At this point, it’s all kind of moot, because everything is excellent. All that said, we all expect rankings right? We could roughly group these into to groups of 10-6 and 5-1 and not play favorites, but I’m expected to pick something top so here we go. Here are my to 10-ish with some talky talky.
10. Chvrches – The Bones of What You Believe
What a year for these debutantes. They may have made the list on the strength of their EP along, but the follow up LP built on that promise. “Recover” is definitely a candidate for song of the year. A great EP, then and great LP? It’s a fine debut
9 Superchunk – I Hate Music
8. Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
7. Savages – Silence Yourself
6. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
One year, The National will release an album that is not automatically guaranteed to be in my favorites of the year list (see Arcade Fire). This year is not that year. There’s easily enough here to yammer about incessantly. It’s good. Just not as good as the last two.
5. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt
Gotta have a country-ish pick right. I can’t even justify this empirically other than the number of plays and outright love that I’ve had for it from the get go. What a voice. What songs. Love, love, love, love.
4. My Bloody Valentine – mbv
3. Deerhunter – Monomania
2. Kurt Vile – Waking on a Pretty Daze
Before this album, I wasn’t much of a fan. I had dismissed Mr. Vile’s work as mere “stoner music” or some such bullshit. This, however, was a revelation. While it’s not in the top spot for me, it may be the most melodic album for me this year.
1. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
With their fourth full-length LP, this Scottish band finally brings all the pieces together. I’ve rated their two previous efforts pretty highly, but this time everything clicks. There just aren’t any down moments or off notes. Just wow.
