We've had a bit of a rough go of it, huh? I haven't been to a show since March 11 (Marmalade + bugsy tour kick-off at Hi Watt House), which I'm guessing (and hoping) is roughly how long it's been for most of you too. Virtually every DIY band who was planning to tour, record, or release new music had to at worst cancel or at best rearrange everything. 2020 was a year of adaption. Without any of the prior infrastructure supporting a musician's livelihood, everyone had to scrounge together whatever they could to keep sane and try to survive. After approximately nine months of *gestures to everything*, we've hit the end point; the time to reflect. These are just some of the albums that brought me joy this year, that reminded me how incredible it is to be able to participate in such a community. I'm grateful to have been able to interview four out of five of these bands (Dad Bod, you're next) and help share their music and words with people across the state and even the country. If you've somehow made it through 2020 without listening to these releases, come back after you've given them a spin or two. You'll thank me later. As per usual, this list is unranked and unnumbered.
Albums & EPs
bugsy - Teratoma (self-released)
It's gonna be hard for me to put into words how much I love bugsy. Somehow, I have only known this band for less than a year, and yet they have put out one of my all-time favorite Minneapolis releases (if not favorite outright). Teratoma is a perfect storm. It draws you in with the most immediate songwriting of 2020 and every listen reveals a new thing to love. In a word, it's visceral. Your body is overcome with the urge to cry, dance, fight, scream. bugsy is an indie punk jack-of-all-trades, burning with anger and catharsis. In a rather unprofessional (yet unsurprising) showing, I am at a loss for words. bugsy is everything I love about music in one band; Teratoma is near-and-dear to me, and I don't see it leaving my rotation for a very very long time.
Listen to my interview with bugsy here.
(Cover art by Bethünni Schreiner)
niiice. - internet friends (Brace Cove/Chatterbot Records)
I would wager that internet friends is the Platonic ideal of a sophomore record. It's a level-up in every sense of the phrase; last year's excellent Never Better EP truly was a transition to the greatness of internet friends. The things you love about niiice. are still perfectly intact — it's still the same three people making the record after all — but otherwise, it feels like a different band. It's immediately apparent that niiice. was hellbent on breaking out of the "weed emo" demographic they were neatly boxed into. Elements of shoegaze, jangly indie, 80s pop, post-hardcore, and Midwest emo were put into blender and somehow the result is songs like "sugar smacks" and "free earl." In a genre as overcrowded as "emo" (whatever that means), it takes a lot to set yourself apart. niiice. have always had the benefit of raw talent on their side; now, the trio is running on all cylinders, making the best songs of their career. Fate conspired to put Roddie, Abe, and Sage in the same band, and we're all reaping the benefits.
Listen to my interview with niiice. here.
(Cover art by Wilson Zellar)
Dad Bod - Precursor (self-released)
Precursor, the "quarantine" EP released by Dad Bod over the summer, is like the calm version of King Lear's storm scene. Instead of a fallen, mad monarch howling over the thunder, there are songs being sung into the gentle wind, each gust lifting the words away. Precursor is borne of solitude, evoking the bleak desolation of an expansive field where one's only company is the dirt, grass, and sky. Reflection is the natural companion of loneliness. The minutiae of the past are put through the prism of the present. Callie Marino and Wilson Zellar, the members of Dad Bod that made Precursor, treat these fragile emotions with careful consideration, crystallizing them in sparse folk soundscapes and dashes of impressionism. In lieu of what could have been (full band Dad Bod album), Precursor is a gift, a charcuterie board of lush instrumentals and Marino's quiet devastation.
(Cover art by Shannon Maroney)
Allergen - Honesty Hour (self-released)
We've all felt a bit like the house on the cover of Honesty Hour at some points this year, right? Still upright and holding it together, but the flames of turmoil are sweeping out of the windows and threatening to take the whole thing down. In some ways, the cover also summarizes the entirety of Allergen's debut EP, even though it was written and recorded before 2020 had really even gotten started. The confessional title indicates the kind of listen you're in for — an exorcism of trauma, doubt, and poisonous relationships that doesn't end in either doom or sunshine. Sometimes all you can do is keep your head above water and hang on for another day. The lyrics of "Dream"(particularly "Dead flowers become fertilizer for others / wilting down and supporting their roots / I want to continue to grow") serve as Allergen's mission statement. It's grasping at all the questions that never really get answered, struggling to fight the battles going on both inside and out, and in the end, powering through in a truly honest attempt to get better, no matter how small each step is.
Listen to my interview with Allergen here.
(Cover art by Alexis Politz)
Alien Book Club - ...and i'm not even having fun anymore (self-released)
I feel like I knew these songs by heart before I had even heard them in recorded form. In the span of two shows, Alien Book Club made an indelible imprint with their omnivorous approach to creation and performance. The construction of each song on ...and i'm not even having fun anymore is clearly deliberate, a masterclass in mish-mash musical alchemy, but they wouldn't make such an impact without the outrageous amount of heart put into them. The tastes and talents of all six members orbit the central astrological body of the band as a unit, gravity keeping them together as the absurdist art ensemble they so proudly are. ABC hits a high point in just barely over nine minutes. It's absolutely criminal that none of us can swing-dance to the demonic-ballroom-freeform-jazz-pop-song stew of Alien Book Club tonight, but we will all dance together soon.
Listen to my interview with Alien Book Club here.
Honorable Mentions
- Careful Gaze - Loud Howls the Eternal Wolf! (self-released)
- EVV - Homebody (self-released)
- Oftener - Daydream (self-released)
- Thank You, I'm Sorry - I'm Glade We're Friends (Count Your Lucky Stars)
- Fox Theory / Marie Finch - Faceplant (self-released)
- Partition - Prodigal Gun (self-released)
- 26 Bats! - Sweet Fang (Kremblems)
- Smoke Roads - "Silence" (self-released)
- Abe Anderson - all four singles he put out this year
- Double Grave - Goodbye, Nowhere! (Forged Artifacts)
- Keep for Cheap - "Forgive Me" (self-released)
- GOWNS - The Hollows (self-released)
- New Primals - Horse Girl Energy (self-released)
- CA$UAL - Rare Form (self-released)
- a mess. - Golden Age of Television (self-released)
- Lapdogs - Teeth (self-released)
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