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 a...

(Cover by Téa McLawhorn) One of the last objectively good things to happen before everything started collapsing as a result of a global pandemic was the release of Allergen 's "Open Letter." The need has never been greater for new music. From the heavens descends "Last Year." Gentle melancholy has been traded out for stumbling momentum. The song is swept along by the passing of time and plunging drums. Shannon Maroney's lyrics use the changing of the seasons to frame a portrait of continually attempted progress. The tug of war of self-improvement and seemingly inevitable failure feels lived-in yet remains evocative; similar sentiments are given different contexts to match each season (i.e. "It's fall / and I'm falling backwards"). "Last Year" also has one of the most devastating lines I've heard in recent memory — "While learning to swim, you can still drown." Alongside the vividly emotional lyrics, the trac...

(Cover art by Shannon Maroney) Allergen 's first single feels like a private conversation, being broadcast to the world. Well, technically it's their first official  single — the delightfully sad " Picket Fence " remains on Bandcamp exclusively. And even "Open Letter," which will be releasing in full tomorrow, was performed primarily by Shannon Maroney, the band's singer/guitarist, with drumming from the band's lead guitarist, Eve Speers. So we'll have to wait a bit for a full-quartet Allergen song. But "Open Letter" is more than enough to fill the gap in the meantime. Maroney's lyrics flow straight to the heart with an abundance of references to alcohol. The bubbling instrumental gives their vocals a sense of gentle buoyancy, especially during the first minute. Intensity builds like a gradually rising tide and releases with the chorus' arrival. Gloriously harmonized vocals plea a single word — "give." T...