the Top 10 Punk Albums of 2023

Punk has been in an interesting place. There is no shortage of people claiming to play it, but to find real punk driven by the desire to not conform is a harder aspiration, given the masses' willingness to conform.   These albums captured the true spirt of punk, by doing their own thing.   After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Punk albums of 2023.

10- Truth Cult - 'Walk the Wheel"

This Baltimore-based band reaches back to a time when punk had something to say. The Minor Threat / Fugazi influence is more than apparent.  There is also a kind of rock n roll recklessness that drives things. If you like the more underground side of  90s-tinged punk rock this album is for you.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/01/truth-cult-walk-wheel.html

 

9-Scowl -  Psychic Dance Routine " 

This Baltimore band is pretty impressive. They go from a metallic rasped take on hardcore, to a sultry grunge of 90s alt-rock. The palm-muted tensions give the vocals of Kat Moss room to breathe. They should have the queen's share of the spotlight since her voice that elevates what the band is doing over the hundreds of bands playing 90s-influenced punk rock these days. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/scowl-psychic-dance-routine.html

 

8-Institute - "Ragdoll Dance" 

Not sure what these guys are trying to do, but it sounds like they intend to take things back to the crossroads where punk, met rock n roll. While this is not as dark as what I have heard from them on previous albums, the guitar playing wanders around the neck in a more mathy fashion rather than just banging out the chords like most punk bands do. You can't fault this band for their commitment to growth. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/institute-ragdoll-dance.html

7-dust- "et cetera, etc"

This band from Australia released this one back in March and it kicks out the jams with jangly punk energy that still focuses on songwriting. There are enough tense and melodic moments 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/dust-et-cetera-etc.html

 

6-Home front-"Games of Power" 

This Canadian band puts the emphasis on punk while keeping things bleakly tense. More electronic elements creep into their racing pace while the vocals form a chanted hook. What is becoming clear about this impressive debut album is rather than picking one band to pay homage to, these guys are clearly inspired by the 80s. however, they pulled from a mix tape of the decade's more thoughtful punk moments.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/home-front-games-of-power.html

 5-James and the Cold Gun-"S/t" 

 This band could almost keep things going off the raw power of their energy alone.  When they lean into the moody nuance things have a wider range of sonic color to draw from. The album is really well produced, there is a huge drum sound, while the guitars are a little garage rock at times, as they clang out as if just plugged in at the rehearsal studio. They care about songwriting and have written some damn catchy ones that straight-up rock the fuck out.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/james-and-cold-gun-st.html

  4-1476 -"In Exile" 

The guys might get blasty at the peak of their dynamic outbursts, but retain a rambling Cult of Youth rowdiness. There are a great deal of sonic textures and vocal colors to this. At times it draws from metal at the more powerful end of their aggressive outbursts, as they blend an array of genres, though at their core it feels like these guys are punk band. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-1476-in-exile.html

3-Final Gasp- "Mourning Moon" 

This Boston band, falls back into the late 80s when bands like TSOL and Die Kruzen took a darker turn in a more shadow-drenched direction. They are more aggressive than most bands going in this direction and take me iack to a place in music that I hold close to my black heart. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/final-gasp-mourning-moon.html

2-Spiritual Cramp- ''s/t" 

 The San Francisco band is a highly energetic punk band that leans more toward the Mod side of things. This is not a raw-sounding punk album, but one where they clearly spent some time in the studio to get things dialed in. The songs are assembled in a catchy enough fashion. They tend to make fun of society as punk should. They breathe new life into old sounds.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/spiritual-cramp-st.html

1-Rid of Me -"Access to the Lonely" 

Having added a second guitarist for this album and you can hear how it adds in the denser sonic layers. The new sound of this album " is heavier and punches with a more sludge-ridden sound. Dissonant guitar passages cut through, along with more guitars on this album, to add a more firey rock n roll attack. She really proves herself as a singer on this album, still maintaining punk integrity. There a many dynamic vocal colors being introduced. They show you punk can be so much more than what we take for at face value. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/rid-of-me-access-to-lonely.html

Institute : " Ragdoll Dance"

 

Not sure what these guys are trying to do, but it sounds like they intend to take things back to the crossroads where punk, met rock n roll. While this is not as dark as what I have heard from them on previous albums, the guitar playing wanders around the neck in a more mathy fashion rather than just banging out the chords like most punk bands do. I can hear the Stooges and Television in their influences this time around. The vocals have more swagger. On "All the Time" it becomes evident that is new jammy feel the songs have can take the emphasis on the direction of the songs, and cause things to fall into a looser chaos. The vocals are often repetitive. 

The first song that is straight-up punk is "Uncle Sam's Hate".  The production is very raw and lo-fi on this album, which goes with their demeanor. "Where's it Go" makes me think this is what happens to a punk band when they smoke too much pot. The vocals sound like a drunk homeless man just talking to himself. They come down a little to get more aggressive for "Dead Zone' which is the first song that sounds like it is tapping into anarcho-punk. It's my favorite so far since it's darker. "Wonder" is not far from this more deliberate punk. The guitar continues with a darker moodier sound. This allows the vocals to take more emotive form. 

"Plateau of Self" is pretty much straight-ahead old-school punk. It's hard to complain about this as it is so pure punk. 'Warmonger' doubles down on the Stooges influence, which is fine with me. The guitars go back to the more complex arrangements owing more to 70's prog which is an odd juxtaposition for a punk band to be in. I will give this album a 9, while I prefer their more post-punk sound, you can not fault them for growing. 

Institute : "Readjusting the Locks"

The first three songs all kind of sound the same. It has a garage punk sound, like if Iggy had been a less inspired vocalist. Iggy might not have had the best set of pipes even in his peak, but he knew where to put his voice, where this guy seems to be a one trick pony. "Roll Music' is more in the rock beginnings of early punk. While I normally prefer this era because it was more song focused , this seriously lacks dynamics and the guitar might attempt to hold the tension of these songs, but these songs are not holding my attention. Thankfully the bulk of these songs are under 3 minutes. They do not go anywhere that really even needs that long. There is "Sonic Reducer " like riff to " Can't See Nothin" . The vocals are so terrible they don't really give these songs much of a chance.

When the guitars slow down going into "Shangri la" it is clear they are attempting to write a song, but the vocals continue to work against the song. It sounds like disgruntled mumbling.  I think this is the first song on this album that works for me. There is almost a more Sonic Youth feel to their sound here. The next song that stands out to be is 'Dazzle Paint".  The tension on this song is more effective. The rest of the time they seem to be intent on a reckless ramble. Sometimes I can make out the lyrics better than others. This could be any drunk muttering into a microphone. It is not until "Deadlock" that I check back in. There is a strummed guitar that offers another sonic layer.

The vocals are so terrible that I will have to round this down to a 5. I appreciate the knod to old school early days of punk. They captured the rawness of that sound . What they did not do was really connect when it comes to song writing , but the vocals are largely to blame for this . I just reviewed the new Bad Religion yesterday and it was a clear case of how a punk singer cna try to sing and actually add value to the songs. Sadly the opposite happens here.

Institute : "Catharsis"

An super group of the Austin punk scene, the band has members doing double duty in other bands such as Wiccans, Blotter, Back to Back and continues place the emphasis on punk in the post-punk equation.The bass point is there. The guitar has the jerky clang of a band like Gang of Four. Like most punk the tempo and simplistic nature of the chord progression can cause everything to sound the same so Institute sets themselves aside on "I am Living Death". The vocals are only somewhat sung in a mumbled narrative so the guitar takes on the bulk of the melodic duties.They quickly revert back a more straight up punk urgency on "Helplessness" though the vocals become more deadpan.

It's clear the bass player really has some chops, his playing reminds me of  Stuart Morrow from New Model Army as his playing is more adventurous and melodic than you would expect from a punk band. Granted New Model Army grew with Morrow and the punk label didn't fit as snugly on later albums, while it sticks solidly to this band.The awkward twang of  the instrumental "Untitled" is more of an interlude than an actual song. The guitars take a darker tone on "Leathernecks". The band has stated before that they want to steer clear of the gothy side of early punk, and I think they adhere to that mission statement on this album. The bass line  and droning tom work on "No Billowing Wind" does bring this into question, but it lacks the  romantic elegance which makes something goth.

From a production stand point the mix is muddy where it needs to be , but the tones of all the instruments is very pure. I think the placement of the vocals in the mix and the use of effects on them is one thing that keeps this from just being a punk album. That is not to say the album doesn't have its raw garage punk moments as that can be found on "Cheaptime Morals" where a burly bass tone almost over powers the song. While it might not release the bats, the shadows over this song make it one of the album's highlights.

The bring the album to a close with "Christian Right" that calls them out on their Joy Division influence. The song has more of a drone than the others. The vocals are more punk than Ian Curtis. The vocals take on a chant that creates a hypnotic feel not found elsewhere on the album. This album is fun and sounds great. A far as punk goes they are growing in the right direction. While the hectic pace punk keeps can create a limit to dynamics these guys get the most they can out of that frame work for where they are at. I'll give this an 8.5.

The album comes out June 9th on Sacred Bones.




6.9