20. Narrow Shoulders – Now Be Here

Spare and haunting, the debut release from Narrow Shoulders’ Zach Pollakoff does a lot with a little. Ambient noise, synth tones, the occasional pluck of guitar string, or a simple drum beat get layered just so to create an immersive instrumental world. The fact that Pollakoff works for A-list pop producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Haim, Vampire Weekend, etc) in his day job is no surprise. Though the genres couldn’t be more different, Pollakoff clearly knows to to construct a soundscape.

19. Jack O’ the Clock – Leaving California

The only progressive rock I have much use for is Jethro Tull and Jack O’ the Clock’s new record scratches that folksy itch nicely (the band name even evokes a Tull song). No, there’s no flute solos, but a whole host of other instruments make appearances, from violin to harp to sudden bursts of choir – and that’s just in one track! Then the next song opens with a clarinet solo. It’s not a flute, but close enough.

18. The Faux Paws – The Faux Paws

The rustic setting. The three beardy dudes. The guitar and fiddle. All signs point to your traditional old-time folk music combo. And the Faux Paws grow from deep roots there, to be sure. But there’s a twist: The third instrument is not the expected banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, etc. It’s a saxophone. It brings a surprising new sound into their otherwise very traditional music. I’m christening the genre “blue-brass.”

17. Amy Anders – Flea at the Opera

Flea at the Opera is a killer album title, though it does have the unfortunate side effect of making me picture Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Met. Thankfully, the album sounds very little like the album’s accidentally-titular bassist. Big Thief is the more obvious touchstone. Anders delivers slightly off-kilter folk-rock songs that take strange twists and turns, piano cabaret at one moment (“You Lose”) and a woodwind-guitar duet the next (“Great Life”).

16. Hellish Form – Remains

Props to Hellish Form to committing to the genre. Everything about their album seems as metal as possible, from the metal band name (Hellish Form) to the metal album name (Remains) to the metal song titles (“Your Grave Becomes A Garden,” “Ache,” “Shadows With Teeth,” and “Another World”). Okay, they lost the thread a little with that last one, but the hooded-figure-in-graveyard cover artwork more than makes up for it.

15. The Wet Ones – The Monster of Jungle Island

An instrumental concept album is a tough trick to pull off, and doubly so when the concept is as specific as The Monster of Jungle Island. Luckily, Vermont surf-rockers have a trick up their sleeve to help the narrative: A B-movie style video, filmed on what looks like a budget of $20 and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. As the band’s Amy Wild wrote, “Never did we think our +35-year-old selves would be running around Burton Island with a paper mache monster head and machete, but here we are.”

14. Kris Gruen – Welcome Farewell

“This is the sound that brings broken hearts back to life,” Kris Gruen sings on the opening track of Welcome Farewell. It’s a lofty promise, but one could easily picture him getting the sort of devoted Americana-world following of a Tyler Childers or Billy Strings. He’s capable of surprises, too, as on the folky cover of punk icon Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory.”

13. Wool Drive – Dive In

Though Anders Magnus’ musical moniker starts with “wool,” I keep wanting to write “woozy.” That’s the feel of the chillwave-y Dive In, a slide of hazed-out bedroom pop that is so chill it might take a second to realize these songs are catchy as hell.

12. Father Figuer – Jack of All Fruits

Good thing I was running behind on this list this year, or I would have missed Father Figuer’s Jack of All Fruits, which came out December 10. The trio’s Bandcamp bio simply reads “taking our time,” and that’s exactly what they do on this album. The almost-nine-minute-long opening track runs over three minutes before a single word is sung. The journey to get there shows what makes them so great though. It’s the most gradual of builds, spacey vocals and instruments gently layering up, to the point where, when the sound finally bursts open six minutes in, it comes as a jolt. No other songs are quite that long or epic, but that mix of music, slightly withholding while you await the big burst that may or may not ever arrive, remains steady.

11. KeruBo – Hali Ya Utu

The title of Kenyan-American singer KeruBo’s debut album Hali Ya Utu translates to “state of humanity.” It, like many of the songs on the album is in Swahili. A great Seven Days feature breaks down what many are about: “Hakuna Lolote” about the plight of New Americans during Covid. “Inga Obwanchani,” in the language of Kisii, addresses children begging for money on the streets of KeruBo singer Irene Webster’s native Nairobi. Knowing the stories enriches the songs, but you don’t need to do any homework to enjoy Hali Ya Utu, an upbeat blend of African rhythms that, for westerners, will most immediately recall Angelique Kidjo.

10. Zachary Melton – Northland

The acoustic-guitar fantasia or Northland draws on the so-called “American primitive” greats like John Fahey and Glenn Jones – not to mention a whole new crop of talented artists. Zachary Melton crafts a lot of sound with just six strings and some fancy finger-picking.

9. Eric George – Mostly Ghosts / Valley of the Heart

I’m cheating a little bit here, but I couldn’t pick just one of Eric George’s two 2021 albums to include. Though they’re not a double album, they work as one: One side folk, one side punk. The folk “side,” Valley of the Heart, finds a killer roots band spicing up his Guthrie-esque songs with brushed drums and twangy guitar solos. The “punk” side, Mostly Ghosts, finds him turning the volume way up, channeling Bad Religion and The Black Keys as he lets it rip. But the boundaries may be more porous than they seem: He covers punk-in-spirit John Lennon on the folk album and sings about folk hero Joe Hill on the punk one.

8. Ivamae – Tender Meat

Tender Meat certainly wins the longest-awaited album award. When I first wrote about her debut EP, I figured a full-length was forthcoming. And it was…five full years later. “I’m a total workaholic,” Mae explained to Seven Days. “I push myself, and I crash. That’s why the album took so long, I think: I’d push, then crash, then repeat. I had to learn to let go of how I wanted it to sound.” The result sounds like the product of all that much work, but only in the best ways – dense and innovative, yet never overthought. Her crack band and inventive production touches serve the songs, never obscuring the real star of the show: her stunning voice.

7. Madaila – Good Lord Nancy

Good Lord Nancy is a concept album. And not a concept album like “all the songs are about a breakup”; a real, old school, prog-style concept album. The genre is new-wave though, mixed with indie rock and Americana. The concept is too long to compress in a blurb (you can read it here), but every song traces the titular Nancy’s journey to the City of Sin. One way it differs from many similar albums though is that it’s compact, eight songs, every one catchy as hell with not a moment wasted. What a concept.

6. Patrick J Crowley – All Was Set Fair

Patrick Crowley has popped up here in a couple different guises before – Deep River Saints, Quasar Valley Band. He makes music of the cosmic-Americana sort, using traditional country-rock instruments to go to some weird places. Fitting that the album cover is a picturesque log cabin…that’s on fire.

5. Clever Girls – Constellations

Clever Girls songs thrive on tension. At any moment, they sound like they’re about to explode. Sometimes they do, usually in a roar of distorted guitar noise. But just as often, they hold something back, gliding along on frontperson Diane Jean’s mesmerizing vocals. Who knew “And I’ll get arrested by the neighborhood watch” could be such a catchy sing-along line? Inspired in part by Jean coming out as queer and gender-nonconforming, Constellations mixes big rock hooks (“Remember Pluto”) with quieter moments (“Come Clean”…quieter that is, except for the the really loud parts) for a set that makes a hell of a calling card as they begin to play bigger stages.

4. Coyote Reverie – Imah

Coyote Reverie, the new hip-slash-trip-hop duo combining singer Meadow Eliz and rapper Stresselbee, stuff their debut album Imah with quotable lines. To pick out one that jumped out at me, from the song “Lotus Leaf”: “I solved the riddle of the universe once / And I got it done before I served lunch.” Or one more, from lead single “Piranhagon”: “It’s the lion, the witch, and the warship / The penguin is mightier than the swordfish.” Of course, no rhyme would be worth savoring if the music didn’t match up, but they collaborate with a number of different underground producers to create beds that boost the clever rapped verses and the earwormy sung choruses.

3. Lily Seabird – Beside Myself

“I’m just a bug underneath your shoe,” Lily Seabird (real name Lily Seward) sang on “Bug,” the lead single off her terrific debut album Beside Myself. The melody jumps around in surprising leaps – I imagine this would be a tough karaoke track – but Lily carries it through all its winding turns, leading to a wonderful Dinosaur Jr.-esque squalling guitar solo. Her album mostly leans on the quirky indie pop side of things, channeling Warpaint or Fiona Apple, but will occasionally explode into a pedal-to-the-metal rocker like “Fire Song.”

2. The Burning Sun – Marrow

In April, the album Marrow came out under the band name Ruby. I gave my post the Clash-pun title “Ruby Can’t Fail,” but, apparently, they could. In the age of the internet, singer Katy Hellman soon released Ruby was un-Googleable – she found over 80 other artists named Ruby on Spotify – and changed the moniker to The Burning Sun, after the album’s second track (personally, I think she should have picked track title number four, “Carnivores,” and make everyone think it was a militant hardcore band). Either way, Marrow is a mesmerizing album, Mazzy Star by way of Dirty Projectors. It doesn’t matter what they call themselves. To misquote Shakespeare, a Ruby by any other name smells as sweet.

1. Black Fly – 01

Bedroom electronic artist Joseph Rittling aka Black Fly brings a lot of influences into these ten tracks. He cites inspirations from experimental composer Gavin Bryars to ’50s pop star Connie Francis to re-learning to play piano after an accident that cost him part of a finger (ouch). And that’s all just for a single song (“No Fool”). His must-watch music videos, too, contain multitudes, placing these tracks in an eerie sci-fri dystopia like something David Lynch would dream up. But, high-concept as the songs’ origins may be, the results are immediately accessible, catchy piano-electronica that recalls M83 at one moment, Jon Hopkins at another.

Best Songs is here and Best EPs is here. In an effort to broaden the lists and avoid redundant blurb-writing, every list this year has a totally unique group of artists.

Note: This will be the last County Tracks post for a while. To get updates when/if the site returns, follow @CountyTracks on Facebook or Twitter. Until then, thanks for reading.

The post The Best Vermont Albums of 2021 appeared first on County Tracks.

Aspetuck – Rescue Mission

Aspetuck (aka. Griff Fulton)’s bio says his music was inspired by immersing himself in the nightlife of New York and Los Angeles. Yet now he lives near where he grew up in rural Vermont, an area not exactly known for its club scene. Somehow I feel like that dichotomy comes across in “Rescue Mission.” You can imagine it playing on a dance floor somewhere, but it works equally well just sitting at home and vibing out.

Black Fly – Kingdom

Strictly speaking, not much happens in the video for Black Fly’s new song “Kingdom.” But what there is is supremely eerie. Black Fly is Vermont-based musician and visual artist Joseph Rittling. He said, “This is the first in a series of visualizers that were partially inspired by the artwork of Simon Stålenhag and his depiction of a dystopian suburban Sweden. I too wanted to create scenes where rural landscapes, technology, and people were intertwined. A sort of sci-fi depiction of where I live. It also feels representative of the music, a clash of organic and technological textures.”

Boys Cruise – House of Horror

Boys Cruise are the sort of punk band that has synchronized dance moves. (Actually, is that even a type? Maybe they’re the first.) In the dirgy first thirty seconds of their new single, the “grunge Sisters of Mercy” vibe made me wonder if they’re moving in a different, more subdued, direction. Then everything explodes and they’re back to shouting their anguish very loud and very fast. I look forward to live shows returning so I can see the choreo.

Clever Girls – Come Clean

Clever Girls released five of the ten songs on Constellations in advance. You might think only the dregs remained. Not even close. Opener “Come Clean” is a righteous explosion, frontperson Diane Jean delivering a bravura near-a cappella vocal performance for most of its runtime. But when the band kicks in, they kick in hard. One day soon this is going to make one hell of a show-opener.

Clover Koval – Chasing My Own Tail

When I first wrote about singer-songwriter Clover Koval, I mentioned “lyrics that echo Courtney Barnett over music that sounds like a lo-fi Best Coast.” The lyrics are still clever, but the music on her new song “Chasing My Own Tail” sounds more like drum-machine dreampop than Best Coast. Apparently I’m not the first to notice her trying on different genres. The lyrics includes the verse: “i joked for how my next song / i would sound like miss parton wrote a doom metal album / cuz i can’t decide anything anymore.”

Couchsleepers – All the Best Intentions

“Wait, didn’t Couchsleepers release this song already?” I asked myself. No, but you can understand my confusion – they released the similarly-titled “All the Worst Things” a few months back, and this new song includes lyrics about “worst things.” It’s very confusing. Couchsleepers’ Harrison Hsiang talked me through it:

“Worst Things” and “Best Intentions” definitely form a thematic couplet – actually one set of three on the upcoming EP, along with “Monsters” & “Creature Comforts” and “Just a Minute” and “After All”. In some sense they’re sides of a coin. “Worst Things” is about the self-destructive impulse, of seeking more emotional punishment and misery even though you know you shouldn’t. “Best Intentions” takes the opposite approach; it’s the “I know I shouldn’t but I’m going to do it anyway” moment, wanting the best for yourself when you don’t deserve it – wanting the perfect girl when you’re petty and cruel, or wanting the perfect reputation when all you do is get drunk and lie around all day. As a whole the EP is an exploration of my worst qualities, taken to their extremes – self-pity, greed, envy, addiction, conciliation, dispassion. All of which, thankfully, have always remained balanced in my life, but I see their potential to spiral out of control and I wonder what I might be like if they did. I hope not to be that person, but there are also times I wish I could be more like that person as well.

Dave Richardson – Keep Trying

Last time I wrote about Dave Richardson, I said he seemed like a super positive person. At the time, he had released a song called “It’s Gonna Be OK.” Now he’s back with another upbeat anthem, “Keep Trying,” about being a shy person who’s doing his best. Both songs come off his upcoming Palms to Pines, which feels like it’s bound to be the feel-good album of the spring.

Glorious Leader – November Moon

Good news, Sufjan finally did a third state in the series: Vermont! Only he recorded it under the name Glorious Leader. And…okay, no, it’s not really Sufjan. Glorious Leader is really Kyle Woolard, who recorded a tribute to his home in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. In a very cool touch, it comes with an entire hardbound book done up to look like an old Hardy Boys mystery, with the backstory plus tabs for oddly-tuned guitar, banjo, and ukulele.

Isabel Pless – Burn Out

Isabel Pless has a sense of humor. Her album title is Too Big for the Playground, Too Small for the Big Leagues. Her Bandcamp bio is “Former gifted kid, current broke college student.” And every lyric in “Burn Out” embodies that same energy. Here’s the chorus: “And I smoke out the window / When my parents are home / Leave a light on at night / If I’m sleeping alone / And my mailbox is full / But no one calls my phone / Anyway.”

Jade Relics – Start Over

New hip-hop banger “Start Over” sounds vaguely like an old Kanye production, with a dusty old soul sample flipped to form the hook and new rap verses added over top. Turns out, though, that old-soul chorus is new too, sung by Elder Orange aka. Matt Scott while rapper IAME aka. Ryan McMahon handles the verses. Producer Rico James rounds out the trio of local hip-hop favorites around their native Vermont.

Jake Ratelle – Take

Performed solo on an extremely effected-out electric guitar, “Take” brings a host of emo-esque emotion in a quieter package. Well, quieter until the songs throat-shredding conclusion. It’s Julien Baker meets Jimmy Eat World.

Liz Simmons – When the Waters Rise

Liz Simmons had logged time singing backup for Melanie. Yes, that Melanie, of Woodstock and “Brand New Key” fame. You can hear some overlap in her own new album Poets. Simmons stays more in the singer-songwriter Americana lane than Melanie’s ’60s pop, but she knows her way around a hook, and has a hell of a voice to deliver it.

Marcie Hernandez – Light a Torch (Urian Hernandez remix)

I first posted Marcie Hernandez’s bilingual ballad “Light a Torch” back in July 2019, and it formed the grand finale of her recent album Amanecer. Now it’s back again, in the form of a new dub remix from Urian Hackney. The fact that Urian Hackney is a drummer (for punk vets Rough Francis) will not surprise you, as the song gets a second (third?) life as a percussion-forward thump. From now on, I’m not considering any song’s journey complete until it gets a Urian Hackney dub remix.

Ruth Garbus – We’ll See Eachother Soon

Love the stage direction that opens the written lyrics of “We’ll See Eachother Soon.” It reads: “[to be sung in a British accent].” Sure enough, she does. As you’d imagine, this is not exactly a conventional composition. She said this and one other song were meant for an album to be recorded in March of 2020, but…you know. She held them back in hopes of “some imagined perfect release,” and came to regret it. “By holding back when the songs were fresh I maybe missed the opportunity to provide some solace during a really rough time,” she wrote. “Now that the vaccines are rolling out, I hope it’s not too late, and that these songs will still serve a purpose in this world!” I’d argue a song called “We’ll See Eachother Soon” actually hits better now, with a new note of optimism.

Ryan Montbleau – Ankles

The tasteful folk-rock opening doesn’t exactly scream “comedy song,” but then the first line comes in: “I am thankful for my ankles.” It continues like that for a bit before impressively pivoting back to not-a-comedy-song territory, as Montbleau delivers a sincere and heartfelt ode to music itself. Then, bam, we’ve boomeranged back to Montbleau talking about his pancreas. These is-it-a-joke-or-not transitions sound jarring on paper, but somehow when he sings it all makes sense.

Saints & Liars – Middle Sister

The song may have “Sister” in the title, but it reminds me of some bands called “Brothers.” – I’m talking about the Avett, Wood, Barr, and Felice variety. Maybe even a touch of Flying Burrito. Definitely not Isley though. Or Chemical.

Trackstar – This Old Life

Hello Easy is the title of Trackstar’s new ep, and “easy” is the perfect word. A little easy-listening, a little soft-rock, all filtered through a supremely chill delivery. Recordings likes that sometimes fall into the trap of being all vibe with no actual song behind them, but Trackstar buttressed all the relaxation with some solid hooks.

Check out previous best-of-the-month lists here.

The post The Best New Songs of March appeared first on County Tracks.

Clever Girls’ “Stonewall” is not literally about the Stonewall riots. The lyrics are pretty explicitly about a romantic partner stonewalling you. It’s “stonewall” as a verb, not a proper noun. But the title’s resonance with an important moment in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights is presumably no accident. The band’s entire upcoming album Constellations was partly inspired by frontperson Diane Jean’s coming out as queer and gender-nonconforming.

“I wrote Stonewall about the distribution of emotional labor in relationships and what is often asked of us AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals based on our perceived gender identities,” Jean said. “I believe that a lot of my shortcomings within the context of interpersonal relationships were as a result of emotional overexertion, and I really wanted to capture that feeling on this one.”

They came up with a clever (heh) way to capture the sound of that overexertion: Recording the vocals while barely even awake. After a long night in the studio, Jean woke up and recorded “Stonewall” right from their sleeping bag. It’s like the famous story of John Lennon recording “Revolution” while lying on the floor, but if he’d been singing “I’m So Tired” instead.

Listen to “Stonewall” below, and pre-order Constellations on Bandcamp. It comes out March 26.

Check out more of the best indie-rock music from Vermont here.

The post Clever Girls Remember Stonewall from a Sleeping Bag appeared first on County Tracks.

Adam Rabin – Winter Song

Prog-rock veteran Adam Rabin’s “Winter Song” sounds pure Jethro Tull. All that’s missing is a flute solo. Oh, wait – there it is.

Chipmunk Economy – Would You Sacrifice

Band reunions are typically premised on reigniting existing fan groups, but I’d never heard Chipmunk Economy during their first run. By the sound of their comeback record Ten After Ten – that’s ten new songs after ten years away – I missed out.

Clever Girls – Baby Blue

The latest preview of Clever Girls’ upcoming album Constellations, hotly tipped to be among the year’s best, “Baby Blue” sounds claustrophobic, a contained storm just waiting to explode. Songwriter Diane Jean says, “I wrote Baby Blue about three years ago and we recorded it in early 2020. Now, it reminds me of the darkest stages of the pandemic – the days where everybody in the music industry was holding out hope for their fall tour dates. I spent all of May of last year, while Vermont was still very much on lockdown, in complete isolation with the exception of my cat, Hank. It was exactly the type of experience that the song was born out of in the first place – feeling isolated, and cut off from the world even when it was still turning – if not on fire – outside of my door.”

Couchsleepers – All the Worst Things

I was going to write that “All the Worst Things” is the most straightforwardly poppy song in Couchsleepers’ growing catalog, but that was before the guitar explosion that sounds like that tone that never ends. It’s like Robert Fripp crashing an Ed Sheeran song. Couchsleepers’ last album was inspired by the frontman’s insomnia – no wonder he’s having trouble sleeping if these are the sounds he’s listening to!

Dave Richardson – It’s Gonna Be OK

Dave Richardson seems like an optimistic guy. In mid-December, during an extremely bleak stretch, he released a song called “It’s Gonna Be OK.” He’s not naive, but each verse shows him trying to keep a positive mental attitude. “If I didn’t work and I didn’t try / I would worry the time away / So I’m going to work and I’m going to try / And it’s gonna be ok.”

Derek O’Kanos – So It Goes

Derek O’Kanos’ new EP On the Sleeve dips its toes into blues and folk, but “So It Goes” expresses its pure pop-punk heart. It’s a two-minute-fourteen-second blast that, Ramones-like, never lets up or wears out its welcome.

The Eschatones – Just Walk

The Eschatones is a garage band, but you wouldn’t know it from their debut release. After playing shows for seven years, the trio hoped to finally, belatedly, record an album in 2020. Then 2020 actually happened. So frontman Kai Stanley recorded the songs himself. Even if these recordings do turn out to be just demos in the long run, the acoustic style works (and he can still get pretty loud even by himself).

Henry Jamison ft. Darlingside – The Parting Glass

Bob Dylan fans may recognize the melody of the old Scottish folk song “The Parting Glass”; Bob borrowed it for his ’60s song “Restless Farewell.” On his new all-but-a-cappella collaboration with Darlingside, Jamison resurrects the very auld original for the new year.

Jade Relics – With You

My main gig is covering cover songs, so I appreciate a song that shouts out “Nina Simone covering Bee Gees” (that’s the 11th Best Bee Gees Cover Ever, in case you were wondering). A new production trio from three veterans of Vermont’s hip-hop scene – Elder Orange, IAME, Rico James – “With You” brings some freak-funk vibes, like some old Stevie Wonder sample. Maybe someone will cover this soon.

Jesse Taylor Band – Ever-Changing

I already tackled one song on Jesse Taylor Band’s great new Ever-Changing EP, so here’s another, the title track. The video, she says, is an only lightly fictionalized recreation of a real breakup and, months later, sidewalk confrontation. Taylor says of the story behind it, “One day I see him with a new lover and the dog that we got together. I freak out, pull over the car, and run to them. I cause a scene, I yell, I cry, long story short – she was leaving that day anyway to go back to her home state out west and after that my ex and I talk and reconnect and are back to the beginning of what do we do from here.”

Leon Ampersand – These Blue Skies, They Are a-Callin’

The title “These Blue Skies, They Are a-Callin'” sounds like an outtake from Oklahoma!. The actual song, an inviting slice of breathy Britpop, very much does not.

Maple Run Band – Hangin’ Round

Lou Reed fans might recognize the look of Maple Run Band’s new single art; it mirrors Reed’s 1972 album Transformer. Sure enough the single is a cover of a song off it. They don’t pick one of the better known tracks – “Perfect Day,” “Walk on the Wild Side,” “Satellite of Love” – but go for the relative deep cut “Hangin’ Round.” They turn it into a twangy honky-tonkin’ country song.

Michael Chinworth – I Don’t Follow

The music video, such at it is, simply shows Michael Chinworth changing lightbulbs. It reminds me of Frank Ocean launching his new album by building a staircase. It’s similarly sparse and meditative, helping you zone out and focus on the soothing music.

Milk Weed – Use a Stencil

A lot’s been written about bands adapting during the pandemic. Here’s something more unusual: Bands forming during the pandemic. The trio of Milk Weed began over the phone in 2020, three childhood friends reconnecting even though they now live far apart (two in Vermont, one in Colorado). They managed to record an entire debut EP without this band ever having been in the same room.

Narrow Shoulders – Day Off

Spare and haunting, the debut EP from Narrow Shoulders’ Zach Pollakoff does a lot with a little. Ambient noise, synth tones, the occasional pluck of guitar string or simple drum beat get layered just so to create an immersive instrumental world. The fact that Pollakoff works for A-list pop producer Ariel Rechtshaid in his day job is no surprise. Though the genres couldn’t be more different, Pollakoff clearly knows to to construct a soundscape.

Nate Gusakov – Coming Apart

On “Coming Apart,” banjo player Nate Gusakov sounds like an old blues singer growling over an outtake from Mark Knopfler’s Sailing to Philadelphia. That’s his dad on the fiddle, too.

Nodrums – La La La I Love This Song

The title “La La La I Love This Song” sounds like a Pixies songs, but that’s where the similarities end. A strange and silly talking blues about, among other things, L. Rob Hubbard, “La La…” sounds like if Tenacious D if Jack and Kyle were into old county music instead of metal.

Omega Jade – Miss Simone

If you missed the documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?, rapper Omega Jade delivers a pretty solid overview of Nina Simone’s life and career in under two minutes, “Thanks to Miss Simone, I know I’m young, gifted, and black,” she says.

The Pyros – King of the Internet

“King of the Internet” is not just about the internet – it sounds like the internet. A rock band temporarily taking cues from chiptune, the sonics recall the MIDI soundtracks of pre-YouTube Flash videos.

San Mateo – Sorry Doesn’t Dry These Tears

San Mateo lead singer Craig Mitchell moonlights as a Prince tribute act, and you can hear that influence in his buttery-smooth vocals. “Sorry Doesn’t Dry These Tears” has definite R&B slow jam vibes throughout, aided by wonderfully eerie slide guitar accents just this side of Morricone.

Tiger Fire Company No. 1 – Be Together

Tiger Fire Company No. 1 call themselves “Northeast Vermont’s Premiere (only?) rap trio.” They’d surely be the best even if there was more competition for the title. Tight and inventive, they deliver clever lyrics and hooks aplenty. “Be Together” adds a touch of punk edge, evolving into a Fucked Up style shout-along by the end. (And, because the album cover already features people sitting in chairs, you better believe it’s been Bernie-memed).

Ula Blue – Carry On

Ula Blue’s debut single “Carry On” sounds like the work of a much more experienced artist. Though she plays in alt-country-leaning band Chazzy Lake, her solo work is all swooning electro-dreampop, splitting the difference between New Order and Mazzy Star.

Winooski Anvil Co. – In Search Of

Like Tom Waits meets Black Flag, “In Search Of” brings some weird and old-timey imagery – it’s the sort of song that rhymes “rune stones” with “whale bones” – to a loud sonic assault that splits the difference between punk rock and doom metal.

Wool See – Antibodies

Wool See, aka IAME from the aforementioned group Jade Relics, delivers a downtempo coronavirus anthem, working in a nod to the late MF Doom. Songs quite so topical usually have a short shelf-life, but he blends the timely (“I got the vaxx and the antibodies,” an extremely 2021 boast) with broader concerns.

Check out previous best-of-the-month lists here.

The post The Best New Songs of January appeared first on County Tracks.

You don’t need me to tell you that 2020 was a crummy year, for musicians especially. That certainly didn’t stop the flow of great songs though. Artists channelled collective fear and frustrations in a variety of ways. One song on this list is literally titled “2020.” Another complains about masks fogging up your glasses. Most, though, are not that literal. Some offer upbeat escapism; others complain about more personal problems than those in the news. They really only have one thing in common: I can’t wait until I can see them performed live.

40. McAsh – Oi (Dang)

A few of these songs have Covid-19 echoes, but this one is less like an echo than someone shouting it directly in your ear. Jokes about bored Googling and supermarkets running out of supplies abound, but one line really sums everything up: “Goddamn you 2020!”

39. Eoin Noonan – Yesterday

This song shares a title with a Beatles song and quotes Meredith Brooks (inadvertently perhaps), but doesn’t sound much like either. Noonan wrote on Bandcamp, “This song came out of thin air. It was beautiful but then it went away. This song came back months later and it was quickly recorded in a spare bedroom. Then the world got really crazy. That uneasiness somehow subconsciously seeped into this song. Real natural like.”

38. Reid Parsons – Alone

“Alone” is a timelier song than Reid Parsons intended. Though the title screams “lockdown,” she first began recording her “bristly, bluesy anthem of self-reliance” in January, and actually completed it just before quarantine began. That’s probably why it has a killer band feel; they, all together, recorded a song about being alone. Sure enough, a couple weeks later, it felt like everyone was.

37. The Young Love Scene – Honey

The dream of the ’90s is alive in The Young Love Scene’s “Honey.” Shoegaze with a side of guitar theatrics – think My Bloody Valentine with a J Mascis guest appearance.

36. Abby Sherman Band – The Road

“The Road” is the first song on Bandcamp that Vermont singer-songwriter Abby Sherman has billed as being by the “Abby Sherman Band.” A minuscule rebranding, but one that feels significant. Whereas her best song last year was a stripped-down dirge, “The Road” features a muscular alt-country backing group giving her melody some heft. Special props to whoever played the country-Mark-Knopfler guitar solo.

35. GOOD WTHR x SkySplitterInk – Tell a Friend

It may be rap on Soundcloud, but GOOD WTHR is far from “Soundcloud rap.” It hits harder, for one, drawing more from the aggressive energy of old-school MC’s than the chemically-laid-back young guns. On their new single “Tell a Friend,” producer SkySplitterInk gives rappers Pro and Kin a lilting beat to rhyme over while otherwise staying out of the way. There’s some definite “if you like it, like and subscribe!” energy as they encourage listeners to spread the word about independent artists.

34. Guthrie Galileo – Repeat

It starts out sounding like music they might play at a massage place, but stay with it! Producer Guthrie Galileo, known around Vermont for falsetto skills so strong he fronts an Usher tribute group, dispenses with vocals entirely for an engaging instrumental that reminds me of Icelandic folk-electronica groups like Múm. Video comes with bonus weaving footage.

33. George Nostrand – A Million and One

This song’s been kicking around for over twenty years. Nostrand says he first recorded it in 1996, shortly after a summer working on Martha’s Vineyard: “I had just gotten off the boat and was planning on staying the summer and working there. I said something about playing the guitar and this guy quipped, ‘You and a million other people on this island.’ Being a brash 19 year-old at the time I responded, ‘I guess now it’s a million and one.’”

32. Kingfisher – Blue Skies

No, it’s not a cover of the Irving Berlin song. Rock quartet Kingfisher deliver an original both memorable and meditative, jazz-piano flourishes laid atop dream-country (that’s like dream-pop, but, you know). Their self-titled EP has tracks with more energy and tempo, but they do this sort of mellow reverie extremely well, and, right now, I’m in the mood for something soothing.

31. Miku Daza – Dolls

Miku Daza calls herself “the queen of nightmare pop.” You get a taste of that in the single cover for “Dolls,” which sounds at times like a punk band covering the Go-Go’s. You get the full dose in a Lynchian live version.

30. Justin LaPoint – Wide Open Spaces

No, this isn’t a Dixie Chicks cover. Sonically, though, it’s close enough that I could imagine that trio doing a nice job with Justin LaPoint’s quiet folk-country. Particularly on that infectious chorus, where it already boasts a Chicks-ready backing arrangement.

29. Moira Smiley ft. Sam Amidon – Days Of War

Former folkie Sam Amidon has gone over to the avant-garde jazz world on recent releases, but he dips back into his banjo-pluckin’ past on Moira Smiley’s new protest song, written with recent Vermont transplant Seamus Egan.

28. Lily Wade – I Don’t Wanna Be 5teen

“I don’t wanna be fifteen” goes the chorus and Lily Wade is in luck: She turned 16 a few days after it came out. Her influences, from Liz Phair to Babes in Toyland, speak to someone older. So does her talent.

27. Emily Dumas – It’s a Wealth

Writing all these blurbs at year-end time is a daunting prospect, so, as regular readers might have noticed, I crib lines from my monthly song roundups when possible. All I wrote for this song back in May was “More folk songs should include jaunty trumpet solos.” But I stand by it. More folk songs should include jaunty trumpet solos.

26. Willverine ft. Francesca Blanchard – Hope It All

“Synth-pop plus trumpet” used to be the extremely idiosyncratic sound of Will Andrews aka Willverine (it worked better than you’d think). He’s broadened beyond that recently, and on his latest single teams up with Francesca Blanchard, another musician whose made a genre transition in recent years. When the trumpet does finally make its appearance in the last thirty seconds, it sounds more like a National-esque horn flourish than any sort of gimmick.

25. Levi Barrett – Thoughtless Word

Poetry buffs might recognize the lyrics; Barrett borrowed them from poet Olivia Ward Bush-Banks’s poem “Regret.” Barrett wrote, “when I read it, I felt that it was begging to be sung and accompanied with a solemn guitar part.” His arrangement is very Simon and Garfunkel, except his voice is about an octave lower than Simon’s (and about a dozen octaves lower than Artie’s).

24. James and the Giant Sleep – My Friend the Apostate

Lotta Roald Dahl fans in Vermont, apparently – the aforementioned Couchsleepers recently changed their name from The Giant Peach. Christian James apparently doesn’t fear the Dahl estate’s litigious wrath, and more power to him (James and the Giant Sleep is a solid band name). This twisty rocker recalls any number of emo-adjacent bands on the Tooth & Nail roster in the ’90s – plus they might be drop a word like “apostate” too. If Bandcamp is to be believed, it’s only his second single. Off to one hell of a start.

23. Eastern Mountain Time – Dolores Park

On a recent Instagram live stream, Sean Hood’s mom popped up in the comments requesting “the song about crying trains.” That’s as apt a description of “Dolores Park” as any (though it’s also a song about crying moms). Inspired by a cross-country train ride he took only a few years ago, “Dolores Park” brings dose of gritty country-rock to the old genre of the train song. Singing Brakeman not included.

22. Lissa Schneckenburger – Labor On

The title and lyrics to “Labor On” sound like a Woody Guthrie song – maybe one of those hundreds of unrecorded lyrics people keep setting to music. But it’s an original, and inspired by a more recent struggle: The 2019 protests at Merrimack Generating Station, the last large coal plant in New England. Though Schneckenburger’s sound is nothing like Guthrie, the fight remains the same.

21. Madaila – 2020

“2020” is, admittedly, a slightly on-the-nose title for a song trying to sum up this garbage year. Surprisingly, a note of optimism shines through this charming heavily-harmonized folk-pop song. It makes you feel that a song called “2021” could, just maybe, be even more positive.

20. Rough Francis – Teen Zombies

Bandcamp says “Teen Zombies” was released in 1991. That’s an error; it was 1981… I’m kidding about that last bit. It’s new, like everything here. But the verses sound straight out of the post-punk playbook, bass-led with just a shimmer of guitar. Joy Division wouldn’t have gotten so righteously loud on the chorus though.

19. Falgar – Ritos en la cueva

At first listen, you might think this was Gregorian chant music. But the songs are in Spanish, not Latin. And Falgar aka. Etienne Tel’uial brings in instruments and sounds you might hear in his native Puerto Rico, which contrast beautifully with the soaring cathedral melodies.

18. Guest Policy – IDontKnow

Elsewhere on their album Four Year Bend, Guest Policy delivers healthy doses of ’90s-inflected alt-rock, but they veer into glitchy piano-tronica on “IDontKnow.” Portishead and the xx both poke their way into this mesmerizingly strange little pop song. In fact, after writing that sentence a minute ago, I discovered the latter band’s Jamie XX released a song with the exact same name – no spaces and all – the same wee. It’s not the same song, but maybe there’s some spiritual overlap.

17. Kris Gruen – Nothing In The World

Kris Gruen comes from rock and roll royalty; his dad is legendary photographer Bob Greun. That famous photo of Lennon, arms folded, with the New York City t-shirt? The one of Zeppelin standing in front of their plane? Both Bob Gruen. Kris’s own music doesn’t share much in common with his dad’s ’70s-rock compatriots too. The catchy “Nothing In The World” leans alt-country with a healthy dose of blues grit. He does nod to he heritage on a new cover though – of Johnny Thunders.

16. Dead Man from Mars – daBadBoy

Have you heard 100 gecs? If you have, you probably have a strong opinion about them. This buzzy duo’s spastic 2019 debut often got tagged as the sound of the internet, all sorts of unrelated genres violently smashed together (they cite the “Hamster Dance” as a formative influence, which says it all). Dead Man From Mars’ new EP Fruity has that same unhinged energy, at times sounding like a half dozen radio stations playing at the same time. I mean that as a good thing. Your mileage may vary.

15. Oldboys – Die to Defy

I don’t know what “moon music” is – it appears to involve a lot of cello – but Oldboys’ debut album stands just to the side of traditional bluegrass. Aforementioned cello adds a twist to the typical formula of fiddlin’ and mandolinin’ (of which there is still plenty).

14. Henry Jamison ft. Lady Lamb – Orchardist

The lyrics of “Orchardist” jump from Tennessee to Switzerland, but what Jamison does everywhere remains the same: walk around, mostly killing time before shows. “The walking is memorable (in that it’s always somewhere new) but also fairly pointless (I’m not really going anywhere, just away from the van or the venue into some neighborhood or other),” he wrote for Consequence of Sound. “The aimlessness of it, coupled with the novelty, feels like a good symbol for my experience in tour-heavy years.” So he wrote a song about it.

13. Phil Henry – Saturday Night At The Hot Sara

Phil Henry’s new album Chasing Echoes leans Americana, but for “Saturday Night At The Hot Sara” he takes a swerve towards ragtime jazz. I even Googled to see whether “Hot Sara” was a venue in New Orleans. It’s actually a hotel in Upstate New York apparently. Nevertheless, I expect to see a busker playing this in the French Quarter before long.

12. Ben Patton – What a Shame About Benjamin

The most meta song on this list, “What a Shame About Benjamin” finds a bunch of friends and gossips talking trash about the prolific singer-songwriter. Complaints range from the plausible (not accepting Facebook friend requests) to the far-fetched (going in and out of the looney bin). In the midst of all the hilarious self-deprecation, he gets in one nugget of promo: “I haven’t heard his latest LP yet, but it’s supposed to be great.”

11. A2VT – You Ma Numba 1

This infectious love song doesn’t hit as hard as some of the higher-energy songs on their great new album Twenty Infinity – early singles from which appeared on our last couple year-end lists too – but the joyous and insanely catchy chorus will burrow its way into your brain for days.

10. Clever Girls – Spark

Singer Miriam Bernardo’s debut album has been a long time coming. In her many years performing around Vermont, she’s connected with many of the local folk musicians, most notably recent Tony-winner Anaïs Mitchell. Mitchell even contributed a song to open Bernardo’s album, the beautiful “I Got a Well.” When they one day stage the Hadestown revival, this could fit right in.

9. Eben Ritchie – The Architects

Eben Ritchie says he aims to make music with an inherent optimism – a tough assignment in 2020. But you can hear that from the extremely infectious guitar hook that opens “The Architects.” Every bit of it is catchy, from the vocals to the mid-song synth solo, but it’s the guitar line I can’t get out of my head.

8. BABEHOVEN – Asshole

Babehoven’s dream-pop song sounds so pretty it takes you a few listens to notice the lyrics. “In the morning I want to see your asshole”? Weird. Great song though.

7. Teece Luvv – SHEESH

Teece rocks the Lonely Island’s “Turtleneck & Chain” look on the cover of his new single “SHEESH.” It’s not comedy rap, exactly, but he does ride a plastic dinosaur on the cover (and, again, the title is “SHEESH”). Silly or not, he’s a capable rapper – I hear echoes of J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” in the verses – riding a super catchy beat.

6. Couchsleepers – On Your Mind

At 6:25, “On Your Mind” is the longest song by far on Couchsleepers’ debut album Only When It’s Dark. It doesn’t feel that way. Buoyed by lush electronics and gentle guitar plucks, “On Your Mind” coasts along for the first chunk of its runtime before exploding (in a gentle sort of way) into a supercatchy synthpop song.

5. The Bubs – Planet

Off the 22 songs on Mark Daly’s sprawling double album I’m Gonna Do It (Anyway), probably half were in contention for this list. He divided the set into electropop and Americana halves, and proves equally adept at both genres. From the former half, “Wish I Knew” doesn’t bounce as much as some of its competitors, but the catchy ballad (is “catchy ballad” a contradiction? Not in Mark Daly’s hands) showcases the inventive production touches and beautifully layered vocals.

4. Troy Millette – Runaway (Live at Higher Ground)

I liked country singer Troy Millette’s 2019 debut EP fine, but his live version of “Runaway” takes the song to another level. More muscular than the quieter studio version, Millette’s gruff voice and a knockout country-rock band turns the song into a beers-up southern-rock anthem. There’s polished Nashville country in his songwriting, but there’s Allman Brothers rawness in this delivery. Can’t wait until he’s able to get back on the road again.

3. Francesca Blanchard – Like a Hurricane

No, “Like a Hurricane” is not a Neil Young cover. But then again, the lead single on Francesca Blanchard’s new album Make It Better was titled “Baby,” and that wasn’t a Justin Bieber cover either. (Though I’d like to hear the covers album that tackles both Bieber and Young – after a few minutes looking, the closest I found was Florence and the Machine, who has covered them both live). Blanchard’s “Like a Hurricane” sounds nothing like Neil’s, but, in it’s quieter way, it’s just as turbulent.

2. Jer Coons x PREECE x Learic – Sleeping On My Own

Few genres get as ridiculed as rap-rock, and for good reason (two words: Limp. Bizkit.). But, in their new single “Sleeping On My Own,” these three recombine rock and rap in a much more palatable way. “Sleeping On My Own” is mostly a punk song – and an incredibly catchy one at that. Singer/bassist Jer Coons and drummer/guitarist Sean Preece channel their inner Bad Religion on one of those I’m-so-much-better-since-you-left breakup songs where you suspect the narrator might be protesting too much. Then rapper Learic takes a guest verse. And not one of those “I had some unrelated bars sitting around” rap features, but an appearance with every bit as much punk-rock angst as the actual punk parts.

1. Sarah King – Nightstand

“Nightstand” is Sarah King’s Revenge of the Murder Ballad Victim anthem; a new murder ballad where the woman does the murdering for once. As King put it to me, when she started digging into the folk tradition of the murder ballad, “I started paying more attention to the lyrics and how people kept saying ‘oh, I’ve never heard a woman sing that song’ because they’re all about men killing women. I’m still here, so nobody’s killed me yet, and I got to feeling the men in these songs may have sorely underestimated some of the women they encountered.”

Click here for the Best Vermont Albums of 2020 and here for the Best Vermont EPs of 2020!

The post The Best Vermont Songs of 2020 appeared first on County Tracks.

This Top 40 looks nothing like the actual Top 40. None of these songs charted, and I don’t think any of them aspired to. That is no knock against them, which probably goes without saying here – anyone reading music blogs knows that much. The adjectives “great” and “popular” occasionally attach themselves to the same track, but not often enough.

So just think of this as an alternate history of 2019 singles. It has no horses, and no town roads. It doesn’t teach love, patience, or pain, and isn’t 100% that anything. It also, as the headline says, only includes artists from one rather small state. But this wildly subjective, somewhat arbitrary survey of the past 12 months should serve as a small introduction to the wealth of talent in one community on the geographic fringe. There was a lot of wonderful music being made this year, much of it far from the big cities, or the Billboard charts. Duh.

40. Amelia Devoid ft. Bleach Day – Afraid to Touch Her

Clouds dominate the single cover, and it’s hard to think of a more fitting image. This dreamy reverie seems the perfect soundtrack to staring into the sky and getting lost in your own thoughts. The electronic musician’s last album tackled some heavy themes (for one: genocide), but the new single seems light as a breeze.

39. Allison Fay Brown – Summit

Like a good short-story writer, Brown offers just enough narrative details to intrigue while leaving plenty of gaps to fill in yourself. For instance…what’s in that box on the doorstep??

38. Zak Kline – I Will

When I first stumbled across Vermont singer/songwriter/producer Zak Kline’s personal-empowerment single “I Will,” his gorgeous falsetto and intricate production immediately grabbed my attention. Like a Bon Iver song, it managed to sound intimate even buttressed by string sections, backing choirs, and huge crescendoing choruses. Compared to the earlier material I found on his Bandcamp, “I Will” leapt out. It seemed to indicate a bold new direction – except he’s already moved on to other sounds. Hopefully he’ll revisit this style, as he seems to still have a lot to offer.

37. Abby Sherman – Hand with the Devil

If the only Satan-themed violin song you’ve heard is “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” Abby Sherman’s “Hand with the Devil” might throw you for a loop. Rather than rollicking fiddlin’, Abby Sherman and violinist Katie Trautz – who we’ll hear more from in a second – create something truly spooky, like the sort of Gillian Welch track you don’t play in the dark.

36. Ionee – We Are More Than I

Electronic music producer and singer Ionee’s latest music video features a lot of great visuals, but the first truly important shot is subtle: A map of the world with a lot of little dots coming out of Africa and heading to the Americas. As anyone who explored the New York Times’ 1619 Project knows, this year marked the 400th since the beginning of slavery in America. The Times took a sober look at this history in a magazine supplement and podcast. Ionne, aka. Maurice Lajuane Harris, takes a very different tack on the same sad history, creating a haunting house track and a mesmerizing animated video.

35. Katie Trautz – Ghosts

Katie Trautz uses a little to say a lot. Each verse of “Ghosts” is only three lines of plain-spoken language (rare is the word that hits two syllables). But it paints an evocative portrait of a couple trying to find tranquility away from some unspoken darkness. Similarly understated, the music creates a tasteful Americana bed of slide guitar and brushed drums on which the lyrics can lie.

34. Blackmer – Flash Flood

The idea of “digital detox” has grown a lot of currency in the last few years. The New York Times seems to run an article a week about the importance of unplugging (and I always see them on my phone… hmm, they may have a point). “Digital detox” is a dry phrase, though. Sam Dupont brings more beauty to the concept on the meditative “Flash Flood.” The narrator yearns to escape to Arizona’s open skies, away from the news, away from all the LED displays. It’s certainly a relatable feeling, and rarely expressed so poetically.

33. Chazzy Lake – Not Afraid of Your Crying Eyes

After post-punk band Bison broke up, Charlie Hill looked forward – while looking much further back. A far cry from post-punk, his single “Not Afraid Of Your Crying Eyes” channels Roy Orbison – and not just with a key word in the title. Though Hill doesn’t have Roy’s deep voice (who does?), the song’s jangly sound and soaring melody line recalls the blends of country and pop that Orbison was stirring up at the dawn of the rock era. But, despite echoes of the ’50s, “Not Afraid Of Your Crying Eyes” may actually be less retro than his post-punk band was. Hill veers well clear of any nostalgic trappings by melding these old influences with more recently-minted sounds like bedroom pop and chillwave.

32. Danny & The Parts – Misdirected Allocations

I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what to write about this song beyond “it’s really good.” Then, after listening to it a few times in a row yesterday in search of inspiration, I found it got stuck in my head for the next 24 hours (and counting). Maybe that’s all the recommendation it needs. Listen at your own risk.

31. The Grackles – Glitter

Despite the bird’s name, the common grackle seems a relatively uncommon inspiration for a band name. But now there are at least two. There’s Canadian duo Common Grackle, who a few years ago released the hilarious country ballad “[I Don’t Want to Die] At the Grindcore Show.” And now there’s another duo, with a similar name but a very different style. Duffy Gardner and Ariel Zevon (Warren’s daughter) released their debut album earlier this year, the high point of which is this poignant piano duet.

30. Hallowell – Another World

Hallowell’s Joseph Pensak came early to the year’s Mister Rogers-appreciation trend. He wrote “Another World” as a tribute to both his childhood hero and a second figure from the television show: François Clemmons, who played the neighborhood policeman. Pensak incorporated samples of the pair’s dialogue from the show into this inspirational pop croon. Then he did one better, getting Clemmons himself to sing on the song.

29. The Pyros – Coffee

The Pyros cite 1950s rockabilly and Pulp Fiction as inspirations. The first you can hear in their single “Coffee,” and the second you can see in its slightly crazed retro video (one of three on their “video EP” Christian Mingle). Like a Sun Records artist trying to make a big first impression on one side of a 45, they blast through the track in under 90 seconds, sending you right to YouTube’s replay button.

28. Henry Jamison – True North

In a recent interview with Henry Jamison, the journalist compared narrative songs like “True North” to Mark Kozelek. Jamison gently pushed back – because who wants to be compared to Mark Kozelek in 2019? But if you jump back a decade in Sun Kil Moon’s discography – when his songs still had melodies, and his persona wasn’t full troll – the similarity makes sense. A beautiful retelling of a pedestrian experience that took on emotional significance, “True North” recounts Jamison driving down the great highway, talking to his girlfriend on the phone and mulling over past mistakes.

27. Omega Jade – Tricks Of The Trade (Petty With A Purpose)

“I write these verses to break generational curses,” rapper Omega Jade rhymes on “Tricks Of The Trade (Petty With A Purpose),” the final track on her debut album. She passes on some hard-earned business lessons to her kids: “Follow your heart but take your brain with you / Not every damn friend is meant to work with you.” She spits proverbial fire going after fake friends and slacker collaborators, grinding her way to the top.

26. Bishop LaVey – The Myth Has Broken

Bishop LaVey (aka. Kane Sweeney) describes his music as “doom-folk,” a genre label that’s pretty dead on. Over spare and echoing guitar, he hollers a deep guttural roar, bringing heavy goth undertones even when the instrumentation reads as Americana. And what heavier topic for a heavy sound than ancient mythology. Specifically: how the Judeo-Christian belief system effectively murdered the old gods.

25. Michael Roberts – Jolene

No, this ain’t Dolly begging Jolene not to take her man. In Michael Roberts’ version, some other man already took Jolene. Quite a while ago, from the sound of it. This regret-filled winter lament gets lifted by a perky horn section in a high point of Roberts’ overall excellent debut solo album.

24. SoundBrother – Plastic Baby

The formerly-known-as DuPont Brothers become the newly-rechristened SoundBrother exactly 52 seconds into their debut single. When they first announced the name change in 2017, Sam and Zack DuPont billed it as a move to a new genre, from folk to indie rock. For the first almost-a-minute into “Plastic Baby,” it’s hard to hear the difference. Then pummeling drums come in, with echoing guitar on their heels. You can see why a new sound needed a new name.

23. Strangled Darlings – Buckets of Sand

Jess Anderly and George Veech spent three years on the road living in an RV before recording their new album, and you can hear those travels in “Buckets of Sand.” To be honest, I’m surprised more of those years weren’t spent in New Orleans. That’s the location I hear most on this – less the city’s famed jazz side, but its weirder Americana scene that birthed Hurray for the Riff Raff and Benjamin Booker. The song boasts a ramshackle DIY feel, with perfectly loose harmonies and an easygoing attitude.

22. Madaila – Clandestine Magic

When Vermont’s dance-pop breakouts Madaila announced an indefinite hiatus last year, they had the better part of a new record in the can. I figured we’d never hear the rest, but, as indefinite hiatuses so often do, it finally came to an end. They haven’t lost a step in their new-wave catchiness, and frontman Mark Daly’s falsetto remains as soaring as ever.

21. Kristina Stykos – State Line Diner

Using a beaten-up Chevy as a metaphor for an aging narrator’s resilience, “State Line Diner” would prove compelling no matter who sang it (in fact, someone like Emmylou Harris should cover it). But Kristina Stykos’ sing-speaking delivery lends a weight to lines like “The day I surrender and lay my chassis down / and empty my compartments, and crumble to the ground / I’ll still be full of living, ‘cause I ain’t done yet.”

20. A2VT – Wave Your Flag

Refugee pop group A2VT released one of last year’s best singles with “Faas Waa.” The Burlington-based Said Bulle and George Mnyonge originally hail from Somalia and Tanzania, respectively, and their story infuses their music. Their follow-up single “Wave Your Flag” keeps the energy high, mixing languages over a colorful video. They’ve also added more members from Vermont’s refugee community: guest singer Meax (Tanzania/Burundi) and dancers Mr. Oli (Tanzania/Congo) and Fantome J (Nigeria).

19. Princess Nostalgia – The Talking Drug

Lilian Traviato’s “The Talking Drug” incorporates shades of Sade or SZA, arty R&B with some Nile Rodgers-esque funk guitar (by frequent collaborator Joe Leytrick). And, as with all her singles, it comes with an intriguing piece of visual art the college student does herself.

18. Mal Maïz – Pizuica

Maïz Vargas Sandoval, frontman for cumbia band Mal Maïz, says the band’s new song was inspired by the Costa Rican folk take of Pizuica, the god of the underworld. Despite the scary-sounding name, a devil like Pizuica was considered a good spirit who helped scare off invaders, oppressors, and conquistadors. All of that is vibrantly depicted in the music video (slightly NSFW, though there’s a lot of body paint).

17. Lean Tee – Expected

That terrific EP cover art (painted by Drew Parkinson) perfectly encapsulates the vibe of this melancholy song. The music meanders along, pleasant but slightly unsettled, for a couple minutes until an unexpected drum pattern kicks in.

16. Couchsleepers – In My Head

The band formerly known as The Giant Peach made both of our best of 2018 lists with a sprawling Talking Heads-inspired pop music. They’ve since changed their name, but show a similar ambition under the new moniker Couchsleepers. They’ve stripped down their sound a bit on their first new song – though stripped-down for them means one horn instead of a half dozen.

15. Reed Foehl – If It Rains

Singer-songwriter Reed Foehl teamed up with roots mainstays Band of Heathens for his new album, and the pairing works wonders. He brings the powerful and catchy songs, and they help bring a rich tapestry of sound, with just-so touches of organ and slide guitar blending together so well it can be hard to identify the individual instruments. Nowhere do both artists hit harder than on “If It Rains,” which sounds like early Wilco or the sort of lush Americana record Dan Auerbach produces down in Nashville.

14. boys cruise – A Stupid Song for Stupid Me

“A Stupid Song for Stupid Me” is every bit as self-loathing as the title implies. But, to me at least, it reads as the sort of cathartic self-pity that can be therapeutic. Just a guy wallowing in despondency for a bit, knowing there’s time to pick himself back up tomorrow. The vocals follows the lyrics; every line is basically an agonized moan. Until it amps up to an equally agonized holler, and the band explodes behind him. Bet he started to feel better after this dose of primal screaming.

13. Cricket Blue – Corn King

Looking at the track list for folk duo Cricket Blue’s debut album Serotinalia, one song leapt out: “Corn King.” It’s not the title as much as the run time: 11 minutes and 57 seconds. On a folk album, one imagines a song this long must be an epic ballad comprising dozens of verses, their “Desolation Row” perhaps. The reality is much stranger. Though quiet and acoustic in its presentation, the song’s structure leans more progressive-rock than folk. Add drums and a fretless bass solo and “Corn King” could be a Rush song. The duo bring a dream-logic approach to lyrics that wind as quixotically as the music, retelling an old myth of a ritual sacrifice.

12. Francesca Blanchard – Baby

“Baby” is not a song title that implies much backstory, but the simple name masks some complicated feelings. She wrote it after returning from five months in Ecuador hiking and teaching guitar. A relationship that started shortly before she left had fizzled in the meantime, and her return precipitated what she termed a “quarter-life crisis.” “Baby” also continues Blanchard’s transition from folk to a sound closer to indie-R&B, and has earned her some of the biggest acclaim of her career, including praise from NPR, which called it a track for “when you’re crying in paradise” (I couldn’t tell you what that means, but still think it sounds about right). 

11. Eastern Mountain Time – Different Tomorrow Night

All those artists supposedly “saving” country music often do so by bringing in non-country elements, from Sturgill Simpson’s psychedelia to Kacey Musgraves’ disco flair. But on new single “Different Tomorrow Night,” Eastern Mountain Time saves country music by playing the genre right down the middle. A cry-in-your-beer weeper that George Jones could have sunk his teeth into, “Different Tomorrow Night” chronicles songwriter Sean Hood’s breakup over appropriately mournful harmonica and slide guitar.

10. Lissa Schneckenburger – I’ll Stick Around

I don’t know whether Regina Spektor was a conscious influence “I’ll Stick Around,” but she’s the obvious point of comparison. The similar lilting stutters on certain lines (“He hides in my daughter’s smi-i-i-i, i-i-iiiile”) comes off so beautifully you wonder why more singers don’t do it. Just swap out Spektor’s piano for Schneckenburger’s violin.

9. Glorious Leader – Sweet Louisa

“Sweet Louisa” sounds like Kishi Bashi. I’d like to add another artist to that list for readers for whom a Kishi Bashi comparison means nothing, but no one else comes close (just Google him once you finish this list). I used to think Bashi’s featherlight plucked-violin pop was singular, but now there’s one more artist on this road less traveled. Kyle Woolard, who records as Glorious Leader, nails the soaring vocal leaps, xylophone choruses, and all the other accoutrement. In lesser hands, this would seem insufferably twee. In his, it works wonders.

8. Clever Girls – Remember Pluto

Emotions run high and guitars get turbulent in Clever Girls’ “Remember Pluto,” but the volume knob never turns above a 6. Imagine if Mazzy Star covered Nirvana, or if some sound engineer turned the vocals up and guitars down on My Bloody Valentine.

7. Fever Dolls – Adeline

Never short on ideas, Fever Dolls pack a lot into under three minutes. In this case, an entire piece of musical theatre written in miniature, plotted around a husband and wife both in love with the same woman. “[Singer Renn Mulloy] and I spent years playing in different bands with people that wanted to make Radiohead’s Kid A,” songwriter Evan Allis said, “while we were trying to make Disney’s The Kid.” Yeah, they give good quotes too. The madcap video stays true to that cinematic vision. The rest of the band serves as Mulloy’s backup chorus, channeling musical-theatre tropes from Grease white tees to West Side Story finger-snapping over a country-cabaret singalong.

6. Dino Bravo – Pop Music

“All the songs are about addiction, the ocean, My Morning Jacket, party rocking, and my wife,” Dino Bravo singer Matthew Stephen Perry said about his writing contributions to Dino Bravo’s debut album. You can hear a bit of all that on “Pop Music.” Party rocking and My Morning Jacket come through loud and clear in the roaring music. The others pop up in the lyrics. Just one exception: in this song, he goes home alone.

5. Miriam Bernardo – I Got a Well

Singer Miriam Bernardo’s debut album has been a long time coming. In her many years performing around Vermont, she’s connected with many of the local folk musicians, most notably recent Tony-winner Anaïs Mitchell. Mitchell even contributed a song to open Bernardo’s album, the beautiful “I Got a Well.” When they one day stage the Hadestown revival, this could fit right in.

4. Ernest – Wish I Knew

Off the 22 songs on Mark Daly’s sprawling double album I’m Gonna Do It (Anyway), probably half were in contention for this list. He divided the set into electropop and Americana halves, and proves equally adept at both genres. From the former half, “Wish I Knew” doesn’t bounce as much as some of its competitors, but the catchy ballad (is “catchy ballad” a contradiction? Not in Mark Daly’s hands) showcases the inventive production touches and beautifully layered vocals.

3. Erin Cassels-Brown – Classic Records

Few street musicians boast songs a club crowd could pump its fists to, but former acoustic busker Erin Cassels-Brown amps the volume way up on the hard-rocking “Classic Records.” His tight backing band channels a tight ’70s rock combo (speaking of classic records), injecting energy and muscle as he pushes his vocal chords on the yell-along chorus.

2. Sabrina Comellas – Romeo

Despite Sabrina Comellas’ background in Shakespeare (she graduated from Emerson in 2017 with a theater degree), her Romeo and Juliet homage doesn’t center on either character. She narrates from the point of view of an invented third party looking to the doomed duo for answers. The unnamed protagonist, a hopeless romantic removed from the Elizabethan trappings, offers a relatable way into the narrative and avoids the song becoming a sonic CliffsNotes. Even if you know nothing about Shakespeare, the gorgeous melody and Comellas’ big belting-to-the-Globe-balconies voice will draw you in.

1. Matthew Mercury – Contessa

“I am the worst singer in the band,” Matthew Mercury’s Ezra Oklan said. He is, as you may have guessed by my mentioning it, the band’s singer. And, as you might have also guessed by this song’s placement here, he undersells himself. Though perhaps his low croon wouldn’t work in other genres, it perfectly fits this band’s post-punk rumbles. A high point of the band’s self-titled debut, “Contessa” piles killer vocal hooks and inscrutable lyrics atop pounding drums and an insistent bass line.

Now check out the Best Vermont Albums and Best Vermont EPs of 2019!

The post The Best Vermont Songs of 2019 appeared first on County Tracks.

The genre tag “quiet storm” refers to emotive R&B ballads across eras. Named after a Smokey Robinson song, quiet storm emerged as a popular radio format in the ’70s and later grew to encapsulate the neo-soul boom of the ’90s. A playlist that segued from Luther Vandross into Sade would be peak quiet storm.

Clever Girls’ music sounds nothing like quiet storm.

But it’s a shame the term already refers to something so specific. Without the historical baggage, “quiet storm” would be a perfect descriptor for this shoegazing indie-rock band’s new song “Remember Pluto.” Emotions run high, guitars get turbulent, but the volume knob never turns above a 6. Stormy as hell – the opening line even makes the weather metaphor explicit: “I️’ve been the tornado” – but in a mellow way. Imagine if Mazzy Star covered Nirvana, or if some sound engineer turned the vocals up and guitars down on My Bloody Valentine.

Clever Girls recorded our favorite song of 2018, so needless to say expectations were high for their follow up. “Remember Pluto” delivers. Watch below, then check out an amusing “Recipe for ‘Remember Pluto'” fellow songwriter Abbie Morin illustrated for The Talkhouse.

Click here for more of the best new indie-rock from Vermont here.

The post The Quiet Storm of Shoegaze appeared first on County Tracks.

I only stepped foot in Vermont once this year.

That’s the dirty little secret of this blog (well, not that secret; it says it right on the About page): I don’t live there. Haven’t since I started doing this last year.

That’s going to change when I move back in the spring, but the aim of the site won’t. I conceived of County Tracks as helping to expose the best music created in Vermont to non-Vermonters. In the digital era, it’s easy for an expat dedicated enough to follow any local scene from afar. What’s trickier is getting great local music heard by people who have no reason to care about the category of “Vermont music.”

This ties into a broader problem. The glut of choice of streaming, rather than leveling the playing field, has mostly helped the famous get more famous. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had a Billboard staffer claiming Drake was “bigger than the Beatles” because all 25 tracks on Drake’s new album appeared on the Hot 100 simultaneously. I won’t even get into the “bigger than the Beatles” nonsense (come on). The more important point is that, overwhelmed by choice, listeners are gravitating towards what they know. No matter how many times a digital music CEO says the word “discovery,” actual music discovery seems harder than ever.

I don’t know if any of the artists below are blowing up Spotify playlists, or whether any computer algorithm is pushing them on users. But they deserve attention. Great music happens beyond the big cities and big labels; it just needs exposure. In my small way, I hope these lists help a little. There’a lot of great music being made in Vermont. More people outside Vermont – people like me – need to hear it.

20. Gestalt – Gestalt

Like Wire or Gang of Four, the guitar lines on Gestalt’s arty debut rarely settle, skittering about restlessly under verses and choruses. The rare moments when a guitar chord appears serve merely as an excuse to let the bass player go nuts. The trio, who recently decamped for Seattle, brew a heady mix of endless riffing and enigmatic lyrics. It adds up to the sort of album that builds a world, less a collection of individual songs than a single set piece.

19. Tiger Fire Company No. 1 – East Kingdom

Half rap album and half sound collage, East Kingdom defies easy definition. It’s the sort of album that can transition from a sampled monologue about what makes a “real Vermonter” to a goofy bit from Hot Rod. A deft touch keeps it from collapsing under the weight of its samples, as do dexterous and personal rhymes about the three members growing up in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

18. Zeus Springsteen – Zeus Springsteen

Zeus Springsteen doesn’t sound much like their namesake. A more apt mythological moniker might be Death Cab for Zeusy. On their self-titled debut, the band piles hook upon hook, harkening back to the jangliest days of college rock with edges of post-punk aggression. Song topics surprise at every turn. “Everything Will Be Eventual” storms through a reflection on friends changing for the worse, while “Joey Is a Robot” chronicles a sexual assault-avenging robot I’ve rechristened #R2MeToo.

17. Rough Francis – MSP3: Counter Attack

Rough Francis blast through seven songs in 16 minutes on their debut full-length. It’s not quite OFF!-level concision, but these punk brawlers waste no time getting to the point. At certain points, MSP3 hits as hard as anything in their catalog. At other moments, though, they slow things down – a rare gear for this band. Turns out, they’re pretty good at dynamics, momentarily peeling away the aggression before ratcheting things back up again with a lacerating scream.

16. Mal Maiz – Historia de un Inmigrante

Translating the Spanish title of their new album Historia de un Inmigrante shouldn’t be too difficult. In some ways, “un” is the key word. The album discusses the plight of immigrants through the imagined story of one specific immigrant. Over these seven tracks, the titular character moves from the jungle to the city, drawing strength from his ancestors as he confronts his close-minded neighbors. This Latin and Afro-Caribbean band plays world music in all its many forms, from well-known (to Americans) genres like reggae to lesser-known traditions like cumbia. Frontman and songwriter Maiz Vargas Sandoval hopes the album will raise awareness of the immigrants living in communities all over the country.

15. Clever Girls – Luck

The last ten seconds of “Junior.” Three minutes and twenty seconds into “Hannah Wants To See You.” The cathartic final chorus of “Get Out.” When Diane Jean let her vocal chords rip, you take notice. She chooses her moments judiciously on Clever Girls’ debut album Luck though. She’s got a hell of a voice, which hits all the more powerfully in those loud moments because of her typical restraint. Even when she’s not belting, her singing soars over the killer shoegaze-y band she’s assembled. The volume swells and ebbs, channeling Pavement slacker hooks at one moment, Godspeed You! Black Emperor noise squalls the next. Through it all, whether belting or murmuring, Diane Jean’s singing draws you in.

14. Dave Richardson – Carry Me Along

Dave Richardson sings about graves and jewels and rocks and chicken gumbo. There’s a song about a fox eating a field mouse and another about a squid in a museum. But those songs aren’t entirely about those things, and that’s what’s makes this album so memorable. Over sprightly acoustic backing that recollects some Paul Simon albums, Richardson weaves mediation on life and love and death through a series of whimsical metaphors and memorable images. You could ignore the lyrics and glide along with Richardson’s smooth vocals and ear for a melody, but you’d be missing some of this album’s depth.

13. The Giant Peach – Pulling Teeth

Pulling Teeth is technically a bedroom recording – frontman Harrison Hsiang recorded almost every song in his dorm room. But this ambitious debut is anything but stripped-down. What other bedroom recording features trumpet, sax, violin, and slide guitar, three credited drummers and eight vocalists? Hsiang channels Talking Heads and Iron and Wine in his intricate songs, then switches gears and closes with flourishes of jazz piano. Bedroom recordings have come a long way from Bon Iver in his cabin.

12. Kelly Ravin – Ditches

The most prolific artist on this list, Kelly Ravin diligently releases a new album every fall. That repetition typically wouldn’t auger good things for quality control. Yet, so far at least, Ravin hasn’t faltered. He’s plowed a gritty country-rock lane for himself, a shot of Skynyrd in his John Prine cocktail. The formula gets tweaked a bit here though. Harmonies come to the fore more in Ditches, as does the occasional apropos sound effect (a beer can opening in the title track, a hearty “Fuck yeah!” leading into “Leo”). But, as always, Ravin’s empathetic narratives of the down-and-almost-out steal the show.

11. A Box of Stars – Days Drunk Off Heat

Enigmatic lyrics swirl around minimalist instrumentation on A Box of Stars’ soft gem. It’s not flashy music, and folky slowcore of this sort often lands in the background-music category. But the band’s restrained playing comes together like a Faberge egg, precious and delicate. It demands you lean in to catch every nuance, and rewards the attention with gorgeous songs that slowly, subtly squirm their way into your brain.

10. The Filters – Learning to Go Underwater

When I first wrote about singer-songwriter Sam Morris, I compared his sound to Leonard Cohen. A year later and Cohen’s would hardly be a name that comes to mind. Morris’s new indie-rock band The Filters channels jangle-pop like R.E.M. at one moment, heartland rock like Petty the next, with the occasional Dylan-esque harmonica interlude. It shows an impressive range from the 23-year old – one I wouldn’t have guessed from last year’s folkie fingerpicking.

9. James Kochalka Superstar – How to Tie a Tie on the Internet

James Kochalka is by trade a cartoonist. This will surprise newcomers not one bit once they hear his songs. Even reading the titles puts the message across: “Miniature Stairway to Heaven,” “A Donut Named Maria,” “I’m So Woke.” Like a tight stand-up comic, on his new album Kochalka hits the punchlines and goes out on the laugh. Most of the songs run under two minutes. Some don’t even top one. The bulk of “Queen Latifah’s Teeth” is just him repeating the title line over and over. Silliness owns the day, but not at the expense of craft. The hooks and performance keep you coming back, even once you know the jokes by heart.

8. Richard Ruane and Beth Duquette – Notch Road

A couple of songs on Notch Road are covers of traditional folk tunes, but you’ll be hard pressed to tell which ones if you don’t already know them. Every track sounds like it could be some old farming ballad or vintage romantic lament. Take “Come On Back,” which sounds like something Jean Ritchie might have sung. Equally timeless are the pair’s harmonies, beautifully delicate blends that keep fresh songs both old and just old-sounding.

7. J. Bengoy – Dogwood Winter

I’ve been anticipating J. Bengoy’s debut album ever since they dropped “So Good (I Could Die),” one of the best songs of 2017. It was worth the wait. They titled it Dogwood Winter, but it could have easily been called Dog Days of Summer. “So Good” remains the centerpiece, and a cathartic concert moment; playing music festival Waking Windows this year – the only local band I saw earn a line down the block – every hand seemed raised during that closing song. The other tracks turn more reflective at times, from the gradual build of “Hands” sidling into some classic-rock shredding to a lustful song about The Simpsons (it’s not as gross as it sounds).

6. Plastique Mammals – The Best Of

New duo Plastique Mammals vie for album title of the year with The Best Of – their debut record. Technically, that must be accurate. And though these don’t sound like any band’s greatest hits – I haven’t heard many slow-groove instrumentals on Top 40 radio recently – the ten tracks display craft and polish, keeping a steady groove but never meandering. Picking highlights proves difficult for an album so meant to be listened to as a whole, but the soft bass melody of “The Whirring Keeps Me Up at Night” slowly creeps up on you, while “There Are Bigger Men Than Me” starts off in a funky midtempo groove and then suddenly switches to something indeed bigger a little before the two-minute mark. Like a singer with too many hits for one disc, here’s hoping their Best Of gets a Volume Two.

5. Max O’Rourke – Disquiet

The phrase “jazz guitarist” brings to mind the musician you try to ignore in the restaurant’s back corner. That’s not Max O’Rourke. On his terrific album Disquiet, he leads his trio to some decidedly un-smooth places. He claims “gypsy jazz” as his inspiration, which brings to mind the tasteful likes of Django Reinhardt. O’Rourke, though, can make quite a racket when he so chooses.

4. The Smittens – City Rock Dove

“Twee” gets thrown around a lot talking about indie-pop bands like the Smittens. Think the Juno soundtrack, or something they might parody on Portlandia. The long-running band incorporates other influences on their first full-length album in eight years, though, from dance music on “Cats for Cats” to tropicália on “Infinity Pools.” What remains unchained is the band’s way with a melody as sweet as candy, and their ability to balance a lot of instruments and singers into bite-sized pop productions.

3. Ver Sacrum – Stirrings Still

Half of Ver Sacrum’s stunning album sounds one step away from dead air. It takes almost three minutes into the title track before the first hint of a melody emerges, and “California” whistles and drones for almost as long before the actual song begins. But the ambient moments give the songs their power. Vocals and guitar sound like they manifest in the fog for a time, before slowly being submerged again. Stirrings Still demands patience, and repeated listenings. It rewards it in spades.

2. Emma Back – Little World

Politically-minded musicians have over-learned from the mistakes of the 1960s, when protest singers wrote songs so timely that they became dated within days. Today’s overcorrection leads to broad generalities about “the fight” and “resistance,” without speaking to the times in any direct way. Emma Back’s fantastic new album Little World is a political album too, but Back drills into one specific subject: war in the Middle East, and its impact on regular people. The song “Traveller’s Prayer” includes a passage from a Hebrew poem, and the narrator of “The Fear” repeats the question, “Do you know how the war broke out?” “Refugee” may be the most harrowing of all, a first-person account of someone trying to claim shelter in an unwelcoming country. Back draws from a long history playing Middle Eastern and Eastern European musical styles on violin, modernizing her sound with a loop pedal and other 21st-century production techniques. It all adds up to the best protest album of recent years, and the rare one that will stay just as relevant in years to come.

1. Ben Patton – Meaning What

Ben Patton crams a lot into the 32 minutes of new album Meaning What. After starting with the vocal doo-wop of “Maybe I Live to Make You Happy,” it quickly careens into garage-rock, Tin Pan Alley, jazz, showtunes, and beyond. Yet, against all odds, this unwieldy genre-mash holds together. Whether crooning like a Cole Porter character on “New Love New Love” or bouncing through an Abbey Road-esque medley on “The Jebidiah Mustache Suite,” Patton never sounds less than fully in command of his many disparate influences. He works multiple earworm hooks and memorable melodies into each song without overstuffing anything. Meaning What is a packed masterpiece that reveals new highlights on each listen.

Check out the Best Vermont EPs and Best Vermont Songs of 2018 as well.

The post The Best Vermont Albums of 2018 appeared first on County Tracks.

I tried to discern some overarching theme with this year’s Best Songs list. One has to write something in these intros, after all. I never came up with one (other than that the songs are all, you know, good). But maybe that diversity itself offers a narrative thread.

The only thing many outsiders seem to associate with Vermont music is jam bands. Mostly one jam band, really. Now, I’m sure learning that Vermont has other genres wouldn’t surprise any outsider. But learning that the music being created in those genres is equally vibrant – and equally supported by the local music scene – might. 

This particular insight will not be news to anyone who lives in the state. But I hope non-Vermonters who’ve stumbled across this list will discover a new favorite among the wide array of sounds being produced in the state. The VT Top 40 [update: It’s now a Top 41, because it turns out I can’t count] below span hip-hop to folk, indie rock to bedroom pop. Every genre except, really, jam band. Though, at risk of perpetuating the stereotype, a couple do veer close.

41. Deep River Saints – Saved By the Asphalt

The sepia-toned cover of Deep River Saints’ new album seems to place it firmly in the Americana realm, but Patrick Crowley’s band has some surprises up its sleeve. Album highlight “Saved By the Asphalt” starts with ambient pedal steel and what sounds like rhythmic intakes of breath, before gradually transitioning into what sounds like a pop song played by a bluegrass band with a prog-rock guitarist sitting in.

40. Willverine – Oh Beauty

Willverine’s elevator pitch has always been straightforward: synth-pop, with a trumpet. But that description always implied a novelty ceiling the songs rose above. On previous releases, Will Andrews worked prominent trumpet lines into fully-realized pop productions. His new single, though, breaks the formula. Despite the cover art, I don’t hear any actual horn. And that’s only a loss for the elevator pitch. Assisted by a wonderful female vocalist, “Oh Beauty” presents one of the most memorable songs in Andrews’ career, bringing elements of folk music and dub into the pop sphere. BYO trumpet.

39. The Rear Defrosters – Gentleman Farmer

“Gentleman Farmer” sounds like an old-time country hoedown, the sort of thing Hank Williams might have written, or that Levon Helm might have goofed around with in the Woodstock barn. The similarity is no accident. The Rear Defrosters began as a country covers band, honky-tonking through Jimmie Rodgers and Dwight Yoakam tunes for beer-drinkers. Any material they wrote themselves would need to slide seamlessly into their sets. To do so, frontman Michael Roberts channeled Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens for a track gently poking fun at his own farming abilities.

38. Abby Sherman – Wanting to Run

A jaunty mandolin and catchy chorus makes “Wanting to Run” the high point off Abby Sherman’s debut album Finding Hope. It must have gotten stuck in my head a dozen times since the album dropped in July. 

37. Zack Dupont – Grace Morrow

Wonderful acoustic duo The Dupont Brothers are no more. Or, rather, they’ve morphed into the apparently more indie rock-leaning SoundBrother. For those folk fans missing the old sound, one Brother dropped a beautiful EP that nudges the train back toward the singer-songwriter side of the tracks. Don’t let the modest Bootlegs Vol. 1 title deceive you. Despite implying half-finished sketches, these songs sound fully polished to me. “Grace Morrow” proves the standout track, with a melodic chorus that gently works its way into your head.

36. Princess Nostalgia – Gestalt Switch

Singer-slash-songwriter-slash-producer-slash-college-student Lilian Traviato grows with each song. Her latest, only a few weeks old, might be her most realized production yet. Certainly her catchiest.

35. Eric George – Gentrification Rag

They say no one writes protest songs any more? Tell that to Eric George, whose “Gentrification Rag” sounds like Phil Ochs transported to the 21st century. “The streets are cleaner but the people are meaner, trying to make the fake grass look greener,” he sings in this funny but pointed ode to an oblivious yuppie trying to “improve” their new neighborhood.

34. PREECE – Girl in My Bed

PREECE cites Social Distortion, The Descendents, and Bad Religion as influences, and you hear every one of them in his band’s music (the latter especially). But they equally incorporate subsequent waves of punk bands, the poppier sound that reigned in later years like Fall Out Boy and Blink-182. Though not totally goofball like Blink, “Girl in My Bed” incorporates a silly side that would fit right in one of those albums. The punk sound may be raging, but not without a smirk.

33. Chazzy Lake – A Stranger Time

Charlie Hill writes an anthem for local musicians everywhere constantly dragged to their peers’ basement concerts. After some funny sing-speaking verses that channel Lou Reed (with the Randy Newman-esque touch of backing singers who criticize the singer), “A Stranger Time” climaxes in a chorus of musicians’ catharsis: “I’m not gonna go to your shooowwwwww!”

32. Old Sky – The Right Mood

The first new song in two years from guitar-and-fiddle duo Andrew Stearns and Shay Gestal rocks a little harder than anything they’ve done in the past, electrifying their sound just enough to not offend the Americana purists. Gestal’s fiddle remains a highlight, working wonderfully with the more uptempo rhythm. The pair’s harmonies remain the core though, just rough and ragged enough, channeling Helms both Levon and Amy.

31. Eastern Mountain Time – Darker Now

Sean Hood released a full-length album as Eastern Mountain Time only last year, but he’s already returned with several new singles (and a George Strait cover) this year. They find him moving beyond the Americana box, with hints of a more expansive palate channeling The War on Drugs reverb-rock. The Doors-y organ on “Darker Now,” the best of the bunch, adds a nice psychedelic flair.

30. Josh Brooks – The Devil Taught My Mama How to Pray

A murder ballad about slowly murdering yourself, “The Devil Taught My Mama How to Pray” sounds like the spiritual sequel to Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around to Die.” It took me a few listens before I realized Brooks himself clearly made that connection; one verse includes the nod “Started putting needles in my arm. Seemed better than just waiting around.” Brooks says he imagines an alternative version sounding like the White Stripes, but this spare and haunting performance offers plenty of passion with minimal instrumentation.

29. Seth Yacovone Band – The Weary Oar

Blues-rock vet Seth Yacovone primarily earned his reputation on killer live shows. His albums provide fodder for extended jamming and furious soloing in concert, with the original recordings sometimes seeming like mere templates for further exploration. “The Weary Oar,” though, emerges fully realized. This sailors’ drinking song sounds like something that could slot right into the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

28. James Kochalka Superstar – Parking Lots and Mountain Tops

In my writeup on cartoonist James Kochalka’s new album in January, I highlighted a number of the funnier selections: “Queen Latifah’s Teeth,” “I’m So Woke,” etc. The song that became my favorite over the course of the year didn’t jump out at me immediately though. There’s no obvious joke with “Parking Lots and Mountain Tops” beyond a general whimsy. It’s a love song, and a heartfelt one. Turns out this humorist can do that too.

27. Bow Thayer – Looney Brook Road

“Looney Brook Road” pushes Bow Thayer outside his typical bluesy-Americana lane. Ambient and spacious, this sonic tour de force takes its meandering time getting to anything like a lyric. When words finally arrive, they sound like the Beatles at their trippy late-period peak, part Sgt Pepper and part White Album and part Paul side-eyeing Yoko in the corner.

26. The Filters – Learning to Go Underwater

No other album this year had three separate songs vying for this list. I ultimately picked the title track due to its chiming guitar lines, propulsive rhythm section, and vocal hooks I couldn’t get out of my head, but you should listen to “Time & Again” and “Arms of the Ocean” too. Better yet, just get the full album.

25. Ballroom Sofa – Cool Kids

“Cool Kids” channels Mazzy Star by way of Smashing Pumpkins, wrapping wonderful dreampop melodies around touches of country guitar and ethereal choral harmonies. It’s the sort of subtle blend that, in lesser hands, wouldn’t add up to more than pleasant background music. But, through tight writing and impeccable production, Ballroom Sofa crafts a track that unostentatiously draws your attention in.

24. The Giant Peach – Want

An art-rock band from a small New England college? It’s worked before. And like the Talking Heads, The Giant Peach have ambition in spades. The eight songs on their debut album Pulling Teeth feature 14 credited players, including a saxophonist, trumpeter, and five separate backing vocalists. It pays off on lead single “Want,” a massive, triumphant explosion of sounds.

23. Kelly Ravin – Break My Stride

As with most Kelly Ravin albums (including the one that gave this blog its name), plucking just one song out of context can prove challenging. Opener “Leo” grabbed me first, but “Break My Stride” eventually stood out due to an arrangement that extends beyond Ravin’s usual country-rock barebones basic. Lyrically and musically, it’s up with Ravin’s moving and harrowing best. The wordless and haunting backing vocals on the chorus, a sound I’d never heard in his music before, push it over the top.

22. Guthrie Galileo – Wishes

When we last heard from producer and singer Guthrie Galileo, he was creating political electronic music with samples of a Trump rally. He brought a lighter touch with his new single “Wishes,” a sensual jam in the vein of Miguel or Maxwell. He’s released a couple more singles since then, all swirling and swooning electronic slow-burns, boding well for whatever longer project he’s working on.

21. Cole Davidson – Hold Me Down

Former Navytrain frontman Cole Davidson’s tender slow-burn “Hold Me Down” incorporates his trademark funky fingerpicking into a wonderfully layered production. It would take a sonic surgeon to pick apart all the different elements at work here. 

20. A2VT – Faas Waa

Under the names Jilib and MG Man, African refugees Said Bulle and George Mnyonge blend English, Swahili, and Jilib’s native Maay Maay for a catchy dancehall bounce. The music video’s opening moments offer the perfect metaphor: a traditional drum collective, the sort of tasteful world-music group you can imagine performing on all sorts of respectable American stages. Then A2VT busts through the door and the rowdy electronics kick in. It reads as a cheeky repudiation of a “world music” so reverent to its own history that it can’t move forward, from a band that won’t be bound by tradition.

19. The Smittens – Love Is a Word

If the title recalls Joan Baez’s Bob Dylan-penned “Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word,” the sentiment couldn’t be more different. Where that was a typically caustic take on romance, the Smittens’ twee gem brings more optimism. Singer and songwriter Missy Bly delivers a pure little nugget of catchiness, offering a bit more uplift than Bob and Joan.

18. Henry Jamison – Boys

No matter how well-intentioned, an album investigating toxic masculinity sounds, frankly, exhausting. But if anyone can pull it off, we expect it’s Henry Jamison, the singer-songwriter who deploys a subtle wit and sympathetic touch to every story he tells. We won’t know for sure until Gloria Duplex drops in February, but the single “Boys” bodes well. Over plucked strings and ethereal harmonies, Jamison sings about young men’s anger from a place of empathy, not scorn. “Sittin’ at a boardwalk bar drinkin’ a whiskey, feeling all the rage of a modern man,” he sings. “We used to feel our rage just like the sea, now we get it on an installment plan.”

17. Aviation – Invisible Boy

In 1980, Queen delivered one of the great superhero theme songs of all time with the bombastic “Flash.” If the Invisible Boy were a superhero, Aviation gave him an equally epic theme song. Over six minutes, piano crescendoes, scorching guitar solos, and canned applause build to a whimsical glam-rock triumph. Despite the grand title, he’s not a superhero, though. In fact, as you discover over the course of the song, he’s just a lonely kid who sits by himself at lunch. Maybe lonely kids deserve theme songs too.

16. Zeus Springsteen – Your Funeral

When I wrote about Zeus Springsteen’s new album, I focused on the song about the sexual assault-avenging robot (because, how could you not?). But equally impressive, if less head-spinning, is post-punk rocker “Your Funeral.” The lyrics are sharp and witty, occasionally hilarious and sometimes edgy. There’s a radio edit for this song, but it’s more than curse words that might not fit on the FM dials. Take this cheery sentiment: “When you die, I’ll sing at your funeral / And I will woo and bed your hottest friends / And when I close my eyes, I’ll picture you up in the sky / Looking down on us and crying.”

15. Doom Service – Miner Forty-Niner

This short blast of pure punk power channels the likes of Thursday or The Juliana Theory. And in the tradition of those bands, the volume only abates for brief choruses of fists-in-the-air, shout-along catharsis. Tooth & Nail Records celebrated 25 years in 2018 and, musically, “Miner Forty-Niner” sounds ripped straight from their catalog.

14. Bison – Arkansas

Post-punk trio Bison topped our Best EPs of 2017 with their debut Get In. Sadly, one year later, they got out. They retired with a bang though on final single “Arkansas.” Following in the lineage of Interpol or, reaching back further into music history, Gang of Four, the trio winds intricate guitar and bass riffs towards a holler-along chorus.

13. The Aztext ft. Xenia Dunford – Everyday Sun

On rap duo The Aztext’s new single “Everyday Sun,” Americana songwriter Xenia Dunford (more from her in a minute) proves herself a perfect hook singer. The blend producer Rico James creates with her voice and an infectious horn line sounds like a ’70s Stevie Wonder jam. Rappers Pro and Learic unfurl a clever sunrise/sunset metaphor in their verses, and Dunford’s hook brings the hopeful uplift fitting the music.

12. Why Nona – Masks and Cults

The emo revival is alive and well in new quartet Why Nona, which channels everyone from relative O.G.s Jimmy Eat World to young guns Modern Baseball. Catchy as hell, “Masks and Cults” builds hook upon hook to narrate a dream imagining what it would be like to date a movie star. The dream isn’t as happy as you might think. This is emo, after all.

11. Nina’s Brew – Don’t Tell Mama

Nina’s Brew’s debut EP Don’t Tell Mama opens with confidence, the instantly catchy title track belying the fact they haven’t even been a band for a year. But the three members have plenty of individual experience, with singer Giovanina Bucci putting out several solid folk-pop albums over the past decade. She shines brighter in this full-band context though, allowing a more muscular side of her voice to blast forth. It’s swampy roots-rock that channels Hurray for the Riff Raff or Alabama Shakes.

10. Dave Richardson – Waiting for the Sunrise

On an album with ambitious songs using metaphors of squids in museums and foxes eating field mice, the simple folk song “Waiting for the Sunrise” doesn’t force its way into the spotlight. But over repeated listens, the beautifully lilting melody and wonderful call-and-response harmonies between Dave Richardson and Liv Baxter make it stand out. And, though those two steal the show, shoutout to the wonderfully understated rhythm section Mali Obomsawin (bass) and Ariel Bernstein (drums) who perfectly propel the song forward with subtle jazz touches.

9. Madaila – Where Do We Go from Here?

“Where Do We Go from Here?” Madaila asked at the beginning of the year. The answer, as it turned out, was nowhere. The biggest band to emerge from Vermont in the last couple years sadly broke up this fall. Other recordings apparently sit in the can, but it remains unclear whether they’ll ever see the light of day. If “Where Do We Go from Here?” becomes Madaila’s swan song, it’s a fitting one, a melancholy protest song that incorporates the band’s best tricks – tight dance-pop production, inventive arrangements, and Mark Daly’s knockout falsetto – while pushing them in some slightly different directions.

8. Ben Patton – Maybe I Live to Make You Happy

Ben Patton’s new album Meaning What blends dozens of genres – often all within the same song. Try and count how many he pulls from in the brief “Maybe I Live to Make You Happy” alone. I hear doo-wop, Broadway musicals, and a barbershop quartet. There are longer and arguably more ambitious songs on Meaning What. But the harmonies and melodies in the largely a cappella opener prove impossible to shake.

7. Dwight & Nicole – Wait

“Sometimes I hear a song and go, ahh I wish I wrote that one,” said none other than Melissa Etheridge, when she joined Dwight & Nicole on stage to sing “Wait” earlier this year. The praise is earned, and the connection is clear. Nicole Nelson’s showstopping vocals do indeed channel Etheridge, particularly when she belts that chorus. First posted on YouTube last year, the song finally got proper release on the band’s new Electric Lights, which supposedly teases their first full length in five years.

6. Richard Ruane and Beth Duquette – Ellie Brown

“Ellie Brown” sounds like an ancient folk tune, something Joan Baez might have covered in her Greenwich Village days. So much so, in fact, that I spent a minute Googling the lyrics to see where the song came from. Straight from Richard Ruane’s own pen, it turns out. Beth Duquette’s warm harmonies fill out the sound beautifully. It’s not too late to record this for your next album, Joan.

5. British Isles – Hold Your Horses

I named the lead single from Josh Panda’s last album the best song of 2016, so it was with some regret I read he’s ditching that band, and most of those songs too. But the silver lining is his new band, British Isles, which pushes his latent glam-rock tendencies to the fore. The band’s first (and, as of now, only) song, “Hold Your Horses” boasts storming drums, a killer guitar riff, and Panda’s soaring vocals. Bonus points for the steampunk-y video. This must be the loudest song this ballet company has ever danced to.

4. Reid Parsons – Charlie

This harrowing short story packs years of a troubled young man’s life into four minutes, switching narrative perspectives several times like a sonic The Sound and the Fury. Parsons chooses every word carefully, the few details she provides painting a dark picture. The final line of the first chorus – chillingly emphasized by the music suddenly dropping out – says it all: “But Charlie never listens / He’s not like our other children / And if I had to tell you the truth / I don’t love him at all.”

3. Xenia Dunford – Happy

“She will love you good, give you all I never could, and you will be happy,” goes the chorus to the love-gone-sour finale to the first of two EPs returning singer-songwriter Xenia Dunford dropped this year. It’s a hell of a groovy soul song, like some epic deep cut you’d find dusting off an old 45. Dunford’s voice is the star, but props also to the incredibly tight band backing her.

2. Fever Dolls – Gennifer Flowers

I considered Iron Eyes Cody’s debut in 2016 the best album of that year. It marked an auspicious start, and showed a hell of a lot of promise for a baby band. Turns out, it also marked the end of Iron Eyes Cody. Luckily, they’ve returned under a new moniker, but with the same sound, catchy and whimsical folk-rock with the occasional blaring sax solo. “Gennifer Flowers” is the first song from the rechristened Fever Dolls, a joyous holler-along jolt through some unlikely subject matter. If they remain at this level, Fever Dolls’ debut album might live up to Iron Eyes Cody’s.

1. Clever Girls – Loom

The quiet verse/loud chorus formula has existed in rock music since forever, but in the last year or so several young women have made the biggest marks of their careers pushing that combination to its holler-along limits (check out Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” & Lucy Dacus’s “Night Shift”). Clever Girls’ “Loom” offers only a shaker and occasional bass note backing its understated first verse, making it that much more powerful when the drums and massive reverbed guitars crash in for a cathartic chorus: “I would die for you / Any way you want me to.”

Now check out the Best Vermont Albums and Best Vermont EPs of 2018.

The post The Best Vermont Songs of 2018 appeared first on County Tracks.

Chazzy Lake – The Next Day

I’ve raved about Bison and J Bengoy, two of Vermont’s best rock bands, a lot on here (in fact, scroll down for a little more J Bengoy raving). And as if playing in both those bands wasn’t keeping him busy enough, singer Charlie Hill debuted a new solo project called Chazzy Lake. Debut EP Goodbye V​.​D. Baby kicks off with him playfully arguing with his backing singers on “A Stranger Time” (“Hey Charlie, you’ve got to get yourself a job!”) and builds to “The Next Day,” the album’s catchiest track, a beach song as filtered through college rock radio.

Clever Girls – Get Out

It’s called “Get Out,” but as far I as I can tell there aren’t any sunken place references here. Just a great country-shoegaze song (did they invent the genre?). Shades of 1950s bubblegum pop on the soaring chorus melody too. We featured their early single in March, and it’s no coincidence they’re back so soon: their full album Luck dropped this month, and it’s fantastic.

Cosmic Dolphin – Nuclear Splash

Cosmic Dolphin – a name I put in the so-bad-it’s-good category – is Vermont producer Bill Blais. His debut EP was inspired by current artists like Com Truise and Black Moth Super Rainbow, but sounds vintage. He recorded the entire thing on a Casio keyboard with samples from free sound libraries. If they reboot Tron or Blade Runner again, he should do the soundtrack.

Dan Seiden – Also Ran

This is Dan Seiden’s first album but, as you can tell from the first few bars of “Also Ran,” he’s no newcomer. In the 1990s, he played CBGB with a group called Round Band and went on to collaborate with the likes of Jewel and Lisa Loeb. He says this solo album was inspired by The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, but you wouldn’t know it from the lush double-tracked vocals and guitars.

Deep River Saints – Saved By the Asphalt

The sepia-toned cover of Deep River Saints’ album seems to place it firmly in the Americana wheelhouse, but Patrick Crowley’s band has some surprises up its sleeve. Take the jammy jazz soloing on “Theft of Weight,” or the funky guitar “Nighthawks” that sounds like something from an Isaac Hayes record. Or album highlight “Saved By the Asphalt,” which sounds like neither of those. It’s a tight pop song surrounded by pedal steel and organ swirls. That is, before the psych-prog guitar comes in.

Derek and The Demons featuring Break Maids – Arrive

The vocals immediately remind me of Warren Haynes, but perhaps the better comparison is Haynes’ Allman Brothers bandmate Derek Trucks. Since he was young, Trucks was a guitar ringer, a dependable sideman who never really stepped into the limelight. That is, until he started performing with Susan Tedeschi, an inspired pairing that raised both their games. Similarly, on “Arrive,” Derek and The Demons’ blues-rock choogle is notably enhanced by the killer vocals of female trio Break Maids.

Doom Service – Miner Forty-Niner

This short blast of pure punk power channels the likes of Thursday or Titus Andronicus. In the tradition of those bands, the pummeling fury only abates for brief moments of shout-along catharsis.

Entrance to Trains – Thirty Days Without an Accident

One of the first pieces I posted in 2018 was about Plastique Mammals’ mesmerizing instrumental post-rock album. The duo of Remi Russain and Evan Raine is already back with more, under the band name Entrance to Trains. They teamed with Evan’s brother Alex (who produced the Plastique Mammals album – small world) for a new single that shares some DNA with their post-rock adventures, but adds a singer and a little more conventional song structure.

Eric George – Walden’s Theme

Country singer-songwriter Eric George’s new single “Walden’s Theme” sounds right in the pocket for him – at first. A groovy honkytonk number introduces the track, but quickly fades. It’s a bait and switch, a musical intro for his poetry recital. It’s a clever gambit on his new album Affirmations and Storms Returning, the music serving as a palate cleanser to entice those who might not ordinarily be inclined to listen to a spoken-word poetry collection. Though these little instrumentals are so good, I hope they become full songs someday.

Guthrie Galileo – Wishes

When we last heard from Guthrie Galileo, he was creating political electronic music with samples of a Trump rally. Things get a lot lighter on his new single “Wishes,” a sensual slow burn in the vein of Miguel or Maxwell. He says in an email, “This is a playful follow-up to the more serious album, the creative process of which flowed without any forethought. It describes the nuances of a personal relationship, whilst seeking to invoke the more universal and visceral sensations surrounding love and lust.”

Ivamae – Homecoming

Singer-songwriter Brittany Mae debuted this new single in a beautiful solo guitar video last year. The recorded version builds on that sparse template – but not much. Subtle guitar swells and piano keys augment the ethereal trance Mae creates with her voice and guitar.

J Bengoy – Hands

J Bengoy titled their debut full-length Dogwood Winter, but it could have easily been called Dog Days of Summer. That’s how it feels at times, hazy and woozy, like a party in slow-motion. And “Hands” is the perfect mood-setter. The build is so gradual you might miss it until the drums are going nuts and there’s classic rock radio-worthy guitar shredding behind lead singer Justin Barton’s yearning vocals.

Paper Castles – Monster of the Week

Bit of a monster theme this month. Another track on Doom Service’s album is titled “Monsters are Due on Maple Street” (good Twilight Zone reference), and here’s Paper Castles – a band we wrote about not long ago – with “Monster of the Week.” Am I missing something? Today is April 30; we literally couldn’t be farther from Halloween. Well, I’m glad to have this lo-fi slacker slow burn whatever the season.

If you missed it, here’s our Best Vermont Songs of 2017 post.

The post The Best New Songs of April 2018 appeared first on County Tracks.