Year in Rock 2023: Albums of the Year #20-16
Behold! The bottom quarter of my top 20 albums of the year!
What patterns emerge through positions 20 through 16? What clues lie here as to what's higher up? How many other questions can I come up with to generate a false sense of intrigue and mystery?
An American band of upstarts that takes sonic cues from many of the punk and indie darlings from the other side of the pond, Spiritual Cramp pack a ton of crackling energy and sharp wit into their songcraft, resulting in a record that helped to break the group through to a more diverse cross section of fans and aging music snobs like myself. Think a less unhinged, more melodic Viagra Boys and you're starting to get the idea.
Informed by the tragic passing of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters' eleventh album predictably deals with loss and mourning, albeit infused with an exploratory spirit that isn't common of a band as large-scale as Foo Fighters, who could have easily packed it in or continued to churn out passable material and carried on in mediocrity. Taking the chances they do here signals an unwillingness to simply fade away, and the result is the Foos' most consistently engaging album since Wasting Light.
Flying under the radar for over a decade now, British rockers Tigercub can't be ignored any longer. Their third album is jam packed with hook-laden slabs of groove rock that don't sound a bit out of place alongside the QOTSAs and Royal Bloods of the world. There are even a few surprises, such as the acoustic haze of We're a Long Time Gone, just to keep you on your toes.
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