Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…

#8 – Ganging Up on the Sun – Guster

I discovered the Massachusetts-based alternative rock band Guster around 2000, after their third album — Lost and Gone Forever — brought them wider attention. That was an indie delight, with a lo-fi DIY aesthetic that suited its clever songwriting.

Then came 2003’s Keep It Together, on which the band’s co-founder/drummer Brian Rosenworcel used sticks (rather than his hands) for the first time, and Guster proved they could deliver tight pop songs with an edge. That remains my favorite of their albums.

Ganging Up on the Sun wrapped up that trilogy by getting more experimental and rocking a bit harder, while still delivering the quirky alt-pop goods on songs like today’s SOTD.

First single ‘Satellite’ became a minor alternative radio hit and the band’s first gold record. That’s an upbeat love song, but other tracks on Ganging Up on the Sun skew political, taking aim at G.W. Bush’s war in Iraq.

The album’s centerpiece is the seven-minute ‘Ruby Falls,’ an epic suite about regret and redemption that the band says was inspired by Pink Floyd’s ambitious songwriting.

For some reason, I fell off the Guster train after this album and haven’t heard their next four. Funny how that happens sometimes, even for bands that have never let you down.