#4 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Caroline Polachek

January 28, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Desire, I Want to Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek

Every year for the past few years the Bacon Top 31 family has latched onto a single dance/pop-driven woman-led artist that has carried us through the year. Last year it was Beyoncé, the year before that, Japanese Breakfast, Sylvan Esso in 2020, 2019: Lizzo, 2018 had three, with Chvrches and Janelle Monáe and Christine and the Queens all in the Top 10. 2023 was no different. Caroline Polachek’s unbelievably good Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is the Bacon Review’s most-loved pop album of 2023.

Caroline Polachek has been around the music scene for quite some time, but only in the last 4 years or so has she started to see the kind of attention her presence deserves. You may remember her from her ’00s and ’10s band Chairlift, whose biggest hit was in 2009 (“Bruises,” which you may recognize thanks to its repeated refrain “I tried to do hand stands for you.” Just watch that video and see a mid-20s Polachek doing her thing). While remaining in Chairlift, Polachek released her first solo album, Arcadia, under the pseudonym “Ramona Lisa.” Chairlift released their final album in 2016 and broke up after their final tour in 2017, but not before Polachek had released her second solo album, Drawing the Target Around the Arrow, this time under her initials, CEP, while also appearing on other artist’s work, such as Charlie XCX.

But it wasn’t until 2019’s Pang, released finally under her full, given name, where Polachek started to find her real niche. I haven’t listened to Pang, yet, but my sources (aka: online music sites and wikipedia) tell me it was “well-received” and “critically acclaimed.” My first recognition of the “Caroline Polachek” version of Polachek came in 2021, shortly after she released the single “Bunny is a Rider.” It’s a fast-paced, ear-worm of a song, and if you watch the video you’ll hear why I instantly fell in love with it. Throughout 2022 she released a handful of additional singles: “Billions,” “Sunset” (featured above), and “Welcome to My Island.” By the time Desire, I Want to Turn Into You was released on Valentine’s Day, 2023, thanks to those early-released singles I’d already played a third of the album on repeat for the better part of a year.

“Sunset” is the standout for me. Flamenco-inspired, the song features an auto-tuned Polachek singing an otherworldly, wordless chorus. The song came out just two weeks before Season 2 of one of my favorite shows, White Lotus, came out on October 30, 2022. I don’t remember which I heard first: “Sunset” or the theme song to the show, but the two songs will forever be entwined in my brain. Listen for yourself (the video for “Sunset,” above, and the theme song to White Lotus Season 2), and I dare you to not feel the two songs were both made by some alien intelligence trying to seduce us.

A lot of the songs on the album put some affectation on Polachek’s voice that may make you think she couldn’t possibly produce the range on her own. Thankfully, we have her Tiny Desk Concert from October 2023 to prove us otherwise. She has the range and the talent — the affectation played into the album is there merely for added affect.

Despite her age (38) and the length of time she’s spent in the industry, there’s still some subtle awkwardness in how she moves in her videos. Watch the only other video she’s released from the album, for her song “Smoke,” and maybe you can see it, too. That extremely-subtle-but-still-there uncomfortableness in dancing for the camera reminds me of Taylor Swift. No matter how big or comfortable with they get with being in the spotlight, there’s something endearing about that little bit of “I’m just a regular person like you.”

Polachek may very well just be getting started with Desire. But after a nearly 20-year career in the music business, this could very well be the mountaintop that she chooses to exit the spotlight from, going out very much on top. That would be ok, too. She has proven to be a chameleon, capable of multitudes, and I am here for it.

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#25 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Tennis

January 07, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Pollen by Tennis

Tennis and I go way back. I think back to the time I wanted to be on the high school tennis team (this was the hey day of late 80s/early 90s tennis – think Reebok Pumps and Agassi vs Chang). Having had no training whatsoever, and no idea what it might take, I got the courage up to sign up for the round-robin tournament to get onto the team. Then the coach consequently forgot to put me in the lineup, and I had to muster even more courage to go ask him why. “Oh, I forgot, I’m sorry – here, I’ll have you play [name escapes me].” Turns out [name escapes me] was the literal best player on the team (and therefore had not needed to go through the round-robin either). We played a best-of-three sets match and I managed to eek out a 6-0 / 6-0 loss, surprising no-one, and resoundingly ending my budding tennis career there on the spot.

It’s a good thing Tennis, the indie-pop duo from Denver, is nothing like the tennis I know. Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley are husband and wife, and they’ve been releasing music together as Tennis for 12 years now. The phenomenal Pollen is their sixth album together, and the first one that’s resonated well enough with me to warrant repeated listening. Sometimes it just takes a while, you know?

Tennis have a shtick that may or may not work for you. Taking their album at face value, it’s full of solid pop music from start to finish. Nothing too flashy, but almost all of it catch and hummable. But then you look at their videos, such as the one above for “Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight”, or the other one released from this album, for the song “One Night with the Valet,” and it’s clear they’re totally goofing around. They’ve been doing it for their entire careers, so you’d think they’d get tired of it, but clearly not. These two videos are so fantastically bad they’re good, and that’s to say nothing of the great music featured.

Give the album a whirl. You can approach it from many sides – there’s some Chvrches in there, some Tom Tom Club, and even some Kate Bush for good measure. I know you’ll like it – and you may surprise yourself and love it enough to put it on repeat.

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#17 on the 2021 Bacon Top 31 — Chvrches

January 15, 2022 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Screen Violence by Chvrches

It’s funny when I’m surprised at how low an album appears on the Bacon Top 31. When I go through my first few listens of any new album, no matter what time of year, I start to compare its appeal to the other albums I’ve heard so far that year. A.B.C. stands for Always Be Charting, right? And when I first heard the fourth album from the phenomenal Scottish band Chvrches, I immediately thought Top 5.

The first three albums from the band have all landed in the Top 5 of the Bacon Top 31. The Bones of What You Believe, their debut, was the highest debut from any band, coming in at #4 in 2013. Their sophomore album, Every Open Eye, was my absolute favorite album of 2015. And in 2018, their third album, Love is Dead, came in a close #2, barely missing another chart topper. So of course their new album would be in contention again this year, right?

#17 isn’t a bad spot to be in at all. This doesn’t mean Screen Violence is any worse than the band’s previous three albums. Rather, it speaks to the quality of the music overall that came out in 2021. Seriously, I think 2020 forced a lot of artists to focus on songwriting, because they weren’t able to tour. Consequently, 2021 was one of the best years for music. Period.

At its core, Screen Violence is a concept album, centered around horror films. Sleep paralysis, drowning, gutting, and a song titled “Final Girl” – think Neve Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis, the last remaining person around to battle the serial killer. It’s good fodder for lyrical turns in the music, giving the band’s usual treacle a bit more edge. The king of the goths, Robert Smith, even makes an appearance. Check out his duet with Lauren Mayberry in the video for “How Not to Drown” above.

The trio is in top form. Sure, they didn’t make the Top 5 for a FOURTH time. But don’t let that stop you. If you’ve liked Chvrches at any point in their past, you’re going to like this album.

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18. Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice
19. Mainly Gestalt Pornography by Pearly Gate Music
20. Peace Or Love by Kings of Convenience
21. These 13 by Jimbo Mathus & Andrew Bird
22. Mr. Corman: Season 1 by Nathan Johnson
23. Home Video by Lucy Dacus
24. I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico by Various Artists
25. Siamese Dream by Fruit Bats
26. NINE by Sault
27. Observatory by Aeon Station
28. The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania by Damien Jurado
29. A Beginner’s Mind by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
30. Where the End Begins by Knathan Ryan
31. Private Space by Durand Jones & The Indications

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#8 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Matt Berninger

January 24, 2021 by Royal Stuart

Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger

Matt Berninger may very well be my favorite performer, ever. If you’ve been following The Bacon Review for the last 11+ years, then there’s a good chance you’d know this already, given how much prominence the lead singer of The National has been allotted over the years. Including his main band’s appearances on the Top 31 (four times: #6 2019, #4 in 2017, #3 in 2013, and #1 in 2010), his side project, El Vy (#10 in 2015), and Berninger’s appearances in other performers’ albums (such as Chvrches and CYHSY), the man has been mentioned nearly every year that the countdown has existed.

I mention this history because it plays a big part in how I listen to and quantify the new stuff he puts out. It’s not just “how does this music compare to everything else this year?” but also “where within all the music of his that I love does this rate?” Never an easy question, and it inevitably changes over time. For instance, while The National’s High Violet ranked #1 in 2010, I don’t consider it the best amongst the four albums the band has on the countdown. (That honor currently goes to 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me. Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll give you a different answer.)

Serpentine Prison, Berninger’s first true “solo album,” is a great effort. No, it’s not a National album, but it’s damn close. And I’m sure it will stick with me a lot longer than the El Vy album has. Sonically, the album sounds similar to what a National album might be if they left the bombast that comes with a lot of their songs on the shelf. Prison is soft-spoken, and because of that it doesn’t immediately hook you. It’s more of a slow burn.

This is the kind of album that feels like good background music at first, but by the middle of the album you find yourself leaning in, listening intently, and picking out the hints of the album’s collaborators. The album has a good, down to earth feel that sounds full and polished, thanks to producer Booker T. Jones. (He of Booker T. & the MG’s and a ton of collaborations from the 60s on (including Otis Redding, Willie Nelson, Rita Coolidge, Bill Withers, and Neil Young, just to name a few.) Jones plays on a few songs as well, and helped bring together a slew of other big names to participate in the making of the record, including Andrew Bird, Gail Ann Dorsey (who featured prominently on The National’s 2019 album I Am Easy to Find), Brent Knopf (Berninger’s partner in crime in El Vy), and The National’s Scott Devendorf. The song above, “Distant Axis,” is probably my favorite of the album. The video is quite fun as well.

Berninger has been keeping himself busy since the last National album in 2019. In addition to creating this solo album, he’s released a couple of new songs worth listening to that don’t appear on the album. His fantastic duet with Phoebe Bridgers, called “Walking on a String,” is from Zach Galifianakis’s feature length “Between Two Ferns,” in which Berninger and Bridgers appear in the movie Phoebe Bridgers and The Spiders from Bars, along with two members of The Walkmen. He also released a cover of Mercury Rev’s “Holes” as part of a benefit series called “7-inches for Planned Parenthood.”

Perhaps after reading all this, you agree that Berninger is worthy of the praise I heap upon him. I can understand if his baritone and delivery aren’t your cup of tea, but I don’t think it’s possible to deny his greatness. Serpentine Prison is a worthy solo debut, and I highly recommend that you pick it up as soon as possible.

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1. Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
3. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
4. folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift
5. Untitled (Black Is) + Untitled (Rise) by Sault
6. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels
7. Shore by Fleet Foxes
8. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger
9. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens
10. Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
11. Dreamland by Glass Animals
12. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.
13. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz
14. Mordechai + Texas Sun EP by Khruangbin
15. Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language
16. Free Love by Sylvan Esso
17. Miss Anthropocene by Grimes
18. 3.15.20 by Childish Gambino
19. Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM
20. The Third Mind by The Third Mind
21. Superstar by Caroline Rose
22. Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver
23. We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches
24. Ultra Mono by IDLES
25. Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.
26. Thin Mind by Wolf Parade
27. The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser
28. Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk
29. color theory by Soccer Mommy
30. Fall to Pieces by Tricky
31. Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

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#2 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Chvrches

January 30, 2019 by Royal Stuart

Love Is Dead by Chvrches

Just barely missing out on their second #1 album in a row, here’s Glasgow, Scotland’s Chvrches with their third fantastic album, Love Is Dead. Chvrches (pronounced “churches”) has been a mainstay on the Top 31 since their debut album came out in 2013 and was #4 that year. Two years later, their follow-up, Every Open Eye, was the best album of 2015. And this new album marks their third straight 4th-or-better release, a phenomenal run by any standards.

Clearly I have a bias, but dancey pop music really doesn’t get any better than Chvrches. The trio, featuring Lauren Mayberry on lead vocals, and Martin Doherty and Iain Cook on synths and additional vocals, is defining an entire genre of sound for a generation. Just looking back at the lower albums in this year’s Top 31, Chvrches fingerprints are all over. Janelle Monáe, Christine and the Queens, and Wye Oak are all producing similar sounds, and that’s just within the Top 10. But Chvrches is the best.

My family agrees. I had the immense pleasure of taking my son to his first-ever, true concert, seeing Chvrches this past September, and it was glorious. The band put on their usual amazing set, and Mayberry bounced around the stage, amping up the crowd. My son is not one for big displays of emotion in public, so catching him singing along quietly to himself during the songs he knew was a big highlight for me. And if Dirty Computer is my daughter’s favorite album ever (she’s 15 months old), then Love is Dead is definitely her 2nd favorite. You should see the smile across her face when she hears those keyboards kick on.

It really feels as if Chvrches can do no wrong. Three albums, all at or near the top of their respective years’ releases. There are some great songs on this new album. “Miracle,” shown above, is one. There are two other videos from the album: “Get Out” and “Graffiti.” Matt Berninger, lead singer of Bacon Review favorites The National, also makes an appearance, on the song “My Enemy.” That song is a result of the two bands being on the same bill at Treasure Island Music Festival back in 2015, when Mayberry joined The National on stage for their song “I Need My Girl.” I love it when the bands I love have unexpected chance encounters and then decide to make music together.

With every new Chvrches album, I think maybe they’ve hit the peak, and the next one will see them backsliding. But then the new album comes out and it’s stellar. I like this kind of trajectory, and I look forward to listening to new and great Chvrches albums for the rest of my life.

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3. Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) by Car Seat Headrest
4. Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
5. The Horizon Just Laughed by Damien Jurado
6. Chris by Christine and the Queens
7. Wanderer by Cat Power
8. Tell Me How You Really Feel by Courtney Barnett
9. The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs by Wye Oak
10. Ruins by First Aid Kit
11. Cocoa Sugar by Young Fathers
12. Loner by Caroline Rose
13. Big Red Machine by Big Red Machine
14. I’ll Be Your Girl by The Decemberists
15. The More I Sleep the Less I Dream by We Were Promised Jetpacks
16. Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES
17. Hell-On by Neko Case
18. Superorganism by Superorganism
19. Living in Extraordinary Times by James
20. Thank You for Today by Death Cab for Cutie
21. Black Panther: The Album by Kendrick Lamar
22. Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film) by Thom Yorke
23. Merrie Land by The Good, the Bad & the Queen
24. Room 25 by Noname
25. WARM by Jeff Tweedy
26. God's Favorite Customer by Father John Misty
27. Vessel by Frankie Cosmos
28. For Ever by Jungle
29. Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz
30. Remain in Light by Angélique Kidjo
31. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet by Moonface

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#19 on the 2017 Bacon Top 31

January 13, 2018 by Royal Stuart

What Now by Sylvan Esso

The album in at #19 would have fit right in on the 2015 Top 31, when Chvrches’ Every Open Eye was #1 and bands like The dø and Purity Ring were in the top 15. It was the year for indie girl-led pop. Sylvan Esso, a duo from Durham, North Carolina, are definitely in that mode. Their eponymous debut album came out in 2014, but failed to make my radar that year even though it was fairly popular (I can’t possibly hear every good album that comes out, right?).

What Now is their second album, and it is full of treacly indie pop goodness. The best song from the album, “Die Young,” is shown in the video above, but there are a number of other great songs (and videos: “The Glow,” “Radio,” and “Kick Jump Twist”) on this record. If you’ve liked any of the band names mentioned thus far, you’ll love Sylvan Esso. Beyond that, there’s not much more I can say.

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20. 50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields
21. Plunge by Fever Ray
22. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
23. Capacity by Big Thief
24. The Tourist by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
25. CCFX EP by CCFX
26. Woodstock by Portugal. The Man
27. MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent
28. On the Spot by Hot 8 Brass Band
29. A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs
30. Planetarium by Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, & James McAlister
31. A Moment Apart by Odesza

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#1 on the 2015 Bacon Top 31

December 31, 2015 by Royal Stuart

Every Open Eye by Chvrches

You could see this one coming a mile away. I’ve talked a lot about this album all year, and the Top 31 is chockablock with bands that sound just like this band. But none of them are as good as Chvrches.

You may remember them from their debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, which was #4 in 2013. I didn’t think Bones could be topped, and when I first heard Every Open Eye, I’d believed that. And then I listened to it again. And again. And again. I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop since it arrived in late September. That‘s when I knew.

Chvrches is a trio from Glasgow, Scotland. Lauren Mayberry sings lead vocals (and sometimes plays synthesizers and samplers). Iain Cook plays synthesizers (and sometimes guitar, bass, and sings backup vocals — and even lead on a couple songs). And Martin Doherty also plays synthesizers and samplers (and sings backup vocals). Strong female-led vocals on top of synthesizers; Chvrches is defining the synth-pop genre, one glorious song after another.

The video above, for “Empty Threat,” is a fun video, but it’s not the best song on the album. That would have to be “Clearest Blue,” but sadly there’s only a lyric video for that song. You can also see a video for “Leave a Trace” and a couple other lyric videos. “Clearest Blue” is the climax of this album, and demonstrates what makes this band so great. There’s nothing truly surprising about what they do. It’s derivative pop, but isn’t that what pop is all about: taking a well-defined set of tools and changing things around slightly to make it your own? That’s what Chvrches does, and they do it superbly.

I’m somewhat disappointed to say that this is only the second time a woman has topped the Bacon Top 31 in the seven years I’ve been compiling this list (Fiona Apple did it in 2012). Not only that, but I enjoyed more women-led bands in 2015 then ever before, at 10 acts. (In 2009 there were five, 2010 and 2011 just one(!), 2012 and 2013 there were six each, and last year there were nine. This is a good trend.)

While researching for this article I came across this video of Lauren Mayberry singing a duet with former #1 one band on the Top 31, The National, at this year’s Treasure Island Music Festival. Following that, there was this fun little interview between Mayberry and The National’s lead singer Matt Berninger about that performance and other lead-singer #firstworldproblems. Watch that second video and you’ll get to hear Berninger say about The National: “We are the mop bucket of indie rock,” and Mayberry about her musical ability: “I’m the emotional litmus test.” I want to have dinner with them both.

What a great year for music. It took me a while to realize that Every Open Eye deserved to be the #1 album, but after listening to it for the hundredth time, and realizing the staying power their previous album has had in my ears, it’s clear I’m going to be listening to this band well beyond the time it would be merely embarrassing for my son to admit. I look forward to being a grandpa and reminiscing about this band. Or, who knows, maybe they’ll still be producing music then, a la The Rolling Stones. Wouldn’t that be something!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the countdown as much as I have. I’m already listening to things that will be on next years countdown, but did I miss anything this year? Let me know! I always have a couple albums that I regret not having heard sooner (like the San Fermin album Jackrabbit, which I didn’t hear until a couple weeks ago). Until next year…

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2. Coming Home by Leon Bridges
3. My Love Is Cool by Wolf Alice
4. Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
5. Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett
6. I Love You, Honeybear by Father John Misty
7. Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes
8. Another Eternity by Purity Ring
9. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance by Belle and Sebastian
10. Return to the Moon by El Vy
11. Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by Lin-Manuel Miranda
12. Art Angels by Grimes
13. The Horse Comanche by Chadwick Stokes
14. Grace Love & the True Loves by Grace Love & the True Loves
15. Shake Shook Shaken by The dø
16. La Di Da Di by Battles
17. Sky City by Amason
18. What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World by The Decemberists
19. Untethered Moon by Built to Spill
20. Viet Cong by Viet Cong
21. The Magic Whip by Blur
22. Savage Hills Ballroom by Youth Lagoon
23. Not Real by Stealing Sheep
24. Beat the Champ by The Mountain Goats
25. Gliss Riffer by Dan Deacon
26. Dark Bird is Home by The Tallest Man on Earth
27. Gunnera by Pfarmers
28. Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair by Ricked Wickey
29. To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
30. Live in Seattle by Moufang / Czamanski
31. High by Royal Headache

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#4 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar

December 28, 2013 by Royal Stuart

The Bones Of What You Believe by Chvrches

There’s been a revival over the past couple years in the sounds of the 80s, and I would pin the start of this revival to the soundtrack for the 2011 movie Drive, which was a throwback itself. The highlights of that soundtrack were “Night Call” by French DJ Kavinsky and “A Real Hero” by another Frenchman, David Grellier, an electronic musician known as College.

The Bones Of What You Believe, the fantastic debut album from Chvrches, from Glasgow, Scotland, is the culmination of this revival. Synthesizers, drum machines and echo effects provide the foundation for an album steeped in the past. There is little surprise to this album, other than it is solid from start to finish. This is no one-hit wonder. Each song on the album is a hit in its own right, one worthy of only the best kind of car karaoke.

A trio, Chvrches is made up of lead singer Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty, all of whom play keyboards and drum machines throughout the album. Mayberry’s treacly vocals, dripping with emotion, fuel large swells of passionate, impossibly perfect electronic sounds. “Overly produced” doesn’t even begin to qualify when listening to this album, as it is so over the top that nothing can compare. I would normally shy away from such production, preferring the humanity in the slightly off-key vocal or guitar string, but in the hands of these three perfection is the name of the game, through and through.

Chvrches is the best new band of 2013. No band has created a debut album as powerful as this one in 2013. I got to see the band play Seattle for the first time back in September, and, concentrating on “Recover,” the song shown in the video above, I summed up their songs accordingly:

The band’s songs are amazingly catchy, and very much de riguere. Heavy keyboards driven by repetitive, synthetic drums build each song to a flurry of activity, with Mayberry’s voice imparting a sense of urgency that draws you into your headphones like a tornado. My first experience of the band was “Recover,” from the EP of the same name that was released back in March. What was most unique about the song was also what drove me most crazy. Mayberry’s droning lyric throughout the song “I’ll give you one – more – chance; to say we can change – our – old – ways; and you take – what – you – need; and you know – you – don’t – need me” is every-so-slightly off beat from the underlying synthesizers (go ahead and try to bop your head to the drum beat, rather than her lyrical beat, and the difference is painfully obvious).

While they killed the Showbox that night by playing their entire album, the highlight of their performance turned out to not be one of their songs, but a cover, which they were seemingly unprepared to play but had to for lack of any other song to play in the crowd-demanded encore:

“We only have one more song we can play. Not to be typecast as ‘the band that covers that song,’ but here it is:” a perfectly-played version of Prince and The Revolution’s “I Would Die 4 U.” (CHVRCHES has actually recorded their version of the song, which can be heard here — note the cute name change, too.) It’s almost as if the band was put together and has come so far specifically to play this song.

It’s unclear if this album will stand the test of time. It’s difficult for a band so rooted in the past to hold onto the present while avoiding the “fad” label. But for now, I’m loving it, and you will, too.

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5. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You by Neko Case
6. In Focus? by Shugo Tokumaru
7. Psychic by Darkside
8. AMOK by Atoms for Peace
9. White Lighter by Typhoon
10. Hummingbird by Local Natives
11. If You Leave by Daughter
12. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit
13. The Silver Gymnasium by Okkervil River
14. The Next Day by David Bowie
15. Reflektor by Arcade Fire
16. We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic by Foxygen
17. Lanters by Son Lux
18. Howlin’ by Jagwar Ma
19. Impersonator by Majical Cloudz
20. Dream Cave by Cloud Control
21. Mole City by Quasi
22. Phantogram by Phantogram
23. Julia With Blue Jeans On by Moonface
24. Uncanney Valley by The Dismemberment Plan
25. Event II by Deltron 3030
26. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots
27. Us Alone by Hayden
28. Pure Heroine by Lorde
29. Shaking the Habitual by The Knife
30. False Idols by Tricky
31. Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart

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November 06, 2013 by Royal Stuart

More Chvrches, this time for their song “Lies.” I haven’t done a thorough review of everything I’ve listened to in 2013 yet (that comes in December), but I said it before and I still believe it to be true: Chvrches = best new band of 2013.

August 19, 2013 by Royal Stuart

If Chvrches’ forthcoming debut album The Bones of What You Believe (due out Sept. 23) is simply the sum of their previous EP Recover and this new song, “The Mother We Share,” I think I’d still be overjoyed.

This album is gonna blow your socks off.