Words by Sean Victory
Sean Victory is a lifelong artist, tinkerer, and musician. In addition to the Far Out Sounds column, his current projects are Nightmare Frontier and World Hum, having also contributed to the groups Famished Ghosts, Future Toys, and Owl & Swan. Here are his top ten albums in no order.
Sour Widows – Revival of a Friend (Exploding in Sound Records)
I’ve probably listened to this record more than any other one on my list this year. It’s a beautifully dynamic album, with lots of melancholia, and the sound of 90s/00s alternative rock. The Bay Area group uses this vaguely nostalgic pallet to create music that could chameleon itself into the past, but the lyrics and presentation feel much more current than the instrumentation alludes to. The record deals with loss, alienation, love, and anger, made all the more resonant by leaving plenty of space for the listener to connect and reflect, before the band breaks the glass and spins the narrative in a new direction.
I’m not sure how it happens, but every time things go awry in my life there’s a Wand album that miraculously connects to the moment and serves as a source of comfort. Plum was a guiding light for me shortly after my mom died. Laughing Matter saw me through job loss and an ever-growing distance between friends and family. My first listen to Vertigo accompanied my trip to a crisis ward where I subsequently enrolled in a partial-hospitalization program for my depression. “All your tigers are running free. You don’t know what you are,” begins the opening track, “Hangman.” It’s lines like these that form the evolving mantras on the record. The songs find their form through repetitions that morph slowly, shape-shifting their way through swells and drones, and vanishing into the wallpaper of everyday life. Lead singer Cory Hanson perfectly matches this mood with Thom Yorke-esque vocals, and lyrics that speak to the disorientation so often dredged up in search of our center. “All the time you spent trying to be somebody else. I could just forget, wake up and be myself.”
Goat – Goat (Rocket Recordings)
Equal parts funk and rock with heaps of spice from various world musics, Goat’s self-titled record continues their hot streak of releases over the last few years. Although there have been changes in personnel recently, the band still delivers their unique brand of psychedelic rock. It may be these very changes that have revitalized the band over their last several releases. It’s hard to say, given their commitment to anonymity. They seem more willing than ever to incorporate new elements, or put a spin on the familiar. On this record in particular, the guitar is so fuzzed out that solos break up in spits and sputters. There’s a renewed focus on percussive elements that deepen the grooves and add to a sense of ceremony. Beautiful pagans, these Swedes.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Flight b741 (pDoom Records)
Just when I thought my favorite Gizzard days were long gone, they put out one of their strongest records in years. It should be no surprise that these freaks could flawlessly pull off an album of classic rock inspired hits. There’s not a dull moment on this album as the group seamlessly blends together, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, The Band, and some Beatles playfulness. While it may lack the broad-scope meandering ambition of some of their wilder releases, this is a tour de force that shows off the sickening amount of talent possessed by this band. I’m grateful that there is still real quality to their work and it’s not just $50 t-shirts and festival sized concerts. They prove again and again that they can transcend the gimmicky face value present in so many of their projects, digging in and finding inspiration beneath these garish wrappings.
St. Vincent – All Born Screaming (Total Pleasure Records)
Annie Clark’s last record, Daddy’s Home, was my favorite of her releases until this year. All Born Screaming marks a high point in Clark’s talent not only as a song-writer, but this is her first time self-producing a record. She ends up creating her most diverse album to date, full of twists on familiar pop and rock structures. It reminds me of a Peter Gabriel record in its scope. All Born Screaming contains our modern anxieties, fears, and shortcomings all rolled into One of the bigger surprises on the record is the Bond-theme ready “Violent Times,” with orchestral hits riding bullets, verses tumbling like cards, and choruses swimming like nudes in the aether.
High on Fire – Cometh the Storm (MNRK Records)
While it was 2018’s Electric Messiah that won High on Fire a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, Cometh the Storm shows a greater depth of technical skill. These are among some of their strongest riffs, equal to anything found on Luminiferous or De Vermis Mysteriis, and like these aforementioned albums, there is a cohesiveness present that often eludes High on Fire. Jeff Matz’s obsession with Turkish folk music paints a suitable aesthetic underpinning for the record. Even when the songs aren’t an excuse for Matz to take his double-necked microtonal bass/guitar for a spin, there are enough excursions into Turkish scales and modes for a reliable air to permeate the songs.
Dan Rincon – Spotlight City (Castle Face Records)
This first solo outing finds the OSEES drummer doing quite a lot with a tightly controlled sonic palette. Reminiscent of early Tangerine Dream and Cluster, Rincon walks us through hazy synth scapes, each song a separate story but part of the same 16-bit environments. Built around a Moog, Mellotron and a modular synth system, the music contains the sonic artifacts of these distinct voices seeking out sweet spots, and as the cogs click into place, a curtain rises on a freshly conjured environment.
Cola – The Gloss (Fire Talk Records)
I really loved the debut from Cola, Deep In View, and while The Gloss doesn’t build on the paired-down aesthetic of the band it further bolsters the philosophical ethos that makes them such a special group. It’s punk music that doesn’t get too loud or fuzzy, opting instead to use repetition, and melodic simplicity as a foundation for razor sharp lyrics that cut without breaking a sweat. As such, this record is a bit of a slow burn, but repeated listens will reveal the perfect interlocking between instrumentation and lyrical content.
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media Records)
I really tried not to add any records that I covered in my column, but I had to make an exception here. Blood Incantation continue to take risks in building their own brand of heavy metal. Part ambient, part Berlin school, part prog rock, and all searing technical ability. Absolute Elsewhere finds the band moving beyond their familiar cosmic horror influences, and creating something like cosmic hope. If you’re not into the message of the Buddha filtered through Terence McKenna’s gray matter, there are plenty of crushing riffs you can use to box your ears.
The Unfit – Disconnected (Share It Music)
We need punk music that is this pissed off. The Unfit walk a fine line of being sick of the future, while presenting lyrics intelligent enough so as not to come off as cynical or nihilistic. This brief EP falls right along the same lines as their self-titled 2020 LP. There is plenty of disdain for the ruling class, funny essays about the attention economy, and a spotlight shining on the algorithmic trough feeding our confirmation bias. Stuck like deer in the headlights, we have no idea how to do what’s best for us. Just throw your phone in the toilet already.