Chris (Talk Show Host)
photo by Spectrelight Photography
What are your top five albums that were released in 2021? (In order 1-5)
Oh gawd, this is nearly impossible because there was so much great stuff this year. Based purely on number of listens, according to [shitty corporate music indexing software], the albums that got the most listens from me were:
- Weezer - OK Human - I've loved almost everything they've put out in the last 10 years, but this one's my favourite. They also released my least-ever favourite Weezer record this year (Van Weezer), interestingly (?) enough.
- Between the Buried and Me - Colors II - a band I never thought I'd get into, but as discussed below, I got into heavy music in a big way this year.
- Viagra Boys - Welfare Jazz - Love the sense of humour on this one and it's groovy as heck.
- The Death Set - How to Tune a Parrot - This record sounds like the Beastie Boys finally made a full-length punk rock LP.
- Enslaved - Caravans to the Outer World - Technically this is just an EP but, look, I committed to the "whatever logged the most spins" conceit and I'm sticking to it, plus this thing has been melting my face every day for two straight months.
Can I do some honourable mentions? Because there's so much more:
Totally Slow, Drones, Gojira, Illuminati Hotties, Andrew W.K., Garbage, Kal-El, Every Time I Die, Parquet Courts, The Copyrights, Archspire, Carcass, and, of course, the revelatory remix of Propagandhi's Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes all made this otherwise terrible year somewhat bearable. Heck, I even enjoyed that new Foo Fighters record.
What band did you discover in 2021 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
My big personal discovery this year was Oingo Boingo. I really got into the advance singles from Danny Elfman's solo record (an LP that turned out to be kind of an overlong mess), but when I dipped into his back catalogue I realized those early Boingo records are the perfect combo of DEVO and Weird Al, two acts who are integral to my musical DNA. As someone who finds most quote-unquote "80s music" fairly unlistenable, I've surprised myself with how much I've gotten into those early records. I still cannot, however, stand "Weird Science."
How will you remember 2021? (In terms of music)
It's the year I got into metal. Certain other genre revivals got my stubborn side all riled up and I was kinda like "ok well I'm gonna go over here and listen to the exact opposite." It kicked off with Gojira's Fortitude and suddenly I found myself enjoying technical death metal (hello, Archspire), diving deep in thrash (hello, Sacrifice) and hoovering up stoner rock (hello, Fu Manchu). I also "got" Dillinger Escape Plan this fall; I pulled up Ire Works on [shitty corporate streaming service] while doing the dishes on one otherwise quiet night in September and I'm still scraping dried bits of my brains off the backsplash. 2021 was the year I just kept surprising myself with the stuff I found I could enjoy, where previously I woulda been like "okay stop yelling now plz".
I suppose I'll also remember it as the year we released our first full-length to universal acclaim and praise and showers of cash.
What can we look forward to from you in 2022?
Honestly, no idea. I thiiiiink we'll have an EP of some leftovers from our LP sessions, pooooossibly a split EP with one of our newfound internet pals, mayyyyybe some proper touring? But the past couple of years have taught me that "making plans" and "looking forward" are luxuries to be indulged in at your own risk.
What records are you looking forward to most in 2022?
I've got the new Rolo Tomassi record preordered on bandcamp so I'm excited to get pummelled by that one, but beyond that I dunno. This year I learned that there's something good out every single week, you've just gotta do the work and seek it out. So if I'm not necessarily looking forward to many specific records in 2022, I'm definitely looking forward to the dozens of new discoveries I'll make along the way.
What went through your head the first time you played live in 2021 after the delay? (If you haven’t -- what do you anticipate when you hit that point?)
Our first show back is in Montreal in a couple of days and I'm sure the first thought that goes through my head will be the same as usual: "please don't fuck up."
Chris – social media links
- Twitter: @talkshowhost_ca
- Instagram: @talkshowhostrocks
