Let me just say it's been a weird year for me musically. I think my personal journey and growth, coupled with aging have shaped and changed my musical tastes somewhat. Over the past few years of doing this list, I have tended to gravitate to bands and music that have either been paying homage (directly or indirectly) or seemed heavily influenced by the music I consider sacred.
However, this year a lot of the music that resonated with me wouldn't have done so a few years ago but it's what I am finding comforts, energizes, draws out my emotions, makes me think, and excites me.
That being said this year was really about 2 things in my mind. First it is the year of the woman and fronting daring bold bands that fly in the face of their genres' conventions and yet are just so familiar that you are immediately drawn in. Second is this has become the year of the revival and reunion of some of our favorites and some that needed a fresh return.
Of course after saying all that I am then going to turn to my lone Honorable Mention this year and talk about a band that is ending its long run of 40 years in the business.
NOFX - DOUBLE ALBUM
This had album to be mentioned some how, some way, regardless of how I was going to actually feel about the album. NOFX has been a staple go to band my entire life. That certainly won't change even though we may never get new music from them again. AND YOU KNOW WHAT...when it comes to talking about DOUBLE ALBUM I have to say I was not only pleasantly surprised but very happy this is the way Fat Mike, Melvin, Smelly, and El Hefe chose to go out.
I love the observational, ranting style coupled with fierce guitar licks, and sharp percussions that really are present on a trio of albums that I consider their best block of music in White Trash, Two Heebs, and a Bean, Punk in Drublic (my all-time favorite album of theirs), and Heavy Petting Zoo. So, when I add Double Album to my playlist rotation and Darby Crashing the Party starts, I am almost giddy at what I am about to experience, and it didn't stop from there.
It has always been that line that NOFX has straddled with it's lyrics and musical accompaniment. When it works, it works to absolute perfection like in songs like Fuck Day Six and Is it Too Soon If Time is Relative. Yet even within those songs there are these amazing moments of self-reflection and self-awareness that are so well thought out and well-presented you can't help but really feel like NOFX went all out on this to bring you back to where it all began and show you how they did this for 40 years and did it well.
This album is a triumph and such a wonderful way to go out. Thank you, NOFX, for all that you have given me personally and thank you for all the music you have inspired, helped be heard, and all you've done for an industry that needed you so badly.
I am giving you all here in this blog #10 through #6, my top five along with fellow Go Indie Now Indie music reviewer JD Estrada will be giving you our #5 through #1 LIVE on This Year In Indies on Sunday Dec 18th at NOON ET. If you missed it live, no worries the video posted at the end of this blog will be available to watch forever after the live feed.
GENRE: METAL
Formed in 2014, this Philadelphia trio has been playing music for a while but in this their debut album it all comes together nicely and becomes a tasty appetizer for what is no doubt to come from them in the future.
Look debut albums are always tricky but to make my list and be one of the few metal bands on it too you have to grab me. Not only does Sonja know how to grab me, but they also know how to hang me up and whip me a few times too.
Now I will say there is some debut album mistakes here that don't distract too far from what makes this album so awesome, but they are there, and you do notice them.
Small price to pay for what I think is such a great old fashion headbanger. I think of all the bands that I haven't seen live yet on this list, this would easily be the one show I would look forward to seeing the most. I have a feeling live this band would win over any crowd its in front of, no matter the headliner.
#9 STRAW MAN ARMY - SOS
While Straw Man Army doesn't stray too far from the conventions of the genre, booming bass lines that set a pace and the nice sprinkling of symbols and strong drum beats that keep the tempo even keeled. It does however do so with this relative calmness that serves as a just irony given the lyrically content being brought forth.
I like the spoken word cadence that reflects more like a poem than a song and hits just as hard from songs like Human Kind and Underland. However, there are a lot of great melodic moments mixed in, like with songs like Simple Cure and Faces in the Dark.
This album really has a great sense of moving and weaving in and out speeding up and slowing it down so cohesively. It makes it hard in this day and age of the singles culture to say there would be one stand out that could lend itself to that idea but the great thing about Punk and with this band is it is a shorter album, enough to absorb it all and not have to feel the need to skip anything. I highly recommend following along with the lyrics, you will be blown away by the depth on display here, all while bopping your head along to beat and rhythm.
#8 JULIA JACKLIN - PRE PLEASURE
GENRE: INDIE FOLK/POP
This was the 1st album I knew would be on my list this year. If you take a little Liz Phair, mix in some Tori Amos, and once you cut into it taste the self reflection of a Fiona Apple or Natalie Merchant you get a small sample of how impressive a songwriter and melody maker Julia Jacklin really is.
Right from the opening track Lydia Wears A Cross, which is probably my favorite song of the year, right into Love, Try Not To Let Go you really get put on this journey into a self-reflective world that has so many bright colors but yet many muted expressions. All of it sprinkled with a sense of hope and longing for some sort of resolve, while being tethered amongst the despair trying to push its way into not just our music, but our world. Julia has a lot of slow to nicely paced tempos that really bring a lot of the lyrical content to the forefront and play to the audience its intended to reach. Although one might argue there is merit and value in this approach it is not without cause to think that it can be embraced by a broad audience, especially of the younger variety. There are songs like I Was Neon and Be Careful With Yourself which are great examples of how Julia is able to capture the same meaningfulness within a more rocklike tempo. It is that kind of back and forth tempo explorations that really makes this album easy to just get lost in at some point in the listening journey and it doesn't necessarily have to be from the beginning.
GENRE: METAL
This was the last album I slotted on the list, having just gotten turned on to this band about 3 weeks ago, another band and album that might have been much higher on the list if I had had time to really absorb it. As it is I can't stop listening to it already and I keep going back to it even when shuffle is ignoring it. What I really appreciate about this German quartet is they seem to already know who they are and play to their strengths but still allow room to improvise and branch out. A skillset that not all bands attempt or even come close to mastering, especially in something that has a technical proficiency like Metal.
The other thing about the album that I find fascinating is its tendency to subvert the genre of metalcore. Nothing is truly anthem based in the 6 songs here and all of it seems to come rushing at you with a different fusion. You got songs like Make It Count and Momentum that have this almost doomy, black metal opening stanza. Then you get Fear//Hope that has this British new wave metal opening riff to Embracing that this pseudo Mastodon/Opeth feel to it. The growls come in nicely and play a very nice duet to a lot of the cleaner melodic vocals.
The darkness in the lyrics speak to a perspective that while may be painting a bleak picture there is small hint of hope and understanding in how the music plays to emotion. A lot of neat deliberate signature changes that further the tempos' ferocity or slow it into another bridge of the opening riff. I love that latter idea especially because it really shows a level of control that I think is often taken for granted in Metal. It makes it seem a lot smoother and more open to beauty even within its shrouding darkness. Another metal band that holds a bright future and I look forward to putting more of their stuff on future lists.
#6 OFF! - FREE LSD
GENRE: PUNK ROCK
8 years since there last effort Off has found the on switch pretty nicely here. All the influences above seem to be much more involved. Before I really felt like Keith's overwhelming presence rained down on this band's sound. Where with Free LSD you still get a lot of what has made Keith iconic but there is a sense of experimentation here that really plays off of the traditional punk tempos and rhythms. You can hear that almost Red Kross fused space disco weirdness in the 1st couple songs of Slice Up The Pie and Time Will Come. You even get a nice hardcore/almost metal riff to bring you into War Above Los Angeles.
Ulitmately though Free LSD really shines from the arrangement of the album, seemingly bleeding one track into the next with the kind of concept driven mentality that I think punk albums at one time where very, very good at and have for the most part withdrawn from. So I started this list with a band that made that famous for 40 years and I am finishing it with musicians who have come together after doing the same for so long and giving us want we what but not necessarily how we expected it. To me at least that is really cool and makes this album a must listen if you were a fan of any of the other bands these guys were in. All them are represented in the sound in one song or another and it is a great listen to see how that fusion really works well here.
SEE JOE'S PICK FOR
#5 up to his favorite Indie Album of 2022 in THIS YEAR IN INDIES 2022
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