50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 | EP/Live/Compilation

10. Magdalena Bay – mini mix Vol. 3

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

Short and sweet collection of almost-banging tunes that take their time to show how smooth these earworms are. The production is gorgeous, and Tenenbaum’s vocal delivery finely walks the playful-quirky line. Really excited about their future. –dedex

9. Joliette – Luz de Bengala

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

If you are still sleeping on Joliette, Luz de Bengala is a short and sweet cacophony to disturb your slumber: the Mexican post-hardcore mainstays are firing on all cylinders here, conjuring up an expected, spellbinding amalgam of downtrodden riffs, chiming, post-rocky builds, and zesty screams en español. Coming off a couple standalone singles in the years prior, this EP marks the band’s first multi-track project with bassist Gastón Prado on lead vocals, and that lineup change isn’t elemental so much as it is tonal: where once Joliette doubled down on grisly, violent imagery or infernal despair, their latest incarnation ultimately espouses hope without sacrificing their knack for tense, tightly-wound arrangements. Fans of Birds In Row, Ostraca, a theoretically skramz-ier At The Drive-In, or basically anything on the quartet’s latest home, Zegema Beach Records: don’t overlook these guys any longer. –ashcrash9

8. Dream Dolphin – Gaia: Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996-2023)

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

In a year full of brilliant ambient-adjacent music, this compilation of songs that came out some fifteen years ago still stood out. It can be hard for music so naturally reserved to do that without resigning to intense emotions or overwrought concept arcs, but Dream Dolphin is a selective songwriter and a multifaceted producer, which means that each track here exists as its own unique moment while still forming part of a thematic web. Gaia certainly makes use of the usual sounds you might expect at this point if you’re familiar — there is a shocking lack of sample-based connections between songs here and the cloud rap scene — but it also expands on them, exploring and refracting new realms just enough to find the sweet spot between inspiration and rest. This balancing act is one that very few are able to achieve, made even more impressive by nature of her young age when some of these songs were first written (in that way and others, this is the unfairly forgotten sibling to Selected Ambient Works). With drum programming that clearly belongs to a breaks producer, synthesizer palettes that sound like they fell straight out of the sky and into a fountain, and, most importantly of all, a talent for not giving the listener everything they want, this is the compilation of the year, a sapphire that catches your eye even in a field of gems. –granitenotebook

7. Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

Despite its topographical title, The Valley of Vision feels oceanic more often than not. That’s double-edged, as it offers songs suspended in a sunken slow-motion (“Captain Karma”) as often as it does something expansive or majestic (“The Way” / “Quietly”). But there’s a peacefulness that ripples through the entire EP — one that whites out blemishes and earns genuine goodwill. Never does this quietude seem empty; rather, it delivers a considered and contemplative comma in their discography. One can assume from the multifaceted mishmash of closer “Rear View” that the band might’ve used this release to revisit past sounds in some sort of farewell gesture — if so, perhaps this is just the peaceful calm before the storm. –neekafat

6. Yune Pinku – BABYLON IX

[Soundcloud] // [Spotify]

If BABYLON IX is a much smoother concoction than Yuné Pinku’s earlier tonic Bluff, it’s certainly no less tantalizing. It presents a kaleidoscopic tour through various dance subgenres, but rather than mashing them together into head-spinning combinations, it weaves them together over pristine beats and lush atmospheres. It’s almost damnably consistent, with the odd shakeup of more restless tracks like “Sports” or “Fai Fighter”, but the sequencing is so well-considered that everything meshes seamlessly. BABYLON IX may be introverted dance music best enjoyed at the fringes of the dancefloor, but it pulses with such warmth that it’s eternally welcoming to anyone wishing to vibe. –neekafat

5. Perfect Angel at Heaven – EP

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

In hindsight, starting 2023 off by checking Perfect Angel at Heaven’s debut was basically just setting myself up for a year of perpetual disappointment. Nothing else I listened to hit me like this unassuming little EP did. Behind the monochrome notebook doodles that adorn its cover is one of the best indie rock debuts I’ve heard in a very long time. Blending indie, alternative, and noise rock’s best elements with aplomb, this group plays with the confidence of a band that’s been together for a decade-plus. Even (almost exactly) 12 months removed from its release, I still find myself humming every single track and internally screaming the lyrics. The Internet’s indie hype machine ran out of steam long before these guys could truly have their day in the sun, and the world is only worse off for it. But it’s always a treat to see a band you enjoy make the “best-of” list on a website you enjoy. And I can’t think of any release from 2023 that is more deserving of a spot than this one. –SandwichBubble

4. Yellowcard – Childhood Eyes

[Official site] // [Spotify]

If we had a full length of this quality, it’d debatably be their best record. I cannot recommend this enough. This blew me away as a long time diehard fan of the band. Tracks 3-5 are the stuff of legends. Love that they’re back. –tmagistrelli

I missed this band. The EP is awesome! “Honest from The Jump” is my favourite off of first listen. This has a Paper Walls sound to it. Some of William Ryan Key’s solo stuff had the Yellowcard goods/writing, but I’m glad the actual band are back. –Zeiu

This is basically the perfect Yellowcard release. Also the perfect pop-punk record. The melodies are delicious, the choruses are massive, and the singing is exceptional. I’m not big into pop-punk at all, and this EP practically makes up for the genre’s shortcomings. The ‘holy shit’ opener “Three Minutes More” slaps, but “Honest from the Jump” has a beautiful chorus and is probs my fave. –pizzamachine

3. The Republic of Wolves – Why Would Anyone Want to Live This Long?

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

The Republic of Wolves (cherish them as I do) have always been a messy act: drawn and quartered in a plethora of directions — alternative rock, post-hardcore, folk, and hell, even parts of Varuna felt indebted to black metal — the indie quartet’s mythic lyricism and prominent emotional center overshadowed any production stumble you could throw at them. All that in mind, their latest EP, Why Would Anyone Want to Live This Long?, is a concise summation of their career: a murky, verbose, unexpectedly chaotic, yet just as disarmingly melodic exercise in the band’s established, captivating yin and yang. If anything sets this project apart from their previous output, it’s how the grungy tones and prickly march of tracks like the opening trio and “Mictlāntēcutli” find their immediate and even-tempered match against the dreamy, enormous expanses of “Idyll”, “Sapphirine”, and “Reedcutter”. The quality control pays off — each offering here swells and shivers with existential dread unfurled by Mason Maggio’s gifted penmanship and Billy Duprey’s most synergistic harsh vocals to date. –ashcrash9

2. Better Lovers – God Made Me an Animal

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

I remember when I listened to “30 Under 13” and thought to myself, “Gosh, this sounds a lot like Every Time I Die.” Then I listened to it again and I thought to myself, “Wait a second, is that Greg Puciato? And WHY DOES THIS SOUND LIKE EVERY TIME I DIE?!” And then I looked it up and discovered it basically was Every Time I Die and Greg Puciato. And then I lost my mind.

After I came back down to earth, I patiently waited for further material and was rewarded with God Made Me an Animal. It was exactly what I expected — a fusion of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die — and yet that very predictability is what made it such a good time. Chunky southern riffage? Check. Spastic Dillinger-like segments? Check. Puciato screaming, “Becomesosmall becomesosmall becomesosmall BECOMESOSMALL” in rapid-fire Puciato fashion? Check. Is this the uber-metalcore supergroup we have all been secretly waiting for? Uhh… well… yeah, probably not. It is, however, a bombastic “I-don’t-give-a-shit” middle finger to anyone who says these guys were washed or done. Better Lovers’ God Made Me an Animal is a bunch of seasoned veterans doing what they do best, and if they’re having fun, then God damn it, so am I. –Manatea

1. Maruja – Knocknarea

[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]

Crazy shit that blends many things without having coherence issues; big yay! Post-rock atmosphere rubs shoulders with Bri’ish windmill vibe and occasional post-hardcore shenanigans, with a saxophone that doesn’t only appear here and there but constitutes a major part of the soundscape. Hyped to see what they will offer in a long format. –dedex

This is one of the best debuts I’ve heard in years. The elegance of jazz mixed with the vitriol of punk, done in a way that doesn’t feel forced. And mentioning jazz and punk was just to give you an idea — this is really its own thing. Brilliant musicianship, intoxicating atmosphere, and a fierce, exhilarating energy maintained throughout with precision. –cylinder

Found this by complete accident and it bangs like nobody’s business. –someone

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