2022 in thirty records

 

Summarising an entire year in music with just 30 records is of course reductive, and as always, rankings reflect personal taste rather than summarising absolute values.

Of the many, far too many, records listened to as well as purchased, these are the ones that resonated with me the most and to which I returned often during the year. Simply put: the ones I liked the most and consequently are my records of the year.

1 - LEADFINGER - Silver & Black (Golden Robot Records) After a stalled break due to a serious illness, Stewart Cunnigham writes a handful of songs that are as personal as they are universal, centred on the theme of illness and the struggle not to give in to it, signing with his bandmates (Michael Boyle, Dillon Hicks and Adam Screen) not only the masterpiece of the Leadfinger discography, but also a masterpiece of the modern era of Australian rock.

2 - HOODOO GURUS - Chariot of the Gods (Big Time/Emi) To celebrate their 40-year career in the best possible way, they return to record an album a full 12 years after the previous one. The surprise is to find a band so inspired that they manage to keep faith with their glorious past, offering songs destined to become classics such as "Settle Down", "Carry On", "My Imaginary Friend" and "Answered Prayers" to name but a few.

3 - CHEAP WINE - YELL (Cheap Wine Records) Once again the band from Pesaro has released an excellent album, faithful to the line they have been following since the beginning of their career, 25 years ago: to be fiercely independent, writing music and lyrics of great depth, pursuing their dreams and playing the music they love, heedless of passing fashions without ever compromising.

4 - CHIMERS - S/t (Poop Alley Records/9am Records) Although the very first pressing was released at the end of last year, the name of this amazing Australian duo started circulating in 2022 as the four reissues of 40,50 and 100 copies each were released. The record is a mixture of Dischord-school noise punk and melody-soaked hardcore as only Hüsker Dü knew how to do. One of the strongest Australian rock records of the year.

5 - DOE St. - S/t (Legless Records) Since the Stiff Richards started Legless Records to release their records, the Australian label has become, in the space of a few years, one of the leading labels in the dissemination of new Australian rock. Doe St., besides being the street in the town of Rye where the label is based, is one of the many side projects of S. R.'s Arron Mawson, who together with Bleach's Tom Duell has created this interesting debut album that distances both musicians from the sound of their original bands, to put together this exciting blend of Feelies and Pavement. A perfectly successful experiment.

6 - NOT MOVING LTD - Love Beat (Area Pirata) Hearing a new Not Moving album, albeit in a revised and corrected version, was one of the best things that happened in this 2022. Love Beat is a superlative record with a deep blues soul that builds on past experiences to propel the band into a future just as bright as their glorious past.

7 - THE DREAM SYNDICATE - Ultraviolet Battle Hymns And True Confessions (Fire Records) Dream Syndicate's 'second life' is going full steam ahead, as confirmed by this album that brings the band back to song form, albeit filled with all the influences that have always characterised the sound proposed by Steve Wynn's excellent songwriting. An album with a strong psychedelic mood with many variations in register that highlights how Dream Syndicate's new course is equal to, if not better than, that which developed in the eighties, and this is the sign of a solid band that has been able to take advantage of the desire to reunite to explore new paths and not just revive the past with the intention of finally going on the record.

8 - SPLIT SYSTEM - Vol. 1 (Legless Records) Another super group emerged from the Doe St. garage to set Melbourne's g arage and punk scene on fire. With a five-piece line-up drawn from a bunch of local heavyweights - Jackson Reid Briggs and the Heaters, Stiff Richards, NO ZU, Speed Week and more. - Easily they hit the jackpot with this record that brings together hard-hitting guitars and a thundering backbeat, while Jackson Reid Briggs' overwrought vocals take centre stage, with his impassioned howl charging the album with a restless energy that leaves listeners breathless and energized. Blending garage-punk, power-pop and rock'n'roll, he mixes post-punk and pub-rock with his swagger capable of fiery performances, searing guitar-work and plenty of indestructible hooks.

9 - OSSI - S/t (Snowdonia) Almost on the cusp of this year's album by Ossi suddenly appeared. Coming out of Deadburger's workshop, this time Vittorio Nistri and Simone Tilli decided to leave the usual electronic territories to set up a project aimed at exploring some of the languages of the more canonical rock, calling together musicians of the calibre of Andrea Appino, Bruno Dorella and Dome La Muerte to flesh out the songs they had written. All marked by lyrics that plumb the ills and contradictions of our society. What makes this album a true work of art is the fine artwork, which not only features a cover with a drawing by Andrea Pazienza on it, but also a booklet in comic book form (the designer is Ugo De Lucchi) with the lyrics in Italian, and an insert with the same lyrics translated into English, and also explained to the English-speaking audience, who certainly cannot understand the references and quotations in the lyrics on their own.

10 - DENIZ TEK - Long Befor Day (Career Records/Wild Honey Records) - When an album by my absolute musical legend comes out, there is always the risk of talking about it with a certain degree of condescension that risks not separating the fan from the critic. Luckily for me, Deniz Tek has again this time taken me out of the embarrassment by releasing a record that has no lapses in tone and that surprises with the freshness and high quality of Deniz Tek's songwriting. After all, one can ask little else of a rock legend.

11 - FONTAINES DC - Skinty Fia (Partisan Records) In only five years of their career, Fontaines DC have been able to gain international attention with three fine albums. After the excellent "Dogrel" and "A Hero's Death", this "Skinty Fia" represents a decisive qualitative leap forward, confirming a sound that is always recognisable, but which in this album expresses itself in a more melancholic mood, brooding and full of regret with lyrics of great depth, rich in references to Irish identity and political and cultural references, which are rooted in history.

12 - THE STRANGE FLOWERS - Crossing A Wasteland (Onde Italiane/Rubber Soul) - Born in the golden age of the garage revival of the late '80s, The Strange Flowers have travelled through the desolate wasteland of Italy through records and concerts, always updating their stylistic code, which, starting from the solid roots of neo-psychedelia, has always sought new paths, even if similar to the original sound, showing excellent ability to write music that is always enjoyable and never derivative. A consistent path that adds another perfectly successful chapter to the band's career.

13 - LYDSYN - S/t (Bad Afro Records) - After his experience with Baby Woodrose, Uffe Lorenzen recorded three solo albums before returning to form this new band called Lydsyn. A classic power trio with several points of contact with Baby Woodrose, obviously well recognisable.  But the substantial difference between the two bands is that in the Lydsyn project, the atmospheres are decidedly geared towards classic Scandinavian hard rock, in which the trio shows all its qualities by chiselling on the powerful rhythm section, magnificent guitar riffs that are acid but also know how to be melodic.

14 - WET LEG - S/t (Domino) - Brilliant debut album for this female duo, made up of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, who came out of nowhere from the Isle of Wight, and whose catchy single 'Chaise Longue' was enough to be coated in the classic hype that the British press, but not only, reserves for the umpteenth 'next big thing' arriving from across the Channel. Throughout the album's twelve songs, you can savour the interweaving of voices that recall icons such as Debbie Harry and Kim Deal, the tight rhythms and super-catchy guitars that capture your attention and, although they don't invent anything new, give you the sensation of relaunching in a different perspective, certain sounds made famous by bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Pavement or Arctic Monkeys. Lyrics full of sharp, ironic but also feminist claims do the rest in this record full of catchy singles, as well as songs that know how to combine substance and appeal.

15 - THE CHATS - Get Fucked (Bargain Bin Records) - Scruffy, no-frills punk, this in a nutshell is what the Australians The Chats offer, who have the same natural talent as the Ramones, able to express their point of view in 90 seconds and at the same time offer punk melodies galore that have nothing to envy from their debut album. 'Get Fucked' simply picks up where 'High Risk Behaviour' left off. It is sarcastic and direct with tracks like 'Ticket Inspector' and 'Emperor Of the Beach'.  He delights in serious themes with songs like 'Panic Attack' and 'Dead On Site', which talks about irresponsible workplaces and the importance of unions, while 'The Price of Smokes' talks about the cost of living crisis, launching into anti-government invective. An expected confirmation.

16 - KING HANNAH - I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me (City Slang) - Another debut long-distance album to be mentioned among the pleasant surprises of the past year. The Liverpool duo put together a dozen songs full of darkness and wit, hypnotic and exciting in equal measure, sketching a sound poised between the psycho-blues of Mazzy Star and the trip hop of Portishead, not disdaining to unsettle the listener with thunderous, stabbing rhythms or strident solos. Although the references from the past are clearly evident, the complexity of these songs is nevertheless very modern and captivating.

17 - BEBALONCAR - Suicide Lovers (Onde Italiane/Rubber Soul) - The umpteenth chapter in the brilliant career of Scanna, born Riccardo Scannapieco, is surprising for its freshness and for how far it is from the garage rock of which he has been a brilliant interpreter and popularizer since the Eighties, with all the variations on the theme that he has tackled in the various projects he has created. In 'Suicide Lovers', we start with shoegaze and arrive at psychedelic folk, propelling the listener on a timeless dark journey.

18 - Johnny Casino - Five X Seven - The Days Of Wine & Cola (La Vila Nova Recordings/Folc Records/Beast Records/Golden Robot Records) - Released in the form of a box that collects, as the title suggests, five 7-inch records plus a recap CD-R, this new chapter by the founder of Asteroid B-612, one of the cult Aussie-rock bands, is a sincere homage to some of rock's sacred monsters. In fact, in addition to an original song by the author, each 45 rpm features on the b-side a cover of artists of the calibre of Sixto Rodriguez, Animals, Thirteen Floor Elevators, Love, Lee Hazelwood. Originals and covers that are reinterpreted in an hi-energy r'n'r key for an album that is pure adrenaline.

19 - MOTORPSYCHO - Ancient Astronauts (Stickman/Rune Grammofon) - Over the course of their 30-year career, Motorpsycho have collaborated on several occasions with various artists working in the fields of theatre, dance and related fields. "Ancient Astronauts" was in fact born to be part of two separate collaborative projects: one with the theatre group De Utvalgte, which, due to the lockdown, wanted to present its new show in film form. The second project that arose during the recording of 'All Is One' (2020) was to create the music for the dance performance by Homan Sharifi and the Impure Dance Company, called Sacrificing. The performance is based on the idea of the Rite of Spring, which was also the basis for the long suite N.O.X., featured on the Trondheim band's third album, but not considered sufficient to cover the entire dance performance. The album contains all the hard/prog samples of the latest Motorpsycho, on which ancestral folk melodies are grafted, between King Crimson and heavy-psych, bringing out all the skill of the musicians involved.

20 - THE HELLACOPTERS - Eyes Of Oblivion (Nuclear Blast/Psychout Records) - Another great return to the scene was that of the godfathers of 'Hi-energy r'n'r' The Hellacopters. Released fourteen years after the previous 'Head Off', this new album shows a band in good health that does not show the wear and tear of passing time and is still capable of writing great songs based on the incendiary sound of guitars.

21- DATURA 4 - Neanderthal Jam (Alive Naturalsound Records) - Another Australian rock legend graces this late 2022 chart. Dom Mariani, continues to offer new music under the Datura 4 label, a far cry from the power pop of The Stems that consigned him to glory. The psychedelic blues proposed today in the fifth album of the band formed together with Greg Hitchock (You Am I/New Christs) continues to explore the territories of the darkest and dirtiest psychedelic boogie, with a modern weight and sensibility.

22 - SARON VAN ETTEN We've Been Going About This All Wrong (Jagjaguwar) - Among the many artists who have marked this 2022 with new records, Sharon Van Etten occupies a prominent place in many best-ofs of the past year. her deepening talent as a songwriter and the well-thought-out but not excessive musical arrangements on this sixth album once again manage to be intensely personal for her listeners - as if she were giving voice to their inner lives, rather than her own.

23 - SOCCER MOMMY - Sometimes, Forever (Loma VIsta Recordings) - After the excellent feedback from her first two albums, Sophie Allison continues to impress with her new album 'Sometimes, Forever' released as usual under the pseudonym Soccer Mommy. Excellently assisted in the control room by Daniel Lopatin, "Sometimes, Forever" offers an almost perfect mix of references and originality, both in the songwriting and in the production, with Lopatin working with a chisel to never appear intrusive on Allison's compositions, which have a '90s mood with the typical atmospheres of alternative rock of those years, which are coated with just the right dose of modernity that serves to ward off a dangerous nostalgia effect.

24 - THE BLACK ANGELS - Wilderness Of Mirrors (Partisan Records) - Flag-bearers of modern psych-rock, The Black Angels in this new chapter of their discography remain masterfully faithful to their psych-rock forebears, such as Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, Arthur Lee and the members of the Velvet Underground, all of whom are mentioned in the album's title track, 'The River'. The album as always sounds powerful with classic fuzzed-out guitar blasts designed to simultaneously cheer the ears and jump-start the mind, alongside melancholic acoustic guitar experiments. The mellotron, strings and other keyboards also play a more important role, giving an experimental veneer to the sound on offer.

25 - YARD ACT - The Overload (ZEN F.C./Island) - The Leeds quartet's long-distance debut puts Yard Act among the new bands to follow, although musically they don't offer anything really innovative. However, their blend of edgy guitars and rhythmic grooves, bridging the gap between The Fall and Sleaford Mods, is interesting by virtue of lyrics that are very well written and equally performed by frontman James Smith, who plumbs the ills of post-Brexit British society.

26 - STRENGSBREW - Too Far North (Chaputa) - The Fleshtones' guitarist Keith Streng, as well as playing drums on Deniz Tek's new record, has long since put together the supergroup Strengsbrew, together with the likes of Jim Heneghan, Måns P. Månsson (Maggots) and Robert Eriksson (The Hellacopters). "Too Far North" is an excellent debut album that brings together the influences of the bands of origin of each individual musician, making a guitar-driven record in the best tradition of Sandinavian rock, not disdaining a look at the glorious past of the sixties.

27 - RADIO KSG - A Million In The Creek (Bang! Records) - Another supergroup from Australia. Consisting of Kent Steedman (Celibate Rifles), Russell Barecivic (Bored!), Ben Brown (The Hellmen) and Vince Donato (Flycharmers), they give life to a particularly interesting debut album, centred on the most classic of aussie rock sounds that made us fall in love, musically speaking, with the land of Oz in the eighties.

28 - GARY LEE CONNER - Trutheater (VE Recordings) - The seventh solo album by the former Screaming Trees, Gary Lee Conner continues in the vein of the musical themes proposed in his previous albums, all centred on a psychedelic rock of fine workmanship that has long highlighted the excellent songwriting of the American musician.

29 - BEECHWOOD - Sleep Without Dreaming (Alive Records) - In Italy, there is still too little talk about this New York trio, now at their fourth album in just under ten years of activity. Sleep Without Dreaming still moves in the rock'n'roll vein of its predecessors, adding an unbridled sensuality that oozes intensely from their guitars, a dreamlike side never before expressed. The lyrics are darkly romantic, mysterious and inspiring. They revolve around darkness, loss and pain. These poetic and insightful lyrics are an integral part of the hypnotic atmosphere of 'Sleep Without Dreaming' and make each track more complete.

30 - ROSALBA GUASTELLA - Grace (Rubber Soul Records) - In a year characterised by many high quality female releases, there can be no better closing than this chart with an album by an Italian artist. For her second album, Rosalba Guastella chooses to orient the sounds more on the psychedelic matrix of the late Sixties, ranging from folk to oriental lysergic atmospheres, with a few detours into the psychedelic west coast with songs that do not sound derivative at all but have the merit of taking the listener to open a treasure chest of memories if one has listened to certain records in the past, while if one belongs to the new generation, an album like 'Grace' can act as a key to stimulate the search for a musical sub-genre that has positively characterised the history of rock.