TOP FIVE ALBUMS OF THE 20s (so far)

Over the last half-decade or so, the evolving trend seems to be artists emphasizing releasing their material in the form of standalone singles or EPs much more than full-lengths, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if the alternative is putting out maybe a handful of good songs and a lot of filler. Plus, fans rarely want to wait years between releases anyway, and this often shrinks that wait-time. Albums really should be reserved for artists simply having that many killer tracks and/or wishing to express themselves in longer form where they find that creatively necessary, be it for sonic, narrative, and/or other reasons. The de-emphasis on full-lengths and embrace of the EP and/or single especially has been uneven across and even within different genres and by different artists, and consequently I found as I started creating my list of candidates, the results were sometimes totally expected, but at other times surprising. An example of a band embracing the spectrum of release options would be Spiritbox, where although their full-length Eternal Blue (2021) is excellent, I actually think some of their best material comes from "beyond the LP," such as "Rotoscope" (2022) and "Cobra (Rock Remix)" with Megan Thee Stallion (2023). Having said that, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to consider those instances where a full-length bucked the trend and was not just appropriate but necessary.

I decided to zoom out and reflect more broadly on the decade so far and what in my humble opinion have been the very best albums released to date. The working criteria for the list came down to a highly-unscientific formula of which albums had the best songs, as you might well expect, but also which flowed best and were most cohesive and complete front-to-back. I also considered the nebulous factor of "artistic accomplishment," and the final differentiator, after a recommendation from a close friend during a conversation about the list, which ones did I come back to most often. We’ll take a look at some of the albums that were ultimately just out of the top five, and then the top five (which is really a top six) itself.

I only have three more things to say: "God bless our troops. God bless America. And gentlemen, start your engines!"

Bilmuri-AMERICAN MOTOR SPORTS (2024)

Squats, Farquad haircuts, and Americana, Johnny Franck has embraced the aesthetic of "your dad, but edgy" while sharpening Bilmuri’s sound into the bleeding edge of pop- and emo-infused country-core on the hook-laden LP AMERICAN MOTOR SPORTS. It is indeed an awesome ride.

Four Year Strong-Brain Pain (2020)

Four Year Strong have never been shy about their love of the 90s—indeed, their 2009 album Explains It All was entirely 90s covers! With Brain Pain, though, they really leaned in to those touchstones for their originals, and it paid massive dividends. For a band that belongs on the Mount Rushmore of easycore, their ability to write insanely catchy songs has never been in question, but what’s different here is their ability to combine those sensibilities with their 90s rock ones, while also further accentuating their punk and hardcore influences, resulting in a unique combination I call "90s-rock-core." The heavy lyrical nod to The Verve on "Usefully Useless" was further explored with the release of their excellent cover of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" the year after (included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition). As a child of the 90s, there is certainly a nostalgia factor here for me, but rather than the album being a walk down memory lane—and in some ways it is that both for reviewer and band—the combination of influences resulted in an album that is a nod to the past but is also fresh and distinctive. These guys are such good songwriters; there are a lot of deceptively intricate moments on the record that add depth. Some of the highlights of Brain Pain would be the really interesting breakdown at the end of "It’s Cool," the heavy 90s vibes of "Get Out of My Head" and "Usefully Useless," and the perfect synergy of hardcore aggression, 90s rock, and pop punk of "Crazy Pills."

Superlove-follow:noise (2023)

My closest comp for follow:noise is, perhaps strangely, Andrew W.K.’s relentlessly upbeat 2001 record I Get Wet in its "jam everything up to eleven and largely keep it there" nature, in the best way possible. Take a little of the euphonic Heart of Gold, some Don Broco, and shades of Republica and blend them with djentified pop-punk and you get easycore for the future? However you want to characterize the sound of Superlove, it’s all their own. The incredibly catchy, sugary-sweet songwriting on this record makes almost every track feel like a singalong hit single, yet those moments where the band eases their collective foot off the gas shine in their own right. The songcraft here, particularly the pop elements, is exquisite. Consequently, I’ve had this record on repeat consistently since its release.

Heart of Gold-Beautiful Dangerous (2022)

Speaking of pop songcraft…my goodness, this album is it. Beautiful Dangerous is an exceptional record awash in gorgeous atmosphere and a sound that recalls aspects of Rituals-era Deaf Havana, Superlove, the poppier elements of Bilmuri, or in the case of songs such as the post-emo pop of "September Sunburn" what Emarosa did on Sting (which came later—this is offered as a point of comparison). Indeed, all of these reference points are presented merely as touchstones to orient the would-be listener regarding this distinctive and lushly-textured offering. It’s got all the feels and all the right moves.

Diamond Construct-Angel Killer Zero (2024)

For more on "metal trap" titans Diamond Construct’s Angel Killer Zero, see my full review here, but in a nutshell: it sounds like the Matrix falling apart in a glitchy, earth-shakingly heavy manner. If Darko US is Emmure for the Space Age and Gideon’s concealed carry-core is Emmure for south of the Mason-Dixon, then Diamond Construct is Emmure for doomed digital dystopias.

Enter Shikari-Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible (2020)

This is an example of an album that is: a) representative of the "Covid sound," b) a cohesive whole that is best listened to in its entirety, with its remix-like track variations and classical music-like movements enriching the overall experience, and c) a masterclass in intricate and textured songwriting that incorporates a wide variety of influences in a wholly organic manner. Having said that, there are still numerous stand-out tracks to highlight, including the dark rave-core of "T.I.N.A.," the 90s Britpop/rock of "Modern Living," the delicate and soaring "Satellites," or the super catchy tandem of "Crossing the Rubicon" and "The Dreamer’s Hotel."

TOP FIVE

5. Don Broco-Amazing Things (2021)

Speaking of intricate and textured songwriting that incorporates a wide variety of influences in a wholly organic manner, we arrive at Don Broco’s amazing Amazing Things. Don Broco never stays in one place in terms of genre-bending and experimentation, and yet they always have maintained their own distinct sound, not an easy accomplishment by any means. They’ve also always had a knack for writing hooks and this album is just saturated in them. There are the more obvious and high energy bangers like "Bruce Willis" (where vocalist Rob Damiani does his best Right Said Fred impression, with one of the most advanced music videos of all time to boot) or the Rage Against the Machine-"Bulls on Parade"-esque riff of "Revenge Body," there are the more "vibe-y" tracks like the outstanding Deftones-influenced "One True Prince," and there are others that require more patience from the listener as they unfold, but ultimately are just as if not more rewarding, such as "How Are You Done with Existing?" and "Anaheim." Some of the more creative tracks on the record include the Caviar-"Tangerine Speedo" meets Deftones of "Swimwear Season" and the back-and-forth between something I feel like I would’ve heard in a posh hotel’s elevator like fifty years ago with Limp Bizkit before segueing into a pissed-off and funky nursery rhyme-esque taunt in "Bad 4 Ur Health." "Easter Sunday" is a gorgeous but emotionally difficult to listen to closer, which with the above examples speaks to the band’s ability to evoke deep emotional resonance in the listener as well as explore and combine different sounds and create different soundscapes at an elite level.

4. (Tie) Bring Me the Horizon-Post Human: Survival Horror (2020) and Post Human: NeX GEn (2024)

Okay, I cheated a little here: Post Human: Survival Horror is technically an EP, but with nine songs, a run-time over a half an hour, and being a cohesive piece of art that tells a story, flows seamlessly, and is "all killer, no filler," I had Anthony Bourdain-No Reservations about putting this offering on the list. It was a much heavier left turn than fans had any reason to expect, and officially signaled that BMTH could now do anything—they weren’t just continuing to trend in a lighter direction (albeit a direction on a record like Amo that had many surprises and delights). Here, the band pulls from Mick Gordon, nü metal (more specifically Linkin Park), and their own heavy past—and, indeed, parts of their recent, more subdued past. "One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death" with Amy Lee is one of the most powerful songs they’ve written. Bring Me the Horizon are The Clash of modern metalcore, insofar as they can be called metalcore.

Linked in the series but also tied in quality, these two records from BMTH showcase a band at the height of their powers. Whereas Survival Horror was more of the global apocalypse/dystopia, NeX GEn is more of the internal one. Granted a song like "YOUtopia" carries in it a more hopeful note, but the album is mostly predominated by struggling with and looking at the dark side of mental health and addiction. That beauty and pain—often inextricably intertwined—is part of what makes NeX GEn such a resonant record, along with the exceptional songwriting that mines some hyperpop and post-hardcore, but especially emo. Indeed, frontman Oli Sykes has talked about songs like "Die4U" as part of his vision for "future emo," and that definitely comes through. A cohesive project packed with standout singles as well, songs like "Die4U" and "R.i.p. (duskCOre Remix)" evidence, to quote Tom Ewing talking about Azealia Banks’s "212," "details and decisions that suggest a scary degree of pop talent." Indeed, this band’s ability to write what are fundamentally Top 40 pop hits (or should be hits) with this degree of consistency and with this strike rate—not just on this album but across multiple records—is rare and impressive enough in its own right, but to have said songs hybridized in the fashion they have with other genres and influences while constantly evolving their sound puts Bring Me the Horizon in a truly elite, all-time tier.

3. Electric Callboy-Tekkno (2022)

Elite, pop-sensibility songwriting that as above with Superlove makes almost every song on this album feel like a hit single. No band does it quite like these guys with their vision, their humor, and their ability to blend Europop (or schlager) with punishing metalcore. Along with "Hypa Hypa" and that EP, Tekkno signaled a massive leveling-up for the band. The replayability factor here is the big one.

2. Beartooth-The Surface (2023)

This is really more like number 1B, and honestly I kept going back and forth between it and the album that wound up at number one (or 1A), which we’ll discuss shortly. You can read my deep dive on it here, but put simply, The Surface is a monumental achievement that took all the best attributes of Beartooth and amplified them dramatically while adding some new wrinkles. It is an exceptional record front-to-back that follows a compelling real-life narrative about recovery and growth, a narrative that in a lot of ways speaks to me on a deep personal level.

1. Ocean Grove-Flip Phone Fantasy (2020)

Here we find ourselves on an alternate timeline in the time-slipped universe of pre-Y2K meets 2020 Oddworld, where Ocean Grove deliver this elite alliterative set of retro-futurist tunes on dial-up: "As we move into 2020 / Visions of the past
/ That obscure fast / Elementary. Blast! Yeah, the future sent me." Whether it’s the 90s funk rock style of the anthemic "Ask for the Anthem," the 24 Hour Party People style of "Guys from the Gord," the "All Apologies" of Nirvana meets a dreamy afternoon on the beach of "Sunny," or the straight hardcore meets surf rock of "Neo" that prove The Matrix may have been on to something by calling 1999 the peak of human civilization, Flip Phone Fantasy delivers on all fronts. Elsewhere the band explores other areas of and often combines 90s alternative rock, the Manchester Sound, hip-hop, bouncy nü metal, and metalcore. "Junkie$" and "Thousand Golden People" are album highlights and both microcosms of this synthesis in different proportions. A great record by a unique band exploring a sound all their own.