#3 Album for 2009: Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another (4AD)

future of the left (ex-mclusky) wrote the best rock song i heard this year.  it’s called “arming eritrea” and you can listen to it above.  for the rest of twmaa they only write some of the most inventive and interesting guitar/bass/drums music i’ve heard in ages, with a muscular dexterity that extends from faux-showtune outros to post-shellac grind to violating the remains of dance-punk.  simply put, they pull a lot of stuff together, and it’s rare that a 32-minute record with this level of aggression would also have so many layers to pull back.  the constant is andy falkous’ madcap black humor, which has apparently gotten more unhinged since the mclusky years.  falco covers satanic orgies, pterodactyls, and a guy named reginald j. trotsfield in lyrics that are both genuinely hilarious and regularly disturbing.  people who complain about where indie rock has gone, i have a record for you.