Year End List: 2023
This year's edition of 50 albums I listened to, and loved, a whole lot.
It’s that time of the year again. This year, after a long time resisting, I gave into Rate Your Music and have been keeping track of my thoughts on albums (new and old) there. Creating these lists is always a mix of last.fm listening stats and cross-checking my Heavy Rotation playlist, but RYM added a useful “what were my highest rated albums released this year?” level that made creating this list a bit easier than years gone by.
That said, here’s 50 albums I listened to and really loved this year. For the first time, I’m also including a big list of my spill-over, honorable mentions at the end as well for anyone who just needs more than 50 albums, haha.
Otherwise, if you’re reading this in the email, it’s too long so you should click through and read it in-browser to see all the albums!
Spotify Playlist:
Previous lists:
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
awakebutstillinbed - Chaos Takes the Wheel and I Am a Passenger (Tiny Engines)
One incredibly strong follow-up to a phenomenal album; in fact, it may be even better than their debut in almost every way. absib takes a more is more approach on Chaos Takes the Wheel and I Am a Passenger; it's poppier, it's more emo, it's more theatrical, it's louder (though in more sparse moments? Hard to explain.)
There's a lot of emo that sounds similar to absib but for my money, this is one of the best examples of the modern take on the genre. They never sound like they are indulging in tropes just because it's expected of the genre - every noodly little riff, foray into poppy hooks or pull back into sparse guitar and echo-y vocal takes feel earned and a part of a greater emotional whole.
I think by the end of “Bloodline” - the six-and-a-half-minute opener - you'll know if this is for you or not. I had shivers by the four-minute mark and loved every minute of the rest of the album.
This is gonna be divisive. People are going to say they got too poppy or accessible (on an album with 6 and 8-minute songs back to back?) and that they leaned too far into more expected song structures, or even that the production is too clean. I dunno, none of that surfaced as I listened to this. It felt like a band's ambition sprawling out in every direction and somehow sticking the landing anyway.
mui zyu - Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century (Father/Daughter Records)
An amazing kind of experimental haunting pop music record. Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century was a bit out of nowhere for me when it came out (despite loving Dama Scout) so it hit hard. This is one of those albums that I kept revisiting again and again because it’s got an amazing mix of listenable art-pop vibes but with a ton of depth that repeat listens continued to open up. Love, love it.
Tanukichan - Gizmo (Company Records)
I’ve always been fickle when it comes to “shoegaze revival” bands. At the risk of stereotyping an entire genre, it’s maybe one of the easiest to get desensitized to. There are just too many damn bands with too many pedals and they’re all carrying around their copies of Loveless wherever they go. Tanukichan’s Gizmo though, feels like it is actively bringing in elements from other bands and other genres as influences beyond your standard few shoegaze touchstones. There’s a lot of slackery pop here, with that kind of hazy skittering beat (“Don’t Give Up”, “Take Care”) that propels very sneakily catchy tunes. And there’s a dollop of Duster on songs like “A Bad Dream.” A lot of these songs found themselves buried into my brain throughout the year and it felt like a breath of fresh air in an often stale genre.
Katie Dey - Never Falter Hero Girl (Self-Released)
Wildly beautiful mix of glitchy hyper-pop-esque production and singer-songwriter stuff, but without the huge sugar rush that comes with hyper-pop. I guess it's called hypnagogic pop or maybe it would even just be indietronica but there's something special here that defies simple categorization because it also leans heavily on singer-songwriter pop or even just straight-up emotional piano pop on something like the opening of album closer "metaphor." The density of layers on these songs brings to mind that indie-orchestra sound of the aughts but this is a lot more tightly focused and feels more personal than those big bands full of like 20 members would sound.
Almost an hour long but I was emotionally engaged the whole way through. I love the texture of this record and imagine this will only continue to grow on me over the years. It's gorgeous.
FAIM - Your Life and Nothing Else (Safe Inside)
I must have heard Faim’s previous album when it came out in 2020 and enjoyed it, but something about spinning this year’s Your Life and Nothing Else felt like a clean slate to my brain. Faim are a political hardcore band from Denver and as far as I can tell based on their Instagram they might be breaking up after they tour this record. A shame because it fucking shreds. It reminds me a bit of the SWEAT album from last year which I loved so much.
The Raging Nathans - Still Spitting Blood (Rad Girlfriend Records)
A lot of times when I’m talking about this type of orgcore-influenced poppy punk rock I gravitate towards saying “there’s not a lot of bands carrying this torch so I have to celebrate the ones who are” or something to that effect. But that’s not entirely true! There are a ton of bands that are playing something that fits into that Venn diagram of EpiFat skate punk and pop-punk stuff, but The Raging Nathans are certainly one of the best bands doing it right now. They’ve put out three albums in three years and they’re all very good.
RIYL: The Dopamines, The Copyrights, Hospital Job, etc.
2xAA - Alescere (Data Airlines)
Listening to Alescere and reading the liner notes about how it was entirely composed on a Gameboy Advance using nanoloop 2 and digitally captured through a Gamecube via the Game Boy Player has me second-guessing that this was some kind of hybrid-chip and electronic record. Hearing the breadth of sounds here I assumed Alescere must be a hybrid album of non-chiptune and chiptune elements but damn if that's not the case. I would absolutely not consider myself to be a chiptune expert but I've listened to a lot of different chiptune artists and albums over the years and even being familiar with different sounds from different origin systems/platforms/software etc. I still felt like this sounded incredibly diverse. Amazing stuff if you're into this kind of thing, which I am.
Anita Velveeta - i saw the devil in portland oregon (Self-Released)
This was a big surprise that I found digging around in the Friday new release bin. One of the reasons I still love digital digging, clicking on records with intriguing names, songs or album art and finding a gem remains a thrill. This has that kaleidoscopic post-genre thing going on where they will mix elements of indie/punk/noise/emo/electronic/ska?!/etc. but it's just a blender full of big hooks and a lot of enjoyable dynamics. Don’t sleep on this one.
Nicole Yun - Matter (Kanine Records)
One look at my Last.fm stats and it was clear what one of my favourite records of 2023 was. Nicole Yun’s (who you may remember from Eternal Summers) Matter is a pure dose of catchy indie-alt-rock ‘n’ pop that had me thoroughly addicted from my first play. Easily one of my most-listened albums of the entire year.
Pest Control - Don't Test the Pest (Quality Control HQ)
Terrific throwback thrash, but with hardcore song lengths and intensity. I know they aren't the only band that takes thrash metal and adds a dollop of hardcore attitude and breakdowns into it but it sounds so fresh here. This was in pretty high rotation for me since it came out, so it was a no-brainer for this list.
Rosie Tucker - Tiny Songs Volume 1 (Sentimental Records)
When I saw this record drop from Rosie Tucker I had a lot of conflicting feelings. New Rosie Tucker music!!!! But… only 10 minutes?! This mini-album of mostly sub-one-minute long songs that bounce from genre to genre retains Tucker’s ability to craft wildly addictive and hooky pop music with a beating heart. On Tiny Songs, Rosie Tucker proves you can craft deeply relatable and emotional pop music in less than 60 or so seconds. Bring on Volume 2, please!
Riot Stares - Sounds of Acceleration (Daze)
Could not argue with anyone tired of the '90s throwback thing in hardcore/metalcore hating on Riot Stares. This is a band doing Snapcase, Orange 9mm and Quicksand roleplay. I think structurally these songs are often super similar and maybe even stale (the vocals in particular are very one-note) but there's a part of me that just digs this at a gut level. I can't help it! Also, I had to laugh at the user who wrote "music for your ex-vegan hardcore older brother who modifies cars for a living now" in the comments box on Rate Your Music… lmao honestly too true.
Sad Park - NO MORE SOUND (Pure Noise Records)
In 2021, Sad Park just narrowly missed landing on my year-end list with their album It’s All Over. In some ways, NO MORE SOUND is a very similar record; emo-adjacent, power-pop indebted indie-punk that doesn’t sit still in that kind of Rosenstockian kind of way. Much like Rosenstock, they have a way of taking relatively simple hooks and adorning them with energetic textures, turning them into room-filling near-arena-sized sing-alongs. Their previous album was solid, but NO MORE SOUND was a big step forward for Sad Park.
Punty - Meeko (DONOTHING RECORDS)
Punty is a bit of a mystery to me; when I first wrote about it there was no Bandcamp for the album and DONOTHING didn’t seem to have a lot of information about their releases out there either. What I do know, is that Meeko hits that sweet spot between indie-rock and emo-pop that will work wonders on fans of Options, Oso Oso, Shelf Life, et al. Punty stuffs their songs with hooks, and they’re particularly apt at mixing their acoustic-led riffs with full-band instrumentation - great production too.
Washer - Improved Means to Deteriorated Ends (Exploding In Sound Records)
When Here Comes Washer landed in 2016, they brought something exciting to an overcrowded marketplace of bands playing noisy, 90s-influenced guitar rock. They had a scrappily infections aspect to them in a genre full of bands whose influences and textures all felt delicately placed in a way that could strike a listener as put upon. It’s been a bit of a wait for their latest (their first since 2017’s All Aboard) and Washer is still bashing out huge tunes with the best of them. 15 songs, 34 minutes, what more do you need?
Marnie Stern - The Comeback Kid (Joyful Noise Recordings)
Exactly what you want from a record like this. The songs sound a lot like an extension of Chronicles of Marnia, with a sprinkle of their louder/mathier earlier work put in for good measure. It's 28 minutes and leaves me wanting to hear it again to get these melodies drilled into my brain. Welcome back, Marnie.
Open City - Hands In The Honey Jar (Get Better Records)
The second album from this group featuring Dan Yemin (Lifetime, Paint it Black, Armalite, Kid Dynamite), Chris Wilson (Acquaintances, Hammered Hulls, Ted Leo, Titus Andronicus), Rachel Rubino (Bridge And Tunnel, Worriers) and Andy Nelson (Paint it Black, Ceremony, Affirmative Action Jackson.)
Like their previous record, this wavers between melodic hardcore and a poppier strain of indie-punk plus some bursts of Fugazi-esque post-hardcore. Goes down easy but the hooks and riffs are strong enough that it stuck around in my rotation.
Zulu - A New Tomorrow (Flatspot Records)
Absolutely can see why this would be divisive from a structure and pacing perspective but personally, the samples and the genre-hopping work together to create something affecting and effective from a few different angles. The hardcore/powerviolence stuff doesn't break the mould but in conjunction with the samples and spoken word I feel like when you do zoom out on this as a whole piece of work it holds up incredibly well and is paced quite effectively. Looking at it on a "song by song" basis you can easily go "OK these are the few 'song songs' I would return to just on their own" but this isn't an album where I need to do that, it's enjoyable to take in as one 28 minute piece of art and is one of the reasons why I do find myself returning to it. Seeing them live also helped, they fucking ripped.
En Attendant Ana - Principia (Trouble in Mind Records)
En Attendant Ana’s last album landed on my 2020 year-end list, so I was pretty stoked to hear their latest one when it dropped. It’s more phenomenal dreamy indie-sophisti-pop from this incredibly consistent group and it was no question that it’d secure a spot on my year-end list.
Bat Boy - Fun Machine (Asian Man Records)
More indie-punk with a pop-punk sensibility to its hooks that sits right in the perfect comfort zone for me personally. Tracks like "(Robinson St.) Julie" and "January" just have that great power-pop-punk melody pulsing through them that gets me every time.
Features Jake from Spraynard, Cory from Sundials and Hannah (of Spraynard demo tape artwork and ran their merch table on tour.) Described in their press kit as sounding like "Discount meets Tilt meets The Muffs meets Josie and The Pussycats" and that should get you most of the way there. There's also a lot of that Sundials indie-punk with big hooks sound in here.
Wasted Years - Restless (Not Sorry Records)
It took me a minute to adjust to Cati's vocals on this album. Not sure if it's an accent thing, a mixing thing, or a performance thing. And I'm not saying it negatively either, they just feel... different than you might expect from what is an otherwise expected modern pop-punk sound. This overall sits in that sweet spot between 90s and 00s pop-punk worship, and it's quite catchy. Once I adjusted to Cati’s (very good!) vocals it stuck itself in my heavy rotation. It’s also neat to see a group’s Bandcamp page namechecking bands you don't see namechecked every day (Samuel, Hankshaw, Baby Gopal.)
Rocky - Self-Titled (Lulus Sonic Disc Club)
Within about 20 seconds I figured this release must have something to do with Grass Widow. When Grass Widow dropped Past Time in 2010 it melted my brain, I love that album so so much. Anyway, I fled to Bandcamp and there it was: rocky is a new project from Xanthe Waite (Terry, Primo) and Raven Mahon (Grass Widow, Green Child). If you are a fiend for lockstep guitar and bass melodies, post-punk drum machine jams and dual vocals this will be your new favourite.
Kool Keith & Real Bad Man - Serpent (Real Bad Man Records)
Kool Keith has released maybe an album's worth of good music throughout, like, 14 albums it feels like. 2020's Space Goretex was an interesting but samey collab with the noise/punk/grind band Thetan. Collabs with buzzy producers like L'Orange and Ray West or even a whole album with Del The Funky Homosapien were pretty good at best and terrible at worst (the lattermentioned Subatomic LP.)
So, safe to say you never know what you're going to get from Keith. Serpent is a collab with Real Bad Man on production and damn if this isn't Keith's best effort in years and years. Keith sounds engaged with some memorable material and the beats are fantastic throughout.
But then again, Keith has already released two more albums since this one dropped (Black Elvis 2, Mr. Controller) so they've already moved on in classic Keith fashion. Black Elvis is another fairly solid effort, but Mr. Controller is more Keith business as usual (i.e. sounds a bit like a dumping ground.)
Regardless, albums like Serpent are why I'll keep checking in on their records just in case.
Blockhead - The Aux (Backwoodz Studioz)
One look at the tracklist on this and you realize it takes “stacked features” to another level. Quelle Chris, Open Mike Eagle, Armand Hammer, Breezly Brewin, RXKNephew, Danny Brown, billy woods, and the list goes on.
And the material rises to the occasion - the worst thing you could say is maybe the production feels a little samey over 50+ minutes, but that's Blockhead. I like their production so that doesn't bother me much. All the features are sick and the whole thing rounds out with a wild posse cut called "Now That's What I Call a Posse Cut Vol. 56." Also just stoked to get an amazing RXKNephew track here. I love their work generally but they put out a ton of material that ranges in quality at a high rate so it can be hard to keep up.
The past few years I've gravitated towards albums that act as huge grab-bags of rap styles (i.e. Quakers II: The Next Wave) and this scratches that itch. I'll be coming back to this a bunch for the rest of the year for sure.
Grassface - Skinwalker (Salinas Records)
Ahhhh… Salinas Records. One of the labels I’ve most described as “consistent” over the years. You can bet that if Salinas puts out a record, it probably rules. Grassface is no exception with their straight-up melodic punk rock on Skinwalker. Grassface never gets too poppy, too hardcore, too derivative… it’s all pitched perfectly. Let’s hope they get straight to work on more tunes soon. Features members of Canadian Rifle and This Is My Fist.
Golden Apples - BANANASUGARFIRE (Lame-O Records)
Great indie-rock/guitar-pop from Russell Edling and Co. I'm a big fan of Nona / Eight so always excited to hear more from Mimi Gallagher as well. Golden Apples have been on a nice little run of genre-defying indie-rock releases, where you can't quite put your finger on their overarching sound but they still feel like their own contained thing. Very cool record that I hope didn’t fly under people's radar this year!
The HIRS Collective - We're Still Here (Get Better Records)
The HIRS Collective has put out a lot of music, whether it’s on multiple 100-song releases or 2018’s album Friends. Lovers. Favorites. To say their 2023 release spanning 17 tracks and 30+ musicians and featured spots (incl. Shirley Manson, Gouge Away, Escuela Grind, Soul Glo, Dan Yemin, Melt-Banana, Geoff Rickly, Marissa Paternoster, Damian Abraham and more) was highly anticipated would be the understatement of the year. I love everything this band stands for and I think this record rips for the entirety of its 31-minute runtime.
Lorelle Meets the Obsolete - Datura (Sonic Cathedral Recordings)
I'm generally very picky about any kind of music that borders on neo-psych, but this album from Lorelle Meets The Obsolete has enough Stereolab and sophistipop elements to side-step my tiredness with the neo-psych sound.
RIYL: En Attendant Ana, Stereolab, Death and Vanilla, The Soundcarriers
Mouse - Under the Light of the Air Conditioner (Self-Released)
This is so sick. If you like 90s indebted indie-rock that oscillates between Duster-esque vocals, violin-adorned riff-outs, noisy alt-rock, slowcore and shoegaze textures and more, you should try this out.
I would say a lot of the puzzle pieces here are things you have heard before but I am always a sucker for a band putting these elements together and then executing them to the best of their abilities. There are some total rippers on here. Pick a 90s emo/indie-rock band that Numero has re-released in the past year or two and you can probably hear some of their influences in this thing - Karate, Duster, et al. This is a buffet for people who like all kinds of guitar rock.
Phony - Heater (Counter Intuitive Records)
Heater sits in an interesting place in punk/indie-rock these days where it doesn't lean too far into that emo/alt-grunge genre but it has that DNA in here as well. Skirts any kind of shoegaze texture that sometimes comes along with that genre instead for hooky immediacy of poppy punk and power-pop or even some jangle-pop.
Reminds me a bit of stuff like Options, and Donovan Wolfington came to my mind before I realized that Neil Berthier was a former member of that (underrated!) band. And at 20 minutes it has a "leave you wanting more" thing going on.
Squint - Feel It All Wash Away (Sunday Drive Records)
When I saw this in my new release bin when it came out, I thought “Hot damn, a brand new full length!” from this Drug Church-core act… but then I realized it's their two EPs tossed beside one another and pressed to wax. I like those two EPs though so... nice, hell yeah! Coulda used a new song or something to bridge the two, throw us some crumbs y'all!! I hadn’t heard these EPs when they dropped last year though so I'm gonna say this compilation counts as a 2023 release because I make the rules of this list!
Babytooth - Self-Titled (bud tapes)
Babytooth plays scrappy indie-pop-rock that sits adjacent to emo and alongside stuff like bubblegrunge but has a palpable 90s Pacific Northwest guitar rock thing going on. Another sleeper hit for me that deserves more coverage.
RIYL: Hop Along, Palehound etc.
Grove Street - The Path to Righteousness (UNFD)
To me, The Path to Righteousness sounds like a solid mix of hardcore breakdown chugga chugga shit and wacky throwback metal atmosphere… which is usually a successful blend for me. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to heavy stuff, I don't find myself thinking super critically about it unless it bounces off my ears.
This is just 35 minutes of fun riffing around with ridiculous drum fills and groove-based hardcore breakdowns. The riffs segue super silkily from meathead chugging to denim jacket metal hammer-on-hammer-off riffs. I think that's what feels nicest about this stuff to me.
Erik Hall - Canto Ostinato (Western Vinyl)
When this came on my radar, I had no idea about the history of Canto Ostinato, or who Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt was either. Hell, I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with Erik Hall either, who here continues their reimagining of “classical minimalism” works for modern listeners. I just thought the album art looked neat, okay? Canto Ostinato was originally composed by Simeon to be performed on four pianos, and here Hall has re-imagined the piece on organ, electric piano, and grand piano. It’s hypnotic, texturally brilliant, and above all beautiful. What gets me here is how much warmth there is to the recordings, which were done sequentially where each could “react to the last” and are “complete with flaws, noise, and the faint sound of turning pages.” It gives a whole other emotional level to the repeating and interlocking melodies that are already truly captivating.
Doe St - Stepping Stones (Legless Records)
While I was in the thick of a pop-punk/indie-punk scrounging session, I found Doe St. alongside LONE WOLF and a few other acts (like Discomfort Creatures) by band-hopping through the related artists section on Spotify. Been stoked to also see Tracy (Courtesy Desk & Turntable Report) singing their praises too, because this stuff rules.
They lean a little further on the indie-rock or even a pinch towards post-punk in moments. They aren’t as lightning-quick, but I even hear a pinch of Sauna Youth in here.
100 gecs - 10,000 gecs (Dog Show Records / Atlantic Records)
I have to give Jeff Gerstmann a shout-out, because the way he spoke about this album on his podcast made me want to check it out. In the past, I’ve enjoyed some 100 gecs - particularly the ringtone remix with Kero Kero Bonito and Rico Nasty - but I didn’t give them much of a chance past that.
Now that I have become thoroughly addicted to 10,000 gecs I have to bow down to ‘em - any act that mixes hyperpop, ska, nu-metal, pop-punk and blown-out hooks this well has my respect. I don’t think a lot of people understand how hard it can be to make music that can be funny or amusing without becoming a gimmick or a joke. 100 gecs wrote a song about how there’s a frog on the floor, and when they say “Give him some space / he’s still working it out / give him some space / he doesn’t know what people think about” somehow I feel it in my damn bones man. That’s not easy to do! And then seconds later they’re using Primus bass on a song about “Doritos & Fritos” that fucking slaps. God bless ‘em. Is there filler on this album? Yeah? Can I deny the other 5 or 6 songs that are enormously catchy? Nope.
Star 99 - Bitch Unlimited (LAUREN RECORDS)
Bitch Unlimited opens with the sounds of a bouncing pinball machine, and then for 25 minutes kicks out 10 energetic power-pop and indie-rock tunes that will keep your head spinning like the aforementioned machine’s scorecard. Catchy synth-lines, crunchy power chords, jangly alt-rock and a sprinkle of twee-pop abound.
The Go! Team - Get Up Sequences Part Two (Memphis Industries)
It’s easy to forget how staggeringly huge 2004’s Thunder, Lightning, Strike was when it landed like a hand grenade to the blog-rock-stuffed early aughts. It’s maybe just as easy to label the band some kind of flash-in-the-pan act, had you not been keeping track of their five incredibly consistent releases since then. And their sixth continues this impressive run of great albums with what is maybe their best since 2004. From the opening track “Look Away, Look Away” featuring Star Feminine Band (“a group of 7 girls, aged between 10 and 17 years old, from Natitingou, a remote town in the north of Beni”) it’s clear the band has not lost an ounce of their knack at all.
Teenage Halloween - Till You Return (Don Giovanni Records)
Hooky emo-indie-pop-punk with lots of opportunity for room-filling chant-alongs. The self-titled Teenage Halloween album was a little scrappier and hit the spot but this feels like they're tightening up and making their sound as expansive as possible in that Rosenstockian kind of way. All of this probably shreds live in a room full of people singing along. Very satisfying and 30 minutes on the dot too, nice.
Strawberry Runners - Self-Titled (Super Moon Records)
This reminds me quite a bit of Julie Doiron's work; there's an ability to mix folk/singer-songwriter stuff alongside pop melodies but with a good mix of weirder textures and more experimental elements. "Slip Through" is a good example of all of this smashed together into one song. As a whole, it's maybe not immediately satisfying but it's fascinating and I gravitate towards that end of the listening spectrum if I'm in a certain mood.
There's nothing as simple and strong as something like "Brother" off their EP which makes me want to bawl my eyes out, but I think there's an element of these songs working together to build a whole more than their EP.
Year of the Knife - No Love Lost (Pure Noise Records)
My memory of the last YotK record was that it had more of a metalcore sound overall than this one, which feels to me like they've expanded with blasts of groove-thrash and power violence influences, but maybe that's just the shorter song lengths. It's been a while since I spun that last record anyway so maybe I'm way off here and they were always doing this.
I think this is going to leave people wanting more, or wishing that the band leaned further into longer song structures or elaborated on their sense of melody, but there's something to be said about 20 minutes of solid heaviness to me.
Can see someone pointing at "Mourning the Living" and saying there's not a whole lot memorable about it, with it being the second-longest song on the record. I think that's why my lizard brain just likes it when they go all in on quick hits of blast beats or slow and heavy riffing. "Alice" is just a good, heavy swirl of chugs. Overall, this hits my gut but as an album I understand it might not be for everyone.
Fiddlehead - Death Is Nothing to Us (Run for Cover Records)
When this album dropped, I felt like it didn’t hit super super hard but could tell that the quality is pretty consistent throughout the album (which is only 27 minutes! A band that understands to get in and get out and leave you wanting more!) It showed itself to be another sleeper/grower of a record because I found myself circling back more and more until it secured its spot on this list. Just all-around good stuff.
bagel fanclub - how are your cars driving? (Maulcat Records)
Prismatic breakcore/glitch/chip/drill n bass noisiness; Secret Mommy-esque art-glitch with power noise explosions. Some of the noise stretches into near-grating in moments and (watch out Dan is about to say an album is too long again, take a drink) it's too long at almost 50 minutes. Still, I rarely hear stuff in this genre that hits this hard and is this fascinating to parse through, so length be damned this does rule.
SPLLIT - Infinite Hatch (Feel It Records)
I've fallen off a bit when it comes to trying to follow everything released by Feel It records; they went from "Wow everything this label releases is great" to "Wow they release way too much for me to keep up with" quickly.
SPLLIT's last LP was on my year-end list that year so maybe I'm predisposed to liking them but I'm enjoying what sounds like a step towards a more focused sound from them here. A bit fewer songs than last time, a few longer ones, and some more 'song-y' songs alongside the weird and quirky diversions.
A well-rounded slab of whatever you want to call this stuff (post-punk? egg-punk? art-punk?).
Classic Traffic - You Want It? We Got It! (Self-Released)
This one snuck up on me when it came time to figure out my year-end list. It was a record I really liked upon first listen, and ended up spending more time than I had thought with. I fell off it a bit so when I was looking at my last.fm data, it was a bit of a reminder to check back in. This is power-pop indie-alt-rock with a slacker vibe; big guitars, big hooks. Very satisfying.
RIYL: Supercrush, Bob Mould, Van Dale, etc.
community college - SCHMOMCO (Julia’s War Recordings)
Another record this year that takes different strains of indie-rock that I already love like slowcore, acoustic-led emo-pop, and vaguely country-tinged slacker rock then mixes them together with a deft hand for hooks.
RIYL: Options, Slaughter Beach Dog, Suck City
Buen Destino - Self-Titled (BCore Disc)
I had an interesting and convoluted route to discovering this album, which you can read about here. When I finally clicked play, my hair blew back. They’ve got Killing Joke, Discharge, Converge, Jesus Lizard, Daughters, Dead Cross, Breach and more name-checked on their bio, so uh yes, please. This stuff rips so incredibly hard. Likely one of the first albums I heard in 2023 that felt like an instant year-ender.
gueersh - Tempo Elástico (Transfusão Noise Records)
gueersh from Brazil plays psychedelic indie-rock with a mix of classic rock guitar heroics and some dreamy pop melodies thrown in for good measure. They can do everything from guitar-pop (“Praião”) to smokey basement jams (“Luz Guia”). A fantastic album and another one that deserves more spins.
Diners - DOMINO (Bar None Records)
Diners are another one of those bands I’ve been quietly admiring from afar, but have never fully clicked with them on an album level. Until DOMINO, that is. Not entirely sure what the defining factor is here - maybe working with Mo Troper is a part of it? A glance around the internet and you’ll see a lot of similar name checking of power-pop and 70s singer-songwriter names like Nilsson, Big Star and others. On the title track with subtle synths I’m even hearing some Loves You era Beach Boys. It’s at once a very good throwback pop album, a great indie-pop record, a rock solid guitar album, and more.
Total Downer - Caretaker (Just Because Records)
This one was yet another release day discovery and was not on my radar at all before I randomly hit play based on the art alone. The kind of scrappy, poppy and noisy indie-punk that manages to pull off that tough balance of sounding a little bit like a party despite being (as written on their Bandcamp) “a largely autobiographical record revolving around childhood experiences of being hurt and misled by adult society.”
Serious songs overlaid with huge hooks are always something I can get behind and this one is fantastic.
Honorable Mentions:
Kicker - Irish Goodbye, charlie - Precious Metal, Buggin - Concrete Cowboys, glow in the dark flowers - Self-Titled, Packed Rich - Warp Fields, GASKET - Dull the Needle, Ex Everything - Slow Change Will Pull Us Apart, Dying Wish - Symptoms of Survival, Closet Witch - Chiaroscuro, The Chemical Brothers - For That Beautiful Feeling, Capra - Errors, Big Laugh - Consume Me, American Television - Scars, All Structures Align - Cut the Engines, Fuming Mouth - Last Day of Sun, Screaming Females - Desire Pathway, Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions, Bad Idols - Popstar, Echo Planet - NEGATIVE BLAST, Bedspin - Liminal Spaces, Cusp - You Can Do it All, Clayface - Ailments, SPARROWHAWK - Self-Titled, provide - For Me, B.A. Johnston - Argos Suck, Lone Wolf - Haze Wolf, Rotten Sound - Apocalypse, Sweeping Promises - Good Living Is Coming For You, Liquid Mike - Self-Titled, Autumn Rhythm - Joy For Tomorrow, Del Paxton - Auto Locator, Pony - Velveteen, Negative Glow - Volume 1, Deeper - Careful!, Buck 65 - Super Dope, Half Thought - Blackout Curtain, Snõõper - Super Snõõper, Blues Lawyer - All In Good Time, Worlds Worst - Self-Titled.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
That year of the knife album goes so hard. A similar band if you haven’t heard the, already is dying wish. Very mid to late 00’s post hardcore\ metalcore