The (Almost) Best Of 2020

Hoping against hope to create some sort of cultural footprint legacy (sorry kids, there's no will) as a way to justify my own fragile ego, I continue to import relevance to my postulations on other's artistic endeavors. Sad but true. In an era where "blogging" has lost its foothold as a reliable source of information exchange (as evidenced by the statistics of this very blog which have been on the decline since 2010 or so), it becomes increasingly piteous that one (me one) would continue to flagellate not only you (two?) the reader, but myself (oneself?) with these end-of-year lists. But here I go again (...on my own, goin' down the only road I've ever known. Like a drifter I was born to walk alone...), so let's go. Let's try and forget my own biases and instead focus on the people who went out on a limb this year to create something new, something exciting, something inspiring, something for you and I to take the pain away. At least between Presidential tweets, pandemics, racial injustices, democratic undermining, and general discouragement with humanity. Let's raise a glass to those who went for it, we salute you bands, labels, store owners, distributors, pressing plants, club owners (hope to see you soon!), and we (me, one) say thank you.

As has become customary here, where you are, there are too many wonderful records being released every year to be contained in one measly list. And since opinion is a fungible concept, who can even say "that was the best", and be certain that actually was the "best" the next day? The next hour? So, as is also custom, I offer this disclaimer that all the records highlighted on this. and subsequent lists are goddamn incredible, and they are all "the best". If you agree (and c'mon...don't you sorta?) please use the handy DL link under each to go and purchase the music you love. 

As is ALSO customary here, I feel obligated to atone for my sins of the past year, notably acknowledging records that came and the year prior, and that WOULD have been on that year's Best Of list, but since I am a considerable curmudgeon that takes a perverted pride in living in the past, I miss out on a handful of the best new music every year as punishment. 

Chat Pile - This Dungeon Earth + Remove Your Skin Please

Man, I fucked up with this one. How on earth I missed these records last year is a real window into my irrelevancy, cause, holy shit, once I heard them I wore them the fuck out. Like, I feel confident I listened to these two eps more than anything else this year. The music is a perfectly formed reflection of our reptilian brains, damaged as they are. Hulking, ominous, and unhinged, this band is a goddamn revelation. One would assume you folks are more "with it" than I and already availed yourselves to Chat Pile, but in the off chance you haven't...you gotta. It's required.

DL

Heartscape Landbreak - The Remedy

Taylor Holenbeck, once of Appleseed Cast, Des Arks, and Hospital Ships, is essentially "the band" Heartscape Landbreak. Although he recruits friends to help flesh out his ideas, you can tell the songs are coming from a singular voice. A voice I was not familiar with until early this year. And while it is of note that Heartscape Landbreak released an album this calendar year, that album is more of a sketchbook of ruminations on the winds and the prairies on which Holenbeck was raised. An instrumental collection that is a beautiful assemblage, but something altogether separate from the full band version that delivered 'The Remedy' in 2019. 'The Remedy' is a plaintive survey of transcendent indie rock, exploring the expansive, storm threatened, horizon of the album's cover. The songs are truly beautiful in their contorted melancholy and exuberant replies. Spare passages of contemplative delicacy give way to a rush of enthusiastic push-and-pull to harken back to an indie rock past of Archers Of Loaf, Pavement, Come, and Built To Spill, but the unique sonics of Holenbeck's vocal and guitar tones fill this album with new life. It's truly wonderful...which I know sounds like I've been watching too much of The Hallmark Channel, but I'm telling you, it's a fucking wonderful album. 

DL

Alright...with that taken care of, we can focus on the now. Or at least, the more recent past. 

Please allow me to introduce the 60th through 31st favorite records of the year 2020. 

60. Sloath - III

It is my understanding, based the information relayed to me, from sources that I have determined to be trustworthy, based on previous interaction, that this record has been gesticulating for some years now, and was only recently deemed appropriate to release. Still counts as a 2020 release though, so fuck off. Musically this is a psych-doom trip that starts heavy and maintains a hypnotic grip over stash of warped Sabbath riffs. Stays heavy while obscuring those riffs. And ends heavy in some Echoplex nightmare induced haze.

DL

59. Idles - Ultra Mono

Boy, do people love to shit on this band. Cause why? Cause they can fill a room now? Cause your uncool workmate has one of their songs on their workout playlist? I don't know, but that seems dumb. But I would say that with this band a little goes a long way. Listening to any random three songs off any of their albums is an invorating jolt. Listening to four or five and it kinda wears a bit thin. The songs are solid though, and the band is making some coin doing what they want to do, so good for them. And us. And your goofy ass coworker.

DL

58. 16 - Dream Squasher

Good ‘ole reliable 16, bringing forth another jackhammer of misanthropic Helmet-on-halfspeed bad vibes thet never fail to…wait…what is with the song “Sadlands”? Why are there clean vocals and anthems choruses? Who has been monkey-ing around with my 16 album?! OK, that one weird misstep aside, chalk up another downer triumph for the lovable bastards.

DL

57. No Age - Goons Be Gone

I suppose it’s been a few years since the last time No Age grabbed my attention with their sprawling, anti-rock rock music. This new one has ebbs and flows from barely structured noise to their distinctive fractured pop styles. I really hate the word “slacker”, but for No Age it’s a fitting  descriptor of their approach. Pavement on depressants. 

DL

56. Hammer Party - Smashed Hits

Truth in advertising; call your band The Hammer Party, and then commence to attacking your listeners with a mallet of blunt force noise rock. Trauma ensues. Nobody was lying. You honestly had me at "ex-Glazed Baby".

DL

55. New Primals - Horse Girl Energy

Jittery, spikey, far flung noise that careens from post punk punch to metallic noise rock scree. I hear others describe this record as having dance elements, but you would have to be a really really good dancer (which I am) to make that work. So, don’t sweat that part.

DL

54. Hey Colossus - Dances / Curses

Taking up the mantle for bands like Can, Hey Colossus have transitioned away from earlier records that featured massive washes of hypnotic guitar riffs, and are now developing a more motorik approach that pulsates with mesmerizing songs that slowly unfurl like the fiddleheads of a waking fern. Still erring on the side of "heavy", but with a sunnier disposition than before.

DL

53. Black Magnet - Hallucination Scene

Take some “Downward Spiral” era Nine Inch Nails, mix with some of the pulsating drub of 1000 Homo DJs, add in some “Too dark Park” era Skinny Puppy, fold in some Godflesh mechanized grind, and flavor with some of Fudge Tunnel’s churning stomp. There you go. Easy.

DL

52. This Is Wreckage - I Don't Live, I Exist

From the finest forges of....Wales? Fist through the wall type goings on. Music to the ears of those with self-induced hearing loss. Brawny shit.

DL

51. Heavy Harvest - Iron Lung

Big and menacing and roaring and immense and imposing and unrelenting. It’s a noise rock record  that occasionally looks over its shoulder to it’s fuzzy stoner rock past. 

DL

50. Mamaleek - Come & See

The materials surrounding this band describe them as “black metal”, which I find to be a misnomer. I certainly would not ever fancy myself a “black metal fan” (I’m from the Caucus Mountain region), I have been adjacent enough with the genre to have a working knowledge of the archetype, and this Mamleek album does not seem to conform to any of the classifications of the style. It’s a much more hoarse and voluminous collection of songs that reach for the far horizon line beyond the brutalist concrete towers of their urban homes. I don’t reckon this fellas as big Norwegian backwoods enthusiast

DL

49. Pig Destroyer - The Octagonal Stairway

The first three of the six tracks on this record are a diamond tipped buzzsaw of ripping, super heavy, grindcore. The type of songs this band made their name on. The second half of the record is no less structured, but structured much differently than the first. Raging riffage gives way to noise collage and industrial-esque soundscape, complete with a guest appearance by a member of Sepultura. It works though, the rapid flurry of headshots knocking you to the mat so that you are put in a submission hold until you’re ready to tap out. Works.

DL

48. Old Man Gloom - Seminar VII + Seminar IX

Were I able to magically cobble one, singular release from the two full lengths that Old Man Gloom was so nice to offer up this year, and edit the tracks down to a handful form each, focusing on the more immediate, rewarding ones, then this certainly would have been higher up on the American Bandstand Countdown. But as it were, it’s hard slough to get through both of these in a sitting, even though they are top shelf heavy music as performed by a cast of heavy music all-stars. You know the deal.

DL

47. Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today

This band’s restraint in the face of what is an obvious pent up musical powerhouse, is something to behold. They give glimpses of what would happen should they decide to let the hounds loose (who let the dogs out?), but as a means to accentuate just how anxious you had become listening the music build. Lyrically Protomartyr are what it would sound like if that snake handling Pentecostal lunatic on the street corner had a doctorate in philosophy, all the while delivered in that detached stoicism that Mark E. Smith trademarked decades ago. Dread set to a post-punk soundtrack. 

DL

46. DeathCAVE - Smoking Mountain

Hard charging doom-y sludge (if that makes any sense), from our friends in the Pacific Northwest. And say you wanted to book a show of Pacific NW bands that might help describe what DeathCAVE sounds like (or maybe you just really really miss live music), then you may want to get the phone numbers for Yob, Helms Alee, Sumac, Narrows, and Tad (as Seattle’s spiritual leaders of music this loud and ugly). That’d be a good show. I’d go to that show for sure.

DL

45. Dying Trades - Fantasia In Orange

Here’s a band that would bridge the gap between your buddies who love Fight Amp AND your buddies who love Red Fang (but they just go at it like cats and dogs! The amateur psychoanalyst in me would point out the latent sexual dynamism between the two friend groups, and their inabilities to fully articulate their feelings in a meaningful or satisfying way appears to be forcing a show of hostility in order to mask true intentions, which would of course be to bed down with the other. And, not to editorialize, but, that copulation is going to smell completely foul).

DL 

44. Casual Nun - Resort For Dead Desires

Wildly careening between a skuzzed out Motorhead hammering to a elegiac Explosions In The Sky melancholy, with clamorous tumult and psyched out vision quests in between, this record goes for it. And I respect that (which, honestly, isn’t my respect why these bands do what they do?).  

DL

43. Colonial Wound - Untitled

Alright, so here’s one that was originally released in 2019 on Bandcamp, but didn’t get a proper physical release until this year, so…I’m counting it. How could you blame me? It’s an all systems go onslaught of gnarled heavy, noise rock imbued hardcore. The sound of inserting your head into a foghorn. 

DL

42. Raspberry Bulbs - Before The Age Of Mirrors

Tripped out, widescreen heir apparent to Rudimentary Peni’s black hole punk. A cheerless place that teases the listener with recognizable signposts prior to consuming them in a maelstrom of glitchy, shapeless squall. Somehow I reckon them anarchists, but I cannot prove that to be true at this time.

DL

41. Couch Slut - Take A Chance On Rock N Roll

As wild-eyed and vein bulging an album as one could be expected from a band who purposely call 

themselves Couch Slut. A reasonable soundtrack for your next tri-state killing spree, or speed taxidermy night class.

DL 

40. Them Teeth - Tired.

Happy to see this band back again, slinging more of their maximum (noise)rock-n-roll nastiness. From the wilds of Michigan they bring a workman’s single-mindedness to elephantine pounding. It’s that ‘ol “a man has wrapped your head in a scratchy burlap sack, and is bellowing personal grievances while methodically wailing on your neck and shoulders with a 2x4”. You know…right?

DL

39. Coriky - Coriky

There was going to be an analogy here about comfortable shoes or something, but that seemed somewhat disrespectful and the idea jettisoned to instead just say, this understated, simple, and pure music walks that tightrope of evoking past glories while making you happy to be in the now with these people and their songs. I’ve gone back to this record as much as any other on this list this year, and every time I find it invigorating (not to be used as a marital aid), I sense this one will age well.

DL

38. Metz - Atlas Vending

Nuance be damned, Metz bark forth with more agitated rumble and roar. Maybe an ever-so-slightly less  bellowing, but just as bellicose, delivery on this album, which does not diminish the power these songs are delivered with. It’s still there hustling things forward. There is the hint of melody not quite strangled out of the album, which it’s all the better for, but noone will mistake this for the Beatles, so don’t worry.

DL

37. Fange - Pudeur + Poigne ep

Oppressive and suffocating in their non stop barrage of nihilistic noisy death metal-cum-industrial hybrid bleakness. Nothing feels good about this album, which is the point. I think. I don’t speak French so I can’t be certain, but I feel pretty sure they aren’t espousing any tributes to Spring blooms or puppy dog kisses. Seems more like; childhood trauma and giving up on redemption type vibes. I’m sure they’re sweet dudes, but this record is fucking punishing. The Poigne ep showcases their industrial leanings, but doesn’t let that get in the way of a heavy beating.

DL

36. Eye Flys - Tub Of Lard

I assumed they named themselves after the Melvins song, but upon first listen I would may imagine they've named themselves after a Fight Amp song. Their version of heavy has more of a visceral attack, and none of the left field ramblings of Melvins (thankfully). This also seems like something Reptilian Records would have put out this year (they didn't), not Thrill Jockey (they did), but either way, be thankful because this is a scorcher. Got members of Triac, Full Of Hell, and Backsliders up in this piece for added points.

DL

35. Shiner - Schadenfreude

How insane that 19 years after their last album Shiner seem to have picked up exactly where they left off, returning with a new record of top tier pulsating shoegaze post-hardcore? Well, they did. You’re welcome. If you enjoyed Swervedriver’s “comeback” album from 2018, then I believe you’ll find much to enjoy here too. I did. Or do. Does?

DL

34. Country Westerns - Country Westerns

Joseph Plunket was, to me when I met him, one of the next generation of Atlanta hardcore dudes, living in a communal warehouse, doing the things that 20 year old hardcore dudes do. I do recall we had a conversation once about Whiskeytown, and he expressed interest in things beyond hardcore (what?!) rooted in his musical youth. Fast forward, and years later he’s firmly entrenched in the Atlanta scene that birthed Black Lips and Deerhunter and the Coathangers, playing with Gentleman Jesse (among others) before starting his own thing, The Weight, playing rootsy rock songs with a distinct Gram Parsons country influence (run-on sentence alert!).  Well, fast forward a little more, and Joseph relocated to Nashville and started banging out these songs that continue the amalgam of Replacements and John Prine (so, not unlike the aforementioned Whiskeytown). They got Matt Sweeney to produce this record, and here we are. A super strong collection of tunes that are hopefully just the first batch. Stoked to see an old hardcore dude doing cool shit like this. 

DL

33. Well - Trench Dancer

This one is probably going to be 2020’s entry into “The Epitome Of Noise Rock” competition, as it checks all the boxes required to constitute a well crafted (pun not intended) noise rock record. You got your rumbling bass lines, your martial, thundering drums, your bellowing vocals, and your sheet-of-aluminum counterpointing guitar riffs.
It’s all basically codified now, after years of research and development, but that by no means indicates a lack of quality. You just know what you’re getting, and you get what you enjoy. Assuming you get it.

DL

 

32. Second Arrows - Second Arrows

This makes me think that a Refused, Snapcase and Slayer influenced mid-90’s hardcore band, like Harvest maybe, has grown up and gotten desk jobs, but still really wants that release, so they pull a band together to bang out some loud tunes on the weekends. Except these guys never settled down, best I can tell. The personnel are legit: Crispy from Deadguy/Ressurection, Chris Ross from Nora/Ensign/Rain On The Parade, Daniel Brennan from Ensign/Torchbearer, Peter August from Fleshtemple, and Chris Byrnes from Nora/Every Time I Die. The tunes work in a way that avoids the cloying legtrap of nostalgia, whilst still giving you a little 'sumptin' 'sumptin' for the pain of old age.

DL

31. Creston Spiers - Brown Dwarf

Taking a stroll through the recesses of Mr. Spiers’ brain and hearing the elemental sounds of his musical education ricocheting off the unique web of his interpretive synapsis creates a particular and unmistakable sonance. His ability to wrestle grace and nobility out of some of the more dire and agonized guitar riffs I’ve ever heard, is not to be taken lightly. There has always been a studied approach to the dissonant art sludge AND the damaged party rock that Harvey Milk created, which put their output head and shoulders above their peers. This solo effort is no different in that method, but musically it has a lighter veneer than the tumult of Harvey Milk. The fingerprint is still recognizable, but the crime scene upon which it was left has a lower body count. Highly recommended.

DL