Picking the “best” albums of any year is a duplicitous venture at best; a struggle to pare down—hopefully not laboriously round out—the list into something comprehensible/agreeable. Inevitably however, someone gets forgotten or shuffled out of a deserved place, people disagree, and we’re left wondering how we could have possibly chosen only 10 children, leaving the others to torment in purgatory, obscurity, or whatever the hell happens once these lists are done. Though, if you think about it, even these tabulations inevitably wind up suffering the same fate when we do it all over again twelve months later. At that, we provide you with a starting block for razing discussions over what are, in fact, the TOP 10 PUNK RECORDS OF 2010. Our choices:

10. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks (Matador)

This guy can do no wrong. He’s the best, and when you take your kids to see him in twenty years, he will still fucking rule. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. Make Do And Mend – End Measured Mile (Paper + Plastick)

Brutal but catchy, End Measured Mile marked the debut of Make Do And Mend as a band that wasn’t content to be tagged simply as a “for fans of”-band. This is post-hardcore with a unique twist, weaving tales of life of the road with massive guitars and guttural vocal performances, sounding simultaneously raw and huge. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8. The Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits (Red Scare)
This is a record that will be referenced a lot in the next few years, as the Menzingers become a punk rock force to be reckoned with, and we all remember this as the moment we realized it was possible. A varied collection of songs that never falls back into orgcore punk cliches, Chamberlain Waits is a record you’ll still be listening to in 2020. Bookmark this page, seriously. See if we’re right. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7. Teenanger – Give Me Pink (Telephone Explosion)

While garage rock kind of became the genre du jour for a little too long in Toronto this year, Teenager were the one band doing it right, and doing it before your Facebook feed was an endless itinerary of garage rock shows you were probably not going to actually attend. After a series of tape-only releases, Give Me Pink offered up a full-length taste of the band’s fuzzed-out, vintage-sounding proto-punk. And it was a fantastic fucking taste. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6. Everyone Everywhere – Everyone Everywhere (Tiny Engines)

If Braid were with us today, they’d be making albums like this. Which is not to say that Everyone Everywhere aren’t original; they are, and this self-titled full-length possesses a unique character that the band can proudly call their own. But they wear their mid-western math rock and early emo influences on their sleeve, and it rules. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5. Coliseum – House With A Curse (Temporary Residence)

A year ago, you wouldn’t have been likely to find Coliseum on a punk year-end list, but House With A Curse presents a very different Coliseum to the world. No longer a charged-up d-beat metal/hardcore outfit, Ryan Patterson and co. are a fucking post-punk wrecking crew, growing into a new sound without abandoning their aggressive roots. This record takes you on a very strange trip. And Wil Oldham is even there for the ride. Seriously. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4. The Flatliners – Cavalcade (Drive)

Remember when this band used to play ska? I don’t think they do, either. Cavalcade is equal parts heartbreaking letter from the road and celebration of a life spent pursuing your dreams, set to a powerful, fast, catchy-as-hell punk backdrop. Vocalist Chris Cresswell really steps his shit up here, pushing his voice into new, strange territories, inhabiting each of these songs with a distinct character and emotion that elevates Cavalcade above the fray. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3. Crime In Stereo – I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone (Bridge 9)

Remember when this band just sounded like Kid Dynamite? I don’t think they do, either. This record sounds like a post-In Utero Nirvana, raised on Long Island punk, recording with some alternate-universe Steve Albini who’s down with massive amounts of digital effects. This is powerfully inventive stuff, and the solid songs are backed by the best production you’ll hear all year. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Burning Love – Songs For Burning Lovers (Deranged)

When Cursed split in 2008, it sucked. The band had just released III, arguably their best album to date, and seemed in top live form as they began to tour the record. But after getting robbed at the end of a European tour (vocalist Chris Colohan called it “a bullet in the head”), the band went their separate ways. We got Burning Love out of it, though, so you know what? I’m cool with it. Colohan’s distinctive voice snakes between huge, brutal riffs that recall the best of bands like Zeke and Turbonegro, but so, so much darker. This will eat you alive. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

1. Hostage Calm – Hostage Calm (Run For Cover)

I kind of barfed when I heard this record. Fellow AUX scribe and general bestie Aaron Zorgel played me “Ballots / Stones”, a song that combines latin-flavoured instrumentation with the energy of hardcore and a biting lyrical condemnation of the passage of Proposition 8 in California. It’s a song that represents the strengths of this brilliant sophomore record perfectly; inventive arrangements and unexpected musical directions butt up against the straight ahead aggression of the band’s melodic hardcore roots, creating a record that explores the boundaries of punk without abandoning it altogether. I seriously hate how good this shit is.