Jamie T - Panic Prevention (2007)

Have you ever wondered how The Street's "Original Pirate Material" may have sounded if Mike Skinner had been born with a soft spot for punk rock and recorded the album with real instruments instead of digital programming ? London-born Jamie Treay's debut is as close as it gets. Treays spits his angsty poetry over raw sketches and acoustic instrumentals and, along the way, manages to melt half a dozen musical genres to pure awesomeness. Well, what more can be said about an album that opens with the line:  "I went to buy myself a handgun; why you think man, to shoot down everyone!"

1.) Brand New Bass Guitar

2.) Salvador

3.) Calm Down Dearest

4.) So Lonely Was the Ballad

5.) Back in the Game

6.) Operation

7.) Sheila

8.) Pacemaker

9.) Dry Off Your Cheeks

10.) Ike & Tina

11.) If You Got the Money

12.) Alicia Quays

Radio 4 - Gotham! (2002)

About half a decade before acts like Franz Ferdinand or Bloc Party broke through mixing 70's/80's wave and punk with danceable indie, NYC-based Radio 4  had already done the same on this jewel. Gotham!'s vibe is reminiscent of classic records by such legends as The Clash, New Order or Television but, at the same time, Radio 4 manage to be refreshingly inventive. The record turns out to be an intriguing hommage that would revive a whole genre formerly reputed to be dead .

1.) Our Town

2.) Start a Fire    

3.) Eyes Wide Open

4.) Struggle

5.) Calling All Enthusiasts

6.) Save Your City

7.) Speaking in Codes

8.) Certain Tragedy

9.) Red Lights

10.) The Movies

11.) End of the Rope

12.) Pipe Bombs

13.) New Disco

Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine (2004) + Remixes

The most impressive thing about Toronto-based Death From Above is that the band only consists of two people. The sheer fury of Sebastian Grainger's  napalm drum beats in combination with  Jesse Keeler's  fuzzy, heavily distorted razorblade basslines sounds like a whole army rocking out. This album fuses punk and dance music to 100% pure in-your-face badassery. 

One year after You're A Woman I'm A Machine DFA released a similarly impressive album with Romance Bloody Romance which features 13 remixes  by a variety of very distinct artists, including Queens of the Stone-Age's Josh Homme and EdBanger poster-child Justice.

Portugal. The Man - Waiter: "You Vultures!" (2006)

Founded in the small town of Wasilla, Alaska in the early 00's, Portugal The Man soon became an insider's tip among indie folks. Their music is characterized by exploring unconventional song structures as well as Gourley Carothers very unique singing voice. The 2006 debut Waiter: "You Vultures!" - their most experimental record - has been described by critics as "the closest thing to At the Drive-in recording a pop album". 

1.) How the Leopard Got its Spots

2.) Gold Fronts

3.) Tables & Chairs

4.) AKA M80 The Wolf

5.) Marching With 6

6.) Elephants

7.) Waiter

8.) Chicago

9.) Bad, Bad Levi Brown

10.) Kill Me. The King

11.) Tommy

12.) Horse Warming Party

13.) Guns. Guns...Guns