25. Deer Tick – Negativity
This release adds to the already difficult task of describing Deer Tick to someone unfamiliar. Negativity‘s first track “The Rock” begins with a hushed John J. McCauley, as much as he can be, before exploding into rowdy baroque rock with horn outbursts. “The Dream’s In The Ditch” is a standout concise track with lush instrumentation including keys and vibraphone. The album varies between boozy alternative country, aggressive post-punk, and a melancholy tenderness that lends to repeated enjoyable listens.
Deer Tick – The Dream’s In The Ditch
24. Houndmouth – From the Hills Below the City
Another really nice debut this year that reveals another band with huge potential for future releases. Houndmouth are a folk/Americana rock band from southern Indiana that features multiple talented vocalists, songwriters, and musicians. The production is overly clean, but the imagery of hard living bygone eras and Bohemian collaboration, a la The Band, suggest a dusty road worth traveling. The best moments are “On The Road” when Katie Toupin and Matt Myers share warm shiny vocal duties and the guitar-driven country boogies like “Hey Rose”.
Houndmouth – Hey Rose
23. Savages – Silence Yourself
If there is a void of women performing rock, it is filled without grand announcement or pretense by this London noise-punk band delivering a moody debut that quite simply rocks. The atmospheric industrial-metal of “I Am Here” and enthralling hooks of “She Will” are pushed and pulled by delay effects and propelled forward by sharp bass lines and a fiery passion that doesn’t care where it ends up. It feels dynamic and intense, which matches the descriptions of the live show Savages are becoming known for.
Savages – She Will
22. Foxygen – We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
If there was ever an album that could be called derivative as a compliment, it would be this outstanding release from Foxygen. Its success as an album is not singularly due to having acquired all that is good from The Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, and Beatles. It also happens to be extremely well-crafted with progressive psychedelic grooves in abundance, as represented on “No Destruction” and the Jagger swagger of “Oh Yeah”. Ultimately, there isn’t a weak track which leads to an extremely cohesive album.
Foxygen – Oh Yeah
21. Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
Whether discussing failure and resolve in “Night Still Comes”, gender equality and young ‘manhood’ in “Man”, or man’s attitude to poverty in “City Swans”, Neko Case always composes vivid tales that are both provocative and empowering. Her voice is superb throughout the variety of personalities she portrays, the idiosyncratic lyrics are open for interpretation, and the arrangements are beautifully orchestrated. There are few artists who can write and perform material with this much easy confidence and craftsmanship.
Neko Case – Night Still Comes