10. DRAIN - Living Proof
Independence ultimately lies at the root of hardcore, that concept runs through the veins of ‘Living Proof’– from the ode to sobriety “FTS (KYS)”, where chainsaw guitars and a brawling rhythm section battle against vocalist Sammy’s rousing roars to reinvent yourself and “kill all the parts that you don’t love”, to the record standout “Imposter”.
Opening with a quote that “imitation is the lowest form of flattery”, ‘Imposter’ points its crosshairs at the fakes and posers in a scene rife with hangers-on and people wanting to get involved because hardcore is cool right now. This mentality is the antithesis to DRAIN, and you can almost taste the undiluted rage oozing out of the band, as Sammy seethes, “I’ll never fucking respect you’ to those who "try too hard to be something you’re not.”
Paying homage to the bands that came before, DRAIN deliver a fairly faithful cover of Descendents’ “Good Good Things” amongst their cathartic cacophony, but they too look to the current blending of hardcore and hip-hop culture by introducing rapper Shakewell on “Intermission”. Such dexterity within and admiration for the genre they inhabit sets DRAIN apart from the ever-growing pack, and ‘Living Proof’ might just be the best record yet to spawn from a scene that still hasn’t hit its peak.
There might be other thrash records this year that blow up and hardcore records that kick doors in, but this is the perhaps the thrash and hardcore record of the year.
9. Les Imprimes - Rêverie
‘Rêverie’ is immediately captivating yet is in no rush to impress anyone but the man behind the music Martens was able to create infectious tunes without forcing them to be anything but a beautifully produced take on modern soul. There is effortless energy that flows through these songs and their light-hearted nature creates an easy listening experience that is still able to pinpoint an emotion and explore it with a gentle touch.
The many layers of love are explored throughout as Martens pens moving poetry centered around his personal experiences. The lyrics double as an anchor for the otherworldly arrangements that play like a lost balloon floating into the atmosphere. This middle ground of daydreams and reality create a perfect playground for Les Imprimés debut as the artist wastes no time establishing the tone of his debut.
‘Les Imprimés’ is a mystical roller coaster through the colourful world of Morten and his first outing as a frontman proves his musical talents without being arrogant. His subtle approach to his art makes for intimate soul music that constantly reverts to a heartfelt message while keeping things interesting through sugary arrangements that swell and de-escalate like a long-term relationship.
8. JPEGMAFIAxDanny Brown - Scaring the Hoes
This is a collab we’ve been waiting quite some time for. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are two artists in the rap game that bring their own originality into the genre. Both are obscure musicians that revel in their oddities. Whether it’s JPEG’s brand of experimental rap or Danny’s distinctive nasally voice, these two are certainly an acquired taste.
‘Scaring The Hoes’ is a solid collaboration between JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown. With JPEG’s eccentric production and the lyricism/flow from both artists, this album sets the foundation for future collaborations to follow between the two. The album excels in its unconventional use of sampling and beats, with verses that equally match.
Opener "LEAN BEEF PATTY" is a no-holds-barred introduction. Every single note feels tweaked to bleeding point, a sonic assault framed by chirruping electronics and a square-wave bassline worthy of 2002 era grime. The stuttering beat on "STEPPA PIG" brings out an unruly performance from Danny Brown, sheer punk rock in its outlaw bravado. Title cut "SCARING THE HOES" is brutally simplistic, swapping dense electronics for a rhythm section built around hand claps.
While some of the songs may take once or twice to get the full experience of (or hear Brown’s verse whatsoever), ‘Scaring the Hoes’ is still a fantastic album, and may perhaps form the blueprint for collaborations that has seen some stagnation in recent years.
7. Say She She - Silver
Firstly, there’s an echo of original disco pioneers Chic, whose effortlessly funky, sleek spector hangs over ‘Silver’, even when the album ventures from outright disco grooves like "C’est si Bon" towards pillowy soul, slow-burn incantations, and psychedelic space-disco the album has a way drawing the listener into every perfectly formulated groove.
Secondly, ‘Silver’ is infused with a righteous but ultimately positive political anger against forces of regression that are trying to turn back the clock to the dark ages when people (especially women) were supposed to know their place: "Don’t mind your manners / Throw a spanner in the works!", as the trio chant during the high-octane funk of 'Questions', one of the album’s many highpoints. It’s hard to think of a more entertaining yet still determined musical stand against gender-based condescension and barriers in the workplace than the positively levitating stop/start strut of "Entry Level".
‘Silver’ is hardly a direct disco homage or a plain political broadside, however: backed by members of Los Angeles cult funkateers Orgone, this trio’s second album is above all a celebratory demonstration of real musical imagination and scope, echoing such past notables as Liquid Liquid, ESG, and Tom Tom Club in how oft-visited strands of rhythm-forward music – rooted in funk, soul and disco – are successfully moulded in the band’s own, unique image.
6. Home Is Where - the whaler
Like the best moments on any Neutral Milk Hotel album—or, frankly, any emo album worth a damn—the whaler excels when it feels like Home Is Where are at its slipperiest as a band, conjuring something capable of breaking beyond a simple genre signifier.
The record’s opening run is its strongest showcase of this: "skin meadow" acts as a continuation of the power chord-heavy roar that made 'i became birds' an instant cult favorite, morphing its abstract title into an unexpectedly bracing singalong.
Things take a turn for the downcast on “lily pad pupils,” with a languid combination of banjo and pedal steel gradually boiling over into MacDonald’s gnarled screams. In its patience and command of dynamics, it might be Home Is Where’s best track to date, condensing their unpredictable appeal into a miniature cataclysm.
As if refusing to stay in one place too long, “yes! yes! a thousand times yes!” flips the mood once again, its buoyant emo riff on “Soak Up The Sun” dissolving as MacDonald’s narrative grows colder and loveless. The album is an exceptional demonstration of Home Is Where’s virtuosic flexibility.
5. Kool Keith - Serpent
The first new album of genuine substance from Keith in quite some time, 'Serpent' stands apart from his previous pay-to-play output. One can’t ever fault him from cashing checks that others willingly write, but in fairness his slightly bloated discography doesn’t always provide the same value for money to his eager and, generally, over-forgiving fanbase. Regardless of some previous misteps, he is extremely well served on ‘Serpent’ by Real Bad Man, a curatorial producer muscling his way into the center of indie hip-hop lately.
With Real Bad Man boasting whole album joints opposite the likes of Boldy James and Pink Siifu, not to mention compilations that bring similarly dope rappers into his sonic space, he clearly recognized the opportunity he was presented with here and acted accordingly. Who else would’ve had the courage to give Keith something so Griseldan as “Fire And Ice” to spit over.
In an very unsubtle nod to Dan The Automator’s gleeful sampling services, Serpent excels largely because of its musical diversity, which in turn allows Keith to showcase his multifaceted and multidimensional skills as the moment requires. “Jungle Fever” comes off as ruthless as anything off 2000’s scathing Matthew set, as does the triumphant yet perverse “The Great Marlowe.” Amid ebulliently-called play-by-plays from no less than Analog Brother Ice-T himself, he revives several of his best known pseudonyms (and a less-cited one too) on the lyrical donnybrook “Battle”.
4. boygenius - The Record
There’s a power in simplicity, a force in stripping back the noise of the world around us to shine a light on the beauty that surrounds us. It’s in this simplicity that boygenius, the collaboration between three of indie/folk’s most powerful voices of recent years, set us on our journey with them. Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus, quite possibly three of the best modern songwriters in their genres, prove that together they are able to lift one another higher and create something truly special.
This seamless 12-track album is divided evenly between the three singers; each takes lead on four songs, with the other two providing auxiliary verses, harmonies, or both. Never does one perspective overstep its bounds, even as ‘The Record’ manages to showcase each members’ distinct approaches: the crunching soft-punk of Baker exploring the delicate, emo-informed devastations of Bridgers’, and Dacus’ hyper-specific sense of nostalgia.
boygenius have released an incredibly detailed record, rich with lyrical content fueled by its members love in their lives, and the want to feel love and to be loved; whether that be romantic or platonic. ‘The Record’ is a truly beautiful one, and the love that each member has for one another is as plain as day. Calls and demands answered, boygenius has given the world an album for the ages.
3. Algiers - Shook
Algiers’ politics are not subtle: For starters, they draw their name from a place once at the heart of anti-colonial struggle. The Atlanta band’s lyrics are staunchly anti-capitalist, fueled by the righteous anger of people who know exactly how we got here and who’s to blame. Moreover, frontperson Franklin James Fisher is hyper-aware of his place as a Black frontman in a white industry—and of how the band’s values inform the way they’re perceived.
While their debut was tight and focused, the group has sometimes buckled under the weight of their own bombast, hunched like Atlas as they carry a burden so great it threatens to crush them. But 'Shook', while characteristically dark and deadly serious, feels different. It’s a record built around community, evidenced by the way the struggle is shared with like-minded peers, it feels lighter. So does the music.
'Shook' is an astonishing achievement, particularly given that it was created by a band on the verge of breaking up. They have described it as “the most Algiers record that we’ve ever made”. Perhaps it was the sense of crisis, the proximity of it all falling apart, that drove them to make something that is so true to themselves. It is certainly their most accomplished record to date.
A big album in every sense; confident, eclectic, and ambitious it has the power to hold the listener enrapt throughout its fifty-five minutes, and at the end of it all you will be punchdrunk; giddy with the sheer thrill of it all. But y’know what: like the very best thrill rides, as soon it finishes you will be desperate to go again.
2. Militarie Gun - Life Under the Gun
Militarie Gun alternate between ruthless hardcore punk and the alt-rock undercurrent of post-hardcore, a logical outcome of the members’ previous bands, but the lights are on and Militarie Gun is home.
The album opens well with “Do It Faster”, a song containing riffs from guitarists Nick Cogan and William Acuña that are simultaneously chiming and chunky. This jangly but muscular playing style continues through “My Friends Are Having a Hard Time”, a song on which vocalist Ian Shelton’s vocal style takes on a particularly affecting quality as he sings plaintively, “I cried all the time / Now it happens / Now it happens in mine / Wondering when I’ll be just fine.”
The guitar work is especially solid on the great “Think Less”, a song on which you can hear the experience Cogan has accrued in post-hardcore greats Drug Church. The solid riffs of ‘Life Under The Gun’ return on “Sway Too".
Militarie Gun’s aim of fusing the melodies and jangly guitar sounds of Shelton’s songwriting influences like Guided By Voices and The Beatles with the punchiness and energy of the hardcore punk scene in which they honed their playing styles is an admirable and surprising one.
It’s very hard to feel bad throughout ‘Life Under the Gun’ and its 29 minutes of scream toting angst. There’s joy and freedom in the 12 songs, much as there was in so many of the most angst-ridden alt-rock anthems of the ’90s—many of the creators of which were influenced in large part by the early hardcore greats.
1. CASISDEAD - Famous Last Words
From the very first track, ‘Famous Last Words’ establishes an atmosphere of gritty introspection. Casisdead's signature deep, gravelly voice weaves tales of life's complexities, taking the listener on a rollercoaster of emotions. The production is a masterclass in creating atmosphere; each beat feels meticulously crafted to complement the raw, unfiltered narratives.
In terms of features, we’ve got appearances from Connie Constance, Kamio, and the one that had everyone talking about when it was announced, Pet Shop Boys star Neil Tennant. Piecing it all together, he’s also roped in old friends Ed Skrein and Emma Rigby to provide the narrative.
On the production side, MSM and Johnny Jewel oversee the bulk of the track’s production, with credits also going to Stranger Things composer Kyle Dixon, Chase & Status, Felix Joseph, Cyrus, Mark Ralph, Paul Wale, Joe Brown, Dora Jar, Peter Byrne, Rob Fisher, Chris d’Eon and Nat Walker.
Casisdead may have kept fans waiting for a decade, but ‘Famous Last Words’ does not disappoint. This is the best of the year’s most compelling and engrossing albums - not just in UK rap, but in British music in general.
In conclusion, ‘Famous Last Words’ is a testament to Casisdead's unwavering commitment to his craft. It's a bold exploration of the human condition, wrapped in a sonic landscape that pushes the boundaries of contemporary hip-hop. For those willing to embark on a journey into the depths of Casisdead's mind, ‘Famous Last Words’ is a rewarding and thought-provoking experience.
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