THE BIFF TOP 10: An Alienating List of the Best Indie & Alt. Rock Albums of 2016 & Why
Perhaps the most alienating thing about the Biff Top 10 is that it's actually a Top 18, which is not a round number, a derivative of 5 or 10. It's also just a lot of albums. I listen to a lot of music. These are the ones I felt I had spent enough quality time with to say a little bit about why I love them.
18.) ANOHNI - Hopelessness
When this album first came out in May I listened to it really intently and was really amazed at the quality of writing, the spectrum of emotion it covers, the harrowing accounts of warfare, sexual assault, feelings of being demonized and a pariah, and political nihilism. But this album also has a sense of humor--a tongue-in-cheek, dark sort of sense of humor. Take for example the chorus track four, "Execution, where Anohni sings "Execution! Execution! It's an American dream!" It's almost as if they take you down, as far down as you can go, into the depths of despair and "hopelessness", and make you stare into the void, unflinchingly, and then turn around and say "LOL JK! ... (but really)". All that being said, I listened to this album again the other day, after having left it alone for a couple of months, and some of the political nihilism now seems a bit childish and irrelevant, since in the interim there was an election, and now we live in Donald Trump's America. Suddenly the critiques of the Obama administration on "Drone Bomb Me" and "Obama" seem somewhat out-of-place and trivial. So, for that reason, I almost left this album as an honorable mention, but ultimately I decided that would be doing it an injustice, seeing as how the writing really is top-notch.
Standout tracks: "4 Degrees", "Execution", "Crisis", "Hopelessness"
17.) Muncie Girls - From Caplan to Belsize
Now for something completely different--for as heavy, and dark, and harrowing as Anohni's Hopelessness is, Muncie Girls' From Caplan to Belsize is snarky, and jaunty, and effervescent. From Caplan to Belsize is Muncie Girls' debut record, and has that kind of magic about it that only a debut can have: it's that newness, that cautious optimism that comes when a band hasn't quite made it yet, but things are really looking up for them. They have the relatability of your friend's band that practices in a garage and plays a lot of open mics, but they also have the undeniable charisma of what is most undoubtably the coolest local band in your town. They're still green, but I'm hopeful that they'll blossom into something special.
Standout tracks: "Learn in School", "Respect", "Balloon", "Committee"
16.) Pity Sex - White Hot Moon
2016 seems to have been the year of the dope-as-fuck sophomore effort, White Hot Moon is the first of several second/follow-up records on this list. Pity Sex has mastered the sort of droning, pseudo-grungy variety of punk rock that has been really popular in the past couple of years. Great for a night drive, or a swelteringly humid summer day. Earlier this year I was excited to hear that they were touring with one of my 2015 favorites, PWR BTTM (making for one of the most hilariously-named bills in recent memory) and I kept hoping they would come within striking distance of Columbus, but they never did, and shortly thereafter, Pity Sex announced that they would be going on indefinite hiatus. Can't have anything nice.
Standout tracks: "A Satisfactory World For Reasonable People", "September", "White Hot Moon", "Pin a Star"
15.) Twin Peaks - Down in Heaven
Twin Peaks is a band I initially had some reservations about: for one thing, we've reached critical mass for indie rock's fascination with David Lynch's Twin Peaks series--yes it's amazing, but you need to move on. There have just been a lot of Twin Peaks references in indie rock, and to straight up call your band "Twin Peaks" is just brazen. Another thing that made me leery of them is that they basically copypasta'd their entire sound from another band that I love, Pujol--although I must admit, this was something I ultimately decided I liked about them, even if they did copy the original Pujol sound right down to Daniel Pujol's very vocal patterns. Since then, Pujol has moved in a more cerebral direction, and Twin Peaks has taken up the mantle of the old Pujol sound: they have become Pujol if Pujol was interested in making money. Down in Heaven is the most polished Twin Peaks record to date, and the most streamlined. Their previous effort, Wild Onion, was a bit longwinded and included a decent amount of filler. Down in Heaven suggests that they've learned the power of editing--that not every song you wrote during the last album cycle needs to go on the current record.
Standout tracks: "Walk to the One You Love", "Wanted You", "My Boys", "Getting Better"
14.) TV Girl - Who Really Cares
This is a band that no one really seems to be talking about yet. I'd like to think I'm just quick on the uptake, and hopefully these guys catch on soon. TV Girl sounds like if you took the best parts of Fatboy Slim, post-Odelay but pre-Sea Change Beck, and Apollo 18-era They Might Be Giants, doused in Nickelodeon Gack: they sound like the 90's, but they sound fresher than most bands that are trying to capitalize on 90's nostalgia. They are not "soft grunge", they are more akin to the fringier sounds of the 90's. Their biggest asset is their lyrics which are funny, and biting, and wity, without coming off as silly or corny.
Standout tracks: "Taking What's Not Yours", "Cigarettes Out the Window", "(Do the) Act Like You Never Met Me", "Heaven is a Bedroom"
13.) White Lung - Paradise
What it really comes down to--the real reason I love this album--is that White Lung sounds like Hole in their prime, if a little more gruff, and I can listen to them without the guilt attached to my fascination with the highly-problematic (but oddly captivating?) Courtney Love.
Standout tracks: "Dead Weight", "Below", "Kiss Me When I Bleed", "Demented", "Paradise"
12.) Diarrhea Planet - Turn to Gold
Turn to Gold sees Diarrhea Planet moving their sound in a more commercially viable direction--an act of futility, really, when your band is called "Diarrhea Planet", but who am I to judge somebody for trying to make a few extra dollars off of their art? This is an instance where making a record with more pop sensibility than your previous work pays off, which is quite the accomplishment, because often "going pop" ruins careers (if you have indie cred and you make a pop record and it isn't fucking perfect, you will lose everything; I personally think it's usually not worth the risk). This isn't to say that Turn to Gold is better than Diarrhea Planet's previous efforts, but they did pull it off when all is said and done. Turn to Gold is all high-octane pop-punk, and it's hard to make a reasonable argument against well-crafted pop-punk songs.
Standout tracks: "Announcement", "Life Pass", "Ain't No Sin to Win", "Headband"
11.) Angel Olsen - My Woman
A few years ago, Angel Olsen released a relatively good folksy, singer-songwriter type album called Burn Your Fire For No Witness. It received all kinds of accolades and ended up on a lot of year-end best-ofs (not mine) and essentially put her on the map. The problem she encountered going forward was that she found herself lumped in with all of the other folksy singer-songwriters clogging up the market (there are scads of them, and many of them are quite dull). This became the cause of some consternation for Olsen, who decided she would have to distinguish herself from that sad, folk singer archetype and make a more powerful record, the kind that could set her apart from her peers. My Woman is the result of that resolution, a far more emboldened effort than anything Olsen has done in the past. Frankly this is exactly the type of move I needed Angel Olsen to make in order for me take her seriously. While Burn Your Fire For No Witness was not necessarily a bad record, and even had a few great tracks, it ultimately left me lukewarm. What I needed from her to really dig deep and pull out something a little messier, a little more raw, and that's exactly what she has done.
Standout tracks: "Never Be Mine", "Shut Up Kiss Me", "Heart Shaped Face", "Sister", "Woman"
10.) Nite Jewel - Liquid Cool
Nite Jewel released her debut album, One Second of Love, back in 2012, which featured a song (the title track) that was my fucking jam all year long (it also has a really cool, creepy-ass video). But when the album finally came out, I was really disappointed with the rest of it, and I thought to myself "if she can figure out how to write 10 songs as good as 'One Second of Love' she will be a force to be reckoned with". I didn't actually think she would; I kind of expected her to disappear into obscurity after releasing another sub-par record or two--in fact, when Liquid Cool was first released, I was hesitant to even give it a listen, but ultimately the draw of "well... what if every song on this album really is as good as 'One Second of Love'???" got the best of me, and I was so pleasantly surprised. This is not to say that every song on this record is great in the same way that "One Second of Love" is, because it is obvious that Nite Jewel auteur Ramona Gonzalez has taken her sound in a starkly different direction: these songs are much more mature, more sensual, more ambient, where as "One Second of Love" is more like a power-pop jam. The results are highly satisfying. Recommended for anyone who likes Grimes but who are put off by Clare Bouchard's forced awkwardness gives you second-hand embarrassment.
Standout tracks: "Nothing But Scenery", "Was That a Sign", "Kiss the Screen", "Boo Hoo", "Running Out of Time"
9.) The Hotelier - Goodness
The emo revival was something I didn't even know I wanted until it was already happening, but now that it is here it has become one of the current musical trends I feel most invested in. The great thing about so many of the new emo bands is that they have gotten back to the thing that was supposed to define the genre--in fact, the very thing the genre derives its name from--emotion. Goodness displays a whole array of different emotions, it doesn't just focus on anger, the way The Hotelier's predecessors often did. You get excitement, and joy, and heart-swelling amour as well, without compromising the hardness of the music itself.
Standout tracks: "Piano Player", "Two Deliverances", "Soft Animal", "You in This Light"
8.) Japanese Breakfast - Psychopomp
Japanese Breakfast is the solo monnicker of singer/songwriter Michelle Zauner, who previously was best known as the singer for Philadelphia indie rock band Little Big League--a band whose debut record, These Are Good People, is byfar one of my favorite albums of the past ten years. They followed-up with a somewhat tepid sophomore release, Tropical Jinx, which I felt lacked the overall crackling energy of their previous effort. Psychopomp seems like the rightful successor to These Are Good People. To be sure, Zauner has taken on a somewhat different sonic aesthetic with Japanese Breakfast, but Psychopomp still conveys that same big-hearted indie rock power. That said, Psychopomp more than stands on its own and shows Zauner maturing as a songwriter, exploring ideas of longing and sexuality with a tact and sophistication that is often lacking in music that tackles those subjects.
Standout tracks: "In Heaven", "Woman That Loves You", "Everybody Wants to Love You", "Jane Cum", "Heft"
7.) Whitney - Light Upon the Lake
Whitney is a band born full-grown. Light Upon the Lake is their debut album, but it's pefection suggests the members of Whitney are no amateurs. Every song sounds like they had an idea of what they wanted it to be, and no hair was left out-of-place in assembling it. This kind of perfectionism might lead you to believe that Light Upon the Lake is a very clinical record, but in fact it's really one of the most fun and exuberant records of the year, with all the carefree breeziness of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood rerun.
Standout tracks: "No Woman", "The Falls", "Golden Days", "No Matter Where We Go", "On My Own"
6.) Bon Iver - 22, A Million
If you liked For Emma, Forever Ago but you didn't care for Bon Iver, Bon Iver then you're probably really going to hate 22, A Million because Justin Vernon is only getting weirder. In fact, it's nearly impossible to find the link between the current iteration of Bon Iver, and the melancholy, acoustic, "sad guy in the woods" aesthetics of the first Bon Iver record. 22, A Million actually plays out more like the kind of record Vernon's frequent collaborator James Blake might make. All of this could be read a criticism, but these are the things that really make 22, A Million a truly fantastic record. At this point in his career, it is important for someone like Justin Vernon, whose debut record was such a smash hit with both mainstream and alternative audience, to not rest on his laurels--to push himself to make something that distinguishes himself as an artist, instead of just milking the ever-lucrative cash cow of being a sad guy with an acoustic guitar. This album is often strange, but always, consistently, beautiful, and that is what Justin Vernon is good at: making music that is beautiful.
Standout tracks: "22 (OVER S∞∞N)", "10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄", "715 - CR∑∑KS", "33 "GOD" ", "29 #Strafford APTS"
5.) Fear of Men - Fall Forever
Fall Forever is a triumph in that it outshines its predecessor, Loom, which is itself a fantastic record. Fear of Men are always soft and beautiful but all of their songs give the impression that you should be looking over your shoulder, just in case. It's a great feat to be able to simultaneously make the listener feel both calm and paranoid that things are so calm all at once.
Standout tracks: "Island", "A Memory", "Ruins", "Trauma", "Erase (Aubade)"
4.) LUH. - Spiritual Songs For Lovers to Sing
LUH. (or "Lost Under Heaven") is Ellery James Roberts, formerly of indie darlings WU LYF, who burned out just as soon as they released their acclaimed debut, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain back in 2011, and his girlfriend Ebony Hoorn. This is Roberts's first release since WU LYF broke up. Spiritual Songs For Lovers to Sing is perhaps the most unique release of 2016--it's just strange, and similar in that way to Bon Iver's 22, A Million but far more jarring. Ellery James Roberts is not the crooner that Justin Vernon is; his vocal style is very agressive and gutteral, and doesn't really sound like anyone else in the music industry that I can think of. His is almost Bobcat Goldthwait-esque, but really that doesn't even do him justice. That said, Spiritual Songs For Lovers to Sing is surprisingly contemplative--even meditative--for as caustic as it comes off. There are a lot of different sounds at work here: there's a lot of cues taken from current electronic music, there's an obvious hard rock and punk influence, often songs lack proper choruses really, but it all somehow comes together spectacularly and makes for a really exciting listening experience.
Standout tracks: "I&I", "United", "Someday Come", "$ORO", "Lament"
3.) Hinds - Leave Me Alone
Every song on Leave Me Alone is a fucking banger. Period. There is not a bad song on this record. This album may lack the sophistication of Fear of Men or Whitney's records, or the adventurousness of Bon Iver or LUH.'s records, but ultimately it is just a great album start to finish and that's why it's in my top three. Hinds are part of the vibrant punk resaissance that's taking place in Spain right now. Their sound is a cheeky, jangly, European take on garage punk that is very specific to the region. The songs are simple, but affecting and charming.
Standout tracks: "Garden", "Easy", "Bamboo", "I'll Be Your Man", "Walking Home"
2.) American Wrestlers - Goodbye Terrible Youth
American Wrestlers, like Hinds (and LUH., and TV Girl, and a lot of other artists on this list, for that matter) is a band that I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on. Their self-titled debut was probably my favorite record of 2015, period and Goodbye Terrible Youth would totally have been my favorite of 2016 were it not for one historic, earth-shattering release that left a scar on the face of the music industry as we know it (more on that in a moment). American Wrestlers is rad in such a way that maybe only someone like myself, an older millennial who has always been a hipster all his life and can't even contain it, can appreciate. You see they kind of sound a bit like bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, and Band of Horses, and Tegan & Sara, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Metric all did in their prime, when they were doing their best work--but really not at all. They've definitely got their own sounds, but it encapsulates that early 00's power pop energy really perfectly. It's just a great, fun, sad record and you should check it out. They have not yet come to Columbus (or even Cincinnati--they've come to Cleveland, but that is just far enough away to be a nuissance to try to drive to) but hopefully that's in the works for 2017 because I would really love to see these guys live.
Standout tracks: "Vote Thatcher", "So Long", "Hello Dear", "Terrible Youth", "Real People"
1.) David Bowie - Blackstar
As if it could really be anyone else. Blackstar is such an phenomenon in a lot of different ways: it was a reaffirmation that Bowie could still make an incredible album that sounds fresh and cutting-edge and unlike anything else in his back catalog (something his previous effort, The Next Day, proved not to be up to the task of), it came out on his 69th birthday, and Bowie himself died just three days after its release, making this record all the more poignant. Blackstar is meant to be a goodbye and that much is clear upon first listen, but I don't think anyone expected him to be gone so soon after its release. I can say that the death of David Bowie is honestly the only celebrity death that has brought me to tears.
Standout tracks: There are only six songs on this record and they are all incredible.
