Hello and Welcome to The Daveousness awards. Today we will be honoring those musicians who have that extra special oomph of daveousity; the ones that speak to you and make you exclaim, this song is so DAVE! If you’re new to this blog (welcome!), Dave is synonymous with f%@kin awesome. And here is your host….DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Applause, laughter, cheering, underwear thrown at the stage). Dave arrives. The audience swoons. The awards begin.
Bad Religion wins the award for best albums in the years 1988-91.
1992: New Miserable Experience by The Gin Blossoms. The first album i ever got. A 90s classic, still worthy of lots of listens!
1993: Love Songs For The Retarded by The Queers. Really the album that brought The Queers from being a silly band that sounded like the Ramones to a silly band the sounded like the ramones and the beach boys playing together.
1994: Smash by The Offspring. 1994 was a great year for music. Weezer’s blue album, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy by Jawbreaker, Dookie by Green Day, Sixteen Stone by Bush just to name a few important albums. I pick the Offspring, because Smash just has so much energy and anger and catchiness.
1995: Dear You by Jawbreaker The Best album by one of the best punk bands, with some amazing lyrics. (Rancid’s And Out Come the Wolves and Melancholy and The Infinite Sadness from The Smashing Pumpkins get honorable mention.
1996: Ænima by Tool. Now, I’m not a huge Tool fan, and I’d really like to give this Weezer for Pinkerton or Sublime for the self-titled album, or Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy by The Refreshments or Cake for Fashion Nugget, but I’m going to go out of my comfort zone and pick Tool, because this album is just excellent on so many levels. The Title Track is probably one of the ten best songs ever recorded.
1997: Either/Or by Elliott Smith. There are so many albums to pick, but it’s hard to pick anything else besides Elliott Smith’s best album. Honorable mentions to Clumsy by Our Lady Peace, So Much For The Afterglow by Everclear, and Third Eye Blind’s Self-titled album.
1998: Darkest Days by Stabbing Westward. Once again, an insane amount of excellent albums, like Jets To Brazil”s Orange Rhyming Dictionary and The Queers’ Punk Rock Confidential, but Darkest Days is the most complete rendering of the pain, anxiety, anger, depression, hate, and ultimately nostalgia involved in a break up. The definitive breakup album.
1999: Straight Ahead–Pennywise An excellent year for Punk rock. It’s hard not to pick More Betterness by No Use For A Name, Going Nowhere Fast by The Satanic Surfers or Something To Write Home About by The Get Up Kids. But Pennywise wins with their best album. So political, so fast, so angry, and so fun to sing along to.
2000: Rancid (2000) by Rancid A difficult year to select, as there are a lot of good albums, but nothing truly great. The Art of Drowing by AFI, Pennybridge Pioneers by Millencolin and Left and Leaving by The Weakerthans are all very good. Rancid’s best album wins the award.
2001: Idle Will Kill by Osker. I’d like to pick 5 albums for this year. But Osker’s masterpiece wins. Other excellent albums are: From Here To Infirmary by Alkaline Trio, Rockin The Suburbs by Ben Folds, The Places You Have Come to Fear The Most by Dashboard Confessional, The Unraveling by Rise Against and Full Collapse by Thursday.
2002: Apathy and Exhaustion by the Lawrence Arms Maybe my favorite punk album of all time. Also, Perfecting loneliness by Jets To Brazil, Hard Rock Bottom by No Use For A Name, and Tell All Your Friends by Taking Back Sunday. All of these could win.
2003: Reconstruction Site by The Weakerthans. In a year full of excellent albums, this one stands out with a mix of folk, punk, and literary wit. Honorable mentions: Good Mourning by Alkaline Trio, Seven’s Travels by Atmosphere, Waking The Fallen by Avenged Sevenfold, The Greatest Story Ever Told by The Lawrence Arms, Forty Hour Train Back To Penn by The Movielife, Give Up by The Postal Service, Revolutions per Minute by Rise Against, When Broken is Easily Fixed by Silverstein.
2004: A Grand Don’t Come For Free by The Streets A British hip-hop concept album. Unbeatable. Other great albums from the year: The Curse by Atreyu, Dorkrockcorkrod by The Ergs, Forget What You Know by Midtown, Lock-Sport-Krock by Nikola Sarcevic, and mmhmmm by Relient K
2005: Bayside by Bayside. An easier year to pick. Honorable Mentions: Picaresque by The Decemberists, I Am The Avalanche by I Am The Avalanche.
2006: Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment by Bad Astronaut, An incredibly sad album, much of which is based on the suicide of the bands drummer while they were recording the album. Honorable Mentions: Acoustic by Bayside, The Great Burrito Extortion Case by Bowling For Soup, The Poison by Bullet For My Valentine, Get Evens by The Evens, and Oh! Calcutta! by The Lawrence Arms.
2007: Sleep is For The Week by Frank Turner and Four One Five Two by Sundowner . Impossible to choose between these two excellent albums. Honorable Mention: Upstairs/Downstairs by The Ergs.
Frank Turner:
And Sundowner:
2008: Love Ire and Song by Frank Turner. Frank Turner wins it all this time. Honorable Mentions: Shudder by Bayside, Suicide Season by Bring Me The Horizon, Etched In Blood by The Dreaming, and Last Stop: Crappy Town by Reggie and The Full Effect. (A very emotional song about a friend dying of cancer and dealing with grief).
2009: Can’t Maintain by Andrew Jackson Jihad. Honorable Mentions: Common Dreads by Enter Shikari, Fists Out of Sockets by The Riot Before, Common Existence by Thursday.
2010: The Upsides by The Wonder Years. This is the album that made pop-punk worthwhile again. Honorable Mentions: What Separates Me From You by A Day To Remember, Real Talk by Man Overboard. Tigers Jaw by Tigers Jaw, Twelve Song Program by Tony Sly.
2011: Avalanche United by I Am The Avalanche. Loud, Catchy, Angry, and full of excellent lyrics, this album deserves my album of the year. Honorable Mentions: Knife Man by Andrew Jackson Jihad, Killing Time by Bayside, Delusions by Elway, Sad Bear by Tony Sly, Suburbia, I Given You All And Now I’m Nothing by The Wonder Years.
Thank You Friends! This was fun!!!
