Every year my list is either wayyyy too top-heavy and lacks body, or vice versa. There is never a linear situation it seems! And this year is no different. My top EIGHT albums all caught “album of the year” attention from me, but nothing blew my skirt up so much that it was obvious.
On to the goods!
Honorable Mentions:
Susto - My Entire Life
Eric Silverman - Stay In It
Zach Bryan - self-titled
Shamus - The Shepherd and the Wolf
The Arcs - Electrophonic Chronic
15. Scott McMicken - Shabang
I had almost written off anything Dr. Dog-related releases after their last few albums did virtually nothing for me but man this one is very good. I’m a huge fan of an album that carries a vibe or a singular sound throughout and this is what we have here. It’s a spacey, trippy, lo-fi-ish slow album that just flows in that Dr. Dog space that we all know and love. Considering I always preferred Toby's songs to Scott's songs this is major praise from me. I put this on for the first time at midnight driving back from seeing RHCP in Syracuse while everybody else in the car slept and it took me all the way home.
14. Bahamas - Bootcut
Afie making a country album is quite the left turn and boy oh boy do I love left turns! I’ve always had a soft spot for really well done country and this one fits the bill. Honestly, he’s a songwriter first and foremost, so I doubt there’s a genre he couldn’t pull off. These songs almost sound like he’s sort of poking fun at the genre, but they’re still good. That’s just him.
13. Deer Tick - Emotional Contracts
A band that has always been in my orbit, they’ve never really put together an album that truly hit me until now. Very versatile guitar rock all over this one. Just well-crafted songs that all fit together.
12. Boy & Bear - self-titled
2015’s Limit of Love was my first foray into these guys and I actually totally forgot I liked it until I heard the new single on the work adult rock station. This one dink and dunks along just as well as Limit of Love but a touch more synthy and boy does it work out well. This one got heavy, heavy play at work for me.
11. Uh-Huh - self titled
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What a strange sound these guys have. It’s like synthy ’80s shit but really bass driven - cannot get enough of it though! The vocals are obscure and hard to hear at times. It’s exactly what I would want to listen to in a dark room at the end of a long night.
10. Cafe Racer - Words in Error
Their last release was VERY high on my list a few years back and this one is almost as good (shows the strength of my list this year). Fuzzed-out guitar rock with breathy whisper vocals is the main formula and I love it. I guarantee every band member wears sunglasses all day and all night. You want to hear this at a cool underground club at 3am.
9. Albert Hammond Jr - Melodies on Hiatus
Five years have passed since AHJ’s last release, Francis Trouble, which I was lukewarm on. In between then and now The Strokes made a largely forgettable album. The first single off this AHJ joint was ALSO forgettable and I was realllllll worried. Then I listened to the whole thing and man was I pleased I did! This is a classic AHJ release from front to back (it is a tad too long for me), stuffed with killer riffs and some solos, wonderful vocals, and catchy ass choruses. The solo stuff from the boys is all so much better collectively than what they’re currently doing as a band.
8. Steve Marino - Too Late to Start Again
Oh god, this one is so catchy it hurts. Just wonderfully melodic pop rock with catchy choruses and excellent backing vocals. The songs are simple and the melody takes them to the sun. A great, great modern power pop album.
7. Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman...
Owners of my single favorite album of all time (Songs for the Deaf), of course, I was ready to go for this thing. And it did NOT disappoint. Josh Homme is getting a little long in the tooth and that's always a concern, but we are not at the end yet. Riffy as all hell, vocally strong, and just heavy and cool as shit, this album rocks just as good as all the rest of their stuff. Song sequencing is a big thing for me and they truly did it right here. Every track flows so well into the next one it sends the whole thing to the moon. These guys might literally be the last great hard rock band.
6. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - V
2015’s Multi Love was the first time I experienced Ruban Nielson and his version of guitar/synth psych rock. 2018’s Sex & Food was lackluster, however, and he was on the back burner. This one is excellent! The lead single is dull and I was worried he had lost me for good but low and behold here we are. Another example of an album that carries a vibe throughout, it has several little instrumental detours that are perfectly placed. It’s also a rare example of a synthy, electronic band that used MORE guitar than previously, which is always welcomed by me.
5. Raze Regal & White Denim - self-titled
Ahhhh, my boys! White Denim has been one of my all-time favorite bands for probably 10 years, releasing one after another quality guitar rock albums. The last two were a bit off, but still solid, so I was a touch concerned, but not too much. Raze Regal (Texas-based guitar player) is here with the assist, and the results are fantastic. Every song is meticulously crafted, with little interludes and bridges all over that absolutely flourish. It’s not my favorite WD album (in fact it might not be in my top 3), but I truly think this is the most mature, well-thought-out, best album they’ve ever made.
4. Cactus Lee - Caravan
I’m a sucker for the solo singer-songwriter type album and that’s what we have here but with a little Americana/country-ish bend. Beautifully crafted soft-edge melodic pop songs abound on this one. A gifted lyricist and singer. I have no idea where I found this. It just appeared in my library one day. It’s unbelievably good.
3. Art Feynman - Be Good the Crazy Boys
Every year a band or an album comes out that is absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever heard. That’s almost an impossible feat in 2023 and here we are. This thing is insane. It’s synthy 80’s pop with some guitar flair and an afro/world music vibe but it still somehow manages to sound modern and fresh. I spent two months trying to put into words how to explain it and that's the best I have and it still sucks. Please, please listen to this one!
2. Wilco - Cousin
Don’t call it a comeback! Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Ghost is Born, and Sky Blue Sky are 28, 38, and 101 on my all-time album list but Wilco has not made an album I really gave a shit about in 15 years. I heard the first two singles and was pleasantly surprised. The rest of it is absolutely stellar. It truly reminds me of the old-school experimental stuff they made that was so good. Like all their best stuff, it carries a vibe. It’s so mid-tempo and cool the whole way with extended intros and outros on many songs. Tweedy is at his best vocally when he sounds like he's falling asleep and that’s where he is here. I’m absolutely floored.
1. CVC - Get Real
To pile on what I said about the Art Feynman album, it’s very, very hard to make new music that sounds like nothing that’s ever been made before and that’s what these guys have done. Funky, groovy, 70s-ish pop rock with multiple lead singers and super catchy vocals with tons of harmonizing - but it sounds fresh and new at the same time! There isn’t a single song I think about skipping and there isn’t a single song that sounds like another song already on the album. Truly a beautiful collection of tracks. I tried willing the Wilco album into the top spot for nostalgia’s sake but I just could not do it in good faith. This is my album of the year.
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