Welcome to The List 2017

This is my traditional top 20 albums of the year list for 2017.  Enjoy.

20. METHYL ETHEL – Everything Is Forgotten

First up this year is the second album from Australia’s Methyl Ethel. This is thoughtful pop-rock with (light touch) trippy/psychedelic elements. There’s no getting around the fact that Methyl Ethel remain something of a poor-man’s Tame Impala, another Aussie band that ploughs a pretty similar furrow. This second record is a definite step forward, though, ditching some of the Tame Impala style exploration in favour of a greater focus on catchiness and simplicity. There still is enough weirdness to make this stand out from the indie pack, but there’s now also a core rhythmic drive that moves things closer to the sound of Django Django’s first album. Stand-out track ‘Ubu’ is an exemplar: a fairly straightforward indie tune on its face, but with an unusual funk underbelly and a strange bridge that feels like it’s been cleverly imported from a different song. Persistent Tame Impala comparisons won’t be put to bed by this record, but it makes strides towards something that is Methyl Ethel’s own. A lot of fun in its own right, but also suggestive of the potential for something truly great on album three.

sample track: Ubu

19. GOTHIC TROPIC – Fast Or Feast

New Jersey’s Cecilia Della Peruti’s debut as nom de guerre Gothic Tropic is an exciting one. There are clear influences from the classics to spot here, like Bowie and Talking Heads, but it also reminds me at times of newer things like last year’s excellent debut by schizophrenic duo Sego or the grown-up electro-pop of St. Vincent. Lead-single and album-opener ‘Stronger’ is probably the best way in, all propulsive bass and drums pushing things along like an early Arcade Fire track. But quite a variety of pop gems are to be found on Fast Or Feast, with Peruti showcasing impressive range (especially as pretty much every sound you hear on the record was made by her), while at the same time keeping things stylistically coherent. ‘How Life Works’ is more ethereal than ‘Stronger’, with a great guitar part sitting well with an underlying synth swell into a terrific chorus. ‘Chemical Trail’, on the other hand, is understated mood-pop that’s closer in tone to 90s trip-hop. Having now put the touring musicians together, it will be interesting to see if Gothic Tropic remains a solo project on album two, or whether there’ll be a Foo Fighters to The Colour And The Shape esque transition to ‘band’ status. Either way, it’ll be worth investigation. Accomplished stuff for album one.

sample track: Stronger

18. FOO FIGHTERS – Concrete And Gold

There’s no such thing as a bad Foo Fighters record, and my love for them runs pretty deep, so I was always going to like Concrete And Gold. Trying to assess it objectively is hard, and, considering I’ve not played it all that much, its place on this list – albeit quite low – probably stems in part from that heady mix of nostalgia and love that is tied up, for me, with anything they release. It’s been a very long time since they put out a truly great record, and you have to go back to the 90s to find a stone-cold classic (although they released a few of those that decade). But, in the context of their newer stuff, Concrete And Gold is a definite improvement on its immediate predecessor, the career-low (so far) of 2014’s Sonic Highways; equally, it’s not as strong as the album before that, the scuzzy back-to-basics of 2011’s Wasting Light.  What it does have (and another reason it’s found a place on this list) is one of my favourite stand-alone Foos tracks of the last decade, the remarkable ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’. It’s classic Foo Fighters, but with a greater sense of scale. One of my top three tracks of 2017 (more on the others to follow). Concrete And Gold is not a one trick pony either: there are some other hum-dingers here too. The surprise lead-single ‘Run’ packs a great punch and the howl of ‘La Dee Da’ would be entirely at home on Wasting Light. The problem is that these stand-outs (especially ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’) act as a reminder that the Foos still can deliver stunning stuff, so when the likes of the drippy ‘Dirty Water’ and the unremittingly dull ‘The Line’ come along they are all the more frustrating. I’m looking forward to seeing this band (yet again) next summer – they never produce anything less than a wonderful show live – but if they could limit themselves only to playing the best 4-5 tracks from this record and make a bit more room for the classics I’d be grateful. All that said, I’ve still gleaned a great deal of pleasure from Concrete And Gold. As always. Thanks Dave.

17. DECLAN MCKENNA – What Do You Think About The Car?

One might assume that unfathomably young wunderkind Declan McKenna would be some sort of millennial Hanson-alike, mmm-bopping along in between telling grown-ups that Pokémon Go was so 2016 and flicking his spinner. All that hype for someone who – while now 18 – was only 15 (or less) when many of the songs on What Do You Think About The Car? were written, and 16 when handed a record deal, must surely have been a pure marketing exercise, right? The folly of such ageism was made clear to me, at least, after watching McKenna perform a couple of tracks on Jools Holland last year, where he shone out over a number of big names and confirmed that he’s a proper talent. I’d therefore been waiting for this record by the time that it came out. While it’s definitely a patchy affair, it’s still a superb debut. Socially conscious lyrically and thoughtfully aware of some of the apathy and entitlement of his generation (‘Listen To Your Friends’, for example, is both call to arms and admonition – a plea for free thinking), the quality here goes deeper than merely the presence of some catchy pop songs. Not to say that there aren’t some fantastic catchy pop songs on this record. ‘Isombard’ starts with 16-bit samurai-string and then bursts into a hook-tastic chorus, ‘Brazil’ has a swagger and a great choppy guitar line, and the child-choir backed ‘The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home’ is fun in a bucket. Elsewhere there’s some drift/filler, but no bad tracks (take note, Foo Fighters). McKenna is highly likable (he has publicly spoken out against sexism, racism and Piers Morgan over the last year); he clearly cares about the world. He also cares about his art, having cited the likes of Sufjan Stevens, St. Vincent and David Bowie as influences. Some way to go yet to reach those kinds of heights, perhaps, but the ambition is there and, on certain tracks at least, he fits into the same ‘serious pop artist’ mould. Pretty amazing stuff. Especially for a tiny child.

sample track: Isombard

16. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING – A Fever Dream

The fourth record by Everything Everything is something of a slow burner. I was pretty disappointed when I first got it. However, while it never reaches the levels of 2013’s Arc, their career high (for me, at least: wider critical consensus still seems to be that they’ve never topped debut Man Alive), it rewards repeated listens and showcases new depths. Some tracks, such as ‘Desire’, recall their earlier weird-pop sound, but perhaps do so less successfully than did previous efforts. Where A Fever Dream really works are on the dreamier forays into something new. The title track is a lovely subdued ballad with an over-layered vocal refrain. ‘New Deep’ is a fantastic black keys piano-tickler. And album best ‘Put Me Together’ is searing social commentary disguised as a lullaby, with some killer lyrics (‘there’s somebody washing the car and there’s somebody watching the children, but they’re nothing like you and me / they celebrate all of the same days and you see them out doing the garden, but they’re nothing like you and me’). For the most part it’s a musically minimal record, where less is more. Despite not being as showy as much of what they’ve done before, though, it feels more musically mature. I have to be in the mood for it, especially as it’s an album to ‘listen to’, not ‘have on’. But at their best Everything Everything continue to straddle ‘pop’ and ‘art’ with ease.

sample track: Put Me Together

15. AT THE DRIVE-IN – in•ter a•li•a

It’s been 17 years since At The Drive-In last released an album. That was 2000’s Relationship Of Command, which topped my list the first year that I did an albums of the year list, and it remains one of my favourite albums ever (probably top five). In the years since, At The Drive-In’s sound has gone on to influence post-hardcore, and wider guitar music, in a way few bands can lay claim to. Their reunion and return with in•ter a•li•a ultimately is somewhat bittersweet. My expectations were unrealistically high, and so it’s unfair to say they haven’t delivered here. This is very At The Drive-In, pretty much in all respects. Omar’s screeching guitar is back, as is Cedric’s howl (Jim Ward’s absence is felt, but not problematic, and his replacement Keeley Davis does just fine). The songs on in•ter a•li•a are uniformly strong; I can’t highlight any stand-out tracks because the quality doesn’t dip at all. They’ve picked up exactly where they left off: this record slots in perfectly with their previous albums and could’ve been made in 2002. But it has been 17 years, and for a band that was all about risks I can’t help but be a bit disappointed that in•ter a•li•a doesn’t take any. This is vintage At The Drive-In, but offers nothing meaningfully different, and only comes in somewhere in the lower half of their back catalogue in terms of quality. Mid-level At The Drive-In, of course, still beats many bands at their best, and it undeniably is fantastic to have them back. Somewhat ironically, I think seeing them live for the second time (the first was, again, 17 years ago – I am old) dropped this album a bit in my estimation, despite the fact that they remain an outstanding live act. in•ter a•li•a may have made a push for the top 10, but hearing these songs directly juxtaposed with tracks from Relationship Of Command made it abundantly clear both how similar they are and how not as good they are. Far from a bad return and well worth its 15th place, but it does little to move things on, and never quite reaches the quality of what went before.

sample track: Holtzclaw

14. HIPPO CAMPUS – landmark

If you can get past that horrific band name (hard, I know), and things like the album title and all song titles unnecessarily being in lower case, you’ll find much to enjoy on Hippo Campus debut full-length. A notable proportion of the album is sunny, upbeat indie (think Vampire Weekend, Two Door Cinema Club, Noah And The Whale), which made it a particular favourite for me in the summer months. But I suspect it’ll also have lasting appeal, because, alongside the uplifting tracks, there are more complex (post-first album) Bon Iver style songs, and even parts that remind me of something approaching Mogwai. The beautifully shiny single ‘way it goes’, all wistful sun-pop and soar, acts as a good way in, but the album has a lot more to offer. The juxtaposition of tracks like the early Bombay Bicycle Club rock of ‘boyish’ with the almost drowsy melancholia of ‘monsoon’ (very much Bon Iver in tone) is just great. The album also has lyrical depths that one might not expect given its fair-weather sheen. Thoughtfully written and emotive, the lyrical content here is a cut above the norm. Yes, at times landmark can be a bit twee, and its lighter parts are wonderful in the moment but don’t especially linger. Overall, though, this is an extremely impressive debut from the Minnesotan four-piece.

sample track: way it goes

13. KASABIAN – For Crying Out Loud

Kasabian are a band whose albums I rarely go back to, but whenever they release a new one I can be pretty confident that I’m going to have a blast in the short term. They’ve always been a ‘party’ band, but For Crying Out Loud feels especially like it was designed to be played at an undergrad keg-fest, all beer bongs and bouncing. It’s an awful lot of fun. It’s also perhaps their definitive (if certainly not best) album. Kasabian have explored dance music before, with quite a bit of success, especially on 2014’s 48:13. But, for me, some of their dancier stuff from recent years strayed a bit too far from their rock roots. For Crying Out Loud feels, therefore, like the right blend – and the exemplar of their ‘sound’ – because it’s very much dance-rock. The lead instrument here usually is the guitar, but this is not structured or executed at all like a rock album. Opener ‘Ill Ray (The King)’ sets the scene, with bouncy bass, a drum sound partially borrowed from house music, a smile-inducing chorus and some underlying 70s disco elements. Yay. The brass opening of ‘Comeback Kid’ had me trying to work out how to programme horns so I could feature something similar in one of my own songs. ‘Are You Looking for Action?’ would be a strong addition to any LCD Soundsystem record. Loads to enjoy. It’s not all good, admittedly. ‘The Party Never Ends’ is sub-Beatles whinging, and closer ‘Put Your Life On It’ is a horrible end to a great record: an exercise in rote strum-along meh-ness. Overall, though, this is an album that is a joy to put on, even if I suspect I won’t remember a single track on it in a year from now.

12. HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – The Navigator

The sixth record by Hurray For The Riff Raff was my introduction to the band, and it’s a consistently strong one. This was the first record I fell in love with in 2017, and was in the running for top spot early in the year. A bit of distance means I now don’t see it quite as the masterpiece that I first did, but it nonetheless is a wonderful record. It’s perhaps most accurately, if reductively, described as Americana, but it’s an album featuring influences from all over the place. There’s a cappella doo-wop (intro ‘Entrance’), country-jazz (is that a thing? – ‘Rican Beach’), 70s New York new wave (especially on the sing-along ‘Living In The City’), some gospel-folk reminiscent of The Hidden Cameras’ masterpiece Home On Native Land from last year (‘Halfway There’) and, at one point, a song structure that calls to my mind John Lennon (‘Pa’lante’). This is a varied but coherent piece of work. Thematically, The Navigator is a soulful journey into hope, melancholy and mythology. The lyrics variously explore the plight of Puerto Rico, the lot of Hispanic-Americans generally, personal tales of both loss and gain, and the effects of gentrification. As such, it has got its sad parts, but also its fair share of joy, and about the right about of winking knowingness here and there. Confident stuff.

sample track: Pa’lante 

11. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Villains

Queens Of The Stone Age’s seventh record is a mixed bag. For one of my all-time favourite bands, a placing outside the top 10 is telling, but – at the same time – shows that even a comparatively weak QOTSA record still beats a lot of other things for me. It starts in blistering fashion, with a distant, clanking future-tech intro giving way to a driving wah-riff and choppy chorus on opener ‘Feet Don’t Fail Me’. Yep, I think, we’re in for an absolute treat here. Except that, unfortunately, this stays the high point of the album. Second track and lead-single ‘The Way You Used To’ also is strong, an off-kilter little beast that recalls the tone of ‘No One Knows’. The bobble-bass and the Eagles Of Death Metal style call and response of ‘Head Like A Haunted House’, and the fantastic riff on ‘The Evil Has Landed’ (a track that’s very Them Crooked Vultures) are other notable high points. But elsewhere the record loses its way. The three chord repetition of ‘Domesticated Animals’ eventually grates. Album closer ‘Villains of Circumstance’ tries hard, and has a lovely chorus, but much of it is a mess: annoying (almost) spoken word and unnecessary odd noises. Not strong. Overall, Villains suffers from a bit of an identity crisis, with Josh Homme wanting to try a few things differently. No harm in that, and had they committed to that spirit a bit more, the results may have been better. Instead this flits between a traditional QOTSA template and something else, and so never truly excels with either. They’re still a wonderful band, and when this record is good, like on its opening track, it’s as good as anything on this list. But Villains represents a notable drop-off from 2013’s excellent …Like Clockwork, and is – at best – a mid-level Queens album. Still well worth its 11th place finish, but can do better.

sample track: Feet Don’t Fail Me

10. THE AMAZONS – The Amazons

There’s nothing in particular that makes the debut by British band The Amazons stand out. It’s a mainstream rock record that isn’t especially original and that doesn’t take any chances. The reviews have been only ok, but the sales – in the UK at least – have been strong. All fairly standard stuff, and initially I was inclined to be dismissive. However, The Amazons managed firmly to establish themselves on my 2017 playlist and, ultimately, reach an impressive place in the top 10 of my list – all largely based on the strength of their song-writing. There are a million bands that sound like this, but very few that make this sound so well. Another part of their appeal is commitment: right from opener ‘Stay With Me’, it’s clear that, mainstream as they may be, The Amazons are out to make a racket, not make the radio. Blistering guitars and thumping drums, it’s a great start. The best track on show, by a distance, is the superb ‘In My Mind’. The broken guitar on the chorus works so well, and that whirling riff is just magic. But there are other gems too. The closing track ‘Palace’ – after an album’s worth of rawk – suddenly changes gear into a fantastic piano ballad that’ll leave you humming it long after the record has ended. The bass-driven ‘Little Something’ is another highlight. There are definitely weaknesses: the vocals are, being kind, unremarkable (and definitely are over-produced), and the lyrics are about as bland as it gets. It feels like the words were written in the studio at the last minute: one might forgive that on a time-pressured second record, but this is a debut so presumably these songs have been germinating for a while. Such quibbles aside, this is a collection of consistently excellent rock songs. The Amazons will change nobody’s world, but there is a big dollop of passion and some seriously good song-writing here. I’ve played it loads. Generic, but worthy of its place in the top 10.

sample track: In My Mind

9. ST. VINCENT – MASSEDUCTION

I owe my friend Adam a lot for introducing me to St. Vincent, through her wonderful self-titled fourth record, when we exchanged our albums of the year lists at the end of 2014: I think that record was second on his list that year, and that inspired me to buy it. Although I’ve still not yet gone backwards and investigated her releases from before that, St. Vincent was one of my most-played albums in 2015, and I was really excited about MASSEDUCTION on release. It did exactly what I wanted, delivering more ultra-high quality adventure-pop, but moving in new directions. MASSEDUCTION is both confrontational and intimate. It’s a theatrical record, but one that also feels personal and affecting. Most importantly, it’s a huge amount of fun. Musically, it mixes warm percussion with stabbing guitar licks, strangely constructed synthesiser parts and haunting piano. At times it is vast in scope, like on the anthemic ‘Los Angeles’ or the frantic title track. But elsewhere it is incredibly stripped down, such as on the soulful slide-guitar of ‘Happy Birthday, Johnny’, or the absolutely wonderful ‘New York’ (which is my second favourite individual track by anyone in 2017, pushing the Foo Fighters’ super ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’ to third). Lyrically, MASSEDUCTION consistently is intelligent, confident and challenging. St. Vincent is a true pop artist, of a vintage that seems to me to be comparatively rare now: she’s a successor to the likes of Prince or (pre-downslide) Michael Jackson. More please.

sample track: New York

8. ROYAL BLOOD – How Did We Get So Dark?

Brighton two-piece Royal Blood, now officially – if almost certainly against their wishes – the ‘saviours of rock’, return with high expectations after their outstanding debut album from 2014. Those expectations are met by a sophomore effort that’s just as good as its predecessor. The only criticism one can level at How Did We Get So Dark? is that it follows a very similar formula to the first album. That familiarity is the sole reason that I haven’t loved this quite as much. The song writing is just as good, though, and consistently so across the whole record. That, in itself, amounts to quite an achievement. They are an even tighter unit now, with every track coiled and unleashed unerringly. ‘Lights Out’ rumbles its way into a panoramic chorus, ‘Where Are You Now?’ builds from a terrific drum refrain and then undercuts itself with a riff that shouldn’t fit but does, and the title track brings some extra bluesy swagger to the party. The stand-out here is ‘Hole In Your Heart’, which uses a creepy keyboard part to step beyond the template. This suggests that album three may move things forward; for all its quality (which is high), How Did We Get So Dark? definitely is something of a re-tread, but ‘Hole In Your Heart’ shows that there are great places that they can go, without having to throw out what makes them so good now. Seeing them again live this year, these new tracks stacked up perfectly against the older ones. Always a good sign. Difficult second album? Not a bit of it.

sample track: Hole In Your Heart

7. DEATH FROM ABOVE – Outrage! Is Now

After their triumphant reunion on sophomore album The Physical World in 2014, 9 years after their debut, the two-piece Canadian dance-punk experimentalists formerly known as Death From Above 1979 (the ‘1979’ now having been dropped) return rather quicker with album three. The Physical World was a minor miracle, matching (if not surpassing) its predecessor after such a long break. Outrage! Is Now perhaps never quite reaches the levels of those first two albums, but the quality here still is notably high. Stand out track ‘Holy Books’ would be at home on either previous release, as would the wonderful opener ‘Nomad’. Indeed, throughout, the same ‘how do two people make music that sounds so muscular’ detuned-bass template remains, but there also are signs of growth. For example, synthesisers (‘Never Swim Alone’) and keyboards (single ‘Freeze Me’) are more prominent here. Another development is that, despite the franticness of songs like ‘All I C Is U & Me’, Death From Above show more willingness on Outrage! Is Now to take the foot off the petal at times, with the steady rumblings of ‘Caught Up’ and ‘Statutes’ adding further variety. This is their most interesting and diverse record, which bodes well for the future. The songs are not as uniformly strong as has been the case on previous albums, and, lyrically, the shift from their trademark brawny love songs to social commentary perhaps was ill-advised (though one can hardly blame them for wanting to have their say on the state of the world right now). Overall, this is another album of extremely high quality from a band that is yet to release a record that hasn’t made the top 10 of my albums of the year list.

sample track: Holy Books

6. JULIE BYRNE – Not Even Happiness

Julie Byrne’s Not Even Happiness is a beautiful record. There’s lots of this brand of simple, singer/song-writer ‘modern folk’ out there right now, but this is way ahead of the pack. It’s an album thats largely just comprised of voice and acoustic guitar, with sparse but important backing from other instruments here and there to add depth. When things are this stripped down, the quality of the melodies and the quality of the performer’s voice are vital: both are utterly exceptional here. The haunting opening of aptly-named ‘Follow My Voice’ showcases just how strong Byrne’s voice is, but also her talent for unexpected yet less-is-more guitar playing. Tracks like ‘Sleepwalker’ and ‘Melting Grid’ (the latter benefiting from a perfect underpinning wind instrument melody) are more traditional folk songs, perhaps, but are no less good. ‘Morning Dove’ showcases a melancholic side to the record, ‘Sea As It Glides’ is soft and shy, and ‘All That Glimmered Beneath’ is uplifting and hopeful. I already loved this album before seeing Byrne play in a tiny pub in Bristol in the summer, but that performance – which made it very clear that she really is this good – definitely raised it still further in my estimation. Seeing the quality of her guitar playing up close had me picking up my acoustic guitar with both a newfound enthusiasm and a sense of futility. Not Even Happiness was an indie release that had little promotion or presence initially. Word of mouth ultimately has led to it widely being considered one of the albums of 2017. Agreed.

sample track: Morning Dove

5. FATHER JOHN MISTY - Pure Comedy

Josh Tillman’s third record under his Father John Misty alter ego isn’t quite as all-conquering as his near-perfect second album as FJMI Love You, Honeybear, which topped this list for me with ease in 2015. Nonetheless, it’s a masterful piece of work that both retains most of what made I Love You, Honeybear so great, while also moving in different directions. Pure Comedy mines a similar musical vein to the previous FJM records, with melancholic piano folk-ballads being the main thrust. Equally, the music here definitely is more understated than on his earlier FJM releases, and in that sense this is a more intimate offering. Lyrically though – which is always where Tillman truly excels – this record moves away from the deeply personal ruminations on his relationship with his wife and his own flaws to explore much broader themes. Pure Comedy considers the human condition more generally, looking not so much at Tillman’s own failings but society’s. He variously attacks millennial infantilism and entitlement, unchecked capitalism, the vacuous nature of modern entertainment, Trump era psychosis and religious and political self-righteousness. It’s a fairly depressing ride, but one lightened by (admittedly, dark) humour throughout. It also is a record incredibly lacking in humility. Tillman has never been plagued by any doubt as to his own sense of righteousness, despite him always being so open about all of his other flaws. That may mean this isn’t for everyone, but it’s a beautiful, if vitriolic, album that essentially looks to take the human race to task. Pure Comedy will act as catharsis for those who share Tillman’s worldview and likely irritate those who don’t. My sense is that this is precisely as was intended. You can criticise its unchecked certainty, but – especially for what musically is quite a simple, slight record – I marvel at the ambition and skill here. A true artist. 

sample track: Pure Comedy

4. AMPLIFIER – Trippin’ With Dr Faustus

It’s always a cause for celebration whenever the mighty Amplifier put out a record. 2017 saw them return with their sixth full-length offering, Trippin’ With Dr Faustus (as well as with a lovely little ep, entitled, simply, Record). I’ll rush to buy anything that they put out, for two reasons. First, their debut still remains, 13 years on, my favourite album ever by a country-mile; second, I think they perhaps are my favourite live band. For all that kudos in my own personal musical landscape, however, there’s no question that the last two records (especially 2013’s Echo Street) have seen a dip in quality. In that context, Trippin’ With Dr Faustus represents a much-welcome step forward. It doesn’t come close to the debut (nothing does for me), but it’s easily Amplifier’s best record since their sprawling double-album The Octopus in 2011. Hooray! Perhaps the biggest strength of Trippin’ With Dr Faustus is that it seems that Amplifier finally may have given up on trying to make what they do palatable. They ultimately are a prog-rock band, albeit one that’s tended to have a penchant for Soundgarden-like riffs. This new offering for the most part remains ‘heavy’ and still does contain some banging-of-head worthy moments, but they’re buried amongst swirling effects, multiple duelling guitar lines, weird timings and crazy tunings. This comfortably is their most progressive work, and they seem really to be enjoying the freedom. The ‘prog’ focus of Trippin’ With Dr Faustus isn’t just limited to complex space-operatics, either. They clearly are exploring here in a wider sense too. ‘Anibus’, for example, punctuates the album’s density beautifully, offering a simple acoustic country ditty – notably different to anything they’ve done before. ‘Old Blue Eyes’ combines a very detuned, effects-smothered bass line with a banjo (um, huh), and the peppering of Beth Bishop’s quality guest vocals throughout numerous tracks (another sign of the band venturing into uncharted territory on this record) adds melody and heart to the mania. The price of all this exploration is, inevitably, accessibility. At times Trippin’ With Dr Faustus can’t help but disappear up its own behind (the messy outro to ‘Big Daddy’ surely was unnecessary…). Indeed, there’s so much going on that even the biggest Amplifier fan will need multiple listens to make much sense of it all. For those so inclined, though, the rewards of perseverance will be significant. They remain one of the best bands on the planet.

3. MASTODON – Emperor Of Sand

Mastodon consistently have been one of the best metal bands around for the last 15 years or so. Yet the different eras of their work mean that they have both gained and lost fans along the way. Those who liked the complex prog-metal of their early material have been unhappy with the more mainstream riff-heavy leanings of the last few albums and the band’s appearances on Jimmy Kimmel; newer fans sometimes complain that their back catalogue is full of impenetrable self-indulgence. Emperor Of Sand in many ways looks to bridge that gap, and, as such, will have fully satisfied nobody while partially satisfying everybody. Personally, I like proggy and straight-ahead Mastodon in pretty much equal measure, so this mixture (e.g., chart-friendly on ‘Show Yourself’ vs. odd thrash time signatures followed by haunting piano outro on ‘Roots Remain’) adds up to their best record since Blood Mountain way back in 2006. Lyrically, it’s a concept album, focusing on cancer and the devastation that it causes, albeit through the lens of a weird tale about an outcast traveller in the desert. Yet while this, lyrically, easily is Mastodon’s most coherent (if that’s the word – concept albums about desert-wandering as an allegory for cancer will be the sort of thing that infuriates some) record, musically it leaps around more than anything they’ve put out in the past. For me, that variety is a real boon, and adds up to one of the most unexpected records released by an established metal band I can think of (perhaps matched only by Machine Head’s amazing return from the wilderness on The Blackening in 2007). Lyrically it’s prog, but musically it’s prog, thrash, grindcore and more. Heavy, weird and yet often very accessible too.  Emperor Of Sand may not surpass Mastodon’s very best previous work, but it comes pretty close. It’s interesting that 2017 also saw the release of two high-profile side projects featuring members of the band: the atmospheric post-metal of Gone Is Gone (featuring Troy Sanders, along with Queens Of The Stone Age and At The Drive-In members, amongst others) and the 80s-tinged synth-prog of Brann Dailor’s Arcadea. Both were great records but neither were strong enough to find a spot on this list: so perhaps the biggest benefit of these excursions has been that fresh ideas were brought back to the day job. 15 years in, and Mastodon still have a huge amount to offer.

sample track: Show Yourself

2. ARCADE FIRE – Everything Now

I’ve always loved Arcade Fire, with their records pretty consistently coming near the top of my yearly lists (maybe with the exception of The Suburbs, which I was disappointed with – but even that made 14th place on my list in 2010). For me, though, Everything Now may be a new high. Definitely it’s my favourite Arcade Fire record since the first two and, perhaps, my favourite of them all: this is staggeringly good stuff. On its face, this record’s more disco-influenced, sequined style would seem to be less to my rock-orientated taste than most of their previous work. It probably is only the (fantastic) ‘Creature Comfort’ that emulates the musical scale of their back catalogue, and guitars are merely one string to Everything Now’s bow. They truly have got their dancing shoes on this time, and Everything Now is all the better for it. There’s so much to enjoy musically, yet at the same time this record is less dense. As a result, it’s better able to worm its way into your head. Pretty much every track stays with me. The electro-bass grower of ‘Put Your Money On Me’, the soaring keyboards of the title track, the muscular ska of ‘Chemistry’, the pounding ‘Infinite Content’ and its country twin ‘Infinite_Content’ – I love every song. The lyrics are so great, examining modern society with craft and care. Yes, Everything Now is a nihilistic, at times depressing record thematically (see, especially, ‘We Don’t Deserve Love’, or the deep sadness of ‘Creature Comfort’ and its dissection of self-loathing, celebrity worship and misplaced desire). But it wins through because it is so fearless and makes its points with such style; lyrically (if not perhaps musically) Everything Now reminds me of Radiohead’s 90s classic OK Computer. I don’t think I can better the summation of this record that appeared in The Independent’s review, so I’m going to steal it: listening to Everything Now ‘feels like staggering through a disco with a dagger in your side.’ It’s the first masterpiece on this year’s list.

sample track: Creature Comfort

1. MUTOID MAN – War Moans

I’d not heard of Brooklyn three-piece Mutoid Man before I stumbled across this, their second, album. It was a random discovery through reading a blog-post about ‘bands bucking the trend in metal’. I doubt Mutoid Man care about bucking trends (or even have much of an idea what they are), but the description’s probably a fair one: this is, no question, its own thing. I already was deeply in love with War Moans before I realised that Mutoid Man’s vocalist, guitarist and chief song-writer was Stephen Brodsky, formerly of Cave In fame. In the early 2000s, I was something of a Cave In fan, without ever really adoring them (Antenna came 9th on this list in 2003, Perfect Pitch Black just missed out on the top 20 in 2005). Cave In, at least during the period when I listened to them, made quite light-touch, melodic post-prog. Mutoid Man don’t do that. War Moans does have its progressive aspects, but it’s a frenetic metal album at its core. It draws on punk-metal, hardcore and thrash to create something that’s fast, slippery and weird. ‘Open Flame’ and ‘Melt Your Mind’ are built on 80s thrash templates, but both twist away into something else. ‘Date With The Devil’ is an insidious little beggar, with tom-bashing drums, time changes galore and some truly stupid lyrics (‘I climbed all over Satan’s daughter, nothing’s ever made me harder’). Album closer ‘Bandages’ is the only track here that does evoke Cave In, albeit in a stripped down way, with a flicked guitar line leading a love ballad of an unusual sort (‘scab in the shape of my face’ being a lyrical indication), before blossoming into a distorted symphony. An exceptional way to end any record. The stand-out track on War Moans, though, is ‘Kiss Of Death’. For me, it’s the best song released by anybody in 2017 by such a distance that it’s ridiculous. The spine-juddering verse, with weird little off-shots and cul-de-sacs, is incredible. But then it get better, moving into a chorus that’s to die for (preferably following a kiss). An absolute belter.


Overall, Mutoid Man have delivered a tiny, tight record that’s full to bursting but never overflows. About half the songs on show come crashing in at less than three minutes – leaving your head spinning – and not one on the record makes it past five. Packed into these little songs, though, are all sorts of ideas, twists and turns. War Moans is strange and silly, simple and yet sophisticated, seriously heavy and yet oddly melodic. It sounds like no other record I own, while drawing from a whole bunch of them. And, crucially, it rocks more than anything else in 2017.

sample track: Kiss Of Death

Extras: Top tracks of 2017

A couple of bonus extras to finish off this year’s list, starting with my top ten tracks of the year, in reverse order. Few surprises, I suspect, given what I’ve said in the main album list. There’s only one here that comes from an album that didn’t make the top 20: the stand-out track from the patchy nostalgia-trip by Prophets Of Rage.

10.
Melt Your Mind
Mutoid Man

09.
Unfuck The World
Prophets Of Rage

08.
Feet Don’t Fail Me
Queens Of The Stone Age

07. Show Yourself
Mastodon

06.
Bandages
Mutoid Man

05.
In My Mind
The Amazons

04.
Holy Books
Death From Above

03.
The Sky Is A Neighbourhood
Foo Fighters

02.
New York
St. Vincent

01.
Kiss Of Death
Mutoid Man

Extras: Top films of 2017

Lastly, moving away from music, here (in significantly briefer form than the albums list) is my top 20 films of the year list. That was a stretch – I think I only saw 20 films in total that came out this year, so a lower ranking is not necessarily a stamp of approval (20th on this list literally represents my least favourite of all the films that I have watched that came out in 2017). There remain plenty of other 2017 movies that I want to see but still have not yet seen (current list: Silence, mother!, The Death of Stalin, Get Out, Colossal, Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Alien: Covenant, It, Loving, War for the Planet of the Apes, Wonder Woman – I suspect I’ve forgotten others). That these, or any other, films are absent here is without prejudice to how good (or bad) I ultimately might find them to be: this list likely would look very different if I was writing it a year from now, once I’ve caught up a bit. Finally, this all comes with the caveat of me not necessarily being 100% sure when films were released. I think all of these were 2017 UK cinema releases (even though some came out in 2016 in the US), but I might be wrong. 


20.
The Lego Batman Movie
Not as strong as The Lego Movie from which it sprang, but still fun (also, tellingly, the only DC superhero film I’ve yet seen from 2017…).

19.
La La Land
I avoided this for a long time (musicals not really being my thing) but when I finally got around to watching it, I did really enjoy it. There’s a joy to the choreography and script, and the songs – while forgettable – never are annoying.


18.
John Wick, Chapter 2
Still loads of fun, but not a patch on the original (which I unexpectedly adored). Needed to take a few more risks. No franchise is doing hand-to-hand action better right now, though.

17.
Life
An Alien rip off at its heart, but the effects are outstanding and so were some of the performances.

16.
To The Bone
An unsentimental piece on eating disorders, which takes real pains to make it about character first and the disease second.

15.
T2: Trainspotting
I really enjoyed this, and it’s great to have these characters back, but – while many praised it for being a nostalgia trip – I wanted a bit more than that (and, particularly, for it to draw more on Irvin Welsh’s sequel book Porno).

14.
Okja
A lovely, if at times a bit preachy, little movie about a giant pig. Evokes the Spielbergian 80s and made me genuinely sad in places.

13.
The Girl With All The Gifts
The best zombie movie for some while, thoughtful and genre-skewing. Great central performance from newcomer Sennia Nanua.

12.
Baby Driver
The action and the score (and the intertwined combination of them) were great, but the plot was thin and so were the characters. Need to see it again, but on first viewing: a very enjoyable car-opera but ultimately disappointing, given the premise and those involved.

11.
Logan
Meaty, grown up X-Men, a deserved high-note for Hugh Jackman to leave on. This finally did Wolverine justice.

10.
Split
My favourite M. Night Shyamalan movie in forever. James McAvoy sells an impossible role convincingly, and it’s got some really unnerving scenes, especially towards the end.

09.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 2
There are problems with it – the villain being an especially big one – but this still is way more fun than it has any right to be.

08.
Moonlight
The best picture Oscar winner is a top film, which puts character ahead of all else. Sympathetic without being patronising.

07.
Spiderman: Homecoming
The leads were great (Holland now is the best on screen Spiderman for me, Keaton made a thinly written villain soar), and the action is strong, but it feels like Marvel still can do better now that they have their hands on their prize asset.

06.
A United Kingdom
Managing to be personal and universal, this is a great tale of love, empire and the dehumanisation of Africa that I enjoyed way more than I expected to. Rosamund Pike yet again is outstanding.

05.
Blade Runner 2049
About as good as a Blade Runner sequel possibly could be, this looked great, and had the right balance of similar to/different from the original. Plus Denis Villeneuve got Harrison Ford not to look bored for the first time in quite a while. Pretty impressive in all respects, although I did have some issues with parts of the plot and with Jared Leto’s horrible performance.

04.
Free Fire
I’d argue that ‘warehouse shootout’ movies should not be judged against Reservoir Dogs, because that’s an unfair benchmark. Assessed on its own merits this is a huge amount of fun. Craftily directed by Ben Wheatley and with some stonking performances (Armie Hammer continues to surprise with some increasingly strong turns).

03.
Manchester By The Sea
A thoughtfully scripted and impeccably acted drama, this starts slow, but when it descends into the abyss you’re unavoidably taken with it. Would have been my choice for best picture (of those that were nominated, anyway).

02.
Thor: Ragnarok
The best Marvel movie since Iron Man 3 (which I might be alone in thinking is the best Marvel movie, period). Turning it into an out-and-out comedy was risky, and Cate Blanchett was underused. But pretty much all the jokes land, the whole thing looks amazing and by the end you’re not just on board, you’re smitten. Where’s my stand-alone Mark Ruffalo Hulk movie?

01.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I’ve still only seen it once: time and repeated viewings will allow me to make a proper assessment. But, on first viewing, I thought it had nuance, surprises, more laughs than expected and some truly stand out moments. It also had some dodgy parts (especially the Canto Bight stuff – pretty much in its entirety), and could have been trimmed a little in places for pacing. Too early to tell whether these (minor, in the overall scheme of things, I think) concerns will persist on repeated viewings. Even with them, I easily enjoyed this more than any other film that I saw that came out this year. No great surprise there. 

That’s it for 2017...

But you can follow the links below for previous years lists.

2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004 (added online in 2014)
2000-2003 (added online in 2014)