In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week, we’re remembering songs from the great live performances we saw in 2012.
As much as I’ve written about Japandroids this month—they made my favorite album and song of the year—a curious thing has happened when I’ve thought of the band lately: I get “Doom! Doom! Doom!” by Latterman stuck in my head. The bands don’t really have anything in common aside from a reckless energy and devotion to loud guitars, but maybe that’s all my brain needs to connect them. I didn’t know anything about Latterman when 2005’s No Matter Where We Go…! showed up at the office, but “Doom! Doom! Doom!” quickly entered the rotation on my iPod. The song barely makes it past two and a half minutes, but it’s a pleasing burst of PMA punk about forming “new mindsets to bring us through,” “connections that miles can never break,” and the importance of holding “onto the moments that hold meaning.” Unsurprisingly, Latterman was the kind of band that had a spoken-word pro-feminism track called “Dear Boys,” on No Matter Where We Go…! and mentioned in its liner notes the album was made for cheap at home, so listeners know they could do the same. It was all rah-rah DIY boosterism, the kind of thing that attracts a lot of us to punk. What also attracts me are the big, hooky guitars and energy in “Doom! Doom! Doom!” Set back the setbacks for one more fucking day, everyone.