Craig Hlavaty's 10 Best Houston Albums of 2012

By Craig Hlavaty Thu., Dec. 13 2012 at 9:00 AM

7. Sunrise And Ammunition, Tesseract
Zooming into my radio late in 2012 was Sunrise & Ammunition's Tesseract, one of the most live and amplified local albums of the year. The power trio benefited from production and mixing by NY-based producer Jesse Cannon, who streamlined the harsher elements of S&A's last two EPs into something less scatterbrained.

6. Weird Party, Hussy
Weird Party is like this elusive black bear of Houston that appears randomly from the wilderness, mauling a few passersby, dropping an eight-cut album called Hussy with a pair of huge tits on the cover onto the public, and then retreating, not to rest, but to wait. More, please.

5. Buxton, Nothing Here Seems Strange
Buxton has been on the road touring behind their New West debut for the majority of the past year, putting in work for an album into which they had poured the last five years of their lives. Nothing Here Seems Strange got progressively better with each listen, no small feat when most 2012 albums are one-pump chumps. "Oh My Boy" and "Boy of Nine" are two of the biggest standouts, building up promise for an even more harrowing follow-up.

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jenkinshouse55

2 Like

It was a good year for Houston. Here are 16 I enjoyed hearing, watching, and photographing. Hope I'm not forgetting a favorite... - Jason Smith

16. Square and Compass – HOW TO ESCAPE

15. Grandfather Child – GRANDFATHER CHILD

14. Linus Pauling Quartet - Bag of Hammers

13. Excusemesir – WITH YOU IN MIND

12. Free Radicals – THE FREEDOM FENCE

11. Venomous Maximus – BEG UPON THE LIGHT

10. Ancient Cat Society – STAY HOME

9. From Beyond – THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE

8. Second Lovers – WISHERS, DREAMERS, & LIARS

7. Sunrise and Ammunition – TESSERACT

6. New York City Queens – BURN OUT LIKE ROMAN CANDLES

5. Bang Bangz – BANG BABGZ EP

4. Featherface – ACTUAL MAGIC

3. The Dead Revolt – A NIGHT OF NOSTALGIA

2. The Manichean – LOVERS

1. Buxton – NOTHING HERE SEEMS STRANGE

sheaserrano

B L A C K I E's GEN really just made me feel all sorts of ways about all sorts of things. So very good. The part about dancing with his mom is Christmas is undeniably moving. Everything about that specific moment is unbelievable. I want to give him all of my money.

yeep

I think this is great, and sums up the year just fine.

Haters, this is not an article on the top 100 Houston albums of 2012..

WhiteLightning

1 Like

NYC Queens may be the worst band to pop onto the scene in a long long time.

darkblueskye

Elect Trick City's EP "Vote Trick City" is on repeat on my computer since I got it in November. No female bands on the list? Shame on you, Houston Press. Shame on you.