2015: Year End Review by Steven Farkas

ThePunkSite.com’s Best Of 2015

It’s that time of year again where we sit back, eat food, drink beer and reminisce about the past year’s best and worst, highlights and lowlights. The albums that forced us to sing our hearts out, the shows that struck a chord and the moments reverberated through our collected consciousnesses. We here at ThePunkSite.com, like everyone does this time of year, and looked back at our listening habits for the past 365 days and determined these the albums that truly left an impact with us.

Without further ado, select a contributor and see their year in review for 2015:

Bobby Gorman | Cole Faulkner | Steven Farkas |  Dustin Blumhagen | Tom Liveyns

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2015: Year End Review by Steven Farkas

So it’s that time again to drag myself out of the sugar and alcohol induced stupor that is the holiday season and put together a short review of the best musical moments of 2015. Before I do that however, I hope you’ll indulge me for a second with a few sappy shout outs. First goes to thepunksite editor Bobby Gorman, who was kind (or desperate) enough to give me a shot as a contributor two and half(ish) years ago. I still feel giddy when the offer of an interview or an advance copy of a record for a band I’ve been a fan of for years hits my inbox, and that is all down to Bobby, so thanks man! Cole Faulkner is a bloody writing machine, sustaining our news feed and writing more reviews in a year than I will probably write in my lifetime. One of my resolutions for 2016 has simply to be more consistent with my news contributions to share the load! Special mention goes to Dustin Blumhagen, not only because his reviews are more sporadic (like mine), but are also some of the most thoughtful and insightful I’ve come across, but mostly because we made the slightly insane decision to jointly launch our own DIY record label (Dust45 Records) at the beginning of 2015 and without thepunksite, that definitely wouldn’t have been possible. Final shout goes to all the PR and bands that take the time to send stuff into us. I wish I had the time to deal with everything, but the sad reality is that isn’t the case. That said, thanks for your patience and understanding when I respond days or even weeks after initial contact is made! I will make every effort to be better at managing this in 2016!

So with that all out of the way, on to some of my highlights of 2015:

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Top Albums Of The Year

	The Underground Railroad to Candyland – The People Are Home – Recess Records This record was recommended to me by our own Bobby Gorman and as I’d not heard anything from them before I had no idea what to expect, but this record was an absolute revelation; jangly indie-punk at its best, richly melodic and just irreverent enough to make it fun, without being silly. If you only listen to one track from the LP, make it ALL OF THEM! #cometomyseminar
	Anti-Flag – American Spring – Spinefarm Records I have been spinning this record non-stop since the review copies hit us in May, for me this was both a step backward and step forward for the band.  Production was solid, similar to 2012’s The General Strike, yet it followed a cohesive narrative throughout which evoked the anger and dark humour of For Blood and Empire. Simply a stunning record from start to finish and if the band plays anywhere near you in 2016, treat yourself and go and see them.
	Second Youth – Glass Roof EP – Uncle M Music This three track EP makes the list for the quality of the title track alone, one of my favourites of the year. Imagine a Paul Westerberg fronted version of Bombshell Rocks at their pomp and you get a sense of what these guys have achieved. Their rumoured full length is one of my most anticipated releases for 2016.
	Danzig – Skeletons – AFM records Ok I’ll admit it, I am a fan of Glenn Danzig. Yes, he is an egomaniacal nutjob at times, and his recent musical output is patchy at best, but I am still a card carrying member of the fiend club and love Samhain and his early solo work. I had been looking forward to this covers LP for a long while, and although the production borders on terrible in places, I appreciate his slightly off-the-wall selection of songs and it also saw him don his legendary skull makeup for the first time since his days fronting The Misfits!
	The Legendary Shack Shakers – The Southern Surreal – Alternative Tentacles I found this band waaaay too late, but that doesn’t mean I love them any less than long-time fans. This, their first full length in 5 years is a stunning example of outlaw country punk rock.
	Warn the Duke – Ghost Be Gone – Self Released Fronted by former River City Rebel Dan McCool, this Brooklyn based quartet’s debut LP is a bit of surprise inclusion  (not least to me!) as it didn’t immediately resonate on the first couple of spins. But giving it time, it grew on me to the point that it was rivalling the new Anti-Flag for top spot on my playlist. Star and Chicago Lights are highlights.
	Graveyard Johnnys – Dead Transmission – Bomber Music I seriously loved the debut record from this Welsh rockabilly trio and their follow up may not have blown me away on first listen, but it’s still an impressive piece of work. Dialling down the rockabilly in places, this is just a fantastic rock n’roll record, personified by tracks like Little Witch and Because of You.

Great songs from less than great LP’s

Frank Turner – Josephine

I really wanted to love Positive Songs for Negative People, but I just didn’t.  There was one big, glowing highlight for me though;  in the shape of Josephine, a simply beautiful and tragic love song. Even better is the acoustic version on the deluxe edition of the LP.

Skinny Lister – Trouble of Oxford Street

You know when you hear a song and you think to yourself “how did I ever miss this band?” Well I got that feeling when I first heard this song from London folk-punk outfit Skinny Lister. The killer melody and harmonies got their hooks into me on first spin, but unfortunately the bar had been set so high that the rest of the record just didn’t measure up.

Smokey Bastard – Archipelago

Sounds a bit like Gogol Bordello, except that I don’t hate them (long story, don’t ask). The lead single from their Back to the Drawing Room LP is everything a folk-punk anthem should be: big, shouty, with sing along choruses, plenty of whoah-oh’s and fiddles and squeeze-boxes galore. I just wish I loved the rest of the record as much as this song (spoiler alert – I didn’t).

Other Favourite Moments from 2015  

Interviewing Pat Thetic from Anti-Flag was a massive highlight. One of the nicest guys I’ve met, he was happy to just talk shit with me for a good half hour, which probably made the resulting interview a bit scatterbrained, but that really was how the conversation went. A huge thank you to him and the band’s PR team for making that happen.

Having press access to the Tramlines Festival in Sheffield in July was awesome, as was doing a couple of impromptu interviews with DIY alt-rockers The Scaramange Six and rockabilly trio The Bearcats following their Tramlines Fringe shows. It’s also proof that people are cool – just ask for some time and generally speaking they will give it to you. Being slightly drunk may have also helped.

So I have no doubt missed a few things, but that’s a pretty good round-up of my highlights from last year. Now it’s time to ring in 2016 and look forward to another 12 months of being part of one the best punk rock communities out there (although I may be biased).

Boldog új évet / Happy New Year

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Steven Farkas is an Editor at ThePunkSite.com