[Best of 2018, Episode 3 / 5]
Here’s my five favourite albums I listened to this year. If you missed positions 14 to 6 click here.
5. Deep End
| Artist | Doc Robinson |
| Released | 22 July 2017 |
| Highlights | Break My Fall, Borderline, Cut Me Loose, Marie |
| Lowlights | Deep End, Heavy Like, I’m Not Gone |
| Undertone rating | 4.5/5 |
With any great Netflix show comes some equally great songs. When Doc Robinson’s Break My Fall closed an episode of Bojack Horseman I was instantly sent on an urgent hunt for my phone and Shazam. Whilst proving to be a highlight of its album, the songs that accompany Break My Fall in Deep End are well worth a listen. The album sees the duo display their acoustic pop in its most beautiful form, with the two excellent opening tracks serving as catchy, heart-warming examples. They’re also a band willing to explore different styles and feels – Drive Slow is an enjoyable foray into country music and I’m Not Gone has a distinct R&B feel. Undoubtedly the best exploration of genres comes with Borderline, a gently brewing track that eventually bubbles up into an exhilarating yet brief blast of rock. It’s a bold move for a band producing their debut album, but be it down to luck or an outstanding natural talent, Doc Robinson have produced a gem with Deep End.
4. Royal Blood
| Artist | Royal Blood |
| Released | 25 August 2014 |
| Highlights | Come On Over, Figure It Out, Little Monster, Loose Change |
| Lowlights | Blood Hands, You Can Be So Cruel, Better Strangers |
| Undertone rating | 4.5/5 |
Sometimes music can not only be a source of entertainment but a valuable tool, too. Brighton duo Royal Blood’s debut self-titled album is a great personal example of this. With the bedroom door tightly shut and the speaker as full volume, Royal Blood‘s grit powered me through my first two GCSEs in June, with the raw energy of Come On Over and the outstanding Figure It Out enough to dissipate even the most persistent of pre-exam anxieties. With only a bass and drums to work with, frontman Mike Kerr relies on pedal mastery to beef up Royal Blood’s sound, resulting in a fresh style that has reinvigorated the ever-dwindling modern rock scene. Ben Thatcher’s drumming is also immense, and Little Monster is worth listening to if only for the huge solo fill that dominates the final chorus. Somehow, even with the limited instrumentation, Royal Blood manage to mix things up, demonstrated on Loose Change, where the song structure is split in two. The song will always provide happy memories of leaping down mountains in the Faroe Islands last summer; I’d stop and let my Dad walk ahead during the slow, outrageously tight bulk of the song, before launching into an ecstatic sprint over bogs and brooks to the sound of the scintillating double-time transformation of the song. In their debut the duo have created what seemed impossible – an intensely enjoyable rock album that I could get motivation from when I most needed it.
3. This Is It
| Artist | The Greeting Committee |
| Released | 26 October 2018 |
| Highlights | 17, You’ve Got Me, Birthday Song, Don’t Go |
| Lowlights | Run For Your Money, Gold Star, Odds of Forever |
| Undertone rating | 4.5/5 |
The instinctively autumnal This Is It was a timely release in October, and came to define my half term trip to Berlin. It’s packed with breezy guitar pop, with strings and horns adding a notable touch of class for a young, new band. The infectious 17 is the best that the album has to offer, but the dreamy You’ve Got Me and devastating Birthday Song are both well worth a mention. This Is It is a rare album (let alone debut) whose songs seem to be slotted into position perfectly – take Birthday Song, which serves as the album’s emotional climax, followed by Don’t Go, a song that gently lifts the mood and provides valuable closure to an outstanding album. The Greeting Committee have arrived on the indie pop scene, and something tells me they won’t be gone for a while.
For a more detailed review of This It It, click here.
2. Future Me Hates Me
| Artist | The Beths |
| Released | 10 August 2018 |
| Highlights | Not Running, Happy Unhappy, River Run Lvl 1 |
| Lowlights | Little Death, Great No One |
| Undertone rating | 5/5 |
Like Royal Blood (albeit with a starkly different sound), The Beths have reinvigorated indie rock music through their debut album Future Me Hates Me. The Kiwis had already caught my attention through the pre-released track Happy Unhappy, which juxtaposes depressing lyrics with unflinchingly positive guitar riffs, and it’s this juxtaposition that has revealed itself as something of a Elizabeth Stokes trademark in Future Me Hates Me. It’s this technique that makes the album so appealing to me; I can enjoy the indie bangers (and trust me, there’s plenty), as well as pause to look at what Stokes was trying to say beneath the buzzing guitar riffs. The Beths’ instantly recognisable form of ‘guitar rock’ is evident throughout, with intricate backing harmonies and plenty of rapid snare fills (particular on Not Running and the opening of Uptown Girl) also contributing to the band’s unique sound. The Beths also prove their ability to come up with beautifully constructed hooks, with the best ditties (in songs like Future Me Hates Me, You Wouldn’t Like Me, Whatever and many others) leaving you whistling the tune for many days after first listen. Perhaps the best thing about Future Me is the fact that more or less every song feels better than the previous one. This constant improvement comes to a head in the outstanding conjoined tracks of Happy Unhappy and River Run Lvl 1, that latter of which being a strong contender for my favourite song of the whole year, with an emotional climax to leave you in tatters. Future Me Hates Me is darkly happy, laughable and tear-inducing, and ultimately, brilliant.
1. Evil Friends
| Artist | Portugal. The Man |
| Released | 4 June 2013 |
| Highlights | Evil Friends, Modern Jesus, Hip Hop Kids, Smile |
| Lowlights | Plastic Soldiers |
| Undertone rating | 5/5 |
The competition for best album of 2018 ended in March: after listening to Portugal. The Man’s extraordinary experimental rock album Evil Friends, it felt certain that I wouldn’t find a more outstanding album for the remainder of the year. My prediction proved true – in terms of depth and quality, not even runner up Future Me Hates Me could compare to this album. Most obviously, Evil Friends is simply packed with amazing songs. Even the very best albums tend to have a handful of duds, but Evil Friends left me struggling to choose a worthy four ‘highlights’ for the above table. There’s the piano thump of Creep In a T-Shirt, the shocking change in tempo and feel in the title track, the blaring rock hooks of Hip Hop Kids or the empowering optimism of Someday Believers – the volume of memorable songs is staggering. Consequently, despite being one of the longest albums on the list at around 50 minutes, Evil Friends flies by in a flash. Yet of course, truly great albums are more than just a collection of good singles. This album is full of intriguing lyrical themes that reveal themselves on further listens, the most obvious being psychedelia, in fitting with Portugal. The Man’s sound and heard most obviously in Modern Jesus and Purple Yellow Red and Blue. There’s also a web of self references – lyrics on the title track link back to Creep In a T-Shirt; a melody in Hip Hop Kids can also be found on the title track; the opener, Plastic Soldiers, features a hook also prominent in the closer, Smile. These connections not only make the listener feel deeply smug upon their discovery, but they make the album feel self-contained, with it’s own cyclical narrative. It’s clear that this is Portugal. The Man’s only venture into this flavour of psychedelic rock, so they’ve packaged it up with impressive tidiness. Finally, it’s time to discuss that previously mentioned closer, Smile. It’s possibly my favourite album closer ever – even better than Middle Kids’ excellent offering with So Long Farewell I’m Gone – thanks to a gradual build and an intensely cathartic finale. The ominous opening acoustic guitar and whistling is still enough to give me chills nearly ten months after first hearing it. Smile‘s depressing lyrics describing the conflict between happiness and knowledge is a brutal return to earth after the distinctly unreal sensations described in the previous track, Purple Yellow Red and Blue. It feels that as the album comes to a close, the band has finally found their true message, beneath the drug use. The ending makes for a surprisingly positive twist with a major modulation and a belting final hook made even better with cymbal-drenched drums and free-flying guitar licks. Smile‘s glory is curtailed by an abrupt cymbal smash, and with that the album is gone like a mirage. Evil Friends ends up feeling impermanent and precious, resulting in an album that’s something to be savoured. And so, through 12 incredible songs, Portugal. The Man have achieved everything I look for in music: a reason to dance, cry and think, but most importantly a reason to smile.
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