Top Thirsty Albums of 2007: 5-1

5. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
As I mentioned earlier in this list, Britt Daniel absolutely loves being cool. Throughout his band's consistently excellent career, Daniel has portrayed himself in a way that befits his sunglasses and button-down attire. This onomatopoeic record follows the minimalist and sometimes redundant pieces of Gimme Fiction with songs so jubilantly alive that they almost make Daniel lose his cool. At a mere 10 tracks, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is over way before you want it to be, but the songs are so good that it's not a bad idea to just start the album again once time expires. From the opening chords of "Don't Make Me a Target," Daniel's cool oozes out of the speakers and, through osmosis, you, the listener, become cool yourself. The growl of the vocal during the chorus shows that the Kill the Moonlight Daniel is back, replacing the lazy noise fills of Fiction with exciting guitar leads. I don't agree with the inclusion of "The Ghost of You Lingers," which is the only step back on the album. The slow, eerie piece detracts from the propulsive energy of the other songs, which is swiftly continued with "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb." Featuring horns and an excellent xylophone breakdown, the song shows that the band is exploring more space in the studio than they ever have before. After a few more tracks of groovy bass and catchy choruses, the album closes with the band's best closer ever, the inexplicably titled "Black Like Me." Daniel starts things off with just some acoustic accompaniment, but eventually the rest of the band joins in the fun with blasting harmonies and "Oh Yeah!"s. It's shorter than the rest of the band's other albums, but in the end, it's probably the best batch of songs they've ever put together.

Key Tracks: "Don't Make Me a Target," "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb," "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case," "Black Like Me"


4. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
This one is kinda hard, because I stole a leak of it before Thanksgiving of last year. I've known this album for what seems like forever, and I feel like what could possibly be said has already been said. However, it needs to be noted (once again) that this is an incredible departure lyrically for Kevin Barnes. Where previously he settled for the mundane musings of quirky storylines, here he focuses on the true depression of an honest heartbreak. This album provides the most profound juxtaposition of the year, as he sets this depressing tone of misplaced love with the most jubilant and celebratory music of his career. While previous work elicited offers from Outback and various cell-phone companies, this collection of songs could only be sought out by the specific groups of dance-obsessed depressives. The most notable example of this comes in the 12+ minute epic, "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," which reflects the exact pain of being rejected by one's beloved while still finding time to throw in the occasional funky bassline. Most of your probably forgot that hi even came out this year because it has so replaced previous perceptions of Of Montreal's philosophy, but if you haven't, then this is an excellent example of an enlightened viewpoint on life and heartbreak.

Key Tracks: "She's a Rejector," "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider," Labyrinthian Pomp," Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"


3. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
God, did I try to avoid this bandwagon. Anytime that NME claims a debut record of a band of teenagers to be one of the top five British albums ever, you should avoid that band like the Libertines (who apparently have the plague, as evidenced by Pete Doherty). However, with this second album, the Arctic Monkeys prove themselves to be one of the absolute best rock bands in the world. If you can start out an album with a song as hilarious and energetic as lead single "Brianstorm," and then have that song be the worst one on that record, then you know that you've done something right. It's almost impossible to pick a favorite song off of this record, because all of them are REALLY that good; however, that honor must go to the brutally realistic breakup anthem, "Do Me a Favour." Featuring the quote, "Do me a favor/and ask me to go away," and the closing line, "One last 'fuck off' would be too kind," the song shows that head Monkey has done a lot of growing up since his "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor" days. The real attribute to this album that is so intriguing, aside from the lyrics and songwriting ability, is that the guitarwork is consistently faster than the drumming. This adds an immediacy to the record which wasn't there on Whatever You Say I Am, That's Exactly What I'm Not. This is a band which feature nobody over 23, which is just plain scary when you think about where they'll go from here. It's like Keven Durant this season: The ceiling might as well be made out of clouds, because sky's the limit.

Key Tracks: "Do Me a Favour," "Balaclava," "505," "D is for Dangerous"


2. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Jens Lekman may just be Sweden's greatest pop export of all time. No, he didn't write "Dancing Queen" or "Lovefool," but the man may have created an album better than those two classics combined (just kidding. that's impossible). Lekman had hinted at greatness with his previous releases, but he has cemented his place at the vanguard of pop songcraft with this collection of gems. Lekman shows here his uncanny ability to -- in his secondary language -- create profundity out of ordinary situations. The key example here is "Your Arms Around Me," whose chorus sounds like a cliched love song, but the verses prove it to be the story of a bloody mess surrounding an avocado-slicing incident. Another prime example comes in "A Postcard to Nina," which brilliantly tells the true story of when Jens pretended to be the boyfriend of his lesbian friend in order to dispel her father's conservative ideas. From there, the album goes into stories of depressing nostalgia, underwhelming relationships, and drive-in Bingo games. As my brother declared about the Bonnie "Prince" Billy album this year, this album is full of songs to fall in love with. Every listen reveals witty lines which you didn't notice before (before writing this column, I listened to it for the 26th time and noticed lines in every song which I hadn't noticed before). Ladies out there, Jens is -- depressingly -- single and quite handsome. Don't blow this chance.

Key Tracks: "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo," "A Postcard to Nina," "It Was a Strange Time in My Life," "Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig"


1b. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Alright, so I cheated. Technically this didn't come out this year in physical form, so I got to include it while not making an honest ranking on it. For real though, this is the best Radiohead album since the mindblowing Kid A. It's a strange album, as its tracks were pretty much gathered from throwaways from tours over the past few years. However, all of these songs have been reworked into new versions which reflect the specific zone which the band is in right now. The album starts with "15 Step." At first it seems like the band is only getting more electronic; however, the song later proves that the band is going into a jazzier, more R & B sound which accents both Thom Yorke's shockingly soulful falsetto and the band's development into a more mature, more all-encompassing entity. From there the falsetto plays an even greater role, as on the beautiful "Nude" and the Beatles-esque "Faust Arp." It's strange hearing Thom Yorke speak in terms of real love, as he does on "House of Cards" and on "All I Need," but it makes sense in the context of this album. This is, like Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, a record which is not as long as it should be, but that is just a reflection on how great it is.

Key Tracks: "Reckoner," "Arpeggi/Weird Fishes," "15 Step," "Videotape"


1a. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Animal Collective were another band which I was not comfortable riding the bandwagon for. I had liked certain tracks off of their other albums, but hadn't truly fallen in love with their work until this record. Strawberry Jam is, if this is fair to say, much more of a sequel to Pet Sounds than Smile is. The harmonies present here are incredible, and the band shows that it's okay to make beautiful music without using too many live instruments. The sample-heavy group eschews the acoustic-folk sound which made Sung Tongs so great and confusing and replaces that with an electronic-based sound which proves Avey Tare and Panda Bear to be more intellectual than their previous records may imply. By that same token, the most notable change between this effort and previous works such as Feels is the developed sense of lyrical structure. No longer accepting, "We tigers/we tigers/woop!" as legitimate lyrics, Tare has adopted a more linear philosophy towards songwriting, while Panda Bear has further developed his ability to display his optimistic worldview through song. The opening track, "Peacebone,"finds Tare demonstrating quips such as "The other side of take-out is mildew on rice," which teaches that the most inspiring moments of life come from improvisation. Panda Bear, on the other hand, shows through the manic, "Chores," that life's small responsibilities can turn out to be its simple pleasures. The back-to-back power punch of "For Reverend Green" and "Fireworks" show that AnCo are capable of writing basic rock songs while infusing them with their uncanny ability to build tension. Strawberry Jam ends with the powerful pair of "Cuckoo Cuckoo" and "Derek," which are respectively some of most emotionally revealing work of Tare's and Panda Bear's careers. Now that the band finally reined in its brilliance, their next album should be kind of a big deal.

Key Tracks: "Peacebone," "Unsolved Mysteries," "Chores," "For Reverend Green," "Fireworks," ""Winter Wonder Land," "Cuckoo Cuckoo," "Derek"

I got a day or two behind, but get over it. Have a happy break.