On My Playlist: Top 5 albums of 2018

The year 2018 has been a bumper one for music, with a couple of bands coming to the fore with their energetic, boundary-pushing melodies and harmonies. A few bands have made a stellar comeback, tweaking their sounds and, in the end, it worked for them in the greater scheme of things. Other bands have delivered on their signature sound in significant ways.
Honourable Mentions: Of Mice and Men – Defy; State Champs – Living Proof; Hands Like Houses – Anon.; Belmont – Belmont.
5. The Story So Far – Proper Dose
The Story So Far has long been one of pop-punk’s biggest drawcards. While their music has always delivered on each album, their latest effort, ‘Proper Dose’ takes on a different angle with tighter songwriting and slower, more mature songs. The tracks vary from slower ballad-type numbers to more upfront pop-punk ones, which, in essence, exudes the band’s new-found maturity. Overall, it is a majestic sonic experience with tracks like ‘Take Me As You Please’, ‘Proper Dose’, ‘Let It Go’ and ‘Upside Down’ standing out. There is a sense of relaxed calmness to this album that the previous ones did not have. This direction is something refreshing for the band that has proved their ability to write quality music.
4. Secrets – Secrets
Secrets has had a spectacular year and released their self-titled fourth album, Secrets, to critical acclaim in March this year. Even after losing their guitarist and Michael Sherman this year, the band has continued to push boundaries with this album. It focuses on personal life experiences like broken relationships, the death of family members, family issues and a list of other topics. The songs are catchy without losing their punch and speak to the soul. Richard Rogers and Wade Walters work perfectly together on this record, with clean and unclean vocals working superbly. My favourite tracks on this album are ‘Fourteen’, ‘Sixteen’, ‘Incredible’and ‘Lost Cause’.
3. Trash Boat – Crown Shyness
If you needed an album to get you to feel every fibre of your being, then UK pop-punk band, Trash Boat, will do the job nicely.
Trash Boat’s sophomore album is filled with emotion, heart, honesty and bucket-loads of talent. The group went for a grittier approach to suit the sometimes depressing, but honest, lyrical content that focuses on depression, sadness and the realities of mental illness. There are a few lighter points on the album too and a general ‘it will get better’ vibe is what comes out strongly on this album. Trash Punk combines traditional pop-punk with elements of punk and a bit of hardcore to create a fantastic sound that any fan should appreciate. They really stepped up their game this year. My favourite tracks are ‘Old Soul’; ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Shade’.
2. ERRA – Neon
Progressive metalcore giants, ERRA, made a statement of intent this year with their blockbuster album, Neon, which is filled with musical goodness from the first note to the last. Under the ownership of Jesse Cash and JT Cavey, this US-band has tightened its grip on the scene with some pulsating tracks that blow my mind every time I hear them. The songs are written with passion and a sense of maturity that makes you marvel at the limits ERRA pushes with each album. The riff captures your imagination with its brutal honesty and the combination of soothing lyrics and hardcore vocals gives this band its signature sound. My favourite tracks on Neon are ‘Breach’, ‘Signal Fire’, ‘Valhalla’ and ‘Ultimata’.
1. Fit For A King – Dark Skies
Fit For A King delivered big time with their album Dark Skies, which is probably their heaviest yet in terms of production quality, riffs, and lyrical content that looks at personal struggles of identity, purpose and socio-economic issues that plague the world. The vocalist, Ryan Kirby, is at his best on this album and he transcends the thought of how far a vocalist’s range can go on this album. An impressive example of this is his powerful vocals on ‘Backbreaker’ and his potent delivery on ‘Engraved’. Ryan O’Leary’s cleans are just as impressive and add something extra on each track and balance things out nicely. The guitarist, Bobby Lynge’s, riffs are incredibly tasty and add some real backbone to each track. As usual, Jared Easterling’s drumming is on point and provides the aggressive foundation needed. This is a top album from start to finish.
My favourite tracks are ‘Engraved’, ‘Dark Tower’, ‘Oblivion’, ‘Youth Division’ and ‘Shattered Glass’.