25. Best Coast Crazy for You
24. Tender Trap Dansette Dansette
Tender Trap’s Amelia Fletcher is an indie pop icon. It’s been 24 years since she first recorded with the seminal Talulah Gosh. Since then she’s only been the main player in iconic bands such as Heavenly, Marine Research, and now Tender Trap. By any stretch of the imagination this has been a great run. Most impressive is that 24 years later she’s still making exciting and subversive fuzzed out sonic blasts of sing-along fun. On this album, "Girls with Guns" and "Do You Wanna Boyfriend?" are some of the catchiest songs you'll hear this year.
If Amelia Fletcher is the icon, Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino is the bratty newcomer. Although she often gets lumped with the new (and probably already gone) niche genre chillwave, I think Best Coast has much more in common with the indie and noise pop bands like Tender Trap. Sure, she’s from California. Sure, she has stupid lyrics about boys, cats, drugs, and general slackerdom. But, really this is a pop album that’s cranked up the distortion. Each song is a two minute ball of fury.
Best Coast "When I'm with You"
Tender Trap "Do You Want a Boyfriend"
23. Sufjan Stevens Age of Adz
22. Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People
Why so low you ask? Perhaps I’m annoyed with Sufjan Stevens’ success? Perhaps I don’t get what he’s doing here? Perhaps I’m a fan who wishes he would stick to what he was doing before? Or perhaps I simply don’t like the deconstructed cacophony of noise that these two albums represent. Don’t get me wrong, Stevens is an immensely talented man. In most regards these are a triumph. They’re risky. They push boundaries. They challenge how one listens to music. There is so much go on, it's impossible to get bored with them. I also find them to be an indulgent (not the first time this accusation has been thrown at Stevens) puddle of colliding noises. There is so much going on that it’s hard to find the melodic core that has been totally deconstructed. That being said, there is something going on here and it’s likely that five years from now I’ll revisit this list and wish I had these much higher.
21. Jenny and Johnny I’m Having Fun Now
I’ve never understood the Jenny Lewis backlash. Sure, no one likes to hear a former child actress and current music star sing about how bad life is. Chances are, we’ve got it worse Jenny. Still, I think Jenny Lewis occupies that place where people secretly enjoy her albums but will never give them too much critical acclaim. Jenny Lewis plays to her strengths. She’s got a fine, if not exceptional voice that she keeps in range. And she’s got a razor sharp wit that’s fine at tossing acerbic barbs. Her one-off album, I’m Having Now Now, is a collaboration with boyfriend Jonathan Rice and is true to its title. It’s a brief barnstormer of an album that has tints of Americana and even the Byrds. Despite its politically charged tones, it’s a joyful bouncing record that’s, well, fun.
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