juangallojongaro

[juangallojongaro]

Recently, I spent a non-insignificant sum on tickets to see The Killers during their upcoming Las Vegas residency. A couple months prior, I bought tickets to see Death Cab & The Postal Service perform their now 20 year old breakthrough records. This is not to brag, but only to say: I am not relevant. I am a skeleton. I am an irrelevant skeleton. 

Once I looked at my music list as an Important Document of the Past Year. I’d try to listen to all the stuff, read the lists, and put together a coherent and definitive list. I didn’t do that in 2024; I didn’t try, I didn’t care to try, and, therefore, I just didn’t listen to that much stuff. This is fine! My life is no better or worse for the change! Also, no one gives a shit about what I listened to last (or any) year! 

So, a format change. I’m gonna list a bunch of songs I liked with the normal commentary. After that, I’ll rank my top ten movies of the year and my top five favorite books I read in 2023. Sound good? I think it’s fine.

2023 YEAR IN MUSIC!

Big Thief - “Vampire Empire” A slow dawning of just, like, oh, Big Thief is just one of my favorite bands. They’re hitting that mid-2010’s (teens? Twenty-tens? What are we doing with this one?) The National-zone where every record they put out is a unique and rockin’ bop. This track is a good example of the more aggressive yelly-stuff. 

boygenius - “Not Strong Enough” 2023 was the year of Taylor Swift and the guys were a part of it. My favorite supergroup was at their peak powers last year, releasing the ALBUM OF THE YEAR as well as MY FAVORITE CONCERT OF THE YEAR WHERE I CRIED A BIT DURING “COOL ABOUT IT”. I fucking love that record so much. Before they all blew up, Baker was the stealth star carrying the pathos while Dacus made us sad and Bridgers screamed excellently. Just watch them on SNL; they’re so happy. It’s nice.

The New Pornographers - “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies” Not much to say about a middling album that produced this banger with the funniest line of the year, “Now you're clearing the room just like Pontius Pilate/When he showed all his home movies/All of his friends yelling, ‘Pilate, too soon’” Side note: You ever notice how English people don’t say “quotation marks,” but instead, “inverted commas?” Frankly, it’s fucked up.

Slaughter Beach, Dog - “My Sister in Jesus Christ” Really enjoyed this album by the former Modern Baseball co-frontman. He’s settled into a more shambolic pop-oriented sensibility which suits him fine.

Sufjan Stevens - “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” I kinda came to Javelin late but after sitting through several listens it’s definitely in the pantheon of Stevens albums. I’m not sure there’s anything on here that’s a hit, but it’s so lush, dense, and achingly beautiful. He’s a man genius. ALSO ALBUM OF THE YEAR; SURE, WHY NOT?

Taylor Swift - “Cruel Summer” I don’t care this song came out in 2022. I’m in my Lovers Era! It’s pop perfection! I love(er) it! I have a lot of thoughts about Taylor Swift but no one caaaaaaaaaares. Go Chiefs.

Wednesday - “Chosen to Deserve” A twangy, meandering tune about all the embarrassing things you did when you were younger and still torment you and will forever except now you’re in love so maybe it won’t be so bad anymore? BONUS: Really enjoyed MJ Lenderman’s live album; those Wednesday folks are doing great!

2023 YEAR IN CINEMA!

Best Pictures

Past Lives (*****)

Anatomy of a Fall (****1/2)

Godzilla Minus One (****1/2)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (****1/2)

The Zone of Interest (****1/2)

Poor Things (****1/2)

Barbie (****)

All of Us Strangers (****)

Oppenheimer (****)

Showing Up (****)

Four Daughters (****)

Honorary Mention

Stop Making Sense (****)

Best Short Film

Donald Trump NOOOOOOO

The First Twelve Seconds of the Maestro Trailer “If Movie List doesn’t sing in you, then nothing sings in you. And if nothing sings in you, you can’t make Movie List.”

2023 YEAR IN BOOKS!

(In no particular order)

Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man by Garry Wills

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

The Goodbye People by Gavin Lambert

Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

#bestof2023

[juangallojongaro]

Best of 2022

Alvvays - “Belinda Says” After five years in the wilderness, Alvvays burst back on the scene with a masterpiece in Blue Rev, the ALBUM OF THE YEAR. Supplementing already deliriously catchy songwriting with a thick shoegazey wall of sound, the Canadian crew put out fourteen songs and forty minutes of pop rock perfection. No better example than “Belinda Says,” an aching short story combining clever lyrics, soaringly sympathetic vocals, and a killer guitar solo where you least expect it. It’s the SONG OF THE YEAR.

Big Thief - “Time Escaping” To my surprise, the inscrutable but incessantly listenable Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You was my most listened to album of 2022. Am I a little pissed because that album title is very stupid? I am. However, I’m very happy with the album as a whole and this song in particular. It’s tempting to write something about how this album’s word puzzle lyrics typified my 2022 and my own problems blah blah blah. Instead, let’s just accept that I like to think about songs with weird lyrics.

Disq - “Cujo Kiddies” Speaking of inscrutable, I saw this weird little band of twelve year olds open for Neko Case. And I got to sit in the ADA section real close ‘cause my wife was wearing a surgical boot!

Future Teens - “BYOB” A song so emotionally raw that I asked the singer at an extremely small show at HEALER if they were doing okay. They said they were! Very great song to scream along to in the car while hungover–big Rick Dalton energy.

LCD Soundsystem - “new body rhumba (from the film White Noise)” Obviously, the best thing to come out of the aforementioned ill-conceived film adaptation. An exchange:

Zach: Is it a really good LCD song or, like, are they just giving us what we like?

Me: Yes.

Megan Thee Stallion (ft. Dua Lipa) - “Sweetest Pie” I am a childish boy (FUN FACT: When my pal David and I traveled to Canada last summer, we introduced ourselves to essentially every Canadian bartender as “just childish boys.” We also 1) almost got in a fight [not our fault!] and 2) ate offal [it was gross!]). I guffaw every time I hear, “More bounce to the ounce/Pick it up, put it down/I wanna put his Nutty Buddy/In my, ah, Fudge Rounds.” 

Mitski - “Working for the Knife” Just going to quote the Genius reading of the titular line, “the nature of the knife is that it isn’t just a symbol of oppression that enforces her simultaneous drive and dissatisfaction from a distance; it cuts her down at close range by directly interfering with her life, demanding more of her energy and constant performance. But, as she states, she’s “working for” the knife; she’s doing the knife’s work, cutting herself down as she pushes herself to produce and entertain.” GUH! Mitski! Take a vacation!!!

Pusha T (ft. Jay-Z and Pharell) - “Neck & Wrist” I have nothing clever left to say about Pusha T (PUSH!). He will make a dope song every two to three years, and I will include it in this list. I will copy and paste this caption.

Wet Leg - “Wet Dream” A delightful song off a delightful album whose praises I will not sing more of because I went to see them on my birthday in Louisville and they were very bad. Anyway, here’s the extra dreamy Harry Styles covering. LYRIC OF THE YEAR: “You climb onto the bonnet/And you're licking the windscreen/I've never seen anything so obscene/It's enough to make a girl blush/It's enough, it's enough to make a girl blush.” 

Weyes Blood - “Grapevine” A strong contender for Album of the Year, and may eventually get there in hindsight. Lush and luscious Laurel Canyon pop. 

If you are not my wife, please move on to the next song: I KNOW IT’S ALL MID-TEMPO BUT THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE THE LYRICS ARE POETRY AND LISTEN TO THAT VOICE THOSE HARMONIES! IT’S NOT BORING!!!

Yung Gravy - “Betty (Get Money)” Speaking of my wife, she introduced me to this song which is so 1) stupid and 2) good that it could only result in litigation. Terrific first four lines: “With your baby mama at the crib I blow her back out/Shawty Filipino and she call me Manny Pacquiao/Alley-oop without the hoop they call me Jerry Stackhouse/Dazing out in public but your mama made me snap out.” Yung Gravy loves MILFS. I would represent him pro bono.

#bestof2022

[juangallojongaro]

Best of 2021

Bill Callahan and Bonnie “Prince” Billy (ft. Bill McKay) – “Deacon Blues” Arising from quarantine boredom, buds Callahan and Oldham passed covers back and forth culminating in the laid back and delightful full-length Blind Date Party. Many stand out tracks, but this stripped down dreamy Dan cover is the cat’s meow.

Cassandra Jenkins – “Hard Drive” An auditory journey through “phenomenal nature.” Ridiculous, whimsical, funny, serious, saxophone, cool. A stand out lyric: “Sculpture is not just formed from penetration.” SONG OF THE YEAR.

Counting Crows – “Elevator Boots” 2021 brought the critical reconsideration of the Counting Crows; the verdict? We like ‘em! “Mr. Jones” is great, “Long December” is very sad, maybe we were all a little tough on old Adam Duritz (though his haircuts didn’t help). Amongst the lovefest appeared “Elevator Boots,” a completely competent pop ditty reminding one that the Crows are, at very least, study song writers. Fun Fact: I heard this song for the first time on the radio (!), and I said to Brittany, “Wow, this band sounds like the Counting Crows!”

Goat Girl – “Sad Cowboy” Honestly thought this band was going to suck based on name alone, but it turns out I like this lil’ ditty. There’s a lesson there, but it’s either too obscure or obvious for me to parse. Fun keyboard solo!

The Hold Steady – “Open Door Policy” Grandpa likes Grandpa’s music. In the nursing home, Grandpa wants to watch Interpol videos after the baseball game and before dinner. Wedding Crashers is on TCM. As I type this, my hand is turning to dust.

illuminati hotties – “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA” ih has appeared on every Best Of list since 2018, an impressive streak. Also, the song features this music video which is equal parts erotic and off-putting; which I think is the point of the song!

The Killers (ft. Bruce Springsteen) – “Dustland” Two great tastes that go great together. Big dumb muscular rock n’ roll bombast. An NFL linebacker quoting Shakespeare sonnets from memory. Meatloaf and Jim Steinman listening to this in heaven, smiling. Incredible Bruce delivery on the lyric, “The mind is poison!”

Lucy Dacus – “Hot and Heavy” Our sad girls are becoming sad women, as they begin to release second albums that, while extremely competent, lack some of the sad urgency (urgent sadness?) of the last records. Still! “Hot and Heavy” will fit perfectly into the eventual Sad Girl Greatest Hits collection/Spotify Playlist in twenty years. Running into an old ex! Yeesh!

Mattstagraham – “I’M SOFT” Extremely stupid but my kind of extremely stupid.

Phoebe Bridgers – “That Funny Feeling” Plausibly the best song of the year, but it feels depressing to bestow it that honorarium. That said, at each New Year’s Eve for, like, the last three years I’ve said, “Next year is going to better!” I’m going to stop doing that. LYRIC OF THE YEAR: “Female Colonel Sanders/Easy answer, civil war.”

Rod Stewart – “Kookooaramabama” Real time reactions to this “song”, as related via text message. Highlights:

JPG: “Is Rod Stewart going senile”

JPG: “Like it’s a kindergarten song about fucking”

JZK: “It’s fluorescently terrible”

JPG: “Explaining sexual harassment to Rod would be like trying to teach my cat physics”

JZK: “Sex is fun”

BKK: “Horrifying and compelling”

Slaughter Beach, Dog – “A Modern Lay” A jaunty little tune about people finding love! Three little rom coms rolled into one song. Beautiful! Sad! A feast for the heart! Saw SBD open for Jeff Rosenstock in Nashville and this closed with this little cutie. Not a dry eye in the house!

#bestof2021

[juangallojongaro]

Best of 2020

Bruce Springsteen – “If I Was the Priest” Lauded as a return to form for the Boss (I found the album…middling?), this is the standout track on Letter to You. Written in the early seventies and first recorded this year, the track is a perfect slice of Springsteen pomp. A soaring Marian Devotional that recasts the Holy Family as prostitutes, saloon proprietors, and cowboys, it’s grandiose, kind of stupid, and perfectly Springsteen.

Cardi B (ft. Megan Thee Stallion) – “WAP” When I first heard it, I was wandering through one of those endless early quarantine days that have all blended together. It made me laugh, and since I’ve listened to it at least 20 times. Really grateful for Cardi B! LYRIC OF THE YEAR 1: “I want you to park that Big Mack Truck right in this little garage”

Colter Wall – “Big Iron” I spent the latter half of the year reading and thinking about American Westerns. This Marty Robbins cover is a delight. Wall has a remarkable voice, deep and tonal. The sparse instrumentation sets the table perfectly for the confrontation between the Arizona Ranger and the dastardly Texas Red.

Dogleg – “Kawasaki Backflip” The virus turned the volume down on everything and stretched it out. It’s a small and personal unfairness I wasn’t able to see this band shred through this spectacular song in some shitty hot venue while drunk on too expensive beer.

Doja Cat (ft. Nicki Minaj) – “Say So” So, this was a TikTok meme, right? I thought TikTok would fill the Vine-sized hole in my life (RIP, Vine, the only good social media); alas, it wasn’t to be, as it seems to be a platform built exclusively to encourage mediocre young white men to be mediocre-er. I digress; this song is fucking great. Built on the Niles Rodgers-esque disco guitar riff, the addition of a typically professional Minaj elevates this from confection to classic.

Dua Lipa – “Levitating” The lyrics are asinine (see: “My sugarboo/I’m levitating/The Milky Way is liberating/Yeah yeah yeah”). Pop music doesn’t have to have lyrics this dumb (see: above Cardi B re: the garage), but alas. It’s a shame, because the rest of this package is so slick, a pop fan’s wet dream of talent, groove, and Top 40 danceability.

Fiona Apple – “Shameika” The word genius is probably thrown around to liberally, but 2020 marked a moment when the culture seemed to coalesce to bestow the honorarium on Apple. And why not? She’s released five albums, all of them at least great. She’s a singular voice, making scabrous, confident, off-putting, kinda fucked up music (who among us didn’t hear her wail, “You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in” and not, like, gulp and say out loud to no one, “yikes!”). Despite the traumatic subject matter, the songs are a fucking auditory pleasure. When we were all cooped up this year, Apple’s claustrophobia was a balm.

illuminati hotties – “content//bedtime” In 2019, I had the pleasure of seeing IH open for pup at the Old National Center. After their set, I was on my way to the baño¸ and noticed IH front person Sarah Tudzin at the merch table. I approached, expressed my admiration for her work, and inquired as to the release of the next album. The reception was chilly! It turns out that Tudzin was fighting her label, ultimately leading to the release of FREE I.H.: This is Not the One You’ve Been Waiting For, a weird little record made for the express purpose of getting out of her contract. It’s still a good album! And this song is a wacky Oingo Bingo-y banger. LYRIC OF THE YEAR 2: “Woah-oh-oh-oh/No-oh-oh-oh/Pouring a bowl of Illuminati hot-o's.”

Jeff Rosenstock – “***BNB” It took me a minute, but once I released it was a song about a mother secretly renting out her adult daughter’s room as an AIRBNB, I was smitten. It eventually turns into an extremely Rosenstockian loud meditation on the difficulty/anxiety/sadness of travel which is good and kick ass.

Jessie Ware – “Remember Where You Are” It’s fucking annoying as shit that the year disco came back (see: Cat, Doja; Lipa, Dua; Genius, Perfume) that we were all stuck in our fucking houses with our fucking cat who is 85% sweet and 15% annoying and 100% smelly god I love her.

The Killers (ft. k.d. lang) – “Lightning Fields” This is probably not the best song on this album (gotta be “Caution”, right?), but it is the stupidest which probably makes it the most Killers-y track of the year. It was somewhere around uttering the question, “are we human/are we dancer” that the Nevada-based boys decided to start fucking around non-stop. This song carries on that proud tradition. The metaphors are incomprehensible, it sounds kinda like “Like a Prayer” at the end, and has a friggin’ great k.d. lang guest spot. It’s so fucking dumb.

Megan Thee Stallion (ft. Beyoncé) – “Savage Remix” This is basically a Beyoncé (just discovered Word will autocorrect Beyonce to Beyoncé. Good job, Bill Gates) song, and it’s wonderful! That part when she goes from whisper singing to full Beyoncé-voice singing at the three-minute mark? The best!

NOBRO – “Marianna” A perfect rock song. The last minute is the best minute of music in 2020 and it’s like, 40% of the song.

Origami Angel – “24 Hr Delivery/KD MVP” For whatever reason, this emo revival duo released an EP of songs using Minecraft samples. Ostensibly a remake of their 2019 twee-bullshit ode to making your sad friend feel better by taking them out to get fast food, the song segues into a completely baffling yet moving sound collage featuring sad piano, cheese guitar, and Kevin Durant’s tearful NBA MVP speech. I don’t claim to understand it, but the heart wants what it wants. A slam dunk!

Orville Peck – “Fancy” My wife won’t let me listen to this Reba McIntyre cover in the house because it makes her cry every time. We’ve learned a lot about each other this year.

Perfume Genius – “On the Floor” A sumptuous slinker. Plausibly the best song about dancing on your own since Robyn’s classic, “Dancing on My Own,” it’s an emotional powerhouse. Have I sang this song while crying in the shower? No. Would I? You bet! LYRIC OF THE YEAR 3: “I cross out his name on the page!”

Phoebe Bridgers – “Savior Complex (Copycat Killer Version),” “I Know the End” 2020 fucking sucked. I couldn’t go outside. I couldn’t see my pals. I got stuck in my loft for ten days with a COVID scare. My life shrank and it became too easy to doom scroll all the shitty news of mass death, the senseless murder of unarmed black people, riots, curfews, the fucking election, and then the chaser of a bunch of white supremacists trying to overturn a free and fair election because they can’t believe a majority of Americans are tired of being run by a big wet racist moron.

I’m not saying that Bridgers had anything to say this year about The World, but when I felt the worst I put on Punisher. It didn’t make me feel better, but it didn’t make me feel worse. It’s the sadgirl album for the sadgirl year. ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Punisher.

Rilo Kiley – “Teenage Lovesong” Rescued from the scrap heap of history, Rilo Kiley re-released their self-titled debut that was originally only available at their live shows. It’s a precocious record (there’s some, like, turntable scratching on one song???), but it’s astonishing how fully formed Jenny Lewis’s voice is even in 1999. That instrument is on display in this old fashioned twanger, where Lewis shows off the tone, clarity, and range.

Run the Jewels – “ooh la la” Listened to this song very loud in a rental Mustang driving from Joshua Tree to Vegas in January. It was cool.

Sturgill Simpson – “Just Let Go” Ol’ Sturg decided that 2020 was the year to become a bluegrass boy and you’ll hear no complainin’ from Ol’ Johnny. This reworking of his 2014 transcendental ode to the “universal shared consciousness,” becomes a good hearted bluegrass ditty brimming with existential joy.

#bestof2020

[juangallojongaro]

Best of 2019

Better Oblivion Community Center – “Dylan Thomas” This team up of old fave Oberst and new fave Bridgers highlights the strengths of both. Conor’s political fury matches well with Phoebe’s aching vulnerability. Favorite line of 2019: “They say you gotta fake it/At least until you make it/That ghost is just a kid in a sheet.”

Chris Farren – “Search 4 Me” A perfect pop rock confection from this lo-fi troubadour; should play over the opening credits of “National Lampoon’s Hipster Vacation.” Catchy, funny, the works.

Craig Finn – “Bathtub in the Kitchen” My wife lived in Wisconsin for two months this summer; I spent a lot of time alone in the dark playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and listening to Craig Finn’s solo work. Good for solitude in the loft; maybe not that healthy overall.

Future Teens – “Frequent Crier” A perfect rock song. SONG OF THE YEAR.

Hold Steady – “Blackout Sam” It is extremely embarrassing to have Conor Obrest, Craig Finn, and Hold Steady songs on this list. I am only growing older. I take every medication advertised on The Price is Right. This list is brought to you by Life Alert®.

Illuminati hotties – “I Wanna Keep Yr Dog” A delightful paean to breaking up with someone and trying to keep the ex-partner’s pet. This single is a frenetic fun house of propulsive rhythm sections, surf rock guitars, and lying.

Jenny Lewis – “Red Bull & Hennessy”

Jenny Lewis: “I'm about to get wicked/You got me lying on my back/Hallelu-/All will be forgiven/But why you gotta act like that?/Make me beg for you?” John Gallo: (turning red, tugs collar, voice a high whine) I don’t know about that!

(That said, Ryan Adams has a guitar solo on this song and fuuuuuuuuuuck him)

Lana del Rey – “Mariners Apartment Complex” This Antonoff produced noir-bomb is understated yet deeply dramatic. Referencing Cohen, Elton John, and herself, del Rey plays siren as chanteuse. Guitar distortion and echoing vocals crash wayward sailors on the rock-solid songwriting.

Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road” All the versions are good, but I like the one with Billy Ray, Young Thug, and that yodeling child the best. Along with Orville Peck and the Dolly Parton’s America podcast, X defined 2019 as the year country music recontextualized and queered. Also, this song slaps.

Lizzo – “Truth Hurts” She basically does O.D.B voice on the “You coulda had a bad bitch, non-committal” line. A highlight.

The National – “Kansas” Essentially this. 

NOBRO – “LALA” An extremely late add, this track makes the list on driving bratty energy. A statement of purpose and a harbinger of things to come.

Orville Peck – “Hope to Die” Best debut and best look and BEST ALBUM. This masked Canadian crooner melted my heart and comforted me as I cancelled Morrissey. Velvet vocals, moody production, lush, rural, sexy, secret. It’s a gimmick, but, what a gimmick it is.  

Spielbergs ­– “4AM” Another great pop-punk revival track—remarkable for pure momentum. No clue about what this song is about (not for lack of listening); a propulsive triumph.

Sturgill Simpson – “A Good Look” Everyone I know thinks the Sturgill Simpson Netflix anime is bad. They are wrong. It’s bonkers in the best way, and exemplified by this scuzz-disco banger. Country’s bad boy opens up his sound and teaches the post-apocalypse to dance. See unimpeachable lyric, “I got a SOCOM Scout, twenty extra mags/And a couple severed heads in my bug out bag.”  

Vampire Weekend – “Unbearably White” The album’s best song and most succinct criticism.

*edit* Billie Eilish  – “bad guy” I forgot to add this one. Sorry!!!

#bestof2019

[juangallojongaro]

Best of 2018

Anna Birch – “Belle Isle” What starts as a slide-guitar-country-crooner transitions into a rockabilly bridge before settling back into sentiment. A heartbreakingly earnest and beautiful love song about moving to a new place and meeting a new person. I saw Birch open for Speedy Ortiz last summer, watched a young couple slow dance to the song, and started crying a little bit. After Birch sang the closing lyric, beginning with “we danced to that song/twice in a row,” she was exhorted by Speedy Ortiz lead singer Sadie Dupuis to play the song again. She didn’t; I wish she had.

Big Red Machine – “Melt” I was introduced to this song because it was the theme song to a podcast about the disastrous 1996 U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (find that excellent pod here), and found the chanting rising “when you are who you are” sort of mesmerizing. The lyrics are obtuse (much like the entire project, a collab between Justin Vernon and one of the Dressners from the National where they dress like Mad Max Kanye [which, what the fuck]). It is a good time to hear Vernon scream “YOU KNOW IT’S A STRUGGLE, IT’S A KIND OF DEBACLE” like he’s Jim Ross calling a particularly exciting Attitude Era WWE match. A slobberknocker!

boygenius – “Me & My Dog” Politically, 2018 will go down as the Year of Woman as female candidates ran and won in historic numbers in the midterms. In a less historic achievement, it was the Year of the Woman in my best of list, where female fronted or involved projects carried 12 of 18 spots. 2018 was the year when the majority of the best rock records were made by women, and few put out better albums that the three headed monster supergroup, boygenius. “Me & My Dog” is the best track on their superlative self-titled LP. The first third starts with simple orchestration and Phoebe Bridgers’ voice followed by Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker swooning swelling harmonies until the song kicks into another gear in the middle before crescendoing higher and higher until the punchline and plaintive lyric “I wanna be emaciated.” The album version is great, but the live versions best capture the catharsis. boygenius is my favorite new band of the year.

Damien Jurado – “Percy Faith” Shouts to my dude Kit who made sure that I checked out this album, the first I’ve listened to from Mr. Jurado’s enormous discography. While I find the sheer size of that discography pretty intimidating, this song is approachable—a time traveling track about big band leaders, hostage situations, and being on your phone too much. Wry lyrics delivered with a straight face (see, “I am writing from Seattle/Where they now have put a trademark on the rain”) are the star of the show, but the soaring strings and noodling organ sustain multiple listens.

Father John Misty – “Date Night” It shambles, it Jaggers, it oozes confidence in both senses of the word. Ooze is correct, and I wouldn’t be shocked if FJM revealed the swirling synths were covered with cheap, greasy pomade. It’s the best song on great record that’s funny (“I’ll get you ice cream if you give me a card”) and propulsive enough to close a set. God’s Favorite Customer was a return to form after the solipsistic bloat of the second half of Pure Comedy. Here’s hoping he remains in poem zone going forward.

illuminati hotties – “(You’re Better) Than Ever” Too precious by half but catchy as hell, “(You’re Better) Than Ever” was the song that I listened to the most despite of my better judgment. It’s a straight forward rocker about an ex that’s doing better than you are. Problem is the song is delivered with a smile instead of a sneer, and the mean lyrics don’t match the sweet delivery. Still, the surf rock drums and harmonies are great. More importantly: illuminati hotties is the best new band name of the year.

Jeff Rosenstock – “Yr Throat” SEE BELOW

Lucy Dacus – “Night Shift” Without question, the SONG OF THE YEAR. One third of the boygenius titanic triumvirate, Dacus’s anthem starts in a diner with a two-timing ex and ends with a division of the city by time of day. Dacus knows that she isn’t necessarily being practical, but she’s emotionally unreasonable and raw. Quiet/loud that would leave Black Francis and Kim Deal taking notes, the last two minutes are sad and soaring, roaring and resigned.

Mitski – “Nobody” Mitski made the leap this year, basically the music business version of 2018 Brewers slugger Christian Yelich. Like Yelich, Mitski had flashed elite tools in prior years but never quite put it all together (somehow this is Mitski’s first official appearance on my list; honorable mention only in 2015). In 2018, things changed with the New York City songstress dropping Be the Cowboy, the audio equivalent of Yelich’s monstrous .326/.402/.598 (w/ 36 dingers and 22 bags!) 2018 line. Mitski took home album the year from a number of publications and Yelich was the National League MVP. “Nobody” is the basically Yelich’s mega-game from August 29 where he went 6 for 6 and hit for the cycle, helping the Brewers pull out a one run win over the Reds. A slinking disco home run, the song showed Mitski feels both seamless and like five different songs at once. Excellent delivery, danceable and delectable. I’m seeing her in April, right around Opening Day. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be the one leading the MVP chants.

Pusha T – “If You Know You Know” The best of Kanye’s bizarre 2018 productions (the less said about Mr. West at this point, the better), Push’s irresistible ode to (what else, literally what else?) having once dealt cocaine was so good it convinced me for about three weeks that Kanye was back. Also, apparently Pusha T beefed with Drake this year; I’m okay with that.

Robyn – “Ever Again” SEE BELOW

Shannon Shaw – “Freddies ‘n’ Teddies” A brassy wall of sound missive from Shaw, a big voiced Californian who, I just discovered, fronts an outfit called “Shannon and the Clams,” who also released an album in 2018. I’m concerned I should have picked a song by “Shannon and the Clams.” Alas, we’re not starting the new year with regret. “Freddies ‘n’ Teddies” is an excellent throwback jam. It’s a pearl.

Speedy Ortiz – “Lucky 88” Had a weird experience at the Speedy Ortiz show last summer—they went on at like 10:30 PM and played, like, my six favorite Speedy Ortiz songs in a row. At that point, I’d rode my bike to the show and realized a couple things: 1) it was a work night, and 2) I really didn’t want to hear any more of the songs. So, I left! Never done that before. Anyway, goes without saying that “Lucky 88” was one those songs. It’s very good of Speedy Ortiz to keep making Rilo Kiley records because I like Rilo Kiley! Tackling subject of gross dudes with interesting percussion and evocative and tongue-twisty lyrics lyrics (See, “Try and work in this town/without a silver spoon and foot in your mouth” and “One more time with reeling” and “I was born in the cold-clotted heart of the storm”) it’s a stand out track on a good record.

St. Vincent – “Fast Slow Disco” Technically a remix of the “Slow Disco” off of 2017 Album of the Year, MASSEDUCTION, the new version improves on the original in every way. On Twitter, Annie Clark wrote that she “always felt this song could wear many different outfits and live many different lives. here she is in disco pants, sweating on a new york dance floor.” Sweat and live it does, transformed from the original prayer to a fucking Pet Shop Boys song. It’s a banger, and continued proof that Clark is one of the best pop artists working.

Swearin’ – “Grow into a Ghost” There’s some Fleetwood Mac-y shenanigans going on with this band—basically, the two lead singers were dating and then broke up but then made this record. I don’t know; it’s not my business. This song is my business. With Allison Crutchfield leading the way with an excellent read on the lyrics, this pop punk potato chip isn’t particularly substance, but it is really good, crunchy, and with the right amount of salt.

Tranyanne and Danny – “O’Keeffe” There’s a swaying simplicity, putting you in mind of the Ben Folds Five at their most daydreamy with a dash of Broadway panache. Ostensibly about titular painter, it’s a duet that’s good for a slow dance with a dip or two.

U.S. Girls – “Incidental Boogie” You like art rock? U.S. Girls love art rock! It’s a feminist statement piece about (I think, I’m ready to be really wrong here) about domestic violence, BDSM, and empowerment that puts you in mind of The Knife’s masterpiece Silent Shout and maybe The Phantom Thread. It’s all over the place and I’m too thick to figure it out.

Young Gun Silver Fox – “Lenny” This 70’s cheese rock throwback is delicious trash. Essentially, it’s “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” if, 1981, someone commissioned Daryl Hall and Michael McDonald to write a yacht rock musical based on Frank Sinatra songs. I’m not saying this song is frozen pizza rolls—I’m saying it’s gourmet frozen pizza rolls that are filled with the finest heirloom tomato sauce, cured salumis, and aged cheeses. It’s stupid and it’s bad for you and I will eat a million of them.  

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR: Honey by Robyn and POST- by Jeff Rosenstock.

These are two very different albums. The lyrics are in English and no one, like, throat sings, but Rosenstock’s raw, claustrophobic punk and Robyn’s luscious electropop seem antithetical. Taken together, the two help me best explain what was like for me to be alive in 2018.

Dropped on New Year’s Day, POST- begins screaming, “Dumbfounded, downtrodden and dejected/Crestfallen, grief-stricken and exhausted/Trapped in my room while the house was burnin'/To the motherfuckin' ground.” Rosenstock captures just how fucking stressful it is to be living through the Trump Administration. The grift, the humanitarian horror, the callous and smirking racism, the grinding and clobbering indecency. He captures the paralysis and that feeling that it won’t get better, he won’t go way; “it’s not like any other job I know/If you’re a piece of shit they don’t let you go.”

There were so many times this year when I was struggling with something personal—anxiety, the stresses of my job, feeling mean or irritable and it would feel worse because President Diaper-Butt said something repugnant. The political stress and the personal stress fed each other.

On “Powerlessness”, Rosenstock sings “[s]o where can you go when the troubles inside you/Make your limbs feel like they're covered in lead?/How can you solve all the problems around you/When you can't even solve the ones in your head?” I struggled with this all year and basically defaulted to paralysis. Rostenstock put words to that ennui.

Rosenstock sang about feeling bad—Robyn sang about getting better. Her record starts in a similar place of psychic pain. It’s more mundane, a break up, but Robyn blows the heartbreak out into pop hits. On “Missing U,” she’s just as vulnerable and paralyzed as Rosenstock, “[c]an't make sense of all of the pieces/Of my own delusions/Can't take all these memories/Don't know how to use them.”

Over the course of the record, Robyn gets better. In interviews, she explained that she took the time to go through a couple years of psychotherapy (this is privilege; we all can’t take years off from work to sort out our shit—I can’t, Rosenstock certainly can’t) and emerges better—fully realized and in charge of herself. The two centerpieces of the second half of the album, the titular “Honey” and the finale, “Ever Again” are physical and optimistic. She put the work in and got better.

I tried to get better in 2019, as well. It was a mixed bag—lost a bunch of weight, gained it back. Bought a house and was driven half-crazy by the process. Got a promotion, lost some hard cases. But I really improved my mental health. I worked hard on being mindful and trying to feel better. I didn’t get all the way (unlike Roybn, I don’t feel like “I’m never gonna be brokenhearted ever again”), but I feel better than I did a year ago.

There’s going to be at least more years of the political degradation. I can’t control that. But both albums end on hopeful notes, expecting that things will get better. I don’t know if they will. But the emotion and message of these albums, make them the best of 2018.

#bestof2018

[juangallojongaro]

BEST OF 2017

Adult Mom - “Full Screen” A late add, but an impressive throwback jam. Kind of like a swingier Pavement track, with some impressive guitar noodling. Allegedly, the song is about a guy the lead singer dated who was really into porn. The takeaway is “sometimes we can’t choose who we love,” which is completely fine.

Alex Cameron (ft. Angel Olsen) - “Strangers Kiss (Duet with Angel Olsen)” Okay, yeah, so this guy. Initially turned on to the man by my bud Kit, Cameron takes the Killers schtick and turns it up to 11. The record itself is a weird one for 2017, as the “Alex Cameron” character being played on the record is an insecure misogynistic narcissist who spends a lot of time looking at internet porn. This trope is reliably funny, and Cameron throws some really droll lines in there.  Add Cameron’s synth washes and you have a cheese rock masterpiece. Sonically, one of my favorite records of the year, and it’s depressing that the whole album is unpredictably poignant. 

Alex Lahey - “I Haven’t Been Taking Care of Myself” An excellent break up jam from Australian power popper Lahey. The premise is simple: she’s going through a break up, and she’s not going well! One of my favorite lyrics: “Is there blood on my hand or is it just red wine?” We’ve all been there, Alex. 

Big Thief - “Mythological Beauty” Sad to say, but the biggest live disappointment of the year. The gauzey bedroom quality of the record doesn’t translate to the rock bar. It’s a shame, because I love this album and this track especially. Adrianne Lenker’s voice ranges from whisper to howl, and the hallucinatory and autobiographic lyrics render a beautifully unsettling picture.

Cardi B - “Bodak Yellow” The annual “This is the most popular song in America that John Gallo doesn’t find out about until six months later because he’s too busy listening to the same Steely Dan records over and over” song. I’m not adding anything to this conversation, so I’ll say this: This is song is audacious and funny and I like it a bunch.

Craig Finn - “God in Chicago” Less a song, more a short radio drama. Whatever it is, it’s very good. Finn came into his own on his newest record, and this song is emblematic. Humane, stark, and devastating. HONORABLE MENTION: The new Hold Steady song. A return to form!

Father John Misty - “Pure Comedy” Let’s talk about Father John Misty. His new record, while perfectly trolly and well marketed, was a disappointment. The first five tracks are excellent, but the car rolls off the road with the meandering and terrible “Leaving L.A.” and never regains momentum. But what a first five tracks! “Pure Comedy” is probably my favorite, where FJM casts himself an omniscient deity and lays out the entire history of human civilization. What could have just been Oberst-ian atheist dreck turns out smarter than it probably has a right to be. Delightfully pretentious.

Fever Ray - “To The Moon And Back” This is the record I regret not spending enough time with this year. This song is great, twitchy and driving. This song is about fucking. It’s not subtle. It’s so not subtle that the first time I listened to I actually blushed. Because it is the only song that caused me to have an actual physical reaction, let’s call it SONG OF THE YEAR.

Julien Baker - “Sour Breathe” Hoo boy, this is a sad one. Plot synopsis: terminally ill woman’s partner copes with said illness by developing a drinking problem. Key lyric: “You’re everything I want/And I’m all you dread.” Complicated and wrenching. 

Kendrick Lamar - “HUMBLE.” Kendrick right now is Mike Trout in 2013. 

LCD Soundsystem - “Emotional Haircut” Picking a track off this album was a toughy, but I went with “Emotional Haircut” because, I think, in ten years this will be a staple LCD jam. It’s most perfectly encompasses that LCD is an electronic rock band made up of insecure old people with a pretty good sense of humor (”the look of grave concern in your eyes and your surprise at my EMOTIONAL HAIRCUT”). Much has been written about whether 2017 was the year indie rock died, and I don’t presume to know. I know that I’m opting to go to NTL HOMECOMING this spring because Pitchfork has started booking more R&B and hip-hop acts, music I have a tougher time appreciating and following. To be clear, this is my fault. I’m losing my edge, get off my lawn, youth culture killed my dog.

The National - “Day I Die” Good segway: while handwringing about indie rock’s demise, every piece caveated, “All that talk about indie rock’s demise is true, but The National put out another good record this year.” The National only puts out good records. Looking back, every time they put out an album, it’s like, my second or third favorite album of the year. Are the National my favorite band? Shit, they might be. The National are the Adrian Beltre of bands.

The New Pornographers - “This Is The World Of The Theater” Pretty much this.

Run the Jewels - “Talk to Me” I think Jeff Rosenstock and Run the Jewels are the most vital political bands operating now (to me, at least). They’re the two sides of the same coin, both defiantly agitating for a more just country. That said, it feels like this Run the Jewels 3 came out a million years ago. The Trump presidency makes me feel anxious all the time. Here’s to hoping in 2018.

St. Vincent - “Los Ageless” This is my ALBUM OF THE YEAR. Sure, why not. Alternately sounding like, Depeche Mode, George Michael, New Order, Prince, and, uh, St. Vincent, Annie Clark’s latest is a shreddy sexy sex album that’s big, ambitious, and confident. Front to back, I love it.

The xx - “On Hold” My wife fell down and nearly broke her ankle after The xx show last May in Columbus, OH. This lingering injury eventually almost lead me to get in a fight with a guy during the LCD Soundsystem set at Pitchfork. I still had a really good time at both shows!

#bestof2017