I’ve put off this list long enough. So without further ado, here are my favourite albums of 2022.
Don’t forget to check out my favourite tracks of the year
and my least favourite tracks if you love end-of-year lists!
20 – 11
20. It’s Not Comfortable To Grow - Plastic
Mermaids
This psyched-out indie rock album from UK band Plastic
Mermaids is full of fun and creative indie anthems. It probably would be higher
in this list if I hadn’t discovered it so late!
Favourite tracks: ‘It’s Pretty Bad’, ‘Disco Wings’
19. Ramona Park Broke My Heart – Vince Staples
Long Beach rapper Vince Staples contrasts bright summery
g-funk beats with melancholy lyrics about stolen youth and gang culture on his
fifth album.
Favourite tracks: ‘Magic’, ‘When Sparks Fly’
18. Horseshit on Route 66 – The Garden
The Garden fine-tune their lo-fi dirty-pint-mixture of punk
rock and harsh electronica while throwing in some horror themes. It’s challengingly
abrasive and noisy, but also entertainingly playful.
Favourite tracks: ‘Freight Yard’, ‘Orange County Punk Rock Legend’
17. Louie – Kenny Beats
Originally intended as a private gift to the producer’s ailing
dad, this selection of woozy and rough hip hop beats is hypnotic stuff – I’m so
glad he decided to share it with the world.
Favourite tracks: ‘The Perch’, ‘Hot Hand’
16. Component System With The Auto Reverse – Open Mike
Eagle
42-year old rapper Open Mike Eagle gets reflective over some
rugged boom bap beats. Both the introspective bars and nostalgic production is
top notch.
Favourite tracks: ‘I’ll Fight You’, ‘Burner Account’
15. Renaissance – Beyonce
I’ve never been a huge Bey fan, but this gauntlet of raunchy
dance-pop jams is so fun that I’ve been won over. Take me to the Beyhive.
Favourite tracks: ‘Church Girl’, ‘Pure/Honey’
14. Super Champon - Otoboke Beaver
Kyoto all-female punk band Otoboke Beaver deliver this
absolutely berserk album featuring hyper-speed guitar riffs, whiplash-inducing transitions
and provocative chanted/screeched vocals.
Favourite tracks: ‘Yakitori’, ‘Pardon?’
13. Famously Alive – Guerilla Toss
The Boston art rock band deliver a selection of
life-affirming pop tracks. They feel much more melodic and sugary than the band’s
previous work, while still sporting a chaotic edge.
Favourite tracks: ‘Famously Alive’, ‘Live Exponential’
12. Malign Hex – Meat Wave
Brilliantly-named Chicago punk band Meat Wave deliver this
loud and angry album. Each track plays out like a raw outpouring of frustration.
Favourite tracks: ‘Honest Living’, ‘What Would You Like Me To Do’
11. Dawn FM – The Weeknd
Taking the form of a purgatory-based synthpop radio station,
The Weeknd’s latest album is his most conceptual, while also containing some of
his most infectious tunes.
Favourite tracks: ‘Take My Breath’, ‘Best Friends’
10 - 1
10. Ants From Up There - Black Country New Road
UK art rock band Black Country New Road tame down their
unhinged side on their second (and possibly final) album, instead honing their
songwriting and exploring a less guitar-centric sound that doesn’t sound like
any other band out there.
Favourite tracks: ‘Chaos Space Marine’, ‘Good Will Hunting’,
‘Snow Globes’
9. Stumpwork – Dry Cleaning
Alternating between hilarious and profound, Florence Shaw’s deadpan
spoken word poetry continues to be just as entertaining as on the post punk band’s
debut. The instrumentation meanwhile
feels a lot more varied, helping to make the band all the more unique.
Favourite tracks: ‘Anna Calls From The Arctic’, ‘Hot Penny Day’, ‘Don’t Press Me’
8. Few Good Things – Saba
Chicago rapper Saba continues to refine his soulful style of
hip hop, taking a more energetic direction and throwing some super-catchy choruses
into the mix. The To Pimp A Butterfly influence is obvious, but the
rapping is still very unique.
Favourite tracks: ‘Fearmonger’, ‘Come My Way’, ‘Few Good Things’
7. Melt My Eyez See Your Future - Denzel Curry
Over some of the most stylistically diverse beats of his
career, Florida rapper Denzel Curry takes a less aggressive and more introspective
approach on this album. His flow continues to be one of the most playful of any
rapper in the game.
Favourite tracks: ‘Walkin’, ‘Ain’t No Way’, ‘Zatoichi’
6. Blue Rev – Alvvays
Canadian indie pop band Alvvays branch out into dreampop and
shoegaze on this new album – delivering a selection of songs that are both catchy
and very atmospheric. There’s a sad sense of longing and regret in all of these
songs that’s amplified by the hazy production.
Favourite tracks: ‘Pharmacist’, ‘Very Online Guy’, ‘Tile By Tile’
5. NOT TiGHT – Domi & JD Beck
Don’t believe the album title. It’s incredible how rhythmically-tight
this American-French jazz duo sound. They also deliver some really quirky chord
sequences and the mix of urban vocal guests keeps the album feeling modern.
Favourite tracks: ‘U Don’t Have To Rob Me’, ‘Moon’, ‘Take A Chance’
4. Hellfire – black midi
Hellfire is a theatrical and zany art rock album
centred around death. Geordie Greep and Cameron Picton deliver some of their
nuttiest vocals yet as they tell the tales of various eccentric characters. The
musicianship is meanwhile some of the most impressive on any album this year.
Favourite tracks: ‘Sugar/Tzu’, ‘Welcome To Hell’, '27 Questions’
3. God’s Country - Chat Pile
I don’t think I’ve listened to a rock album this terrifying
in a while. The band’s vocalist, Raygun Busch, delivers a mix of tortured spoken
word and pained screaming, while covering an array of dark subject matter ranging
from the horrors of homelessness to a nightmarish trip involving McDonald’s
mascot Grimace. This is all accompanied by pummelling drums and sludgy riffs. It’s
frightening, but it also has just right amount of humour and headbangability to
keep it fun.
Favourite tracks: ‘Slaughterhouse’, ‘Why’, ‘grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg’
2. Mr Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar
The rapper’s first album in five years was definitely worth
the wait! It’s a deliberately uncomfortable album that takes a lot of risks –
and I can see why it’s not been everyone’s cup of tea - but I personally love
it for how willing it is to push boundaries. It’s also loaded with hook and
some insane production, which gives it a surprising amount of replay value for
a double album. I think some fans wanted a more mainstream DAMN-like
project, but this more adventurous album was exactly what I wanted.
Favourite tracks: ‘United in Grief’, ‘We Cry Together’, ‘Savior’
1. I Love You Jennifer B – Jockstrap
UK duo Jockstrap’s experimental debut is a true roller-coaster
of a listen. It not only plays around with every music genre under the sun, but
also takes these genres to places you’d never imagined. The lyrics are an array
of bonkers and twisted sexual encounters, sung in a hypnotic whisper-sung
delivery atop chaotic instrumentals that shift direction at a moment’s notice. The
level of detail is impressive, and yet the music feels fun rather than
laboured. I’m truly excited to see where these guys go next.
Favourite tracks: ‘Greatest Hits’, ‘Concrete Over Water’, ‘50/50’