2021's League of Their Own Pick
It is that time of the year again, our favorite time actually, as we look back on the year in music and select the 10 best albums of the year.
10) Black Midi - Cavalcade
9) One Trick Phony - V
8) BLK JKS - Abantu / Before Humans
7) Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
6) Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
5) Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
4) Shame - Drunk Tank Pink
3) Viagra Boys - Welfare Jazz
2) J. Cole - The Off-Season
1) Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
See 2021's Honorable Album Mentions
10) Black Midi - Cavalcade
After shocking audiences around the world with their 2019 debut, the four English young men return with a much tighter, intricate and often times mature album of mind bending speeds, sounds, and brutality. It is a record will have indie fans looking into metal and metal fans looking into indie music.
9) One Trick Phony - V
One Trick Phony is the best band you have not heard. Starting in 2020, One Trick Phony mastermind Dave Blanchard created five albums since the start of quarantine. All of those records were different from one another but all led up to the culmination of V, his best and most insightful work. The album is a film score set to the soundtrack of your current life. Each song is an escape to a montage of various times in your life as you try and push for a better tomorrow.
8) BLK JKS - Abantu / Before Humans
One of the most exciting bands to ever emerge from South Africa returns for the first time in over a decade with the long awaited Abantu / Before Humans. Their sophomore record picks up where their fantastic debut, After Robots, left off but ushers us into a new era of their musical world that combines rock, funk, jazz, traditional South African styles and even at points metal. This is more than just a record but a universal offering leaving us in hopes that it doesn't take over another decade for new music.
7) Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
Tyler comes of age in his best album since his emphatic debut a decade ago. Call Me If You Get Lost is the most candid, most open, and most powerful look inside the mind of one of the biggest creative forces in music today. With production contributions from Jamie xx, and lyrical collaborations with Pharrell, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne and Domo Genesis, this album packs a serious punch and makes us look forward to what is in store next.
6) Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
The British quartet had one of the best videos of the decade thanks to "Scratch Card Lanyard," but their debut proved they were much more than just innovative video creators with a catchy tune. New Long Leg is a very cool, very slick talk rock record that feels like you are in the coolest London or Manchester pub listening to a band that is about to do some really interesting things.
5) Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
Halsey is mainly known for pop hooks and chart topping tunes so when a collaboration album with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross turned up this year, it was unexpected for everyone. The record is not only Halsey's finest hour but is a force of power that makes you wonder if this is what Trent was trying to do with How to Destroy Angels or is this where he wants to shift the focus of NIN, with powerful vocals and storylines that are not from him. What an absolute tour de force that was easily the most exciting and unexpected record of the year.
4) Shame - Drunk Tank Pink
Punk in 2021 was a different thing but Shame brought out the best in it and had us bouncing in apartments, homes, and our own spaces waiting for live music to return. Drunk Tank Pink is an in your face, unforgiving, unapologetic smack in the head we all need.
3) Viagra Boys - Welfare Jazz
The Swedish punks returned with their finest album which contained a mix of raw power, country music, and even folk mixed together to show the world that being left of center is much more than just tattoos and attitude, it is a way of life. One hell of a record that only left us exhausted but hitting the replay button again and again.
2) J. Cole - The Off-Season
One of this generations greatest emcees returned with a powerful record that is rumored to be his last and if it is, J. Cole goes out on a high note. The Off-Season is the rare record that features other folks on tracks but also is him going full court press to the doubters that he is and was the real deal. An aggressive rap record with a lot of heart, if Rocky was an emcee, this would be the result.
1) Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
Deafheaven are known for their brutal screaming, black metal influence and sounds, pulse pounding drums, breakneck rhythms but what happens when they put most of that away? The result is a record that lives in the ethos of great bands like Depeche Mode, Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Nitzer Ebb, among others. It is a cross between goth and new wave as well as industrial while giving fans a mature outlook as to what this band can do when they expand their minds, chops, and creativity. The most surprisingly and powerful record of 2021 might also be the most polarizing but that is what also makes it so damn intriguing and leaves you wanting to hear it again.