The year 2018 saw the resurgence of indie rock, new rappers finding their style, artists experimenting with sound and pop, post-punk and grunge artists spreading their music.
One of the new faces of indie music, Lindsey Jordan, fronts the band Snail Mail. Only 19 years old, Jordan released her first full length LP, Lush, on Matador Records in June. The critically acclaimed album led the band to tour the world, opening for the likes of Alvvays and playing festivals such as Coachella. Lush is very emotional and finds Jordan plumbing the themes of heartbreak, growing up in a small town and feeling defeated, but also enthusiastic about the future. One of the more popular songs on the album was “Pristine,” due to its universal lyrics and its Sonic Youth-like framed atonal attack. Other standout songs on the album are “Heat Wave,” “Golden Dream,” “Speaking Terms” and “Full Control.” Individually, the songs show that Jordan’s precocious talent will see her through a long career in the music industry, if that’s what she chooses.
Matador, one of the most popular and respected indie labels, put out other great albums, including Lucy Dacus’s Historian, which included the songs “Night Shift,” “Yours & Mine” and one of my favorite songs, “Addictions,” which showcased her voice with dramatic build-ups and an epic chorus. Boygenius, an indie supergroup formed by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Dacus, also released its first EP this year, which included songs with amazing harmonies like “Bite the Hand” and “Me & My Dog.”
Clean, by Soccer Mommy, was another gem that was released in 2018. The young and talented Sophie Allison released Clean on Fat Possum Records in March. Girls have been taking the music industry by storm in the last few years. The first song I heard was “Cool.” The catchy, innocent sound of Allison’s voice and the fact that it was another female artist breaking onto the scene made me excited to turn it up. “Your Dog” is another exceptional song with meaningful lyrics that tell the story of a person standing up for herself. The album shows off Allison’s skilled guitar playing and delicate voice.
Madrid, Spain’s sweethearts Hinds released I Don’t Run on Mom + Pop records this year. The band’s sophomore LP was filled with catchy tunes and melodic verses. The all-girl band has matured since their last album, with their sound becoming much fuller and their playing more experienced. My favorite song of the year, “The Club,” starts the record off with a pounding drum beat and a fun, sing-along chorus.
The rap industry has become filled with young and diverse rappers. Noname, a 27-year-old rapper from the Windy City, was discovered a few years ago when she became very popular in Chicago’s poetry scene. She released Room 25 in September, rapping about her life, growing up, heartbreak, finding herself and having a “quarter-life crisis.” Her soothing voice and delicate spoken-word raps make for a great album and a popular new female rapper.
But, as ever, plenty of young guys are making great records, too.
Car Seat Headrest released Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) in February on Matador Records, a re-recorded version of Will Toledo’s Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror) that he put out in 2011 when he was just 19 years old and had recorded it in his car. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks also released an album on Matador Records this May titled Sparkle Hard. The post-punk three-piece band from Washington, D.C., Flasher, released a full-length album, Constant Image, with Domino Recording Company in June; The Frights, a San Diego-based pop-punk band who recently signed to Epitaph records, released Hypochondriac in August; The Nude Party, a psychedelic garage-rock band from Boone, North Carolina, put out their first self-titled LP this summer; The Front Bottoms released a six-song EP titled Ann, which included both new and old songs; and North Carolina’s very own Superchunk put out their 11th studio album What A Time To Be Alive in February of 2018 on Durham’s Merge Records.
Lots of male rappers had a great year in their industry, as well. Earl Sweatshirt returned with a great album, Some Rap Songs; Tyler, the Creator wrote the soundtrack to the new Grinch movie as well as a Christmas EP of his own titled, Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; A$AP Rocky also put out a record in 2018 titled Testing, experimenting with new sounds, distorted vocals and different samples; JPEGMAFIA released his album Veteran, which he produced on his own, and is filled with distortion, glitches, melodic verses, political lyrics and unique rapping styles; and Brockhampton, a self-proclaimed “boy band,” released its fourth studio album Iridescence in late September on RCA records.
Trap music has also made many strides in experimenting with different sounds. Playboi Carti’s album Die Lit, Travis Scott’s album Astroworld and Denzel Curry’s album TA1300 have paved the way for the expansion of the genre.
There has been so much great music put out in 2018, so some honorable mentions of songs released this year include “Heaven” by Charly Bliss, “Blue Ribbon” by Remo Drive, “Feeling Lonely” by Boy Pablo, “Are You High?” by Fidlar, “Wide Awake” by Parquet Courts, “Tossing Tears” by Twin Peaks, “Red Light” by The Regrettes, “Nameless, Faceless” by Courtney Barnett, “Twentytwo” by Sunflower Bean, “Me and Michael” by MGMT, “Kids See Ghosts” by Kid Cudi and Kanye West, “1980s Horror Film” by Wallows, “Psycho Star” by King Tuff, “Over and Over and Over” by Jack White, “After the Storm (feat. Tyler, the Creator)” by Kali Uchis, “An Ambulance” by Mike Krol and “Camo” by Ryan Beatty.
