Sean Viele of “The Last Gang” digs deep into his top 10 and breaks them down for Programme…

2020 was a dark year for humanity.  But there was some good music that was released in the midst of what seemed to be a never ending shit show. However here we are at the end of it. The shit show is not over but the year is.  Here’s my top 10 albums from it.

X: Alphabetland

They simply sound as if they haven’t aged since 1980. Alphabetland is a ball of energy filled with excellent song writing from start to finish, thus making my top 10.
Drakulas: Terminal Amusements
The second album from this Austin, TX quartet, this beauty is an entertaining blend of high energy garage rock and new wave that really brought a refreshing bit of joy into life during a rather bleak year.
Bad Cop Bad Cop: The Ride
Just another impressive album full of powerful and relevant themes meanwhile achieving a light side to bring about a message of hope and positivity, something we certainly all needed in 2020.
The Pogues:  BBC Sessions 1984-1985
An excellent collection of previously unreleased BBC sessions from the greatest era of The Pogues. These songs have an amazing live energy to them!
Get Dead: Dancing With The Curse
The evolution of this band is fun to listen to and it all comes together on Dancing With The Curse.  This is a banger from start to finish and in my humble opinion, Get Dead’s finest work yet.
Bouncing Souls: Volume 2
An outstanding collection of Souls’ songs reimagined and recorded beautifully,  this album can brighten any human being’s day and therefore is a staple of my top 10 albums of 2020.
Western Addiction: Frail Bray
Frail Bray is a non stop kick to the teeth from the opening track and if you listen closely you can hear our very own Brenna Red as she does backing vocals on several songs.  This is a killer fucking record!
Death By Stereo : We’re All Dying Just In Time
We’re All Dying Just in Time provided some cathartic release this year when I just wanted to fucking scream to the top of my lungs as the reality TV shit show that America has become under the Trump administration was punctuated by civil unrest, racist police brutality, corporate greed, and just a complete lack of empathy or compassion from those in charge, all in the midst of a global pandemic. This album moves me.
PEARS: PEARS
Melodic at times, heavy at others, weirdness throughout.  I love this record.The single, Comfortably Dumb, is fucking great and the album as a whole is a fun one!
The Drowns: Under Tension
This was one of the last bands I saw live in 2020.  We were all still so hopeful for a good year. This album served well this year as a go-to listen when times got tough to help inject a bit of that PMA into my life, which was certainly needed to make it through 2020.