Hard-Ons - Smell My Finger: Not quite pop punk, but poppy punk

Genocide Pact - Genocide Pact: Queue it up after a bad day at work. Or while at work.

Former Member - Manageable Scratches: Not great, but plenty of good

Former Member - Old Youth: This could turn into something really great

Elbow - Flying Dream 1: Beautifully arranged and produced

dltzk - Frailty: Certainly interesting

Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters: Mostly forgettable

Converge & Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I: An interesting album

Chisel - Retaliation: An amazing amalgamation of punk, oi, and hardcore

Various - 파란노을, Asian glow & Sonhos Tomam Conta - Downfall of the Neon Youth: Keep it coming

Adele - 30: Stunning and beautiful

World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls: Those last 2 tracks!

Supine - No Altar for the Company Man: Heavy without being overdone, screamy without feeling fake, familiar without sounding generic

Sleigh Bells - Texis: I was hoping for a more gecsian influence, but very listenable

Sinere Engineer - Bless My Psyche: A little too under the radar

Plunger - The Station Is Not Received (3 Disc): Classic almost-forgotten emo

One Step Closer - This Place You Know: Touching a ton of different influences to make it their own

Musgraves, Kacey - star-crossed: there is light setting up gracias a la vida is the kind of chaos I needed

Low - HEY WHAT: Peaceful and relaxing

L'il Dicky - Hump Days: Finding his way

Elton John - The World of Regimental Sgt. Zippo: Fascinating archive

Injury Reserve - By the Time I Get to Phoenix: I wish I knew which avenue had recommended this so I could be more skeptical in the future

Illuminati Hotties - Let Me Do One More: From highly hyped to memory holed

Laura Jane Grace - At War with the Silverfish: Love the variety on this quick hit EP

Bob Dylan - Springtime in New York, Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (5 Disc): The vaults continue to be gold mines

Dare - Against All Odds: This is my kind of hardcore

Coldplay - Music of the Spheres: No Viva, but no Ghost Stories

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out: Textbook

Brain - I'm Brain: Great little complement

Beatles - Let It Be (Super Deluxe) (5 Disc): The Beatles.

Andrew WK - God Is Partying: Less of a party, but perhaps more interesting

Save Face - Another Kill for the Highlight Reel: Pretty good facsimile for My Chemical Romance

Zero Boys - Vicious Circle: Classic punk record

West, Kanye - Donda: How far he has fallen

Turnstile - Glow On: The hype is real

Quicksand - Distant Populations: Half Quicksand, half Rival Schools, all good

Lorde - Solar Power: Certainly fine, but nothing special

Lingua Ignota - SINNER GET READY: I was prepared, but not ready

L'il Dicky - Professional Rapper: Artistically a step forward, but So Hard is the more listenable

L'il Dicky - So Hard: I may have liked it without the context of Dave, but with it I love it

Lee, Brenda - Anthology: Would have preferred a single disc version

Killers - Pressure Machine: Hard to tell if a step down or my own burnout

Killers - Imploding the Mirage: Not perfect, but miles ahead of my expectations

Johnny Football Hero - Complacency: Pretty good, but not very compelling

Jail Socks - Coming Down: I do not want them to come down. Keep going up please

Haskins, Tylisha - Morrigan: So few self references or "yuhs" it feels refreshing

Gauze - 言いたかねえけど目糞鼻糞: Exactly what I needed

Foxing - Drawn Down The Moon: Huge swing that may, with time, be seen as a home run

Eilish, Billie - Happier Than Ever: No sophomore slump here

Drew, Kevin - Influences: Enjoyable but not something that will get much play

Deafheaven - Infinite Granite: Exciting new chapter.

Common Sage - Might as Well Eat the Chicken, We Won't Be Here in the Morning: Nice, short follow-up

Common Sage - "Where are you? I'm in Klamath Falls, are you here?": One of the most enchanting and cathartic albums I have heard this year

Come Back K! - Get Well: I do not think I will be coming back

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica: Ambition hampered by its length

Bigger Better Sun - Adjust to Wellness: A fine record with strong Oso Oso vibes

Between the Buried and Me - Colors II: What a slog

Alien Boy - Don't Know What I Am: A terrific songwriter

Adjy - The Idyll Opus: Incredibly ambitious album that mostly succeeds and I cannot wait to dig into it more

Ya Ho Wha 13 - Penetration- An Aquarian Symphony: Fascinating in context

Various - Maccabees/Call It In the Air: Call It really steals the show

Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: I am not lost

St Vincent - Daddy's Home: Certainly serviceable

Space Cadet - Lion On a Leash: Post punk and shoegaze replace street punk for these ex-Explosion vets to very satisfying results

Slow Fire Pistol - Rabbit Town Blues: Calming

SAULT - NINE: A softer side emerges

Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR: Calling it a rock record seems less than ideal

Question Mark and the Mysterians - 96 Tears: What an amazing song, but the others are no slouches

Oingo Boingo - Only a Lad: Passionate, quirky, engaging

Ogbert the Nerd - I Don't Hate You: I love this

Offspring - Smash: Songs are a little too similar to each other, but a lot better than I anticipated

New Rising Sons - Demo to Demolition: Would have liked to see where they went

Natl Park Srvc - The Dance: Enigmatically compelling and Broken Social Scene-esque

Mountain Goats - Dark in Here: Not scared, but I think I like my goats a little brighter

Militarie Gun - My Life is Over/All Roads Lead to the Gun: Oddly interesting

ME REX - Megabear: The concept elevates an already good album

Los Lobos - Kiko: Pretty standard

Liars - The Apple Drop: Not sure I will listen again, but I enjoyed it

Kitty Craft - Beats and Breaks From the Flower Patch: Hypnotic and beautiful

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Butterfly 3000: Their dreamiest album

Kaonashi - Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me- Senior Year: There is something off but I cannot place it

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee: I see why it resonated, but I need more time

Islands - Islomania: Nostalgia is real, but I cannot remember anything about their debut yet I keep checking out the new albums

Hold Steady - Open Door Policy: Pretty standard outing for them

Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Cryptomnesia: An almost Mars Volta album that delivers

Garbage - No Gods No Masters: Exceptional album that should receive a ton of attention

Fucked Up - Year of the Horse: Calling it one song is a bit of a stretch, but an excellent suite of songs

Fly Pan Am - Frontera: Challenging music for the background

Flight Mode - TX, '98: Stealing from the best emo albums

Fiddlehead - Between the Richness: This is my current album of the year. Lived up to the hype

Fair to Midland - Arrows & Anchors: Struggling to not compare to Mars Volta in a good way

Duke Deuce - Duke Nuken: Big, bold, and brash just like its namesake

Def Leppard - Hysteria: This is way better than I would have ever anticipated

Clean - Anthology: Fun little indie rock with a very solid collection of songs

Call It In The Air - Just A Morning Thought: What an absolute gem of an emo album

C4 - Chaos Streaks: Straight out of the '80s

black midi - Calvacade: Going to fascinating to see live

Backxwash - I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES: Sounds angry and I like it

88 Fingers Louie - Behind Bars: Unapologetically punk

7 Seconds - The Crew: Perfect