Ten Albums From 2023 You Otter Know
(once again even though no one asked)
This is Ottavia Paluch and you’re reading Things You Otter Know. Open this email in your browser to read it in full.
Below I give you ten of my favourite albums of the year in no particular order. I couldn’t get anything out in time last week because of finals so I’m sending it over now.
Like I said last time, I didn’t listen to a ton of new music this year. (I’ll try to be more on top of things in 2024, but I say that every year.)
I’ll do my best to highlight albums in around 200 words, idk, I didn’t count much, sue me.
You’ll recognize some names, but I hope there’s something new here that makes the rest of your year a little better. So no 2023 TIME Person of the Year Taylor Swift because we’ve talked about her loads already.
Also! Please don’t yell about me over albums I missed. I’m sure it was a great album, I just forgot it existed.
Foo Fighters: But Here We Are [stream]
Foo Fighters were the first band I ever loved, so it feels apt to put them first on this list. As a kid I saw them do “Everlong” on Letterman’s final show, and the rest was history. Dave Grohl’s best songs remind you how great of a guy he is in real life, full of heart and with great stories to share. But after both long-time Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins and Grohl’s mother Virginia passed away last year, I figured he and the band were over. It says so much about Grohl’s passion for music that he decided to write an album exploring the heaviness of his grief with an equal amount of sonic heaviness—and then he decided to share it with us. It’s honestly remarkable that But Here We Are even exists. You could argue that there isn’t a single filler song on this thing, a rarity in Foos land. It still sounds like them, but it’s far more vulnerable, ambitious, just plain better than anything they’ve made since 2011’s Wasting Light. Grohl and co. put their full hearts and souls into this thing. I’m so proud of them.
(By the way, a Song Exploder episode with Dave came out the other day where he opens up about a lot of the above, and it’s probably the best podcast episode I’ve heard this year. Definitely give it a listen.)
Fireworks: Higher Lonely Power [stream]
Mentioned it last week, but this album dropped on New Year’s Day and I’ve been streaming it all year long. Higher Lonely Power has serious staying power, as do Fireworks themselves. They’ve been around the pop-punk scene for a good while but prior to this they hadn’t dropped an album since 2014. You can hear significant growth in both their sound and just general maturity. It kinda recalls (and I hate to make this comparison given the circumstances, but) Daisy-era Br*nd N*w. Or even Sister Cities by the Wonder Years. That kinda embracing of the darkness, while also acknowledging by the end of it that there is light to be found in the world. The opener and closer of this album—man. Both are so incredible, but in different ways. And there’s so much to love in between those two bookends as well. This record isn’t afraid to inject a little weird experimentation into otherwise straightforward, straight-up bangers, something that I wish more pop-punk bands did. If only they played more shows. I’d really love to go see a Fireworks show in 2024. (Not the 4th of July kind. Let’s not kid ourselves.)
Liquid Mike: self-titled [stream]
Right off the bat I must acknowledge what a great name “Liquid Mike” is for a band. Liquid frickin’ Mike, man! I had never heard of these Michigan guys until this year and neither had you or anyone you knew until this one dude (Keegan Bradford of Camp Trash, another very good band) posted about this album on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) and said something along the lines of you need to listen to this thing…and when a Tweet is worded that strongly you feel the need to obey it. So I listened, and I wasn’t disappointed. I subsequently forgot about it entirely for, like, two months. When I finally came back to it, I kid you not, I caught myself humming along to guitar hooks found on songs like “American Record” and “Rav4”. Again: I had only heard these songs once before. That’s how catchy this record is. It’s also only 18 minutes long, so there’s no excuse for you to not listen to this thing. Do you like Weezer or Joyce Manor? You’ll love Liquid Mike. Oh, and they have another album out in February! Can’t wait for that.
Initiate: Cerebral Circus [stream]
Easily the heaviest album on this list, so stay away, snowflakes. Tom Breihan (one of my favourite writers in any genre, he’s fantastic) writes a monthly hardcore column for Stereogum, which is how I found out about Cerebral Circus. It packs a mighty punch into 22 minutes. And yet there’s something weirdly accessible about it even though it is like totally 100% hardcore. Or, more specifically, old-school hardcore for a newer generation. This thing’s got hooks for days. What springs to mind for me immediately is the “SHE CALLS OUT!” in “Alone at the Bottom,” and this kickass high-pitched guitar line in “Fool”. Initiate’s vocalist, whoever they are, is SO good at their job. Every time they open their mouth it sounds as if they’re being attacked by a swarm of bees. Terrible situation, I know, but I mean it as a compliment. There were a ton of great hardcore and post-hardcore records out this year, but this one took the cake for me.
Squirrel Flower: Tomorrow’s Fire [stream]
It feels lazy to lump Squirrel Flower in with the many other incredible female indie stars in orbit right now. But if you’re into the music that either of those artists make, then you will probably be into Tomorrow’s Fire. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules. Maybe you’re like me and you found Boygenius’s highly anticipated debut album kind of mid. Or maybe you were looking for a new album to turn to after Soccer Mommy dropped one of the best albums of last year (Sometimes, Forever—unreal). Tomorrow’s Fire fills both of those voids and then some. I touched on this last time, but the guitar sounds on this album… Christ, I just want to throw out every pretty adjective possible to describe them. Mystical. Reverb-laden. Gorgeous. And then you listen to the beauty of her voice, the way she makes these incredibly sharp lyrics sound even more pleading and confident, and you’re just taken over. You hear her sing, “Doing my best is a full-time job / But it doesn’t pay the rent” on “Full-Time Job,” and you’re like oh my god, so true, so real. She just gets it.
Blondshell: Blondshell [stream]
Sabrina Teitelbaum makes music under the name Blondshell, which is a very L.A. name. She is in fact based in L.A. This self-titled debut album of hers really sounds like L.A. (I say this with my full chest. I’ve never been to L.A.) I heard about Blondshell on a music site (was it Stereogum or Paste?) and after listening to her for the first time I was like, “Woah.” It turned out she was playing a show in Toronto the following day at the Garrison (great little venue in Trinity-Bellwoods). I was downtown that day for a different thing but almost ditched it to watch her play this album front-to-back. It is that good. She is that good. Blondshell rocks in a very 90s-alternative way, but it also feels like an album that could only be released in 2023. The no-holds barred feel of this thing. How lyrics to knockout songs like “Veronica Mars,” “Kiss City,” and “Joiner” have such a unique perspective and yet feel penetratingly relatable to a wide audience. Blondshell’s like if Courtney Love was born in Gen Z and wasn’t a piece of garbage. She'll be huge one day. You heard it here first thousandth.
Softcult: See You In The Dark (EP) [stream]
The only EP on this list for some reason, but I’ve been a Softcult fan since basically day 1. Kitchener, Ontario twins Mercedes and Phoenix Arm-Horn once had an electro-pop, sorta The 1975-sounding band called Courage My Love. Maybe you know them. They gained a fair bit of traction both here in Canada and abroad, but were signed to a major label that often forced them to write, record, and tour songs the Arm-Horns didn’t believe in, that were meant for radio instead of for themselves. Softcult is a total 180 on all of that. The twins now have full creative control and freedom. Their sound, their aesthetic, their outspokenness, even their marketing strategy—all of it has clicked with me since the day their first EP came out. And that first EP is still their best, I really hope you check it out. See You In The Dark is actually their 3rd EP, another evolution of the shoegaze-grunge-indie-alt-pop melange that made up their first 2 EPs. I recommend this band to everyone I know, no matter what they’re into. Hope you dig ‘em.
Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan [stream]
Country has always felt hit-or-miss to me. Obviously Taylor’s old stuff is great. I love Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, and especially Eric Church. (2015’s Mr. Misunderstood is probably my favourite country album ever.) But then there are so many artists I just straight-up despise. I think if Morgan Wallen made your Spotify Wrapped, you should consider redoing your entire life over. Thankfully, Zach Bryan is so not Morgan Wallen. Zach’s a fantastic songwriter and he seems like a humble, caring dude who’s handling his newfound megafame like a champ. I’m incredibly inspired seeing an album like this dominating the charts. He manages to express “I love you” and “I’m sorry” and “I miss you” in a million different ways that are all his own. Yet it’s also his approach to delivering those heartbreakers that wrecks me. The raw pain he sings with stings you, stays with you somehow. You hear his voice breaking midway through a stunner like “Jake’s Piano - Long Island” and wish you could hug him. He’s just 27. Who knows how many classics he has left in him.
Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS [stream]
I’m still jealous Olivia Rodrigo is seven months older than me. She’s written many great songs about being a Gen Z kid, mainly growing up and falling in love in the digital age. None of her peers have done it as good as she has. Her ascent to the top of pop was scary quick. You worried she wouldn’t be able to top the critical or commercial successes much of 2021’s SOUR reached. That she would enter a sophomore slump. That she and producer Dan Nigro wouldn't be able to recapture lightning in a bottle, regain their hold over the zeitgeist. Unless you are a lowlife on stan Twitter emptily hating on her to start drama, it is safe to say none of those things have happened. In fact, Rodrigo has only gotten better. Her piano-led songs feel more high-stakes (“vampire,” “making the bed,”) her alt-rock bangers go incredibly hard (“all-american bitch,” “bad idea right?") and she’s becoming more playful and confident (“ballad of a homeschooled girl,” “get him back!”). Top 40 is far more palatable with her in heavy rotation.
Mitski: The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We [stream]
I already complained about this earlier in the year but I’m going to complain again. I had entered the ticket lottery to see Mitski play the Trinity-St. Paul's United Church in Toronto. I somehow won a ticket but I couldn’t go. Oh, and when I listed my seat on Ticketmaster it got snatched in 30 seconds. But get this. At this October 29th church show, SHE PLAYED THE ENTIRELY OF THIS ALBUM FRONT-TO-BACK. Don’t believe me? Look at setlist.fm. Dude. Imagine being in that tiny, anointed little room while she hums “My Love Mine All Mine” or goes for broke vocally in a song like “I Don’t Like My Mind”. Talk about a literal religious experience. I’ve never been taken aback by an album of hers the way I was with this one. What honesty and beauty she’s gifted us. No two Mitski albums sound alike, but ditching the synths for a choir and orchestra was an incredibly risky decision that seems to have paid off in dividends. It really is proof that she can take her listeners in any musical direction she wants without leading us astray. Who needs God when you’ve got Mitski?
Happy Holidays, Otters! I’ll be back sometime next week to wrap up the year and then who the hell knows. Go get some rest. Lord knows you need a break from me.