I realize there’s still over a month to go in 2009, but hardly anything good ever comes out in December. The rock n’ roll release season always seems to peak in October and after that it’s a slow slide into a new year and, hopefully, new good music. So I like to get a jump on my end of the year list in the hopes that it will provide you with some killer bands and albums to catch up with before the year is out. It also gives me a chance to try and remember all the new shit I heard over the last 11 months. That’s not an easy task. In fact, some of this stuff may not even be from 2009, but so it goes.

As with all best-of lists, this one has its disclaimers. The big one here is that this list includes only the albums I listened to, so if I didn’t include Slayer’s new album or Immortal’s new album it’s because I haven’t heard them…yet. So don’t get your panties in a knot if there are some glaring omissions. And, of course, this list is exclusive to the music I listen to; it’s my favourites for the year…and hopefully some of yours.

Oh, and why 39? Because it’s one better than 40. If 666 is the number of the beast, think of 39 as the number of the beard.

All right, enough screwing around. Let’s get to it…

First I want to start with the honourable mentions. I like this stuff a lot, but for one reason or another it didn’t tickle my beard as much as the top 39 did. And it is with great sadness that I include The Wildhearts and 3 Inches of Blood in this list, but I was very underwhelmed by both bands this year, and their failure to meet my exceptionally lofty expectations for them both kept them out of the top 39. Sigh.

3 Inches of Blood – Here Waits Thy Doom
Baptized in Blood – Gutter Bound
Bastard Child Death Cult – Year Zero
Behemoth – Evangelion
The Black Crowes – Before the Frost…Until the Freeze
C.C. Voltage – A Touch of Class…Just a Touch
The Chelsea Smiles – S/T
Cherry Choke – S/T
The Gentleman Losers – Dustland
Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God
Hardcore Superstar – Beg for It
House of Broken Promises – Using the Useless
Luder – Sonoluminescence
Obiat – Eye Tree Pi
Paradise Lost – Faith Divides Us-Death Unites Us
Sex Slaves – Wasted Angel
Steel Panther – Feel the Steel
Sun Gods in Exile – Black Light, White Lines
Valis – Dark Matter
Warbringer – Waking Into Nightmares
White Cowbell Oklahoma – Bombadero
The Wildhearts – Chutzpah!

Now, BEHOLD! The number of the beard!

#39 The Last Vegas – Whatever Gets You Off

The Last Vegas were the very first band I wrote about many years ago on Sleazegrinder. It was a piece called ‘Thunder Boogie in the Glitter Gulch’ and that pretty much summed up their sound at the time. No one at all knew who they were, but they were the band that all the rich rock stars wanted to be and sound like. Well, now THEY are the rich rock stars, and Nikki Sixx has sunk his heroin-laced talons into ‘em, bringing them out on tour with the Crue and signing them to his label. For that alone they should be kept off of this list, but they’ve still got that million dollar sound, even if it comes with a matching ego and tainted image. So chalk it up to my nostalgia if you want, but you also won’t find a catchier song than “Loose Lips” off any album on this list.

Listen to “Loose Lips” from Whatever Gets You Off!

#38 Riverboat Gamblers – Underneath the Owl

My wife loves owls. She collects them; pictures, needle works, jewellery, figurines, tattoos…you name it. That’s not the only reason this album made the list, but she really digs the cover, and that’s as good a reason as any if you ask me. Now, some people might say that the band has taken one too many trips on the ol’ Warped Tour and now their sound is as watered down as the fountain in the shopping mall, but I’ve yet to see a teenager with a shitty haircut wearing a Gamblers shirt, so their cred is still in tact, Jack. Sure there might be a few out there, but until I see one, I say the Gambler’s energy and attitude is still OURS. And dig that owl.

Listen to “Catastrophe” from Underneath the Owl!

#37 Wooden Shjips – Dos

Until the Wooden Shjips came along, I never knew what the hell kraut-rock was. Fuck, I still don’t what the hell kraut-rock is, but their latest fuzz n’ jam carpet ride is just dripping with repetitive, psychedelic geek rock. It oozes and drones like a clock blinking 12:00 and your ears are staring at it, waiting for time to move forward, but it doesn’t. It just holds you there. You know, sometimes it feels good just to be held.

Watch the video for “Motorbike” from Dos!

To be continued…