The Local List
North Texas' 10 best records of 2006
19.December.2006

2006 wasn’t so much the year that something huge happened for Dallas-area music; if anything, it was the year that many things didn’t. The year that Deep Ellum didn’t die. The year that The Baptist Generals’ new album didn’t come out. The year that Midlake didn’t become a breakout international sensation (keyboardist Eric Nichelson grudgingly confessed to us that the band has yet to see much in the way of cash from this year’s album and tours).

And more: 2006 was also the year The Theater Fire didn’t win over small, cult-like crowds of country-hungry Euros (though we still predict this’ll happen). The year Dallas hip-hop didn’t make any sort of national impact, in spite of what’s cooking down the street. The year JR’s identity wasn’t exposed. The year Denton college kids didn’t go to the shows--a trend we’ll talk more about in ’07 if crowds at Hailey’s and Rubber Gloves continue to decline.

That intro isn’t meant to cast a shadow over the immense creativity still pouring out of North Texas. Rather, it’s meant to magnify the fact that so much quality goes unnoticed not only outside of our borders but within them as well. Every year, a pessimistic local scenario pokes its head through year-end recaps, begging the usual “has the scene lost its touch?” questions, so we hope a list like this answers such questions with a big, loud “NO!”

Not to sound like the whiny bastards that we are, but this year's Local List was a bigger headache than any year we can recall. For starters, we cheated with our top pick(s), because it’s just not fair to compare arena-rock perfection to the decade’s most unique, ramshackle stew of sweetly stirred southern sounds (apples and orangutans...or another animal), and a few albums that would've made the cut any other year didn’t make the cut in ‘06. We had to limit ourselves to 10 releases that represent this region from start to finish, 10 releases that have at least some classic, “we’ll think the same thing next year” quality, 10 discs you can hand to an out-of-town pal and not receive a grimace in response, so we did the best we could. More year-end entries will round out the rest of the week, so please return.



10. C/S, Slowride (Deep Elm)

Know a teenager whose jones for exaggerated-angst MTV bands gets on your nerves? Replace their favorite CD with Slowride’s C/S and you may very well get that kid on the right track (if not at least the right haircut), as the local trio’s third full-length dumps the band’s previous post-emo attack into a barrel of mud and sawdust. This disc is heavier and gritter than anything Slowride’s done before--the kind of no-nonsense fist-pumper that is equal parts sensitive and destructive and will appeal to the pissed-off teen inside of every rock fan. From lost love to religion, from death to self-doubt, Slowride has a clever sentiment and a beefy, Foo Fighters (debut album)-appreciative series of riffs for you to bond with; “I’m on a slope/I keep slipping out from under oath,” D.H. Phillips croaks in a Stooges-style shaker-bop on “R.H,” though he also pauses to reflect in acoustic haunts like “30 East” (“What your eyes look like / under those shades / are you in love / are you in love”).

9. Red Monroe, Red Monroe (self-released)

The ’80s-Brit category had a resurgence around town this year, made apparent on a few contenders for this list, but Red Monroe stands above them by actually sounding significantly different. This year’s emo/’80s mainstream hodgepodge has choked acts like Mew and Arctic Monkeys, reducing them to all-too-brief dalliances with hype, so Red Monroe’s peculiar blend of Radiohead, Pink Floyd and Brit-punk already has a leg up by dropping a hefty pair. Thunderous drums, immodest dual-guitar lash-outs and the highly caffeinated gang-style shouts of Eric Steele make for a helluva first impression, and lucky for them, the songwriting chops on their self-titled debut outlast the impression, from the tribal-style repetition, shouts and momentum of “A Return To The Old Way Of Thinking” to the synth trickery that floats above the pulsing bass line and accusations of “Carolina Cigarette.”

8. Jubilee Dive, The Drams (New West)

Slobberbone’s Brent Best has found a great pal in Chad Stockslager, the organ/keyboard player and backing singer from Budapest One who fills the most noticeable spot in the Drams’ lineup. His playing leans towards eras of the Beatles and Big Star, which surely isn’t an accident on Best’s part, as the original ‘Bone’s growing obsession with power-pop is finally realized with the help of a new comrade on Jubilee Dive. Slobberbone’s takes on Tupelo and Replacements make room for the likes of Chris Bell on organ-charged odes to longevity--both in music and in life--such as “Hummalong” and “Shortsighted” (“it’s all or nothing / and nothing’s good / only when you’ve come to have more than you should”). The quintet’s result is a “debut” in the loosest sense, as the three remaining ‘Bones and the two Budapest hands have each spent roughly 10 years making music around town, but they definitely attack the disc like musicians reborn, a comeback album for five guys who never exactly went away. Jubilee Dive’s takes on the disappointments and survival of being a 30-something in North Texas are consistent, heartfelt and poetic; the disc compromises nothing and will leave snobs and amateurs alike in the same giddy, drunken haze that Best and co. rock their hearts out to recreate.

 

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