Wednesday : " Bleeds"

 Here is a band that has gotten a great deal of hype over the year for cashing in on 90s slacker indie rock sounds. The coolly disinterested vocals of Karly Kartzman recall artists like Liz Phair. The captured the boozy guitar tones of  My Bloody Valentine without coupling it with the kind of bleak melancholy that gives shoe-gaze their feel, the reason for this being it's harder to write pop ditties like "Townies" when you are being a downer. The begins to fade into marginally more introspection for "Wound Up Here". The vocal lines are not as catchy on this one. 

There is a folk strum to "Elderberry Wine"  that is the first that works more of their country side into the songwriting rather than just being window dressing in the periphery. "Phish Pepsi" shows they are also into the Grateful Dead. It works off a  jammed country tinged drone. "Candy Breath" benefits from a strong bass-line as they head backs into the 90s indie rock. It has a quirky charm but is not that hooky. Then the minute and a half of romantic pining that is "the Way  Love Goes" comes in to not waste too much time.

There is more of their quaint middle of the road musings on "Pick Up That Knife" that meanders a bit. "WASP" feels like they are just trying to make a punk song without that really being who they are . It is not the worst thing I have heard all week. "Bitter Everyday" follows the now formulaic indie -90s sound being passed off as a country shoe-gaze hybrid which is achieved more effectively on Ethel Cain's new album.  The meandering begins to consume the album's third act as it gets mired down in ballads. I will give this album an 8.5, they have a good idea what they want to do , but tend to throw shit at the wall and see what sticks

pst597

Top 10 Folk / Country Albums of 2023

For some time we have combined country and folk music into this list since they are on the fringe of what is normally reviewed here. The two genres have a great deal of stylistic overlap since pop country is not my thing, and I like folk music that is darker and more melancholy. These albums do not really give a damn about the Nashville status quo even when it comes to the artists, that are in more of a commercial spotlight.   These are not the coolest albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say,.   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 country and folk albums of 2023.

10-Conny Ochs - "Wahn und sinn" 

It's been four years since "Doom Folk". The world has gotten weirder since then, so Och's German album makes perfect sense. Musically it's more orchestral than I expected. Sung in German, which is a harsh guttural tongue that does not always lend itself to melody. This awkward phrasing can be heard glaringly well/to a spacious mix that places his vocals at the forefront. There is a slight country feel to the lazy saunter of these songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/conny-ochs-wahn-und-sinn.html

 

9-Georgia Mooney- "Full of Moon" 

Australian singer Georgia Mooney feels like she fell from the cosmos of another time. There is a 60s pop feel combined with a dream pop-like atmosphere. Her delicate melodies are supple with each note gracefully ringing out.  Folk is also shown to be at the least an influence in her soul-baring balladry. This album is impressive what she does, and want to hear where her musical journey goes from this point. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/georgia-mooney-full-of-moon.html

 

8-Helena Deland -"Goodbye Summerland" 

The airy dreaminess of Helena's sound works really well. It reminds me of many indie singer-songwriters from the late 90s. The vocals are harmonized in a manner not unlike Azure Ray, with an undercoating of country haunting it.  It's pretty solid songwriting with her own identity superimposed on a familiar sound. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/helena-deland-goodbye-summerland.html

 

7-Rat Boys -"the Window"

There is a fair amount of noise around the raw edges of otherwise slicked pop bounce with a country twang to it thanks to the youthful voice of Julia Steiner, whose voice sometimes reminds me of Katie Crutchfield of Waxahachie. Chris Walla from Dead Can for Cuie produced this album, and this can mainly be felt in the dynamics of making the bigger parts rock more. The style of songwriting flows very easily and organically. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/ratboys-window.html

6-the Keening -"Little Bird" 

Rebecca Vernon's old band SubRosa singer did flirt with darkness. This love affair is reignited with her new project the Keening, which finds her partnering with With Mountain drummer Nathan Carson. This album proves an exercise in minimalism and restraint for him, as the drums give most of the spotlight to the vocals and orchestrated folk elements that weave atmosphere around them. I enjoy the mood, and the dark atmosphere it bathes you in.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-keening-little-bird.html

 

5-Wednesday -"Rat Saw God" 

Karly Hartzman fronts this indie rock band that blends the sounds of the 90s into something compelling on many levels. She sings in a very convincing and emotive manner. There is plenty of rock used as a clamoring dynamic. It makes for a very well written and highly thought out album,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/wednesday-rat-saw-god.html

  4-Chris Stapleton - "Higher" 

Stapleton was once the last great hope for country music. Others have emerged to help take some of the weight off his shoulders, but he is still a titan in the genre, so expectations are high for the new album. It opens with a thoughtful, soulful tune, that has an easy feel while leaning into the melancholic feel country music is known for. He brings the blues with him once more, and some great guitar playing.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/chris-stapleton-higher.html

3- Lydia Loveless -  "Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again" 

 Loveless's 6th album might have found her arriving at an iconic level of songwriting. It blends indie rock with country and folk in a very organic fashion. Other albums have attempted to do similar but her album feels the most genuine. This album caught me by surprise and I wish I had checked it out when it first came out.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/lydia-loveless-nothings-gonna-stand-in.html

2-Tyler Childers - "Rustin' in the Rain" 

Childers' sixth album finds him writing songs he thinks might appeal to Elvis. But not the King's "Hound Dog" persona, but Presley's early country roots. This is often done with the twang of the honky tonk, allowing the 32-year-old singer to belt it with his trademark brassy tenor. Lyrically clever, and always heartful, he never dials it in for the radio, and if it happens to have pop appeal it's an added bonus, not an objective, and certainly not the product of the Nashville writer's room

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/tyler-childers-rustin-in-rain.html

1-Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - "Weathervanes" 

Isbell's latest collaboration with his band the 400 Unit is a celebration of songwriting. His voice always finds the perfect place to be. While his solo album "Southeastern" is the masterpiece that this album is going to be measured up against, here he steers things into a more Americana-flavored rock rather than country music. There is a warmth to the album's sound that recalls many classic rock albums with a southern flare, but it is more personable than those. He is one of the best songwriters living today. He transcends country music and does his thing.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/06/jason-isbell-400-unit-weathervanes.html

Wednesday : "'Rat Saw God'

 

Karly Hartzman fronts this indie rock band that blends the sounds of the 90s into something compelling on many levels. She sings in a very convincing and emotive manner. There is plenty of rock used as a clamoring dynamic. "Bull Believer" has a great deal of ebb and flow to the arrangement with fuzzed-out chords being bashed in unexpected places. The strum of the guitar slows into a more country-minded melody for "Formula 1" which is a fitting title given the subject matter. They prove capable of shifting stylistic gears even this dramatically.

There is a more anthemic rock feel to "Chosen to Deserve" and then the country guitar tone returns. She sings about how she used to drink so much on weeknights that she threw up at her parent's house.  Drinking seems to be a theme of the album. "Bath County" is a story of drug overdose and drunken white trash tricks, told through a more thoughtful eye. The country influence is still there and it works well. The more ambling folk-tinged "Quarry" is pretty effective, as it flows well. It almost touches on the kind of rock country blend that Jason Isbell hits with the 400 Unit. Lyrically it takes a look at the same corners of America. It's Hartzman's voice that keeps things in a more indie rock zip code. 

"Turkey Vultures" is a little darker, but it is also not as focused on the song, The melodies which are normally this band's strength are allowed to wander in a manner that does not work as well with the music building around it. "What's so Funny" works better with its more introspective tone than the previous song. "TV in the Gas Pump" closes the album, with its more deliberate strum that gives the song more motion. The vocal melody is not as hooky, which leaves the song to drone more. I will this album a 9.5, as it is very well written and thought out.