I found 2009 to be an unusually strong year for music. Or perhaps more specifically, the kind of indie rock  I like. Pop music moves in cycles. At times the cycles seem to be revving at a million RPM and at others they all have flat tires.

The beginning of the decade saw everyone was trying to sound like Gang of Four, New Order and PIL. I was pretty happy until wagon-jumpers started cloning the clones and the genes got too diluted.

Then the ‘00s seemed to hit a dry spell for indie rock. Free-psyche took its place for a while but by 2007-08 it seemed like everything was hitting a drought. I’m not sure I’ve been able to scrape an end-of-year top five together for the last three years much less a top ten.

This year I was able to jot down 13 titles without even thinking about it. Was it a strong year? Was I just more receptive to new music? Is it just that once again, like 1999-2003, one of the kinds of music I like (this time it’s noise-pop) is back in style and is being given a dust-off and a fresh coat of paint? Perhaps.

I’ve written about some of these albums already, and not all fall under the “noise-pop” umbrella, but here is, by my reckoning, the Top 13 Albums of 2009 in No Particular Order.

Japandroids: Post-Nothing — This duo from Vancouver remind us all that when you blend “pop” and “punk” it doesn’t have to sounds like Blink 182. It can sound like pop-punk was meant to sound like. Superchunk meets Husker-Du in the rec-room of The Replacements’ mom’s house and no one remembered to take out the trash.

Girls: Album — I like the idea of Elvis Costello. It’s a great theory, but in practice it’s somewhat of a disappointing experience. Especially that first album. Girls found a way to put the theory into practice and make it work. All it took was a little more of Johnathan Richmond’s wry nihilism and some lo-fi garage-punk aesthetic. After all this time, someone figured it out.

The xx: xx — Ex-ex or double ex? I don’t know. I do know that they sound a lot like Stars. Just as well since the Montreal storytellers seem to have suddenly stopped putting out brilliant pop records with their last few EPs of boring drivel. So while The xx aren’t even aping a band from 25 years ago (like most acts this decade have), they at least have the foresight to pick one of the best and have the chops to pull it off. They even add a little bit of surf-guitar twang to the breathy girl-boy vocals, catchy hooks and a nice beats. Nice die-cut cover too.

The Drums: Summertime EP — “Don’t Be a Jerk, Johnny” could be a sequel to “Johnny Are You Queer?” only it’s better. Drums are almost like a cuter, happier version of Magnetic Fields. Infectious three-chord party-pop for roof-top parties in the… well… summertime.

Crocodiles: Summer of Hate — “I Wanna Kill” sounds so much like a Psychocandy b-side you’d swear it’s Jesus and Mary Chain. That’s a good and bad thing. Zero points for originality, ten points for awesomeness. It also sets the listener up for a little bit of disappointment the whole album isn’t quite so reverential to JAMC’s television-static bubblegum. Still, even if the noise-pop that rounds out the disc is more “noise” than “pop” it’s still pretty great. Perhaps greater.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — The best album Slumberland forgot to put out in 1992? Almost contrived in the perfect way they blend of early 90’s American dream-pop, a little brit-pop and shoegaze, these kids come off sort of like a Superchunk/Velocity Girl side project where they put on fake British accents. That’s the second time I’ve name-dropped Superchunk in this article. Actually this is shaping up to be a string of comparisons to bands from when I was young. Anyway… The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are as cute and infectious as any band, anywhere at anytime.

Woods: Songs of Shame — These freaky folksters eschew the Bolan-esque airy-fairy imagery of the Banhart school of eccentricity for a more CSNY approach. If Pavement had been trying to emulate America or CCR, they might have sounded like this. That’s a good thing, by the way. Lo-fi folk-rock hasn’t been this catchy and exciting in years.

Sonic Youth: The Eternal — A return to the more organic, psychedelic flow of A Thousand Leaves but with the punky punch of Goo and the noise experimentation of NYC Ghosts & Flowers. A true return to form by alt-rock veterans.

Crystal Stilts: Alight of Night — If Magnetic Fields’ Distortion had been good instead of embarrassing, this might have been that record. That’s my second name-drop of Magnetic Fields. Let’s drop some more. Stick Violent Femmes, Joy Division and JAMC in a blender, hit “frappe” and drink down this reverb and despair rock’n’roll smoothie.

Raveonettes: In and Out of Control — While I’m tossing-out names like plates at a Greek wedding, let’s drop JAMC one more time. If John Hughes got to produce a JAMC album, this might have been it. I’m almost suspicious this album is actually a mash-up of M83’s Saturdays=Youth and Barbed Wire Kisses. It’s that good.

James Blackshaw: The Glass Bead Game — There are no names to drop in this review. Well, maybe John Fahey. Maybe Jack Rose. James Blackshaw is a free-folk 12-string virtuoso. Well, “virtuoso” might be stretching it. But he sure is some kind of good. I usually get a bit sickly from this kind of wankery but James manages to make some gorgeous, gorgeous music that makes me forget he’s playing too many notes and vegan girls probably throw their diva cups on stage when he’s playing.

Tune Yards: Bird Brains — I feel a bit dodgy including this one on the list since I’m still new to it and I haven’t internalized it fully. I’m pretty confident it may end up being one of my all-time faves. It may not, but at the moment I’m really impressed with it’s fresh blend of abstract indie-folk meets 8-bit trip-hop. And that bluesy voice! It reminds me of a lo-fi, folky Tricky at his weirdest. I’m looking forward to getting to know this lady better.

Akron/Family: Set ‘em Wild, Set ‘em Free — Not too many bands from the original “New Weird America” outbreak are still making good records. Is this one of the Family’s best? Yes and no? Maybe. No. Yes. Kind of. It was much better than just “better than I expected.” It’s pretty great, really. They finally got all their influences corralled and lined up to be deployed effectively instead of their previous free-range approach. Breaking free of M. Gira’s gravitational pull probably also did them in good stead. They still sound like they wish it was 1972, but that’s what’s great about them.

Also rans: A Place To Bury Strangers: Exploding Head; Pet Shop Boys: Yes; The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love; Jonsi and Alex: Riceboy Sleeps; Mirah: (A)spera; Sufjan Stevens: The BQE