Along with some notorious dictators and international terrorists that we were happy to see go, we lost a lot of people this year that we wish could have stayed on this mortal coil just a little bit longer. There were Hollywood icons (Elizabeth Taylor), rock & roll saxophonists (Clarence Clemons) and a few too many cast members from “Celebrity Rehab” (Jeff Conaway, Mike Starr). We lost that lady who stood next to Bob Dylan on his “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album (Suze Rotolo), professional wrestler “Macho Man” Randy Savage bit into that giant Slim Jim in the sky at age 58, and Uncle Leo from “Seinfeld” (Len Lesser) said, “Jerry! Goodbye!” Here’s a look at some other notable people who passed away in 2011.

Chaz Bono
March 4, 1969 – March 10, 2011

Smokey Robinson
February 19, 1940 – July 12, 2011

Fat Joe
August 19, 1970 – May 29, 2011

Steve Wozniak
August 11, 1950 – April 8, 2011

Amy Winehouse
September 14, 1983 – July 23, 2011

Judd Hirsch
March 15, 1935 – November 20, 2011

Bam Margera
September 28, 1979 – September 27, 2011

Judd Nelson
November 28, 1959 – October 20, 2011

Judd Apatow
December 6, 1967 – January 13, 2011

In Memoriam: 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

2011 may not have been a banner year for album sales but that’s nothing new. And unless Elvis and Michael Jackson decide to collaborate posthumously on a rock opera about the life of Amy Winehouse, we’re not likely to see a record-breaking record sales year anytime soon. Having said that, it was a pretty good year for music, and there were plenty of releases that caught our attention, despite having only listened to a fraction of the music that came across our desks this year. Here are 20 of the releases we played the most, and usually, and joyfully, at excessively loud volumes.

Atlas Losing Group, “State of Unrest” | Melodic hardcore from Sweden that is at once powerful, political and philosophical. A raging album from start to finish.

Banner Pilot, “Heart Beats Pacific” | The Minnesota punks may not have expanded their sound on their third record, but they sure honed it on “Heart Beats Pacific,” a gruff and melodic pop-punk romp across the lonely landscapes of a Minneapolis winter with a half-empty bottle of whiskey in hand.

Blink 182, “Neighborhoods” | The once-potty-mouthed punks return with a record devoid of humor and severely lacking in Mark Hoppus songs, which basically makes this sound an Angels & Airwaves record, which isn’t a bad thing. But then there’s drummer Travis Barker, who elevates and expands the band’s songs and sound, planting them into your brain and hammering home the hooks.

Butch Walker and the Black Widows, “The Spade” | The pop producer and songwriter behind hits for Avril, Pink and Panic! At the Disco, put together a new band and a new record, giving us the second best power-pop record of 2011.

Chixdiggit, “Safeways Here We Come” | Canadian Ramones-core geeks Chixdiggit gave us seven new songs in 2011, and though we’d have rather had a full-length, we happily gorged on this EP filled with goofy yet charming pop-punk.

Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room, “Hurricane Season” | The first solo outing from the bass player of The Alkaline Trio doesn’t rock as hard as his main project but retains the melancholy melodies that make the Alkaline Trio great.

Dawes, “Nothing Is Wrong” | This record may have been released in 2011 but it sounds more like an early ’70s Jackson Browne record, like the kind of tunes coming out of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon during that decade, which likely explains why Robbie Robertson hired the group to double as his backing band. “Nothing Is Wrong” is hot licks, rich harmonies and soulful pop-rock tunes.

Fountains of Wayne, “Sky Full of Holes” | They may not be the most prolific band on Earth, but their records are always worth the wait, and their latest is no exception, a smart, tongue-in-cheek power-pop record, and the best current band at writing this kind of material.

Frank Turner, “England Keep My Bones” | Like Billy Bragg channeling Bruce Springsteen, Turner’s latest long-player is his best yet. This has folk music tradition with a living, beating, punk rock heart.

Frenzal Rhomb, “Smoko at the Pet Food Factory” | Though these Australian punks have been off the radar for the past few years, they returned with a vengeance this year with the blistering “Smoko.” The lyrics may be inane, but the songs are catchy as hell and just the right recipe for blasting airs off a half-pipe or barreling down the slopes on a snowboard.

Fucked Up, “David Comes to Life” | If Fucked Up revived the concept record in 2011, Lou Reed and Metallica may have slayed it once and for all, but don’t let that keep you away from the third record by these Toronto punks, a story told in four acts about the romance between a light bulb factory employee and an activist in 1970’s and ’80s England.

Mike Doughty, “Yes and Also Yes” | His syncopated rhythms and pop hooks alone would be a blissful combination all by their lonesome, but throw in some smart lyrics as well and you’re left with one of the best pop-rock records of the year. With each excellent record Doughty puts out, the ghost of Soul Coughing fades deeper into the fog.

Smoking Popes, “This Is Only a Test” | It may not have been the record we hoped for from this reunited Chicago quartet — a concept record told from the perspective of a high school student. But hell, it was a new full-length from the Smoking Popes, and at least they challenged themselves, even if the results weren’t as successful as we hoped.

Social Distortion, “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes” | They take forever making records, especially for a band whose rarely use more than a few chords in a song, but at least when Social D does put out a new LP, it’s always solid, and “Hard Times” is no different. It’s as good as anything in the band’s catalog.

Teenage Bottlerocket, “Mutilate Me” 7″ | This release includes just two new songs from the band plus a Bad Religion cover, but the title track is a pop-punk gem, and one of our most played tracks for the year, elevating this three-song seven-inch to must-have status on the strength of that song alone.

The Copyrights, “North Sentinel Island” | There was no better three-chord Ramones-core record this year than the fifth full-length from Carbondale, Illinois’ Copyrights, whose sing-along choruses make the real North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal seem like one of the happiest places on the planet.

The Lonely Forest, “Arrows” | When the Lonely Forest are at their best they are nearly unstoppable. That’s the good news. The bad news is that on their third full-length, and first for Chris Walla’s Atlantic imprint, the band misses more than they hit. Even still, half the album is amazing, bringing to mind bands like Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Day Real Estate at the most majestic, and overshadowing the less interesting pieces of the record.

They Might Be Giants, “Join Us” | Taking a break from writing kids songs to make another record for grown-ups, rock’s quirkiest duo are as witty and wonderful as ever on their fifteenth LP, which includes several classic TMBG tunes, like “When Will You Die,” easily the year’s best kiss off song.

Thrice, “Major/Minor” | At times heavy, at others delicate, Thrice continue to expand their musical boundaries on their latest album, an epic rock adventure that finds the band at the top of their game.

Unwritten Law, “Swan” | Always on the verge of breaking through but never quite fully doing so during their heyday, the venerable San Diego punk band, who returned after six years away, may have had better luck breaking through if they’d released this album in 2001 instead of 2011, perhaps the best record of their career.

RELATED: Top 10 Year End List of Year End Lists

Aaron Nagle, Untied

Audrey Kawasaki, Lovesongs

Geoffrey Chadsey, Grinder

Derek Gores, Too Busy Fascinating

Jim Heimann, Spring Break

Jonathan Weiner, Yevgeniya

Mu Pan, Mermaid

Janice Urnstein Weissman, Untitled

Eric White, Here (After Albers)

Craig LaRotunda, Feast of the Undead

Danni Shinya Luo, Weakling

Jason Shawn Alexander, Jessica

Ray Abeyta, Amor Perdido

Shawn Barber, Portrait of the Artist, Jo Harrison

RELATED: The Black and White Show | Venus Envy | Q&A: Painter Eric White

The idea of being a yuppie punk is a lot like being a punk rock dad, which is the subject of “The Other F Word,” a documentary from filmmaker Andrea Blaugrund Nevins, about the mindfuck that ensues when a punk rock lifestyle is interrupted by parenthood. A group of punk luminaries, including Jim Lindberg of Pennywise, Bret Gurewitz from Bad Religion and Fat Mike of NOFX, wax philosophic about the difficulties of balancing their day jobs with their night jobs. Rebellion and fatherhood don’t exactly go hand in tattooed hand after all, and neither does the life of the touring musician, as evidenced by Lindberg’s grueling schedule, whose journey is the centerpiece of the film, and who wrote a book, “Punk Rock Dad,” on which the film was inspired. You can read our interview with Lindberg about that book here.

Though the film fails to be all that illuminating about either punk rock or fatherhood, it is still an entertaining film with a good punk soundtrack. There are a handful of touching moments, like Lars from Rancid with his son at a San Francisco playground and the sight of Flea fighting back tears as he talks about his daughter, but the gist of the film is that most punks had shitty dads and that touring makes having a family really hard. Well, duh.

What the film doesn’t touch on are the wives and children of the punk rock dads that are profiled, which seems like a major oversight. We learn that the life of a touring punk is a struggle for the dads, but we never hear anything from the rest of the families. Though there are brief sound bites from a few of the kids, the moms are sidelined completely, despite the sacrifices they have to make so their husbands can earn their keep on the road. There are also no parenting professionals featured in the film, nobody who can offer any insight into what having a frequently absent father might mean for these kids. Or even better, why not talk to some grown-up kids who have gone through a similar experience and can speak to its ramifications? The movie shows us Ron Reyes from Black Flag’s kids, who are teenagers, but Reyes quit Black Flag when his oldest was an infant so the experience was never the same for them. But there are plenty of rock stars, and presumably punk stars, who have kids old enough to shed some light here. It’s hard to imagine Morgan Spurlock, one of the film’s producers, offering up as unbalanced a view in one of his films, which are equally entertaining but generally more substantive. Without this secondary material, the film feels thin and inconsequential. Though it is frequently funny, and at times touching, it ultimately feels more like an extended episode of MTV’s “True Life” than a fully-developed and well-rounded documentary.

RELATED: Q&A: Jim Lindberg of Pennywise | Punk Doc Film Festival | Q&A: Fat Mike of NOFX

Of “Lulu,” his already infamous collaboration with Metallica, Lou Reed said, “It’s maybe the best thing done by anyone, ever. It could create another planetary system. I’m not joking, and I’m not being egotistical.” Critics wholeheartedly disagreed, panning the record nearly universally, turning it into a punchline, and becoming the prime example of a collaboration that could sound intriguing on paper but excruciating on record. Despite the admiration many critics offered for its purely artistic motivations, journalists couldn’t help but take a whack at “Lulu” like a danging piñata. Here are some highlights.

Rolling Stone: “Revels in dominatrix decadence and bodily fluids.”

Pitchfork: “For most of the record, Lou Reed and Metallica barely sound like they’re on the same planet, let alone in the same room.”

Chuck Klosterman: “If the Red Hot Chili Peppers acoustically covered the 12 worst Primus songs for Starbucks, it would still be (slightly) better than this.”

Washington Post: “An 85-minute misery delivery system.”

LA Times: “This morning when I woke up knowing that the entire day would be spent listening to the thing, I sighed, rolled over and went back to sleep.”

AV Club: “Like an iceberg deciding to start a band with the Titanic.”

The Quietus: “Time that could be more constructively spent watching the grass grow or perhaps wanking into a sock.”

Chicago Sun-Times: “The marriage of Reed’s thin, monotone voice to Metallica’s thick, monotone riffs — and an average song length of nearly nine minutes (including a 19-minute punishment at the end) — produces a listening experience that is never anything more than a dismal, grueling chore.”

Consequence of Sound: “It reads like a misguided Bukowski impersonation and sounds like field recordings taken from Guitar Centers across America.”

Pop Matters: “They let us down harder than the last episode of Seinfeld. Except far fewer people will forgive Metallica.”

RELATED: Lou Reed Is An A-Hole | \m/

Snowfall, the Midwest and disappointment, these are the themes of Banner Pilot’s third LP, “Heart Beats Pacific” (Fat Wreck Chords), a gruff and melodic pop-punk romp across the lonely landscapes of a Minneapolis winter with a half-empty bottle of whiskey in hand. As with their last outing, 2009’s “Collapser,” there are few surprises to be found. The album’s 11 songs synthesize the band’s influences nicely, with Jawbreaker (we dare you to find a review of this band that doesn’t mention them), the Alkaline Trio and Lawrence Arms coming through loudest, and singer-guitarist Nick Johnson’s sandpaper vocals on top of a dual-guitar blast. Predictable? Sure, but also really solid. “Heart Beats Pacific” is the sound of a band hitting their stride.

Much of the album is filled with songs about relationship woes, like “Alchemy,” the album’s roaring opener. “I’ll say everything’ll work out,” Johnson sings, “Like I know what I’m talking about. But all this snow keeps piling up. We dig, it’s never deep enough.” The band is adept at capturing the cold and lonely isolation that a Midwest winter can bring, and disenchantment cuts a straight line through the album’s lyrics, though there are some bright spots too. On “Spanish Reds,” the album’s best track, our narrator finds some silver lining thanks to some time spent with his favorite girl: “I watch you fall asleep on a dead end street and the world is right somehow.”

The band cites Screeching Weasel and the Queers as influences, and though Banner Pilot aren’t practitioners of Ramones-core, they do borrow from the aforementioned bands. For starters, there aren’t any guitar solos, but the album has ample guitar leads, single-string Ben Weasel-style licks that help to add some color and break up all the furious strumming. Also like those bands, Banner Pilot sticks with a formula that works for them, never veering far off course. This causes the album to drag a bit as it winds its way into side two, but the record closes out strong with “Division Street,” a mid-tempo pop-punk love song that ends the record on a high, which is where Johnson is at too. “If I’ve had better days,” he offers, “Then they’re hard to remember.”

Somewhere over the course of the last ten years, the bands who extrapolated a sound made famous by Jawbreaker, a west coast band, have reclaimed the style as Midwestern punk. Banner Pilot, a band from Minneapolis, is a prime example of the sound, which is also favored by Dillinger Four, The Lawrence Arms and probably plenty of other bands who aren’t on Fat Wreck Chords. But one of the things that made Jawbreaker great was their ability to experiment. “Dear You” may have signaled the beginning of the end for the band, but it was a stylistic departure and a bold move, one that Banner Pilot should take note of. It’s risky, of course, to wander too far from home, but it’d also be nice to read a Banner Pilot review that didn’t reference Jawbreaker in the first paragraph. “Heart Beats Pacific” stands firm in its mission, and Banner Pilot have established themselves as one of the Midwest most promising bands, but as they continue to evolve, we hope they’ll also begin to challenge themselves as songwriters. Jawbreaker didn’t make the leap until LP number four. And since this is number three for Banner Pilot, we’ll let them slide — for now.

Banner Pilot – “Spanish Reds”

RELATED: Coasters | From Inbox to Ear | Revenge of the Gravelly Throats

Aside from the free street parking we scored (woot!), the best thing about Monday’s Bumbershoot, which was much less crowded than the previous day, was the shorter lines for deep-fried Twinkies. While we didn’t have any (we’re fat enough, thank you very much), the fried foodstuff is the lifeblood of any self-respecting festivalgoer. Need a boost after a mellow set from Sharon Van Etten? Deep-fried Twinkie! Want to try and get as big as Big Boi? Twinkie! Want to be more than just a “Maneater” during Hall & Oates’ set? Be a Twinkie eater! Here are some highlights from our day:

My Goodness are like the White Stripes, only they’re all dudes instead of just half dudes.

We took in a few groovy acoustic songs from Olympia, Washington’s LAKE, who could paddle across one using their bass player’s hat.

Fitz and the Tantrums played some seriously soulful rock & roll in the KEXP music lounge before having a contest to see which band member could open their mouth the widest. For the record, Fitz lost to his co-singer Noelle Scaggs.

Stacy Dupree is one of the five Duprees in Eisley: There’s also a Chauntelle, a Sherri, a Weston and a Garron.

You should have seen what YACHT singer Claire Evans did with the microphone after she was done cuddling with it. Let’s just say it involved 10 hands, two drumsticks and lots and lots of applause.

These are the guitar faces of Ian Moore, who played a rockin’ set with his band the Lossy Coils. For the record, we make the same faces while pooping.

Sharon Van Etten’s soul-baring songs were a highlight of the day. Suggestion: She should consider starting the Vans, featuring Van Morrison, Eddie Van Halen and Van Dyke Parks. Actually, that band sounds kind of amazing.

Vendetta Red were Vendetta Rad, blasting through most of their best songs from their two major label records, “Between the Never and the Now” and “Sisters of the Red Death.”

RELATED: Bumbershoot 2011: Day Two

Maybe there’s some weird voodoo curse on us, but for whatever reason, YuppiePunk World HQ simply never makes it out to all three days of Bumbershoot, Seattle’s annual music, arts and comedy festival held over Labor Day weekend at the Seattle Center. And this year is no exception, with us missing the festival’s first day featuring Ray LaMontagne, Presidents of the United States of America, Pentagram, STRFKR and dozens more. But we finally got it together and got off our couch for day two, having finally conquered level 8 of Bonker Jerks and consumed a four-pack of Four Loko, which gave us the motivation we needed to brave the crowds, the sun and the Butthole Surfers. Here are some highlights.

We started our day with a little Tennis, not on the court but on the stage of the KEXP music lounge, a nice way to see a band in a more intimate setting than at the rest of the festival. Denverites Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley make up the group, who won today’s award for the preppiest couple (they’re married). He was wearing loafers, she was wearing a ridiculously dense head of hair.

We went to a reading and Q&A from queen groupie Pamela Des Barres, who you can see here showing the crowd the size of Jimmy Page’s zeppelin.

Woah, the three dudes from No Means No got super old when we weren’t looking. They may have been the only band on the day to feature all members sporting gray hair. They still rocked like young whippersnappers though, blazing through a set of quirky, angular punk rock.

The Jim Jones Revue sound like what Jerry Lee Lewis might have if he were a punk. This is Jim Jones and his Gibson ES-335.

Atari Teenage Riot brought some thumping bass to accompany their futuristic German hyper-speed electro-punk mayhem. And also lasers, lots of lasers.

Portland, Oregon folkies AgesandAges played a feel-good set with lots of hand claps and lots of harmonies.

John Van Deusen of The Lonely Forest demonstrates the white man’s overbite during their acoustic set on the Toyota Free Yr Radio stage.

Activist punks Anti-Flag sang about important stuff, like woah-woahs and yeah-yeahs.

There are few things microphones fear more than Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers’ tongue.

And congratulations to Jeff Pinkus, the Butthole’s bassist, who not only had the best beard of the day, but also the best t-shirt. Amen brother, we ♥ butt drugs too.

RELATED: Bumbershoot 2010 | Bumbershoot 2009 | Bumbershoot 2008

Here at YuppiePunk World HQ, we are rock nerds of the highest order, which is why we read the recently released memoirs from Sammy Hagar (“Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock“) and Dave Mustaine (“Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir“). Despite Van Halen and Megadeth residing on opposite ends of the hard rock spectrum, there are a number of similarities between the two books, both of which were penned with co-authors. Hagar’s “Red” reads like Sammy’s persona: happy-go-lucky and likeable, with not too much psychology or self-analysis. It’s a breezy trip through his three decades as a rock star and businessman, the latter of which he may have had more success at than music. Mustaine’s book is darker, cynical and at the end, religious, and Mustaine comes off as the angry headbanger he’s always seemed to be, still pissed at being fired from Metallica, bitter of others’ successes and a judgmental, egomaniacal curmudgeon. Though “Red” is the better read, Mustaine is the better author, it’s just that it’s hard to root for Dave because he’s such an a-hole. Here’s a side-by-side comparison on some of the similarities between the two tomes:

RELATED: Book Review: ‘Gimme Something Better’ | ‘Goodbye 20th Century’ By the Numbers

Most musicians will tell you that the main reason they learned to write songs in the first place was because they were inspired by a favorite band or artist. Most musicians will also tell you that they never stopped being inspired, even as they got famous and inspired others — sort of a circle of inspiration or something. Need proof? See Hendrix’s famed “Sgt. Peppers” performance for evidence, performed just three days after the album’s release. Covering a band is one way to pay your respects, but writing an entirely new song to honor an inspiration is another thing altogether. Then again, songs about other bands don’t have to be positive either, like Mojo Nixon’s “Don Henley Must Die.” Here’s a look at some notable examples of artists singing about other artists, but this is by no means a complete list. Feel free to leave other examples in the comments.

The Replacements – “Alex Chilton”
Power pop pioneer Alex Chilton may be remembered more for this song — from the ‘Mats 1987 LP “Pleased to Meet Me” — than for his contributions as a member of Big Star, particularly to a new generation when it appeared on the soundtrack to Rock Band 2. May we all be so lucky to have a chorus like this one to immortalize our name.
The Replacements – “Alex Chilton”

They Might Be Giants – “We’re the Replacements”
Sure, the song mentions the Replacements in the title and mentions a Tommy its lyrics, but John Flansberg says the song merely uses the Replacements as a means of discussing “the replaceable nature of being on the road.”
They Might Be Giants, “We’re the Replacements”

Pavement – “Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence”
From the 1993 AIDS benefit record, “No Alternative,” this tribute to R.E.M. is from one generation’s iconic college rock band to another. “Classic songs with a long history,” Steve Malkmus sings on the song. “Southern boys just like you and me!”
Pavement – “Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence”

Ben Folds – “Late”
Of this song, a tribute to his one-time touring mate Elliott Smith, Ben Folds told MTV: “I really loved his music and I thought he was a great guy. And I was moved to write a song for him.” A song in which Folds admits Smith’s music got him through a lot — and also that he played some dirty basketball. Rhett Miller’s “The Believer” is also about the death of Smith.
Ben Folds – “Late”

Jonathan Richman – “Velvet Underground”
A wordy, bluesy tribute to one of his favorite bands, the oddball singer-songwriter ends each verse with the same line: “How in the world were they making that sound? Velvet Underground.”
Jonathan Richman – “Velvet Underground”

Barenaked Ladies – “Brian Wilson”
From BNL’s debut, this song isn’t about the Beach Boys genius exactly, but rather, uses his life to tell the parallel story of the song’s narrator. It was later covered a cappella by Wilson himself.
Barenaked Ladies – “Brian Wilson”

David Bowie – “Song for Bob Dylan”
Dylan’s songs have been frequently covered, but his biography has been tackled much less frequently, particularly in song. All the more reason this track from side two of Bowie’s “Hunky Dory” is worthy of inclusion on our list. Bowie addresses Dylan as Robert Zimmerman, his birth name, and describes his voice as “sand and glue.”
David Bowie – “Song for Bob Dylan”

MGMT – “Brian Eno”
Want to know where whacked-out psychedelic rockers MGMT find inspiration? Look no further than their 2010 album “Congratulations,” which features not just this ode to Brian Eno, but a song for Television Personalities singer Dan Treacy as well.
MGMT – “Brian Eno”

The Mountain Goats – “Song for Dennis Brown”
Mountain man John Darnielle uses the death of Dennis Brown, Bob Marley’s favorite reggae singer, who died from a collapsed lung (and lots of cocaine), to explore his own mortality on this delicate ballad, which even sounds a bit like Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
The Mountain Goats – “Song for Dennis Brown”

Sublime – “KRS-One”
In this acoustic track, Bradley Nowell of Sublime explains all the topics he learned about from the pioneering rapper that they didn’t teach him in school, like Elijah Muhammed and the welfare state.
Sublime – “KRS-One”

Dan Bern – “Kurt”
From the Dept. of Dead Rock Stars comes this folk song about the death of Kurt Cobain, which also namedrops a handful of other dead icons in the chorus, including JFK, Joan of Arc and Jesse James, which Bern rhymes with Cobain.
Dan Bern – “Kurt”

Laura Veirs – “Carol Kaye”
“She can really play it, she can really lay it down,” Veirs sings on the opening track to her “July Flame” album, before name dropping a few favorite songs that the famed bass player played on. “Maybe I can meet her, maybe shake her hand one day.”
Laura Veirs – “Carol Kaye”

Duncan Sheik – “A Body Goes Down”
Sheik’s elegy to Jeff Buckley is as beautiful and heartfelt as Buckley’s music itself. With Middle Eastern elements like tabla and sitar, Sheik pays a fitting tribute. “A body goes down in the Mississippi waters,” he sings on the chorus. “Weighted by a beauty, afraid of its light.”
Duncan Sheik – “A Body Goes Down”

Related posts: Songs Named After Years | Songs About Touring | Whistle While You Rock