Swim Into The Sound's Staff Favorites of 2021

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Back in the early days of this site, I would feel a strange sense of accomplishment whenever someone would talk about Swim Into The Sound as if it were run by multiple people. I suppose sometimes it’s just common practice to refer to a website with plural terms like “you guys” or “the team,” but it always made me proud that I alone was making something that could possibly be mistaken for the work of multiple people. 

And sure, we’ve had guest writers before 2021, but they were usually few and far between. Previously, guest posts were typically just one-off articles, published once or twice per year. All of that changed in 2021 as a lineup of a half-dozen or so writers solidified into regular contributors over the course of the year.

At the beginning of 2021, I made a resolution to myself to post one article here every week. I’m proud to say that we surpassed that goal and then some, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of these talented writers. In total, we had 22 guest posts throughout the year (23, if you count this one), and I could not be more appreciative of that fact. Without these writer’s talent and hard work, this site would have had long gaps between posts at multiple points throughout the year. Simply put, they helped this site immensely throughout 2021 and really helped Swim Into The Sound feel like a legitimate music blog. 

Another cool thing about bringing in this wealth of outside talent and perspectives is that I can connect the dots a little bit more. On any given week, I receive a number of emails and DMs that I consider “suffocating.” Whether they’re for an upcoming song, music video, or album, these things pile up in my inboxes and bury me alive. Even if these solicitations come from bands or labels that I love, I don’t have the time to personally write about every release that I want to. Now that I have something resembling a staff, I can send these upcoming releases to a group chat and quickly find someone who’s eager to write about this music with the love and care that it deserves. 

Connecting those dots has led to some cool opportunities and extraordinary pieces of writing this year. Amongst other things, our staff wrote awesome album reviews, single write-ups, multiple incredible interviews, premieres, concert reviews, and more. I’m immensely proud of everything that’s been published on the site this year, and I’m excited to see what 2022 has in store for us. For now though, let’s take one last look through 2021 as I turn the site over to our staff to hear about their favorite records of the year.

Cailen Pygott | Weakened Friends - Quitter

It was October 28th when Taylor initially proposed this collection of album of the year reviews. At the time, two albums were neck and neck for my personal first place. As I was busy prepping for multiple re-listens, massive pro and con lists, and an east coast west coast style song bracket to determine who would reign supreme, a thought occurred to me: ‘I should probably wait for the three weeks until Weakened Friends release Quitter.’ This is an album I’ve been expecting to top my year-end list ever since the single “What You Like” came out (holy shit) two years ago. Sonia Sturino is one of a handful of songwriters whose lyrics feel could have been ripped straight from my daily journaling practice if I had kept at it for longer than two days. The way Sturino’s songs express feelings of isolation, heartbreak, and the fear that you, yes you specifically, are fucking everything up is a pure reflection of my inner monologue on my worst days. Am I just projecting? Survey says probably, but this album friggin’ rips all the same. I graduated from a two-year community college music program, and the technical term for these guitars is “frickin’ thick dude.” I’ve believed for years that we as a society don’t talk about Annie Hoffman the bass player enough, but Quitter is also a brilliant showcase of her work as a producer. There’s an ever-rising level of intensity throughout that hits its climax in “Haunted House” and carries through the final two tracks showing off a mastery of compositional arrangement. All of the songs on Quitter stand on their own, but it’s this care and attention paid to the album as a singular work of art that makes it my AOTY. 

Fun fact: My band No, It’s Fine. included a version of “Early” on our 2021 cover album (It’s Nice To Pretend) We Wrote These Songs. Now here are some made-up superlatives to highlight most of the music that shaped my year. Some of these are older, but they’re still important to me, dang it!

  • Best Guitar Solo - Cheekface “Next to Me”

  • Best New song by a Twitter mutual I’ve never met - Pictoria Vark “I Can’t Bike”

  • Band I’d most like to be friends with - Year Twins

  • Favourite band I discovered due to mutual barista rage - Puppy Angst

  • Favorite Rediscovery - The Drew Thomson Foundation - Self Titled

  • Song that made me cry the most times - Rosie Tucker “Ambrosia” and “Habanero”

  • Best podcast soundtrack - Planet Arcana

  • Best band I got into this year only to realize they already broke up - Lonely Parade

  • Album that got me through running 5ks when I still had the motivation to run 5ks - Gregory Pepper & His Problems - I Know Now Why You Cry

  • Song that made me feel better about my body for but one fleeting moment - Durry “Who’s Laughing Now”

Connor Fitzpatrick | Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

Mdou Moctar is the most important guitarist in the game right now, and 2021 has been his year. I’ve been a fan of his for a few years now, so it’s been rewarding to see him and his band get their shine. Afrique Victime is Moctar’s best work yet. It’s not much of a departure from Ilana: The Creator, but a refinement of what makes their music so special. The album’s got loud shredding (“Chismiten”), hypnotic grooves (“Ya Habibiti”), and heartfelt balladry (“Tala Tannam”). What sets the virtuosic Tuareg guitar player apart from the pack is just how expressive and unpredictable his phrasing is. On the title track, the band spends four minutes developing an entrancing rhythm before Moctar’s guitar drops off only to come back, detached from the rest of the band, in a firestorm of noise and anger while the band continues to play faster and faster. It’s a breathtaking moment that mirrors Mdou’s lyrics of colonial destruction in Western Africa. One of the most frustrating things for me in the coverage of Mdou Moctar has been the knee-jerk reaction to compare him to guitar gods of the past. It’s an attempt to display his prowess as a musician, but ultimately it takes the spotlight away from how singular he is. There is only one Mdou Moctar, and Afrique Victime is his crowning achievement. 


My 10 favorite Bandcamp purchases of 2021:

Joe Wasserman | Mo Troper - Dilettante

I am a sucker for hearing the warm buzz of a tube amp. “My Parrot,” a song about an avian existential crisis, is what sold me on Dilettante despite my already being totally sold on Mo Troper. “Wet T-Shirt Contest” has a rumbling, buoyant bass line while the listener yearns to discern just why the speaker “never [wants] to see those nipples again.” These are just two tracks off Dilettante’s 28-song playlist-as-album/data dump. Troper is masterful in crafting infectious songs that can withstand the test of time, much like The Beatles.


Runner-up: Dazy - MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs
To some, I might be cheating with this one. Only the first 16 songs are from 2021; the rest are off 2020 EPs. Regardless, Dazy’s MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs is another masterclass in to-the-point, effective, worming power pop that is not too sugary. After discovering Dazy while reading an interview with David Anthony, I listened to the album while playing Call of Duty, exercising, doing the dishes, walking the dogs, and pretty much anything else in my life. MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD is upbeat, frenetic, and makes me feel happy, which speaks droves given how the last few years have gone on both the grand and granular levels.


Albums/EPs That Deserve More Attention (in no specific order):

Grace Robins-Somerville | black midi - Cavalcade

Likes: the abundance of exciting new bands coming out of the Windmill Brixton scene. Dislikes: nearly everything that’s been written about them. 

I’ll sit down to read almost any piece about a group like black midi, and here come the critic’s thoughts on Squid, Shame, Dry Cleaning, Black Country New Road, Goat Girl– as though they can’t help but lump all these groups together. Sure, there are some surface-level similarities between the heavy hitters– they’re British, they all make guitar-led post-rock adjacent music that often includes talk-singing, many have worked with producer Dan Carey, and 2021 was a big year for all of them. But in reality, these bands don’t have much else in common, and the tendency to hyperfocus on one band’s niche in a particular scene often overlooks what makes them unique. 

Anyway, now that I’ve hypocritically discussed black midi solely in the context of their contemporaries, let’s dive into my AOTY: the decadent kaleidoscope of controlled chaos that is their sophomore album Cavalcade. My love for black midi is well-documented. Their music often feels like the audio equivalent of this picture in the best possible way. They have a penchant for sequencing their albums in a way that shouldn’t work but somehow does: How better to follow up a satirical prog-rock cautionary tale about a cult leader who gets overthrown by his once-loyal followers (complete with a helicopter feature), than with a bossa nova ballad for German-American film-and-cabaret star Marlene Dietrich? An abrasive punk track about two runaway thieves (who may or may not be chickens?) somehow segues perfectly into a 10-minute pun-based Scott Walker-esque closer about a musician interrogating the integrity of his art. And yeah, the middle of an album is totally the best place for a delicately droning slow-burner inspired by an Isabel Waidner novel. This all might paint an unfairly pretentious picture of black midi, but the real magic of their music is that it never gets quite so esoteric or technical that it stops being fun. If I haven’t convinced you of that, perhaps this Britney Spears cover will.


Runners-Up: 

Jack Hansen-Reed | Home Is Where – I Became Birds

2021 was a great year, and this was shaping up to be a tough decision for me until I Became Birds blew me away. In only an 18 minute “album,” Home Is Where deliver a release that can only be described as an enigma. The record has been (frequently) likened to Neutral Milk Hotel due to its folk influence/instrumentation and unique vocal deliveries, but it would be an injustice to say that I Became Birds is truly following in anyone’s footsteps. This record weaves capriciously between genres, transporting you from insanely cathartic rushes of power and emotion to serene moments of haunting beauty. If you’re a first-time listener, get ready for some goosebumps, because they’re coming.

With a release like this that so boisterously defies singular categorization, you’re forced to describe it by no one else’s labels or descriptors, only through your own experience. First, I have to say that vocally this is a powerhouse performance that continues to impress me every time I go back to it. Somehow, vocalist Brandon MacDonald is able to match the furious range of the instrumentals showcased here and add endlessly to their intensity. More than anything else, to me, this release is a powerful and kinetic journey that would be impossible to achieve without its mix of jarring yet apt lyrics, incredibly expressive tone, and just in general great instrumental performances. I Became Birds stands above the rest as my release of 2021 because it excites me like nothing else this year. It sparks me to go wild at shows, plumb the darkest corners of my mind, and of course, to hear what incredible material Home Is Where is cooking up next.


Runners-up:

  • Like a Stone – Remember Sports

  • Future Suits – Pet Symmetry

  • Pono - A Great Big Pile of Leaves

The Best of November 2021

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A strange thing happened when I sat down to look at my list of albums and EPs that were released this November… Nothing really grabbed me. Sure there were a few big albums and some deep cuts for mega fans, but nothing that I felt compelled to cover in a monthly roundup. That’s no fault of the artists, more a byproduct of the music industry combined with my declining desire to “keep up” with new music at this time of year. Things tend to grind to a halt around the holidays, and I’m brave enough to admit that I’m more checked-out than I have been all year. 

Interestingly, when looking through my monthly Spotify playlist, there were a lot of singles that came out in November which I enjoyed, so I’m pivoting this (probably) final roundup of 2021 to focus on my favorite songs that were released over the past month.


Greet Death - “Your Love Is Alcohol”

Deathwish Inc.

I simply cannot stop listening to Greet Death. Seriously. Almost every time I’m ****** and don’t know what I want to listen to, I’ll just throw on this playlist and let their discography roll from the top. “Your Love is Alcohol” is the newest single from the band, following the awesomely dour “I Hate Everything” from a couple of months back. It’s still unclear whether these songs are building up to a full LP or are just one-off singles, but either way, I’m consuming them voraciously. For the most part, both songs drop Greet Death’s trademarked fuzzy shoegaze riffs and swap that distortion for something the band is describing as “Blackened Post-Alt-Country.”

Given its title, the band’s latest song could easily veer into hyper-unoriginal “your love is a drug” type territory; however, Greet Death deftly avoid this hackneyed sentiment in favor of something far more ownable. The track features a laid-back lounge singer soundscape led by a gorgeous piano and acoustic guitar. There’s a nice little harmonica solo, a cool reversed effect on the drums, and lyrics that hinge on pain and abandonment. It’s literally everything I want from my music. Greet Death forever.


Glass Beach - “orchids (playlist version)”

Run For Cover Records

In 2019 Glass Beach released their unforgettable debut album. Packed with songs of community, longing, and Christmas lights, the first glass beach album is a landmark record that sits at the intersection of emo and electronic music. The band’s debut has (rightfully) garnered a fervent fanbase over the last two years, but there was one problem; “orchids,” the album’s epic closing track, ends with roughly 30 seconds of meditative silence, and some fans didn’t like that. Early on in November, the band joked that their second album would “be the first album but with no silence at the end of orchids and silence added to the end every other song.” It quickly became a meme reinforced by fans and the band alike. Soon after that, the group dropped “orchids (playlist version),” an identical version of the 2019 song but with no silence at the end. Simply revolutionary. This, of course, led to further jokes, but also a good reason for the non-diehards to revisit the band’s first LP. Is it cheating to include what’s essentially a two-year-old song on a roundup of new releases? Maybe. Does that make “orchids” slap any less? Absolutely not. 


Caracara - “Hyacinth”

Memory Music

If there were any justice in the world, Caracara would be lauded with the same level of reverence as emo gods like The Hotelier and TWIABP. Sure they’re only 1.5 records deep into their career, but man, those 1.5 records we have so far are fantastic. Throughout their 60-ish minutes of recorded music, the band expertly wields remorseful emo sentiments over arid indie rock instrumentals for firey emotional outpourings. Songs like “Better” deserve to be as iconic as tracks like “Your Deep Rest” or “The Night I Drove Alone.” Caracara’s songs wind from natural wonder on “Crystalline” to left-field Foxing-style instrumentation on “Prenzlauerberg.” It’s evident that the band has depth, talent, and artistic vision; it’s just a matter of finding their audience and unleashing their sound upon them at the right time. The group’s newest single, “Hyacinth,” reassembles all of Caracara’s distinguishing elements for a bite-sized three-minute re-introduction to the band as they plot out their long-deserved indie rock domination.


The Wonder Years - “Threadbare”

Hopeless Records

The Wonder Years have been my favorite band for over a decade now. I’ve written about this love at length before, but that ten-year figure speaks for itself. Whether through the main band, solo projects, or some combination of the two, this group has released something substantial every year for the last decade, making them an immensely rewarding group of creatives to follow. Back in 2008, The Wonder Years released a song called “Christmas at 22,” which (as the title implies) talks about the holiday season from a fresh-faced, youthful perspective. In that song, the band talks about house parties, seeing childhood friends during the holidays, and subsisting on frozen pizza. Now, over a decade later, the group has released their second-ever Christmas song in “Threadbare.” It should come as no surprise that this one-off single reflects the decade-plus of maturity that the members have built up in the intervening years. Now discussing their families and loved ones with the reverence of wisened family men, “Threadbare” is a touching release that feels more like getting a holiday card from an old friend you still love but don’t talk to nearly as often as you should. 

Guitar Fight From Fooly Cooly - “Pyramid” 

Self-released

Last year, Guitar Fight From Fooly Cooly racked up a placement on our 2020 AOTY list for their debut album Soak. Featuring jittery instrumentals, tappy guitars, and skull-crushing breakdowns, Soak was a fun, energetic, and youthful emo record that genuinely feels like a torchbearer for the true spirit of the genre. This month, the group released “Pyramid,” a one-off addendum to last year’s impressive output which bears many of the same qualities. There’s shreddy guitar, gnashing bass, and snare that sound like a fucking dodgeball. It’s bouncy, fist-balling fun that culminates in a hardcore breakdown that will undoubtedly set off every live show the band puts on for the end of time.


Floating Room - Shima

Famous Class

I lied; this roundup won’t be all singles because Floating Room released the awesome Shima early on in November, and I simply have to write about it. Throughout this four-track EP, the Portland-based dream rock group helmed by Maya Stoner wafts from punchy punk rock to swaying shoegaze with ease. Whether penning love songs or bowling the listener over with raw emotions, Shima is a breathtaking 11 minutes of music. The heart of this EP comes at the end with “Shimanchu,” a blistering 3-minute song about feeling ostracized and tokenized in almost any given community. The band describes this track as both “a paean to Stoner's Uchinanchu heritage and a retort to the condescension she faces daily as an Asian American woman.” It’s a ferocious, catchy, and compelling song with a vital message (and a fun music video) that has already begun to find its audience.


Carly Cosgrove - “Munck”

Wax Bodega

When I first uncovered Carly Cosgrove, the band felt like a revelation. An iCarly-themed emo band? What a perfect four-word pitch. I may have been just-too-old to ride the iCarly Train, but I respect any group of creatives that can find each other, bond, and create art over such a specific shared interest. After cultivating their audience with an EP in 2019, and a double in 2020, “Munck” seems to be the launchpad lead single for the group’s yet-to-be-revealed upcoming full-length album. Both sonically and lyrically, “Munck” feels like the closest thing I’ve heard to a band picking up the baton laid down by Modern Baseball in 2016; an incredibly promising emo rock cut by a group of young creatives who are staying true to themselves. Here’s where I’d sneak in an iCarly reference if I ever watched the show, so I’ll just leave this here instead.


Wild Pink - “Florida”

Royal Mountain Records

Whenever an artist warns, “this song really picks up around the seven-minute mark,” I am in. Some people may hear that and tune out, but as I’ve recently discovered, that’s extremely my shit. The newest single from Wild Pink is a woozy nine-minute epic that also doubles as a perfect cap to a busy year. After dropping one of 2021’s first serious AOTY contenders in February, the New York-based heartland rock outfit has since released an EP, covers, collabs, and even a live album, all within the last 12 months. I loved them all, but with each release I thought, ‘surely that’s it,’ then lead singer John Ross found another way to breathe life back into the world of his particular blend of indie rock Americana. In what is surely the capper to a banner year for the project, “Florida” acts as a long and winding thank you to a year spent together. 


Quick Hits

For the sake of completion regarding November, we also had some excellent reviews from guest writers this month about the new releases from Snarls and Delta Sleep which I heartily endorse. 

The Best of October 2021: Part 2

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October brought us so much great music that I had to split our usual monthly roundup into two parts. Read on for paternal pop-punk, soul-rending black metal, and a worthy successor to My Chemical Romance. Click here to read The Best of October 2021: Part 1.


Trace Mountains - House of Confusion

Lame-O Records

I’ve been riding the Trace Mountains Train ever since Spotify served up a single off A Partner to Lean On back in early 2018. In the time since then, “Thunder Trails” has gone on to become one of my favorite songs of all time, and the project has been a consistent source of pleasant country expeditions and killer closing tracks alike. While 2020’s Lost in the Country was curbed by releasing a month into lockdown, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it gave Dave Benton enough time to regroup and create House of Confusion. Pitched as a darker, earthier counterpart to last year’s album, Confusion is a lush and inward record packed with slide guitar and slightly more pensive sentiments than its predecessor. Despite its more inward nature, the third proper Trace Mountains album is just as authentic as everything that came before–a perfect collection of songs to watch the leaves change to.


Virginity - POPMORTEM

Smartpunk Records

Here’s a fun little choose your own adventure: Are you emo? Of course you are. Do you want to make music? Excellent. Are you a dad? Perfect. If you meet all of these criteria, you actually have two options based on your location. If you live in the Midwest, you can take the Mike Kinsella route and make sad, slow albums about parenthood. If you’re from the southeast, then crank your amp as far as it’ll go and get to riffing like Virginity. 

This is a total false equivalency, but I really do see these bands as two sides of the same coin. Both acts lean into the age of their members, taking a more mature approach on all-too-familiar topics like sadness, nostalgia, and aging. That perspective is a proper distinction in a scene where most people creating emo music are in their twenties talking about high school heartbreak and getting stoned. In fact, Virginity addresses this on album opener “We Get It,” speaking both musical contemporaries and fellow members of the DIY scene alike in a blistering 2.5-minute takedown. Throughout the album, Virginity jumps from catchy choruses, breakneck PUP passages, and hardcore screams. Lyrically, the band discusses everything from selfishness, privilege, family dynamics, shifting friendships, and the indifferent impermanence of our world. Together, these songs assemble into an energetic 30-minute excursion that gives the listener punky emo music with a unique perspective–a precious resource within the scene.


Angel Du$t - YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs

Roadrunner Records

It’s kinda hilarious to go back to the first Angel Du$t album and compare that sound from five years ago with what’s found throughout Yak. As a supergroup with members from hardcore bands like Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice, it only made sense for them to start with thrashy songs that felt like familiar territory. At the same time, it’s no wonder why the band so quickly shifted into something so sonically dissimilar; after all, you’d want your side gig to be different from your day job too, right? If I were to describe Yak with one word, it would be emphatic. This album feels like a collection of tracks primarily concerned with being groovy, joyful, and fun to listen to. Some songs sound like Scooby-Doo chase music while others are straight-up Rancid worship, this is all alongside some hardcore-lite sprinkled in for the oldheads. No two tracks sound alike but bear similar levels of effortlessly cool vocal deliveries, sticky choruses, and bouncy acoustic guitar. Yak is a far cry from the band’s hardcore origins but still an engaging and catchy comedown from the fist-balling rage of their earlier work.


Spirit Was - Heaven’s Just a Cloud

Danger Collective Records

Spirit Was is the solo project of Nick Corbo, formerly of the lo-fi pop-punk band LVL UP… However, if you go into this project with that framework, you’re likely to be shocked. If you want a proper introduction to Spirit Was, just start Heaven’s Just A Cloud from the top. That probably sounds like ‘no duh’ advice, but the album’s opening track “I Saw The Wheel” not only doubled as the first single but also single-handedly sold me on the entire project. That song begins with a slow-moving folk music whisper but halfway through vaults up into a Sunbather-style of blackened metal. It’s jarring but still somehow manages to work beautifully, resulting in a combination of sounds I would never have thought to put together. After this cataclysmic outpouring, the band walks the listener deeper and deeper into their rustic world, combining folksy drawls with the occasional crushing shoegaze riff much like Twin Plagues or Dixieland. Heaven’s Just a Cloud is a mystical and awe-inspiring journey that rumbles with a sort of naturalistic holy power. 


Boyfrienders - Midwest Alive in Nightmares

Good Luck Charm Records

I’d say a few times a week I fantasize about moving back to Detroit. Sure the winters are cold, the drivers are crazy, and you’re forced to hear natives refer to soda as “pop,” but you know what makes up for all of that? The music. Seriously, Michigan has, pound for pound, the most creative and inspiring crop of bands out of anywhere that I’ve ever lived, and nobody exemplifies that quite like Boyfrienders. After detailing New York as seen through a series of different J-line stops in 2020’s Scenes of Brooklyn, lead singer Poppy Morawa and co. return back to the frigid landscape of the Midwest for a stunning collection of 11 power-pop bangers. Songs range from boppy Cure-instrumentals on “Johnny Drama” to hard-charging punk on “The Moment.”

Aside from having some of the most fun song titles of the year (“Dudes Rock Twenty Twenty One” and “Post-Commune Glitch Pop” are simply all-timers), the sheer scope of musicality on display throughout this album is impressive. From a vibey build on “Live Like You Exist” to a celebratory send-off on “Permanent Prom Night,” there’s never time for the listener to predict what’s coming next. While Morawa’s distinct croon leads most songs, “Fushigi 45,” “Halcyon,” as well as the aforementioned “The Moment,” cede the spotlight to other band members and voices from the Michigan scene, leading to a beautifully-collaborative sense of ever-shifting musical wonder. Additional collaborations come in the form of Bryan Porter (In A Daydream), Tyler Floyd (Parkway & Columbia), Austin Stawowczyk and Kris Herrmann (both of Shortly and Seaholm), Alex Stoitsiadis (Dogleg), and more. It’s a who’s who of Michigan musicians packed into one LP that makes me miss the collaborative spirit which permeated every corner of that scene. Until I can get back to Detroit, at least I have Midwest Alive in Nightmares.


The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore

Atlantic

Nobody should be surprised by a War on Drugs album in 2021. Since 2008 the group has been cranking out near-flawless heartland rock, and I Don’t Live Here Anymore is no different. While not quite as wondrous as Lost In The Dream and not as breathtaking as A Deeper Understanding, the band’s newest album trades the thoughtful 11-minute-long journeys for more bite-sized songs with killer synthesizers, soulful guitar solos, and compelling narrative flashes. There’s some pitch-perfect Petty-indebted instrumentals, blatant Springsteen worship, and even a few moments of morbid reflection. Everything resolves satisfyingly on “Occasional Rain” for a clean break at the end of 50-some-odd minutes of classic rock. 


Swim Camp - Fishing in a Small Boat

Know Hope Records

Here’s the recipe: take a dash of Alex G, a pinch of Trace Mountains, a smidge of slowcore, and just a hint of shoegaze. Whisk together vigorously and let sit for two years. The result will be a creation as rustic and gorgeous as Fishing in a Small Boat. Whether through staggering builds, backcountry jaunts, or long rolling instrumentals, Swim Camp never falters in their mission to depict a laid-back lo-fi world in which every man deserves a porch on which to enjoy his beer. 


Every Time I Die - Radical

Epitaph Records

When I listen to hardcore music, I come in search of a few things: heavy riffs, killer screams, and breakdowns that make me want to fight God. For over two decades, Every Time I Die has brought those qualities to their music and then some. It’s rare that a band I listened to in high school ages this gracefully or this cringe-free, but much like a fine wine, Every Time I Die somehow manages to just keep getting better with time. Vocalist Keith Buckley has a scream that could obliterate your chest like a point-blank shotgun blast. Combine that with chuggy drop-D riffs, molar-shattering basslines, and unrelenting drums, and you have a radical grouping of 16 songs that hit like a brick to the face. 


Super American - SUP

Wax Bodega

One of the first CDs I ever purchased of my own volition was Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right…but Three Do by Reliant K. The songs were clean, catchy, and beautifully pop-punk. The tracks got lodged in my head for days on end, using everyday objects like chapstick and mood rings to springboard into observations about girls, maturity, and (of course) God. When I listen to SUP by Super American, I’m struck with many of the same things I felt when I first heard Reliant K. Sure, their songs aren’t as kid-friendly and don’t ladder up to selling the listener into their religion, but the rest of it is all there; snotty pop-punk deliveries, highly-potent power chords, and an exuberant youthful bounciness. Plus, with just ten songs clocking in at a blistering 25 minutes, there’s hardly any time to get restless; all you have to do is chug an energy drink, sing along, and commiserate. 


Save Face - Another Kill For the Highlight Reel

Epitaph Records

The pitch for the newest Save Face album is a slam dunk: this is the closest thing you’re going to get to a new My Chemical Romance record in 2021. On some level, I think that does the music itself a disservice, but it’s easy to see the appeal of this elevator pitch for a certain sect of music fan. While the debut album from Save Face relied on polished shout-along pop-punk hooks, Another Kill For the Highlight Reel dials up the goth meter until it reaches the skeleton-clad upper echelon. The group’s sophomore album leans into the heavier side of their sound, offering up a shreddy bunch of emo bangers that all but revive the long-lost sound of their fellow New Jersey hard rockers in MCR. Don your finest all-black ensemble and journey into Save Face’s world. 


Minus the Bear - Farewell

Suicide Squeeze

I’ve talked before about how important Minus the Bear is to me. I’ve waxed and waned about their discography and delved into why “This Ain’t A Surfin’ Movie” is my favorite song of all time. When the band decided to call it quits back in 2018, I was crushed, but I understood why it had to happen. The members had been at it for over fifteen years at that point, even longer if you count predecessors like State Route 522 and Sharks Keep Moving. Farewell is a career-spanning live album that sees the band breaking out the hits and deep cuts alike over the course of a nearly two-hour runtime. Pulling tracks from their most recent album to their most obscure early EPs, Farewell truly is a celebration; it’s a victory lap for Minus the Bear and a thank you to the fans who have stuck around. The album is also a technical showcase as the band taps their way through a wide range of mathy indie rock hits with as much precision as they do on the studio versions. Perhaps most importantly, Farewell is a testament to a beautiful group that has been making formative music for millions of fans for nigh on two decades. Thank you for everything, Minus The Bear. Farewell. 


Quick Hits

If you’re looking for even more tunes from the past month or so, we’ve published reviews of the new releases from Couplet, Church Girls, Sufjan Stevens, and Pictoria Vark. Alternatively, you can see my favorite songs from every album I listened to in October month through this playlist. 

The Best of October 2021: Part 1

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October brought us so much good music that I had to split our usual monthly roundup into two parts. Read on for shoegaze riffs, muscle-pumping hardcore, and one of the most stunning emo albums of all time. Click here to read The Best of October 2021: Part 2.


Hovvdy - True Love

At this point, you probably know exactly what to expect from a Hovvdy album; pleasant back-porch guitar licks, laid-back drumming, and just the slightest hint of twang. Last year I wrote about how much Heavy Lifter grew on me over the course of 2020, culminating in the album becoming a near-daily habit that coincided with the peak of fall. It feels like a cosmic coincidence that Hovvdy would drop their follow-up right as the leaves start to change and the wind regains its crisp bite. While it has yet to grow on me quite the same way that Heavy Lifter did, True Love is possibly the most accessible, catchy, and pleasant batch of Hovvdy songs to date. Whether it’s the soaring adoration of its title track, the familial connection of “Hope,” or the childlike innocence depicted on “Junior Day League,” the duo explore a wide range of folksy fall-flavored tunes throughout the album’s 40-minute runtime. 


Roseville - something about a fig tree

The Flower Bed

Much like their fellow Coloradans in Gleemer, Roseville are creating fuzzy, blissed-out dream pop songs that tackle less-than-blissful feelings. From the blurry album art to the mostly one- and two-syllable song titles, everything about fig tree screams shoegaze classic. The EP opens with a bright sway on “Safer” and winds its way from seasonally appropriate tales on “Halloween Song” to hypnotic riffage on “Out.” It may only be a bite-sized collection of five songs, but the sound on this EP is nothing short of colossal. Like all the greatest albums of the shoegaze genre, something about a fig tree is a release you can throw on and sink into like a bed of leaves or a slightly-too-big bean bag chair. 


The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls

Epitaph Records

An 80-minute post-emo, post-hardcore, post-rock album about the social, moral, and ideological rot of late-stage capitalism? AND it’s all passed through a conceptual Dark Souls filter? I am in. There’s simply no amount of hyperbole I could pack into this introduction that would do Illusory Walls justice, so I’ll just say that this was one of the most impactful first listens I’ve had with an album in years. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die are perhaps best known for being forebears of the 2010s Emo Revival. Famous for their long name and even longer list of band members, everything about Illusory Walls seems counter to their previous work. It’s a darker, fiercer, and more focused album that was conceived amongst the group’s (now core) five members. 

While the singles range from a mixture of The Anniversary and Broken Social Scene on “Queen Sophie For President” and heavy metal riffage on “Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance,” the group rounds out distant corners of their world on songs like “We Saw Birds Through the Hole in the Ceiling” and “Your Brain is a Rubbermaid.” The cherry on top of this album comes with the one-two punch of its closing tracks. Both the 16-minute “Infinite Josh” and the 20-minute “Fewer Afraid” are absolutely jaw-dropping tracks that are guaranteed to inflict goosebumps upon any listeners who might take them in with an open heart. While “Infinite Josh” is built around a post-rock build and steadfast bassline, “Fewer Afraid” is a career highlight manifesto complete with a spoken-word passage and philosophical sentiments. The latter of these two songs evoked an actual joy-filled scream from me upon first listen when the band broke out into an interpolation of my favorite song of theirs from nearly a decade earlier. 

Over the course of this album’s final 36 minutes, the group touches on topics like death, the passage of time, religion, and the desire to make the world a better place. It’s inspiring, cosmically-affirming, and downright staggering. In one of the record’s most profound lines, friend of the band Sarah Cowell sings,

You cry at the news, I just turn it off
They say there's nothing we can do and it never stops
You believe in a god watching over
I think the world's fucked up and brutal
Senseless violence with no guiding light
I can't live like this, but I'm not ready to die

Even if you aren’t a fan of this band or emo as a whole, Illusory Walls is a boundless work that shatters nearly every preconceived notion one might have about the possibilities of this genre—an extraordinary feat of the medium.


Gollylagging - Aint That Just The Way!

Self-released

On the flip side of the emo behemoth that is Illusory Walls, we have Aint That Just The Way!, a scrappy 14-minute debut from the Boston-based quartet Gollylagging. Opening track “Capsizing” begins with a modest indie rock jangle but expertly piles up its own emotions until the entire piece erupts into post-hardcore riffage. The rest of the EP follows a similar format, combining hyper-proficient emo-inspired instrumentation with hardcore bellows and emotionally forthright lyrics. “Kangaroo” is expectedly bouncy, fun, and moshpit-inspiring while “Your Party” charges forward with a battering Dogleg-like momentum. Overall, a very energetic and promising release from a band that everyone should be watching. 


Knocked Loose - A Tear on the Fabric of Life

Pure Noise Records

There’s a reason Knocked Loose has become one of the most popular bands in hardcore, and with A Tear in the Fabric of Life, they offer a brief six-song reminder of why. In what may well be their heaviest release yet, the band distills and perfects their dynamics, alternating between atonal metallic passages and pummeling chuggy riffs. Similarly, lead singer Bryan Garris’ tormented piercing howl is punctuated by guitarist Isaac Hale’s punishing low growls at just the right times, resulting in a violent and raging excursion that jostles the listener from one spiteful sentiment to the next. 


Ship & Sail - True North

Self-released

I have been a fan and friend of Ship & Sail for as long as I’ve known Colin Haggerty. Even a cursory glance back through this blog reveals reviews, collaborations, and more stretching all the way back to his debut album in 2018. This is all to say I’ve thought a lot about it, and True North is far and away the best thing Ship & Sail has ever released. In keeping with tradition, Haggerty penned a long and heartfelt breakdown of the album we published on release day, which I strongly encourage you to go read. The record itself touches on familiar folky sentiments of past work but also stretches into exciting new territories. Album opener “The Plan” feels like a synthesis of all the best Ship & Sail songs released to date. Haggerty flexes his songwriting prowess with a stellar chorus on “Junkie Love” and grapples with mortality on “I Know A Way Around Heaven’s Gates.” Midway through the record, the title track centers around a beautiful duet between Colin and his late father that acts as a moving tribute and a beautiful song in its own right. The record culminates in “Lovely,” which shakes with a sort of Julien Baker confessionalism and is flat-out one of the most powerful songs I’ve heard all year. We should all be so lucky to have our lives memorialized in a collection of songs such as this. 


Mo Troper - Dilettante

Self-released

On Mo Troper’s Bandcamp page, the description for Dilettante begins with a definition. “Dilettante (n.): a person with an amateur interest in the arts; an album of postcard-length power pop songs. See also: Mo Troper IV.” This self-effacing introduction is actually the perfect pitch for Mo Troper’s vibrant and ever-shifting 28-song-long LP. Citing inspiration that ranges from Elliot Smith to At The Drive, this is truly an album without boundaries. Whether singing about coffee pairings, social media-induced capitalism, or decrepit action movie stars, every track is fueled by pure creativity. Most songs don’t even clear the two-minute mark, allowing for a massive collection of instantly-catchy hooks that Troper then throws over a vast swath of genres. As an album-length experience, Dilettante fits somewhere between the trifecta of Ween, Daniel Johnston, and Guided By Voices for a creative, catchy, and invigorating collection of power pop tunes. 


Superdestroyer - Such Joy

Lonely Ghost Records

Hmm, another album about the malaise of late-stage capitalism? Strikes happening across dozens of different industries? The most popular show in the world is a parable about the failures of capitalism? It’s almost like something over the last year or so has laid bare the indifference of the system in which we are forced to live… ah well, nevertheless. Such Joy, the fourth album from Superdestroyer, is a blistering 17-minute take-down of our world that openly grapples with the flaws of our endlessly greedy and increasingly imbalanced society. The release begins by wading the listener in with catchy emo chants and guitar tapping but eventually breaks out into hardcore shouts and spacy riffs. It almost feels as if the entire release is unwinding as you listen to it. Plus, each track is punctual, with most songs hovering around the 90-second mark and none stretching beyond three minutes. This makes each piece feel essential, even the instrumental trip-hop “Void” serves as a necessary pause to catch your breath before the final push. A genuinely creative and comforting collection of songs.


Quick Hits

If you’re looking for even more tunes from the past month (or so), we’ve published reviews of the new releases from Couplet, Church Girls, Sufjan Stevens, and Pictoria Vark. Alternatively, you can see my favorite songs from every album I listened to this month through this playlist. 

The Best of September 2021

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A little bit of hip-hop, a little bit of folk, and the sounds of a bygone social media platform make up the best releases of September. 


Injury Reserve - By the Time I Get to Phoenix

Self-released

Self-released

Looking at the discussion surrounding the new Injury Reserve album results in a fascinating combination of words; intense, terrifying, unique, tremendous, visceral, and raw. Overall, the most consistent sentiment about the album is “this is unlike anything I’ve ever heard in my life,” and that’s a fair assessment. After losing their friend and bandmate Stepa J. Groggs in 2020, By the Time I Get to Phoenix sees what’s left of Injury Reserve grappling with their grief in a public, album-length forum. The record is stuttery, disorienting, and heavy; all valid encapsulations of sorrow from a group who has lost someone close enough to be considered family. 


Eichlers - OHMYGOD

Self-released

Self-released

I usually don’t write about singles in these roundups, but “OHMYGOD” is simply that good. Additionally, this article is the September new music roundup, but this song was technically released on the last day of August, so basically I’m breaking rules left and right just so I can write about how rad Eichlers is. Here’s the one-word pitch: Hyperska. That term is precisely what it sounds like; a bubbly mixture of hyperpop and ska music, both genres which have been surging in popularity over the last few years. Eichlers combines these two disparate sounds to great effect over the course of this two-minute banger. The vocals convey a sort of “what the fuck” relatability over a blink-182 guitar tone and electronic drums. Thirty seconds in and a series of upstrokes lead to a hyperpop build that sounds like Dylan Brady’s long-lost brother made it. It’s pretty much everything I love in one place.


Dormer. - Dormer.

Lossleader Records

Lossleader Records

Since I’m already breaking self-imposed rules, I’m also going to use this space to write about the excellent self-titled record from Dormer, which was released at the tail end of August. Dormer is the solo project of Charlie Berger, who is also a member of the shoegaze band Slowly and the dark dreampop band With Hidden Noise. Berger self-describes the project as “slowcore-inspired… sounds maybe like if Duster, Shipping News, early Death Cab, and slower Pedro The Lion songs had a baby… then that baby went on to make low-key music that very people listened to.” If that self-effacing pastiche of cuffed-up 90s indie rock doesn’t sell you, then I don’t know what will. Dormer. is a winding and listless album in the best way possible. The songs transfix and unfurl over three- and four-minute stretches that never wear out their welcome but all work towards constructing a singular, mystifying world. 


Sincere Engineer - Bless My Psyche

Hopeless Records

Hopeless Records

Deanna Belos initially rose to prominence within the Chicago music scene as a solo acoustic act. After years of house shows and bar gigs, she released Rhombithian in 2017, and Sincere Engineer unveiled itself to the broader music world as a fully formed band worthy of nothing less than absolute adoration. Buoyed by Belos’ unmistakable one-of-a-kind voice, the project weaved relatable tales of alcohol dependency, corndog dinners, and general fuck-upery. Each song dripped with hooks and catchy guitar. The lyrics were an unabashed portrayal of snow-covered life in Chicago that felt like a direct accompaniment to Retirement Party’s Somewhat Literate. Four years later, Sincere Engineer has solidified into a consistent lineup, and the group’s sophomore album takes all of those winning elements from their debut and re-formulates them into something totally standalone. Marginally less punky than their last LP, Bless My Psyche uses a fresh range of sounds as the backdrop for these ultra-relatable tales. Even if seven of the album’s eleven songs were released as singles in the lead-up to its release, it’s just a joy to have another 30 minutes to spend in Belos’ presence, wallowing in your screw-ups together. 


5ever - Forever

Many Hats Distribution

Many Hats Distribution

Do you remember MySpace? Remember getting random friend requests from bands spamming your account trying to convert you into a fan? What about the garish neon-covered HTML pages? Can you picture the endless sea of identical swoopy haircuts and Devil Wears Prada wannabes? Well, 5ever remembers. Not only do the Boston-based rockers remember, but they’re here to salvage the best parts of that era and revive them into something new. With a name based on a decade-old copypasta and song titles like “H.A.G.S,” it’s clear that the band knows their audience here. Lead single “Champagne” is a perfect introductory crash course to the shimmering bubblegum-flavored pop-punk sounds of the EP. These pop sensibilities eventually fold in on themselves, mounting in post-hardcore sentiments on “KACHING!” Forever manages to salvage some of the most admirable bits of artistry from an (arguably) dark era in music, making for an 18-minute time capsule that’s as potent as a scented gel pen. 


Common Sage - It Lives and It Breathes

No Sleep Records

No Sleep Records

Last year Common Sage released the abstrusely-titled Might as Well Eat the Chicken, We Won't Be Here in the Morning. If I’m being honest, it felt like pretty standard emo fare, but the EP must have done something right because in the time since it’s release, the group has signed to No Sleep Records and is now hitting back with the phenomenal It Live and It Breathes. Easing up on the emo roughage, the group’s sophomore effort melds the dynamic scale of TWIABP with the ultra-distressed 90s-tinged approach of bands like Sunny Day Real Estate. Songs grow and contract into sprawling epics of overwrought feelings and whiplash from lazy Sunday country to fist-balling punk at a moment’s notice. The instrumentals fit together nicely, coming across as rounded off and more approachable than the group’s previous work. Basically, everything fits together wonderfully, resulting in what is sure to be one of the most slept-on emo-adjacent releases of the year. 


Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner’s Mind

Asthmatic Kitty Records

Asthmatic Kitty Records

There are no two ways about it; I’m a Sufjan Boy. I literally run an entire separate blog dedicated solely to the man’s Christmas Music. While it sometimes feels as if I am legally obligated to consume everything he creates, that doesn’t mean I love it all. Occasionally, Sufjan gets too electronic or too meandering for my taste, but I’m always eager to see what he does next. A Beginner’s Mind sees my folk daddy teaming up with labelmate Angelo De Augustine for a collaborative concept album where each song is based on a different movie. Sometimes our singers place themselves in the shoes of a character; other times, they analyze the filmic events from an omnipotent distance. This leads to a Planetarium-level of commitment to conceptuality where the tales are allowed to be a little more personal and way less cosmic. This narrative thrust combined with the throwback to a more somber Seven Swans era of “Sadboy Indie Folk” results in what is easily my favorite Sufjan release since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell. 


Shortly - Dancer

Triple Crown Records

Triple Crown Records

When I first saw Shortly in 2018, the band was just Alexandria Maniak standing alone on a stage with a guitar and a mic. She was first-up opening for Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties, and the crowd was rapt. I emerged from that set a die-hard Shortly fan but was disappointed to find she only had two publicly-released songs at the time. In the years since, Maniak has rounded out the project with a talented band, released an EP titled Richmond, and played probably more gigs than any rational person could keep track of. Dancer, Shortly’s debut full-length on Triple Crown Records, is a synthesis of everything learned along the way. It’s an album-length journey into the hard feelings, unique relationships, and unforgettable people that make life worth pushing through. 


Quick Hits

If you’re looking for even more thoughts on the past month of music, we also published full reviews for the new albums from Jail Socks, Big Vic, and Colleen Green. We also wrote about the incredible new single from Greet Death. Finally, here’s a playlist of my favorite song off of every new release (and single) I listened to during the month of September.