It is, in fact, that time of the year again. I used to love putting together my end of the year list, and in many ways I still do. But what it seems to be turning into is a yearly reminder that I'm either getting old and falling out of touch, or that there are far fewer great records coming out than there used to be. I'm pretty sure that it's the former and my age is finally catching up to me. If I'm being honest, I probably spent more time listening to early 90s hip hop than I did most new records.
There are exceptions, of course. The PLOSIVS record is pretty much the best record I have heard in the last 10 years or so. I have been a long time supporter of John Reis and have loved pretty much every record he's ever been involved in, but even with expectations that high for his work, PLOSIVS still managed to surprise me and knock me on my ass. I think it's perfect and I cannot wait to hear more from them. John Reis and Rob Crow are a potent combo.
It was also wonderful to see Denny from Sicko, one of my favorite songwriters, back in the saddle with The Drolls. That's the other record I probably spent the most time with this year. Lots of other goodies in here from long time favorites like Skimmer, Snuff, Boat, Archers of Loaf, and Built To Spill. I also made two exceptions for the list this year.
My rule is that I never put any reissues or records that came out on PopKid on the list. But, I had to include Dereliks and Gentlemen Rogues if I am really making a list of the best 2022 records. Gentlemen Rogues had half of the songs on their album come out on CD a few years ago. The other half were digital only. Since half of them never got a physical release before and the other half was never on vinyl, I decided they needed to be on the list.
Dereliks is a four LP set. One of the LPs is a reissue of an old 12" that came out in 1995. The other three LPs are either songs off of demo tapes, from an old compilation CD or songs never released before. There's enough stuff on here that's new to some and definitely new to me, that I had to include it. Especially considering how many times I listened to it this year.
Lots of good tunes on this list and everything is pretty much worth checking out in some capacity. Even the Superchunk record that I was pretty down on has its moments if you can get through some of the songs that are kind of a bummer. I have next week off from work, so I'm probably not going to fire back up with more reviews right away, but before January is out, I'll be back with more nonsense. Merry new year.
01 - PLOSIVS - PLOSIVS - Swami (Listen)02 - The Drolls - That Puget Sound - Snappy Little Numbers (Listen)
03 - Swami John Reis - Ride The Wild Night - Swami (Listen)
04 - Dereliks – Broken Cyphers: The Anthology – Self Released (Listen)
05 - Boat - No Plans to Stick the Landing - Magic Marker (Listen)
06 - Czarface - Czarmageddon - Silver Age (Listen)
07 - Quaker Wedding - Total Disarray - Salinas (Listen)
08 - Skimmer - All Fired Up - Bloated Kat / Waterslide / Council Pop (Listen)
09 - Snuff - Crepuscolo Dorato Della Bruschetta Borsetta Calzetta Cacchetta Trombetta Lambretta Giallo Ossido, Ooooooh Cosi Magnifico! - 10 Past 12 / SBÄM (Listen)
10 - Meat Wave - Malign Hex - Swami (Listen)
13 - Night Court - Nervous Birds Too - Snappy Little Numbers
14 - Gentlemen Rogues - A History of Fatalism - Snappy Little Numbers / Rocket Heart
15 - Built To Spill - When The Wind Forgets Your Name - Sub Pop
16 - Good Grief – Shake Your Faith - Everything Sucks / Happy Happy Birthday To Me
17 - Bear Away - A Drastic Tale of Western Living - Brassneck / Waterslide / Engineer / Sell The Heart / Shield
18 - Jacob Turnbloom - Laughter in the Forever After - Half Way Home
19 - More Kicks - Punch Drunk - Dirtnap / Stardumb
20 - Superchunk - Wild Loneliness - Merge
2021
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