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Annual Playlist: The Best Albums of 2023

Your favorite year-end music list is back for Year #3.

Welcome back for another edition of (surely) everyone’s favorite end-of-year music list! We’re officially on Year 3 of this exercise, in which I do my best to keep up with as much new music as humanly possible without feeling like Steve Buscemi wandering the halls of a high school.

Again, this list is a mostly subjective, mostly comprehendible selection of the music that made my year. Hopefully I included your favorite 2023 album, or mention your favorite song. If not…well there was a lot of great music this year, and there’s always room to listen to more! For what it’s worth, I have 2023 as not quite as good as last year, but better than 2021 (although I am open to hearing arguments to the contrary). Regardless, I loved everything mentioned here, and a few things that didn’t make the cut.

Without further ado, let’s kick this thing off with a brand new bonus category!

2022’s Catch-Up Corner

If you read this list last year, you may have found a few new artists or albums that resonated with you. Some of those artists released new music again in 2023, and while that music may not have necessarily made the list this time around, I’m still devoting some words to it. Note: This section is different than the upcoming “Missed the Boat” section. That is for a 2022 album that hit for me in 2023, whereas this is for artists that I mentioned last year that also put out something worth mentioning again this year.

Missed the Boat: Noah Cyrus – The Hardest Part

With apologies to SZA’s SOS (I, too, listened to “Kill Bill” 72,843 times this year) and JID’s The Forever Story, I had to give this slot to one of my belatedly favorite albums (and biggest surprises) of 2022. On The Hardest Part, Noah Cyrus embraces her country roots in a way her more famous sister has never quite been able to. The result is a shockingly good alt-country album featuring some strong and emotionally resonant pop songwriting. There’s heartbreak, trauma, and personal struggle here, but recovery, growth, and determination too. A strong recommend for “Unfinished” at bare minimum, where a lot of those elements are on display to full effect.

Shades of: Kacey Musgraves, Low, battling your demons and living to tell the tale

Must Listen Tracks: Ready to Go, Unfinished, I Burned LA Down

Robert Baratheon Memorial “Seven Hells, What Am I To Make Of This?” Award: 100 gecs – 10,000 gecs

I turn 30 years old next week (gasp!) but I have never felt older than I did about halfway through 100 gecs’ third studio album. 10,000 gecs is aptly named: I don’t know what a gec is, but I’m sure if I saw 10,000 of them I would say “yup, that’s a lot of gecs”. This album is confusing. It’s a lot. It’s hyperpop distilled into the dust on Cool Ranch Doritos. It’s 10 songs clocking in at under half an hour. At one point there’s a frog doing a keg stand, and then later a ska song about getting a tooth taken out. But from the THX intro at the start to pummeling synths of “mememe” at the end, I had fun, even as I muttered “what the hell is this?” in my best Tim Robinson impression half a dozen times.

Shades of: Pretty much every genre from the past 30 years stuffed in a blender, Code Red Mountain Dew, Feeling both like a teenager and too old for this shit

Must Listen Tracks: Dumbest Girl Alive, Hollywood Baby, I Got My Tooth Removed

Honorable Mention: Covet – catharsis

Do you ever watch Barry Sanders highlights, or check out those extreme baking shows, and just sit and wonder to yourself “that feels impossible…how are they doing that”? That’s how I feel listening to Yvette Young play guitar. On catharsis, Young’s math-rock outfit Covet’s third LP, the band trades some of that math-iness for melody without losing any of the technical pyrotechnics that have come to define Young’s unique, virtuosic sound. As on their previous releases, there are limited lyrics and most of the tracks are instrumental. That doesn’t matter, though, not when you can so clearly hear Young’s voice through her instrument.

Shades of: Stellan Skarsgard watching Will Hunting solve an equation, Guitar Hero on Expert

Must Listen Tracks: firebird, bronco, lovespell

Honorable Mention: Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here.

Let’s Start Here burbles to life on “the BLACK seminole.”, a song that sounds a lot closer to a lost Pink Floyd release than (I assume) anyone would have thought rapper Lil Yachty was capable of. “Love is not a lie! / It just feels like a Tarantino movie scene” he proclaims at the end of that track, a coda that feels appropriate given Tarantino’s proclivity to homage. Let’s Start Here is, much like Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill, a mashing together of genre and familiar soundscapes to produce an engrossing (if occasionally uneven) artistic statement. It’s unclear if this is the direction Yachty is planning on taking for the rest of his career, but I’m interested in seeing what boundaries he’s willing to push if it is.

Shades of: Prog-rock with funk and jazz overtones, Thundercat, “Just Wanna Rock” meets Parliament-Funkadelic

Must Listen Tracks: the BLACK seminole., running out of time, drive ME crazy!

Honorable Mention: Sufjan Stevens – Javelin

Sufjan Stevens falls under that personal subset of artists we all have where I can appreciate his artistry and even enjoy some of his albums (I am not immune to the charms of Greetings from Michigan or Illinois) while acknowledging much of his work is either a blindspot for me or not my cup of tea. That being said, I couldn’t ignore Javelin, which has Stevens firing on all cylinders in a way he hasn’t since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell. There’s a brighter, lighter feel on Javelin than C & L, but also an undeniable undercurrent of melancholy. Stevens dedicated this album to his late partner, Evans Richardson, who passed away in April. I can’t imagine a better way to honor someone you love than with this gorgeously crafted record.

Shades of: Earlier Sufjan, Christmastime, internal and interpersonal reckoning

Must Listen Tracks: A Running Start, Will Anybody Ever Love Me, Shit Talk

Honorable Mention: Paramore – This is Why

A fourth honorable mention! This list is getting longer all the time. I had to include Paramore’s This Is Why on the list for being the album my opinion changed on the most over the course of the year. I was lukewarm on it upon release, but by the time I sat down to put everything together for this post I felt like I had to include it. This Is Why doesn’t quite reach the highs of Riot! or Paramore, but the good stuff here is still really good! Procrastination anthem “Running Out Of Time” hit maybe a bit too close to home for me, and “Crave” is a terrific showcase for Hayley Williams’ singular vocals. The second half of the album in general plays a lot closer to Williams’ solo releases, and while those songs might take some time to warm up to, they’re plenty rewarding. Bonus shoutout to Re: This Is Why, a remix album with features from Foals, The Linda Lindas, Wet Leg, Bartees Strange, Julian Baker, and more that gave me an added appreciation for the original.

Shades of: It’s a Paramore record, but also the most Hayley Williams-sounding Paramore record yet

Must Listen Tracks: This Is Why, Running Out Of Time, Crave

10. Colter Wall – Little Songs

There’s obviously something to be said for genre-shifting, and pushing limits and expectations of your chosen art form. There’s also something to be said for staying in your lane and knocking it out of the park. Colter Wall’s Little Songs is the latter, an old-school, kick-ass country album perfect for ranching on the Saskatchewan prairies or drinking a beer on the back porch. Wall isn’t re-inventing the wheel here, but who needs a square wheel anyway when round ones work just fine? As Wall’s baritone rumbles through life lessons and frontier tales, it’s a reminder that the familiar can be exciting when it’s well-executed.

Shades of: Johnny Cash, drinking a glass of whiskey in a barn, donning a ten gallon hat that would make John Wayne blush

Must Listen Tracks: Standing Here, The Coyote & The Cowboy, Evangelina

9. Bully – Lucky For You

Lucky For You is the fourth album from Bully, the solo project of singer/songwriter Alicia Bognanno. I liked SUGAREGG, Bully’s 2020 release, but Bognanno turns the dial up even more here. Music critic Steven Hyden referred to Lucky For You as “good-ass grunge” in his year-end list, and I have to agree: This is some good-ass grunge. Bognanno’s voice rasps and crackles over fuzzy, flange-y guitars and grooving bass, and it all sounds great. Soccer Mommy even joins for a feature on “Lose You”. But the main differentiator between this album and other 90s-inspired artists/records this year is the percussion. The way the drums pop on songs like “Hard to Love” and “Change Your Mind” are like taking a jab on the jaw from a schoolyard bully (or, perhaps, a schoolyard Bully).

Shades of: Hole, Garbage, the teeniest bit of Janis Joplin

Must Listen Tracks: Days Move Slow, Change Your Mind, Lose You

8. Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan

2023 was loaded for fans of alt-country (or Americana, or whatever the kids are calling it these days). We already mentioned Colter Wall, but Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Turnpike Troubadours, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Molly Tuttle all put albums out this year. My favorite from this corner of the music world was Zach Bryan’s self titled album, a raw rumination on family, relationships, growing up and skipping town, basically all of the best country themes you could ask for. Bryan’s gravelly voice is a treat, and there are plenty of excellent songs on this record. The real reason this album made the list, though, is the two-track double whammy that comes in the record’s first half. “Hey Driver” and “Fear and Friday’s” might be my favorite sequence on any album all year. If this album is for you, you’ll likely appreciate Boys of Faith, the EP Bryan also put out this year.

Shades of: Dillon Texas, road trips, Chris Stapleton’s more stripped down songs

Must Listen Tracks: Hey Driver, Fear and Friday’s, I Remember Everything

7. Hotline TNT – Cartwheel

The best way to describe Cartwheel, the second album from New York band Hotline TNT, is “ultra-listenable”. There’s a ton of shoegaze elements at work here, but there’s also a decisiveness that isn’t always present in that subgenre of indie rock. Lead singer/songwriter (and sole permanent member of the group) Will Anderson cuts through the buzzy guitar fog with his ear for melody, often to really impressive results. “I Thought You’d Change” is a great example of a pop track with shoegaze production, while “Son in Law” showcases a heavier sound. When he needs to liven things up a bit, Anderson shows he can do that too, like on the uptempo “Out of Town”. It’s a tight 33 minutes for a 12 song album, and works as a showcase of how you can make a sonically cohesive album where each track sounds distinct. When you need a record that just lets it rip, this is the one to reach for.

Shades of: Shoegaze with a punch, messing around with the distortion knobs on your guitar amp to see what weird sound you can make

Must Listen Tracks: I Thought You’d Change, Beauty Filter, Stump

6. Home is Where – The Whaler

The Whaler is a tremendous exercise in juxtaposition. There are moments that are pretty and melodic, but then moments that are raw and unvarnished. There’s catchy pop hooks and harmonies, but also ragged vocals that sound like singer Brandon McDonald’s throat might tear. Some of the lyrics are poignant, and others verge on grotesque. Walker notes that 9/11 and the aftermath we still feel today from that horrific event forms the backbone for the album’s concept, but that subtext is a lot less overt than you’d expect listening to the record (even though it’s referenced in two song titles). It’s emo-rock at its finest, but its finest moment (album closer “Floral Organs”) features what I can only guess is the world record for most harmonica in an emo song. There’s quiet moments, there’s loud moments, and through it all you never stop feeling like a soul is being bared. Like I said, emo at its finest.

Shades of: Existential dread, Captain Ahab in his feels on the Pequod, Blonde on Blonde but post-Bush administration and wearing black skinny jeans and Vans

Must Listen Tracks: Yes! Yes! A Thousand Times Yes!, Daytona 500, Floral Organs

Halftime – Some Songs I Really Liked

As always, we’re taking a breather from the list to run through some individual songs I liked from this year as a thinly-veiled ploy to talk about a few albums that didn’t make the cut:

Ilsey (feat. Bon Iver) – Heart of Gold: Goddamn, I love this cover. The original is obviously a classic, but Ilsey (who has written and co-written more famous songs than you know) does Neil proud and knocks this one out of the park.

Olivia Rodrigo – ballad of a homeschooled girl: We weren’t going to get through a whole 2023 music review without talking Rodrigo, right? I thought GUTS was good but not great, and vulnerable to some of the same pitfalls Sour stumbled over. Singles “vampire” and “bad idea right?” got all the press, but I thought “ballad of a homeschooled girl” was the best of the lot.

Jamila Woods – Boomerang: Woods’ Water Made Us, released in October, is a sparkling record. If you liked SZA’s SOS, I’d point you in this direction. “I think you really wanna dance with me” Woods croons on “Boomerang”, and she’s right. What a fun song.

The Smile – Bending Hectic: Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood are up to their old tricks with their new group. “Bending Hectic” is a single from The Smile’s upcoming second album, so consider this a (likely) preview for next year’s list. For what it’s worth, this song is incredible and the best one they’ve released so far.

Palehound – Independence Day: Let the record show that Eye on the Bat was so close to making this list proper. That was one of my albums of the summer, and “Independence Day” was one of my songs of the summer. Not many breakup songs have vibes this good.

The Beatles – Now and Then: I mean come on, it’s The Beatles. With a new song that’s actually pretty good. In 2023. You thought I wasn’t going to include this?

If you want to check out some other songs I loved from this year, check out my Best of: 2023 playlist below (and at the Apple Music link here):

5. Jeff Rosenstock – Hellmode

D.I.Y. legend Jeff Rosenstock delivered again with Hellmode, the follow-up to 2020’s NO DREAM (and, by extension, 2021’s all ska remix of NO DREAM, SKA DREAM). Rosenstock sanded down some of the edges of his sound here, but the extra sheen doesn’t detract from the emotion that he always brings to the table. Hellmode is at its best when it swings for the fences, like on the anthemic “Liked U Better”, or when “Future is Dumb” turns on the jets for the last minute. Its more reserved moments shine too, especially when they allow Rosenstock’s sardonic wit to leak through (“Trying to get boba, but they keep me waiting” Rosenstock muses through chores and writer’s block on “Life Admin”). That Rosenstock manages to juggle both sides so effectively speaks to growth, maturity, and unrelenting dedication to making a well-crafted album.

Shades of: Elvis Costello crossed with the Ramones, the dancing guy from Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Must Listen Tracks: Liked U Better, Future is Dumb, 3 Summers

4. boygenius – the record

“I want you to hear my story / And be a part of it” Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker harmonize on “With You Without Them”, the sparse opening track of the record. It makes sense: the trio has built an indie empire on confessional, intimate songwriting. Baker, Bridges, and Dacus joined forces for the long awaited follow up to 2018’s boygenius EP, to bring us into the fold once again. It should be impossible to live up to the hype that surrounded this album’s release, and while the record isn’t perfect, that it even comes close to meeting those lofty expectations is an achievement in and of itself. The front half is demonstrably stronger than the back half, with the three lead singles (“$20”, “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue”) forming the album’s foundation. For what it’s worth, I think Baker wins the album. “$20”, “Satanist” and “Anti-Curse” (the three Baker-centric tracks) are a much needed splash of energy on an album that’s often low-key and pensive. Of course, this project isn’t about winning or losing. It’s at its best when all three members of this supergroup are firing on all cylinders together, like on gorgeous folk number “Cool About It”, or the titanic, undeniable “Not Strong Enough”.

Shades of: Phoebe, Julien, and Lucy (duh), the power of friendship

Must Listen Tracks: True Blue, Cool About It, Not Strong Enough 

3. Ratboys – The Window

Here’s a hint on how to get me on your side: Start your album off with the sound of plugging an electric guitar into an amp. That move is going to work on me 10/10 times, especially when you back it up with the goods like Chicago indie-rockers Ratboys do on The Window. That guitar gets plugged in, and the band proceeds to absolutely crush the next 47 minutes. Cymbals crash, guitars drive forward and shimmer, strings sing, and frontwoman Julia Steiner’s crackling vocals and huge choruses add a beautiful dimension of pathos. “The Window” is stunning, a song dedicated to Steiner’s grandfather and late grandmother. “Black Earth, WI” is a sledgehammer; an eight minute epic that whirls and churns like the tornado that graces the single’s album artwork. Those are just two standout tracks of eleven, there truly are no skips here.

Shades of: Sunlight, good old-fashioned midwestern indie-rock, Wednesday’s Rat Saw God (more on this in a second)

Must Listen Tracks: Making Noise for the Ones You Love, The Window, Black Earth, WI

2. Fireworks – Higher Lonely Power

Higher Lonely Power is a comeback album. Detroit pop-punk band Fireworks broke up in 2015 after touring their third album, 2014’s Oh, Common Life. The band reunited in 2019, and planned to release Higer Lonely Power in 2020, before COVID pushed everything back to January 1st, 2023. It was worth the wait. On Higher Lonley Power, Fireworks moves away from their original punk and emo tendencies (save for album opener “God Approved Insurance Plan”) into something more closely approximating 2000s alt-rock. I won’t act like I was a huge Fireworks fan before this year, or had even heard of this band. But, their change in course resonated with me in a major way. Apple Music (Yes, I’m one of those people. You should know that by now) tells me that this was my 5th most listened to album this year, and my #1 most listened to 2023 album. I’m still not sure how that happened. Maybe it was the bone-crunching “Megachurch”, or the riff on “Woods II”? Was it the synthy heartland rock of “How Did It Used To Be So Easy?”? Maybe it was just all of it, culminating in one of my favorite records of the year.

Shades of: Kings of Leon but 10% more emo, your finest aught-rock playlist, either forming a cult or escaping a cult (depending on the song)

Must Listen Tracks: I Want To Start A Religion With You, Megachurch, Woods II

1. Wednesday – Rat Saw God

Wednesday lead singer and songwriter Karly Hartzman has a truckload of memories to share with you. On Rat Saw God, Wednesday’s third studio album, she does just that, painting a series of vignettes of small-town North Carolina with a brush defter than Van Gogh’s and a pen sharper than Poe’s. This album shares some DNA with the aforementioned Ratboys’ The Window, and the two make a great double feature if you have an hour and a half to kill and want to listen to some country-tinged indie-rock. Where The Window is often breezy, however, Rat Saw God is acidic, with higher stakes and more dangerous consequences. Whether it’s getting shocked by an amp, or hearing about someone ODing in a Planet Fitness parking lot, or watching cops rip guns and cocaine from the walls during a neighbor’s drug bust, or hallucinating on Benadryl, or realizing, as Hartzman sings on “Formula One”, that “Love’s not the way to treat a friend”, each story is told in such vivid detail it’s as if you’ve been swept off to Asheville on a hot July weekend yourself. “Believe me…” Hartzman pleads repeatedly on the smoldering, screaming, eight-and-a-half minute long “Bull Believer”. Don’t worry, we do. With songs like this, on an album like this, how could we not?

Shades of: Big Thief drowned in Carolina barbecue sauce, The Pixies (it’s always The Pixies), Ratboys’ The Window (but with an edge), Pulp Fiction if it was set in Asheville

Must Listen Tracks: Bull Believer, Chosen To Deserve, Quarry

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