1.
Sunflower Bean
Twentytwo in Blue
Mom + Pop Music / March 23
Standout Songs: “I Was A Fool”, “Twentytwo”, “Crisis Fest”, “Memoria”, “Burn It”
This album was both excellent beginning to end as well as a stark improvement over their previous record (which I also enjoyed). Sunflower Bean perfectly encapsulated a vintage rock sound while also sounding modern. Another indication of how good the album is — it’s way bigger in the UK than in their own country, the US. The Strokes were on the cover of NME after putting out a three-song EP while still growing in the States, twice before Spin wrote a couple hundred words about them for the first time in late 2001.
Singer-guitarist Julia Cumming can both snarl and get sentimental with the best of them. “Twentytwo” sounds like a Jenny Lewis cut. “Crisis Fest” and “Burn It” are the kind of punk anthems and rallying cries our youth needs considering the shithole the world seems like sometimes. The way Cumming sings “The past is the past for a reason” on “Memoria” gives me goosebumps every time. I’ve heard their new EP that drops Jan. 25 and can confirm there’s only more great things to come from them very soon.
***
Though I narrowed it down to 25 for write-up purposes, I have another 25 albums that stood out to me below.
NOTABLE MENTIONS:
Superorganism – Superorganism
Lykke Li – so sad, so sexy
Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour
Maribou State – Kingdoms in Colour
Twin Shadow – Caer
Leon Bridges – Good Thing
Bad Bad Hats – Lightning Round
Jack River – Sugar Mountain
TT – LoveLaws
Ty Segall & White Fence – Joy
The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
Roosevelt – Young Romance
Wet – Still Run
Jim James – Uniform Distortion
The Internet – Hive Mind
Nile Rodgers & Chic – It’s About Time
Blood Orange – Negro Swan
Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel
Charles Bradley – Black Velvet
Still Corners – Slow Air
