Wow, what a great way to end Season 4 of “Justified.” Boyd calls out Raylan with the line “I think you’ll believe anything that lets you lay your head on the pillow at night believing you ain’t the bad guy.” The dark ambiguity of who the good guys really are took a strange turn this year with the Drew/Shelby plotline, but Raylan being complicit in the murder of the guy from “Glee” really drove the point home. In Rand Paul country, it’s hard to tell who is wearing the white hat.
Speaking of white hats, our editorial board has been taking some heat for pronouncing “Hospitality” our CD of the Year for 2012. I thought anything that came out on Merge was fair game. Look at these loverly kids with their faux British accents and Beatles hardware. How could they not be our champions? Still not convinced? Let’s go to the video:
You’ll also notice perennial favorite, Rhett Miller made the list again. On the plus size, Rhett is touring with his day job band, the Old 97s again. And as an added bonus, Murry Hammond gets to sing 4 songs. If you’re like Esquire magazine and prefer the Murry compositions, then this tour is for you.
Finally, a release from 2012 that didn’t make our list only because I just got it is the Allah Las. Man, if you like 60s garage psychedelia played like it was recorded in the Zombies’ basement, then this is the band for you. Each song is a certified gem. You’ll want to kick Eric Burton in the shins. You’ll want to dig up Richard Burton and kick him in the liver. It’s that good! Run, don’t run, to a record store on the intertubes and buy this! Schnell!!!