best of the year, 2022
i have not been as active over here as i intended to be, mostly because between my band, my life, and my job, i just haven’t had a ton of time to sit down and write. i’d like to say i’ll do more of it in 2023, but i know better than to lie to you or me.
however, that does not mean that i haven’t had time to listen to music — quite the opposite.
i bought a *lot* of music this year, and had no real regrets for any of my purchases, but here are some of my favorites from the year 2022. most links will be bandcamp unless there’s a good reason to link elsewhere. these are things i *heard* this year, not necessarily things that were released this year, though most of them were.
first up, DRUG CHURCH. these dudes get a lot of buzz for sounding like the 90s, which they do, but i don’t think i quite agree with the grunge comparisons they get — to me, they sound a lot more like late 90s hardcore bands like AS FRIENDS RUST, albeit with some of the bigger, more creative guitar sound of 90s alternative bands like, amongst others, SMASHING PUMPKINS.
i’m never not going to be an ARCHERS OF LOAF superfan, and i was absolutely fucking stoked to hear they had a new record coming out this year. this record is very, very good, and maybe my favorite since ICKY METTLE, which came out roughly 6,000 years ago. a lot of 90s-era indie bands have made returns to the stage in recent years, but these guys are one of the few who i feel like really grew in the intervening years — this song has as much of THE WHO in it as it has chapel hill, which i think is grand.
BIG JOANIE seem to be blowing up everywhere, and for good reason, they’re fantastic. i’ve written about them a couple of times, so i won’t go too much more into detail here, but if you haven’t yet heard them, check this one out — if you get the time, check out the video, too, which is a sweet and lovely vignette of young friends and lovers.
ELLEN RIPLEY HYPERSLEEP are a japanese band that i stumbled across on twitter (i think) who, if i had lottery money, i would fly out to the united states to do a west coast tour with. they’re a really, really great mix of synth-y 80s and early 90s new wave, but with a lot of very good shoegaze sensibilities. they’re a little hard to find, but they’ve got a youtube channel and they’re on spotify, so go check them out, everything they’ve done is great and i’m really hoping they start to gain ground, either in japan or worldwide.
years ago, when i lived in denver, i remember LEON BRIDGES playing at the ogden theater right after he broke out and thinking that he maybe wasn’t quite ready for that level of audience just yet — the show got moved to the ogden from a much smaller venue at the last minute. fast forward to 2022, and he’s working on really innovative and incredible R&B and soul, this time, with the unflappable khuangbin.
LOS BITCHOS weren’t new in 2022, but this record was, and it’s a delightful spring and summer record to play with the windows open. they get a lot of totally justified comparisons to THE GO-GOs, but i think people sort of snooze on the way they’ve also got a sound that’s similar to some of LUSH’s best work. also, their percussionist might be the best drummer i’ve heard all year, really creative and technically precise.
i really like jazz, but i am not, like, a jazz-knower — i just hear things, like them, and sometimes buy them. this JOHN PATTON reissue was a good example; i came across it on bandcamp, loved it, and bought it even before the first song ended.
i have been absolutely thrilled by the resurgance of of electro, new wave and post-punk in recent years, and LEATHERS absolutely hit all of the sweet spots here. LEATHERS are a side project of another great canadian band, ACTORS, but whereas ACTORS are a little louder, more rock, and a touch grimier, LEATHERS are all neon and cool.
speaking of cool, neon and electro, 2022 saw the return of one of my personal favorites, LADYTRON. i am stoked as fuck to catch them on one of their very few US dates next year, because everything i’ve heard from this new record so far sounds like a return to their classic LIGHT & MAGIC sound, which is somewhere in my top 50 favorite records of all time.
i’ve included them on a couple lists before, but SOFT KILL’s CANARY YELLOW may get my album of the year. it’s a bummer that this may end up being the last record they put out, but if you’ve got to go, you can do a lot worse than going out on at the top of your game.
