It wasn’t a great year for humanity, what with Fukushima and all, but at least there was some good music released along with the hot particles.

Foo Fighters
Wasting Light
The Foos went back to the garage on their seventh studio album, and lucky for us they took some killer hooks with them.

The Falcons
Atomic Guitar
Local instro-rock maestro Mike Beddoes leads his crack band in a collection of 12 trebly originals (and a lap-steel-infused cover of “Sleepwalk”) that remind you why you loved the Shadows and the Ventures so much in the first place.

George Thorogood & the Destroyers
2120 South Michigan Ave.
Kick-ass boogie blues is alive and well in the hands of Thorogood, who pays tribute to the home of Chicago’s Chess Records with righteous tunes by Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, and, especially, Willie Dixon.

Fountains of Wayne
Sky Full of Holes
Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood continue to be melodic-pop craftsmen of the highest order on their fifth studio album. Too bad the more fitting title, Pure Pop for Now People, was already taken.

Joe Bonamassa
Dust Bowl
On his 11th studio album the former child protégé of Danny Gatton shows that singing and songwriting—especially on tunes like the stirring “The Last Matador of Bayonne”—are as much a part of his arsenal as white-hot Les Paul licks.