#3 Album: Japandroids – Celebration Rock

This is what you should hear when you turn on the radio. This is what you should have on your roadtrip mixtape. This is what should soundtrack the montage to your youth. This, simply put, is a celebration.

The sophomore effort by the Canadian duo displays not so much of the emotional, introspective side of songwriting that their first album did. Rather, what is at the forefront of Celebration Rock is a sense of community and exuberance. The only thing you will want to do while listening to this record is shout the choruses to the heavens in the middle of a packed, sweaty room of your peers and forget about the fact that one day you might actually grow old. If you wanted to critique the record, you could say the songwriting is a bit simplistic and the lyrics can sometimes almost get “corny‰Û, but that truly misses the point of this album. It is pure energy and youthful abandon for its own sake, refusing to get caught up in any hint of cynicism.

So invested are Japandroids in this that they chose to begin and end the record with the sound of fireworks off in the distance, an idea which could go wrong in so many ways, but is pulled off with incredible results. This is noisy, memorable, life-affirming rock music at its absolute greatest, intended to be played loud, often, and in the most social of atmospheres. Celebration Rock is the most accurately titled album of 2012, and succeeds flawlessly in being the most intensely fun listen of the year.

By Richard Murphy

#3 Song: Tame Impala- “Elephant”

Tame Impala is known for their ’60s psychedelic, Revolver-era Beatles-like sound. Most of the songs on Lonerism have this slow, kaleidoscopic feel. And then there’s “Elephant.”

The Lonerism single has a driving tempo and a catchy, shuffling guitar riff. It’s an in-your-face kind of song, which really makes it stick out from an album full of tracks that are slow and dreamy, breaking out midway into a guitar jam followed by a spacey synthesizer solo. Right when it starts to get a little too far out there, Tame Impala grabs you back and returns to the shuffling guitar hook. The pure groove of “Elephant” sets it apart from the rest of the album, distinguishing itself as the most memorable song on Lonerism.

By Drew Sher