ALBUMS (descending points)
1. Detroit Cobras - Tied & True
2. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
3. The Donnas - Bitchin'
4. Juliette and the Licks - Four on the Floor
5. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
6. Theo and the Skyscrapers - So Many Ways to Die
7. Tegan & Sara - The Con
8. Against Me! - New Wave
9. Jesu - Conqueror
10. The Comas - Spells

TRACKS
1. Chunky Pam - Dirrrty Jerzy
2. Amy Winehouse - Rehab
3. Deborah Harry - Two Times Blue
4. The Comas - Come My Sunshine
5. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Weapon of Choice
6. Pink - U + Ur Hand
7. Bjork - Earth Intruders
8. Feist - 1234
9. The Blakes - Don't Bother Me
10. Cansei De Ser Sexy - Pretend We're Dead

REISSUES
1. Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On
2. Operation Ivy - Energy
3. NWA - Straight Outta Compton
4. The Shangri-Las - Leader of the Pack
5. Green Day - Kerplunk

ARTISTS
1. Earth (as in the planet)
2. YouTubers
3. Judd Apatow
4. Amy Winehouse
5. Harry Potter

COMMENTS
Some notes on the first 8 albums on my list:

Detroit Cobras / Amy Winehouse
The Detroit Cobras were Amy Winehouse before Amy Winehouse was Amy Winehouse. The damage and coolness both acts embody are touchstone emotions of R&B-based rock n roll. I'm pretty certain Tied & True is the Cobras' best album so far because the songs hurt as much as singer Rachel Nagy does. Whatever that chick's issues are, when she sings Garnett Mimms' "As Long As I Have You," she ain't simply spinning a yarn. Neither was Winehouse on Back to Black. No amount of studio wizardry can replace the pull of a bona fide headcase/heartcase with a throat full of smoke and a will to dispel the ensuing clouds. If I endorse a fucked-up chick purging her soul, it's not because I'm celebrating her fucked-up-ness (bo-ring), but because I'm celebrating the healing process that the music enables. Sometimes it sounds like Babes in Toyland, sometimes it sounds like the Dap Kings.

The Donnas
I fell in love with them during their sugar-rush Ramones years, the three-chord slumber-party pillow-fight years. Finally, the Donnas nailed the big rock sound they were aiming for all that time. To hear them grow from album to album and become the band they knew they were filled me with geeky fangirl pride. Kelly Johnson, Sandy West, watch over these four rock stars.

Juliette and the Licks
Her emotions ranged from disgusted (society's apathy toward a murdered hooker) to manically fluttered (her own raging hormones). She loves rock n roll's voodoo powers; she's got the stars in her eyes to prove it. And Lewis wants nothing more than to share music's magic with the world. If it sounds stupid or contrived, you're one of the walking dead who need her gift the most.

Dinosaur Jr
The gods of Eeyore punk. Still perfect for awkwardly thrashing in your pajamas. Alone.

Theo and the Skyscrapers
There's a vein of old New York that runs through this album—the good ol razzle dazzle. It's obviously dark and sinister and all that, but something shines so bright in these songs. There's a tragic-gorgeous factor that Theo's voice exudes. I can hear Liza all over it. Blesh your heartsh.

Tegan and Sara
The album/band of which I read the most misunderstood reviews. Spin referred to the title track as "bright shiny bliss." (Actually, it's one of the most depressing songs of the year.) In Rolling Stone, Christgau stated: "As lesbians who never reference their oppression or even their sexuality, Tegan and Sara don't have men to lash out at, put up with or gripe about. This may be why their uncommonly detailed love songs are so short on drama." (#1 You're wrong. Trust me. #2 Drama is all they have. And it works against them at times.) In short, the album on a whole is emotionally decimating, fucking miserable, and stubbornly committed to masochism. I love it.

Against Me
Outrageously excellent hard rock that it took me a long time to love. After the first listen to New Wave, there was no way in hell it was going to end up on my list. I couldn't figure out if what I was hearing was a hardy call-to-arms or a bilious denouncement of anyone not fortunate enough to be singer Tom Gabel. Does this guy want comrades or is he on a pedestal and pissing in our hair? I was sincerely disgusted at the idea that the latter was the case. All I could hear was blatant evangelism from a self-important guy who fancied himself an island of moral (i.e. punk rock) consciousness. I understood New Wave's white-hot cry for progress, but people make progress in their own ways. Some kid writing bad poetry in her bedroom in the middle of Buttsville, USA is doing all she can to make progress happen in her world. Don't get pissy because she's not ready to join you in your version of the promised land. She'll get there when she's good and ready. And don't think she's gonna take your orders once she arrives.

Thank goodness the music was as rugged and spiffy (two qualities that are basically antonyms, but the band brought them together, hence the excellence) as it was because it kept me listening. The more I listened the more I heard the voice of an aggravated punk who just feels lost and kinda spooked. I heard the same trashing of the mainstream that I've been hearing for years, but it was an impetus for change, not an excuse to talk shit. The title track is still the most evangelical secular piece of rock n roll I've heard in I don't know how long, and it irks me slightly. But it's hard to argue against its encouraging rebel yell. When Gabel cries "Are you restless like me?" on "Up the Cuts," I don't have to second-guess my answer.