Tex's Top 7 Albums from 2018

1. Maribou State - Kingdoms in Color    

Smooth melodic grooves, good for chilling out or maintaining focus.

2. Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance       

Smart, thoughtful and woke AF modern punk music

3. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake              

New classic from these perennial favorites.  I initially thought they'd be a flash in the pan, now, 10 years later, they just keep getting better and better.

4. Wye Oak - The Louder I call The Faster It Runs 

            

So stoked that every album that these guys (or singer Jenn Wassner) puts out ends up on a top ten of the year list for me.  There's so many bands in the last 20 years that have started out great and fizzled into caricatures of themselves that it's just refreshing to have a fave put out consistently great material.

5. Wild Pink - Yolk in the Fur      

As I age I get less nostalgic and sentimental.  This album precludes that trend and puts me in the mindset of someone less cynical, and I like that.

6. El Ten Eleven - Bankers Hill    

Nice soundscapes that weave between math-rock and ambient.

7. Jenn Champion - Single Rider

A very well-orchestrated tribute to smoother rock/r&b sounds from the nineties - not an original concept at this point, but a great example of how it can sound really good.