In at number 12 in The Punk Site‘s 2022 top 20 is Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave, the debut solo release from Gregor Barnett (The Menzingers) that was released in February via Epitaph Records. Despite all the turbulence surrounding its creation, there’s something deeply hopeful and reassuring about the album. Written and recorded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the collection is a sonic departure from Barnett’s more punk-leaning work with The Menzingers, drawing on the gritty, off-kilter Americana of Tom Waits or Warren Zevon as it faces down loss and doubt in search of relief and redemption. The songs here are lean and powerful, with unfussy arrangements driven by simmering guitars and driving percussion, and the performances are raw and direct to match, cutting straight to th...