Reality Check by the French, London-based trio The Teenagers was perhaps the most rawly amusing release of 2008. The abundance of catchy synth and guitar riffs combined with a healthy dose of certainly explicit and potentially offensive lyrics makes for fun memories to say the least. The often tongue-in-cheek humor supplements the boisterous storytelling to produce an album full of 12 colorful vignettes.

Watch the music video for “Make it Happen” by The Teenagers

Shay

Antidotes by Foals is an incredible debut album that is unrelentingly beautiful, danceable indie rock at its finest. The quintet from Oxford have given us a real gem that includes tracks ranging from the punchy “Cassius” to the lofty “Big Big Love (Fig. 2)”. There is so much to Antidotes and even attempting to describe it in one paragraph doesn’t do it justice. Antidotes a remarkable debut effort and I can’t wait to hear what Foals do next.

Watch the music video for
“Cassius” by Foals

Shay

Mock Orange decided to treat us to a brand new album this year; and what a treat it is! These guys are musicians first and foremost. Their music has a cohesive harmony, it’s intricate and rich; and sounds absolutely gorgeous. (Give the first track a listen, just seconds in and you’ll see what I mean.) Captain Love manages to fill you with a relaxing, unbridled happiness and I think it’s fair to say that it is a glowing success.

Watch the the making of “Captain Love”

Jimi

While disappointing to some fans, Bloc Party’s third album, Intimacy is an amazing musical exploration — both internal and external. The first single off of Intimacy, “Mercury” was a curveball to many listeners but the second single, “Talons” brought thinks back to find a balance between expected and progressive. The English rockers ventured to new depths with Intimacy while doing a wonderful job not wandering too far. The album is a ‘grower’ for some. (It’s always hardest to talk about something when it’s your favorite)

Watch the music video for “Talons” by Bloc Party

Shay

This year AC/DC, the legendary rock band made a come-back with their new album called ‘Black Ice’. This is the first release in the past eight years from them, and it’s not just some “make a shitty album to get some money really fast” kind of thing, it’s seriously rocks! When I first heard the album, I felt like “man, it’s even better than Highway to Hell”, which is, in my opinion, the best AC/DC album to date – but I’m not sure anymore. Black Ice is perfect, there isn’t an idle moment on the record, every damn second rocks your head off, everything is in place. This is Rock ‘n’ Roll. I honestly want to change the hymn of my country to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Train’ (or any other song on the record)!

Psycho_Dad

God is an Astronaut’s self-titled, fourth release came out of the blue. Its release was announced in October ’08, it was released online in early November and its in-store release is slated for January ’09. So eventhough hardcopies hit in ’09 it qualifies as a MOST AWESOME RELEASES of 2008!! I’m still giving it time to settle in but just like the Irish post-rock band’s other releases, the God is an Astronaut album is amazing…simply brilliant!

Shay