Art by Enne Goldstein, you can find more of their work here.
2020 was not our best! But the music was pretty great at least. Here’s some of our favorites from the year.
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Dehd – Flower of Devotion
It was going to be really hard to top the killer single “Loner”, but the rest of Dehd’s Flower of Devotion granted so much more cushy context to sink into. The way that Emily Kemph’s and Jason Balla’s voices are both somehow so unique and so similar to each other sews a seam around the whole thing in a way that makes it all feel so right. Technically speaking, there’s not much hubbub to it… drummer Eric McGrady doesn’t even use a full kit, nixing even the kick. But you don’t miss anything because of it. Much like their Firetalk labelmates Mamalarky, they’ve made something so seriously fun (that’s seriously good and almost high-brow, but in a fun, low-brow way) that you’re kind of crazy to not like it.
– Grace Eire, Associate Editor
Death Valley Girls – Under The Spell Of Joy
Death Valley Girls elevate their rough and tumble girl-gang aesthetic to full-on psychedelic cult status with Under The Spell Of Joy, a radiantly positive album that celebrates inclusivity, community, and the unifying power of happiness. In a year when seemingly everything is conspiring to keep people apart, celebrating togetherness in its many forms becomes that much more important, remembering that we’re all connected in this communal daydream we call life.
– Clay Pacelli
Mamalarky – Mamalarky
Mamalarky’s self-titled album is immediately good. You don’t have to sit with it, you don’t have to think about it; it’s felt and it’s fun and it couldn’t have been made by anyone else. The opener “Fury” arrives in flames, showing you how they’ll keep you invested throughout the rest of the record. It’s compacted all of the noise that they’re going to so generously give you in “Big Trouble”, the lilting vocal melody in “Hero”, and the un-selfconscious fun of “Drugstore Model” into this one song, with lyrics so sparsely specific: We went too far in CD Rom / You’re the only one I let dom. It’s incredibly difficult if not impossible to find fault with this record as a whole – from top to bottom, artwork to lyrics, quirky keys to very-close-to-too-much fuzz. They’ve drawn the line between perfectionism and fucking around for the fun of it right where it needs to be.
– Grace Eire, Associate Editor
Bright Eyes – Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
I am a sucker for nostalgia, but especially in a year that caused us to lose a lot of the things in our lives that made them full and vibrant (i.e. live music and socializing) reverting back to my younger self and what I was into back in a simpler time was very comforting. And of course, Bright Eyes were the perfect band to help me do just that. Down in the Weeds… is dramatic and indulgent and lush. It’s everything you want in a Bright Eyes record, made new. Whether it’s transporting you to an extravagant place in your mind, or back to middle/high school, it will for sure get you out of the now which is all I could ask for, for this year.
– Lauren Khalfayan, Managing Editor
Momma – Two of Me
Momma is a four-piece band founded by Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten. Originally from Los Angeles and now based in New York, Momma released their second album Two of Me back in June. Dig deeper beneath the surface of the ‘90’s alt-rock earworms and you’ll find that Two of Me is actually a concept album. The ‘Bug House’ (Track 1) is a purgatory where someone goes after they commit a crime. The other tracks explore how characters ended up in the Bug House and the revelations they have once they are there.
– Monica Kurowski
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Barring the album closer, “Boys Will Be Boys”, which I think we can all agree was well-intentioned but didn’t quite land and we could have all done without, Dua’s Future Nostalgia was the modern disco-pop record that made this whole quarantine feel… maybe a little more energized. Pop music is meant to make you feel good, without any kind of pretentious or uppity bumpers set up along the lanes. This record does that with this kind of level-headed coolness that makes Dua, Dua. If you haven’t listened past the singles, I promise it’s really worth it. To take the aptly-named “Cool” for example, it’s got these drums that make it feel so expansive – a bigness that you’d, of course, expect from a studio album like this, but it’s surprisingly reserved in its production. It is huge for a reason.
Sorry – 925
London based Sorry took their time with their debut album 925, but it was well worth the wait. Early singles like the mesmorizing ‘Starstruck’ captured the attention of new listeners as early as 2018. Among them was The 1975’s Matty Healy, who even shared the song to his instagram praising the riff. Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen know no bounds when it comes to expirementation when making guitar music. ‘As the Sun Sets’ is a hauntingly beautiful inversion of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’ that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of running into an old lover who’s moved on when you haven’t.
– Monica Kurowski
The Baby – Samia
Samia has solidified her place as one of the best emerging songwriters with The Baby. Every track is a story, an entire world, for the listener to immerse themselves in. “Fit N Full” is Hoku made better, “Winnebago” will secretly break your heart. The Baby finds a balance between Samia being a bonafide pop star and an incredible storyteller and the combination couldn’t be better.
– Lauren Khalfayan, managing editor
L.A. Witch – Play With Fire
Play With Fire is everything a great sophomore album should be; a bold and adventurous record that stretches and flexes musical muscles in exciting new directions while maintaining a focus on the smoky reverb n’ roll that defined the band’s earlier sound. The result is a clear-eyed and confident release that draws inspiration from a wider range of sources including 90s grunge and Morricone-esque spaghetti western scores to craft a modern record that immediately feels both timeless and progressive.
– Clay Pacelli
Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
check out a full playlist of all these picks here:
