Top 10 lists are intimidating. What if I miss something good? What if I don't agree with the critics? There's no way I could have heard every single disc last year. How can I be an authority?

If it makes Reel Big Fish happy to cling to the dream of a third-wave ska revolution, then more power to them. Still, making ska for the sake of keeping the genre alive doesn't produce the best results. Even though their songs are still upbeat as ever, I can't help but think there were some tears shed behind the scenes for a genre that once was.

Bogeymen of nightmares past compel you to rock this Sunday, Jan. 6, with Calling Kevorkian, Anonymous Victims, Scarless, Into the Ocean and Brokencyde. All-ages at the Launchpad ($5/$7), doors open at 7 p.m. (LM)

After an ugly breakup and several robberies, Khaled Tabarra had a wealth of song-writing material.

Party-pop is not easy to make and De Novo Dahl's new album proves it. Like its title suggests, Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound tries to do too many things, attempting to combine bluegrass, alt.rock, electro, psychedelia and power-pop into a small, sugary dose of medicine that's too jagged to swallow. When the band meshes a couple of said genres instead of cramming them all in, there are some successful moments on the record. But too often, De Novo Dahl is in the midst of an identity crisis that a pop backdrop can't cope with. (SM)