” conviction of the Sex Pistols to such an intense level, you half expect to hear frontman Frank Carter’s head to explode from the pressure.
— Dan Epstein

11. A Place To Bury Strangers — Exploding Head





Before Exploding Head, Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers had always been one of “those” bands — the kind you’d see opening for Brian Jonestown Massacre and other heavy-hitting psych/space rockers, while never quite ascending to the headlining throne themselves. Oliver Ackerman, Jay Space and Jono MOFO changed that this year when they signed to Mute and unleashed the noise monster that is Exploding Head. Cuts like “In Your Heart” open with a brutal urgency that could easily rival the Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine. “Slipping Away” and “Dead Beat” continue the psych assault with an overdose of reverb and pointed lyrics such as, “What, what the fuck?/Don’t play with my heart.” Break out that bottle of Irish whiskey and crank the volume to 11; you won’t be sorry…although you might go deaf.
— Tatiana Simonian

12. Animal Collective — Merriweather Post Pavilion





This loosely knit art-rock collective from Baltimore had happily existed underneath the radar for almost nine years and seven full-length albums before this album all but galvanized the indie music intelligentsia. Overflowing with dreamy, reverb-soaked melodies over deep electronic dub rumblings, Merriweather Post Pavilion eschewed traditional song structures for something between underground Detroit house legend Moodymann and the freeform improvisation of the Grateful Dead. But it was a rich, childlike euphoria (best evidenced on songs like “My Girls” and “Brother Sport”) that made MPP such an easy album to love. Replacing indie rock’s penchant for snide cynicism with genuine, wide-eyed optimism, Animal Collective’s success in 2009 proves that the new generation does indeed remember laughter.
— Scott T. Sterling

13. The xx – xx





The eponymous debut from this UK outfit was quietly released in August, but it didn’t take long for the album to start making a lot of noise. Crafting minimal, atmospheric songs thick with longing and desire, the xx captured the emotional nakedness of the Smiths with twanging guitars reminiscent of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” But it’s the husky, heartbroken vocals of Romy Madley Coft that is the band’s not-so-secret weapon. Her world-weary delivery (especially on songs like “Shelter”) makes loneliness sound like the most beautiful place in the world. Though it clocks in at less than 40 minutes, xx is not only one of the finest albums of 2009, but also the most necessary break-up record since Beck’s Sea Change. — Scott T. Sterling

14. Wild Beasts — Two Dancers





Yodeling, chanting, ear-splitting falsettos, double drummers and songs that sound like they were composed around the fire pit of a haunted forest: You’ll find all this and more on the second album from this dapper if slightly deranged British band, a shimmering, exquisitely produced collection of songs highlighted by leftfield UK hits “Hooting and Howling” and “All The Kings Men.” On Two Dancers, Wild Beasts exhibit Radiohead’s epic ambition, Muse’s blinding lack of fear and the kind of operatic ornamentation not heard since Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

— Aidin Vaziri

15. Slayer — World Painted Blood





Some things never change, and thank the Devil for that. Slayer's trademark aggression is the fiercest it's been this decade on World Painted Blood, easily their most tenacious album since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. From the death-march drums igniting the title track's battle cry to the final screams and solos of "Not of This God," World Painted Blood is every priest and parent's nightmare — a hellish heavy metal epic that's as dangerous as it is alluring. "Beauty Through Order" could've easily been penned by Hannibal Lecter, while Countess Bathory, mass murderers, snuff films and other family-friendly fare get their lyrical and musical due. In an era of supposed "Change" and "Hope," Slayer stay the same… and metal (and the world in general) is all the better for it.
— Rick Florino

And while the following 35 albums didn’t get enough votes to make the cut for our Top 15, they all had their ardent supporters — and are all well worth a spin…

16. The Raveonettes — In And Out of Control
17. The New York Dolls — 'Cause I Sez So
18. J Dilla — Jay Stay Paid
19. Mastodon — Crack the Skye
20. Florence and the Machine — Lungs
21. Baroness — Blue Record
22. The Avett Brothers — I And Love And You
23. Passion Pit — Manners
24. Chuck Ragan — Gold Country
25. Brand New — Daisy
26. Yeah Yeah Yeahs — It’s Blitz
27. The Cribs — Ignore the Ignorant
28. Jay-Z — The Blueprint 3
29. And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead — Century Of Self
30. Converge — Axe to Fall
31. Mew — No More Stories...
32. Metric — Fantasies
33. The Horrors — Primary Colours
34. Julian Casablancas — Phrazes for the Young
35. Lady Gaga — The Fame Monster
36. The Decemberists — The Hazards of Love
37. Marilyn Manson — The High End of Low
38. Major Lazer — Guns Don’t Kill People...Lazers Do
39. Wolfmother — Cosmic Egg
40. Muse — The Resistance
41. Portugal. The Man — The Satanic Satanist
42. Jay Reatard — Watch Me Fall
43. Raekwon — Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
44. Crippled Black Phoenix — 200 Tons of Bad Luck
45. Lucero — 1372 Overton Park
46. The Heavy — The House That Dirt Built
47. La Roux — La Roux
48. Kid Cudi — Man on the Moon: End of the Day
49. Various Artists — The New Moon Soundtrack
50. Behemoth — Evangelion

Did our voters miss any of your favorite albums from 2009? Let us know about it in the comments section below!

And CLICK HERE to check out the individual ballots from our poll.

Related Artists Phoenix Silversun Pickups