OG Brian's Best of 2023

It’s become an unfortunate ritual to look back at the end of each year and bemoan how much worse things have gotten, whether we’re talking about politics, climate change, gun violence, housing, or just how we treat each other as human beings.  But in 2023, music is an exception to this.  Put simply, music is fucking back, baby.  There were so many really good to great albums released this year that I had a difficult time narrowing it down to my 10 favorites.  Instead, below I will list out categories highlighting some of my favorite 2023 releases, followed by some honorable mentions at the very end.

Favorite Album: Wednesday – Rat Saw God.  I wrote about this album in detail earlier in the year, and I love it even more now.  I’ve gotten more enjoyment out of this record than any other, and songs like “Quarry,” “Chosen to Deserve,” and “Bull Believer” have essentially been on repeat.  As if that wasn’t enough, Wednesday are one of the best live acts around, and I was lucky to see them twice in 2023, with another show on the horizon in January.  My #1 album last year was the latest solo studio album from MJ Lenderman, Wednesday’s lead guitarist, so I clearly have a type.

Favorite “If I’m Being Honest, This is REALLY My Favorite” Album:  The Replacements – Tim (Let it Bleed Edition).  OK, a little unfair picking a remix of a 1985 album that I first heard as a teenager and is easily among my five favorite records ever, but holy cow.  We always knew that the original mix was off in a very ‘80s way, but this remix finally does these classic songs justice.  Just listen to the remix of “Little Mascara,” which brings the guitars to the forefront and sounds like you’re either in the studio or at the front of the stage during one of their sober performances.

Favorite Album That Felt Like It Was Made Just For Me: The Tubs – Dead Meat.  Another album I wrote about earlier in the year and have consistently enjoyed.  As I wrote then, it’s like this band from Wales crafted an album influenced by some of my favorite jangle-guitar-pop bands of my youth, including The Smiths, The Feelies, Pylon, and R.E.M.  More, please.

Favorite Album That Makes Me Want to Hear Copper Blue for the Millionth Time:  Cory Hanson – Western Cum.  Vulgar title aside, this album is so good.  The melodic blend of heavy-ish electric with acoustic guitars always reminds me of that first Sugar album.  And if you’re going to evoke ‘90s alt-rock, might as well point to one of the best.

Favorite “Old Guys (and Gals) Still Got It” Album: Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World.  After 30-plus years, Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and company are still putting out vital music.  This Stupid World is arguably their best since 2006’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.  “Fallout” and “Apology Letter” can stand with any of their best songs.

Favorite “New Shoegaze” Album (non-Wednesday division):  Slow Pulp – Yard.  Wednesday might be the leaders in mixing shoegaze and alt-country influences, but Slow Pulp are putting their own spin on it.  Less twangy, Slow Pulp add some mellow acoustic to supplement the straight-up heavy shoegaze.  If you want to know what it’s like to rock and mellow out at the same time, throw on Yard, lean back, and enjoy.  And if you have half an edible, all the better.

Favorite Album That No One Else in my Family Will Tolerate: Osees – Intercepted Message.  As I wrote a few months ago, Osees are a band I love but acknowledge are an acquired taste.  I adore them for making the effort even when it doesn’t work.  Intercepted Message, however, really works.  It’s eclectic and weird enough for fans with moments of accessibility that might rope in a few more converts.  But as usual with Osees, it’s not for everyone.

Favorite “Kinda, Sorta Hardcore” Album: Militarie Gun – Life Under the Gun. Call it the Turnstile effect.  Ever since Turnstile broke through in 2021 with Glow On, we’ve been seeing more hardcore-inspired bands getting noticed.  I had Soul Glo’s Diaspora Problems on my 2022 list, and this year it’s LA’s Militarie Gun.  In the studio, Militarie Gun – like Turnstile and Soul Glo – come off as more polished than recordings by the hardcore bands of my youth, such as Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today.  But Life Under the Gun is still a jolt of energy and I’m eager to see how it translates into a live show.  I expect it would be great.

Favorite Philly Power Pop Album: Golden Apples – Bananasugarfire.  Last year it was 2^nd Grade, this year it’s Golden Apples.  The City of Brotherly Love is churning out some terrific power pop.  Listen to songs like lead single “Waiting for a Cloud” or “Guard Stick” and you can envision these kids wearing out a copy of Bandwagonesque.

Favorite “Kinda, Sorta Country” Album: Dusk – Glass Pastures.  As a ‘90s alt-country fan, I’m glad twangy rock is coming back, and it’s back in its most overt form on Dusk’s Glass Pastures.  You know what you’re getting right from the opening track “Pissing in a Wishing Well.”  Rather than going the shoegaze route, this is 40 minutes of heartland rock, perfect for a backyard cookout or blasting while driving with the top down.

Favorite Hip Hop Album: billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps.  Have to be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one. It wasn’t that I disliked it.  Rather, I found it challenging.  But I kept going back because people whose opinions I trust vouched for it.  And each time I went back, I got more out of it.  And when I got more out of it, I loved it.  After a handful of listens, it became one of my favorites, with “Soundcheck” being one of the year’s standout tracks.  I have a couple of other hip-hop albums in my Honorable Mentions.  For those, they hit immediately and then my interest varied throughout the year.  Maps was a slow burn, but once it caught, I kept returning to it over and over again.

Favorite Live Album: MJ Lenderman – And the Wind (Live and Loose!).  I’m not really a live album guy.  But 2023 saw a number of really good ones (see more in Honorable Mentions), and this release from the Wednesday guitarist (sensing a theme?) is the best of the bunch.  It perfectly captures the energy of his shows, complements 2022’s stellar Boat Songs, and enhances the songs from 2021’s Ghost of Your Guitar Solo, like “Someone Get the Grill Out of the Rain” and “Catholic Priest.”  The album ends with a fabulous cover of “Long Black Veil.”  Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, and Rick Danko would all approve.

Favorite Album by a Band That Needs to Open for Guided By Voices: The Bug Club – Rare Birds: Hour of Song.  This skilled but shambolic Welsh trio gives us short blasts of guitar pop noise with lyrics that can range from nonsense to profound. Add to that mix an album of 47 tracks that clocks in at just over an hour?  Someone hook this crew up with Robert Pollard for a tour pronto.  I recently saw The Bug Club in a small DC venue that held maybe 100 people (and was written up by fellow OG Marc).  Do yourself a favor and catch them when they come around.

Favorite NYC-Focused Album: Low Cut Connie – Art Dealers.  Take a band I enjoy and admire for doing its own thing, have it make an album about my favorite city set mostly during a time when I was too young and too suburban to really experience it, and fill it with thoughtful lyrics and driving rhythms.  Now inject it into my veins and I’m hooked. (An album I also wrote about earlier).

Favorite Album That Rewards Perseverance: Ratboys – The Window.  Ratboys are a Chicago indie rock band that have been at it for 13 years and are now finally getting the recognition they deserve.  They’ve always been a little underappreciated, and while their breakthrough probably should have been 2020’s Printer’s Devil, The Window is the band’s most complete album.  Songs like the title track and “Morning Zoo” show Ratboys’ full range.

Honorable Mentions

The Hold Steady – The Price of Progress

Anteek Recipes – EP

Hotline TNT – Cartwheel

Jeff Rosenstock – Hellmode

Noname – Sundial

Florry – The Holey Bible

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – Weathervanes

Squirrel Flower – Tomorrow’s Fire

Lydia Loveless – Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again

Superviolet – Infinite Spring

Wilco – Cousin

Scott McMicken & the Ever-Expanding – Shabang

Slaughter Beach, Dog – Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling

The Feelies – Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of The Velvet Underground

Peter Gabriel – i/o

Honorable Mentions (Bob Dylan Indulgence Division)

Bob Dylan – The Complete Budokan 1978

Cat Power – Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert