- PREMIERE: Eloah Jones – “Under the Bridge” - November 18, 2021
- PREMIERE: Highbeams – “Campfires” - November 10, 2021
- Tali Azerad Shines on New Album - November 5, 2021
2015 brought us an ever-increasing onslaught of new music. Much of it was good, some disappointing, and some great. The list was tough to trim down to 20. We had to leave off terrific albums from Runaway Brother, Lydia, Joshua Fletcher, Will Hoge, Geographer, and many more. Without further ado, here are our selections for the Top 20 Albums of 2015…
20. Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface
Well this was a cool ascension. After becoming infatuated with the duo’s previous album Vessel, I had serious doubts about Blurryface. They had shown the ability to craft a creative, genre-mixing album that could hold an audience. So, the natural progression to Blurryface now with national eyes on the duo would most certainly be a zeroed-in accentuation of what made them “catchy” on Vessel, right?
Not so much.
T.O.P. did the opposite. They experimented with even more genres and styles. They pumped up their hooks only when the song demanded it. What we get is a smorgasbord* of songs with whip-smart lyrics and an overwhelming spark of creativity & variety. Everything that would enter your mind in the place these boys were in after Vessel doesn’t get muted or shoved aside. All the fears, excitement, doubt, aspirations, external pressures – it all comes flowing out like a hundred spindly rivers of lava out of an active volcano. Well done, and thanks for the fire.
*My 8th grade English teacher approves of these vocab skills
19. Death Cab For Cutie – Kintsugi
DCFC has fallen into a bit of a common pitfall for well-established bands. They are so good that when they release a new album, everyone casually expects it to be good, causing an inherent lack of critical praise. We really must stop and appreciate every new work with open eyes & ears. If Kintsugi was released by an up-and-coming band with some hipster name like “Nicoise Pennyfarthing” or “The Wire-Rimmed Flat Whites” it would be all the rage, I’m sure of it. While the album isn’t quite as “complete” as previous DCFC releases, the highs reach just as high.
18. Joywave – How Do You Feel Now?
Joywave is an appropriate name for this band. Their music hits the listener with a wave of all kinds of sounds and styles. How Do You Feel Now? Is unique, eclectic, poppy, mellow, artistic, and everything in between. In my self-dubbed “year of the singer-songwriter,” this is a great change of pace when I want to hear an ass-kicking band rock out. Joywave isn’t afraid to take chances, and more often than not, they succeed. Massively enjoyable album.
17. Milo Greene – Control
No, this isn’t the start of a dozen singer/songwriters on my list. Milo Greene is an LA-based quartet responsible for some fantastic “cinematic pop” as they call it. Control is quiet, but urgent. It’s simple, but complex. It’s familiar, yet unique. As much as it may seem I’m describing something bipolar, this album is incredibly cohesive. This band and this album really kicked off the year for me musically, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next year.
16. Third Eye Blind – Dopamine
They’ll always know how to deliver a hook – I’ll give them that. Dopamine comes bouncing out of the gates with a handful of pop hits, including the addicting title track and the gem “Shipboard Cook.” Unfortunately, the album falls into a bit of a lull before closing out with two excellent tracks. 3eb may fall into the same trap as DCFC – critics may judge them with a harsher lens after dozens of proven songs under their belt, but Dopamine stands strong in today’s scene.
15. Turnover – Peripheral Vision
After hearing about this through several trusted music aficionados, I gave this album a try and was not disappointed. I’m not sure how to categorize it: I hate genres, labels, and putting things in boxes. All I know is it’s a really good album both in musicianship and lyrics. I don’t have a criticism of Peripheral Vision, and the only reason it is placed at #15 is the strength of the albums above it. Do yourself a favor and check this out – it’s one of the great albums of 2015.
14. Hop Along – Painted Shut
Many people reading this may hate this music. Many others will fall in love with it. This is the mark of a truly interesting style. Being polarizing isn’t likely what Hop Along set out to do, but it may well naturally come with their sound and Frances Quinlan’s vocals. The band have created an ass-kicking indie rock album complete with Quinlan’s unique & powerful vocals guiding the trip. Give Painted Shut time. Give it several full listens.* It may need to win you over, but once it does – you’ll actually feel a sense of pride and bonding with the album. It’s a special effort.
*If you don’t have the time to give it several full listens, don’t bother. Go pick up the newest Nickelback album and bang your head against the wall**
**That was intended to be humorous, but now I feel like Abe Simpson…
13. Adele – 25
Yes. It’s on everyone’s list. It’s on everyone’s list for a reason. Sure, this should really be labeled “Adele & Friends” as I’m sure she has partnered with the highest level team of collaborators, engineers, producers, label decision-makers, etc. Even so, just think of this as a full-band effort (My choice for a name would be ‘A-Plus & The Killer B’s.’)*
However you need to digest it, it’s a damn good album. Beautiful opener and closer with plenty of gems in between. “When We Were Young” has the ‘timeless’ quality an old black & white picture of Audrey Hepburn or James Dean. It looked cool 50 years ago and it’s still cool now.
Bottom line: It’s Adele. Her voice is one of the great musical instruments we have today. If you’re not one of the five billion people that bought the album, you should poke your head out from under that rock and jump on board.
*I know, it’s cool. Don’t steal that
12. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
What a statement. This is everything modern hip-hop should aspire to: meaningful messages and inspired creativity. The lyrical onslaught from Kendrick cannot be ignored and should be studied and discussed at length. The album is a LOT to digest, and I could have done without both interludes and about 10 more minutes of the shrapnel from this bomb of a record. There are parts I love and parts I hate (which I’m pretty sure is what he was intending), and just about everything in between. While it may be 15-20 minutes too long in the tooth, its voice is overwhelming, and impressive to put it mildly.
11. The Wonder Years – No Closer To Heaven
TWY has been one of my absolute favorite bands for years now, and their new album does nothing to change that. They can really no longer be called a “pop punk” band (twitter handle be damned). They shed any sort of pop from that label several dozen songs ago. What we have now are blistering, hard-hitting tracks mixed with more toned down, ultra-emotional fare. We have seen TWY evolve and tackle bigger and more complex material, while remaining relatable and intensely passionate. “Cigarettes & Saints” is one of the greatest songs they’ve ever created. I’m not sure how an album even continues after that track, but they’ve got plenty more to say. No Closer To Heaven aims high, and these once scrappy pop-punkers have grown and hit their mark yet again.
10. Allison Weiss – New Love
I’ve been struggling on my description of this album. For your reference – if you’re a fan of Tegan & Sara, Heathers, Kina Grannis, or big, bold pop music in general, this is your new favorite album. Weiss does synth-pop well. No sugary chorus-fests that ultimately come up empty. No hollow lyrics. She’s all substance. In the interest of brevity I’ll leave it at this: New Love is the best pop* album I’ve heard in a long time.
*Is that even what this is? What are the qualifications of “pop” music? What are genres? My head hurts.
9. The Front Bottoms – Back On Top
I’ve already reviewed this album and added a couple thoughts in my ‘FUN’ list, so to spare you the repetition, I’ll include this picture as a representation of how this album makes me feel.
8. Matt Pond PA – The State Of Gold
Matt Pond has always been a name that has resonated with me in a positive way. I’ve jammed songs here and there, thoroughly enjoyed snippets from time to time, but never really connected with MPPA until now. The State Of Gold is a confident display of indie-rock that continues to build as it flows along. No front-loading the album with the ‘money tracks’ here, the real gold here is the consistency. This is at the same time, the perfect album to both blast in your headphones and take in every musical element, and also press play at home while entertaining guests. I suppose that speaks to its mass-appeal (which is ironic, as this album will largely go unnoticed by the average music-consumer). In my mind though, it simply speaks to how talented Matt Pond is as a musician. He always has been. Whether in snippets for me over the last decade, or now in this full album – he’s one of the most skilled and under-appreciated musicians we have.
7. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
On my first spin of this gem, the album opener “Elevator Operator” bounced along like some quirky lovechild of a Cheryl Crow song and Craig Finn’s lyrical ‘conversational narrative’ style. It was a welcome (and totally successful) combination. What follows is an album that feels like a fresh drink with every new song. Barnett’s witty and intelligent lyrics guide and elevate the songs to a lofty level.
If there’s one thing I absolutely love about Australians, it’s that they know how to have a good time.* Barnett is tackling a wide range of topics in a wider range of styles. She’s getting deep, exposing pain, and exploring meaning. She’s also doing all this inside an album that feels like it was incredibly fun to make. This is a unique listening experience.
*Sweeping generalizations about an entire culture are always a good idea
6. Dustin Kensrue – Carry The Fire
Kensrue’s record is like the vision of an old rock n’ roll soul manifesting itself in 2015. Classic arrangements and a nostalgic ‘mood’ combine with a fresh spin and crisp production. From the first note – this one is clearly something special. The difference between #6 and #1 this year is not a big gap. Carry The Fire is an amazing album.
5. The Maccabees – Marks To Prove It
Often times I’ll fall in love with an album, then with the inevitable onslaught of new music, I’ll lose track of it for a couple months. When I’m compiling my candidates for this list throughout the year, I’ll come back to an album like this and I’ll almost be looking for faults. I’d rather this not be the case, it appears to just be my natural habit after attempting to craft the top half of my list. When listening to Marks To Prove It after a significant break, I couldn’t find any faults and I was once again blown away. The overall variety, multiple moods, and consistency are top notch. This is the type of album I can imagine playing in 2025 and it feeling totally fresh. If The Maccabees don’t ring a bell in your musical library, it’s time to add them to your list.
4. San Fermin – Jackrabbit
One of my (few) self-admitted skills is the ability to listen to an album I’ve never heard before with an open mind. I treat every album as a blank slate and simply let the music hit me, rather than going into it with a predisposition or searching for something. I read a review of San Fermin’s new album Jackrabbit which gave it poor marks on lyricism and metaphor-connectivity (or some uppity BS like that). Thankfully, I’m not searching for unrealistic poetic clarity, I’m simply letting the music hit me and reacting to its effect.
What we get in Jackrabbit is nothing short of an adventure. It’s a story, with ebbs & flows, flurries & hushed moments. It has everything a listener could want, in a relatively accessible package. This isn’t for ‘Johnny Mainstream’ or anyone looking for familiarity, but for those who want to take a creative leap and still connect with many of the elements that make music fun – this is an album I cannot recommend highly enough.
3. Sam Russo – Greyhound Dreams
Russo draws you in with stories of driving from Virginia to Carolina, standing outside of Western Union in the rain, a sleepy Wyoming diner, and more vivid ‘heartland’ stories. This is “Middle-America” heart-strings fare served up by an Englishman. He has me hanging on every word – he is the epitome of a captivating storyteller. Not only that, he didn’t “front-load” the album with his standout tracks. If anything, this record continues to build and strengthen as it flows along – with the first five songs setting the stage for the final five’s brilliance.
Sam Russo was a name I hadn’t really heard before October when the album was released, but it’s a name I’ll never forget after. You’ve heard a lot of bands and musicians that sound like Russo, but you haven’t heard anything better. In almost every way, Greyhound Dreams is simply better.
2. Valise – Young Bloomer
I knew Valise was special when they released Young Bloomer in February. What I would come to understand throughout the year is just how special they are. As each month came and went, hundreds of albums were released, by bigtime artists continuing their narrative, and by plucky upstarts looking to make a splash. With all the commotion and varying degrees of success, Valise continued to hold strong in my mind. What they accomplished with Young Bloomer was remarkable.
Beautifully composed, this debut album blends the artistic & creative with the emotional & accessible. The beauty I speak of is really in the details – from the perfectly placed percussion (alliteration bonus!) to the emotion-tugging moments to the overall mastery of how to create a hook. A good hook doesn’t have to be a big punchy chorus. It can come in a variety of different formats, tempos, and moods. What Valise have really tapped into here is a distinct vibe and mood, which lifts Young Bloomer to a level their peers can only glimpse.
1. Tyler Lyle – The Native Genius Of Desert Plants
With The Native Genius Of Desert Plants, Tyler Lyle cements himself as a true songwriting star. For those in need of a reference point, think Ben Harper folk stylings mixed with a Matt Nathanson-like ability to create a lasting hook. The album is impressive, unique, consistent, intelligent, and just about any other superlative I could throw out there.
The album was independently released and funded through PledgeMusic. That’s a beautiful thing. This wasn’t tinkered on in a massive studio, assisted by huge label opinions, or pumped out of an artist under contract. It’s a beautifully poignant piece of art that doesn’t need all that fuss. It is an embodiment of its own title. The “native genius of desert plants” is that they are built to survive without the water & natural sustenance most other living beings need. They are almost engineered to withstand their own suffering and lack of attention. Music this genuine and truly great doesn’t need the collaboration, big financial backing, fancy equipment, and bells & whistles many contemporaries would. The music here is genius, and like desert plants, it will survive.*
*Anytime you can end your article with a Gloria Gaynor reference, you’ve nailed it.
