#23: Amanda X – “Hundreds and Thousands”

Thanks to Twitter, Bandcamp, and Rdio (RIP), this year I found myself randomly becoming a fan of Philadelphia’s indie rock scene from afar. After liking a couple Philly bands, I began to connect the dots and find other bands they played with or recommended, and eventually had pretty much fully gone down a rabbit hole and adopted Philly as my local music scene of choice.

One of the bands I discovered this way was Amanda X, a trio of Cat Park, Kat Bean, and Tiff Yoon. Hundreds and Thousands is actually a two song 7-inch they released this year, but I listened to the two songs enough that I felt it was worth charting. “Quilted” and “Juniper” are both about six minutes long and take their time winding through distinct segments that cover a range of styles and moods, with a focus on vocal harmonies and noisy guitar. In this way, Amanda X’s freewheeling approach reminds me a bit of super-geniuses Afrirampo, in that there is an expression of freedom in these unpredictable songs that makes them stand out from a lot of more overly crafted rock that feels like it’s painting by the numbers.

The members of Amanda X show impressive versatility, seamlessly changing modes in mid-song while still making each of them feel cohesive. While only two songs and 12 minutes, Hundreds and Thousands has more replay value than most of the full lengths I listened to this year.

#24: Pinkshinyultrablast – “Everything Else Matters”

Pinkshinyultrablast hail from St. Petersburg, where I like to imagine they’re part of a booming Russian shoegaze scene. Everything Else Matters is their first proper album, and it’s clearly indebted to the usual shoegaze suspects, with songs consisting of the familiar wall of sound guitars and indecipherable vocals (from Lyubov Soloveva) that blend into the music. Pinkshinyultrablast feel more like they’re gazing into the sky than at their shoes, as they put a spacier spin on the genre with some longer songs that contain remnants of their beginnings as a krautrock band.

I’ll be honest: shoegaze albums are like pizza for me. Some are better than others because they have better ingredients, but I pretty much always like them unless I run into the rare Papa John’s equivalent. Pinkshinyultrablast don’t reinvent the wheel, but Everything Else Matters hits the familiar, satisfying notes I want out of shoegaze, and the band puts enough of their own spin on it that they don’t sound like pale imitators. It’s a simple crowd-pleaser for any loud guitars aficionado.

#25: Best Coast – “California Nights”

California Nights is the smartest stupid album of the year. After a few albums of lo-fi bedroom pop that never quite felt sincere to me, this is the album where Best Coast finally become what they were destined to be: a big, dumb, slick rock band, like Oasis if they loved California as much as the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“Stupid” and “dumb” aren’t usually adjectives used for praise, but there is an appeal to how California Nights completely foregoes any attempt at intellectualism or depth, and instead focuses on crafting anthemic pop songs that just sound good. It’s a smart decision that plays to the band’s strengths while making you forget about their weaknesses. Freed from the self-imposed lo-fi constraints of their past music, Bethany Cosentino’s singing and melodies soar higher while Bobb Bruno’s guitar benefits from the extra polish, evoking the California-landscape-at-sunset feelings the band has always gone for.

The bigger sound and added production values likely alienated some of Best Coast’s original fans, and music critics weren’t too keen on it either. But I think California Nights is the sound of a band finally figuring out who they are and embracing it.