It feels like I barely got into anything this year, but when I actually stacked all of the stuff I liked together, I was surprised at how quickly I ran out of spots on the list. Is it me actually losing touch, or am I just getting crushed over the complete availability of cool records on the internet? I have no idea. As always, this list is unordered. That shit doesn't matter
Nothing - The Great Dismal
TBH, out of all bands here, I think that Nothing is the one where I'm most sure their record will make the list before hearing it. At this point, I'm not expecting them to change lanes out of melodic shoegaze that's as indebted to power pop as it is grunge, but I pleasantly surprised by this release and enjoyed it more than Dance on the Blacktop. "Catch a Fade" is one of their best songs and seems like a 2020 anthem to me, though I'm not sure why.
Nudie Mag - Our Milk
It's impossible to not check a band called Nudie Mag, right? This band is a Twitching Tongues side project, who I've never listened to. Really great pared-down and synthy power pop that is probably closest to the Rentals. Short and sweet.
field medic - Floral Prince
I actually wasn't aware that field medic, whose fade into the dawn I loved in 2019, was working on a new record, so I was pleased to get this in the summer, even if it is mostly leftovers from that record. This continues with the lofi folk by way of fourth wave emo aesthetic that the earlier stuff has had and I eat it up.
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We're going to take an aside here to talk about the person who did the most in 2020 by a wide margin, Daniel Romano. Already an insanely prolific musician who was putting out between one and three releases per year, Romano went insane during quarantine and released ELEVEN records between March and November. ELEVEN. 11 different records that were all distinct from each over sonically. Most bands can't do that in an entire career. It felt weird to start this list with him, as I don't think any of his records were the A-1 first thing I thought of this year, but he did dominate my listening for all of the summer and keeping track of and checking out what the new shit was was by far the most fun I had listening to music this year. I spent some time thinking on how to incorporate his work into my list and settled on giving him his own sub section.
Quick hits on my favourites:
Dandelion: His best work this year, but only the true heads know that. Beautiful and personal and among his best work.
How Ill Thy World is Ordered: The biggest studio effort of all is great and a fitting cap on the year of music from him.
Super Pollen: No Ancient Shapes this year, but similar work with Mike and Jonah from Fucked Up is an A-OK replacement.
Content to Point the Way: His friends asked him for a new county record and it rocks.
(What Could Have Been) Infidels by Bob Dylan & the Plugz: In a year where I was in my deepest Dylan phase ever, getting this was a welcome addition.
Visions of the Higher Dream: Modern Pressure 2: 2 Modern 2 Pressure
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Supercrush - SODO Pop
Honestly, I wasn't expecting a full-length from Supercrush (was Never Let You Drift Away an LP? I've heard both opinions?) to engage me much, but this would up being a lot more catchy and interesting than I thought. A million bands are playing boring 90s Britpop and Supercrush aren't one.
Mil-Spec - World House
I really loved the Background-era Lifetime vibe on Mil-Spec's EPs before this record and they combined that with the Snapcase-ish melodic stuff that Fury has been doing here. Friggin' awesome yo.
Blooming Season - Living Feeling
I discovered Blooming Season at the last show I saw before COVID hit this year. They were tight and super energetic and provided the insane rush of when you see a band live and realize that you love them during their set.
Mundy's Bay - Lonesome Valley
In keeping with bands I discovered at shows in Montreal, I saw Mundy's Bay open for Supercrush in summer '19 and realizing how much more vibrant and different the punk scene was here is directly tied to them. This record captures how great they are live
blink-155 - Been Here For Too Long
I already wrote about my feelings on the pod here, so I won't rehash that. This comp was made to commemorate the end of blink-155 and features a bunch of people who guested covering "Dammit" by the boys. It ranges from well-known entities (Antartico Vespucci) to my friends (Claire) and it all rocks.
Kill Lincoln - Can't Complain
If I'm being honest, I was a little let down by this release, but it's not fair for me to hold my unreasonable expectations for it against it's actual quality. I've never been shy about banging my "ska is good and all who hate pose" drum and was happy that in the last couple of years (especially those on Kill Lincoln's own Bad Time Records) a new crop of bands has popped up to prove my point. Kill Lincoln is the best of the bunch and this is a great poppy ska-punk release.
Jeff Rosenstock - 2020 Dump
I found that this sort of EP/sort of growing collection of songs vastly better than the Rosenstock full-length No Dream. I love that it's all over the place sonically (as any JR release should be), I love that you need to download it via .zip on QuoteUnquote, and I love that he's finding a new way to work against the music industry and that it is almost somehow the old way he did it.
Classics of Love - World of Burning Hate
I find it hard to be objective about music by Jesse Michaels because all of his bands have been so instrumental to my development as a person. Is it as good as Op Ivy or the Classics of Love full-length? I guess not? I don't care man, I could listen to this for the rest of my life. What a force.
boy pablo - Wachito Rico
boy pablo is one of my favourite discoveries of the last couple of years (in a very 10's world, found through the YoTube algorithm), but their sophomore release really let me down, for no reason at all. They worked past those non-existent criticisms on this first full-length and put out a record that leans more toward songwriting than their past stuff (good!), while still maintaining their weird Norwegian sense of humour.
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