The Top 20 Albums of 2020
From sugary synth-pop to crushing post-grunge ‘90s revivalism, these are the releases that made the year that was hop, bop and headbang.
By: James Swift
You know, if a buncha’ dweebs and elitists at Rolling Stone and The Village Voice can declare themselves authorities on good musical taste, why shouldn’t we here at Uncommon Journalism appoint ourselves the same self-ordained privilege?
Below, you’ll find our official countdown of the 20 best albums to assail our cochleas in the year 2020, running the gamut from jolly synth-pop jaunts to crestfallen chillwave classics to post-grunge, retro-revivalist ‘90s college rock epics. Of course, musical taste is intrinsically subjective, but let’s be real here — do you really value the judgment of NPR and Pitchfork over our fearlessly independent, non-corporate literary criticism?
Our thoughts precisely. So how about you plug in your earbuds and give a listen to the absolute best the tumultuous year that was had to offer on a strictly aural level?
20
“All The Damn Vampires EP” by All The Damn Vampires
With a moniker inspired by the cult classic teen bloodsucker romp The Lost Boys, you’d expect the vibe from All The Damn Vampires to be 80’s-tastic to the max. And there’s no denying that this six-song retro-revivalist release does the Reagan years proud, with a super-synthy sound that’ll have you hankering for a trip to Orange Julius in no time. Especially noteworthy is the opening bopper “Saturday” — not only is it one of the best synth-pop tracks of the year, it’s probably the greatest song Tegan and Sara never recorded.
19
“Patterns In The Static” by The Classic Crime
The vastly underappreciated post-grunge/pop-punk outfit from Seattle returned in 2020 with “Patterns in the Static,” a delightfully straight-forward 12-track banger that feels remarkably like something you would’ve blared out of your Honda Civic in 2003 — and that’s a compliment, by the way. Somewhat reminiscent of the pre-Obama work released by Silverchair, The Killers and Fallout Boy, there isn’t a subpar song on the entire album; and the lite-emo touches are very tastefully done, especially on nostalgia-heavy tracks like “Summer of ‘92” and “The Water’s Edge.”
18
“Death in Venice Beach” by The Bombpops
San Diego may not have the Chargers anymore, but at least they still have this top-notch post-post-punk band to call their own. The double shot of co-vocalists Poli van Dam and Jen Razavi brings a unique, velvety melody to “Death in Venice Beach,” a rip-roaring release highlighted by tracks like “Zero Remorse” and “Notre Dame” which call to mind the aural cross pollination of NOFX and Letters to Cleo. Anybody who has the audacity to claim pop punk is dead would be wise to give “Radio Silence” and “Blood Pact” a listen — indeed, the band is almost keeping the sub-sub-subgenre alive single-handedly.
17
“New Arrows” by Personality Cult
You wouldn’t exactly expect one of the year’s best post-punk albums to come out of North Carolina, but apparently, 2020 is that kind of year. This release from Dirtnap Records is pretty much 24 minutes of unsquandered sonic potential, the kind of rollocking, riff-heavy rock and roll you could only imagine if The Buzzcocks grew up in Ric Flair country. The band however, isn’t afraid to get darker, more abrasive and even a little more experimental, though: indeed, tracks like “Sharp Edges” and “5-30” almost crossover into a quasi-groove metal territory, offering the perfect counterweight to the Cocksparrer-in--Carhartt bravado of toe-tappers like “Dissolve You” and “Nothing To Do With It.”
15
“Joyridin’” by Hard Target
“Spirits” by Hard Target and Wess Nyle
Say what you will about 2020 as an amorphous collective, at least we got not one but TWO stellar, full-length albums from Hernando County, Florida’s most accomplished Caucasian rapper out of it. The earlier of the rapper’s two releases — a feature length duet with country rock crooner Wess Nyle — is certainly the darker and more abrasive, with working class dirges like “45” and “Stuck in the Mud” eerily portending the wealth of socioeconomic challenges wrought by the looming coronavirus. Meanwhile, the aptly-titled “Joyridin’” is an album every bit as jaunty as its namesake would lead you to believe — indeed, with such delightfully catchy ass-stompers as “Chevy Truck,” “America AF” and “Hodor,” Hard Target has pulled off a one-two hick-hop punch that Kid Rock could only dream about.
14
“Mr. Old School” by Clarence Carter
With all due respect to Stevie Wonder, I think it’s safe to say that Clarence Carter is America’s true national treasure when it comes to blind, African-American soul singers. The industrious Alabaman beloved for his raunchy and risque showstoppers once again brought the expected goods with January’s release “Mr. Old School,” containing such self-explanatory ballads as “G Spot” and “You Gotta Grunt.” But there’s a bit more versatility to Carter’s latest than you might expect, however: indeed, tracks like “You’re Worth The Risk” and “That’s What The Blues Is About” come off as some of the most crushingly heartfelt tunes of 2020, with “A Christmas Party” no doubt destined to become a holiday favorite — you know, pending you spend the Yuletide season with a lot of perverts, naturally.
13
“Titans of Creation” by Testament
One of the great unsung monoliths of metal music, Testament never made it anywhere close to the level of international fame and renown as did groups like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. However, with a line-up consisting of three of the heaviest hitters in all of heavy metal — sandpaper-throated Chuck Billy, drum-pounder Gene Hoglan and six-string snapper extraordinaire Steve Di Giorgio — perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising that 2020’s “Titans of Creation” stands out as the year’s best old-school thrash offerings. With song titles like “WW III,” “Night of the Witch” and “Ishtar’s Gate,” you know exactly what you’re getting as soon as you plug in your headphones — and that thing, of course, is glorious, traditional, no-frills, tinnitus-baiting speed metal, just the way Old Scratch prefers it.
11
“The Cold Dark Somewhere” by Dated
“Halloween Lofi” by Dated
You may not fancy yourself a fan of darkwave lofi chillhop — or even know what darkwave lofi chill-hop is — but after giving Dated a try, you most likely will be. Not content with merely giving us two ultra-moody and atmospheric full-length releases, the Ontario-based lofi wunderkind gave us two of them in the year that was, starting with July’s “The Cold Dark Somewhere,” an entrancing, slow-moving chillhop instant classic that made the middle of summer feel icier than a winter breeze in John Wayne Gacy’s crawl space. Naturally, Dated followed that up with an even more atmospheric release, the self-explanatory “Halloween Lofi,” released with about three or four weeks of lead-in time to Oct. 31. Granted, you may not think songs with titles like “Autopsy Romance” and “The Dungeon Church” would lend themselves to beautiful, haunting, piano-driven, lite-industrial, urban-gothic ditties — but hey, you’ve been wrong about a lot of things in your life, haven’t you?
10
“Electric Heart” by Roxi Drive
There’s no denying that Brighton virtuoso Roxi Drive has all of the musical chops to have been a FM radio queenpin back in the 1980s. From the opening salvo of “Electricity,” one can’t help but reminded of the best from synthpop royalty like Susie Q and Kim Wilde — indeed, on a note-for-note basis, Roxi might just have the best vocals in the synthwave game this side of Dana Jean Phoenix. Meanwhile, stellar songs like “All My Dreams,” “Night Waves” and “Video Fantasy” perfectly recapture the zeitgeist of mid-80s electro-pop music, to the point you have to wonder if you haven’t already heard tracks like ”Running Away” and “Dangerous” in a random teen sex comedy like The Last American Virgin or Spring Break. Excellent end-to-end albums like “Electric Heart” are proof that synthwave is far from being a dead genre — indeed, with so many great records of the like released in 2020, I think it’s safe to say the past is here to stay.
09
“Dryve” by Dryve
Few albums express the merits of the old “keep it simple, stupid” mantra quite like Dryve’s eponyomous release. Barely clocking in at 22 minutes, this super-solid synthwave release calls up the vocal talents of Brisbane’s mononymous Hunz on three tracks, including the album’s closing spectacular, “Come Undone,” which almost sounds like Robert Smith at his most cheerful merrily prancing through a rousing, quasi-disco curtain-closer. But that’s not to say Dryve doesn’t also have some impressive musical dexterity of his own. In fact, not only are tracks like “Looker” and “Online” some of the best synthwave instrumentals of the year, they might just be some of the catchiest quasi-poppy music you’ll hear coming out of 2020, regardless of the genre trappings.
08
“Foreign Dreams” by BT-84
Released in January, “Foreign Dreams” certainly held its own against a deluge of top-notch synthwave/retrowave/outrun releases throughout the calendar year. As soon as the opening track “So Far Away” starts pumping through your earbuds, you just know you’re about to get walloped by a retro-revialist tour de force, and “Foreign Dreams” only gets more eighties and more awesome from there. The simplistic, synth-driven structure of tracks like “Drive All Night, “Maybe Someday” and “Losing My Mind” belies a hard-to-describe forlornness, this nostalgia that feels more bitter than bittersweet — make no mistakes, amidst the wailing electric guitar shrieks and the thundering faux organ blasts, there’s some genuine emotion undergirding BT-84’s latest — a feat made all the more impressive considering it’s virtual an all-instrumental album. And if the concluding track “Danielle” doesn’t have you feeling angister than a teenager with a fresh pimple on prom night, I don’t know what would.
07
“Monsters” by The Midnight
Even before 2020’s “Monsters” dropped, The Midnight were already considered one of the undisputed titans of the international synthwave scene. The L.A.-based trio’s mythos continued to evolve with that afore-mentioned new album, a Counter Records release that smacks more of mid-90s, dial-up internet ephemera than it does the typical Reaganomics and cocaine trappings the subgenre usually finds itself wedded to. As anticipated, the one-two vocal punch of lyricists Tim McEwan and Jamison Lyle radiate like a million neon pink lights from start to finish, with Jupiter Winter lending some feature guest talents on the album’s title track. All it takes is one listen to songs like “America Online,” “Prom Night” and “Last Train” to release the intrinsic greatness of The Midnight — indeed, at this point, they’re pretty much on the precipice of becoming this generation’s Duran Duran.
06
“A Thousand Lives” by At 1980
Quite possibly THE all-star synthwave crossover spectacular of the year 2020. That’s apparent by the very first track on the album, in which retrowave/outrun it girl Dana Jean Phoenix brings the proverbial house down, and if that wasn’t enough sheer synth force for you, take a wild guess who guest stars on the very next track? Yep, none other than TimeCop1983, sporting smoky vocals so sweltering, it makes Ed Sheerhan’s randiest performances sound like church choir practice. At 1980, however, may have saved the best for last on “A Thousand Lives.” Just when you think nothing can top “Run Away” (featuring the haunting lilt of Camille Gelment), the album hits you right in the face with “Neon Sun” — a beautiful, slow-moving ballad that isn’t just one of the ten best synthwave tracks of the year, but mayhap one of the ten best tracks you’ll hear in 2020 in any genre.
05
“Dream Warriors” by Taurus 1984
In a year absolutely glutted with outstanding synthwave and synthwave-adjacent albums, I can’t think of any subgenre release that shined brighter than the sophomore outing from Taurus 1984. The title track might just be the be-all, end-all retro-revivalist singalong instant classic of the year, featuring a rousing chorus referencing everything from Corey Feldman vampire movies to the third (and, obviously, best) Elm Street flick. And that tantalizing toe-tapper is followed up by yet another poppy mini-masterpiece, the dreamy, wistful “Invisible Summer,” which, as the kids these days say, hits quite a bit different in this, the age of mass quarantine. With tracks running the gamut from ethereally ambient (“Ghosts”) to delightfully dancey (“Home”) to almost AOR-tailor made (the exquisite “Callin’ You,” which is accessible enough to be a genuine crossover pop success) there isn’t a lull in “Dream Warriors” in the slightest — indeed, this is about as smooth an Outrun ride as you could wish for in the pothole-strewn musical landscape that was 2020.
04
“Life Forms” by Kupla
How fitting it is, considering everything that’s gone down in 2020, that one of the great unsung musical heroes of the year would be some self-trained pianist from Helsinki? Make no mistakes about it, “Life Forms” is far and away the best and most progressive chillwave album you’ll hear in ‘20, a towering, lo-fi masterpiece that stands out as one of the most emotional and revelatory works spawned by COVID-19 so far. From the delightfully dreary opening track “Eons” — which might as well be the theme song for every rainy day at Starbucks ever — to the instantly entrancing closer “Safe Haven,” this is a rare 16-song release that is sans an ounce of aural filler. That, and it’s one of the most diverse chillwave albums you’re likely to hear this or any other year for that matter; indeed, it’s downright mind-blowing to realize that a haunting, slower-paced unsentimental ballad like “Those Were the Days” and the hyper-minimalist, nigh New Age-ish “Last Walk” are the handiwork of a single musician. Keep an eye on this Kupla kid — this is one Fin I guarantee is going places in the years ahead.
03
“Q36” by The Rentals
The Rentals’ sprawling ode to space-age paranoia probably wasn’t designed to reflect the stir-craziness of a post-COVID society, but tracks like “Forgotten Astronaut” and “Conspiracy” nonetheless seem to capture the coronavirus zeitgeist about as well as any music released this year. And if nothing else, you have to give Matt Sharp and pals credit for harnessing what has to be one of the most bizarre pop cultural muses in recent memory — of all things, the album is modeled around William Peter Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration, the criminally-underappreciated Exorcist quasi-sequel about an insubordinate astronaut sent to a facility where the inmates literally run the asylum. Unlike most contemporary concept albums — especially the more avant garde ones — Q36 doesn’t feel like overwrought artistry simply for overwrought artistry’s sake, with the 16-track album equally palatable as an epic single-session listen or broken up as a’la carte songs. And if there’s a better title for any song released this year than “Elon Musk is Making Me Sad,” I owe you a free soda of your choosing.
02
“Danzig Sings Elvis” by Danzig
It’s the album we always knew we wanted but never thought we’d get. For decades, fans and non-fans alike have noted The Misfits’ frontman’s uncanny vocal similarity to a certain fried peanut butter and banana sandwich connoisseur, and to be frank, I’m just kinda’ surprised it took this long for the inevitable to happen. Rather than being a super-gloomy, abrasive, quasi-metal riff on the King’s classics, however, Danizg plays very against type on the recording, crooning through Presley staples like “Pocket Full of Rainbows” and “Girl of My Best Friend” with an almost lugubrious, mournful tone searching for ANY kind of succor. One can’t help but pick up on the desperation of tracks like “Loving Arms” and “Young and Beautiful,” and the end result is one of the most peculiarly moving albums you’re likely to hear this or any other calendar year. Forget Fiona Apple’s horrifically overrated “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” — when it comes to quintessential quarantine albums, this intimate, scaled-back and (dare I say it) vulnerable parade of cover tunes might just be the most unexpectedly charming musical release of 2020.
01
“Inlet” by Hum
How fitting it is that 2020’s best album came out of the blue — and from one of the most criminally underappreciated alt rock heroes of the 1990s, to boot. While Illinois’ Hum garnered some measure of MTV success with their breakout song “Stars” — a college radio staple that’s probably more famous today for being berated by Beavis and Butt-Head — the group never really reached that transcendent level of crossover success. Call it grunge, call it shoegaze, call it space rock, call it whatever the hell you want, there is no denying that this album moves with a timeless fluidity that makes it feel like it could’ve been released in 1992 just as easily as it could’ve been a product of 2002, 2012 or 3022, for that matter. The epic opener “Waves” sets the tempo for this stellar 55-minute rip into the fabric of space and time itself, with lingering mini-operas like “In the Den” and “Desert Rambler” frequently sidestepping into psychedelia, sludge metal and even a little bit of dream pop here and there. And if you think Hum can’t still churn out radio-friendly toe-tappers, one listen to the instantly enthralling “Step Into You” ought to let you know these fella’s haven’t lost a step in the last quarter century. For all of the naysayers who think traditional, guitar-driven rock and roll music is deader than rotary phones, just give album-closer “Shapeshifter” a listen and I promise you, you’ll be rethinking the genre’s premature burial instantaneously; not only would this thing have been an album of the year contender in 2020, it would’ve been right up there in ‘94, as well.
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