I know that pretty much every magazine and website in existence is doing some top list, so I thought I would do something a little different. Instead of having the best albums of 2003, or the most solid singles, this is a purely personal list: the top twenty bands that I discovered this year. The bands are all pretty famous, but I just learned about them this year. Check them out if my descriptions sound the least bit interesting.

20)Good Charlotte - Yeah, I know. Give me death threats, give me nasty e-mails, but the simple fact is that Good Charlotte knows completely how to market pop-punk in an era that was a little more dark than either when The Ramones or Green Day became famous. I know that Benji and eir�s twin brother are two of the most annoying individuals in the public eye, but listen to �The Young and Hopeless� and tell me that tracks like �My Bloody Valentine� aren�t utterly catchy and somewhat reminiscent of the Misfits. While their continual media coverage is getting stale, and their half-hearted anti-suicide anthem �Hold On� smacks of insincerity, the disc just spins on as a solid set of hits.

19)RAMBO � An utterly crazy, completely batshit anarcho-bikecycler band that gives hardcore a whole new sound and feel. On �Wall of Death The System�, RAMBO mixes up all sorts of political topics and puts them forth in such a way that people stay interested, and are not continually force-fed the same facts and rhetoric that was in the last Noam Chomsky book. While I personally have not been lucky enough to see a live show with the band, apparently they actually go out on stage in camo and re-enact battles between cops and protestors. Seriously, how freaking cool is that? While individuals might not be able to decipher the lyrics on this disc, they can go just as easily to the lush lyrics book, which has further explanation for the song.

18)The Hybrid � In my short time covering the Greencastle scene, few bands have gotten their act together as quickly as The Hybrid. On their debut, �Demo Days�, play is a little sloppy, but still, there is a certain amount of energy to the band that may be lost in an official �studio� recording. �Demo Days� feels like a live show more than a studio disc, and it is pretty easy to imagine the band in front of one while the tracks work their way into each other. While there seems to be more of a focus nowadays on J.J.�s other band Totally Rejected, one can only hope that ey devotes equal time to The Hybrid, the last bastions of punk rock in a city that seems to only like new emo music like Taking Back Sunday and Brand New.

17)Cruci-Fetus � Created out of the demented minds of two local (Lancaster, Ohio) kids, Cruci-Fetus, Cruci-Fetus is Dead Kennedys, Anal Cunt, and Aus Rotten all rolled in one, and they are on a mission to fight injustice and the fucked-up system in which they currently live. This mixture of 80�s metal guitar along with the surfer-punk vocals of Joe and the more grave vocals of George brings an immediacy to this disc � if we don�t go in and fuck things up, all things will simply go to pot. Their �Demo� disc was one of the most refreshing listens that I�ve had in a while to a disc, and even if they have replaced drummers, the tracks that are still on the horizon for the band seem to be glittering with the potential to be some of the most solid to come out of the scene in a long time.

16)The Kodan Armada � One of the larger by number people bands that I�ve reviewed. The Kodan Armada is a seven-person band, and while they only have out �Ohio Killed the Grey Ghost�, they really play as if they have a few years under their belts. With enough talent to move outside of the common definitions of punk, hardcore, and rock music, The Kodan Armada is only properly described when one lifts the quote from their website, �a room full of kids, all having a cathartic release at the same time...and appearing to have a simultaneous nervous breakdown.�

15)Whatever It Takes � On A-F Records, this band features Chris #2 (Anti-Flag�s bassist) and comes out blasting with an old school punk that really puts Pittsburgh on the map. However, after a successful year in which people saw the re-release of their two earlier efforts, �A Fistful of Revolution� and �Scars and Skulls�, along with their split with fellow Pittsburgh band The Code, Whatever It Takes scattered like dust in the wind. While I haven�t had time to check them out yet, the Vacancy, a band that includes Kevin from WIT, is currently ripping it up in the Pittsburgh scene.

14)Intro5pect � Wow, two A-F bands in a row! This time, we have a band in Intro5pect that does not sound completely like Anti-Flag, or even have any Anti-Flag members in its roster. Coming off like a good Refused or a more electronic (International) Noise Conspiracy, Intro5pect hit it off big with �Rights� and �Sustainable Yield�, both cuts off of their self-titled 2003 album. Other tracks would continue to have the cutting-edge electronic feel of the aforementioned songs, and all and all make a solid and memorable disc. What might have seemed too near an Atom and His Package or INC album was furthered in the former by containing political lyrics and the latter by containing a greater electronic buzz.

13)DarlingtonDarlington might just be the one band that has released the most music before I checked them out. Darlington was another band that I vaguely remember Evan Parker (of The Charlestons) talking about in high school, so I picked them up along with Huntington and The Lillingtons. Darlington is probably the most direct descendent of The Ramones � I mean, take a listen to �Sugar Fix� : I want a girl who's as sweet as all the candy in the world/I want a girl who's as sweet as vanilla ice cream with chocolate swirls�. While their songs might not be the most original or even well-written, they are all delivered with the same honesty and lack of irony . Coming out with �Moron-A-Thon� in 2003, Darlington has come a long way since their Mess days in the mid 1990s.

12)Bright Eyes � Another band that got all sort of press in the time before I liked them, Bright Eyes were continually ignored by yours truly as another indie flavour of the week. That is, until my former fraternity father, Jason Nerad, took us down to Gatlinburg, Tennesee, and proceeded to shout out every single lyric from �Lifted�, even the entirety of the lyrics to the nine-minute long opus �Lets Not Shit Ourselves�. I would promptly steal Jason�s copy of the disc afterwards, keep it over the summer, and finally trade in about a hundred of my useless reviewed CDs and get a new copy. For those that aren�t aware of Bright Eyes, imagine the most emo band and lyrics you can come up with � and multiply that by about ten. Look at the lyrics from one of the songs off of Lifted, �Bowl of Oranges� : �came up a doctor who appeared in quite poor health. I said "(I am terribly sorry but) there is nothing I can do for you /(that) you can't do for yourself."/ He said "Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand. I think that would help." /So I sat with him a while and then I asked him how he felt. /He said, "I think I'm cured. No, in fact, I'm sure of it.� While Conor Oberst might be a solid musician, and eir�s other band Desaparecidos are a near-miss band to this list, ey is not the god that popular magazines make eir out to be.

11)The Destroyed � Much, much before my time, Boston was a happening place and wasn�t inhabited by a number of idiotic tough-guy hardcore acts. When the punk movement was at its height in the mid seventies, The Destroyed were one of the biggest bands in Boston, playing for the likes of the Ramones. Finding my name off some sort of engine, Bert Switzer (the drummer) gets in touch with me personally and sends me a copy of their new disc. After twenty-five years apart, the band gets back together and creates some of the most endearing punk rock that I�ve ever heard. They might be old temporally, but by fucks� sake, The Destroyed have the drive of kids my age.

10)Zegota � Taking their name from a council that aided Polish Jews during World War II, Zegota plays the same insane style of anarcho-hardcore that RAMBO plays. However, these two acts are far from the same. While my buddy Kim turned me onto this band, I can�t seem to really find much information on the band. They are going to release their first full-length album, �Movement in the Music� here soon on Crimethinc Records, but they have been in the North Carolina scene for almost half a decade. It takes a whole other breed of band to change the immortal �4 Dead in Ohio� into a nine minute long opus.

9)Paris � Go back in time to 1992, right before Clinton was elected. If you were coherent enough, you remember the big hubbub about gangster rap, and probably heard Paris� name mentioned. Eir�s album �Sleeping With the Enemy� got an added boost, due to the most offensive of the tracks, �Bush Killa�. But, in my case, I was nine at the time, and while I do vaguely remember individuals talking about gangster rap, my knowledge about the genre started and ended with Nate Dogg�s classic �Regulate�. So, we move back up in time to early 2003, during my most intense infatuation with everything relating to ICP. Anybody Killa, a member of ICP�s record label, released the album �Hatchet Warrior�, which had � you guessed it, Paris on a track called �Ghetto Neighbor�. With lyrics like : �Who's that nigga slash Nasdaq sponsored ass? /Soldier devils never love, fucking up your country club /Bailing through the gates, raising hatred in they eyes /Why try to calculate when niggas make it when I ride by /Though you can't stand seeing any non-European�, how can you honestly not be in love. This intensity, the level in which Paris raps, continued to burn greatest in eir�s 2003 release, �Sonic Jihad.�

8)The Lillingtons - Yes, they are pop punk. Yes, they completely are bobbing at the collective knob of the Ramones. But, after I heard �X-Ray Spex�, I could honestly say I was hooked. That track, while not as derivative or as hackneyed as some of their others, had a more of a Husker Du meets Ramones type of feel. After downloading the entirety of �The Backchannel Broadcast�, I was more than hooked, I was actually addicted to their music. However, it wasn�t until I heard �Phantom Maggot� on a Lookout sampler that I actually realized the intensity of this band. Call them boring, call them played out, but this Wyoming band is definitely not one to immediately discount.

7)Thought Riot � One of the many A-F bands I discovered this year, Thought Riot has been unfairly tied to AFI. Sure, the Gothy overtones and some of the hushed whispers might be derivative of AFI, but Thought Riot would rather go out and inform polticially rather than become teen idols and mTV pinups. Releasing �Sketched of Undying Will� earlier in 2003, Thought Riot perfected the breakneck punkcore that was first put on disc in 2002, on �Shattered Mirror Syndrome�. Starting off their new album with �And behold the revolution here in the hearts of you and I. Yeah we hold the revolution in our songs�, they lay out what they believe time and time again without hiding behind unintelligible lyrics (Metalcore / Political Death Metal) or extended metaphors (ASMZ / GYBE!). It must be remembered that, unlike fellow labelmates Anti-Flag, Thought Riot actually has skills in playing their instruments, so we are not just left with another Justin Sane weedling the crowd over subpar instruments.

6)Leftover Crack � Leftover Crack, Choking Victim, any different names that The Stza has came up with the band, they all play good, dirty punk rock music. Not shying away from political horrors like 9-11, their website (fuckworldtrade.com) is an obvious nod to their beliefs. With subject matter like drinking, panhandling, they pander to the Fear / The Dictators crowd while still insinuating highly-charged beliefs in their music. From �And when the laws of God just make ya pissed, You better become an atheist, Dead, dead, dead, dead, Yer god is dead to me!� (Atheist Anthem), to �autonomy from ignorance there's got to be a better way, but the racist, sexist homophobes and piggies gotta pay.� (Gay Rude Boys Unite), Leftover Crack comes storming from the gates approaching political matters from a socio-economic, instead of an idealistic way.

5)The Charlestons � The Lancaster, Ohio music scene, for the last half-decade, been populated by at least one band that has had Evan Parker as a members. While some of the earlier acts were forgettable, they were instrumental in leading up to Lancaster�s White Trash. Widely regarded as the best band to come from the city, they were even approached by Joe Queer. However, they would soon break up and in its place would be a more Queers, Riverdales, Huntingtons, and Darlington influenced band in The Charlestons. While a number of members have came and left the band in the short time they have been playing, The Charlestons have gotten their shit togetether enough to release an LP (the ? LP) and are currently in the process of working on a follow-up to that.

4)Pitfall � Coming out with (Now With 23 Times the Doom!) back in 2001, Pitfall makes a break-neck hardcore that is funny at times and intensely political at others. Imagine a harder Dead Kennedys mingling with M.O.D. and one begins to have an idea how Pitfall sounds. While it may be hard at times to know what Pitfall is saying, the beat will whip anyone into a frenzy and the accompanying lyric sheet will solve some of the questions. Most of the songs don�t last longer than the average Anal Cunt song, and with lyrics like �Crusties don�t wear flip-flops / Not even when it�s hot / So don�t buy them them for a present, �cause flip-flops don�t look menacing�but they do have cell-phones�. While Cathy is currently working with Defiance, Ohioers in Pretty Hot, Pitfall definitely is a killer band.

3)The Devil is Electric � Even thought they just lost a drummer in Grant, The Devil is Electric plays pop-punk (bouncy punk music, instead of Blink / Green Day / Etc �Pop-Punk) with a political message. Coming out of Bloomington, Indiana The Devil is Electric consists of members of the defunct Operation : Cliff Clavin. On the equally cool Plan-It-X records (sometime home for Against Me!, O:CC, Disarm (another great O:CC off-shoot band), and This Bike is a Pipe Bomb), The Devil is Electric tries to change the status quo through catchy songs and a style of experimentation with time signatures and double-harmonies that will intertwine themselves into one�s head.

2)Defiance, Ohio � Originally coming from Columbus, Ohio, this anarcho-folk punk band consists of five kids, playing such off-kilter instruments as upright bass, cello, and violin. Not simply content to be a �specialty� band, Defiance, Ohio�s music skillfully mixes politics and personal life in such a way to make what they say applicable to entire crowds, not just the crunchy punks in the corner drinking Pabst. For example, take �I Don't Want Solidarity If It Means Holding Hands With You�, with lyrics including �so please, the next time you're smashing the state, don't go breaking my heart. because i know that when we pick up the pieces, the only thing left will be the same empty rubble that's made up every revolution that i've ever known.� http://www.terrorware.com

1)Against Me! � Honestly, I feel a little bad putting AM! up at the top due to the fact that they are so famous now, signing onto Fat Wreck Chords, but I got into them when they were still on No Idea. I remember the first few times hearing them, thinking that they were absolute gash � I just had to listen to them on their own terms. Against Me! is another anarchofolk punk band, but have since became a little more electric in their stylings, with their latest album �As the Eternal Cowboy�. Seeing them live is an amazing experience, with every single audience member (250 pre-Fat signing) singing every word of the songs. http://www.againstme.net