BEST OF ā22:
ALBUMS_of_the_YEARā¦
āGOD GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HEREā was the latest LP from COLD GAWDĀ & it found the Rancho Cucamonga-based project carving out their own niche w/in the nascent NeoGaze scene by bringing all kinds of melancholic haze across 8 tracks that seamlessly blended decades worth of guitar-driven & pedal_gazing genres under one dreamy AltRawk umbrella.
The stoic NYC-based institution known as INTERPOLĀ used their time in the clampdown to get mad productive & did so in a ācounterbalancingā way as their latest LP titled āTHE OTHER SIDE OF MAKE BELIEVEā found them homing in on the details, earnestness & embracing their sense of minimalist space courtesy of Flood/Molderās on point production.
There was a palpable melancholy running throughout KNIFEPLAYāsĀ latest LP titled āANIMAL DROWNINGā & itās a continuously deep feeling that persisted throughout a 10-track spread that reveled in their acute ability to marry many-a-guitar-driven genre, ranging from ShoeGaze, SlowCore & SoftGrunge under one wearily grandiose DreamPop umbrella.
KURT VILE is a fucking vibeā¦ Call it timing, mood or perspective but no KV album has ever hit me THIS hard, whilst Iāve always been a fan ā(watch my moves)ā had a profound effect on your boy & found the Philly-based artist deploying that acute ability to package those charmingly slackerish AltRocking odes that combined Classic/College/Psych ROCK under one universally lauded umbrella.
āUNDERNEATH, BESIDE MEā was the debut album from LESSER CAREĀ & it found the West Texan trio homing in on a vibe/sound, one which nodded to the past w/out fixating on the revivalist rearview as they set their sights beyond āpost-punkā when it came to their sonic spaces & business practice as the former seen them apply their own stamp in the gothic sounds of yore across 9 moody & bodied-up offerings.
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