Best Albums of 2023
As of December 2023
2023 really allowed me to do two things I adore - play video games and listen to music. I never stopped doing either, no matter how much life got in the way, but not having a job has allowed me to really digest a lot of stuff that I love. As much as I love gaming, it is at the top of my personal mountain, the peak is music. As such, I’m capping off this run of my year end favorites with my albums of 2023.
Because I know my tastes aren’t for everyone, some of my friends chipped in as well to share their lists. Those will be posted after my top list!
Since this is a music post and in case you missed it, here are the:
On to the main event! I used Pubmeeple’s ranking engine for all my lists because I’m a coward. I’ll post my Top 10 songs of the year later today.
Top 20 Albums
Castling by Frankie Traandruppel - Belgium’s answer to the Velvet Underground about 40 years late. I spent a lot of time with Belgium rock and almost had the chance to see them while we were in Belgium, but the timing didn’t work out. The biggest upgrade over VU to me is the songs have energy and structure, powered by the strength of “The Lone Ranger,” a ripping, garage rocking anthem. This is clearly a band still trying to solidify their sound, but they have been cranking out music rapid fire (including another record that just came out on December 4th, a more striped down affair).
The album relies heavily on off-kilter melodies, dissonant keyboards and a crooner capable of one of the greatest howls in Belgian rock (see the aforementioned “The Lone Ranger.”)
Idiot Paradise by Dirk. - As you’ll see on this list, I was enamored with the Belgian DIY scene this year. A whopping 5 records, 25% of this list, came out of my time spent digging in to that scene. Dirk scored a radio hit in Belgium with “Toothpick,” a song with a direct lineage to the Pixies. A rumbling bassline that soars into a massive chorus and then backs off again to build to another epic swell. They’ve never quite recaptured the magic of that song, but this record does refine their alt-rock sensibilities. Lead single “No” is catchy, but not engaging.
“Roman Numerals,” on the other hand, shows what the band can do at their best. On the surface, it is a take on the White Stripes, but the song layers in oohs and a pop-punk punch that takes the song in a more interesting direction for me personally. The album pulls heavily from a lot of mainstream alt-rock artists, but when it works it really works. A healthy dose of misanthropy is layered over the record, but ultimately this record is a little too safe for me to really push it for me.
I Was Due For A Heartbreak by Maura Weaver - The first American on the list, Maura has been a major player in the DIY scene for over a decade. She first came to prominence with Mixtapes, a bedroom pop-punk band that blew up quickly in large part to her killer songwriting and enchanting vocals. She further cut her teeth with other acts like Homeless Gospel Choir and Direct Hit! and put out a phenomenal record with punk rock luminary Mike Park in Ogikubo Station.
Here, Maura stands on her own, stripped down and vulnerable. The record feels like voyeurism at points, with Maura playing an acoustic guitar and lyrics that seem pulled straight from a journal. The album opens with a relatively rocking “Ease on the Eyes,” with a twangy lead guitar and lyrics that let you know this is going to be an introspective break-up record.
While the record lacks the pop hooks some of Maura’s other work is known for, this record feels like an alt-country Samiam verse. Lyrics that catch you off guard with fierce punches. Tracks like “Goner” feel like they would have been huge in the late 00’s alt-country boom, while “Sunshine” channels the best twee acoustic acts of the turn of the last century.
Mouche by It It Anita - Listen, I swear I didn’t listen exclusively to Belgian rock music this year. I swear it. It It Anita draws deeply from the well of 90s noise rock and does it well. Mouche is a little too quirky for me compared to some of their more straight forward work, but it never stops being interesting. “Disgrace” calls to mind some of the biggest names in noise rock with a dissonant opening riff that tightens into a simmering, muted verse before exploding into the chorus.
Follow-up track “Don’t Bend (My Friend)” keeps you agitated with a driving bass line and prickly guitar strings plucked at the head. Lead Singer/Guitarist Michaël Goffard is unrelenting, like Henry Rollins raised on David Yow. The album is at its best with tracks like “The World’s Last Cryptonaire,” when the band goes full tilt, or “Giving/Taking” which highlights the bands ability to weave dynamics and dissonance into something beautiful.
Legend Tripping by Dollar Signs - I’ve been friends with the band for almost as long as they’ve been a band. I was internet acquaintances with both Dylan and Erik before they met and the modern line-up was born. I have a long history with them as they grew and eventually overtook any band I was ever in. It’s been amazing to watch. 2015’s Yikes showed the band developing as songwriters, while 2021’s Hearts of Gold was a massive leap forward in production.
Legend Tripping finds the band more comfortable with higher expectations. While the Jeff Rosenstock/AJJ DNA is still deeply intertwined, it feels like Dollar Signs is a fully formed idea now, with all five members bringing their sound and influence into the mold. Erik’s witticisms are still front and center, but this feels very personal and introspective. As much as the band has come together, this might be the most Erik record they’ve ever made.
The album deals heavily with coming to terms with growing up in conservative North Carolina and how that impacts your development. How to address that influence on yourself and with family. Opener “Can’t Go Home Again” tells you what you’re in store for, a more focused Dollar Signs record, a thematic record. “Bless Your Heart,” the lead single, is definitely a callback to classic Dollar Signs and is sure to be a long time crowd favorite.
“Nuclear Family” immediately caught my attention as it deals with the simmering tensions of toxic relationships contrasted with an actual atomic bomb that lives under Goldsboro, NC.
Fun Machine by BAT BOY - If this record had come out 10 years ago, I would have probably written it off without giving it a fair shake. An emo-tinged, pop punk record. Female vocalist, male backing vocals. Featuring Richmond punk legends Jake Guralnik (Hold Tight!/Spraynard) and Cory Chubb (Close Talker - RIP to the GOAT), BAT BOY is fronted by Hannah Eagle, she was running merch for Spraynard and they decided to start a band.
They put out a promising EP in 2017 and a couple of splits but Fun Machine finally showcases the band. Jake has a deep love for pop punk and this feels very much like a Lookout Record filtered through the DIY East Coast scene. Lots of great harmonizing, punchy guitars, great pop hooks and a nice dusting of sugar on the vocals make this a really stand out record.
Lead single “Decoder Ring” is a bit deceptive, pulling on some of the bands hardcore roots feeling more like a skate punk track than the rest of the record. Ultimately, Fun Machine feels like a love letter to pop punk, pulling from a lot of different sounds and turning out it’s own take on a well worn genre. It was recorded with Mike Park and released via his Asian Man Records, that guiding hand really helped make a solid debut and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.
OTHERBODY by Dazy - James Goodson (also of Richmond’s Hold Tight!) started writing and recording at breakneck speed during the height of the pandemic and the result is Dazy. A power-pop, fuzzy rock band, Dazy’s debut MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD was a little overwhelming and unfocused for me. 24 songs and almost an hour long, it had a lot of promise but it was hard for me to parse. The follow up, OUTOFBODY, was much more focused but the sound was a little too diverse for me to connect. A collaboration with Militarie Gun called “Pressure Cooker” brought a spotlight on the band.
OTHERBODY builds off those foundations, eight songs in just under twenty minutes. The sound is more cohesive across the record and the hooks are tighter. Great harmonies really cut through the fuzzy, jangly guitars with standout tracks like “Every Little Thing” playing like a power-pop Superchunk. This is a person trying to make sense of a senseless world, poppy summery songs undercut by existentialism. “So peel just like a painted wall. Reveal nothing at all” the chorus from “Peel” feels like it epitomizes the struggle at the core of OTHERBODY.
Closer “Always In Between” leaves you wanting more - “weight on my mind, sometimes it feels just fine, weight on my mind, sometimes it feels alright.” The song fades out with James repeating “I’m always in between.”
USA by Petey - Viral sensation Petey’s major label debut builds of his electro-emo-pop. While “Don’t Tell The Boys” propelled Petey into relative stardom, this album has him poised for alt rock superstardom. USA finds Petey mining deeper into toxic masculinity and white male vulnerability, without falling into the pitfalls of self-pity. He has a maturity and a wisdom that shines through a record that draws heavily from post-punk and new wave.
The songwriting is hook laden and continues to find inspiration in relatable angst. “I Tried To Draw A Straight Line,” calls out the notorious Kings/Lakers WCF that admittedly sullied the NBA for me. “I’ll Wait” shows Petey in peak form, up tempo, minor keys and gang vocals. A worthy successor to DTTB, for sure, with better production. “Did I Mention I’m Sorry” is a New Wave anthem for the 2020s, striking at his own passive aggressive behavior and a desire for growth. “Living Like This” calls to mind peak Phil Collins, for better or for worse.
“The Freedom to Fuck Off” highlights some of my issues with the entire production. While I agree with some of the underlying sentiment, the mantra of religious exploration opening someone to mockery feels cringy and pandering to me. It feels inauthentic and ready made for a white liberal audience that feels shame reconciling their own pursuit of meaning in the world. “I read the bible sometimes, please don’t make fun of me,” might be a genuine statement but is poorly executed, feeding into the Christian Persecution myth so prevalent in American discourse.
Overall, I think this is a stellar major label debut. Petey provides a different pathway for people struggling with white angst, focused on growth instead of recession. He’s walking a delicate tightrope and so far has managed to not stumble too much.
About The Weather by mauve - I really struggled with placement on this record. mauve is a part of one of the better DIY scenes going currently, Portland, OR. Home to the defunct Blowout, but also dreamo superstars Alien Boy, Soft Kill and another artist on this list. They are also on Really Rad Records, which is home to the aforementioned unnamed band and another band upcoming on this list. I really like Really Rad this year, I guess.
About The Weather draws inspiration from a host of fifth wave emo bands, with a level of polish unusual for new bands. While they incorporate the noodley guitar work that Midwest emo popularized, it does come in the context of actual riffs and there are full formed songs here. Lead singer/guitarist Olive Murray calls to mind Philadelphia punks Dirty Tactics in the best ways possible and it was an instant hook for me. Too many bands lean into what made other bands standout instead of leaning into who they are and mauve has distinct notes that help separate them from a genre that has grown increasingly generic as its popularity has grown.
AtW is also an album experience, when I turn it on I tend to listen all the way through. It is better experienced from start to finish as the emotional highs and lows resonate more. Stylistically, they check a lot of boxes for me. Lyrics are where the record falls short for me. One of the hallmarks of great emo bands are lyrics that grapple with the human condition, but while mauve has tried to infuse themselves sonically the lyrics feel like a pastiche of their influences.
Standout track “Sun” is a prime example. The album closer is huge, with powerful swells and clocking in at over 6 minutes, “Sun” feels like a massive statement. Even the opening lyrics hint at poetry -
I can’t feel your warmth
Where have you hidden, little star?
I don’t know where you are
Every single form
Of you I nurtured left a scar
Only shown in the dark
and quickly devolves into a song about hoping to see the sun rise/make it through the night. I suspect there is a measure of dysmorphia at play here, but I’d like them to explore more of WHY they want to make it through the night or WHY they are afraid they won’t make it through the night. Instead, it ends up feeling like an existential praise song to the Sun and that doesn’t land for me.
I am excited to see how the band grows from here, there is a lot of potential here. And not every band needs to be open wound vulnerable. Contrast “Sun” with Thursday’s “How Long Is The Night?” mauve is knocking on the door of genius, they just need to push through.
Till You Return by Teenage Halloween - Thankfully, Teenage Halloween has zero issues with letting you know what their songs are about. Their self-titled 2020 debut took the punk world by storm and they quickly emerged as a hugely influential queercore group. Punk rock is at its best when it has something to say and Teenage Halloween had run the quintessential coming of age pop-punk record through a queer filter. I enjoyed the record, but not to the level of some of my peers.
A split with Homeless Gospel Choir found the band expanding their sound, “Floating” being one of the best tracks in their catalog so far. “Burn,” the other track from that split, felt like a lovechild of Discount and Dance Hall Crashers. Not really for me, but definitely a growth in their songwriting.
Till You Return feels like a return to form to their self-titled, which at first was a little disappointing for me. As I spent more time with the record, the growth in their songwriting shone through. If Teenage Halloween has long legs, and I hope they do, I suspect they will move beyond the trappings of pop-punk. “Takeaway” is one of the best straight up punk songs I’ve heard in a long time. Excellent use of gang vocals, catchy, urgent and important.
If I were 15 and finding this band, they would have been one of my favorite bands. Much like the Ergs! before them, I have long since moved on from the style of music they play. Unlike the Ergs!, their subject matter gives me something new to digest and dwell on.
Production has improved, songwriting has improved and Till You Return finds an artist confronting gender identity, being queer and being human in our world. Not a song over 3 minutes long.
RHYME&REASON by Captain Kaiser - Back to Belgium. I promise you’ll get something international that isn’t European later. CK comes out swinging with an anthemic, gruff punk record heavily influenced by your favorite Fest headliners. While their first two albums were relatively indistinguishable from mid 2000’s punk inspired by Jawbreaker, Rivethead, Dillinger Four and Hot Water Music, RHYME&REASON finds a band developing their own identity.
“Drive” opens the album with a vocals and ringing out piano chords before the low hum of feedback hints at what is to come. Still grappling with inner demons, alcohol and mental health, R&R is a more mature and distinct take on a tired orgcore formula. Tempo changes are used to great success.
Sascha Vansant’s slight Belgian accent tinges one of the more dynamic voices in a scene that relies heavily on gruff and less on melody. The record never loses the anthemic feel, I imagine there are a lot of sweaty sing-a-longs at their shows. It pushes and pulls at punk rock formulas.
“Mute” clocking in at one minute and 44 seconds is a prime example of their evolution of the Orgcore sound, verses barked at you and choruses that you melt into, never taking its foot off the pedal. I’m excited to see where they go from here.
Medium Gnary by Swiss Army Wife - SAW’s debut album does something really difficult - they made a great generic record. Nothing revolutionary here, just an evolution on a scene that is currently under a giant spotlight.
It’s not uncommon for bands early in their career to copycat their musical ancestors. In fact, it’s pretty much a rite of passage. The unfortunate thing is, when you copy other band’s styles, you tend to be less effective as the original.
Swiss Army Wife overcomes a lot of the genre trappings by being really, really good. The guitars are tight, angular and engaging. The production is great out of the gate. The songs are catchy, the lyrics are memorable and they take the best parts of the bands they draw from.
They also remember something that gets lost when DIY scenes blow up, emo is a punk subgenre. They embrace punk rock as some of their contemporaries seem to run away from it toward the more radio friendly influences.
I have a soft spot for “New Best Friend” in particular because it shares a riff with a song from Awkward Friends, who I am positive they have never heard. It is just cool to see how mutual influences produce similar results but in a different form.
They may not ever shift from their distillation of emo influences and may very well gain a measure of popularity. They are very talented. I’m just glad bands like this exist to give future bands a pathway, as a lot of their contemporaries will end up funneling fans to a history of mainstream rock bands. And if they do continue to push their sound forward, I suspect they will become a very, very great band.
Mount Cope by Stoop Kid - We’re going back to Belgium. This is definitely going to be remembered as my Belgian year. What it really did was open me up to the larger DIY world. I was never very connected to it, as I only toured to Canada once. I have a lot of friends in the US DIY scene and it is overwhelming the number of bands the US produces.
Adrianne and I ended up seeing Stoop Kid in Mechelen and it is a cherished memory. Stoop Kid is one of the few bands on this list that I’ve gotten to see perform the songs live and that’s an unfair advantage. A measure of these bands I’ll never get to see live. It is the reality of DIY music, the shows stay regional and a lot of wonderful artistic talents go unrecognized.
They were exceptional live, but talking with the audience I realized just how spoiled for DIY bands we are in the US. Richmond alone produces more DIY bands than the country of Belgium. The band books a space in Diest and Jens Rubens, the front man, had mutual friends. He’d been to Fest. I met a few others who had also been to Gainesville.
While international music is more accessible than ever, a lot of these bands at the DIY level only got exposed to the best of the best. The spoils of bands in the US also means we get more bands that are still developing as artists but have tons of promise. Bands that get those edges worn off before they are able to leap across the ocean to play for other audiences. Belgium gets the best of the best when it comes to DIY genres, because those are the only ones that get invited over.
And so their DIY scene is influenced by the best of American bands. The best live bands. The best songwriters. They are drawing influence from a lot of my favorite bands and filtering it through their cultural differences. Stoop Kid draws heavily from 80s post-punk and blends it with an almost Dashboard influence. Introspection on the mundane, anxiety, life in general. Stoop Kid’s songs don’t aspire to great ruminations on life, but they instead focus in on how life is. About finding meaning in the real world.
If the Psychedelic Furs had grown up on the Get Up Kids, you might get “This Much of Anything,” with the refrain “Allow yourself to feel good.” “This is it, Right?” is a lovechild of the Cure and Jawbreaker. “…Dawn Damage, That’s Why” is pulled straight from the ‘77 catalog. Rubens’ Belgian accent is also pronounced. It was wild to see a show where every song was sung in English and the entirety of the banter was in Dutch or French. His natural voice lends a measure of vulnerability to the songs. When he sings “And then my phone played my favorite song,” on Easy Now, it feels intimately relatable due to his delivery.
Altering A Memory by Feverchild - the last Belgian record on the list! I’ll be into more familiar international waters for the next couple of records. In the same way that Swiss Army Wife has the distinction of sounding similar in a heavily populated genre, Feverchild has the Mt Everest of being a throwback band. It’s next to impossible to make a record that sounds like it should have come out 30 years ago and fit in.
Normally, when a band does that they end up sounding like the bad bands who were contemporaries of those bands. The best bands are the best bands because what they do is difficult. A band like Gypsy, who put out the most Jawbreaker record I’ve heard since the band broke up, worked because no one was making Jawbreaker records anymore, they were making Jawbreaker influenced records. And we had a lot of those. Gypsy wasn’t quite as good as Jawbreaker, but Giant’s Despair comes as close as anything I’ve heard.
So, if you’re going to sound like a 30 year old band, you better make it worthwhile. Feverchild does it. It sounds like it could have come out on Revelation Records alongside Texas is the Reason and you would never have batted an eyelash. My acquaintance Mitch O’Connell described it as stepping into a time machine. This is Sunny Day Real Estate if they never found God. If you like those two bands and you want a band to pick up that mantle, listen to Feverchild.
Self-Titled by As A Sketch Pad - Japanese Punk is really good. They have great taste. They are one of the biggest cultural influences in the world. And, as JB said on their review on Bandcamp:
this band is a dream lineup for any fan of modern emo. members of worst party ever, kudaranai 1nichi, hollow suns and injury tape all join forces like a modern rival schools.
Japanese punk has a different lineage on breakneck tempo and it gives As A Sketch Pad a different feel from an American take on this style. This feels like Bob Nanna fronting the Pillows, who came to prominence in American punk via the theme song of FLCL (an anime heavily referenced in emo right now). I should probably utilize the footnote feature on this site.
DIY Supergroups tend to be more interesting than mainstream ones and while Worst Party Ever is probably going to continue to wear the crown of most successful band here, this is a much more palatable version of that for me. This mostly ends up sounding like Worst Party Ever filtered through Injury Tape, although a little of the post-hardcore influences of kudaranai 1nichi shine through.
Ten songs in under twenty minutes. The songs are dense, with no wasted space. They do more in a minute and eight seconds on “blood money transfer” than some bands do in four. I also never walk away from a song thinking, “that’s it?” Some bands write shorter songs because they don’t know how to flesh it out, so they strip it down to the best parts and churn it out.
As A Sketch Pad calls on the same skillset as Midtown, able to strip down the most important part of the song and write a complete song in half a minute. We aren’t quite in that territory, but it’s nice contrast to so many bands who write great two minute songs that last four. I think this record is timeless and I can see myself coming back to it for years to come.
What Still Gets Me by Shit Present - Shit Present is the epitome of a grower for me. They released two EPs in 2015 and 2016 respectively, both of which I came to appreciate over time. Iona Cairns, lead singer and guitarist, is unapologetic. Lyrics that deal with heavy topics like sexual assault and severe mental health pull no punches. They also have one of the best double entendre for a band name ever.
The album that followed was seven years in the making, following bouts of writers block and hospitalization for mental health. Initially, I was disappointed by What Still Gets Me. I was expecting a massive leap forward in songwriting, especially with the gap. I had songs like “Ever After” and “Voice In Your Head” that connected immediately, but the rest of the album just simmered in the background.
Cairns’ vocal delivery is one of the best parts of the band. A defeated, almost mumble that builds to an angry roar. The emotional punches, the no-holds-barred lyrical onslaught and the permission to just be pissed off about things that should piss you off are on the surface, but it’s the simmering bits that make the band truly shine. The quiet moments where the doubt and insecurities shine through that power SP at their best.
At their best, SP stands with the best of Riot Grrrl history. “Think you’re gonna break my heart? Trust me I can’t fall apart,” Cairns sings defiantly on “Beyond Tonight.” Resiliency in spite of everything life has thrown at her is inspiring.
My big hope is that bands like the Linda Lindas open the door for more people to experience a band like Shit Present. Will they grow on you? Probably. But even if they don’t, the experiences on display here will show you it is okay to be mad about injustices in your life that you’re made to feel ashamed of. That we can survive the worst, but we don’t have to keep it quiet.
Never Been Camping by Camping - Camping put out a two song EP earlier this year and it features one of my favorite songs, “Sitting Down.” I waited eagerly for news of an album, expecting it sometime next year. Cue my surprise and delight when it dropped at the end of November. This really treads the tightrope between EP and album, but even if nothing else here came close to “Sitting Down,” I would have found a home for it on this list.
Opener “Clean” calls to mind the best of Ben Walsh’s Tigers Jaw work. Never Been Camping is raw and unpolished. The songs sometimes fall short of feeling complete. Hailing from Singapore and releasing on Really Rad Records, Camping is probably the band I’m most excited to see grow. The two song single, “Where Do We Begin?/Sitting Down” close out the record and I think that was an inspired choice. They are the best songs on a very promising record.
Camping clearly has drawn influence from a variety of emo bands, but they bring it together in a new package. A little lead in “Running” breaking out to a full on outro reminds me of some of Jade Lilitri’s best tempo changes in Oso Oso. The intro to “Sitting Down,” a stuttering chord ringing out before a feedback laden riff kicks the song off is timeless for me. Some songs snap in your brain like the last puzzle piece. “I’ll never understand, if it feels so good why is it so bad?”
Album closer “Where Do We Begin?” immediately calls to mind Mannequin Pussy’s “Drunk II” then flies off in its own direction. This is a shining diamond in the rough. Having already opened for Anxious and Angel Du$t, Camping is likely to see their star continue to rise. I just hope they still play “Sitting Down” by the time I get to see them.
Death is Nothing to Us by Fiddlehead - If you’re a fan of hardcore, emo or post-hardcore, you’re probably already intimately familiar with Fiddlehead. Patrick Flynn broke up Have Heart at the peak of their meteoric rise, starting writing songs with his roommate and paired with members of DIY superstars Basement.
Four years after their first EP, Springtime and Blind was released. Heralded as an instant classic, many suspected it would be the last we heard of Fiddlehead. The album was Flynn’s reckoning with his father’s passing. Have Heart played a massive reunion in 2019, but Flynn takes his role as a high school history teacher seriously. So much so that it takes priority over a very real potential to be a professional musician.
Cue the surprise when Beyond the Richness was released in 2021. It is an album that deals with Flynn’s foray into fatherhood, especially with the absence of his own father. That album didn’t land with me, but it certainly connected with a lot of Fiddlehead’s audience. A band that rarely tours, but always has something to say, I was a little wary of Death is Nothing to Us.
How foolish of me. On their third release, it really feels like they’ve found their groove. The songwriting is tight, with nods to their forefathers like the Braid-inspired intro to “Sleepyhead.” Ruminations on grief, depression and how we fight our demons that don’t romanticize them or embrace the darkness. The dual guitar attack is relentless. The drumming is tight. And Flynn is still one of the best vocalists in hardcore.
One would be able to easily trace the influences straight back to Rites of Spring, but they effortlessly fold in indie rock touches that push the sound forward. They listed Archers of Loaf as a primary influence, but also shoegaze and slowcore. The bevvy of diverse influences are what really help Fiddlehead continue to shine with what might be their best work yet.
Cardigan Hate Train by Tommy Oeffling - Marquette college student Tommy Oeffling (the O is silent) caught a little buzz off “If and When,” which was my introduction to him. What seems more like a passion project for the aspiring history teacher probably caught him by surprise when the song popped up, streaming ten times more than anything from any of his previous releases.
“Doug” from the subtle art of jaywalking gave the best indication of what was coming for fans of Oeffling. Largely trading in lo-fi melding of some of the greatest indie rock luminaries, most of Oeffling’s work is mellow and lush. He says himself that he mostly just does variations on bands that he loves.
Cardigan Hate Train draws heavily from the well of Dinosaur Jr. with heavy power pop underpinnings. The guitars are bright and airy, the drums bounce with a more consistent, manic energy than in most of his other work. The album feels like a complete unit, every song matters. A lot of grappling with being the more committed member of a relationship, the insecurities of early love and self-loathing without the heavy sheen of misogyny that unfortunately blankets so much of similar artists.
Oeffling is prolific, very much in the vein of fellow Midwesterner Bob Pollard. He is in Company Calls, Private School, foxcatcher and more. He has already released a follow up record, the shoegaze heavy secret knowledge of backroads, which he professed in an interview with Abigail Koenig as a response to the accessibility of cardigan hate train.
I think he is far too harsh in his assessment of the record and I hope he can come to appreciate the pop mastery in songs like “if and when,” “non-smoking,” “call your bluff” and “dogwalker.” I do understand the desire to remain authentic in art and the challenge of not letting attention impact the creative process. I would challenge that the ability to write songs that catchy is a much rarer talent and one worthy of developing alongside his other talents as a songwriter. Regardless, cardigan hate train is one of the best records of the year. It is best enjoyed from start to finish, as it is very much a complete work of art.
Also, I hope he will do some touring. These songs deserve to be heard live.
Self-Titled by Liquid Mike - On the other end of the midwestern power-pop spectrum is Liquid Mike. They are also from Marquette, just this time in Michigan. The band, born from mail carrier Mike Maple and partner in musical crime Monica Nelson moving to the small Michigan town, is already hard at work on their follow up record. There really must not be much else to do in the Midwest besides write songs. The band started in 2020 and already has 4 albums out, so this is just par for the course.
Self-Titled has caught some internet hype, mostly off the back of Keegan from Camp Trash shouting them out, but they are still very much an undiscovered gem. The album has hooks for days, the guitars are sugary with just enough edge, but where the band really takes off is Maple’s vivid lyricism. “Holding in a Cough” starts out with
“First things first, every second you hate, when the third shift and you’re forced to stay, fifty-six hours every seven days, did you see this coming when you graduated?”
The chorus begs the question “what the hells the point in a raise in pay when you feel like shit every single day?”
The other thing that sticks with me is the Kurt Cobain quote about the best albums just being single after single. When a band doesn’t hold back and just puts out banger after banger. Liquid Mike rises to the challenge here, outside of a 30 second instrumental interlude, you could pluck any song off this record and it would be a hit. The listeners seem to agree, outside of opener “BLC” (that’s Big League Chew for the uninitiated), the songs have consistent streams across the record. You could name any one as your favorite and I could see why.
I struggled a lot between one and two this year, but Liquid Mike is the record I kept coming back to, over and over, all year.
Singles and EPs
I’m not ranking these, just some I think you should check out:
Part-Timer by Proper. - I was never a Brand New fan, which seems to be a huge influence on Proper. Speaking openly about being black and queer in the emo community, Proper. has always managed to impress me even if I don’t love all the parts of their musical DNA. This is a 5 song EP about grappling with success in a DIY space.
The Field Sessions by Paisley Fields - a live recording from the Field of Dreams. 3 songs, a cover and two of Paisley’s tracks including his standout “Iowa” from Limp Wrist.
To Know You’re Screwed is to Know A Lot by Mediocre - the title track is clearly their best work, but a promising release standing on the shoulders of that dog. and Juliana Hatfield.
Grand Canyon by Rozwell Kid - I’m just glad that they are still a band. A two song single, with the title track being an ode to finding porn at the National Park in question. They are the band Weezer could have been.
Control Alt Delete by Sea of Storms - If you like Leatherface, HWM, Samiam, Jawbreaker, etc. just listen.
My friend Chris, who I met in college, shares his top dad-rock records of the year:
10. The Hold Steady - The Price of Progress. Everybody's (okay, my) favorite talking-as-singing fronted band is back! Another steady entry in their catalog, this won't do anything to change your mind about the band, but you will enjoy it if you like their previous work.
9. Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE. Given its relative polish compared to others in the genre, HELLMODE takes the honor of being the one punk/punk-adjacent album I really liked this year.
8. Fireworks - Higher Lonely Power. A throwback to the '00s anthemic indie rock era, this album was made for my particular tastes.
7. Short Fictions - Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me. See #8, but add in a dash of Japandroids.
6. thank you, im sorry - Growing In Strange Places. This album is 13 short, punchy, catchy emo (?) songs. It doesn't overstay its welcome and is fun start-to-finish.
5. boygenius - the record. My hot take here is that this is both a very good album and not as good as any of the members' recent solo albums.
4. Screaming Females - Desire Pathway. Not a lot of screaming, to be honest. Consistent guitar rock band delivers again.
3. Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy. Picking up where they left off, this album is full of short bursts of frantic, energetic songs that are difficult to pin to a specific genre. Whatever you want to call their style; the results are pretty great.
2. Wednesday - Rat Saw God. They really leveled up here. A rocking version of shoegaze with a bit of a southern tinge, this is the sound of a very good band somehow getting a lot better.
1. Bully - Lucky For You. A throwback to '90s alt rock that sounds great. I've been hooked since I first heard this one early in the year and it's been my clear favorite since.
My friend John, who wrote a guest column, gave his top 10 records
Albums
1. Initiate - Cerebral Circus
2. Maura Weaver - I Was Due For a Heartbreak
3. Militarie Gun - Life Under the Gun
4. Slayyyter - STARFUCKER
5. Nuovo Testamento - Love Lines
6. LP Giobbi - Light Places
7. Incendiary - Change the Way You Think About Pain
8. Aly & AJ - With Love From
9. Angel Du$t - Brand New Soul
10. Spiritual Cramp - Spiritual Cramp
EPs
1. Scowl - Psychic Dance Routine
2. The Hope Conspiracy - Confusion/Chaos/Misery
3. Ozone - Shutting You Down
4. (G)I-DLE - I feel
5. Cigarette Camp - Chalk
He has in-depth analysis on them here.
My friend James, AKA names, gave me 5 of his favorite records this year:
Joanna Sternberg- I've Got Me
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown- Scaring The Hoes
100 Gecs - 10,000 Gecs
Snooper- Super Snooper
Noname- Sundial
