30 Deep Grimeyy - "4530" (feat. Sada Baby)
Detroit continued to be the most exciting region for rap music in 2021, and consuming any song that has a Sada Baby feature verse has allowed me to interface with alot of the greatness the scene has to offer. 30 Deep Grimeyy has a fun verse and provides that great hook, but the track really reaches another gear when Sada Baby drops in to tear things up.
Ada Lea - "damn"
The folkier side of indie music is a playground I find myself in less and less, but this Ada Lea song is great. She's got this delivery in the verses where the words spill out on top of each other that I find captivating.
Alien Boy - "The Way I Feel"
Alien Boy perfectly mix the searing guitar tones of shoegaze with the bleeding heart of emo on "The Way I Feel," the excellent and nostalgic opener from Don't Know Who I Am.
Arm's Length - "Garamond"
Emo has a broader meaning than the one that exists in the minds of many people who grew up in the Fall Out Boy era, but Arm's Length kind of does sound like those bands that used to get played on The Fuse. Try not beating your chest and shouting along when the chorus of "Garamond" hits. You can't resist the urge!
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - "Stonefruit"
Armand Hammer don't make the most accessible rap music out there, but if you wanted to get somebody into their dense, coded world then "Stonefruit" might be a good place to start. Everybody on this song is operating at the top of their game, starting with The Alchemist's eerie, whirring beat, over which Elucid switches from woozy singing to sermon-like bars. But it's Billy Woods who takes it to another level in a verse laced with burning imagery. They all know how good the song is too, which is why they close Haram with it.
The Armed - "MASUNAGA VAPORS"
For the life of me, I could not get into the Turnstile record that everyone loved, which just sounded like radio butt rock to me. I fared better with the other crossover hardcore record of the year: The Armed's Ultrapop. "MASUNAGA VAPORS" pummels you into submission, throwing cacophonous guitars and drums at you until you have no choice but to headbang along.
Asian Glow - "Circumstances tell me who i am"
I know very little about Asian Glow. I think they're a Japanese band? All I know is I heard them on that 5th wave emo playlist that was going around earlier this year and I loved this almost eight-minute odyssey, which starts off with gnarled acoustic guitars and only gets more explorative and noisy from there.
AZ - "The Ritual" (feat. Conway the Machine & Lil Wayne)
Though he did not release a full-length solo album this year, the best rapper of 2021 was Lil Wayne, hands down. This won't be the last of his features you will see on this list. AZ is good for somebody you forgot existed and Conway is great on this track. But Lil Wayne just blacks out and stamps this song as a classic.
Baby Keem - "family ties" (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Baby Keem is a great example of life being about who you know, because he merely delivers a watered down version of what his cousin Kendrick Lamar does, but gets tons of exposure anyway. He's not even bad, and he does a serviceable job on "family ties," but then Kendrick Lamar shows up and makes you question why you even put up with his little cousin. When this song first dropped, I laughed at Kendrick's antics. The Relapse-era Eminem voices, the parts where his flow sounds like Lil Dicky, the section where he ends his lines with a Hulk Hogan-esque "brother"...it felt so stupid to me. But now I feel like I can't live without it. All I have to hear is "I am the omega / pgLang, Rollie gang, SIE, don't you address me unless it's with four letters" and I get hyped.
BabyTron - "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" (feat. Since99)
BabyTron got together with Since99 and they went back and forth over the theme music to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. What more do you want me to say?
Bad Bad Hats - "Awkward Phase"
Before this year, I hadn't been aware of Bad Bad Hats, and Walkman quickly made me realized that I had been missing out. Over 10 songs and 31 minutes, the band alternates between ripping power-pop bangers and delicate songs that breeze along effortlessly. I could've chosen the zippy "Detroit Basketball" as my pick, or maybe "Quarter Past," which is so lovely and yearning. But really it's "Awkward Phase" that best exemplifies what this band is capable of when they're on full tilt. That hook is bone-crunching.
Barely March - "2002 (2009)"
So many ideas are stuffed into Barely March's America, Online EP that you might get overwhelmed by its mad genius approach. "2002 (2009)" is that anything goes philosophy in microcosm. Power pop doesn't get much better than this steroidal blast of supercharged hooks, crunchy guitars and swooning background vocals.
Bartees Strange - "Weights"
I liked Live Forever, the debut album from Bartees Strange last year, but it's only gotten better with time. This bonus track from the new deluxe edition has that same bombastic, hard-changing energy that energized the best songs from the original album. On top of that, Strange has some of the best pipes in all of indie rock.
Beach Bunny - "Blame Game"
Sometimes it can feel like the songs on Beach Bunny's Blame Game are feminism for babies, but it's less grating when I remember that their audience skews much younger than I am, and also that the songs are really catchy and fun. The title track, which is an angsty take on the concept of women getting blamed for men being unable to control themselves, isn't breaking any new ground on gender relations, but it hardly matters when the hooks are so good.
Bfb da Packman - "Bob and Weave" (feat. Zack Fox)
Bfb da Packman and Zack Fox -- two of the best at doing funny raps without necessarily being joke rap -- try to outdo each other with the most outlandish bars on "Bob and Weave." Here's Packman: "If Lizzo sold her coochie juice, I wanna buy a swiggle." And Zack Fox: "Do him like Joe Jackson, beat the right notes out him." The winner is the listener.
Big Jade - "Dem Girlz" (feat. Erica Banks)
All these years later and David Banner's "Like A Pimp" still goes hard, which Big Jade reaffirms by interpolating and sampling it on this banger. And on the song after this on her album, she samples "Dreams" by The Game. The mid-2000s are back!
Big Red Machine - "Renegade" (feat. Taylor Swift)
"Renegade" sounds like it would have fit nicely on folklore or evermore, which means it's incredible. Dessner and Swift are both in their bag here, with the former delivering one of his signature wiggling guitar lines and the latter wrapping herself around an incredible melody. This second verse is just vintage: "I tapped on your window on your darkest night / The shape of you was jagged and weak / There was nowhere for me to stay, but I stayed anyway / You fire off missiles ’cause you hate yourself / But do you know you're demolishing me? / And then you squeeze my hand as I'm about to leave."
Billie Eilish - "my future"
I thought Billie Eilish's sophomore album was such a snoozefest when it came out, but as I became accustomed to its textures I arrived at the opinion that it's pretty solid. Even as I've been mixed on her music overall, I've always thought she has a lovely tone to her singing voice, and "my future" shows that off with her jazzy phrasings. It's a beautiful song that enlivens a sometimes too sleepy album.
Brockhampton - "CHAIN ON" (feat. JPEGMAFIA)
While it may feel like the Brockhampton craze has come and gone a little bit, they're still making wonderful music. There's lots of great stuff to choose from on their most recent album, but the highlight is by far "CHAIN ON." It's one of their most straightforward songs, just a scorching guest verse from JPEGMAFIA and then Dom McLennon (the group's best rapper) ably keeping pace, but its traditional nature doesn't preclude it from hitting hard.
Cakes Da Killa - "What's the Word"
Cakes Da Killa's brand of blending rap and the kind of house music that gets played in gay clubs feels so exciting that it's a wonder why more people aren't doing it. Maybe it's because not everybody can glide over these beats like he does.
Camp Trash - "Bobby"
If you follow the emo/DIY space on Twitter, you might have been familiar with the running jokes about Camp Trash not being a real band because they had yet to put out any music. Well Camp Trash are real and they're spectacular. Their debut EP Downtiming is 11 minutes of catchy perfection, and any one of the four songs could make this list. Ultimately, I went with "Bobby," which has a wistful undercurrent that gives the hooks an even bigger punch.
CARM - "Song of Trouble" (feat. Sufjan Stevens)
As someone who longs to hear Sufjan Stevens return to making music that sounds like Michigan and Illinois, this song is some real nectar of the gods stuff.
Charmer - "Diamond (Sprinkler)"
Midwest emo band Charmer released a split with Gulfer, and their contribution was the great "Diamond (Sprinkler)," which features an abundance of the band's tangled, math rock guitars. This is just a nice slice of straightforward guitar rock.
chloe moriondo - "I Eat Boys"
YouTuber Chloe Moriondo's album Blood Bunny is pretty uneven, but there are a handful of unimpeachable pop gems on it. Out of those, I'll highlight "I Eat Boys," which was the first song of theirs I heard and I've been taken by its biting charm ever since.
Clairo - "Amoeba"
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little let down by Clairo's pivot to 70s Laurel Canyon folk-pop after loving her debut album, but there's still some beautiful material on Sling, especially the bouncy, keyboard-driven "Amoeba."
Conway the Machine - "Scatter Brain" (feat. JID & Ludacris)
Griselda's best member locks in with two rappers who have some of the joyous cadences to listen to and it naturally results in a track full of fun verbal acrobatics. We need a new JID album ASAP.
Courtney Barnett - "Rae Street"
People in music discussion circles seem to have abandoned Courtney Barnett pretty hard, and while I'd agree that she's not making music as exciting as A Sea of Split Peas and Sometimes I Sit..., with her last two albums she's settled into a level right below greatness that suits her lackadaisical nature. Things Take Time, Take Time is a lovely album of easygoing musings that have a touch of sadness. She does it best on lead single and album opener "Rae Street," which is heartening and aching all at once thanks to Barnett's inimitable vocal delivery.
Dave - "Heart Attack"
Some people have dubbed Dave "The British Kendrick Lamar," and while I'm not ready to go that far, this searing 9-minute song feels like his "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst." Just awe-inspiring rapping from start to finish.
dltzk - "your clothes"
It's only been a few weeks since I heard of the hot new genre digicore and had my face blasted off by dltzk's debut album Frailty. "your clothes" feels like an unholy concoction that mixes chiptune, emo, and hyperpop. It may take a few listens to get acclimated, but this is excellent, exciting music.
Drake - "TSU"
This feels like a minority opinion, but if you can get through all 10 hours of it, Certified Lover Boy is actually one of Drake's better albums. He may not be pushing any boundaries, but never has retreating to one's comfort zone sounded so enjoyable. "TSU" is the song I go back to the most because it makes me laugh ("Her daddy is not around, her momma is definitely not around") and it's buttery smooth even before it taps into another register on the outro.
Ducks Ltd. - "Old Times"
Originality is overrated. Sometimes I just want to hear some good old jangle rock that sounds comforting and familiar.
Esther Rose - "Songs Remain"
Sometimes the simplest songs hit the hardest, and Esther Rose's lovely Joni Mitchell-esque acoustic lilt definitely proves that theory.
Fiddlehead - "Million Times"
Fiddlehead were new to me when their album Between the Richness started making the waves around DIY Twitter, but I really liked "Million Times" when I finally checked them out. It's straightforward, no-frills emotional hardcore, the kind of thing you'd hear on a mid-2000s Madden soundtrack and become obsessed with after hearing it over and over while scrambling with Michael Vick.
Foyer Red - "Blood"
I knew Foyer Red were a Brooklyn band before I even looked it up. Something about their blending of breezy indie pop and eccentric, yelpy phrasing screams Brooklyn hipster. That may sound like a diss, but hearing "Blood Baby" instantly makes me nostalgic for a time when bands like this were constantly propped up by Pitchfork.
Future Teens - "Separated Anxiety"
In an increasingly crowded landscape, Future Teens stand out from other emo bands by adding a little bit of twang to their sound. The songs they create have a soothing effect to them, and their Deliberately Alive EP is their cleanest work yet, which only maximizes the coziness of tunes like "Separated Anxiety."
G Herbo - "Really Like That"
You can always count on G Herbo to sound hard on a song, but that's amplified tenfold over this Tay Keith beat. "I just cashed out / My lil shooter with me, he like 20, he gon' crash out." Hell yeah, let's go.
A Great Big Pile of Leaves - "Swimmer"
It's always been kind of weird that A Great Big Pile of Leaves are considered an emo band, as they sound more like a less ornate Jens Lekman than anything that was coming out of the scene in the 2010s. "Swimmer" is a lovely little autumnal jam, with a driving drum pattern and that slightly reverbed guitar sound that makes them so distinct.
Grouper - "Kelso (Blue sky)"
Now is the time for me to come clean: Before this year, I had never listened to Grouper. She's always lumped in with artists like Tim Hecker whom I've spent the last decade-plus ignoring because it's not really my thing, so I assumed she made some form of electronic music. It doesn't help that she gets labelled as "ambient" music either. All of this created circumstances that caused me to have one idea about her music that, judging from Shade and the bits of her other albums I've now listened to, just isn't true. Her songs, while hushed and sparse, are way more organic than I was led to believe. Much of Shade is led by acoustic guitar fingerpicking and light strumming, and what do you know, it's absolutely beautiful. So if you're like me and have been avoiding Grouper because you think you know what it sounds like, throw on "Kelso (Blue sky)" and prepare to be blown away for six minutes.
Gulfer - "Look"
I mentioned the Charmer song on their split with Gulfer earlier on this list, but the Gulfer half is just as good, if not better. "Look" centers around a mathy guitar riff with a drum beat that matches it, then the song continues to build up and break down that central musical idea. Which is just an intellectual way of saying this song rocks.
Haim - "Gasoline" (feat. Taylor Swift)
These four ladies went crazy on this one.
Halsey - "You asked for this"
A part of me hates how much I love the new Halsey album, which was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, because it reminds me of people who felt like the time for them to start paying attention to Taylor Swift was once she started working with Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver. But If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is just wonderful, and is way different from what you'd expect Halsey working with the Nine Inch Nails guys to sound like. Take "You asked for this," which is basically a shoegaze song, and a banger of one at that.
hey, ily! - "DigitalLung.exe"
"DigitalLung.exe" cycles through so many genres in three minutes. Toggling between pop punk, chiptune music, screamo, and easy listening shouldn't work, but somehow it all does. It's the kind of song that needs to be heard to be believed.
The Hold Steady - "Unpleasant Breakfast"
It's so nice that The Hold Steady are still doing their thing and doing it well. Not only is Open Door Policy a great album, it also finds them adding new tricks to their bag. Such is the case with "Unpleasant Breakfast," which feels like a perfect mixture between classic Craig Finn lyricism and a newer sense of looseness. Over a fiesta of horns and "woo"s, Finn crafts a wistful song reminiscing on a former love. It builds in melancholy as it goes on, giving us gorgeous lines like "All the burns on the windowsill / Says she's crazy 'bout horses still / All these anti-psychosis pills / So much power and grace." I always get a little choked up by the time I reach the end of the song.
Hot Mulligan - "Featuring Mark Hoppus"
With a song title as good as "Featuring Mark Hoppus," you'd think that the track itself wouldn't live up to it, but this would make the Blink-182 bassist proud. I love the way the lead singer's voice kind of shreds on certain words in the "I kind of miss you" line.
IAN SWEET - "Show Me How You Disappear"
IAN SWEET are never going to make an album like Shapeshifter, which means so much to me, again, but I can always count on their newer albums to have one or two songs that knock me flat. "Show Me How You Disappear" is that song. ("Power" is the other one.)
illuminati hotties - "Pool Hopping"
I tried my best to pick a different illuminati hotties song than "Pool Hopping," which people tend to hype to the detriment of the many other fantastic songs on Let Me Do One More. However, my best wasn't good enough. "Pool Hopping" is too much of a ripper to not shout out.
Isaiah Rashad - "True Story" (feat. Jay Rock & Jay Worthy)
Every time some conversation about the rap album of the year would pop up on Twitter, dozens of people would shout out The House is Burning and I'd repeatedly have to ask myself "who's album is that again?" That's probably not a good sign, but that doesn't stop "True Story" from being one of my favorite 2021 rap songs. Its beat sounds like something Outkast would rap over, and all three rappers ride that smooth bassline with aplomb. Jay Rock -- a rapper whose solo work never impresses me but always saves his best heat for guest verses -- steals the show here with the way he says "You don't hit harder than me, you soft as some baby shit."
Jail Socks - "Spinning"
A monstrous, circular saw guitar riff is the first thing you hear on "Spinning," and it's the thing that carries the song along, grabbing you by the collar and yanking you along with it. Thank god live shows are slowly coming back, because people need to shout along to this one. (Foolishly written right before Omicron started rearing its head)
Japanese Breakfast - "Slide Tackle"
You probably don't need to be told at this point that the Japanese Breakfast record is good. It's pretty much a staple on every top 10 list that's been dropping. And while it's not going to be on my main list, Jubilee is a rock solid collection of big tent indie music. My favorite tune of the bunch is "Slide Tackle," a surprisingly danceable track for Michelle Zauner, with a wriggling bassline and horns that burst through toward the end. It always sounds so vibrant whenever I listen to it.
Jasiah - "Art of War" (feat. Denzel Curry & Rico Nasty)
"Art of War" starts off with Denzel Curry shouting "Yo this the type of shit to make you curb stomp a newborn baby" and the intensity never lets up from there, assaulting you with three minutes of rambunctious mosh pit rap.
Jessie Ware - "Please"
Apparently it wasn't enough for Jessie Ware to give us 12 dance pop bangers last year on What's Your Pleasure?, because she dropped seven more on the deluxe version this year. It's crazy that "Please" didn't end up on the proper album. It's pitch perfect disco nostalgia that'll shoot straight to your nervous system and get you dancing.
Julien Baker - "Heatwave"
Some people feel like Julien Baker's transition to a more beefed up sound on Little Oblivions took away from the intensity of her music, but I've always had a hard time with the sparse nature of her previous work, so I love the resplendent nature of a song like "Heatwave."
Kacey Musgraves - "camera roll"
star-crossed was my number one disappointment of the year. It's not a bad album, and after repeated listens I've come to not think it was the disaster I first thought it was, but it's definitely disheartening to see a songwriter known for wit and specificity succumb to the corny cliches she often does on the album. One of the few songs on the record that stands with her best work is "camera roll," her sharpest song about divorce on an album all about it. Here she finds heartbreak in the mundane, rendering the act of looking through old photos on your phone with a devastating poignancy. "Chronological order ain't nothing but torture" is the kind of elegant writing she used to accomplish with ease before.
Katy Kirby - "Juniper"
There was so much music to check out this year that I never got a chance to spend alot of time with Katy Kirby's Cool Dry Place, despite really loving "Juniper." Over a soft, lovely melody and some rootsy instrumentation, she delivers a clever flower conceit to describe a lover. It feels familiar and fresh all at once.
Kero Kero Bonito - "Well Rested"
Well I, for one, did not know that KKB had this seven minute proggy dance odyssey in them but I wouldn't be mad at hearing more of this from them.
Lana Del Rey - "Sweet Carolina"
This year Lana Del Rey put out two very good albums that didn't get much shine just because they weren't Norman Fucking Rockwell. I fear she'll always be in the shadow of that record now, which is a shame because Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Bannisters have lots of beauty to offer. Blue Bannisters album closer "Sweet Carolina" is just one example of that beauty, genuinely sounding like some of the lullabies on Joanna Newsom's Have One on Me.
Lightning Bug - "The Right Thing Is Hard To Do"
"The Right Thing Is Hard To Do" has an ethereal beauty to it, sounding like the musical equivalent of laying in a field while staring at the sunset.
Lil Yachty - "SB5" (feat. Sada Baby)
Lil Yachty's embracing of the Michigan rap scene is endearing and doesn't feel like he's cravenly riding the latest craze. "SB5" is great low-stakes music, with Yachty and Sada Baby trading bars over a menacing minor key beat.
Lucy Dacus - "Triple Dog Dare"
Home Video isn't quite top 20 worthy because I can't get over the tweet I saw that (astutely and correctly) said that the album reads like a NaNoWriMo novel, but nobody is better than her at doing towering storytelling songs that crest six minutes. "Triple Dog Dare," the nearly eight minute tale of two closeted friends, is another one of those, and its slow-building emotion is almost unbearable. By the time it gets to the line that says the song's title, I'm always a puddle.
Maxo Kream - "GREENER KNOTS"
This is a hot take, but Maxo Kream's flow annoys me to the point where I can't enjoy a full album of his, but he's great in small doses. And the Southern bounce of this beat is the perfect vehicle for him to cut loose.
Meet Me @ the Altar - "Never Gonna Change"
I've gone back and forth and back again on the Model Citizen EP since it came out. At first, I thought it was an awesome fill-in for the Paramore-shaped hole in my heart, but then I slowly started to feel like Meet Me @ the Altar was a hollow facsimile of the pop punk that was popular when I was in middle school. Now I've come back to fully embracing that it rules. Just listen to a song like "Never Gonna Change," with its spiky riffs and pummeling drums, and tell me that it doesn't.
Nardo Wick - "Who Want Smoke?? (Remix)" (feat. Lil Durk, 21 Savage & G Herbo)
Three of the hottest street rappers hopped on "Who Want Smoke??" and elevated to even bigger hit status, but there's something about the weirdness of Nardo Wick's clenched jaw delivery that's still the main draw here.
Nervous Dater - "Violent Haiku"
After all these years, a 90s-aping fuzz rock song still gets my juices going. This makes me long for a new Swearin' album.
Nicki Minaj - "Seeing Green" (feat. Lil Wayne & Drake)
Nicki Minaj's Beam Me Up Scotty finally hit streaming services earlier this year, and she celebrated by adding "Seeing Green," a new song that sees her teaming up with her old YMCMB pals. They sound great together as always -- Nicki Minaj does her usual tough talk about how people are her sons and Drake drops some hilarious self-aggrandizing about how he "played 48 minutes on a torn meniscus"(????) But of course, it's Lil Wayne who lights the track on fire as he did time and time again this year. "The cash blue, but I'm still seein' green / I'm in the bathroom, and I'm peein' lean / My bitch a vacuum / I told her, "Keep me clean," the scene serene / I'm a badonkadonk and bikini fiend." Straight blackout mode.
Olivia Rodrigo - "deja vu"
Overexposure has a habit of making you sick of just about any song, even great ones. Heck, that even happened with Olivia Rodrigo's other hit song, "drivers license." But somehow that still hasn't happened with "deja vu." Any time I listen to it on my own or hear it in passing on the radio, I always think to myself "God, this song is incredible." It may even be the best song of the year? The melody, the melancholy, the Lorde-esque whispery double tracked vocals that come in when she says "So when you gonna tell her that we did that too?," it's all just perfect. Rodrigo is the real deal.
Pa Salieu - "Glidin'" (feat. slowthai)
It's too bad that being packed in clubs was not a good idea in 2021, because this song would probably go off in that setting.
Papoose - "Thought I Was Gonna Stop" (feat. Lil Wayne)
Yes, in the year of our lord 2021, I listened to a Papoose song. I made it my mission to listen to any song with a Lil Wayne verse this year, and I was surprised by how much this one slaps, and not just because of Weezy.
Parquet Courts - "Homo Sapien"
Parquet Courts went the Talking Heads route for Sympathy For Life, employing more spacey, abstract grooves than usual. The results were great, but sometimes I found myself missing when they would just let it rip. Luckily, there's "Homo Sapien" to satiate my desires towards the end of the album. Led by a brawny riff and feral vocals -- I love the way the line "The primal desire to fuck" get punctuated with the drum beat -- this track proves that the band still knows how to rock when they want to.
Pet Fox - "Imagine Why"
"Imagine Why" starts so unassuming in its first verse: a little twinkly guitar line and needling bassline keep a low-simmering tension. But then the song completely opens up and explodes with the chorus, a rush of hard downstrokes and belted vocals. This song never fails to get the blood pumping.
PinkPantheress - "All my friends know"
I'm officially an old man now, and there's a whole world of artists breaking through on TikTok that I have little awareness of. All of a sudden I'll hear about an artist for the first time and check their Spotify, only to find out they have five million monthly listeners. Usually, when I listen to the music it's a giant "not for me." PinkPantheress is a big exception, because I think to hell with it is the real deal, a 18-minute carousel of sample-heavy drum n' bass beats mixed with a delicate, bedroom sensibility. "All my friends know" is a bit of a curveball in that context. Arriving towards the end of the album, it drops the driving breakbeats in favor of simple, gorgeous R&B. She's more than just a gimmick artist.
Polo G - "GNF (OKOKOK)"
To be honest, I really have no idea why Polo G mostly sticks to his melodic sing-song flow because all of his best songs are just him going hard and tearing into the track.
Pom Pom Squad - "Head Cheerleader"
Death of a Cheerleader could have used more songs like "Head Cheerleader," a buzzing nostalgia rave-up with a chorus that'll carve its way into your brain and never remove itself.
Pony - "WebMD"
TV Baby, the debut album from Pony, is mostly about being lonely and watching TV all the time, so you can see how that would appeal to me. You can expect all the songs to be in the vein of "WebMD," crunchy bubblegrunge (to use a ridiculous term Spotify made up) that will scratch that Charly Bliss itch until they release something new.
pronoun - "SOUND THE ALARMS!!!1!"
Pronoun has a habit of making songs that sound bigger and more pristine than what their budget is. Even on a transitional project such as this year's OMG I MADE IT EP, a song like "SOUND THE ALARMS!!!1!" sounds huge thanks to its widescreen production and gleaming hook writing.
Really From - "Yellow Fever"
The self-titled album Really From put out this year was among the most unique records I heard in 2021. A heady mix of jazz, math rock, and emo that always kept me on my toes, and it peaks with "Yellow Fever," a horn-heavy lope that finds lead singer Michi Tassey wrestling with her Asian identity.
Ritt Momney - "Set the Table" (feat. Claud)
Here's where I have to shout out The Alternative's weekly playlist, which puts me on to lots of great music that I otherwise wouldn't have heard of. This is one of them. I still couldn't tell you anything about Ritt Momney aside from the fact that they have over four million monthly listeners on Spotify, so they probably got big on TikTok. But what I can tell you without a doubt is that "Set the Table" is one of the catchiest songs of the year. Those driving downstroked guitars mixed with the processed vocals under them are undeniable.
serpentwithfeet - "Same Size Shoe"
"Me and my boo wear the same size shoe," serpentwithfeet joyfully sings multiple times during the chorus. The beauty and absurdity of that sentiment always gets me.
Sharon Van Etten - "On Your Way Now"
PBS aired a documentary called Made in Boise about surrogate mothers and this song, written by Mark McAdam and performed by Sharon Van Etten, was released as a part of that. Given those circumstances, you would think this is a minor song. On the contrary, it's gorgeous and devastating, and would be one of Van Etten's best songs if you could consider it that. The pre-chorus into chorus transition of "And I don't mind at all...well okay just a little bit" is a perfect encapsulation of the complicated emotions involved in surrogacy.
Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen - "Like I Used To"
I try to limit these lists to one song per artist, but 1. The ownership of this one feels like a pure 50/50 split, and 2. It's way too massive of a tune to leave off of this list. Imagine the most anthemic Bruce Springsteen song but delivered by two of indie rock's most stirring vocalists. Sound enticing? Well that's "Like I Used To" for you.
I try to limit these lists to one song per artist, but 1. The ownership of this one feels like a pure 50/50 split, and 2. It's way too massive of a tune to leave off of this list. Imagine the most anthemic Bruce Springsteen song but delivered by two of indie rock's most stirring vocalists. Sound enticing? Well that's "Like I Used To" for you.
slowthai - "CANCELLED" (feat. Skepta)
The best song of the year that references Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Soccer Mommy - "rom com 2004"
In lieu of a new album, Soccer Mommy dropped a few loosies on us this year, including "rom com 2004," which sounds like the end credits music to a romantic film run through a washing machine. I don't know that I'd want a whole record of this, but as a one-off it's a real delight.
Squid - "Boy Racers"
I had a love-hate relationship with the big British post-punk records of 2021. The Dry Cleaning album unlocked the secrets of the universe, but you couldn't pay me to listen to the interminable albums by black midi and Black Country, New Road again. I'm more in the middle on Squid -- Bright Green Field doesn't work for me as a whole, but there are some thrilling moments on it. My favorite song is "Boy Racers," which sounds like a more jittery LCD Soundsystem song that then ends with a section that resembles the THX deep note.
St. Vincent - "Down"
Boy, that St. Vincent record from this year sure was bad, huh? A real miscalculation in terms of tone, style, narrative, everything. With that being said, "Down," which offers the most full-throated embrace of 70s sleaze funk, is a total winner.
The Staves - "Next Year, Next Time"
There's nothing better than a good harmony, and band of sisters The Staves are chock full of them. "Next Year, Next Time" is top tier NPR-core, stacking the trio's gorgeous vocals on top of each other until they completely envelope you.
Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - "It's Your Own Body and Mind"
As opposed to last year's major work The Ascension, the album Sufjan Stevens put out with his protégé Angelo De Augustine this year was a more minor affair. My main complaint is that there weren't enough songs where Sufjan Stevens took the sole lead vocal, which is why the gorgeous and fragile "It's Your Own Body and Mind" was such a standout.
(T-T)b - "Look At All the Shit on My Dresser"
Pure chiptune music often gives me a headache after a while. It's all just glitchy video game sounds that becomes a little too much if there's nothing to tether itself to. That's why I love chiptune sounds with a rock music base, like what (T-T)b does. Their Suporma EP is the kind of thing I wish there was more of. "Look At All the Shit on My Dresser" lays out a slacker rock anthem over a bed of 16-bit layers and it sounds like magic.
Taylor Swift - "Bye Bye Baby"
When it comes to the rerecorded versions of Fearless and Red, my stance is that I'm happy for Taylor Swift for trying to reclaim ownership of these songs, but I have every detail of the original versions committed to memory, so anything different just doesn't sound right to me. I'm also appalled that publications are putting these albums on their 2021 list. With all of that being said, these Taylor's Version albums are worth it for giving us never released songs from the vault. Every single one of them is good, so it's hard to choose just one, but I'll go with "Bye Bye Baby." (I think the Red vault tracks might be better than the Fearless ones, but I've spent less time with them.) You usually know pretty quickly when you're in good hands with a Taylor Swift song. And when she starts with "It wasn't just like a movie / The rain didn't soak through my clothes, down to my skin" I immediately know I'm about to hear a banger. Swifties are probably upset with me for not choosing the 10-minute version of "All Too Well," but you can't improve on perfection (the original version of "All Too Well"). Sorry!
Tigers Jaw - "Lemon Mouth"
While all of I Won't Care How You Remember Me is terrific, I vastly prefer the songs where Brianna Collins sings over the ones where Ben Walsh takes the lead. "Lemon Mouth" shows her knack for effortless pop-punk hooks.
Tinashe - "Bouncin"
"Boucin" is the sound of freedom. With label woes fully in the rearview, Tinashe's been making the music she wants to make, and the futuristic sheen of this song makes you mourn all the time she lost.
UV-TV - "Back to Nowhere"
Gainesville band UV-TV has been around for a few years now, but this year's Always Something was my introduction to them. Lead single "Back to Nowhere" is a faded polaroid of a song, capturing that Breeders style of alt-rock exquisitely.
Vic Mensa - "Shelter" (feat. Wyclef Jean & Chance the Rapper)
There's nothing likely to induce more groans than seeing a new Vic Mensa song featuring Wyclef and Chance the Rapper, but this song is great regardless. It's just three socially conscious cornballs spitting introspective pandemic bars. Chance the Rapper shows that he's still a terrific feature rapper, opening his verse with this evocative couplet: "There's a hundred bags under the underpass / Rumbling stomachs, cups jingle when Hummers pass."
Vince Staples - "LIL FADE"
As much as it pains me to say this about a Vince Staples & Kenny Beats album, Vince Staples was a bit of a minor outing. There were still great songs, like "LIL FADE," which finds Staples firmly in the pocket of the laid-back groove Kenny Beats lays down.
Waxahatchee - "Fruits of My Labor"
Katie Crutchfield literalized her fandom of Lucinda Williams this year with a lovely cover of "Fruits of My Labor." That twang in her voice is more striking than ever here. She's always been a great cover artist (see also: her covers of Jessica Simpson's "With You" and Elliott Smith's "Angeles"), but this is undoubtedly her best one yet.
Weakened Friends - "25th"
This Weakened Friends album was a last minute squeeze-in and I'm glad I listened to it, because I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on "25th," a moving song of regret about a friend who passed away. It's unclear whether the death was from suicide or addiction, but the wailed chorus of "I wish I could crawl inside you and fix the things you don't like about you" over a wall of guitar squall wisely evokes the messy confusion and bargaining that grief brings.
The Weather Station - "Loss"
Ignorance is probably the critical darling that resonated with me the least this year. It sounds pretty good, but there's not much variation in what it's delivering. If you've heard one song, you've heard them all. To save yourself some time, make that one song "Loss," which feels like the best possible version the one sound The Weather Station is trying to capture on the rest of the album.
Westside Gunn - "Westheimer" (feat. Steve God Cooks, Boldy James & Sauce Walka)
Don't take this as an indictment of Westside Gunn that I picked a song from Hitler Wears Hermes 8 in which he doesn't even appear. It's just that "Westheimer" is spectacular. You expect Steve God Cooks and Boldy James to fit well on this slow, mournful beat but Sauce Walka brings things to a close by surprisingly sounding at home on something Frank Sinatra would sing over.
Wild Pink - "Amalfi"
While I'm not quite as enraptured by Wild Pink as a section of the internet is, their expansive heartland rock hits the spot when you're looking for something to vibe out to. There's an airy synth line that carries "Amalfi" as it ambles along, not really in any hurry but nestling itself around you anyway.
Young Nudy - "Trap Shit" (feat. Future)
After listening to Rich Shooter straight through one time, I decided it's another pretty good outing from a reliably fun rapper. But the only songs I've returned to are the five with Pi'erre Bourne beats. Nudy might be the best fit for Bourne's crazy, candy-coated video game melodies, and "Keep It In the Street," "Old School," "Green Bean," and "Money To Spend" are all worth listening to. "Trap Shit" is the cream of the crop though. It feels like there are three different melodies fighting for attention in this beat.
Young Thug - "Rich Nigga Shit" (feat. Juice WRLD)
Punk is an album that's not even close to being peak Thugger, but like Young Nudy, you can always count on him to go in over a Pi'erre Bourne beat.
Zack Fox - "fafo"
Somebody in the Stereogum comments perfectly described Zack Fox's album as sounding like something Mishka would have put out in the early 2010s. If that was your vibe back then, you'll definitely like "fafo," which is funny and slaps.
If you want to listen to all of these songs in one place, they can be found in the Spotify playlist below.
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