So, now for the SWSL Top 10 Albums Of 2003:

10. EELS – Shootenanny!
By no means E’s finest hour (that still has to be 2000’s excellent Daisies Of The Galaxy) Shootenanny! has nevertheless proved, over several listens, another thoroughly enjoyable Eels record. There’s more welcome fruits of the partnership he’s formed with PJ Harvey collaborator John Parrish, but the real beauty, as ever, lies in his instinctive understanding of how to fashion an unpretentious but evocative pop song and in his wonderful lightness of touch when it comes to even the darkest lyrical material.
Key track: ‘Fashion Awards’

9. CAVE IN – Antenna
Although Antenna noticeably more melodic, slick and palatable for the mainstream than their previous records, Cave In’s full-length major label debut is a potent indicator of what they’re all about – bending rock, metal and post-hardcore into new, unusual and occasionally awkward shapes with the same sort of gusto and determination as Josh Homme’s Queens Of The Stone Age.
Key track: ‘Woodwork’

8. HOT HOT HEAT – Make Up The Breakdown
The record that’s propelled the legendary Sub Pop label to the attention of an audience too young to remember grunge, Make Up The Breakdown is stocked full of infectiously vibrant pop songs with a sharp punk edge. Virtually guaranteed to make anybody dance – even the moping moody indie disco type who would normally only move their feet if someone were shooting at them.
Key track: ‘Get In Or Get Out’

7. RADIOHEAD – Hail To The Thief
As something of a halfway house or bridge between the Radiohead of The Bends and OK Computer and the Radiohead of Kid A and Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief is a little frustrating – fleetingly superb, but also unusually inconsistent. The fact that what is probably my least favourite Radiohead LP since Pablo Honey still makes it to #7 on this list is less a reflection of the deficiencies of the competition and more of the phenomenally high benchmarks they’ve set themselves – what is still a good album by their standards is a great one by everyone else’s.
Key track: ‘Sail To The Moon’

6. YEAH YEAH YEAHS – Fever To Tell
A fucking riot of hedonistic energy and exuberance from the start almost right to the finish, when the likes of ‘Maps’ and ‘Modern Romance’ change the mood by beautifully documenting the drunken and tearful comedown. Even if Karen O is destined to be most vividly remembered for being the catalyst behind the complete change of face undergone by high street fashion in 2003, at least she’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing that her band dropped a gloriously feisty debut LP.
Key track: ‘Maps’