Favorite songs outside of my favorite albums
20. Denzel Curry “Ricky” – best rap song about parental advice
19. Czarface “Burrito” – the best song about food poisoning
18. Steaksauce Mustache “Barnyard Brodown” – best serious and poignant metal song
17. Derek Deon “Melted Wax” – favorite song I heard at a band’s album release party
16. Long Knives – “Normal” – Best song I heard live at a dive bar this year
15. Cherry Glazerr – “Wasted Nun”– favorite song from a band no one is talking about?!
14. Tacocat – “The Joke of Life” – happiest song about Nihilism
13. Dumb – “My Condolences” – best non-singing from a singer
12. Julia Jacklin – “When The Family Flies In” – best “Time for a cry” song
11. The Evening Shades – “Electric” – best song I heard live in a living room
10. Lizzo – “Cuz I Love You” – Lizzo-iest song
9. Cage the Elephant – “Ready to Let Go” – 2nd best breakup song
8. P!nk – “90 Days (feat. Wrabel)” – best breakup song
7. The New Pornographers – “Higher Beams” – It’s just a good song
6. Injury Reserve – “Rap Song Tutorial” – silliest rap song
5. Zack Fox and Kenny Beats – “Jesus is the One (I Got Depression)” – Just kidding. This is the silliest.
4. Wallows – “Sidelines” – best Foster the People song of the year
3. Little Simz – “Boss” – favorite rap beat
2. Billie Eilish – “you should see me in a crown” – best music video this year
- Fluung – “American Money” – best slacker rock song
Top 15 Favorite Albums of 2019
15. Temples – Hot Motion
I usually can’t stand psychedelic rock bands. Huge reverb and anachronistic garb feel like too much of an affectation in lieu of something more substantial in the music itself. What took me by surprise with Temple’s new album Hot Motion was that tons of the hooks are ear-wormy as hell, and there are a handful of great guitar licks in here. I won’t be converting full-bore into the psych-rock lifestyle, but Temples has me open to hearing the work of their peers.
Standout Tracks: “You’re Either On Something” “Holy Horses” “Hot Motion”
14. Stef Chura – Midnight
Steff Chura is an amalgamation of many of my favorite indie rockers of the past decade. Chura’s vocals are somewhere between that of Hop Along or of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down: raspy and yelping at times, but never off-key or grating. Her guitar-centered rock is very much in the same sonic space as Car Seat Headrest, whose leader singer produced this record. Plug it in. Turn it up.
Standout Tracks:“All I Do is Lie” “Scream” “Sweet Sweet Midnight”
13. Diva Sweetly – In the Living Room
There are times when I get too caught up in trying to like albums I should really like if you’re a real music fan. It’s a message I get from music blogs, you tubers, or DIY show attendees. Diva Sweetly’s In the Living Room somehow feels like me and the “cool kids” who drink cheap beer and expensive cigarettes can finally nod along to the same record. I found the band through getalternative.com and I could not get the lead song “Cult” out of my head. The album ventures off from there to songs lead by two different singers, and the record doesn’t feel shackled to any particular trendy indie trope. It’s fun and it’s well produced, and I will hopefully run into them on the road one day to trade stickers.
Standout Tracks: “Cult” “Wax on my Candles” “The Floor Caved In (New Lang Syne)”
12. Dreamville – Revenge of the Dreamers 3
There’s an interesting dynamic that is portrayed in the documentary that depicts the production of Dreamville’s third collaborative mixtape. J Cole, who has become a top-tier rap star after three solid solo records in a row, basically invites whoever’s in his phone to a huge recording building and sets everyone loose. This mixtape is the result of that experience/experiment and it sounds exactly like what the film shows: various groups of producers and rappers going off in a corner of the building to work on something on their own. It’s certainly a mish-mash of ideas and artists, but the energy of capturing art in the moment comes through the speakers.
Standout Tracks: “Down Bad” “Wells Fargo” “MIDDLE CHILD” “Under the Sun” “Swivel”
11. Hobo Johnson – The Fall of Hobo Johnson
Frank Lopez Jr. never leaves the listener guessing on how he feels at any given second on TFOHJ, and if you find it easy to be patient with him, this record is a great opportunity to empathize with the swirling, unruly passions of a straight male Gen Z-er. Despite his opportunities, the Hobo Johnson character is marred with depression about how he measures up against the adult world and how he’s perceived by various(?) love interests. Lopez never finds anything particularly profound in his yelping or whispering, but his earnestness takes me aback. These dark lows of navel-gazing and diary scribbling are countered by silly songs about mediocre cars and parties, and fame, and cockroaches.
Standout Tracks: “Typical Story” “You & the Cockroach” “Subaru Crosstrek XV” “Ode to Justin Bieber”
10. Alex Lahey – The Best of Luck Club
Rock music ruled my aural attention this year, and a few Australian artists’ songs were caught in my head on and off again. The psychedelic Pond had a solid release this year, and the power pop record by Alex Lahey soundtracked many long bay area commutes. Lahey and her band dip into 80s pop rock, and 90s post grunge, 2000s piano pop, and a little punk too. It’s all pathos and it’s all cranked to eleven.
Standout Tracks: “I Don’t Invited to Parties Anymore” “Misery Guts” “Interior Demeanour”
9. Grandfather – R.I.P
Weezer has made it clear they no longer remember what made them the best post-grunge band twenty years ago. Any why should they? It’s our fault as fans to wish the impossible and to forbid both the retreading of “old weezer” and the enthusiastic adventures of later-day Weezer. All of this is to say that there are other bands who have bottled early-day Weezer and given the sound new life. Enter Grandfather.
The portland rock foursome combines the post-grunge sound with modern emo tropes and builds an impressive record that speaks very directly to folks like me: DIY musicians slowly dissolving into the humdrum of adult life.
Standout Tracks: “Horcrux” “Do It Yourself” “WOWWW” “Welcome To The World”
8. clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood
The biting voice of Daveed Diggs and the pummeling sounds of clipping. have found their match: the narrative of a horror film. This record combines the gory verbiage Diggs delivered in spades on the Wriggle EP and the narrative scope of Splendor & Misery. This record shows the three-piece rap industrial group sticking to their guns and the record shines as an example of each member’s strengths.
Standout Tracks: “Nothing is Safe” “Club Down” “Blood of the Fang”
7. Carly Rae Jepson – Dedicated
There was certainly no shortage of excellent pop music in 2019. Taylor Swift dipped back into her best impulses, Carlie XCX dropped another set of pop gems, Lizzo blew up radio AND spotify AND SNL, and Billie Eilish flipped the feel-good trend with Lorde-levels of finesse. The record that blessed my ears the most, however, was Carly Rae Jepson’s newest work Dedicated. There’s more boy-crazed lyrics, more bouncy and bubbly dance-pop production, and Jepson’s vocals themselves explore different affectations well beyond what listeners might expect from the singer of “Call Me Maybe.”
Standout Track: “Want You In My Room” “No Drug Like Me” “Everything He Needs” “Too Much”
6. Bon Iver – i.i
The level of pretentiousness I felt putting on Bon Iver’s new record was nearly unbearable. The obtuse album cover is tantamount to the nonsensical track titles, and I have never felt that the name “Bon Iver” ever communicated “Hey you, you’re welcome to come listen to this.” Nevertheless, I tried it out and I was greeted to the most arresting soundscape I experienced all year long. Justin’s voice, as always, sounds great both dry like whiskey and completed soaked in reverb and pitch-correction. What makes this my favorite Bon Iver record is that the tracks are catchier than the band’s previous work, and these songs became stuck in my head to a pleasant degree.
Standout Tracks: “iMi” “Hey, Ma” “Naeem”
5. Beetlejuice The Musical Original Broadway Cast Recording
I never gave musical adaptation of Hollywood films any chance. Even Lion King seemed like a uninteresting endeavor, despite clearly being in the minority as it’s the largest grossing musical of all time. Every year, another handful spring up and there’s at least some positive response, but do I listen? No. Should I? Maybe sometimes, but it’s hard, ya know?
Then I watched the Tony Awards and saw the original cast of Beetlejuice perform together and I was sold. Listening to the whole album, the show takes the essence of Tim Burton’s odd sense of humor and applies it to its own existence. The jokes land, even on the canned versions of songs, and the music is top-notch. And, obviously, the vocal performances are incredible.
Standout Tracks: “Ready Set, Not Yet” “Dead Mom” “Say My Name” “Girl Scout”
4. Local Natives – Violet Street
It seems my tastes have changed, at least partially, in that there’s a lot of “adult contemporary” music on this list. The inspiration I take from loquacious and poignant rap artists is now also catalyzed by staggering vocal performances. Local Natives, to whom I have never listened until 2019, created an album that gets better with each track as the vocals get stacked deeper and deeper. The harmonies makes the listener dance on it’s single “When Am I Gonna Lose You,” and by the final track of “Tap Dancer” it makes one weep. It’s retro in all the right ways without being obnoxious, and the sounds the band places on each track are unique and become more noticeable with each listen.
Standout Tracks: “When Am I Gonna Lose You” “Shy” “Someday Now” “Gulf Shores”
3. Joseph – Good Luck, Kid
Three sisters from Oregon formed Joseph and released a very folky record in 2016. I didn’t know anything about the band nor their album that year. I was busy doing something. In 2019, however, I have redeemed myself. The sophomore record is much poppier in production to its benefit, but the harmonized vocal performances are front and center. Canyon valley reverb blasts their melodies through the piano, or guitar, or synth, or whatever to deliver message of loss and hope. There isn’t a dud on the whole track list. In fact, every song seems essential to the experience the three artists wish to give each listener.
Standout Tracks: “Fighter” “Good Luck, Kid” “Revolving Door” “Half Truths”
2. Catfish and the Bottlemen – The Balance
Mainstream rock bands can feel stale in 2019. Many of them began forays into other genres, or created banal albums reminiscent of their previous, and greater, works. While some may find “The Balance” a little unadventurous, I found the record completely intoxicating, and it’s mostly to do with the melodies the lead singer conjures up. It sounds a lot like Arctic Monkeys from ten years ago, of which I have missed dearly. There’s nothing too fancy here, but what is delivered helps build strong, dance-inducing rock songs, most of which I have shouted along with in my daily commute.
Standout Tracks: “Basically” “Longshot” “Conversation” “Encore”
- PUP – Morbid Stuff
Where does all of Stephan’s Canadian niceness go? Pop in the new PUP album and this question is rendered completely ridiculous. The anger and angst and bitterness cut through as loudly as the guitar licks and drum fills on the band’s third official release. In a year where I found myself at the end of a long-term relationship, PUP’s blistering lyrics of unrequited love and dark post-breakup mastications connected deeper than all other 2019 albums. On top of the themes on which the band focuses, the four-piece design their most intricate compositions with fun time signature manipulations, and an explosion of energy on the apply titled “Full Blown Meltdown.” There’s plenty of sardonic humor in the darkness, and almost all of the melodies have been stuck in my head this year. Thank the lord for PUP.
Standout Tracks: “See You at Your Funeral” “Closure” “Kids” “Sibling Rivalry”
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