Nim's albums of the year 2023 list
[originally posted December 17th 2023 on cohost]
Alright, let's get this post out while it's still relevant. These posts are always hard for me to make, both to make the decisions on what to include and then to find words on why I like them. But I'm invested in this, I want to make this post. I don't know how many albums these are (I wrote this paragraph before I made the grid of covers above), I just go through my library and note down which ones I feel like highlighting. Usually ends up being around 15 but who knows, I'm not gonna count, I already wrote the post. You can count yourself. I'm also not a fan of rankings, so these aren't strictly ordered, this is just a list of albums that I think are good, although the one listed at the top, if pressed, would probably be my #1 pick. But this is my post, no one's forcing me, so I'm not pressed. Everyone's a winner. Yay!
Alright, let's go
Pascow - Sieben
A largely very straight forward and uncompromising punk rock album, yet one that through its lyrics and their delivery hits me emotionally like no other. Full of anger, frustration and bitterness, yet passion and hope and all belted out through gritted teeth. The largely bleak lyrics are broken up by Mailand as a centerpiece, which not only through its hopeful lyrics but also through its dancy sound really sticks out. I'm not sure I can reasoably expect to sell anyone on this band cause on paper this really isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but just know that it really struck a chord with me. I even translated the whole thing into English in case you don't speak German but want to dive into this.
songs: Himmelhunde - Mailand - Grüßt Eve
Popes of Chillitown - Take a Picture
An absolutely wild mix of ska, punk, DnB and rap that this band seems to be 1-upping themselves on, getting wilder and wilder with every release to a point where I've been asking myself when Enter Shikari had started playing ska. This album draws you in with very maximalist, wild and frantic tracks, with bouncy, high energy beats, wild left turns and screams, such as on the first single Crashmat, but also when slowing it down and stripping it back and going for a more traditional ska sound, it's still incredibly bouncy and fun, showing off all their skills in catchy songwriting. They don't just knock you over the head with dense sensory overload inducing genrefuck (although you do get quite exhausted by the time this album is over), they actually know how to use it to create a unique, coherent sound and catchy songs.
songs: Crashmat - After Everyone Had Left - Take a Picture
Common Sense Kid - A for Effort, E for Attainment
A wild mix of ska, punk, DnB and rap. "What? Didn't we just have that on the previous entry?" Yes, but hear me out, this one's different. Each song feels very focused on a very specific combination of elements from that pool of genres, and they all combine to wonderfully diverse collage of tracks, slightly more laid back, though plenty bouncy and energetic. This album is also kept very brief and I found myself wanting to listen to it twice in a row several times because there's so much there I just wanna hear again right away.
songs: Blinded by a Black Hole - Warning: Dystopia - Tomorrow Comes Today
Model/Actriz - Dogsbody
I'm a simple man. I like bands that sound like there's something deeply wrong with them, and I enjoy hearing whimpering men sensually moaning over loud, clanky industrial dance beats, and this band has all that. I don't really have any more to say, if you want something that sounds deeply broken and also intensely horny, give this a shot.
songs: Donkey Show - Crossing Guard - Divers
Genesis Owusu - STRUGGLER
I'm not a very regular rap listener, but I try to check out some stuff every once in a while when I hear buzz about them, and I'm really glad I gave this one a go. This album immediately grabbed me with its post-punky instrumentals, often done through electronic beats, but also a couple of very guitar driven tracks. A couple of the slower tracks lean more into a smooth loungy RnB sound which gives a great overall variety on the album, and the vocal delivery is accordingly varied from aggressive rapping to smooth melodic singing with many great hooks.
songs: Leaving the Light - Stay Blessed - Stuck to the Fan
Faintest Idea - The Road to Sedition
Angry skacore. Intoxicating chanty gang vocals without leaning too hard into cliche punk sloganeering. Just good old fun "smash the system"-type vibes with excellent musicianship and powerful horn lines and as many soundbite vocal samples like a Good Riddance album.
songs: Kill Em Dead - False Prophets - Nose Dive
CLT DRP - Nothing Clever, Just Feelings
Noisy electro punk with harsh dance beats and aggressive synths cutting through the bass rumbling, not always loud but most of the time. It's not all ragers, there's plenty of feeling and atmosphere in there under the heaviness too. Ocassionally leaning into the more mellow side of nu metal, making it feel like queer Linkin Park.
songs: Nothing Clever, Just Feelings - I See My Body Through You - Desire / 1 on 1
Flying Raccoon Suit - Moonflower
The only ska band in Mississippi returns with the familiar indie ska punk sounds from their already excellent previous album Afterglow, but it now sounds better than ever and they get a lot wilder with it all. Sweet indie power pop meets proggy, adventurous song structures, wonderfully jazzy horn sections, and they ocassionally even lean harder into their hardcore and metal influences so that it gets downright shreddy at times. Incredibly fun and varied album that's building up on everything they had shown to be capable of before.
songs: Eat the World - Swan Song - Long in the Tooth
Donots - Heut ist ein guter Tag
Good vibes indie pop punk. This entire thing feels so radiant, positive and energetic. Huge musical variety anywhere between between PUP type pop punk and Ted Leo indie rock and jampacked with infectious, bright gang vocals, incredible pop hooks and cool beats. The sound is overall bright, but still plenty shouty, the drums have a great punch and the bass fuzzes nicely. Possibly my favourite album of theirs so late into their career.
songs: Apokalypse Stehplatz Innenraum - Auf sie mit Gebröll - Traurige Roboter
UnityTX - Ferality
Rapcore, trap metal, nu nu metal, however you wanna categorize this, it rules. Chunky, heavy metalcore riffage, gritty bass lines, aggressive rap vocals, deep hardcore growls, and all interspersed with many great hooks. There's a very consistent, gritty vibe throughout this, but the songwriting is still very varied that gives you a lot to chew on. Definitely my favourite release so far of the somewhat recent trap metal scene and a huge recommendation both for people who are into heavy breakdowny hardcore and for those who are still obsessed with nu metal
songs: Burnout - Killing Alchemy - Roc Sh!t
Dream Nails - DOOM LOOP
The bubblegummy sense of melody from their debut album is still there at its core, but it now shows much more teeth and is dressed in a grungy fuzzy garage punk sound that much better captures their punchy live energy and furious attitude. Angry, fuzzy, bouncy and catchy, the perfect development for this band.
songs: Good Guy - Sometimes I Do Get Lonely, Yeah - Case Dismissed
snarg - Der Garten deiner Eltern
A short 20 minute burst of synth infused emo hardcore punk. This thing is kept extremely brief, but it doesn't really need any more time to get the point across. It rages through these 9 tracks with lots of emotion, anger and power and the synthesizers provide an additional layer of melody and atmosphere to their sound.
songs: Der Garten deiner Eltern - Alles - KO,OK
100 gecs - 10,000 gecs
I admit I'm not much of a hyperpop connoisseur, so their early work went largely past me. But on this new album they came back with so much baffling genre anarchy it was impossible to not take notice. In addition to the goofy bright hyperpop they were known for, this album also brings a lot of crunchy noise guitar, metal riffage, complete unintelligable noise soup and ska to the table. Unapologetically stupid yet endlessly creative, unique and catchy, this 27 minute bundle of energy is just too much fun not to include here.
songs: Dumbest Girl Alive - Doritos & Fritos - mememe
Leto - Leben und tot
This band fits very well into the sound of the very prolific German emo post-punk scene. Very post-punky compositions, but played with the intensity of hardcore. Delicate, often very atmospheric guitar work paired with crunchy, driving bass lines, punchy drums and vocals that are not quite screams but permanently right at the verge of it. Despite the noisy style of the band, you can hear everything very clearly in the mix. Incredible combination of great atmosphere mixed with anxiety inducing intensity
songs: Ostfriesland - Infarkt - Der tote Baron
Better Lovers - God Made Me an Animal
If I didn't know any better, this sounds like the Dillinger Escape Plan had reformed. But it's not DEP, it's just Greg Puciato in a new formation of incredible musicians (like former Every Time I Die) delivering an absolutely unhinged hardcore EP. I don't want to reduce this to just a continuation of DEP's sound cause I feel like that does the other musicians injustice, but Greg's voice is just so incredibly distinctive, in both clean and screamed vocals, and that DEP are just my closest personal connection to this sound, that I can't help but think about it, and frankly, I wouldn't find any of these tracks amiss on a DEP album. This is quite a bit more punky sounding than DEP, but make no mistake, this is heavy as hell, with vicious screams, on a dime tempo changes, screaching guitar riffs and some wild drumming. I can't wait to see what else this band is gonna have going for us in the future
song(s): 30 under 13
Fishbone - Fishbone
Goddammit! The ska punk and crossover legends Fishbone dropped a new EP, and I didn't even notice cause it has the same name and nearly identical artwork to their nearly 40 year old debut EP! It's always fun to see this very experimental and eclectic band circle back to just playing ska periodically. Although this not exactly just a straight forward ska record, with Estranged Fruit for example getting very jazzy. But nonetheless, this is as straight forward as it gets for this band. And it's incredibly well crafted and just such a joy to listen to
songs: Estranged Fruit - Cubicle
That's it
There's already a couple of stuff I'm looking forward to in the next year, like Bob Vylan, Laura Jane Grace, Millie Manders. Maybe we finally get a new Streetlight Manifesto? Propagandhi are also due for something new. One can hope. Probably more German emo post-punk, probably some stuff completely out of left field. I also can't wait to see what the Bad Time Records / Ska Punk International scene is cooking next year. Speaking of Bad Time, they got a live compilation coming out, still this year, in just a few days, documenting the current ska punk scene from the Bad Time Records Tour this year. I comtemplated waiting for this release before I finished my list, but I wanted to get it out already, so the epilogue will have to do. I obviously wasn't around when the old Dance Craze concert film dropped that documented the 2tone bands, but I know the reputation this film had in that scene and I'm excited to get to hear a curated live document of the current American ska scene (that so far I have not gotten the chance to see a single band of myself. Maybe one they'll make it to Europe. One can hope)
Live shows this year
I had a lot going on this year, which I'm very grateful for, but I think I might need to take it easier next year cause this really wore me out at times and also really drained my finances. There's a lot of great names in there, highlight was seeing Die Ärzte, who are a band that have been part of me for pretty much my entire life and that I finally got the opportunity to see. Getting to see Pascow at the festival for the first time was also huge, with how much those last two albums mean to me. Then of course my live show faves Kochkraft who I'm trying to catch every time they come through. But any of these were a great evening that I wouldn't have wanted to miss. Goddammit, there's so many bands all the time
Okay for real that's all I got
Goodbye