We continue our countdown to the best albums in 2018 and in this episode we announce two albums which share the title of the best one at The Little Lighthouse in the past year. I Am The Polish Army debut album My Old Man struck us with its great enthusiasm, musicianship, songwriting and playful performance. Harlan T. Bobo finally put out his record The History of Violence out on Goner, which just might be his greatest yet. Chip Kinman, along with the help of his son on guitar and his brother behind the knobs created a post-modern patchwork of an album with an astonishing amount of historical and rock references under the Ford Madox Ford moniker. Two ladies, Bat Fangs brought us a quick and powerful rock’n’roll album with hits going steady. Tony Molina on his Kill The Light is even more brief, but the brevity just makes you play the album over and over again. Bad Sports brought an excellent barrage of love punk rock tunes worthy of the greatest examples in the past. Patsy Gelb and her Rats compiled all those perfect singles from their inception on a single record, seriously contending Singles Going Steady as one of the strongest compilation records in the history of rock music. Schizophonics with their amps turned to the max gave us an album that floats like a perfect MC5 tribute. Mama Rosin teamed up with Mick Collins on a collection of cajun and zydeco chants. Ty Segall is as active as ever, but his main release this year entitled Freedom’s Goblin is one of the deepest he recorded yet. Krist Novoselic is back with Giants In The Trees. And that’s our top 10 this year! Looking back at that top 10, this was a really good year and we can only wish 2019 can be at least as good as this one.
Best Albums in 2018
01 I Am The Polish Army - My Old Man
01 Harlan T. Bobo - The History of Violence
02 Ford Madox Ford - This American Blues
03 Bat Fangs
04 Tony Molina - Kill The Light
05 Bad Sports - Constant Stimulation
06 Patsy’s Rats - Singles
07 The Schizophonics - Land Of The Living
08 Broadway Lafayette - Subway Zydeco
09 Ty Segall and The Freedom Band - Freedom's Goblin
10 Giants In The Trees
11 Cross Brothers ‎– Living On Sheepheads
12 Dream Machine - Breaking the Circle
13 Mia Dyson - If I Said Only So Far I Take It Back
14 Earthless - Black Heaven
15 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
16 Dommengang - Love Jail
17 Giant Sand - Return To The Valley of Rain
18 Anna Von Hausswolff - Dead Magic
19 David Nance Band - Peaced and Slightly Pulverized
20 Ruby Boots - Don't Talk About It
21 Tav Falco - Cabaret of Daggers
22 Ty Segall - Fudge Sandwich
23 Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys - Rot
24 Painted Doll
25 Kevin Gordon - Tilt And Shine
Cross Brothers – No White Mystery;
Giants In The Trees – Seed Song;
Ty Segall – Alta;
Broadway Lafayette – Angola Dreams;
Schizophonics – Put Your Weight On It;
Patsy’s Rats – More Than This;
Bad Sports – Constant Stimulation;
Tony Molina – Look Inside Your Mind_Losin’ Touch;
Bat Fangs – Fangs Out;
Ford Maddox Ford – Immediate Nico;
Harlan T. Bobo – Storied;
Harlan T. Bobo – Town;
Harlan T. Bobo – Paula;
I Am The Polish Army – You Don’t Know;
I Am The Polish Army – Setup;
I Am The Polish Army – My Old Man.
Today we have a brand new track from The Flesh Eaters, who reformed in their most notorious line up, featuring Chris D, Steve Berlin, DJ Bonebrake, John Doe, Bill Bateman and Dave Alvin. And it’s a cover of a lesser known Sonics tune! We also have the new tune from Emma DeCorsey of I Am The Polish Army from her new cassette Dream. Clara Engel from Toronto in Canada also has a new album A Shore Far From Any Prison. Clara will be playing live in Cleveland on December 7th at Euclid Tavern and on December 8th at The Whiskey Bar. Emma will be playing at Blue Arrow Records on November 10th at 3pm. Both of them are coming to Cleveland through a booking production of The Little Lighthouse. So that’s something new I’m doing and it would be appreciated if you all come and support the effort. Talking about Blue Arrow Records, new Jonathan Richman record is coming out today on that label and it’s called Sa. It features Jerry Harrison on keyboards, among others. We also introduce Maiorano from Berlin Germany, Michael Head from Liverpool, England and an older record that came on Ill In The Head Records by a Croatian band Gipps. On Numero, there is also a nice reissue compilation entitled Basement Beehive: The Girl Group Underground. We check it all out today.
Ty Segall is back with the new double LP, and it sounds like he surpassed his last year’s self titled record. Lots of good music on this one. Heron Oblivion have a new album out, which was recorded live in San Francisco last year. Thee Fine Lines from Springfield, MO and our local darlings, Archie and The Bunkers are also back. Also from Cleveland, we have the new band for David Petrovich, who Clevelanders know as a charismatic guy selling second hand junk in the basement of Beachland. The new band is called Black Tights. We also have them in our live in CLE block. We also introduce Robyn Gibson from UK who keeps cranking excellent home made covers of power pop hits. Another band that we hear here for the first time is The Cold Still from Canada. The biggest thing in today show is the new band that we play for the first time at the show. They come from Brooklyn and their name is I Am The Polish Army. Today’s show is dedicated to the South African trumpet player Hugh Masekela who passed away last week.