Welcome back! The next member of Team Rock Sins to offer up their 2014 End Of Year Awards is our man in the midlands Will Stevenson. Over to you Will….
1) Album of the year Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Trasngender Dysphoria Blues is a modern classic of a punk album. The lyrics are ferocious, painful and enlightening, the instrumentation raw, skillfully constructed and perfectly played. Unlike many Against Me! releases, this is an album that cannot be separated from its context, but this is not at all detrimental. In fact, much like many early punk releases, learning about Laura Jane Grace’s incredible story simply enhances an already incredibly rich experience.
2) Song of the year – Architects – C.A.N.C.E.R
This award went down to the wire, but eventually I decided it had to be a song from Architects‘ latest full length. Despite narrowly missing out on my album of the year slot, Lost Forever // Lost Together contains so many absoloute ragers and this is quite possibly my favourite. Sam Carter’s ferocious shouts are backed by one of the heaviest guitar riffs of the year, and this combined with the ultra-personal lyrics create one of the best songs of the year.
3) Video of the year – McBusted – Get Over It
This year I have watched very few music videos. Among those I have seen, the ones firmly rooted in the rock world were fairly bland, with none of them really sparking my imagination. However, one band that walk the line between pop and rock delicately are the newly reformed supergroup, McBusted. The video for their last chart topper, Get Over It – co written with All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth, features blood, boobs and a gorilla. It’s over the top, crazy fun in the vein of Bowling For Soup and this video is undeniably cool, regardless of your thoughts on the band.
4) Gig of the year: Patent Pending @ Nottingham Rock City Basement
Patent Pending are the best live band you’ve never heard of. Their second UK run of the year this October was nothing short of incredible. The pop punkers have a crazy amount of on stage presence, charisma and energy as well as the singalong tunes to back it up,
5) Festival performance of the year: Baby Godzilla @ Hit The Deck Nottingham
Baby Godzilla always perform live and their appearance at Nottingham’s premier festival was no difference. With the entire band including the drummer all diving into the crowd throughout their set, guitars being thrown around and a generally insane atmosphere, Baby Godzilla are a mind bending live experience.
6) Most disappointing album of the year Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways
After 2012’s excellent Wasting Light, I expected big things from the Foo Fighters. However Sonic Highways is about as removed from that albums garage vibe as possible. This album is clearly purpose bult for stadiums, but doesn’t actually contain any memorable tunes. After listening to the album thrice through in the vain hope I wasn’t hearing it right, I still struggled to recall a single riff, chorus or refrain. Zzz.
7) Band of the year – Behemoth
After fighting off cancer and prison time, Nergal and crew have bounced back in incredible fashion. After releasing one of the very best albums this year, destroying Downloads’ third stage and conquering the rest of the UK on their recent headline tour, what’s left for Behemoth? The blackened death pioneers are on an up and look set to continue their momentum into next year and beyond.
Anyone who wants to chat to Will about his choices in the Rock Sins 2014 end of year awards can find him on Twitter at @willreviews. In the mean time, please check out the selections in Rock Sins 2014 end of year awards from some of the other writers:
Sam D’s 2014 End Of Year Awards (please click here)
Fran’s 2014 End Of Year Awards (please click here)
James W’s 2014 End Of Year Awards (please click here)
Katie’s 2014 End Of Year Awards (please click here)
James Halstead’s End Of Year Awards (please click here)
