I think the main thing I noticed when putting together this blog post was that several of my favorite artists of all time released albums in 2023... but for the most part they didn't place very highly in my year-end lists. They're here, sure, but the new albums from Metric, The Hold Steady, Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, even Lucero (to an extent) just didn't land with the same impact most of their previous records did. Does that mean anything other than that these artists made some very good but not quite great albums this past year? Perhaps not, but I've always wondered whether artists—even great ones—only have a finite amount of true greatness in them. There's something inside every creative person that drives them to create... but what happens if/when that drive is tempered by success, fame, money, or even just time? They can and still do create art, of course, but perhaps not with that same drive, hunger, passion as they did at the start. I mean, when was the last time anyone got excited about new music from, for example, The Rolling Stones? They actually put out a new album this year (which I haven't heard yet). It seems to have gotten decent reviews, but it definitely didn't enter the zeitgeist. What can rock music by a bunch of octogenarians really say? Anyway, I'm rambling (it's my blog, I'm allowed), but that's something that's been on my my mind as both me and the artists I admire continue to age. (I turned freaking 40 this year.) Now, before we get to the actual music, a quick note on format.
In my annual music write-up last year, I switched to a Grammys-like format instead of the tried-and-true top-10 list format I've mostly used since starting this blog almost 15(!) years ago. I just couldn't cobble together a top-10 list I felt good about last year. This year, I actually do have a top-10 list I feel good about... but I'm still sticking with the Grammys format. Why? Because I have a deep and abiding respect for the institution of the Grammys? Hardly. I find them to be the least credible of the major media awards and whose choices tend to hold up the least well to the lens of history. (To be fair, the Grammys probably has the hardest job... there's a LOT of music released every year.) No, I just find the categories-based approach to be more fun to write. With a top-10 list, you really only get to properly award one winner. With this approach, you get as many winners as you have categories. I only have six categories this year—four genres plus overall song and album—but it's more fun to break things up this way instead of a boring old list. So like the album before it, the list is dead. But I suspect it will come back, just like the album has a couple times now. In the meantime, let's dive into the categories. (Note that the blurbs are in no particular order, and the nominees are not ranked unless otherwise indicated.)
* = saw live this year
Best Pop/Rock Album
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness* – Tilt at the Wind No More
Maisie Peters – The Good Witch
MisterWives – Nosebleeds
Joy Oladokun* – Proof of Life
Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS
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Also enjoyed: Aly & AJ – With Love From, Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loveliest Time
I've just about always had a soft spot for girly pop music, ever since I first heard Vanessa Carlton make her way downtown as a college freshman. I wasn't too far removed from my nü metal–infused high school days and hadn't yet gotten as deep into 3rd-wave ska as I eventually would. And dammit if that piano melody and her sweet vocals didn't win me over. Ever since, most of my year-end lists have usually included a pop album or two. This year is no different.
We'll start with the only dude in this category: Andrew McMahon, who provided one of my biggest concert disappointments at the Innings Festival back in February. He messed up his setlist and didn't wind up playing either "Punk Rock Princess" or "Holiday From Real," my two favorite songs of his. At least I saw him perform "Punk Rock Princess" at When We Were Young in Vegas later in the year. Anyway, McMahon's "in the Wilderness" incarnation is probably my least favorite of his bands, but his new record is equal measures ballads ("Stars," "Smoke & Ribbons") and bangers ("Skywriting," "New Friends") and well worth a listen if you're a fan.
Onto a more pleasant concertgoing experience with Joy Oladokun, who I saw open for Noah Kahan (more on him below) back in August. I wasn't at all familiar with her before the show, but it turns out she's a delightful queer Black woman from Casa Grande, AZ, of all places. Her music isn't easy to categorize—she weaves together strands of indie, folk, and R&B, among other genres—but I feel she slots in best here. Her album plays like a confessional mixtape with tons of guests (Kahan, Chris Stapleton, Manchester Orchestra, among others). She was captivating live and her album has grown on me with repeated listens since.
Maisie Peters is someone I'm still gaining familiarity with, but I really like what I hear. I gave her 2021 debut a few spins, which is probably why her new one popped up on Spotify (thanks, Al Gore Rhythm!). She's like a cross between a Red-era Taylor Swift ("Lost the Breakup") and her English compatriot Lily Allen ("BCS"—bat-shit crazy). MisterWives' last one, the enchanting SUPERBLOOM, made my top-5 in 2020. This one won't chart as highly—it's less soulful and bouncy with some Reputation-esque tryhardisms—but it's still got plenty of uber-catchy jams like "Sideways."
That leads us to this year's queen of the jams (or "bops," if you prefer—I do not) and the easy winner here, Olivia Rodrigo. I heard (you couldn't not) and mostly dug 2021's SOUR, but it failed to crack my blog post that year. I gave it another couple listens this year and it still remains "like, not love"—too heavy on the ballads, methinks. But thankfully she leaned more into the bangers this time around—less Lana, more Avril/Hayley. GUTS might double as the year's best pop-punk album—"bad idea right?", "ballad of a homeschooled girl," "get him back," and "love is embarrassing" are all just pure Hot Topic–coded sticks of angsty dynamite. I remain slightly less enthused about the ballads, but the soaring "vampire" is sensational and would make a worthy Grammy winner. But my favorite track might be the midtempo rocker "pretty isn't pretty," which sounds like Katy Perry produced by Butch Vig. I'm surprised it hasn't been released as a single yet. Maybe in 2024? Rodrigo comes to Phoenix next year and I'd love to go, but tickets might be pretty hard to come by.
Best Indie Rock Album
Bethany Cosentino – Natural Disaster
The Beaches – Blame My Ex
Bully – Lucky For You
Metric – Formentera II
Ratboys – The Window
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Also enjoyed (listed alphabetically): Caroline Rose – The Art of Forgetting, The Hold Steady – The Price of Progress, Paramore – This Is Why, Speedy Ortiz – Rabbit Rabbit
Forgive me if the genre lines seem to be blurring a bit. MisterWives or Joy Oladokun could have almost as easily have been slotted here, while the likes of The Beaches and Paramore also fit fairly well in the category above. And, really, all four categories here are more like microgenres rather than distinct genres unto themselves. The vast majority of music I listen to these days is guitar-based, okay? I do like and enjoy other genres—film scores, rap, even some electronic and jazz on occasion—but the guitar reigns king. Blame my dad if you want (an amazing guitar player and avowed classic rock head).
Just like last year, all the nominees in this category (and all but one HM) are female or female-led acts. I've always tended to listen to a lot of Female Vocal Artists™, but it's still a bit surprising that none of my favorite indie rock acts of the past two years are male. And this in a year when The Hold Steady, currently my fifth-most-listened-to band since I started on Last.FM in 2005, released a (pretty decent) album. Are they perhaps past their creative peak, as discussed above? But what might be even more surprising is that Metric (#7 on that same chart with my #1 albums in 2012 and 2018) has released two albums in two years and neither won this category. Neither Formentera album truly grabbed me—good stuff for sure, but too chunky, too esoteric, too Pagans in Vegas-y. I'll still eagerly await anything they put out, though—I have a feeling they still have another masterpiece in them.
Ratboys wasn't new to me in 2023—I liked a handful of tracks on their last two albums and I generally dig Chicago bands—but The Window feels like a massive step forward from heartfelt but somewhat minor key to a major-key statement record. "Morning Zoo" brings The King Is Dead-era Decemberists twanginess, "The Window" gives Charly Bliss and The Beths a run for their balladeering money, and the monumental "Black Earth, WI" brings to mind Jimmy Eat World album closers by way of Hop Along. *takes off music critic beret* Quickly, both The Beaches—ironic mean girl rock not dissimilar from Wet Leg or the defunct Dum Dum Girls—and Bully—an angrier American Courtney Barnett, a Millennial Hole—were new to me in 2023 but found themselves in fairly regular rotation toward the end of the year. *takes off smaller, even douchier beret* They were the final inclusions in this category, but will hopefully make appearances in future years.
Best Punk/Emo Album
Blink-182* – One More Time...
Dave Hause – Drive It Like It’s Stolen
The Front Bottoms – You Are Who You Hang Out With
Hot Mulligan* – Why Would I Watch
Sincere Engineer – Cheap Grills
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Also enjoyed (listed alphabetically): Gaslight Anthem – History Books, Heart Attack Man – Freak of Nature, The Menzingers – Some of It Was True, Spanish Love Songs – No Joy
This past year was a fascinating year for punk rock, specifically pop-punk. Stalwarts like The Bouncing Souls, MxPx, Rancid, Jeff Rosenstock, and Taking Back Sunday all released solid albums, and acts with pop-punk leanings like Olivia Rodrigo and Paramore also put out some great records. (Fall Out Boy apparently released an album that I did not even listen to for one second. They long ago dropped the -punk affix and are much the worse off for it. I will forever love From Under the Cork Tree, though.)
It's awesome that there's still so much good punk and punk-adjacent music being made in the Year of Our Lord 2023. In fact, there's so much good stuff that two bands that made some of the best albums of the 2010s (Gaslight Anthem in 2010 and The Menzingers in 2017) were only HMs this year. Gaslight Anthem long ago swerved from classic rock–tinged punk to outright classic rock apery and have never really been the same. The Menzingers were very nearly the fifth entry in this category—I like the album but they seem to be stuck in a very same-y rut after their opus, After the Party. Instead, I went with Dave Hause, the former Loved Ones frontman who put out another strong punk-tinged solo record. The Menzingers' record is probably more consistent from top to bottom, but Hause had two of my favorite tracks of the year in "Damn Personal" and "Hazard Lights," so he gets the nod.
Before we get to the new blood, we have to recognize one of the best to ever do it: Blink-182, who put out the best record of any of the legacy acts in 2023. I've been a Blink fan since Dude Ranch came out my freshman year of high school. I still vividly remember this asshole sophomore calling me a poser because I didn't know about Cheshire Cat. I was 14 and this was before the internet, dude. Anyway, I was actually a fan of the Matt Skiba era, but it's great to have Tom back in the fold. They were my main highlight of When We Were Young. (Green Day is fine, but we didn't need 2.5 hours of largely American Idiot and after songs.) They're still as crass as ever, and the new record is full of typical Blink bangers. But the best song might be the kind of corny but endearing title track, in which the band laments about the various breakups and reconciliations the band has experienced over the years. Someone must have been cutting some onions nearby when they played it at the festival...
But on to the new blood. The Front Bottoms have actually been around for a while but are largely new to this space (just an HM in 2020). I've dug a track or two over the years, but this is the first album that really grabbed me as a whole. They're much closer to emo than pop-punk—I mean, the first track on the album is called "Emotional," although that one actually rocks pretty hard. "Punching Bag" is more clearly an emo track with keys reminiscent of "Welcome to the Black Parade" and the "Why don't you put your boxing gloves on / and punch your punching bag" refrain. But the best track might be "Not Joking" with its huge guitar riffs and and loud-quiet-loud structure. I missed these guys at WWWY (they played at the same time as Good Charlotte) but will keep an eye out if they come to PHX.
The winner here was really tough to decide between a pair of young Midwest acts, Chicago's Sincere Engineer—who had my #1 album in 2021—and Michigan's Hot Mulligan. Musically speaking, Sincere Engineer seems to have sanded away some of the harder edges present on Bless My Psyche—there's no thrasher like "Trust Me" to be found here—and the result is a more sunny, amiable sound than much of their previous material. That said, Deanna Belos's lyrics are wryly downbeat as ever. There's the darkly funny "I hate your guts / Wouldn't even help if you were stuck / In some guy's basement /And he was getting ready to chop you up" on "Fireplace" (my girlfriend's favorite), and the "I got pictures of you somewhere in a closet / I had so many things then I fucking lost it" on "Old Coat Pocket." But the best track might be "California King," the closest thing to a love song I can recall the band doing with its sparkly keys, buzzing synth, and lyrics about dancing under the moon. Grills is an interesting evolution for Belos and her band, and I'm excited to see where they go next (and see them live again, of course).
Best Rock/Americana/Folk Album
Hiss Golden Messenger – Jump For Joy
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit* – Weathervanes
Jenny Lewis – Joy'All
Lucero* – Should've Learned By Now
Noah Kahan* – Stick Season
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Also enjoyed (listed alphabetically): Deer Tick* – Emotional Contracts, Jess Williamson* – Time Ain't Accidental, Lydia Loveless – Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again, Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan
The older I get, the more I find myself listening to this kind of music—remember, I worship at the altar of Tom Petty and guitar is king. I was raised on classic rock and the music of this category is probably the closest thing to classic rock out there. I listened to so much of this music that I even had a hard time narrowing down my HMs. I also enjoyed albums by Foo Fighters (they don't really fit here but this category is closest), Morgan Wade; Ruston Kelly; Slaughter Beach, Dog; and tons of stuff on the usual Steven Hyden list. There's just a lot of great what was once referred to as "Heartland rock" out there, man.
I also had a really tough time picking the fifth and final nominee here (like most of these categories, it seems). Sure, I could do like the Grammys do and just nominate 8 or 10 or whatever the number is now, but, as has been established, the Grammys are dumb. It's five nominees and five only. It came down to Hiss Golden Messenger (who had my #6 album in 2021) and Lydia Loveless (my #4 in 2014, #2 in 2016, HM in 2020). I really liked Loveless's new one—it feels like a return to form after the mostly morose Daughter, full of barroom bangers with sardonic lyrics like "Poor Boy," "Sex and Money," and "Toothache." But I found myself listening to the Hiss record a bit more—it's back porch music with consummate instrumentation and crisp, clean production, full of foot tappers and head nodders. Highlights like "20 Years and a Nickel," "I Saw the New Day in the World," "Shinbone," and "Nu-Grape" bring to mind perfect autumn days and pleasant road trips. Ain't nothin' wrong with that.
It might surprise to hear that Jenny Lewis's new one was only my fourth favorite album in this category. Like Metric above, she's a longtime favorite who has made some of my all-time favorite music. Rilo Kiley broke up before this blog even existed, but The Execution of All Things and More Adventurous are two of the best albums of the aughts (and Under the Blacklight is very good as well). Her solo stuff is way up there, too—The Voyager beat out Loveless for #1 back in 2014, and On the Line was #1 in 2019 (albeit that was a weak year). Her new one isn't quite on that level—it was recorded over several years and it's pretty uneven as a result—but even a mid-tier Lewis album will likely make my top 10. The best track is probably the twangy and hypnotic "Psychos," and other highlights include the sweet breakup ditty "Apples and Oranges" and the breathy (and horny) "Cherry Baby."
Lucero is another longtime favorite—they're certainly in my all-time top-10 bands, if not the top-5. But they've never had a #1 album of the year for me. The closest they came was in 2009—if I redid that list, 1372 Overton Park would be in a dead heat with Metric's Fantasies. Come to think about it, it would probably be Lucero that year. (I still like that Big D and the Kids Table album but it's nowhere near the #1 of that year, lol.) Since then, they had a top-5 release in 2013 and a trio of #2 finishes (2015, 2018, 2021). They won't be #1 again this year, but Should've Learned is another excellent album. The lads from Memphis's musicianship keeps getting stronger (as do their live shows) and Ben Nichols's songwriting is as good as ever. But I will say that one thing that has led to that lack of #1 finishes is that their last three albums especially seem to have lost a sense of urgency like I discussed in the intro. It makes sense—the band is firmly established and Nichols seems to be happily married with a kid—but the songs lack the emotional wallop they had back when the band was still making a name for themselves and Nichols seemed to be carrying around a lot more pain. I'm so glad the band and Nichols himself are doing so well now, but the kind of blunted emotional resonance of their newer material can't be denied.
Here's how out of the loop I am on current music: Wikipedia just informed me that Stick Season in fact came out in 2022, not 2023. That seems crazy to me: "Dial Drunk" was one of the songs of the summer this year and I, personally, had not really heard of Kahan until my lovely girlfriend bought us tickets to his show back in August. But, here's the thing: I'm not going to redo this whole category because of some minor detail like that. Besides, there was an extended edition of the album that was released this year, so it technically "counts." But, more importantly, when I look back on these albums in a few years, I'll most remember what I actually listened to this year, not when the album was actually released. So this is a 2023 album to me—and a damn good one. It might be a bit Mumford and Sons-ish, but Kahan has a real storytelling instinct and an amazing voice to boot. The insistent "She Calls Me Back" is my personal favorite, but the melodious title track and the forlorn "Orange Juice" are highlights as well. Plus the several rerecordings with guest vocalists (like Hozier and Kacey Musgraves) are great, and he puts on a helluva live show. Discovering Kahan's music and seeing his show were both among the best unexpected highlights of 2023.
Song of the Year
1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit* – "When We Were Close"
2. Hot Mulligan* – "No Shoes in the Coffee Shop (Or Socks)"
3. Bethany Cosentino – "For a Moment"
4. Sincere Engineer – "California King"
5. Lucero* – "Nothing's Alright"
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Also enjoyed (roughly in order): Olivia Rodrigo – "Pretty Isn't Pretty," Dave Hause – "Hazard Lights," The Front Bottoms – "Not Joking," Caroline Rose – "Miami," Ratboys – "Black Earth, WI"
We've got a couple different types of songs here in this category. First, there are two love songs—Cosentino's introspective but open-hearted "For a Moment" and Sincere Engineer's almost begrudgingly cheerful "California King." They make an interesting pair. Belos is about a decade younger than Cosentino and sings about the beginning of a relationship, but one she hopes will be lasting: "I wanna move in with you / Somewhere to get older where we can dance under the moon." (The song may or may not also be about her city of Chicago itself.) And then we have Cosentino, who is much closer to me in age, asking the Big Questions ("Then what's the point of doing anything? / And what's the point of loving anyone?") before ultimately deciding that opening yourself up to someone is "worth it in the end." That's a beautiful sentiment as we are set to enter a new year tomorrow.
But even as we look forward to that new year, part of a year ending also means looking back, and the other three songs in this category are all explicitly about regret. That's practically Ben Nichols's middle name, and "Nothing's Alright" is another classic plaintive sad bastard song with a wailing guitar riff, tinkling teardrop keys, and Nichols delivering gut punches like "We all fell hopelessly in love / Now I don't think about her much." (Okay, maybe he's still got it.) You might not think it, but the Hot Mulligan song (with its non-sequitur title) mines much of the same lyrical territory as Lucero, albeit a in a more metaphorical way. Consider one of my favorite lyrics of the year: "For every crater on the moon / There's an empty beer around the room." Drinking away your regret? Classic Nichols trope. But, of course, that never leads to anything good: "Is this the punishment I've earned / Relive who I've been when at my worst / Every single night" and "Retrospect is best / it's always there so it can hold me back / From the things that I want." Fucking yikes. Add in an absolutely indelible guitar riff and vocals that just drip with bitterness and you've got one of the best songs of the year.
Album of the Year
1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit* – Weathervanes
2. Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS
3. Bethany Cosentino – Natural Disaster
4. Lucero – Should've Learned By Now
5. Hot Mulligan – Why Whould I Watch
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Also enjoyed (roughly in order): Sincere Engineer – Cheap Grills, Noah Kahan* – Stick Season, The Front Bottoms – You Are Who You Hang Out With, Ratboys – The Window, Jenny Lewis – Joy'All
I've already said plenty about these albums above, so I'll try to focus a bit more on the big picture here. It seems pretty clear that 2023 was a stronger year for music than 2022. That Cory Branan record from last year is an absolute all-timer, but there's not a ton else that will really resonate in the years to come. The Beths album is very good, but I haven't found myself revisiting it much. Some of the best songs still hit pretty hard, though (the Sammy Rae song, the Frank Turner one, and of course Jimmy), but 2022 was fairly unmemorable overall. I don't think the same will prove to be true of 2023. Although some of my all-time favorites seem to be a bit past their creative peaks, we've got newer, younger artists at the start of very promising careers (Rodrigo, Kahan, Sincere Engineer, Hot Mulligan). And then, of course, you've got acts like Jason Isbell at the very peaks of their powers.
Assuming I'm still in this blog game in seven years, I look forward to looking back on this year as I recap the decade. Maybe I'll look like I was full of shit (always a distinct possibility) and one of the bands I subtly shaded in the intro (and throughout) will have put out another masterpiece. I really hope so. And I really hope that the younger bands mentioned here are at their creative peaks. And I really, really look forward to discovering more and more new bands. I'm not old or jaded enough yet to have given up on seeking out new music. And I hope I never am.
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Well, shit, this was about 1000 words longer than last year (just over 5k words). I guess I'm getting more long-winded in my old (middle) age. And I apologize for the punctuation abuse—the brutal treatment of the em dash especially. (My Alt+0151 keys are surely beginning to wear out.) If you were able to get through the whole thing, I salute you—and thank you. Feel free to let me know what your favorite artists/albums/songs were as well. I'll be posting my year-end playlists hopefully tomorrow. Until next year!
