#14: Marriages – “Salome”

Emma Ruth Rundle released one of my favorite albums of last year with her debut solo effort, Some Heavy Ocean. That album showed her quiet intensity as a singer and lyricist, as well as her ability to incorporate ambient and post-rock elements into her more folk-style songwriting. This year, she returned to fronting Marriages, where she rocks a bit harder fronting a full band that backs her up with swirling guitar influenced by bands like The Cure.

While Marriages’ first release, Kitsune, mostly buried Rundle’s vocals beneath the heavy guitar, Salome borrows from her solo album and is more centered around her vocals and now-decipherable lyrics. Rundle’s biggest gift continues to be her commitment to the songs and the passion she conveys with her voice, which fits the dramatic sound that Marriages go for. Salome is pretty gloomy throughout, with many biblical references and talks of “spitting on your mother’s grave,” but Rundle’s performance keeps it engaging and ultimately rewarding.

#15: Erase Errata – “Lost Weekend”

Erase Errata’s first album in nine years was possibly the year’s least hyped comeback, and Lost Weekend certainly isn’t a massive “WE’RE BACK AND ALL THESE YOUNG BANDS ARE FINALLY GOING TO HEAR WHAT TRUE GREATNESS IS” kind of statement. With a 27-minute running time over seven songs, it makes sure to not overstay its welcome. Over that short span, the band shows a lot of different styles, mixing in horns and handclaps (on the fittingly titled “History of Handclaps”) which gives the band’s sharp music a sense of playfulness that contrasts with some of its more overtly political material.

Over the long layoff, the band (Jenny Hoyston, Ellie Erickson, Bianca Sparta) somehow developed more chemistry and confidence than they had before, which particularly shows through on the heavy grooves of “Watch Your Language,” which I felt was one of the biggest straight-up jams of the year. The band decided to officially call it quits later in the year, but the band and Lost Weekend deserve to be remembered.

#16: Year of Glad – “Year of Glad EP”

My previously mentioned interest in Philadelphia music started with a band called Nona, who released their only album Through the Head in 2013. I got really obsessed with the album after hearing about it on Twitter, and I consider it to be a total gem that has been pretty much completely overlooked. The heart of the album was singer Mimi Gallagher, who has a voice that sounds like no one else’s and writes catchy, emotional songs that are a mix of punk and indie/alternative rock.

One of Gallagher’s new projects is Year of Glad, which is made up of other various members of Philadelphia’s music scene: Chris Diehm from 1994, Mike Harping of Good Luck, and Mike Bell from Mike Bell & the Movies. Their first EP contains four very good songs with Gallagher singing on two of them, which are unsurprisingly my favorite. “Flowers” and “Turn” are in a similar mold to her work in Nona, with simple songwriting that is elevated by her unique voice and heartfelt lyrics. These songs (not to mention her other project this year, Eight) have further solidified her as one of my favorite singers in music right now.