If the slew of local rock and pop albums released this year reflected any common denominator, it was a rich multitude of styles and approaches that had everything to do with diversity and imagination rather than any so-called "Boston sound." But then, we've found that to be true every year, and that's what makes this region's musical landscape so consistently exciting, surprising, and gratifying.
What follows are some of our favorite things we heard this year, presented in alphabetical order of artist. And in case you were wondering, now's the perfect time to return that heinous sweater from Aunt Gertrude and put the cash toward something considerably more useful: the albums on this list, or any others we missed.
Bang Camaro, "Bang Camaro" With more than a dozen lead singers (usually belting out a power ballad simultaneously), the Camaro easily lived up to its hype as, quite literally, the biggest band you could find - as deep as it was wide (apologies to the Who's "Join Together"). A stupendously fun, foolish debut album that boasted a handful of hair-metal anthems indexing everything from Dio to Night Ranger. File under: Headbangers having a ball in the heavy-metal parking lot.
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, "Diamonds in the Dark" A handsomely burnished, sassy, and savvy sophomore effort that showcased this Taunton native's comely way with a country-pop hook, line, and vocal slam-dunk sinker. A near-perfect distillation of Borges's torch-and-twang spirit.
Dennis Brennan, "Engagement" There aren't many musical idioms - rock, roots, pop, folk, country, or blues - this veteran singer-songwriter can't (or doesn't) handle with aplomb. As his latest long player affirmed, the Marlborough native is one of this region's musical treasures, and a peerless performer to boot. On a disc divided between live and studio tracks, Brennan's originals sat seamlessly alongside material written by the likes of Merle Haggard, Charlie Rich, and Woody Guthrie. No small feat, that.
Caspian, "The Four Trees" This Beverly outfit's all-instrumental debut album spoke volumes without saying a word. With this monumental, grandly eloquent follow-up to 2005's "You Are the Conductor" EP, Caspian made good on its vast promise by harnessing the staggering power and sweep of its epic, louder-than-God live performances.
The December Sound, "The December Sound" Finally, after issuing three EPs that floated gloriously in their own exotically drowsy, druggy ether, Boston's answer to Spiritualized and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club stayed in the studio long enough to give listeners more than the teasers that merely hinted at their potential.
Dinosaur Jr., "Beyond" Comeback albums can be a dubious affair, but Amherst band Dinosaur Jr.'s latest picked up not from the point of its sputtering, last-gasp '90s efforts, but rather 1988's "Bug." Singer-guitarist J Mascis's lifetime love of volume, excess, and woolly lead guitars was intact, as was the crucial and definitive Dino lineup of bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph.
Drug Rug, "Drug Rug" One of the best national releases of the year also happened to be local. A heady, hedonistic delight that channeled Carter Family 78s, garage-rock 45s, and the lo-fi four-track recordings of a million lonely indie kids strumming pretty, poisonous chords in bedrooms. Drug Rug's debut also felt a teensy bit voyeuristic (and thereby, thrilling) given the coupling of singer-songwriters Tommy Allen and Sarah Cronin - who traded songs on their first date and haven't stopped.
Girls Guns & Glory, "Pretty Little Wrecking Ball" This self-assured collection of Buddy Holly-meets-Buck Owens twang 'n' roll raveups offered further proof that the heart of country music lies not just in the red states of America, but also in the blue state of singer-songwriter Ward Hayden's soul.
Hallelujah the Hills, "Collective Psychosis Begone" As musically adventurous as it was lyrically abstract, with songs about faculty retirement speeches and grave-robbers, this debut album marked the arrival of a bright, bookish sextet with a jones for literature and literate, left-of-center popcraft.
The Incredible Casuals, "World Championship Songs" The Cape-dwelling Casuals have been a dizzyingly versatile band longer than most of us can remember, and here's the proof: Two dozen pop gems culled from more than 25 years of lineup shakeups, facial hair, and attire changes (the drummer went from favoring dungarees to dresses), and gleeful stylistic shifts (power pop to pub-rock to ska to surf-guitar wipeouts). The one constant is the casual excellence of the Casuals themselves, who've been playing the Wellfleet Beachcomber since the Reagan era.
Prime Movers, "Back in Line" So what if it took these guys a quarter-century to get around to recording and releasing their debut full-length? Based on the energy and ferocity these 40-something, garage-soul purveyors exhibited on stages around the city in 2007, the well-preserved Prime Movers may as well have bounded out of a time capsule circa their original '81-'87 heyday. If only all reunions bore such satisfying, fresh-sounding fruit.
Marissa Nadler, "Songs III: Bird on the Water" A thoroughly haunting - and haunted - collection of candle-lit dream-folk from a chanteuse whose gently fingerpicked acoustic guitar, delicate shiver of a voice, and sepia-toned melancholia felt solitary and as dust-caked ancient as a velvet sitting room. If the idea of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval covering Leonard Cohen sounds appealing (in fact, Nadler covers Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat" here), this disc is for you.
Tulsa, "I Was Submerged" The latest EP by this loud and languid outfit led by doleful singer-songwriter Carter Tanton sums up the band's ghostly wonder and widescreen worldview in the span of seven spectral songs. Darkly, deeply compelling stuff that drew favorable comparisons to similarly magical brooders like My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses. And did we mention that the EP is a reverb junkie's dream?
Wheat, "Everyday I Said a Prayer for Kathy And Made a One Inch Square" Four years after an overcooked major-label debut, heavy touring, and collective disillusionment seemingly killed off one of the most enigmatic Boston indie-rock bands in memory, Wheat returned from self-imposed exile to old, hazy form. "Everyday" was an improbable - and yes, enigmatic - gem about finding hope amid disillusionment. More resolutely experimental, independent, and quintessentially Wheat than ever.
Winterpills, "The Light Divides" This Northampton band followed up on the substantial promise of its 2005 debut with a collection of dusky, quietly rippling folk-pop that sounded at once intimate and universal. Winterpills' second offering was a prismatic jewel created from subtly lush, male-female harmonies, finely embroidered acoustic and electric instrumentation, and a supremely graceful sense of melodic drama.
