GREAT ALBUMS FROM 2023

It's Christmas! Since this was a year that I started listening to much more albums released throughout the year, I've decided to celebrate by recounting some of my favorites. In no particular order, I'd like to share with you some of the best albums I've heard this year, from the good-- to the great.

The Good

GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo

After bursting into the mainstream with her wildly successful single "Driver's License" and subsequent album SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo has returned in 2023 with another collection of pop-punk rock songs and slow singer-songwriter piano ballads. While the makeup of GUTS is largely the same as her previous album, where Rodrigo excels on her sophomore record is in the pure-catchiness and emotional rawness of the songwriting.

For evidence that Rodrigo has pretty much mastered her modern take on the pop-punk and riot grrrl of the early 2000s, look no further than the tongue-and-cheek opener “all american bitch” or the ear-worm single “bad idea right?”. But beyond these high energy pop songs, Rodrigo demonstrates skill in her ballad artistry as well. Where some songs on SOUR felt too much like a watered down imitation of Taylor Swift, GUTS sees Rodrigo in a more vulnerable state, and songs like “making the bed” and “vampire” are testaments to her songwriting ability. If nothing else, GUTS is an incredibly fun listen, and even though some songs don’t stand out as anything more than filler (“love is embarrassing” and “the grudge”), the catchiness and fun of a song like “get him back!” is enough to make GUTS worth a listen.

Highlights: get him back!, making the bed, bad idea right?

Struggler - Genesis Owusu

I didn’t anticipate listening to an album depicting an absurdist tale of a roach running away from God this year, and I anticipated much less enjoying it as much as I did. Genesis Owusu’s talent for dance punk and funk make this album incredibly listenable, and the themes that he grapples with throughout its narrative cover a surprising amount of ground.

Struggler follows the roach, our protagonist, while he deals with purpose and meaning in his life. Genesis Owusu dips into existentialism and nihilism frequently throughout the album’s narrative and paints a picture of all of our lives; ones where shit has already hit the fan for so long that it’s stuck there. The instrumentation on this album that sets the backdrop to this story is immediately groovy and danceable, incorporating elements of funk, post-punk, electronica, and hip-hop, all while feeling cohesive. By the end of Struggler, it’s hard not to root for the roach on his journey of absurdity, and it’s hard not to dance along the way.

Highlights: Leaving the Light, Freak Boy, Tied Up!

The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski

While I admit I am not as familiar with Mitski’s discography as I should be, listening to her 2023 album The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We made me want to go back and experience some of her early work, only to find that The Land is so distinct from the rest of her discography that it feels like a reinvention.

Mitski has a knack for writing incredibly catchy indie folk that spirals into something big and bombastic, all while not feeling overblown. The lyricism on this album is brilliant, and at times absolutely devastating. Mitski sings about trading her soul away simply for some peace on the track “The Deal”, and about receiving more love than you can give and inevitably destroying that person on the song “I’m Your Man”. These soul-cutting lyrics are set against lavish folk instrumentation, and sometimes a backing choir that truly brings the weight of these stories to life. If you’re in the mood for a beautiful album about how easy it would be without hope or how simple it would be to trade away your soul, affixed with a gorgeous ode to love (“My Love Mine All Mine”), then The Land is for you.

Highlights: Bug Like an Angel, The Deal, My Love Mine All Mine

the record - boygenius

I’ve been very familiar with the solo careers of Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, but had never given boygenius a chance until this year. It’s no surprise that the trio, including Julien Baker, gel very well together on their self-titled EP, and even more so on the record.

While the record can sometimes feel more like you have each of the artists on shuffle-- when the three of them are each complementing each other's styles, the album really shines. This is most notably demonstrated by songs like “$20” or “Anti-Curse”, where Bridgers and Dacus enhance Baker’s penchant for heavier instrumentation and indie rock sounds to create some of the cream of the crop of modern indie rock. The trio’s sound is still distinctly pop, however, and catchy songs like “Not Strong Enough” and “Satanist” are testaments to the skilled songwriting of each of the members. While there are some points where the record left me wanting more from the collaboration, like “Emily I’m Sorry” which is so distinctly Phoebe Bridgers that her bandmates are barely needed, overall the record is some of the best indie pop that you can get, and the gold standard for sad white girl music.

Highlights: $20, Anti-Curse, Letter to an Old Poet

The Great

Javelin - Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens’ Javelin opens with “Goodbye Evergreen”, a tribute to Stevens’ late partner and a song that will emotionally destroy the listener within the first 3 minutes of the album. As the track closes with echoes of “goodbye evergreen” and “you know I love you”, it’s clear that Javelin will be a truly transformative experience for the listener.

And indeed, it is. The 10 tracks that make up Javelin are beautifully arranged, filled with gorgeous chamber pop and folk instrumentation coupled with lyrics that are absolutely devastating. Sufjan Stevens, even with an impressive 2-decade-long career is still delivering albums that are the peak of indie folk. His acumen is demonstrated in songs like “Will Anybody Ever Love Me”, a crushing ballad about the intentions behind love, and whether it can be unconditional. Javelin is nothing but heart wrenching moment after heart wrenching moment, and Stevens masterfully and poetically navigates these moments with lavish instrumentation.

Highlights: Goodbye Evergreen, Will Anybody Ever Love Me?, Shit Talk

Wallsocket - underscores

The first time we’re introduced to the town of Wallsocket is in the opener to underscores’ sophomore record of the same name: “Cops and Robbers”, a story of a bank teller committing fraud. During the chorus, the bank teller asks the listener “When’s the last time you saw someone with a ski mask and a gun?”

Much like this opener, for the rest of Wallsocket, April Harper Gray, the person behind underscores, attempts to shine a light on growing up in small town America from a distinctly modern lens, one where robbers no longer hold up banks with guns but steal from them slowly with a keyboard and a computer. Songs like “Locals (Girls Like Us)” mine into the angst of growing up in the town of Wallsocket, while being incredibly lively and catchy. “Johnny johnny johnny” is instantly memorable, but with some incredibly dark lyrics describing a man grooming a trans girl in her youth. And when underscores isn’t writing hyperpop bangers, she’s writing some beautiful ballads like “You don’t even know who I am” and the bittersweet closer “Good luck final girl”. Wallsocket is the emo of the future, capturing the melancholy darkness of growing up in America during the internet age.

Highlights: Cops and robbers, Locals (Girls like us), Good luck final girl

3D Country - Geese

I honestly don’t have much to say about 3D Country other than that it is some of the most fun I’ve had listening to an album this whole year. The songs are memorable and catchy, mixing bluegrass, country, and punk to create a blend that feels unique but also familiar. What truly elevates this album is vocalist Cameron Winter, who’s performance varies from completely unhinged to smooth talking southern drawl at the drop of a hat. I cannot recommend this album enough.

Highlights: 3D Country, Cowboy Nudes, St. Elmo

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You - Caroline Polachek

Caroline Polachek just wants you to escape with her into music. That much is clear from the opener “Welcome To My Island”, where Polachek welcomes you to her island then tells you that you can’t leave. And after listening to the album, there’s no place I’d rather be. Polacheck’s electronic art pop dips its toes in all sorts of musical experimentation throughout the course of the album, from incorporating spanish flamenco on “Sunset” to a bagpipe section on the song “Blood and Butter”, which despite how insane that sounds fits in perfectly. There’s hardly a snoozer on this record, and the closer “Billions” is the perfect outro, with Polachek relating images of plenty to the love between her and her significant other, and concludes with a child choir repeating the line “I’ve never felt so close to you”, a bookend on the world that Polachek has created throughout the album.

Highlights: Welcome To My Island, Blood and Butter, Billions

HELLMODE - Jeff Rosenstock

Jeff Rosenstock is one of the most consistently great artists in the modern pop punk scene, and HELLMODE represents an inflection point in his career. While previous albums of Rosenstock drew from some very dark emotions, HELLMODE feels like Jeff maturing in a healthy way. But don’t worry, there's plenty of anxiety, dread, and angst that comes with that.

This is established immediately on the opener “WILL U STILL U”, where Jeff ponders if his partner will still love him if or when he fucks up. “SOFT LIVING” continues this theme, where Jeff laments the challenge of living ‘softly,’ and “LIFE ADMIN” elaborates further, seeing Jeff in a great mood from his success and improving mental health, but dealing with how trapped that makes him. Jeff’s political angst is still prevalent throughout the record as well, with songs like “HEAD” and “GRAVEYARD SONG” begging for relief from the “infinite tragedy” of American politics, seeing Jeff trying to decode his beliefs like trying to defuse a bomb, or pointing out that sometimes building bridges is futile and what we really need is to dig a grave for ideas that need to die. All of this is set to Rosenstock’s consistently catchy and well produced pop punk and power pop instrumentation, creating what is probably the best rock album of the year.

Highlights: HEAD, HEALMODE, 3 SUMMERS

Live at Bush Hall - Black Country, New Road

Am I really putting a live album as my favorite of the year? Yes I am, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Reeling from the departure of vocalist and lyricist Isaac Wood in 2022 due to mental health issues, Black Country, New Road canceled their tour and returned to the studio to regroup and write an entirely new album. In 2023, the band returned to the stage at Bush Hall with 9 new songs, with multiple members on lead vocals and songwriting duty.

What makes Live at Bush Hall so potent is not only the densely layered and gorgeous chamber pop sound, but the emotional wake that the departure of Wood clearly left the band in. Songs like “Laughing Song” and “The Wrong Trousers” see band members Tyler Hyde and Lewis Evans reckoning with the departure of their friend, while “Up Song” see’s the band cheerily looking to the future: “Look at what we did together, BCNR friends forever.” Other songs, like “Turbines/Pigs” and “The Boy” are just densely layered and beautiful from start to end, and “Turbines/Pigs” in particular builds to a grand finale that is sure to give you goosebumps. Black Country, New Road made some undoubtably brilliant music with Isaac Wood (their 2022 album Ants From Up There is still my favorite this decade), but on Live From Bush Hall they show that they will survive even after his departure, and continue to make some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.

Highlights: Every song