THEEDADROCK.BLOG's Best of 2023
2023 was a good year, marked by the return of slumbering giants and the emergence of a new generation of artists hellbent on carving out their space and setting a course for eventual world domination. Take a moment to look back and enjoy a playlist of this year’s best and read through a recap of 2023’s top 10 albums.
Death Valley Girls - Islands In The Sky
Also featured on Alt Citizen’s Best of 2023
On their fifth LP, Death Valley Girls continue to delve deeper into the concepts of individuality and community with a clear-eyed sense of candor. Islands In The Sky is a celestial set of self-love anthems set to some of the most psychedelic arrangements the band has recorded to date, punctuated by their characteristic combination of driving rhythms and buzzsaw guitar. By celebrating the One, Death Valley Girls find deeper meaning as part of the Many, a glittering congregation of souls made stronger by the invisible bonds of harmonious co-existence.
Check out the full review. Follow Death Valley Girls on Instagram and get the album here.
The Hives - The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons
Dormant for over a decade since the release of 2012’s Lex Hives, Sweden’s prodigal sons The Hives returned in 2023 to once again claim their rightful place as the greatest band ever to exist. Their new album, The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, finds The Champagne of Bands still fully committed to the same type of full throttle mania that defined their initial rise to prominence at the turn of the millennium. The band may be older, but the spark is far from extinguished as colossal rippers like “Bogus Operandi” and “Countdown To Shutdown” fit perfectly within The Hives legendary discography, and new jams including “Rigor Mortis Radio” expand their repertoire while delivering the same flaming doubleshot of nitrous laced adrenaline in a fresh cadence.
Check out the recap of The Hives penultimate US 2023 show in LA. Follow The Hives on Instagram and get the album here.
HNRY FLWR - Visions of the Daytime Moon
To mistake HNRY FLWR’s outsized public access televangelist persona as pure kitsch would be to miss out on one of the most surprising new artists to emerge from the diverse assemblage of Brooklyn’s alternative scene. Merging cultish weirdness with a magnetic sense of approachability, Visions Of The Daytime Moon is a menagerie of understated, slice of life vignettes imbued with secular spirituality that celebrates the universal truths of love and longing. Inclusive and all-encompassing without becoming overwhelming or buckling under the stress of it’s own rhinestone encrusted schtick, this is the kind of album exudes comfortable intimacy like coffee with a best friend or an afternoon spent ensconced in a favorite chair soaking in the warm of the sun.
Check out the review of single “Something From Nothing.” Follow HNRY FLWR on Instagram and get the album here.
Miranda and The Beat - Miranda and The Beat
Also featured on Alt Citizen’s Best of 2023
Endorsed by the undisputed "Emperor of RnB" his royal highness King Khan, Miranda and The Beat experienced a true banner year in 2023 that included a coast-to-coast tour supporting King Khan and BBQ Show and the release of their hotly anticipated debut full-length LP, self-produced by the band and mixed by Nick Zinner.
The band's uniquely intimate take on smoky rock-n-soul is on full display, sharing a spiritual lineage with dive-bar divas Detroit Cobras that stretches as far back into foundational sounds to rub shoulders with the more rockin' end of the legendary Philles Records roster. Kicking off with the thick humidity of "Sweat," Miranda and The Beat quickly establish their perspective as one of gritty authenticity, offering an unvarnished interpretation of life under the neon-lit back alleyways where this rough-and-tumble gang earned their stripes. Frontwoman Miranda Zipse is possessed of a vocal presence that bears the weight of love and loss with the unbowed shoulders of a street survivor and resolute romantic, supported by textural arrangements that run the gamut from skittering percussion on "Concrete" to a deliciously funky keyboard breakdown on "When Are You Coming Home." Anthemic hooks on "Out Of My Head" and "Let You Go" swing for the fences with gusto and thrum with the unquenchable fire of a wounded heart refusing to break.
Check out the boozy 2020 interview with the band in episode 2 of Altered States. Follow Miranda and The Beat on Instagram and get the album here.
Night Beats - Rajan
Danny Lee Blackwell softens the harder edges that have characterized Night Beats’ midnight black and leather tough approach to modern psychedelia with Rajan, the band’s latest album that takes its title from Blackwell’s own family name in a semi-autobiographical expression of the wide-ranging influences that define both the man and the band, as well as honoring the familial ties. Steeped in a heady grooves and smoky arrangements, Rajan is possessed of an otherworldly nature unglued from space and time, best enjoyed full immersed within the undulating waves of sound and sentiment.
Check out the review of single “Hot Ghee.” Follow Night Beats on Instagram and get the album here.
Rocket - Versions Of You
Also featured on Alt Citizen’s Best of 2023
Rocket's debut EP, Versions Of You, embraces the stadium-sized emotive sincerity of 00s alternative rock to deliver a remarkably cohesive set of songs showcasing the band's dexterous playing and multifaceted songwriting. Elements of shoegaze and psychedelia simmer beneath the surface, but Rocket never submerges themselves completely beneath cascading walls of obfuscating feedback and fuzz. Striking a brilliant balance between volume and clarity, confidence and vulnerability, each track on Versions Of You bursts with a level of conductive energy that electrifies the mind and stirs the soul.
Check out the complete interview with the band and follow Rocket on Instagram.
Some Days Are Darker - Some Days Are Darker
From the sun-baked expanse of Phoenix comes the deliciously umbral debut LP from Some Days Are Darker, a gothic romance rendered with the fatal attraction of noir cinema and emblematic of the high-contrast coexistence of darkness and light. Some Days Are Darker conjures into words and music innermost emotions with an intense vulnerability. The result is mature and nuanced, drawing a great deal of inspiration from pioneering alternative bands like Depeche Mode and Placebo but foregoing those stadium-sized sounds in favor of an exquisitely produced presentation that feels more akin to the intimacy of a private, late-night confession.
Check out the full review. Follow Some Days Are Darker on Instagram and get the album here.
White Reaper - Asking For A Ride
White Reaper have proven themselves masters of combining scruffy alt-rock with stadium-sized power pop across their remarkably solid and admirably reliable early discography. On Asking For A Ride, the band plays with the winning formula to thrilling effect. Elements of hardcore and heavy metal work their way into the mix, pushing the boundaries of their sound in new directions while maintaining their mastery of high-energy hooks and larger-than-live sonic pyrotechnics. The world’s best American band does it again!
Check out the full review. Follow White Reaper on Instagram and get the album here.
WITCH - Zango
Heroes of Zamrock WITCH returned in 2023 with one of the most unexpected comeback albums in recent memory. Original bandleader Jagari Chanda and keyboardist Patrick Mwondela enlisted a multinational cadre of young psychonauts to craft a modern interpretation of traditional Zambian rock n roll, spiked with innovative flourishes and guest spots from some of Zambian music’s current brightest stars. Zango is a triumph, an testament to the enduring legacy of a band too revolutionary to remain simply a footnote.
Follow WITCH on Instagram and get the album here.
Zilched - Earthly Delights
Zilched’s sophomore LP finds singer-songwriter Chloe Drallos expanding beyond the densely layered Loveless-worship of the band’s debut LP into musical territory that pulls in influences from a wider swath of alternative and even pop music to craft a dynamic follow up that begins to unlock new levels of creativity and nuanced expression. Earthly Delights is packed with intimate details and powerful statements on the impact of love gained and lost imbued with the apocalyptic drama of Renaissance masterworks.
Check out the full interviews with Zilched frontwoman Chloe Drallos. Follow Zilched on Instagram and get the album here.
HONORABLE MENTION
Lol Tolhurst X Budgie X Jacknife Lee - Los Angeles
Impressive in scope, this trifecta of post-rock luminaries enlisted a murderers’ row of outstanding supporting talent to craft a deliciously dark rendering of Los Angeles as a city, a culture, and an idea existing on the fringes of American civilization. Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), The Edge (U2), Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), and more contribute far ranging personalities to the expansive compositions, apocalyptic and reverent in their celebration and fury. Los Angeles is not for the faint of heart, but rewarding for those that can endure its slings and arrows.
Check out the thrilling video for “We Got To Move” starring Fred Armisen. Follow Lol Tolhurst X Budgie X Jacknife Lee on Instagram and get the album here.