1. Cults by Cults
With their debut Album, Cults kicked down the door to the house of Pop, put their muddy boots on the coffee table and declared the estate belonged to them. The entire album is like a tour through music history. “I Never Saw the Point in Trying” sounds like something Brian Wilson could have written during his Beach Boys heyday, “Bad Things” screams Madonna if Madonna had been an indie band. Lead singer Madeline Follin’s vocals dominate the album, but her duet with Cults’ only other member Brian Oblivion on “Bumper” is a 21st century reimaging of Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You, Babe.”
Despite this tour through time, Cults manages to shape all of these distinct sounds into something unique and cohesive. Strap on those headphones, chew your bubblegum, bob your head and remember why music is fun.
2. Whokill by tUnE-yArDs
Whokill is easily the most impressive individual album effort of the year. And that’s thanks Connecticut’s Merrill Garbus, the composer behind this beautiful dance-heavy lo-fi album. She starts with drum tracks and then layers in a number of other instruments, creating something that’s more worldly and unique than her peers’ music. Garbus put on significantly more polish than her first album, Bird-Brains, and it shows: songs like “Bizness” and “Gangsta” sound more stadium-ready than boombox-recorded. The more refined sound calls for a crowd of thousands ebbing and flowing to Garbus’ waning and waxing beats. Her voice does the rest of the work, howling at the highest of heights and then careening down a mountainside with more power than a MAC truck.
3. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes’ ascension to the top of the folk mountain seemed inevitable. Their second album completes the journey to the summit by building on the beautiful harmonies and delicate instrumentals that made the band famous. Even though it’s in the same vein, Helplessness is more welcoming than the Foxes debut by injecting more approachable elements. The title track is the closest the band has gotten to a sing-a-long song while tracks like “Montezuma” and “Bedouin Dress” could easily find play on your city radio station and college station alike.
It would be cliché and completely wrong to say the band sold out. Fleet Foxes are still very much Fleet Foxes. But Helplessness brought certain maturation and refinement the group’s first album forgot. If you’re not on the Foxes’ hype train yet, now is a good time to get aboard.
4. David Comes to Life by Fucked Up
David Comes to Life might be best described as a maximalist punk opera, whatever that might mean to you. Forget about those one and a half minute blitzkriegs you know as punk. This 18-song, 77+ minute album is worth every minute of brutal howling and lighthearted power chords. The beauty of a band like Fucked Up is that they managed to communicate angst in a way that doesn’t seem pubescent. Perhaps that’s because they truly break a lot of the notions we know as punk. These songs are uplifting and weave a heartfelt tale of love and lost. Forget about pissing off the establishment for once. Sprinkle in a little vocal harmony and you’ve got Fucked Up: probably the most interesting punk band since Johnny Ramone died.
5. James Blake by James Blake
I’ll admit it: I was a James Blake hater. That all changed when I heard “Lindisfarne I” and “Lindisfarne II,” a dreamy, heartbroken trip through the auto-tuned mind of Blake.
Critics say his music is a unique take on dubstep. I never really understood that perspective, but what I can say is his soulful songs are moody and desolate. Blake took what Bon Iver started, turned off all of the lights and started telling ghost stories through your headphones. Listen to this album in the rain and tell me I’m wrong.
