It's back! My third annual Album of the Year list. There were so many awesome releases last year and I feel like each year it gets harder and harder to make this list. This year's list is made up of my 9 favorite albums of 2018. If you want to know more about why I chose these albums, send me a message or follow my social media!
1. Sister Cities by
The Wonder Years
Suburbia I've Given You
All and Now I'm Nothing was the soundtrack to
my sophomore and junior years of high school and after that release, I fell out
of love with TWY for a long time. It wasn’t until the release of Sister
Cities when I fell back in love with them. Admittedly, I haven’t given the
works in between Suburbia and Sister Cities a lot of listening
time, but I really think that Sister Cities is their best work yet.
There is an undertone of sadness, or ‘saudade’ (a feeling of longing,
melancholy, or nostalgia that is supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese or
Brazilian temperament.” thanks Google) that is very present throughout the
album which is something everyone can relate to on some level, which is why I
think I like this record so much. Sister Cities is The Wonder Years at
their best. This record still has the punchy and catchy choruses we love, but
they are infrequent which is something I personally like. The standout songs on
this album are definitely the softer ones, especially “Flowers Where Your Face
Should Be.” Sister Cities is perfect from start to finish and I’m really
glad I finally listened to it.
2. Cataracts by
Levi the Poet
Cataracts
is Levi the Poet as you’ve never seen Levi the Poet before. This album feels
more like a hip-hop album than a spoken word album. I absolutely love LTP’s
previous release, Correspondence (A Fiction) and was actually a little
shocked the first time I listened to Cataracts because I was not
expecting it. The things discussed in this album are heavy and sometimes
jarring and heartbreaking, but they need to be talked about. My personal
favorite, and in my opinion, the most important track on the record is the last
one, “Keep Forgiving.” There is a reminder throughout the album to keep
forgiving others as well as yourself - which is, sometimes, the hardest thing
to do. Even if you don’t like spoken word poetry, listen to “Keep Forgiving”
because its message is incredibly important and the track is absolutely
beautiful with a simple acoustic guitar behind Levi’s powerful words.
3. Neon by ERRA
ERRA
is like a fine wine, they get better with time. I like almost all of ERRA’s
past releases, but I think Neon is their best release yet. Every single
moving part on this album works together to create the perfect balance of heavy
rhythms and light melodies. I also think that the current lineup is their best
lineup yet, especially with JT Cavey and Jesse Cash at their vocal helm. JT’s
vocals are the best they’ve ever been and Jesse’s clean vocal hooks and
choruses are super strong and incredibly catchy. This whole album has a bouncy
feel to it which is something their previous releases didn’t have, along with
some gnarly breakdowns that are expected from ERRA. Each song is unique but
they all work together to make a pretty perfect progressive metalcore album.
4. Tearing at the Seams by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
An
Americana/folk rock/soul album?? On MY AOTY list??? Totally not surprising at
all, actually. I have a deep appreciation for Americana and folk music and I
really enjoy listening to it on a semi-regular basis, especially in the
spring/summer. I listened to this album a lot this summer, mostly in the car,
turned up loud with the windows down. Tearing at the Seams is full of
foot-stomping rhythms and choruses to sing with your friends, but it also has
some softer moments, especially in the title track. This is, most definitely,
NR&TNS’s best work and is the perfect album to listen to with those closest
to you while sitting outside under a summer evening sky.
5. Private Room (EP)
by Counterparts
This
EP is made up of three B-sides from their last two records that would probably
not have seen the light of day. These three songs are insanely good and most
definitely deserved to be released and played live (“Monument” is an absolute
banger live). I’m glad this EP was released as a stand-alone release because,
though I love all of the songs, I personally don’t see them together, or
individually, on Tragedy Will Find Us or You’re Not You Anymore -
they were meant to be together on this EP.
6. Errorzone by Vein
I
started to listening to this album because everywhere I turned on social media
I saw people talking about it and how good it was. The first few times I
listened to it, I genuinely did NOT like it, but something about it made me
want to listen more. I did and here it is at #6 on my list. To this day, I
still can’t believe that Errorzone came out in 2018. It draws heavily
from the metallic hardcore and, believe it or not, nu-metal sounds of the late
1990s and early 2000s which is something I really haven’t heard being done in
recent years. This album is absolute (controlled) chaos that marries hardcore
and other ridiculously heavy and experimental music styles all into a neat
little package that clocks in at a whopping 27 minutes from beginning to end. It
is hard for me to accurately describe how insane this album is - you just have
to listen to it.
7. When the End Began by Silent Planet
Silent
Planet is one of the most unique metalcore bands I’ve ever listened to and When
the End Began is the most unique metalcore release I listened to this year. The
lyrical content of every Silent Planet album is more different than the next
which is what I think sets them apart from a lot of other bands (Silent Planet
have written songs about historical events as well as current issues. Hell,
each album has complete, properly formatted, citations in the footnotes of the
lyric booklet/insert for every single song) and When the End Began is no
different. Vocally, this is Garrett Russell’s best work to date. There are so many
strong lows that we haven’t really heard on their previous full-length albums
that work perfectly with all of the other moving parts in the background. I
really loved this record and I think it’s definitely one of the more important
releases of the year because of the themes that are discussed on the record.
8. boygenuis (EP)
by boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus)
This
EP is one of the best EP releases of the last few years, hands down. Each song
on this short and sweet EP packs a punch and each song showcases the strengths
of each individual artist, but each individual is complemented beautifully by
the others. Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus are amazing solo, but when the three of
them come together, it’s an absolutely magical punch to the gut. Each song is
beautiful I get chills every time I listen to them and they sound incredible
live (seriously - look up a boygenius live performance; you will not be
disappointed).
9. Wild and Free by
Jessica Vosk
Jessica Vosk is
one of my favorite Broadway vocalists of all time and when she put up a
Kickstarter project last year to record her debut album, you bet your butt I
backed it (backer #6 to be exact). I saw Jessica perform as Elphaba in the
national tour of Wicked when it stopped in Providence a few years ago. I was
absolutely blown away by her performance and of course I cried during “Defying
Gravity” because who doesn’t? Anyway, Jessica is now playing our favorite green
witch on BROADWAY!!! Yes, Broadway. When I saw that announcement, I cried again
because she’s absolutely amazing and a vocal powerhouse. Listen to this album,
it’s fabulous (the cover of Sia’s “Chandelier” will give you chills.)
