The best.
Wrestling Moves was something of a sleeper hit for me. I had listened to Native's EP We Delete; Erase a little bit, but not enough to really know their songs all that sell. So when Sargent House (who is far and away my favorite record label) released this album I didn't really jump on board. I downloaded it but didn't play it too much. Eventually I started digging the songs when they came on shuffle and found later Ponyboy to actually be one of my favorite songs of the year. This record really came out of nowhere and now I'm in love with it. The group's style is fast and aggressive at times and more atmospheric at others. Musically, the band is incredibly proficient. The duel guitarists are able to work together really well and make the lines interweave and cross over each other while the bass pulls a lot of it together without being notice. The drumming is excellent as well, the beats are never standard and are able to mesh perfectly with the music despite how crazy it can be. Even in Pitchfork's horrible review of the album (they gave it a 3.7 because Pitchfork likes shit music) they remarked on how Nick's drumming was the saving grace of the record. But one of the main things people notice about Native is singer/bassist Bobby's vocal work. It's harsh, sparse, and a lyrically intriguing. The sound is somewhere between singing and a Keith Buckley-esque yell, almost a Bear Vs. Shark sound but less melodic. The only downside to this album is it feels rather samey, a lot of the songs are difficult to distinguish from each other but I still consider it one of the best releases of 2010.
New Protest The Hero, need I say more? Well yeah, I probably should, but this album is almost as new to me as it is to you. I'm only halfway through it right now but it sounds awesome so far, like an extension on Fortress, which is a very good thing. Check it out if you know what's good for you.
Bayside have been one of consistently good pop-punk bands out there over the course of the last decade. All of their releases thus far have been emotionally charged, cleverly written, and catchy-as-hell and this newest album is no different. The record feels like a combination of their last album, Shudder and their first, Sirens And Condolences. It's interesting to hear as they seem to alternate styles from song to song. A harder, edgier sound from early Bayside material then a song of Shudder-esque material followed by another call to the past. Many tunes combine both of these as well as styles from their whole catalog. Bayside is a band that doesn't try and be horribly different from album to album, they know what they're good at and they stick to that. That being said, the material is some of the widest-spanning music under the "pop-punk" label. Though I've only listened to it a few times, Killing Time may be one of my favorite Bayside records as it's more comprehensive than progressive. Hopefully the rest of 2011 will live up to the bar that his album has set.