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We (I) say the "almost best" but really, isn't it all just sort of the "best?" People making music and connecting with something deep inside of your brain, or your heart, or, I don't know, your butthole? The fact that that people in this day and age continue to create new sounds in the face of an algorithmic hellscape of decreasing cultural values and even less of a hope in the world of making a living, is truly a miracle. So, whatever my "best" is, who gives a rip? Anyone who is giving it an honest shake and putting it on the line deserves our collective respect.
Unless they stink.
Then...all bets are off. Let 'em have it. Run them the fuck outta of town. If your can't bring the heat, get your realtor's license and go make some money and leave the rocking and rolling to those better suited for it. Ok? (my wife is a realtor, so I am allowed to make that joke. Oh, and if you're looking to sell your home or buy a new one in anywhere in Atlanta, holler at me...I'll put you in touch.)
The real point is this: We are all lucky that there are bands out there, and we need to make sure they know when we love them. Do what you can, when you can, to be patron of the arts. Buy something. Tell somebody. Give it a shot yourself.
This year I really reigned it in and kept the total list to 60 (minus segues into hardcore and hip hop...but...that's sort of expected at this point), which I am glad I did. So below, are the records I liked the most, part one, in descending order. And the order is the order as of now, when I'm typing this, and only used as a way to stay somewhat organized. We're all winners, right? I hope you find something on this, and the next, list that you like and will support.
60. PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD / USA NAILS - Split
And we’re off!
59. COLA - Deep In View
The lead-off track of this album (“Blank Curtain”) may be my favorite song of the year. It’s a perfect slice of Yo La Tengo styled catchy-drone-rock something. The rest of the record is really good, but that first song…ooooh child!
58. BLK OPS - The Heroic Dose
Admittedly a 2021 release, but a 2021 release that came out in December after I had stopped paying attention to new music in an effort to assemble THAT year’s list. So, here it is today, in all it’s wild, mechanized, clamorous glory. Two dudes, a ton of sometimes sludgy, sometimes acerbic craze.
57. KRAUSE - The Art Of Fatigue
Very compelling big, burly goodness. That’s bad. But bad in a good way. The Michael Jackson way.
56. HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE - Natural Part
A more hazy and lazy version of Horse Jumper Of Love, but they still manage to worm these songs into your brain and pull you back for repeat listens.
55. HELP - 2053
This record might have come out in 2020 and the physical release was delayed until 2022…I can’t really tell. Either way, I didn’t hear it until this year, so for our purposes here, it’s a 2022 banger. Loud, caustic, and shouted at close range. Noise punk from Portland.
54. TORPORS - TV Genius
(turns out there is no video evidence of the band Torpors anywhere...so here's some info on Torpor as biological state. Learning also rocks!)
Now, this one I KNOW came out in 2021, but it came out at the end of December, after I had submitted last year’s list. So…get off my back. Get down from there and give this one a shot, it’s a good listen. Assuming you like noise rock more than piggyback rides.
53. DUG - Pain Machine
To play slow and heavy and not boring requires restraint and real skill. I think Dug got it. Skill, that is. And volume. And heft.
52. HIVE - Spiritual Poverty
Of the many bands operating under the moniker “Hive,” this one gets my vote as the best. At least in terms of a blistering version of metal-y, modern, noisy hardcore type music. Maybe there’s a “better” Hive out there, but I’m sticking with these dudes until proven wrong.
51. PLOSIVS - Plosivs
This shows up here and not way up the list because I think that I had such high expectations, and when I finally head it, it didn’t jump out and grab me with the wild abandon that I guess I was hoping for. That being said, I still revisited it quite a few times, and do enjoy that it’s a super high quality rock-n-roll rave up, and a good time to boot.
50. SPIRITUALIZED - Everything Was Beautiful
Maybe not the “best” Spiritualized record, but in a canon as impressive as theirs, a “not the best” record is still “way the fuck better” than most other band’s “best.” Know what I mean?
49. BLACK MAGNET - Body Prophecy
Industrial strength…uhhh…industrial music. But on the heavier side, and less of the dance-y stuff that gets the Goths on the floor to ‘This Corrosion.’ I am not a good dancer, so I prefer my industrial music to be more biting and less throbbing, which this is. But if you want to dance to it, by all means, let’s see your moves.
48. SPICE - Viv
47. ANXIOUS WAVE - Live From The Poison Factory
If you found yourself a bit let down with the new Drug Church record (me), then this one might come in handy to give you the gruff-but-kinda-catchy post hardcore punch to the gut you were looking for.
46. HOTLINE TNT - When You Find Out
I’m a sucker for the sorta ramshackle, could-seemingly-care-less, approach of a good, noisy indie rock band. Always have been, especially when it’s frayed around the edges, and lapses into overt rocking when the time calls for it. Hotline TNT know which buttons to push, and I appreciate them for that. Only a four song ep from them this year, but it does what I was hoping it would do.
45. TRAUMA RAY - Transmissions
Last year had more of the big, heavy shoegaze stuff (Narrowhead, Nothing…that type thing), but Trauma Ray are a reminder that when you commit, it’s still a rewarding little subgenre niche. Stomping on a distortion pedal will always be welcomed in my home. House rules.
44. ABSENT IN BODY - Plague God
Maybe we are all far enough beyond the Neur-Isis post-metal nadir from 15 years ago, or whenever that was. Or maybe there is enough mechanical industrial backbone to this record. Or maybe it just caught me at the right time. It’s big, expansive, heavy, and moody…like your mom.
43. CLOAKROOM - Dissolution Wave
Dreamy and shimmering at times, but it only reflects the darkness. Upbeat and catchy at times, but never cloying or reliant on the sunny hook. Big, warm, and fuzzy at others, but considerably downtrodden. Make sense?
42. GILLA BAND - Most Normal
I’ve not been following this band until this record. I didn’t pay much attention when they were Girl Band, and I honestly thought it was a little hackneyed when they changed their name to Gilla Band, which made me want to hear them less. But this one kept popping up, so I stopped being stubborn and gave it a fair listen, and guess what? Here it is.
41. DADDY’S BOY - Great News
Daddy’s Boy play their version of hardcore real loose and real wide open. I mean, I guess it’s hardcore. Maybe it’s more a post-hardcore, and post-punk blend with liberal doses of noise rock? Something? Steve Albini recorded it, so that’s something that people get interested in, right? However you define it, I think you’ll enjoy it.
40. PRAYER GROUP - Michael Does
Lots of good things happening here that will get the ‘ole toes tappin’ and fingers snappin’. It’s an immense sound that takes over whatever you may be doing at the time (making whoopee? If you are pleasuring your lover to the Prayer Group album, you may want to reconsider your choice of dates), and gets you focused on whoever has most recently wronged you, and what your options for recourse may be to remedy that transgression.
39. MOON PUSSY / MIRAKLER - Split
Two songs a piece, but quite enough to leave a lasting mark. I dig that both of these bands have the ability to go for the throat if they want, but the restraint to know when to hold back a bit. Not, that they ever completely take their foot off the gas and start three part harmonies about snuggling, but they are able to play with noise and dynamics in a way that accentuates the big gnarly shit even more. Well done everyone.
38. SOUL GLO - Diaspora Problems
Are Soul Glo going to be the next Fucked Up? A band that transcends their hardcore foundations and becomes a darling of the festival circuit and the likes of Pitchfork or Brooklyn Vegan? Maybe. If they want to, then I hope it happens for them. They’ve certainly made a record that has injected all types of sounds into it, so much so that I hesitate to call it “hardcore” anymore. And that’s a compliment I would think. That being said, in my personal opinion the hip hop moments on this record seem a little undercooked and take away from some of the more buoyant moments. But that's me.
37. BUNUEL - Killers Like Us
File under (un)Easy Listening. A guided tour through the darker, less hospitable, challenging back alleys of modern music. Probably most known in our circles as the newest Eugene Robinson project, and that is something to get itchy about, but we need to acknowledge the musicians here have come together to make a record that drills into the back of your skull in a percussive criterion.
36. PET FOX - A Face In Your Life
Forever impressed with the amount of restraint Pet Fox shows when crafting their indie rock, sorta post-emo songs. It would be so easy to hit the volume and rock out everytime, but they know about the law of diminishing returns, and instead take a more, dare I say, sophisticated route (sophisticated, like me). Makes for a more timeless sound (timeless, like me), and songs that more slowly render themselves after repeated listens. Keeps it interesting (interesting, like me).
35. GNOD - Hexan Valley
A truly weird record, that takes that low end rumble that Mama Tick was so good at, and then adds in a droning heaviness that disorients and destabilizes. I mean, they go with a 15 minute bludgeoner as the second track. The whole thing is a lot to take in, but give it the time and it’s, as they say, ‘a sweet ride mama.” Maybe this one should have been further up the list in retrospect.
34. ASBESTOS WORKER - The Seperation
Feel bad destructo rock that will appeal to the kind of guy who wishes Scissorfight had recorded one more record. It swings, in a lumbering, drunken kinda way, and pummels….also in a lumbering, drunken kinda way. I don’t know if they misspelled the album title on purpose or not, but it seems pretty on brand.
33. THE SMILE - A Light For Attracting Attention
It’s not Radiohead, but if you enjoyed Radiohead back when they used guitars, then The Smile has some songs you’ll dig. My intelligence relayed that in a live setting The Smile were pretty boring (tickets were over $90…fuck that), and I can see how they might devolve into jazzy explorations, but on record they keep my attention, and I’ve really come around to this album. Lots of sneaky grooves, and lush layers, and that voice…it carries a lot of weight. I’m in. Baby doesn’t got the bends or anything, but…it’ll do.
32. HAMMERED HULLS - Careening
Ultimately this record won me over after initially not really being bowled over by the band’s prior release. Takes a certain skill set to update a tried and true sound in a way that harnesses all of the energy and verve that got you excited by the source material however many years ago, and then give it enough of a reworking to avoid the lazy nostalgia trip that would have been a lot easier to simply fall into. Helps if you WERE actually the source material in question…Faith, Bells Of, Untouchables, The Warmers, Autoclave, Helium, Ted Leo + The Pharmacists, The Make Up, Chain And The Gang…
31. WAILIN’ STORMS - The Silver Snake Unfolds
I’m always down for a lantern-lit slow trudge through a midnight swamp with Wailin’ Storms. Even with my fear of snakes…and general distrust of natural surroundings. I love the echoing strains playing between the Bald Cypress under a humid moon, knee deep in the ink black waters.
