Words and Music by Saint Etienne… Streets ahead

2012 Top 100 LPs #84-81: Saint Etienne, Ty Segall, Philco Fiction, Howl Griff

Published on December 5th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams

Yes, it’s…Rocksucker’s Top 100 Albums of 2012!

Rocksucker has listened to a lot of albums this year, so just for fun we decided to slog back through them and confer varying degrees of merit on them based on our own spurious criteria, so as to count you from 100 right down to number 1. By dint of mathematics (specifically 4 x 25), top spot shall be revealed on Christmas day. Now, let’s get crackling, and then cracking…

84. Philco Fiction – Take It Personal

Botched adverb aside, this Oslo trio have a pretty ace way with glacial, ornate electronics, sweet melodies and lyrics like “How do you expect me to fit into this youthful dress? / My ass is bigger than your success / I want another dress”. Front lass Turid Solberg is dripping with seductively barmy/barmily seductive star quality, and if like us you’re rather partial to Mew’s Frengers album then you’re advised to investigate.

Click here to read Rocksucker’s full review of Take It Personal

Click here to read Rocksucker’s interview with Philco Fiction

83. Howl Griff – Fragile Diamond

Fuzzy psych-pop à la early Super Furry Animals and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci? Always welcome at Rocksucker HQ, as loathe as we are to make such lazy comparisons on account of one of them being Welsh. They’re lofty comparisons in our book, though, and Howl Griff frequently live up to them with belters like this…

Read Rocksucker’s full review of Fragile Diamond

Read Rocksucker’s interview with Howl Griff

82. Ty Segall – Twins

The Californian chap released three albums this year, and by combining the sludgy psych of the first (Hair, with White Fence) with the turbo-charged carnage of the second (Slaughterhouse) he pretty much nailed it on this latter effort. In the NME’s considered words, “Twins is an incredible album and one that makes complete sense in the context of now”. So, er, let’s see how monsters like this ‘un fare in the mysterious context of tomorrow…

Click here to read Rocksucker’s full review of Twins

81. Saint Etienne – Words and Music by Saint Etienne

While not as blissfully luxurious as 2005 predecessor Tales from Turnpike Lane, this is a warm, nostalgic and subtle look at how pop music can shape different stages of our lives. It’s hard to tell whether or not the sleek ’80s/early-’90s disco-pop on offer owes more to indulgence or restraint – given Turnpike‘s lavish Beach Boys-isms, it really could be either – but either way it’s another fine addition to Saint Etienne’s enviable body of work. This one wasn’t a single but arguably should have been…

Click here to read Rocksucker’s full review of Words and Music by Saint Etienne

Click here to read Rocksucker’s interview with Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne

Watch this space for a continuation of the countdown of Rocksucker’s Top 100 Albums of 2012! Bloody do it!

Artists: howl griff, philco fiction, saint etienne, ty segall

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.