At the end of each year I like to look back at the year that was to compile a little top 10 list of my favorite albums of the year. I don't like thinking of these as 'the best' albums of the year. That's why I say 'my favorite.' They cross over different genres and are in no particular order!
1) Cave In - Heavy Pendulum - I grew up with this band. They were a local band with kids from the high school one town over from mine. I've been following them since 1995 at this point through all the ups and downs, all the major label wooing and dropping, and the musical experimentation. This album was born out of the tragic death of the band's bass player. They reunited to play some benefit shows for his family and found new inspiration from the fans that came out, and just being together. It's their first full album since 2011 and it covers basically all of the rock experimentation the band has tried over the last nearly 3 decades. Check out: New Reality, Blood Spiller
2) beabadoobee - beatopia - Are any of you familiar with the 90's band The Sundays? Do yourself a favor and check them out. beabadoobee represents a return to some of that 90's vibe. Her voice gives me goosebumps and soothes me. The music has a very 90's alt rock feel to it in the best possible way. Check out: See You Soon, Lovesong
3) Maren Morris - Humble Quest - This one is interesting to me. I really enjoy it, but I can't put my finger on why. There's a rawness to it. You can tell that these songs were born from real human emotions during a weird time for all of us. You can tell how important the music is to Maren and Ryan. I think when you get to be an artist of Maren's caliber it's really easy to roll into a studio and 'mail it in.' She did the exact opposite on this album. Check out: The Furthest Thing, Background Music
4) The Wonder Years - The Hum Goes On Forever - I almost didn't put this on the list. I love it, but I questioned if it was one of my favorites. After listening to it again before finalizing my list I realized it's just such a masterpiece. These Philly pop punkers have grown and evolved so much over the last couple decades of their existence. The songs carry such heavy emotion. There's one called Wyatt's Song (Your Name) that hits me in a special way. Probably because it's about one of them having a baby. Check out: Wyatt's Song, Summer Clothes
5) Camila Cabello - Familia - Apparently I love latin inspired pop music. So does my daughter. She would dance her little tush off to this album whenever we put it on. I don't know if I love every song on this record. But the 3 or 4 that I do are so far a cut above songs on other albums. The song 'everyone at this party' almost brings me to tears it's so powerful. Check out: everyone at this party, Bam Bam
6) Vein.fm - This World Is Going To Ruin You - This album is definitely not for everyone. It's heavy, intense and overall brutal. But I love every second of it. I hate the band name but the music makes me ignore that. I came to love music through heavy and passionate music. This album brought me back to some of my 'roots' without sounding dated. In music like this there are so many individual pieces of music that, on their own would sound weird, but together they work. Check out: The Killing Womb, Lights Out
7) Avril Lavigne - Love Sux - I think this is her best album yet. Avril has always had this energy that I've thought was being contained by being controlled by the pop music world. She teamed up with Travis Barker and Machine Gun Kelly to make the album I truly believe she has always wanted to make. This is what I've always wanted from Avril and I'm so happy to finally have it. Check out: Love It When You Hate Me, Kiss Me Like The World Is Ending
8) Soccer Mommy - Sometimes Forever - Much like beabadoobee, Soccer Mommy is bringing the 90's back. I hear so much of 90's female fronted alt rock in her sound. But it doesn't sound old. She's clearly taken her inspiration from artists like Liz Phair, Mazzy Star, The Sundays and The Cranberries, but she's made her own path. Check out: Bones, Don't Ask Me
9) Anxious - Little Green House - This album came out in January of 2022. At the time I thought, 'This is easily in my top 10 of the year,' but I had a feeling that something would knock it out by the time we got to December. I was wrong. Little Green House still holds its own as one of my favorites of the year. I don't know how to describe it other than to call it rock and punk rock adjacent. They try a lot of different styles over the 10 songs of the album. I hear some 90's alt rock, I hear punk rock and I hear some post-punk styles all mixed in. It all works. Check out: Your One Way Street, Afternoon
10) Dashboard Confessional - All The Truth That I Can Tell - I was an early adopter of DC back in the day. As much of a fan of his I am, I have to admit that I've lost a little interest over the last few albums. This one brought me right back in. Maybe it was the pandemic. Maybe it was the motorcycle accident that nearly took his life. Who knows what it was, but something inspired Chris to dig deep into his feels and come out with this record. It's the closest thing to his first album that we've had since it came out. This album reminded me, and a lot of others based on his huge tour he did this year, why we fell in love with him in the first place. Check out: Here's To Moving On, Southbound and Sinking