Art by Enne Goldstein, you can find more of their work here.
Our favorite releases of the past year helped us make sense of a still very strange time and mark the passage of time in a meaningful way when the past 24 months otherwise could feel somewhat amorphous. Check out our staff picks below and let us know if we hit or missed your personal faves.
L’Rain – Fatigue
In just under 30 minutes, experimentalist Taja Cheek manages to completely fuck your world up on Fatigue, her second album as L’Rain. Rather than list off a bunch of genres she’s pulling from or artists she’s seemingly influenced by, let’s just make something clear: she’s doing it better than most. From the airhorns on “Fly, Die,” and the meditative vocal chants on “Find It,” to the vast number of field recordings spread throughout, to the brief and hellish dance party on “Kill Self,” as well as the incredible groove on “Two Face.” Front to back, Fatigue is an absolutely compelling listen –– one that warrants multiple listens in headphones, on a turntable, or in a car late at night. It’s a collage of sound unlike any other in 2021. L’Rain is here to stay.
– Sam Zimmerman
King Woman – Celestial Blues
King Woman is the musical equivalent of a thunderhead gathering ominously in the distance, a seething mass of natural fury punctuated by jagged flashes of white-hot electricity. Expanding upon the gritty, elemental doomgaze that defined the project’s initial sound, King Woman dial back the grain and crank up the contrast for a strikingly crisp album of true blood-splattered bruisers that bristle with volatile intensity and compelling passions. An epic saga of a fallen angel immersed within darkness, Celestial Blues makes its presence felt with gothic grandeur, overpowering weight, and incomparable beauty.
– Clayton Pacelli
Geese – Projector
Geese are all too young to probably have ever, say, used a landline, but their storytelling, musical talents, and chemistry are absolutely disproportionately mature. Their debut Projector is booming and big from the second it rips open with “Rain Dance”, then bursting right into my personal favorite and the first single they put out, “Low Era”, and so on. The feelings you get range so widely while you listen: it’s at moments lusty, wistful, yearning, reckless but never out of control. The upward trajectory of this buzzy Brooklyn band is as steep as it gets, having only been signed to Partisan about a year or so ago and now playing major festivals and headline shows all over the world. They could be grouped in with other post-punk bands with a lead singer tossing his voice around kinda like David Byrne or Devo, but they’re very much their own band with their own sound, and Projector showcases that wonderfully.
– Grace Eire, Associate Editor
Indigo De Souza – Any Shape You Take
My 2021 was pretty much rocked and defined by Indigo De Souza. She is almost solely responsible for reawakening my love for live music after seeing an incredible heartfelt and cathartic set at all ages venue, The Vera Project, in Seattle. Any Shape You Take doesn’t tug, but rips at your heartstrings — in the best way. Simultaneously seeming at the brink of shattering while still wielding incredible strength in her vulnerability, De Souza brings the listener along with her through her own journey of falling in and out of love and the many forms that takes. Whether crafting a cacophony of screams, a sweet love song, or a farewell, the stakes are always high for De Souza. And honestly — why write anything where that is not the case. It feels good to feel so deeply, even if (and maybe especially if) that is through another personal and Any Shape You Take allows for just that.
– Lauren Khalfayan, Managing Editor
Yves Tumor – The Asymptotical World EP
One of the most exciting surprise drops this year came from Yves Tumor, who released The Asymptotical World EP back in July. The six-track project expands on Tumor’s rock influenced 2020 record Heaven to a Tortured Mind on tracks like “Jackie,” & “…And Loyalty Is a Nuisance Child,” while also incorporating newer elements of pop rock on the incredibly catchy “Crushed Velvet.” Those who prefer Tumor’s earlier experimental sound will probably find comfort in a track like “Tuck,” which features programmed beats, synths, and harsh vocals. There’s something for everyone here, making for one of 2021’s best EPs.
– Sam Zimmerman
Turnstile – GLOW ON
Turnstile completely took over in 2021. Combining hardcore elements with propelling rhythms and melodies with pop sensibilities, GLOW ON is an instant classic. There is no way you cannot like this record. The tracklisting is unmatched — each song flowing perfectly into the next. It is the perfect source for that catharsis we’re all searching for in a live, visceral band like this, but in an entirely different way than the post-punk scene that has been dominating much of that arena. It’s a record with a lot of highs and equally rewarding comedowns. Concise and to the point. It’s a perfect album, no skips.
– Lauren Khalfayan, Managing Editor
Willow – Lately I Feel Everything
Willow Smith is part of the resurgence of pop punk keeping Travis Barker highly relevant in pop culture well into his 40s (tg am I right?). She’s been notoriously encouraged to be her own person from a very young age, and her most recent Lately I Feel Everything is laced with lyrics that reflect that, while embracing a more pop-leaning sound that’s been a thread throughout her career. Forever-emo kids now in their 30s are lying if they say they aren’t feeling the power chords and harmonies driving these high energy blips of songs, most of which clock in at about 2 minutes or less. “Gaslight” is one of those songs that digs right into the chorus after a quick bloom of guitar, and that energy encapsulates the vibe of the whole record. She just goes for it fully, allowing room for both sheer fun (“Fuck You”) and honest self-awareness (“naive”). With features from Barker, Avril Lavine, and Cherry Glazer, and Tierra Whack, this record had no chance of being a let down.
– Grace Eire, Associate Editor
Faye Webster – I Know I’m Funny haha
Is there anything more relatable than falling in love with the idea of someone before you’ve even met them? On “A Dream with a Baseball Player,” Faye Webster makes the thought feel damn near universal as she sings about her deep affection for a certain outfielder on the Atlanta Braves. A lot of current singer/songwriters try to be engaging by making the listener feel like they can live through shared experiences, but Webster has essentially changed the blueprint on I Know I’m Funny haha. Her approach to lyric writing makes it feel less like she’s speaking directly to you, and more like you’re sitting right next to her as she speaks to whoever the song is addressed to. A truly funny person can make you feel like you’re in on the joke, even when you’re really not. And Faye knows she’s funny, haha.
– Sam Zimmerman
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me
Comfort To Me is Amyl and The Sniffers’ strongest work to date. A punk record by definition, but a pop record in nature, Amy’s cataclysmic energy combined with addicting hooks is a match made in heaven. “Guided By Angels” kicks the album off with a fire start with very few instances of that energy letting up. “Hertz” is mabye the catchiest, and a personal favorite off the release. Still an advocate for freaks, self expression, and giving a big fuck you to big government, Comfort To Me is comforting even while confronting all that’s fucked up in the world because it reminds us we’re not alone in feeling that and at least we can all scream about it together.
– Lauren Khalfayan, Managing Editor
The Muckers – Endeavor
Unabashedly charming with the same kind of scruffy magnetism that made The Strokes a cultural phenomenon at the beginning of the 00s, The Muckers channel decades of New York rock n roll history through a modern filter of jammed out, hard rockin’ psychedelia on their debut LP, Endeavor. Every track swings for the fences with the incredible gusto of a star AAA ballplayer flexing for the hometown crowd and is guaranteed to get even the most jaded tapping along and grinning from ear to ear in no time. Endeavor is one of those timelessly perfect records custom made for warm sunny days stretched out parkside on the grass, lightly toasted behind dark shades. The kind of record that makes it feel like summertime, anytime.
– Clayton Pacelli
