Ken's Best of 2021 - #7: Lucy Dacus - Home Video

Three years ago Lucy Dacus' Historian was my #1 album of the year, so I obviously heavily anticipated its follow up. Home Video comes in at #7 for me this year. The new album leans a little bit more towards the pop side of things than Dacus' previous albums did, but there is still a lot of her indie roots shining through on this one. Right from the album's opener, "Hot & Heavy," you know that this is going to be different. It's a dance song, but with an oddly hypnotic quality. There are also some gorgeous and powerful ballads on Home Video, especially "Christine" and the stunningly captivating "Thumbs." This album has catapulted Lucy Dacus from mid-sized clubs to much larger clubs and small theaters, and I'm willing to bet by the end of the summer she'll be headlining smaller amphitheaters. And very deservingly so.

Songs of note: "Hot & Heavy," "Cartwheel," "Thumbs," and "Brando"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #7: Nell and the Flaming Lips - Where the Viaduct Looms

I've never really been able to get into Nick Cave, but Nell Smith and The Flaming Lips changed that for me.

Nell Smith is a 14-year-old Flaming Lips fan, while "She Don't Use Jelly" was 14 years old when Nell Smith was born. She somehow struck up a friendship with Wayne Coyne, he sent her some Cave records, and they collaborated on this masterpiece. Nell Smith brings a unique, measured perspective to these songs, and The Flaming Lips do their thing to it and turn nine songs you've heard before into something fresh and different.

Granted, I think four or five different versions of "Red Right Hand" have dropped in recent years, slightly fewer versions of "The Ship Song" (a highlight here), and yet these feel both new and different while still keeping the haunting feel of the originals. That's difficult to do for any covers album, never mind accomplish at age 14 in a remote collaboration. This is just golden, and I'm glad it exists.

Songs of note: "The Ship Song," "Red Right Hand," "Weeping Song," "Into My Arms"

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - "No Mistakes"

Photo by Chad Cochran

Last month we brought you "Talkin' to Myself" from Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, describing it sounding like early Tom Petty. It was more of a classic rock sound with some elements of country and New Wave. (You know... like Tom Petty.) Their follow up release brings back the country with a vengeance. If anything, "No Mistakes" might be the most country song that Sarah Shook & the Disarmers have ever released. This is the country from your youth, the kind your dad made you listen to on long drives. It sounds more like someone trying to update a Johnny Cash classic in the 1970's than anything released in this century. If that appeals to you, you're probably already a fan of this band. If you're not already, welcome to the bandwagon! You're gonna love it here.

You can watch the video for "No Mistakes" below. Nightroamer is due out February 18 on Thirty Tigers. You can pre-order the album here. For more on Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, check out the artist's website.

Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno - "Sanctuary Song"

I absolutely loved Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno's self-titled album from earlier this year. It breaks my heart that it didn't quite make my top 10, but it would be my # 11 or 12, easily. The duo have released an incredible and powerful new single. "Sanctuary Song" is about the death of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramirez, and his daughter Valeria in the Rio Grande along the US/Mexico border. The song was written by Richard Fortmann, who invited Leva and Calgano to record their own version for the Sanctuary Song project. The song tells the tragic story of their deaths. The fact that the song is so beautiful makes the story even more haunting and heartbreaking.

Riley Calcagno says of the story behind the song:

“Óscar and Valeria were ultimately the tragic casualties of American interventionism that has created widespread displacement and hardship through its military and capital occupations. What Óscar and Valeria found at the end of a long journey was the other side of the American system: strict and inhumane border control policies and actions that blatantly favor the death of migrants over their pursuit of a life in the US.”

You can watch the video for "Sanctuary Song" below. All proceeds from digital sales will go to Annunciation House which is a volunteer organization that provides hospitality to migrants, immigrants, and refugees in El Paso, TX. You can get your copy here. For more on Annunciation House, head over to their website.

Ken's Best of 2021 - #8: Chris Brokaw - Puritan

I've been saying that Chris Brokaw is a criminally underrated artist for years now, and if you haven't believed me then you haven't listened to Puritan. His 2021 album shows off pretty much everything he does perfectly. There's some straight up alt-rock, some gorgeous ballads, noise rock, and an indie rock epic. While a lot of Brokaw's solo albums are either (mostly) acoustic or quite experimental, Puritan is a rock band album. He even brings in his Come bandmate Thalia Zedek in to sing lead on a pair of songs. This is one of the more diverse rock albums of the year, all while sounding like a cohesive collection of songs. It's the kind of album where a quiet ballad like the Zedek sung "The Bragging Rights" can lead into the quick and kinda punky "I Can't Sleep" and then into the monster indie rock epic of "The Heart of Human Trafficking" and it all just makes perfect sense.

Songs of note: "Puritan," "I Can't Sleep," and "The Heart of Human Trafficking" 

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #8: El Michels Affair - Yeti Season

You know an album is good when it sets off a new musical obsession. Yeti Season did exactly that.

Leon Michels, lead songwriter and producer of El Michels Affair, had prior stints with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and members of Wu-Tang, and now produces and backs other acts along with new material. This third album of originals feels like it should soundtrack a movie in the 1970s that hasn't aged as well as you remember, and is just as reliant on its specific and intentional production choices as it is on the actual quality of the songs.

I don't know how I found them, but El Michels Affair led me to Altun Gun, to TEKE::TEKE, to a whole world of retro/psych music I didn't know existed. Yeti Season is the best of the bunch, but I appreciate this for turning me onto such great music just as much as I appreciate it for the musical revelation it is.

Jake Xerxes Fussell - "Breast of Glass"

Photo by Tom Rankin

Music doesn't get much more simple than a voice and acoustic guitar, and that's what the latest from Jake Xerxes Fussell is... to start at least. But it's how he puts together a song that is both perfectly familiar and also unique to just him. "Breast of Glass" sounds like thousands of songs you've heard before, but also completely unique to itself. It's simple, traditional folk/Americana music but with just the slightest twist that no one but Fussell quite has. I apologize for the horrible description especially since I know he deserves a much better one, but you truly need to listen to a song like "Breast of Glass" and then you'll understand what I mean. 

You can listen to "Breast of Glass" below. Good and Green Again is due out January 22 on Paradise of Bachelors. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Jake Xerxes Fussell, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates can be found below the song.

Fri. Jan. 21 - Chapel Hill, NC @ The Nightlight
Sat. Jan. 22 - Richmond, VA @ The Camel
Sun. Jan. 23 - Washington, DC @ Pie Shop
Tue. Jan. 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
Wed. Jan. 26 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Knitting Factory
Thu. Jan. 27 - Boston, MA @ Club Passim
Fri. Jan 28 - Keene, NH @ Nova Arts
Sat. Jan. 29 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Caffe Lena
Thu. Feb. 17 - Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers *
Sat. Feb 19 - Santa Monica, CA @ McCabe’s Guitar Shop *
Tue. Feb 22 - Portland, OR @ The Old Church *
Sun. May 1 - Kilkenny, IE @ Kilkenny Roots
Mon. May 2 - Kilkenny, IE @ Kilkenny Roots
Tue. May 3 - Dublin, IE @ Bello Bar
Wed. May 4 - Belfast, UK @ Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
Fri. May 6 - Manchester, UK @ Gulliver’s
Sat. May 7 - London, UK @ Oslo
Sun. May 8 - Glasgow, UK @ Glad Cafe
Mon. May 9 - York, UK @ Fulford Arms
Wed. May 11 - Ultrecht, NL @ Tivoli (Club Nine)
Fri. May 13 - Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn
Sat. May 14 - Cologne, DE @ King Georg
Mon. May 16 - Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus
Tue. May 17  - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
 
* w/ special guest Tom Brosseau

The Dollyrots - "Just Like All the Rest"

Photo by Jen Rosenstein

Fans of late 90's alt-rock/power pop are going to find a lot to love about the latest single from The Dollyrots. "Just Like All the Rest" is what used to be considered alternative rock but these days sounds a lot more like pop. Of course, there is far too much rock in "Just Like All the Rest" to keep it off mainstream radio stations despite how catchy and hook filled the entire song is. If anything this will remind you of Go! era Letters to Cleo (or Kay Hanley's work on the Josie & the Pussycats soundtrack). This is great power pop that leans heavily into the pop side of things.

You can watch the video for "Just Like All the Rest" below. Down the Rabbit Hole, a collection of B-sides, rarities, and cover songs, is due out January 7 on Wicked Cool Records. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on The Dollyrots, check out the band's website.

Ken's Best of 2021 - #9: Melissa Carper - Daddy's Country Gold

While most artists on my top 10 of 2021 are ones we have covered previously, Melissa Carper came out of seemingly nowhere for me. Her album Daddy's Country Music sounds (and the cover kinda looks like) one of those cassettes you would have seen in truck stops and convenience stores with a "Nice Price" sticker. This album is filled with perfect classic country songs. If anything, it sounds like it could have been a legacy artist's greatest hits album since songs sound like they could be from different decades. Plus, Carper injects more than a little jazz into her classic country sound. Besides just killer classic country songs, Carper also has a little subtle sense of humor that pops up here and there. This is obvious with a song title like "Would You Like to Get Some Goats?" (although the song itself is quite heartfelt), but also pops up in "Makin' Memories" when she tries to remember someone's name. Daddy's Country Gold is the kind of album for people that complain that they just don't make music like that anymore.

Songs of note: "Makin' Memories," "I Almost Forgot About You," "Back When," and "Many Moons Ago"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #9: th1rt3en - A Magnificent Day for an Exorcism

On one hand, th1rt3en is not your typical rap act, and not just because of the instrumentation and rock trappings. There's a different feel to this, a different... something that kept drawing me back again and again.

On the other, this is a relevatory rap album in many regards. Yeah, it's not Run DMC and Aerosmith, it's not Jay-Z and Linkin Park, although it arguably borrows at least partially from those collaborations. But this is more Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine without all the baggage while holding onto all the anger. No matter your political positioning, "Cult 45" hits hard, "Scarecrow" acts as a slice of horrorcore in the middle of the record, and the back portion of the record has "Kill 'Em All Again," an anthemic-style track with messages for days.

I was shocked at how much I liked this record when I first heard it, and I was also surprised at how much I still love it nearly a year after its release. Easily the rap album of the year for me, no contest.

Songs of Note: "Triskaidekaphobia," "Scarecrow," "Kill 'Em All Again."