"Best Of" has never really applied to me. Here are my five favorite releases of 2011. They were fairly easy to compile because they were the ONLY new releases that I acquired in 2011. Okay, there were a couple more but they didn't make much of an impact. All of these were released on vinyl, but I didn't necessarily splurge for it. They are in roughly chronological order.

Social Distortion - Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. The first time I heard the gospel/southern rock style background vocals on "California Hustle and Flow," I laughed out loud. I like it. S.D. could easily coast on formula and get away with it, but I like the new twists and surprises that pop up here and there. Not everything works for me, but enough works to keep me listening.

Meat Puppets - Lollypop. It sounds a lot like the album before it but it works for me. Nothing really groundbreaking here, but a good cross between catchy and surreal.

Brian Setzer - Goes Instru-mental. It's about time he made an instrumental album. I believe I suggested this idea in one of my reviews many years ago. I'd like to think that Mr. Setzer was inspired by looking through the Barflies archives. This is not your typical guitar show-off album. He also shows off his impressive banjo skills. However, it is not a 100% instrumental album, it sounds like he gave into pressure from the wife to let her vocalize on a couple of songs. I guess keeping the domestic peace is sometimes more important than maintaining artistic integrity.

Nick Lowe - The Old Magic. This is nothing like his old power-pop stuff, but he's still pretty darn clever. I really like the low-key horn arrangements and his loungey crooning.

The Beach Boys - Smile. Okay, I know it was recorded forty-some years ago but it finally came out as a complete work in 2011. This was available in a zillion-dollar box set with a bunch of bells and whistles, but my level of geekiness was satiated by the simple two-disc set. There may or may not be a theme or storyline to follow in this "concept" album, but you might be better off (I know I am) by just enjoying the sound of it.

Best Yard Sale Score:
Elvis Presley - Roustabout. I gladly paid a buck for this. Elvis snobs who frown on his soundtrack albums have never heard such great songs as "Poison Ivy League" or "Carny Town."

Worst Thrift Store Score:
Gun Club - The Las Vegas Story. Not that this album is especially bad - it's probably not their best - but my problem has to do with warpage. To correct a slight-to-moderate warp in the record, I tried the old "putting it in the sun between two panes of glass" trick. I've had varying levels of success with this before, but never in 100 degree New Mexico heat. The poor record ended up looking like great-grandma's antique ribbon candy. Oops.

Fashion Trend to Watch For in 2012:
Prosthetic Overbites.

The world still isn't ready for unibrow toupees.