In 2020, we were trying. So hard. “When this is all over!” we’d say to a fuzzy image of our friends’ and families’ faces. We were trying to find inspiration and hope. But let’s be real: there was a lot of anxiety under the surface, a very tangible dread that loomed over anyone with half a rational mind. The music was great, but much of it was written and recorded before quarantine hit, meaning that the music of 2020 was not necessarily reflective of its vibe. 

However, once the pandemic had a little more time to marinate, it was always going to be interesting to see what was in store musically for 2021: the result of all that dread and isolation, the way you were forced to adapt to an ever-adaptive bleakness, the simple hobbies and distractions you used to keep yourself occupied, taking comfort in those close to you, and/or grieving for those you lost. 

After all of that had more time to sink in, this collection of 30 albums from Boston, Massachusetts and New England bloomed and not only displayed the wide eclecticism of sounds present in the area, but also didn’t shy away from branching out into the unknown. There are side projects in new directions by established artists. There are huge polarities in tone, from the lively and celebratory to the heavy and distorted. These projects are beautiful, vulnerable, angry, sexy, curious, melancholic, dark, uplifting, unhinged, heartbreaking, rejoicing, and bombastic. The common thread is that they all embrace their uniqueness in the fullest. 

Alexander, Difficult Freedom

[RIYL: Bright Eyes, being held]

The third album by Boston native Alexander, Difficult Freedom,  invites the listener in like a secret whisper before grabbing and holding you tight. Over its modest 21-minute run time, the singer/songwriter shares moments with such an intimacy; it’s as if you’re lying next to them. But with these moments of being tender and delicate, thumping beats and bursts of color wiggle their way into the cracks. Like the rousing finale of “River” where the singer admits they just “want to be held” before coming to a crashing halt. The album has its strongest moments in “Happiness,” a simple anthem about learning to be more positive. It’s as vulnerable as it is formidable.

–Andrew Bourque

Alisa Amador, Narratives

[RIYL: Sara Bareilles, Lake Street Dive, Laura Marling]

Jazzy, folksy, funky crooner Alisa Amador is a treasure, and so is her debut “mini-album” Narratives. From the top, Amador starts out strong with seductive horns, bluesy guitar riffs, and impressive vocal runs on “Timing,” her breakout song that captures a sweet, hesitant courtship on the brink of a fully-fledged, whirlwind romance. Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive) comparisons are inevitable, but only because Amador’s vocals achieve that same level of soulfulness. She speaks truth to power with fellow Massachusetts babes, Kaiti Jones and Hayley Sabella, who get real about about fear, oppression and violence against women on “Burnt and Broken.” Then, “Alone” is a sharp, reflective self-love song — and those funky bass lines! “Nada que ver” conveys a yearning you can understand even if you don’t speak Spanish. Finally, Amador’s sheer classical guitar skills, vocal range, and romantic lyricism call to mind Laura Marling, especially on “Together.” All in all, Narratives tells its own story — one that sees Alisa Amador taking her soulful sound as far and wide as her musical abilities.

-Jackie Swisshelm

Converge & Chelsea Wolfe, Bloodmoon: I

[RIYL: ouid, seances, brooding in the nighttime]

2021 saw iconic Boston metal band Converge link up with renowned vocalist/singwriter Chelsea Wolfe (plus help from their friends Stephen Brodsky and Ben Chisholm) on the new collaborative album Bloodmoon: I. Swinging between vicious chaos and the ominous beauty of Wolfe’s vocals, the pairing makes perfect sense. The product is an epic journey across 11 songs that knows when to hold you to the fire and when to let you breathe. Standout track “Scorpion’s Sting” keeps you in its haze thanks to the musical tango these two artists perform so expertly across this whole album. Take a walk under the blood moon and feel it for yourself.

–Andrew Bourque

COWBOY BOY, GOOD GIRL

[RIYL: The Go-Gos, Ex Hex, whatever the heck “bubblegrunge” is]

GOOD GIRL is refreshing in its lack of frills and low stakes. It is John Carpenter-esque in making a little feel like a lot. Lacking distractions, COWBOY BOY’s lyrics stick in your craw easily, their hooks lodge in your head often, and the guitars are free to fuzz at the exact frequency of your bones. At a moment where rock is seen more as a garnish, COWBOY BOY restate the claim that meat-and-potatoes still make for a damn satisfying meal.

–Ben Bonadies

DJ Grumble, Freestyle Tools Special Edition

[RIYL: Pink Navel, lo fi beats to study to but also party to, RZA]

Unwind with the sounds of DJ Grumble, local producer with an impressive array of instrumental tracks over the last decade. Freestyle Tools Special Edition builds on this portfolio, giving anyone the perfect beats to freestyle over should you choose to do so. They encourage it right on their Bandcamp! It’s also pleasant for those of us with no affinity to emcee just to relax and listen. For fans of ’80s and ’90s hip hop, you’ll find a comforting nostalgia while diving into DJ Grumble. The tinges of old school soul samples over drum beats will sound familiar to any fan of RZA or Kanye West’s production.

–Christine Varriale 

Editrix, Tell Me I’m Bad

[RIYL: Polvo, Rodan, Helium, guitar music but especially when it makes you dizzy]

Western Mass’ Editrix wield humor like a sharpened blade. It’s there in the self-proclaimed “avant butt rock” Bandcamp genre tag; it’s there in Wendy Eisenberg’s cutting-but-off-handedly-so lyrics; and it’s sure as shit in their slashing post-hardcore attack. Equal parts loose-limbed slack and razor-sharp precision (often within the same song), Editrix prove there’s a certain kind of hilarity in virtuosity. Consider the briefest tease of a bass solo during “Chelsea” or the jarring double-time kick that comes far too early into “Sinner” or the title track’s seesaw rhythmic shifts. At its core, Tell Me I’m Bad is a loud and gnarly guitar-centric indie rock record in the tradition of labels like Touch and Go, Kill Rock Stars, or any number of bands that called Louisville home in the early-mid ’90s. But, by infusing the former’s self-serious pose with a sort-of giddy and purposeful deconstruction, these songs become a kind of meta commentary. Call it Editrix’s intent to “annihilate indie rock” from the inside.

A rousing trio on Bad’s back half pull a similar trick in their fixation on partying: the rituals we undergo to get ourselves out the door, the movements we do to the music, and the small talk we squirm through with interesting strangers. On the surface, Eisenberg’s sardonic wit could be read as a condemnation of the whole charade, but their unsteady narratives suggest the truth is something equally more complicated and compelling. The best jokes are often inside ones.

–Dillon Riley

Fiddlehead, Between the Richness

[RIYL: crying while headbanging, The Menzingers]

Few albums have made such a lasting impression on listeners as Fiddlehead’s incredible second album Between the Richness. Still processing the grief of losing his father while having a son of his own, singer Pat Flynn found himself stuck in between feeling happy and depressed. Fiddlehead’s first album dealt with the loss of a father and the toll of a mother’s grief. Between the Richness revisits these themes while looking cautiously toward the future. When the lyrics aren’t pulling you apart, riffs and drums hammer away throughout, proving Fiddlehead as both worthy songwriters and expert performers. The last track “Heart to Heart” takes these experiences of grappling with grief and prepares a son to inevitably lose a father. “When daylight is too dark and the night’s last way too long, look into your heart and find me.” It’s a powerful album in more ways than one, and it demands to be heard.

–Andrew Bourque

Frances Forever, paranoia party – EP

[RIYL: Chloe Moriondo, Sidney Gish, girl in red]

Frances Garrett builds upon Boston’s long-standing DIY bedroom pop and singer-songwriter history with their 2021 EP paranoia party under their moniker Frances Forever, a reference to another Allston Pudding favorite, Mitski. The first song I heard by Frances Forever was probably everyone’s first: the oh so catchy and sweet “space girl,” an ode to another bit of history as old as time: queer longing. Garrett’s incredible voice shines throughout the EP, weaving and creating stories through layers and harmonies that set them apart from other trending gen z songwriters. It feels like 2021 is Frances Forever’s true breakout year, and I can’t wait to hear what they do in 2022 to expand upon their already impressive catalog of two EPs and various singles.

–Christine Varriale

Future Teens, Deliberately Alive EP

[RIYL: not being able to afford a guest room, Tigers Jaw]

Indie boppers Future Teens graced fans this year with the victorious Deliberately Alive EP. Riddled with anxiety, joy, growing pains and hope, these five songs showcase the bands’ strengths which have elevated them to be one of Boston’s most beloved bands. Relatable themes and personal moments about growing apart, holding on to memories and paying rent fill songs with a passion deserving of being on stage in front of screaming fans. Before wrapping things up, the band offers up a surprising and effective cover of Cher’s “Believe” that practically begs for you to put your lighters in the air.

–Andrew Bourque

Gold Dust, Gold Dust

[RIYL: Kindling but you wish you could hear what they’re singing, getting into psych rock, Paisley Shirt Records bands]

Gold Dust, the lo-fi home-recorded self-titled LP from solo-artist Stephen Pierce (Kindling, Ampere), contains stubbornly cheery music with stubbornly glum lyrics – a classic pop formula. I’m reminded of a High Fidelity quote:

“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

Most of the Gold Dust arrangements keep the folk rock upfront with the echoing vocals in back, bestowing a live quality. The best versions of this method can be heard in “Oh Well” and “Anywhereing.” “Cosmic Joke” recalls “Heart of Gold” melodically. GD is rife with depresso lyrics set to self-soothing melodic arrangements that belie an inner peace that the narrator clings to for comfort when weathering the tumult in his world. The source of his sadness is not clear, perhaps to leave the subject open enough for listeners to get in touch with their own struggle.

But the solace he feels (and corresponding upbeat instrumentation), seem to stem from his cat’s affection. At least in the track “Cat Song.” “I’ll try to be the good you see in me,” Pierce concludes in one of the clearest vocal deliveries on the album. And why not write a song for a fuzzy kitten? Shout out to all the pets out there helping us get by.

–Dan Moffat

Gollylagging, Ain’t That Just the Way! EP

[RIYL: Cap’n Jazz, The Get Up Kids, The Hotelier, Instagram DMs for the gig address]

It feels like a new crop of young Boston rockers arise every few years to shake up the scene and stake their claim as the sound of what’s going on. Trust us when we say Gollylagging will be among those crowned, and soon. This four-piece harkens back to a time when emo was almost exclusively heard in the sort of dank basements and VFW halls that dotted college towns between the midwest and the east coast. Which is to say every song on the Ain’t That Just The Way! EP sounds like it’s exploding out of their bodies. The guitars are real loud and scrappy with downstrokes that sound more like haymakers pounding against drum fills that feel like a nasty fall down a flight of stairs (in a good way). You really gotta scream to be heard over ruckus like that and there’s plenty of bloodletting to be had on tracks like “Kangaroo” and “Your Party.” However, their best trick of all might be ‘Dealing Cards” a perfectly melancholic slice of indie pop that’s far more Sarah Records than Jade Tree. Certainly a band to watch tear up a house in 2022. 

-Dillon Riley

Husbands, The Moon Shuts Off Sometimes

[RIYL: early MBV, Siamese Dream, The Murder Capital, Sloucher]

The Moon Shuts Off Sometimes is a refreshing listen, featuring tracks that flow together and seldom break the 2:30 marker in length. Noise-shoegaze opener “Drag” recalls early MBV, followed by the stormy and churning “Bender.” The piano accompanying “Variable” sounds deliberately rough-and-ready, as does the audible door closing – It all adds a sense of place and space before the noise kicks in for the chorus. The early ’90s alt-rock convention of extreme loud-quiet dynamic shifts are lock-tight and is engineered masterfully by Bradford Krieger at Big Nice Studio in Lincoln, RI.

In “Soapbox” we get the sense of restlessness that encapsulates the album as singer Aidan Page croons, “That’s how it goes, another day, that’s how it goes, wasting away.” The words have the appearance of being swept underneath the rug, however, as they are conspicuously left off of their Bandcamp page. Although it seems at least a couple of the track’s lyrics make it on the J-Card of the cassette tape.

The album doesn’t wear its influences on its sleeve apart from a whiff of The Police’s “Walking on the Moon” in the guitar of the penultimate track “Sea Rose Lane.” The tunes on The Moon cascade through speakers confidently and drift away gently; slow to mid-tempo numbers move like storm clouds breaking beneath the moon, turning it on and off.

–Dan Moffat

Kitner, Shake the Spins

[RIYL: Straylight Run, Future Teens, The Get Up Kids, being moody]

Kitner’s Shake the Spins was seasonally appropriate for its 1st of October release. The comeback of Boston’s best kept indie pop rock secret took us for a surprise, but boy are we happy they did it! From local shout-outs like Beth Israel, Malden, and New Haven, this album feels like a comforting warm blanket to help us survive the last quarter of this rollercoaster of a wild year. This debut album was several years in the making, and although it took a while, it was every bit worth the wait.

–Christine Varriale

Lil Kevo 303, Choo Choo

[RIYL: Crazy Frog, Thunderdome, Squarepusher, Machine Girl, Sonic the Hedgehog speedruns]

Lil Kevo 303 makes maximal rave jams for the dancers and the shut-ins. With the kind of warp-speed drum breaks and fire-alarm synths that keep the junglists up all night and the dense video game and pop culture references that permeate the comment sections of digital raves across Twitch, Zoom, and wherever the hell else, Lil Kevo continues to blaze a path all their own. Choo Choo sounds sorta like pouring the last thirty years of drum and bass and JRPG boss music into a blender and then sprinkling in some of your Netflix queue to taste. On paper that sounds like a lot, but in headphones (or hopefully soon for this writer) on a dimly lit dancefloor, it’s revelatory. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to slam around to blisteringly fast heaters featuring samples from Ralph Wiggum (The Simpsons), Bubbles and Ricky (Trailer Park Boys), and uhhh Griselda Records? There’s certainly precedents and contemporaries for this chaotically online sound, but no one does it quite like Lil Kevo 303, not in Boston or anywhere else. Lucky us.

–Dillon Riley

Marissa Nadler, The Path of the Clouds

[RIYL: forests at night, Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle]

Over the course of a remarkably steady career, Marissa Nadler has carved out a special niche within the folk scene. The Path of the Clouds is no different than many of her previous releases – a formula that hasn’t called for a change. Her lush ballads are hypnotizing, each song on the album is a small world to get completely engrossed in. Clouds also leans more heavily on piano than before, and is Nadler’s first self-produced album. The result is something that sounds even dreamier and more patient than her other works. As ever, though, these are grim songs. The true crime inspiration lays heavy into the album, faithful to the goth name. Songs like “Couldn’t Have Done the Killing” bolster the album’s beauty with sinister musical undertones and homicidal lyrics. She’s also assisted by some notable goth-adjacent names like Emma Ruth Rundle and Cocteau Twins member Simon Raymonde. All in all, Clouds may be one of Nadler’s best albums, an impressive notch in a great catalog.

–Andrew McNally

Meiwei, Meiwei

[RIYL: Walking alone in the city, Laura Marling, Haley Heynderickx]

In Meiwei’s self-titled debut EP from February of this year, Michelle Mouw shows off some seriously masterful moments with her melodies over the course of just five songs. Her voice is, simply put, magical. She knows when to slip in sweet falsettos without overdoing it. And although it’s her first release, Meiwei already clearly has a signature skill: the ability to plant the listener right where she wants them to be— whether that’s a memory, a place, even a feeling. Her scene-setting lyrics are draped over dreamy, acoustic fingerpicking, or gently dripping notes onto a piano, or field recordings of a bus in Beijing and bike pedals. Meiwei’s album is an unmistakably brave, lovely debut effort from a young Boston songwriter.

–Jackie Swisshelm

Mercet, VIMS

[RIYL: Four Tet, the natural rhythms & melodies of the forest, pondering your orb]

Mercet is the pseudonym Sai Boddupalli (Animal Flag, Really From) landed on for this new project, an electronic album that flitters between ambient, IDM, and indietronica – if such genre labels hold any distinction for you. Around these parts, we just call this… uhh… good music. Tracks flow in and out of one another, propped up by evolving production that keeps every moment on this album fresh. Nothing is wasted. The project is meant to be a document of Mercet’s struggles with mental health and pandemic isolation. With that in mind, what’s really astounding is that the album never delves deeply into darkness. Sure there’s some ominous cello swells on “No Door Is Shut” (courtesy of Kira McSpice), but the real effective power of VIMS is in how curious and exploratory it sounds finding warmth and beauty in the face of isolation.

-Harry Gustafson

Naomi Westwater, Feelings EP

[RIYL: Alabama Shakes, Club Passim, long drives to nowhere in particular]

“My body is not my home.” This is the soulful but haunting a capella that Naomi Westwater delivers on opener “Home” to kick off this release, a quick collection of roots/Americana numbers that – as the title suggests – finds the singer-songwriter contemplating how their emotions are linked to several factors outside their control. “Home” is an expression of the dysphoric feelings that come from having a painful chronic disease; in Westwater’s case, this is due to her endometriosis, something she’s been very open about when discussing the project. Beyond that, she tackles issues like rapidly declining climate change, mixed race identity, and racism, the latter of which is expressed through the EP’s closing track, a cover of the timeless standard “Strange Fruit.” 

-Harry Gustafson

Onbloom, Momentum – EP

[RIYL: Kelela, black-and-white photos of streetlights, velvet-upholstered cigar lounges] 

For her second release and follow-up to 2020’s The Star EP, Everett’s Onbloom carried over the ethereal R&B sound of her last release, leaving behind some timidity in her abilities as a vocalist. While The Star found its way through its shadowy, mysterious hooks, Momentum takes firm footing in tangibility. The songs are full of imagery of confident femininity, bookended by the tracks “Her” and “Lover Girl.”

–Harry Gustafson

Oompa, Unbothered

[RIYL: J. Cole, focusing on your come up, having a good time all the time]

Departing from the more serious and personal content of her last album Cleo, Oompa sought to make a follow-up that focused on her blessings. From the start, as she opens with a prayer of gratitude on “AMEN”, Oompa rejoices. The title track and its low stress guidance is worth an addition to any summer playlist and “LEBRON” is an undeniable banger. It also feels like she leans into her singing voice more often, adding R&B vocal flair to a collection of beats full of bright, catchy melodies. 

-Harry Gustafson

Ovlov, Buds

[RIYL: Dinosaur Jr, The Lemonheads, oversized flannel shirts]

It’s tough to find a rock album in 2021 that’s more fun than Buds. The band blissfully remove themselves from any kind of bureaucratic sub-genre, instead pumping out eight great, punchy rock songs with welcome and familiar pop song structuring. The verse-chorus-verse tiering of “Eat More” harkens back to a ’90s alternative aura; “The Wishing Well” has a classic restlessly immature indie sound; and “Baby Shea” edges on being a straight punk song. The hardened nostalgia and guitar freakout outro of “Land Of Steve-O” sounds ripped from the Dinosaur, Jr. catalog. My personal favorite “Cheer Up, Chihiro!” is a full-on delectable mess, with a hypnotic and almost shoegaze-y guitar riff that pummels the ears long before the alto sax kicks in. No idea is too categorical for Buds, and no idea sticks around too long either. At only 24 minutes, it fully positions itself as one of the punchiest and replayable local releases of the year.

–Andrew McNally

Pink Navel, EPIC

[RIYL: Saturday morning cartoons, YouTube rabbit holes, “birds aren’t real” conspiracy theories]

If EPIC feels like it has a bit of a carefree, improvisational feel, that’s due to Pink Navel’s insistence to record their latest album in one live take. Laughs and slip-ups along the way are all part of the experience, as the rapper sought to cut down on their tendency to nitpick and agonize over their releases. What’s resulted from that is an irresistibly irreverent, nonstop stream-of-consciousness unloading that feels more like it takes cues from Portrait of the Artist more than it does from alternative hip-hop contemporaries. For every nonsensical joke, there’s a healthy dose of tender nostalgia, like on “GAZEBO RAPS,” where the rapper reminisces on a childhood memory of watching their mother build a gazebo in the yard. Like dude, who else is rapping about gazebos? 

-Harry Gustafson

Really From, Really From

[RIYL: Tortoise, Jeff Rosenstock, Half Waif, songs about identity and grappling with the way this country flattens culture]

You know, emo-jazz is kind of a misnomer for Really From. Punk rock + horns and songs that are about deep stuff coming out on an “emo label” (hi Topshelf we know y’all do a bit of everything 😎) is probably a decent marketing hook, but it does little to describe the actual music. On Really From, the Boston quintet masterfully fold in genres as disparate as folk, electronica, hardcore, ambient, and yes, jazz into their own exceedingly hard-to-pin-down style. They are the sound of a thousand different influences and techniques clawing their way towards a beautiful and taut harmony. A similar tension is reflected in their lyrical narratives. Co-fronters Michi Tassey and Chris Lee-Rodriguez are both multicultural, and they unspool tales of trauma, pride and prejudice that elegantly complement and twist around each other. Tassey’s “Yellow Fever” is a pointed takedown of fetishism as revenge fantasy, while Rodriguez’s “In The Spaces” takes stock of the sacrifices the earliest generations of immigrant families make for their kids. The duo come together often, but no better than on the record’s centerpiece “I’m From Here,” which ends with Rodriguez’s impassioned shout of the title done jarringly a capella. One look at their chosen (that’s another story) name grounds it all. It’s meant to be read as in: “yes I’m really from here,” a brain-numbing dance its members have surely done countless times.

–Dillon Riley

SEED, Dun Pageant

[RIYL: Glassing, The Body, secret chambers long abandoned]

2021 wasn’t one of the best years for metal, but no one told that to SEED. One of the city’s finest loud albums of 2021 – and genuinely one of the best metal albums I listened to this year – showcases what the local upstarts do best. Dun Pageant is ostensibly a doom metal record, but it’s one that avoids the tropes and pratfalls so much that it never even sounds particularly comfortable with the genre label. At their loudest, the band is incredibly abrasive, with punishing guitar riffs and vocals from Lux Lucidi that alternate between pained shrieks and a distant wistfulness. But the band also leaves plenty of room for the quieter moments, with long segments or even entire songs that have a hushed foreboding quality to them. A lot can be said about the stellar production of Pageant. Rather than push the volume to the forefront, the production is often sparse, with the band sounding distant and disconnected. This, plus Lucidi’s impressively-pained vocals, help to give the album an eeriness that might be more akin to black metal, not the riff-heavy doom metal. It’s absurd that SEED are already nailing it with such a young career.

–Andrew McNally

shallow pools, headspace – EP

[RIYL: MUNA, Paramore, Carly Rae Jepsen, The 1975, spare glitter in your fanny pack]

What is it that makes a perfect pop song? Is perfection a tangible or quantifiable place? Probably not, but Boston four-piece shallow pools certainly try to take you there two minutes and fifty seconds at a time. Theirs is an idealized postmodern world, one where genre isn’t a framework, but a suggestion of lines to repeatedly color outside. Call the headspace EP something like retro synthpop given a contemporary (and defiantly queer!) sheen if you must, but there’s far more under the hood. Slinky disco licks that explode into frontperson Glynnis Brennan’s firework bright choruses, downtempo electronica that effortlessly unfolds into grunge-y distorted grooves, gated snares and lazer synth-y guitar solos: all of which is to say shallow pools are also a pop BAND in the greatest sense. Go see them live, and it’s a flurry of bodies gliding across the stage in time to drummer Ali Ajemian’s steady, throbbing beat. Guaranteed fun. 

-Dillon Riley

Squirrel Flower, Planet (i)

[RIYL: Adrianne Lenker, Bonnie Raitt, Florist]

If Planet (i) by Squirrel Flower aka Ella Williams ends up being the soundtrack to a fiery apocalypse, so be it. On the fourth album from Squirrel Flower, each of the twelve tracks feels like a familiar chapter from a book you’ve read many times over; the pages are wrinkled and stained but each word holds a strange comfort, and the punches still hit just as hard. Standout single “Hurt A Fly” pushes Williams out of her comfort zone — lyrically and literally, with distorted vocal effects, whining guitars, and a narrative from a fuckboy’s perspective. “Deluge In The South,” with it’s false start and all, is a song that feels like future-past. She refuses to hold back on sludgy, metal guitar riffs on quick hit “Big Beast” and “Night” (and, thank GOD). All in all, Williams’ deep, dark guitar riffs elevate her already powerful vocals, whether she’s belting above a wall of sound or lilting whispered twang-tinted lullabies. Listening to Planet (i) has been cleansing af in the year 2021. And if you make one goal before the end-times, make sure you’re there when the pin drops the next time Squirrel Flower plays “Desert Wildflowers” in a ghost town near you.

-Jackie Swisshelm

Squitch, Learn to Be Alone

[RIYL: Speedy Ortiz, Grass is Green, Liz Phair]

Squitch dropped Learn to be Alone just shy of 2021 when they “pulled a Gish” as I call it by releasing an album on New Year’s Eve. The discordant guitar and rumbling drums bring me back to 2012-era Exploding in Sound releases, and you can hear the influence of vocalist/guitarist Emery Spooner and drummer/vocalist Denzil Leach’s love of that local scene from growing up in New Hampshire all throughout the album. My favorites include tracks like “Rut,” “Pretty Boy” and “Part of Me” but the album closer “Night Star” is a special song to anyone who has stopped at the local legend convenience store on their way to O’Brien’s to grab a snack and some cash from the ATM before heading to a show. It’s a song about leaving a place you love and creating your own home base no matter where you are.

–Christine Varriale

True Faith, They Can Always Hurt You More

[RIYL: Joy Division, Black Marble, Sweeping Promises, The Killers, The Future’s Bright]

True Faith sound like they time-traveled back to 1980 so they could record with Ian Curtis on vocals in a grotty basement. Sonically, the band eschews the higher frequencies that would garner closer comparisons with contemporary goth/coldwave artists such as Black Marble. Instead, they embrace the low pass filter, much in the same way as fellow Bay Staters Sweeping Promises, achieving a closer connection to the past. The result is remarkable; the baritone voice ricochets off the speakers with plenty of room to move. The instruments understand the assignment as well. Sure, it’s a bit derivative. Yeah, it’s also Dracula-y and Halloween-y, which will not be for everyone. But if you’re into this kind of upbeat goth-poppy ’80s new wave shtick then I encourage you to not hold back – drop everything and listen to They Can Always Hurt You More right now.

–Dan Moffat

Van Buren Records, Bad for Press & Black Wall Street EP

[RIYL: doing anything and everything for your friends, BROCKHAMPTON, Wu-Tang Clan]

The Brockton hip-hop collective continued to raise their profile in 2021, first with Bad For Press, their first full-length release as a group, which they later followed up with Black Wall Street EP, a collaboration with producer AziztheShake. While members like Lord Felix, Saint Lyor, Meech, Jiles, and others from the collective have established themselves as talented individuals on their solo releases, there’s something undeniably enjoyable and compelling about a group of longtime friends banding together to go bar-for-bar with each other. There are equal parts competition to lay down the hardest verses, but all that is kept in check by the mutual drive to succeed. To say that the Van Buren boys are “one to watch” would be a couple years too late; now, they simply will not be ignored.

–Harry Gustafson

Weakened Friends, Quitter

[RIYL: The Beths, Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack, Charly Bliss]

Just over a month old, Quitter by Maine pop punk trio Weakened Friends has already smashed it. The album, a follow up to 2018’s LP Common Blah, is being hailed as cathartic and raw; an honest (though, at times nostalgic) portrayal of what it means to pursue music into your thirties. The title track “Quitter” WILL get stuck in your head. “25th” is an anthem of regret that everyone can relate to. Songs like “Haunted House” and “Planes” soar. “What You Like” pushes on with a self-deprecating snarl. Fuzzy guitars and the tongue in cheek tone and lyrics on “Spew” and “Everything is Better” are everything you want out of a New England pop punk band in 2021. Anyone who’s heard singer ​​Sonia Sturino’s voice can agree her vibrato singing style has personality, for sure. Those vocal skills paired with the band’s tight af guitar licks, clashing drums, and reverberating bass lines, create a sound that launches Weakened Friends into a whole different ballpark — and it’s not one for quitters.

–Jackie Swisshelm

Honorable Mentions

We wanted to give honorable mentions to two re-issues/re-releases this year: Pile’s Songs Known Together, Alone and Landowner’s Impressive Almanac. Pile’s Rick Maguire recorded some of Pile’s most beloved tracks by himself for beautiful, stripped down renditions of the post-everything band’s chaotic sound. Landowner re-issued their 2016 debut on vinyl this year through Born Yesterday.