It's finally that time: Allston Pudding's 25 favorite albums of 2015! As I'm sure you've all noticed, music fans were spoiled with new material over the past 365 days. With a host of marquee hip-hop releases, excellent entries in the fields of punk and electronica and nationally-lauded full lengths from some of Boston's local heroes, a week didn't go by without at least one more excellent new album to hold our attention. As you can imagine, narrowing everything we loved this year down to just 50 was tough.
Our final list is a collaborative product representing the opinions of our entire staff. After hours spent whittling down nearly 150 great LPs on a comically large white board, we took to voting, with everyone giving golf-scored values to their favorites. The order of our picks are not meant to single out any album as necessarily better than the one before it or worse than the one that follows, but rather show the music that most connected with our writers this year. We hope that you enjoy our analysis of these 25 great LPs and check out anything you might have (understandably) missed in 2015!
-George Greenstreet
Flip through numbers 50-26>>>>
*=Local
25. Viet Cong- (The band formerly known as) Viet Cong
After the disbanding of Women and the death of Chris Reimer, Matt Flegel and Mike Wallace did probably the only thing they know how to do—form a band and continue writing music. Really, really excellent music at that.
Viet Cong's self-titled debut album was one of those releases that felt like the first breath after getting struck in the stomach. The darker aspects of the album seem to be there just to point out how welcoming a relief beauty can actually be. The cover itself, a heavy bandage being cut off a hand, seems to enforce this. Musically, they balance these two ideas well—psychedelic, hooky melodies are counteracted by warlike drums and intensely existential imagery.
Take their song “March of Progress” as an example. The album highlight starts out with enduring, pounding drums, followed by slow-peeling, This Heat-style guitars and lyrics dealing with severe alienation. But then it blooms. The song switches immediately into an up-tempo, dance-worthy contemplation of “the difference between love and hate.” The music is an assuring reminder that embodying these kinds of nihilistic ideas can, in fact, be beautiful. Viet Cong is one of those kinds of reminders that pain and resilience are the same thing. And that death makes for one hell of a punchline.
-Seth Garcia
24. Barf Radio- Stumpf*
Stumpf’s emergence on the local music roadmap is as exciting for what it has already delivered (an excellent debut record) as what it might deliver in the future. Barf Radio is a raw, concise and largely unfiltered effort that, while being a lo-fi gem in its own right, also hints at Stumpf’s nearly limitless potential. It may be a while before Donnie Blue and Aaron Landy decide which sonic direction they’ll take on LP #2, but that just means we have plenty of time to let the simple genius of a track like “Mad Trist” sink in while waiting for the day when we say we knew Stumpf before they were one of Boston’s biggest names.
-Mark Zurlo
23. I Love You, Honeybear - Father John Misty
Father John Misty has never come across as an especially friendly character, but I Love You, Honeybear finds singer-songwriter Joshua Tillman’s brash alter ego sharpening his barbs to harsh new proportions. The album is impressive on multiple fronts, from its nonstop wit to the way it makes ballad-like arrangements feel fresh, but no accomplishment is more notable than Tillman’s ability to craft a self-absorbed, snide persona that’s still so enjoyable. Maybe it's his saving grace that the FJM facade is constantly cracking, leaking sincere-sounding thoughts on love and despair that become more regular but never any less jarring. Whatever it is, beneath all the detached observations, I Love You, Honeybear is an album about a man who’s disillusioned with the world, but deeply enamored with his wife. In a sea of depressed records, it gives existential woe a uniquely romantic spin: if we’re all doomed anyway, why not be head-over-heels in love?
-Karen Muller
22. Who Me?- Juan Waters
The chillest.
-Andrew Gibson
21. Full Circle- Dæphne*
Full Circle is an 8 song, 25 minute-long, kinda emo, kinda punk album that feels like an entire summer. Something you can both jam and cry to! Oddly well rounded, the steady, sludgy guitarwork perfectly balances singer Alexa Johnson’s floaty and confident vocals. The music is tight, and the lyrics are frank and familiar. And maybe it feels that way because three of the band members are locals; maybe it’s because angsty music about guilt, regret and self-worth is so relevant. Whatever the reason, Dæphne changed the bummer-rock game this fall with this full length.
-Jackie Swisshelm
20. Feels Like- Bully
Bully are setting out to reclaim what would otherwise be the property of middle-school tormentors and other meanies. In fact, there is nothing to fear about the the guitar-driven rock of the Nashville five-piece, who make music that is both catchy and energetic. Their debut album Feels Like doesn’t feel anything like a band just starting out, with a distinct grungy sound. The songs have a deliberate 90s vibe that doesn’t feel heavy handed, and each song perfectly walks the fine line between punk and melody. Singer/guitarist Alicia Bognanno is largely to thank for the shape of their sound, as she brings both her unique voice, which somehow manages to dance between growl and light sneer, and her ferocious solos to the album. Each song is brimming with fuzz, and the album never loses an ounce of its momentum. Let’s hope the band has the same kind of stamina - if Feels Like is only the beginning of the band’s career, then that is as intimidating as any bully I’ve encountered.
-Mary Kate McGrath
19. After- Lady Lamb
I didn't notice Lady Lamb's After was about heartbreak until I listened to it on a bad day. Both ways, first and second listen, it just sounded to me like good, windy songwriting that I could get into.
Aly Spaltro is a mastermind whose warm voice leads listeners through light and dark, repetitious and flowing, in-love and out-of sounds in this all-purpose album. Stepping away from the stretched experimentalism of her debut Ripely Pine, Spaltro turns to the guitar and slightly more natural song structures here, making the hour-long listen accessible from start to finish.
Even if After is eulogizing in topic, the warm ride of highs and lows is anything but hopeless. What Lady Lamb crafts here is a 11-song hug that understands the happy-sad reality of living and never lets go. Screw the notion of her second full-length as a "2015 success." I'm looking forward to many years of taking this album with me down any road my "love life" treads.
-Becca DeGregorio
18. Multi-Love- Unknown Mortal Orchestra
While I accept that some songwriters inevitably create stale music if they’re not getting dumped, cheated on, or forgotten about by exes, it truly says something to the formula when a polygamous relationship was all Ruban Nielson needed to write the strongest album of his career.
Nielson, the brainchild behind Unknown Mortal Orchestra, has cultivated an impressive take on modern psychedelia over the band’s previous two LPs, but UMO’s ultimate hindrance has always been how neatly they fit inside the shadow of scene siblings Tame Impala. Forever the psych rock equivalent of Panic! At The Disco to Impala’s Fall Out Boy, it felt like fate that both bands would release disco-friendly third LPs within months of each other, but I’ll take the potentially unpopular opinion in saying UMO finally bested Kevin Parker at his game.
While Parker spent Currents lamenting exes, Multi-Love finds Nielson’s prime on the dance floor in the wake of a life-affirming relationship between his wife and a lover met during travels. Moments like the shimmering title track and infinitely catchy “Can’t Keep Checking My Phone” remind that their relationship was layered beyond hedonistic pleasures before its abrupt end due to citizenship. “She’s not a hologram; goddamn, you can’t ignore it,” Nielson coos on the Prince-indebted “Ur Love One Night” in reference to the relationship’s new third member, but the sentiment could also be regarding UMO’s potential as a hit making festival staple. If any case, the LP’s effortlessly dance-ready first half and lounge-funky second half affirm that “multi-love” could possibly be the best thing to happen to a songwriter.
-Tim Gagnon
17. Sore- Dilly Dally
Hearing Dilly Dally’s Sore for the first time, it was—of course—Katie Monks’ voice that got me. In just her early 20s, she sings with Kat Bjelland’s gusto and Frank Black’s flirty cynicism; a rough beauty gained not just from band practice, but fucked up romanticisms and run-ins with the cops. With the tick-tick-boom of its opening “Desire,” Monks lands listeners in the combat zone of millennial womanhood and the unmet expectations of age. Though she may find control growling the lust-injected lyrics of tracks like “Snake Head” and “The Touch,” other songs sing the realities of human impulse in a much more fragile state. “Green” touches longing with sentimental roughness as Monks swaps her usual dark humor for straightforward vulnerability. “I need food and I need light, and darling I need you/Just because my heart is clean doesn't mean it's new,” she sings while her bandmates extract from an 90s rumble, a ceaseless mix of in-your-face riffage, runaway kick drums and soaring crescendos. From its opening explosion to slow-burning finale, Sore's most striking ability comes in shouldering the burdens of Monks’ place in the world—and maybe ours, too.
-Mairead Kelly
16. Black Messiah- D'Angelo and the Vanguard
Sure, we know this album technically came out in 2014, but the 16 days we had with it last year were certainly not enough time to grasp the greatness of this complex and wildly diverse release. With his first full length in 14 years, D’Angelo focuses primarily on racial tension and violence – a thread woven throughout many of 2015’s best records.
The album’s stark, confrontational lyrics take on even greater significance when you consider it was recorded over the better part of a decade. This fact forces the listener to question how issues like racial inequality can be just as problematic today as they were ten years ago. While not all of Black Messiah is an easy listen, every track is a vital addition to a public debate that seems to become more divisive every day.
-Mark Zurlo
15. In Colour- Jamie XX
If there was any doubt that Jamie XX’s solo ambitions exceed that of his band, he put them to rest this year. In Colour, his debut or sophomore effort depending on who you ask, is as assured as you could expect from an electronic album, maintaining a powerful thematic flow. Jamie’s focus on minimalism gives the record a palpable sense of loneliness while also allowing his precise and evocative selection of sounds plenty of room to breath. There is also an affectionate sense of legacy in the inclusion of both Romy and Oliver from The XX, with the staggering beautiful Romy collaboration “Loud Places” standing out not just as a highlight of the album but also of the year.
The only real issue with In Colour is one of pacing. The late-album inclusion of the immensely fun Young Thug-featuring single “I Know There’s Gonna Be Good Times” injects a boisterous edge to an otherwise understated and introspective album, throwing off the flow. However, it comes nowhere near muffling the overall effect of the album. Equally as inviting to those inexperienced with electronica as it is suited to an after hours rave, In Colour is an instant classic.
-George Greenstreet
14. Is Stupider- Stove
With the demise of Ovlov, we were all scared saying, “Steve, where’d you go?” Thankfully, Steve Hartlett answers the question himself within Is Stupider, his debut with a new name and lineup. Stove finds the same self-deprecation and wall of guitars of Ovlov but brings Hartlett’s lyrics more to the forefront. Self-loathing and thoughts of how we are all big dumb boys are perhaps the main focus of Is Stupider, but it is Hartlett’s craft of big noise and Dinosaur Jr.-esque riffs that keep the album constantly stuck in my head.
Despite Steve Hartlett’s feelings of lost self within the album, he still finds humor in it all as evidenced by song titles “Stupid,” “Stupider” and “Stupidest” or the Exploding in Sound Records-associated band references of “Wet Food” and “Lowt-ide Fins.” Hartlett is learning to love himself cathartically through Is Stupider, and we can’t help but fall in love with the album to from beginning to end.
-Christine Varriale
13. Carrie & Lowell- Sufjan Stevens
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure that Sufjan Stevens is a being of fiction. I mean, an artist that seemingly effortlessly moves between genres and shatters musical norms while creating genuinely touching and effectual songs seems like something out of a novel or a film.
And, almost as if on cue, after the wildly experimental and electronic waves of The Age of Adz and meandering over the past 5 years from project to project, Sufjan comes home to the folk-based sound he is known for. Of course, he manages to craft it in an entirely new and exciting way. That energy carries Carrie & Lowell into what it will ultimately be remembered as: a majestic return to love and heart.
-Reggie Woo
12. Before the World Was Big- Girlpool
Girlpool isn't traditionally aggressive; some tracks sound like lullabies and drums are nowhere to be found. But make no mistake, Before The World Was Big is 100% punk. Between calling out white male privilege and standing against slut-shaming, Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker are here to be heard. When you put on this record you're safe to navigate your anxieties with both two chords and friends in your ears. The world may be getting bigger and you may feel smaller but this life is pretty.
-Jeeyoon Kim
11. Infinite House- Ava Luna
Ava Luna's Infinite House is a catastrophic masterpiece. It begins with a seemingly catchy and beautiful tune, “Company,” but setting the course for the rest of your sonic adventure, everything falls apart perfectly. Songs like "Roses and Cherries" and "Coat of Shellac" coyly get you to groove with tingly guitars, heavy bass and beautiful three-piece harmonies. "Victoria" crashes and thrashes harder than anything since "Ice Level" off their second full-length of the same name. "Steve Polyester" is the true "what the fuck?!?" moment on the album, a surreal story of a man named Steve. (Krill's Steve perhaps?)
Through the madness of sounds ranging from noise rock to avant-garde performance to soul to R&B, what makes Infinite House Ava Luna's best to date is the sheer musicianship of each of its members. They are truly in tune with their craft, and many of them have sprung other projects in their Ava Luna downtime, proving that they are one of the hardest working and diverse bands in indie rock.
-Christine Varriale
10. Sun Coming Down- Ought
In the three years since they've formed, Ought have shown exponential growth, steady persistence and a keen ear for how to shape the tones and tugs of post-punk. Their sophomore full-length, Sun Coming Down, sees them stand face to face with anxiety and resolution, throwing punches as best they can to fight the demons of life. They manage to do all of that in only eight songs. Be it the godawful pain of enduring the mundane monotony of suburbia on "Beautiful Blue Sky" or the snarky wordplay of "The Combo", Ought are once again on the top of their game. As for all those The Fall comparisons and Life Without Buildings production similarities? To say the least, they're well deserved.
-Nina Corcoran
9. Foil Deer- Speedy Ortiz*
In a year packed with albums making important statements through personal-as-political songwriting, Speedy Ortiz’s Foil Deer stands out by pulling away from individual experiences in favor of a broader scope. The head-on mentality of tracks like “Raising the Skate” is decidedly punk, but its nuanced, sometimes obscure lyrics leave space for discussion while exploring feminism and social dynamics. Sometimes it swaggers, too, but it’s all out of necessity; now and then you have to build yourself up a bit before squaring off against established forces.
At the same time, the album marks an important shift in the group’s sound, trading previous LP Major Arcana’s could’ve-been-recorded-live feel for noticeably more complex, polished studio production. It’s no small risk for any DIY-rooted band, but even the more unexpected choices (retro keyboard on “The Graduates,” nearly everything about R&B-infused “Puffer”) come through to emphasize a tone or theme. Foil Deer is both flashier and more political than many of this year's rock releases, and its creative strength brings out how well the two qualities can complement one another: just because it’s shiny doesn’t mean it isn’t serious.
-Karen Muller
8. You're Better Than This- Pile*
You’re Better Than This is one of the most emotionally earnest records to come out this year. From the first track, we’re thrown into a tumultuous world of gritty, dark, haunting, but ultimately relatable songs. “Mr. Fish” does a complete 180 on us: it’s a twisted, lethargic number that builds to a breaking point. “#2 Hit Single” continues that trend: swerving up and down, racing ahead and pulling it all back, with speeding guitars, pounding drums and careful yet powerful vocals.
We’ve covered Pile a lot here at Allston Pudding, and it’s for very good reasons: Rick Maguire, Matt Becker, Matt Connery and Kris Kuss are talented musicians and humble performers. There are few souls in Allston who have missed one of their frequent hometown shows, and their presence in the indie music scene here has made a substantial impact on the culture. Pile isn’t afraid to be bold. They’ll write an instrumental track called “Fuck the Police” and plop it right in the middle of an album. They’ll include a hidden track at the end and completely blow it out of the water with soaring guitars and unabashedly powerful percussion that ends with the line “Perfect, first try.” You’re Better Than This was near perfect the first time I listened to it, and continues to be so on every listen since.
-Deanna Archetto
7. OK- Eskimeaux
Not just an okay album, Eskimeaux’s O.K. is exceptional. Gabrielle Smith’s lyrics evoke an existential darkness, layered on top of bubblegum – in that it's addictive – instrumentation. On “Broken Necks,” the final line is powerful and resonant: “Nothing in the world is holier than friendship.” And on “I Admit I'm Scared,” Smith sings “If I had a dime for every time I'm freaking out / We could fly around the world or just get out of your parents’ house.”
O.K. is a wondrous pop record, one that seeps into the consciousness with every repeat play. It offers catharsis; it is a warm blanket on a cold night.
-Jeremy Stanley
6. Dry Food- Palehound*
Despite the fact that you won't know how to, listen to Palehound's "Cinnamon," and you will want to dance to it. The same goes for crying, swaying and playing along to the rest of this debut album by Boston's fuzz-rock pride and joy.
To anyone who saw Palehound live before this album released, these were the songs we had on our minds but not on our laptops. The collection of highly-personal tracks swings from hard-driving to ethereally honest in a way unlike anything else. When things get quick, Ellen Kempner's guitar steps up, leaving the spotlight on her voice for slower sections of the album. This draws the listener in with catchiness and traps them there to hear the hard feelings. It's an experience similar to watching cute-yet-dark cartoons or reading Dr. Seuss and then realizing we all grow up someday. Hard, necessary stuff, Dry Food satisfies a special kind of craving.
-Becca DeGregorio
5. To Pimp A Butterfly- Kendrick Lamar
No amount of hubris in the world should lead a young rapper to call themselves equals with Tupac.
Up until March, such a thought didn’t need to be spoken, never mind critically analyzed. The final minutes of To Pimp A Butterfly’s “Mortal Man” not only find Kendrick Lamar toying with a slight tear in that rule, but in the fabrics of time itself as he conducts a mock interview with Shakur two years previous to the icon’s death. Lamar’s questions are convincingly wide-eyed despite the reality that their “conversation” is a sonic equivalent to the Coachella hologram, but it’s Tupac’s eerily relevant (but entirely pre-recorded) answers to fame, politics, and social unrest that not only solidify the interview’s place, but Butterfly’s vitality in 2015.
The melting pot of spoken word, free jazz, and g-funk alongside Kendrick’s established love of ornate production deserves praise here. The star-making turns (see: Rapsody, Bilal, and Kamasi Washington) as well as iconic guests (see: Ronald Isley and George Clinton) deserve praise here. Kendrick’s ever-growing fearlessness as an MC and creative force deserves arguably the most praise here, but the “instant classic” title placed on Butterfly can almost solely be attributed to what it caused in its wake. Movements joined in exhausted, but impassioned protest for societal change with the hook of “Alright” as its rallying cry. High school classrooms began giving up the ghost against treating rap as critical text, championing Butterfly as an essential study. Moreover, the presence of Butterfly lingered above every police-led murder, race-influenced piece of news coverage, and pain of existing in 2015 as the challenging-but-determined voice of reason.
Of course, hip-hop heads and critics alike can dissect the nuances and trajectory that led Kendrick to putting himself in the same room as Tupac for the rest of time. At the crux of it though, if there’s one mainstream voice deserving of such a conversation in 2015, I have no doubt in my mind that the right artist took the risk.
-Tim Gagnon
4. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit- Courtney Barnett
"I’m thinking of you, too,” Courtney Barnett croons in “An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)”. Over the course of her aptly named Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, she parses out a lot of her musings for us, hitting everything from getting older and adjusting to dispiriting environments to pitfalls in humanity’s pattern of consumption. It’s an album that straddles the line between the banal and the lofty, with one side often suddenly caving into the other as small observations lend their way to much larger conclusions. Her rock’n’roll often falls on the “no-frills” side, as the music serves as more of a vehicle for these observation webs, but the songs shine in moments when she lets her chops loose; it's the sound of a train picking up steam with sun-dappled hooks.
-Andrew Stanko
3. Art Angels- Grimes
Art Angels sounds like nothing else that's come out this year, but more than that Art Angels sounds like nothing that Claire Boucher, the production genius behind Grimes, has ever released before. Clocking in at just under an hour, the record winds through places both dark and euphoric, mysterious and vulnerable, all with a seamless polish and pop sheen. It's pop music that has the rare ring of authenticity, of an artist's determination to not simply be the face of a production, but the driving force behind it. Art Angels is the record that Claire Boucher was always meant to make. It's the record that singularly defines what it means to be an artist in 2015 who, once pushed to the margins of her industry, is now at its center, burning it all to the ground to build something better.
-Sydney Moyer
2. Painted Shut- Hop Along
Loyalty comes when comfort is offered in the grit. Although people give you the back pat and tell you, "it's going to be ok," healing and trust come after honesty. The dog friend that had to be put down, the panic derived from a familiar face and the realization of surrounding doubt all lead to something beautiful, but the courage to acknowledge all of its depth means everything.
This world can be just awful, but if you're willing to stake a fiery gut over the awing howl of frontwoman Frances Quinlan, you might be able to see a bigger world. All the storytelling and infectious guitar riffs amount to a feeling similar to the release after a solid talk with your mom, and I can't think of many things more satisfying than that.
-Lauren Moquin
1. A Distant Fist Unclenching- Krill*
It’s true that Krill is the band that Boston loves to love, but it is merit, not nepotism that places them at number one in this years album list. A Distant Fist Unclenching is not only a collection of solid songs but also an artfully formed cohesive piece. The album as a whole moves through quiet moments in songs like “Fly” and then soars to reach almost anthemic heights on tracks like “Brain Problem”. Distant Fist shows a mature side of Krill- it flexes, it is self critical like the Krill we know from earlier releases but somehow more forgiving. This record is less about feeling like a loser and more about recognizing our place as a small piece of something bigger. Its about searching for a way to define our relationships with each other, with the world, and with ourselves.
A Distant Fist Unclenching has reoccurring themes and symbols peppered throughout , like the fly and the squirrel, that guide us and change with the progression of the record. We learn about them in questions, and if we listen closely those questions are answered in later songs. Lyrics shift constantly from hyper-personal to philosophical, exercising an ever-changing scope that zooms in on the individual and then back again at the people and ecosystem that surrounds it. A Distant Fist Unclenching feels like a full, finished work that is not only beautiful but also challenges the listener to consider their perception of themselves in relationship to the larger world around them. Krill may have broken up a few months after its release, but A Distant Fist Unclenching comes to life with every listen.
-Sami Martasian