20) Girlpool - Powerplant
Girlpool didn’t reinvent themselves
on their sophomore album Powerplant, but they
definitely reassessed. Perhaps intentionally, 2015’s debut Before the World
Was Big sounded small. The duo of
Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad recorded with only one guitar, a bass, and
their voices. Powerplant isn’t a natural progression for the duo, but it’s a
progression nonetheless. Feedback and
percussion find their place in songs like “Corner Store” which is literally
interrupted by 10 seconds of thrashing guitar static feedback.
The largest progression is
showcased in Tucker and Tividad’s haunting harmonies. Album opener “123” contains the best vocal
performance on the album as they sing, “One two three will you list it off to
me?/How you’re sorry you feel weird in a jubilation dream/And you’re sorry
about the load/Feeling sorry about the load.”
The song borrows a page out of the Pixies' playbook – powerful then soft,
bitter then brittle. Only two of the
album’s 12 songs pass the three-minute mark, but the angst is unconventionally
palpable in all of the best ways on Powerplant.
18) Converge - The Dusk in Us
19) Arcade Fire - Everything Now
Everything
Now is without question Arcade Fire’s worst album. Admittedly, the band’s fifth album does leave
a lot to be desired. “Infinite Content” is
abrasive and might be the worst song the band has ever released. With that out of the way, Everything Now is not as bad as most
critics will have listeners think. Frontman
Win Butler has successfully weaved an album blending old world customs with new
world technology. Lead single “Everything Now” leaves listeners taking out their dancing shoes and plays like an unreleased ABBA single. Like the majority of the band’s strong
discography, the song is meant to be performed theatrically in a live
setting. “Creature Comfort” is the album’s
best song musically, but leaves a lot to be desired lyrically as Butler sings, “Assisted
suicide/She dreams about dying all the time/She told me she came so
close/Filled up the bathtub and put on our first record.” The song has good intentions, but
its content is so literal it’s slightly off-putting.
“Put Your Money On Me” is an album
highlight that details an intense love, “We were born innocent, but it lasts a
day/And baby you can give all the money away/But if there’s a race, a race for
your heart/It’s over before it starts.”
The song is downright spooky and examines the effects money has on
love. Money is necessary, but can also
serve as a corrupting force – Win uses this as a metaphor to save a
relationship. The metaphor lands better
than any other on an otherwise assorted album.
Everything Now might not be
remembered long term in the band’s strong discography, but in a world of infinite
content, Arcade Fire is still putting out tunes worthy of everyone’s consideration.
18) Converge - The Dusk in Us
No band has a blistering pedigree
as ferocious as Converge over the past 20 years. The band’s output has slowed in the past
decade, but The Dusk In Us is a
welcomed return to form for the metalcore giants. Lead single “I Can Tell You About Pain”
leaves no survivors and makes it clear that Converge isn’t interested in merely
taking a victory lap. Lead vocalist
Jacob Bannon called the single, “our most potent to date” and continued, “[the
album] has a tone and resonance that communicates in a new way for our
band.” The guitar riffs have never
sounded better than they do on juggernaut opener “A Single Tear.” Bannon’s vocals have always found a way to
work sonically with Converge’s music.
His delivery is often difficult to interpret, but the vocals work more
as a percussive compliment to the drums than actual lyrics. This pattern is best illustrated on the
chaotic “Wildlife” where a frenzied Bannon screams over a double bass
drum. The Dusk in Us is sure to appease the band’s older fan base, but
has likely captured the hearts of some younger metal heads as well.
17) The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Always Foreign
The calculated chaos of The World
is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die was perfected with
2017’s Always Foreign. The album is exactly what the world needed
this year amidst the hopelessness and anger that many felt. Previously, TWIABP felt like a lineup of diverse
individual musicians. Their live shows
often contained six to nine members on stage at a time. While the shows were always energetic, Always Foreign feels more effective and
polished as the band step into the responsibility of their name. “Marine Tigers” focus on touchy subjects such
as xenophobia and feeling unaccepted in your own hometown, “Can you still call
it a country?/If all the states are broken/Can you still call it a business?/If
all you do is steal/There’s nothing wrong with Jose/There’s nothing wrong with
Moses/There’s nothing wrong with kindness/There’s nothing wrong with
knowing.” The message is urgent and
vital which is a massive shift from the band’s prior work. “Fuzz Minor” again touches on the same themes
in a less subtle manner, “Call me ‘a-rab’/Call me a ‘spic’/I can’t wait until I
see you die.” Regardless of one’s
political affiliation, it’s inspiring to see a group who has their collective
finger on the pulse of the repressed as well as The World is a Beautiful Place
& I Am No Longer Afraid To Die does.
16) Jonwayne - Rap Album Two
Underground rapper and producer
Jonwayne has illustrated a talent to produce a solid foundation of hip-hop
flows and cadences. On 2013’s Rap Album One, Jonwayne attempts to
tackle dense subject matter with clever quips and punchlines, but something is
often left to be desired from his perspective.
In the four years since, Jonwayne retired from hip-hop due in part to
struggles with alcoholism. Things seemed
very bleak for the Los Angeles artist. Rap Album Two is damning evidence that
Jonwayne may have retired from rapping for four years, but he certainly never
stopped writing. The perspective lacking
from his previous album flourishes on “Afraid of Us” where Jonwayne
contemplates whether it’s worth being an artist at all, “Look at these
people/Counting on me when I can’t even count on myself/Look at these homies/So
sure of me when I’m not so sure of myself/I need help/But I’m too damn proud to
start the progress now/I need to slow down/But I need a good friend to come and
tell me how.” Jonwayne clearly exercised
demons in his four year hiatus, but he often answers his own questions with his
finished product. It is worth being an artist when the
finished product is a result of introspective self-therapy.
15) Charly Bliss - Guppy
Each year, an artist comes from
virtually nowhere to release one of the biggest surprises. 2017 was no exception as Charly Bliss
released the sugary sweet Guppy in April. The throwback tunes play like Weezer’s Blue Album with the hyperactive vocals
of frontwoman Eva Hendricks piercing through the gritty instrumentals. The confidence expressed on Guppy is off the charts. The album opens with “Percolator” where
Hendricks quickly establishes comfort, “Come on baby get me high/There’s always
something new to buy/I cry all the time, I think that it’s cool/I’m in touch
with my feelings.” Like Rivers Cuomo
before her, Hendricks doesn’t shy away from personal experience, but rather
embraces it head-on right out of the gate.
The album hits its pinnacle on “DQ” as Hendricks outlines one of her
favorite memories with the band, “I’m four years above sixteen/I bounced so
high, I peed the trampoline/I’m too sad to be mean/I’m gonna end up working at
Dairy Queen.” The song is silly as hell,
but you can’t help but sing along as the simple chorus hits like a shot of
adrenaline to the bloodstream. Charly
Bliss may be “too sad to be mean” but you would never know it when listening to Guppy.
14) Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory
Few artists have a more polarizing
presence than Vince Staples. His
ambitious Summertime ’06 boasted 20
complex songs performed by a scorned young man.
Staples had seen it all in his 22 years.
Big Fish Theory isn’t 20
songs, but it’s arguably his most ambitious project to date. The dreaded sophomore slump is shaken quickly while Staples ditches the majority of his previous collaborators and peers. “Big Fish” is a hip-hop classic with
a timeless earworm of a beat. Lyrically,
Staples hasn’t shed his contempt for authority as “BagBak” is a festival crowd
pleaser that weighs in on Staples’ thoughts about the current presidential
administration (spoiler alert: he hates it.)
Many of the tracks carry angst towards specific authority. “Yeah Right” is a call-and-response track
that features a Kendrick Lamar verse.
For many rappers, a Kendrick guest spot is the kiss of death, but
Staples manages to make the track his own despite some great Kendrick
bars. Big Fish Theory asserts Vince Staples’ place on the Mount Rushmore
of current hip-hop artists.
13) LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Amidst a breakup, reunion, and delay after
delay, the once impossible record from LCD Soundsystem was finally delivered in
Sepetember – and deliver it did. American Dream is James Murphy’s darkest
record to date, but still delivers on the band’s prior dance-punk
sensibilities. Murphy and Co. released
singles “call the police” and “american dream” to somewhat mixed reviews. Vocally, Murphy channeled his inner Bono on
the two singles that left a little to be desired for fans the band’s more dance driven tunes. Murphy kept his
doubters at bay when the album came to fruition.
“tonite” might have the funkiest beat in the band’s discography, and
“how do you sleep?” is an extensive, nine-minute monolith recounting Murphy’s
deteriorated relationship with Death From Above co-founder Tim Goldsworthy. The song offers haunting details on what went
wrong between the previous business partners, but nevertheless is an album
highlight. “change yr mind” is an
introspective look at Murphy’s thought mindset on how the past seven years have
panned out. Murphy rehashes feelings
about being too old to perform in the band anymore, “I’ve just got nothing left
to say/I’m in no place to get it right/And I’m not dangerous now/The way I used
to be once/I’m just too old for it now/At least that seems to be true.” American
Dream feels familiar to the band’s loyal fan base, but it still remains
pressing, angry, dark, and fresh – and that’s all one can ask for in an artist reunion.
12) White Reaper - The World's Best American Band
The spirit of Thin Lizzy lives
on! Louisville based garage punk quartet
White Reaper reveal a style akin to 1970s power chords and party jams on
their sophomore album The World’s Best American
Band. The album opens to the roar of
an admiring crowd which sums up the White Reaper experience to a tee. The whole album plays as a continued live
performance while one unpolished tune after another attacks listeners ears like
a lethal dose of adrenaline. The guitar
licks on highlight “Daisies” channels the band’s inner Deep Purple, but “Judy French” is the album’s shining gem. “And
your ripped jeans put me on the floor/Yeah, you make me want to pout/It could
be simple, you and me simple/If you want to try it out,” shrieks frontman Tony
Esposito. The reason it’s so easy to buy
into The World’s Best American Band
is because the band is bought in as well.
They are The World’s Best
American Band because they believe it. There’s
something charming about White Reaper’s undying confidence that makes them
truly exceptional.
11) Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy
Tyler, the Creator has come a long
way since Goblin. Gone are the days of “Yonkers” and his Adult
Swim program LOITER SQUAD as Tyler continues to push himself to new levels with
his art. In 2017 alone, Tyler wrote,
directed and scored his first film as well as an animated television show. With these new responsibilities, Tyler also
released Flower Boy unto the world –
his best album to date. Tyler’s albums
have always been very introspective and conceptual. Goblin and
Wolf told the story of a young
man's rise to success while 2015’s Cherry
Bomb was a turn stylistically that divided many of his fans. Flower
Boy thrives in its storytelling, but also combines the successful elements
of his previous three albums masterfully.
The album doesn’t go light on guest features either. “Who Dat Boy” is one of the biggest bangers
of the year featuring a guest verse from A$AP Rocky. “911 / Mr. Lonely” takes a lighter meditative
approach featuring a beautiful Frank Ocean appearance. Lil Wayne even shows up on the enigmatic
“Droppin’ Seeds.” While the guests are
plentiful, Tyler never leans on them too heavily as he keeps the spotlight on
the narrative at hand. The end result is
one of the most ambitious projects of Tyler, the Creator’s ever-growing catalogue.
10) Lorde - Melodrama
The 2010s have been conquered by young,
angst-riddled pop stars looking for a platform.
Lorde’s latest album Melodrama continues
her streak of dominance over the field.
Lead single “Green Light” tackles her first serious heartbreak while
finding a way to remain an earworm. The
electro-acoustic pop anthem showcases the 20 year old’s swarming ability to
recapture the limelight in a massive way, “I’m waiting for it, that green
light, I want it!” she wails as a powerful piano bass line enters.
Perhaps the only thing more intimate than Lorde’s lyrics is
her vocal work. “Writer in the Dark” is
sung with an inflexible rasp that opens a different page in Lorde’s
discography. The song marvels over some stereotypical
20 year old issues while wondering whether she’ll love her ex forever or if she
will move forward. We’ve heard dozens of
songs on this topic before, but the anomaly is in the stunning way she
approaches these issues. The subject
matter isn’t revolutionary, but sometimes having a grip on your perspective and
being uniquely talented is more important than just being unique.
9) Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet
What a difference a year can
make. Michelle Zauner, better known as
Japanese Breakfast, released one of the best and most brutally tragic albums of
the past decade in 2016’s Psychopomp. The album’s primary theme revolved around Zauner’s
mother dying of cancer as Zauner wrote the album while taking care of her
mother while she was in hospice. The
album gave listeners a deep look inside the heartbreaking relationship Zauner
had with her mother before her passing.
Most artists would spend immense amounts of soul points writing and releasing
something so personal and raw. It seemed
fair to assume we may not see another album from Japanese Breakfast for a
while. Thankfully, this was not the case
as Zauner released Soft Sounds from
Another Planet in July. It’s clear
that she is still carrying the weight of her mother’s death throughout the
album’s 12 tracks, but it’s heartwarming to see Zauner grow and recover through
her songs. To be clear, many of her
songs are still heartbreakers. “Boyish”
is a reworked ballad from Zauner’s former band Little Big League that focuses
on the non-reciprocation of falling in love, “I can’t get you off my mind/I
can’t get you off in general/So here we are we’re just two losers/I want you
and you want something more beautiful.”
Love (and lack thereof) is the lead focal point on Soft Sounds from Another Planet.
Lead single “Machinist” opens with Zauner speaking to a computer, “Was
it always this way and I just couldn’t see it?”
The song uses auto-tune in a clever way that illustrates our dependence
and love for technology. In the same
vein of Spike Jonze’s Her or Richard
Powers’ novel Galatea 2.2, the song
is a sci-fi narrative about a woman who falls in love with a robot. You have to hear it to believe it.
8) Oso Oso - The Yunahon Mixtape
Emo’s
third wave continues to produce some great new acts revitalizing the early 00s Drive
Thru Records sound. The latest example
is Long Island quartet Oso Oso who released The
Yunahon Mixtape this year. The album
title may contain the word “mixtape” but these songs are as polished as
traditional pop-punk tunes come.
Frontman Jade Lilitri sings almost at a whisper on album standout “reindeer games.” One is easily reminded of emo
greats The Early November on “the walk” as Lilitri coos, “I’ll stay mute/’Cause
I never found the words to say/And just stand still/’Cause you always find a
way to slip away.” The formula isn’t
revolutionary, but Oso Oso have found a niche that many less talented bands
have thrived upon in years past. Oso Oso
will be worth keeping an eye on as artists continue buying stock in the emo
revival.
7) Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 3
Top tag team for…three
summers? Killer Mike and El-P technically
dropped their third album as Run the Jewels on Christmas of 2016 to similar
praise the previous two received. Run the Jewels 3 isn’t a step backwards
from 2, but there were many
intangibles that played into the tour-de-force that was Run the Jewels 2. The
subject matter is often more playful on RTJ3,
but El-P’s production is as strong as ever on “Call Ticketron” which samples a
recurring funk/soul tune from the early 70s.
Killer Mike refuses to take a step backwards lyrically despite steering
clearer of the social issues 2 tackles. “Legend Has It” boasts some of Mike’s better
bars throughout his discography, “We are the murderous pair/That went to jail
and we murdered the murderers there/Then went to Hell and discovered the
devil/Delivered some hurt and despair.”
The album leaves little desired in terms of
anthems and guest verses. “Talk to Me” contains
a moment of crowd participation (“And the crowd goes RTJ!”) “Hey Kids (Bumaye)” features a charismatic
Danny Brown to bring it home on the third and final verse a la Big Boi on RTJ1’s ”Banana Clipper.” All in all, Run the Jewels stick to the ‘if
it ain’t broke…’ mantra on Run the Jewels
3, but still manage to pull a few new tricks out of their seemingly endless
bag.
6) Alvvays - Antisocialites
Despite its paranoid sounding
title, Antisocialites feels like the
soundtrack to catching up with an old friend.
Its dreamy 10 tracks end as fast as they arrive and inspire a feeling of
melancholy unmatched by any release this year.
The hazy ambience of “Dreams Tonite” is a swooning account of missed
connection that transitions flawlessly into the up-tempo “Plimsoll Punks." The standout track is undoubtedly “Saved By AWaif” as front-woman Molly Rankin shows off her range over a gorgeous chorus, “You
cut your hair/Now you look like a little boy/You climbed the stairs/So high,
you can’t come down from there/Said you wanted to get it together but you don’t.” In an era where many indie artists are doing
the same thing, Alvvays continue to build an impressive resume of dreamy tunes
that will only continue to expand into 2018 and beyond.
5) Big Thief - Capacity
Adrianne Lenker has music lineage
in her blood dating back to the times of early folk revivalists. The story of her childhood is afascinating one; Lenker had more life experience by the age of 6 than most of
us do today. On her band’s sophomore
album Capacity, Lenker lets her distinct
experiences do the bulk of the legwork as her swooning vocals carry gravitas on
past familiarities. On lead single
“Mythological Beauty,” Lenker recounts the time a railroad spike fell from her
treehouse and landed on her head. The
event nearly killed her, and while the seriousness of the matter isn’t
diminished by the calmness of her voice, it’s certainly masked. Big Thief’s knack for drawing beautiful indie
songs from traumatic experience does not end with the album’s lead single. Back half highlight “Haley” recounts a tale
of lost kinship with an old friend, “Oh, when it gets you down/When you get
that notion/Anyway, you walk around/Anywhere that you are going/If you ever
wanna come back/You know my arms are always open.” At times, the album is uncomfortably
intimate, but Big Thief have crafted an album that intentionally toys with the
emotions in a matchless fashion.
4) Sorority Noise - You're Not as ___ as You Think
Loss is difficult to digest. Putting a name on that loss through art is a
line that many artists have toed in years past, but the line is a fine
one. Artists often risk coming off as
disingenuous at worse and corny at best.
Sorority Noise’s You’re Not as
_____ as You Think takes an introspective look at the loss of friends and family
in ways previously unseen in emo’s third wave.
Lead singer Cameron Boucher references losing “a basketball team to
heaven” on album standout “Disappeared," which plays like a gloomier Modern
Baseball track. On album standout and
opener “No Halo,” Boucher recounts a chilling autobiographical tale on the
morning of a friend’s funeral, “So I didn’t show up to your funeral/But I
showed up to your house/And I didn’t move a muscle/I was quiet as a mouse/And I
swore I saw you in there/But I was looking at myself.” The song miraculously tackles the raw emotion
of survivor’s guilt and overcoming depression.
In a press release, Boucher commented on the dark subject matter with a
fact he encountered about his life while writing the album, “Things are going
to be tough, but it’s going to be fine in the end – and you have to keep going
because you just have to. This is how
it’s going to be. You’ve just got to do
it.” Sorority Noise’s You’re Not as _____ as You Think will be
a welcomed mainstay for young people who have been similarly burdened by tragic
loss in their lives.
3) Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights
Self-examination has always been a
driving force in popular music, but rarely has it been done with the confidence
boasted in Julien Baker’s Turn Out the
Lights. Like her 2015 debut Sprained Ankle, the album contains
stripped down redemption songs completely void of percussion that would make
Elliott Smith proud. Baker builds on her
debut with stronger songwriting and a more refined life experience. While listening to the beauty and familiarity
in her voice it’s easy to lose track of the fact that she’s only 22 years
old. Baker masterfully draws callbacks
from the resilience of Sprained Ankle
to the idea of morality Turn Out the
Lights. On album standout “Hurt Less,” Baker speaks upon growing self-worth as she grows older, “I used to
never wear a seatbelt/’Cause I said I didn’t care what happened/And I didn’t
see the point/In trying to save myself from an accident/’Cause if somebody’s
gonna help me/What’s this fabric gonna help/And when I’m pitched through the
windshield/I hope the last thing I felt before the pavement/Was my body float/I
hope my soul goes too.” The song is undeniably
graphic, but Baker concludes that she now wears safety belts “because when I’m
with you/I don’t have to think about myself/And it hurts less.” Words don’t do the song’s raw beauty
justice. Each song is so articulately
crafted as the bridge of “Sour Breath,” “Turn Out the Lights,” and
“Appointments” all conclude with Baker’s booming vocals. Turn
Out the Lights sticks with listeners long after their done listening to it will
leave them considering their own morality.
2) Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
No artist better solidified their
place atop their respective genre in 2017 than Kendrick Lamar. DAMN.
is a middle ground between 2012’s personal good
kid, m.A.A.d. city and 2015’s broader To
Pimp a Butterfly. The music is
emotional and draws introspectively from personal experience. “Hell-raising, wheel-chasing, new worldy
possessions/Flesh-making, spirit-breaking, which one would you lessen?/The
better part, the human heart, you love ‘em or dissect ‘em/Happiness or
flashiness? How do you serve the question?” Kendrick questions on the opening
verse of “PRIDE.” The song closes with
Kendrick repeating the verse “I can’t fake humble just ‘cause your ass is
insecure” before transitioning into “HUMBLE.” which is perhaps the biggest and
loudest song of 2017. Like its
predecessors, each track on DAMN. plays
a larger purpose in the cohesive album, and the transition between “PRIDE.” and
“HUMBLE.” Is one of Kendrick’s most jarring alterations to date.
Kendrick has taken his licks from
FOX News over the past handful of years, but he returns the licks tenfold on
album opener “BLOOD.” The song ends with
a clip of a FOX News reporting misquoting Kendrick’s lyrics as they criticize
his “Alright” performance at the 2015 BET Awards. The song transitions flawlessly into angry
anthem “DNA.” as Kendrick goes off. The
bridge of the song samples a clip of Geraldo Rivera saying, “This is why I say
that hip hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in
recent years,” as Kendrick spouts, “Tell me somethin’/You can’t
tell me nothin’/I’d rather die than listen to you/My DNA not for imitation/Your
DNA an abomination/This is how it is when you’re in the Matrix/Dodgin’ bullets,
reapin’what you sow/And stackin’ up the footage, livin’ on the go.” Kendrick
mentions Rivera and FOX News only to destroy their credibility on the black
experience multiple times throughout DAMN.’s
14 tracks.
The album highlight is “DUCKWORTH.” which is a tale that
completes the Top Dawg Entertainment saga.
The song tells the tale of Ducky, a young man working at a KFC in
Compton. Ducky befriends a regular of
the restaurant named Anthony and often gives him free food. Anthony later spares Ducky’s life in a
shootout as it is revealed that Anthony is the founder of Top Dawg
Entertainment and Ducky is Kendrick’s father, “You take two strangers and put ‘em
in random predicaments/Give ‘em a soul so they can make their own choices and
live with it/Twenty years later, them same strangers, you make ‘em meet
again/Inside recording studios where they reapin’ the benefits/Then you start
remindin’ them about that chicken incident/Whoever thought the greatest rapper
would be from coincidence?/Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg would be
servin’ life/While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight.” The song is a biography that pays tribute to
the two most important men in Kendrick’s life.
Kendrick continues his sense of ambition in an even larger fashion as he
reaches towards something more universal and spiritual on DAMN.
1) Jay Som - Everybody Works
“Take time to figure it out,”
starts the chorus of Jay Som’s debut single “The Bus Song.” It’s amazing how much Melina Duterte, better
known as Jay Som, has figured out in her 22 years. Everybody
Works is an intimate collection of songs with a relaxed pace. The album has been pegged by many as
dream-pop, which makes sense considering Duterte recorded the album entirely in
her bedroom studio. “Baybee” features an
80s-esque synthesizer with Duterte’s seductive vocals complimenting her
distinct guitar style. The song is
destined to be played on a warm summer car ride with the windows down. Duterte carries the perspective of a seasoned
veteran on the title track “Everybody Works” as she sings, “Hey, you’re a
rockstar/But do you have the time?/Did you pay your way through?/The right place,
the right time?/Try to make ends meet/Penny pinch til I’m dying/Everybody
works.” Most 22 year olds can relate to
the concept of penny pinching, but Duterte carries the responsibility of
pinching pennies and paying dues simultaneously. “1 Billion Dogs” plays like a Nirvana B-side
and is easily the most punk/grunge influenced song on an album full of indie
tunes. It’s easy to listen to these
songs and think you’re hearing the product of a full band, but don’t be fooled
– it’s all Duterte throughout. Being a
star on the rise carries a certain job description, and Jay Som reminds us that
touring, writing, performing, etc. is work in and of itself. Everybody
Works celebrates this fact with small personal moments from throughout
Duterte’s life. She appears ready to
tackle whatever work is thrown her way.
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