Best Mostly Indie Rock Albums of 2022
Well, folks, here we are. January 1, 2023. I waited until 2022 was fully over before writing my best-of article. This was clearly 100% intentional and not just a by-product of me not having it together. I mean, how could I chance getting to December 31st and failing to include a late-breaking addition to the list? (Not to undermine my own sarcasm, but this totally happened.) As always, my list is not meant to cover all genres. I find those lists frustrating, as they mostly just reflect what major labels want to see on them. I have 12 albums on the list this year, followed by a handful of other standout songs. Here we go…
Best Albums
The Afghan Whigs — How Do You Burn?
This record crushed it. The Afghan Whigs are no strangers to the top spot on my list, but this album exceeded my expectations. There were a lot of records I anticipated this year. Many fell a little short of what they would be in my mind. Not the Whigs. Really strong effort from Greg Dulli and the boys here. There is no song I dislike on this record. How Do You Burn? is the first Whigs album featuring Christopher Thorn on guitar, which is a little different, but works.
There are tons of great songs on here, but I want to talk about Take Me There, as I haven’t really seen anybody discuss the track and I think it’s gone a bit overlooked. This song snuck up on me. It has a deceptively simple structure upon first listen, but once you start to focus on it, you realize that there is a ton going on there. It builds in intensity throughout the song, which always works for me, and is hammered home by Mark Lanegan’s backup vocals. The late Mark Lanegan (which is still weird and difficult to say) also inadvertently named this album. He appears on it a couple of times.
Other excellent songs (among many others): Catch a Colt, I’ll Make You See God. Released on Royal Cream Records via BMG on clear and pink vinyl.
Record dork note that no one cares about but me: this is the first Dulli record that came on pink vinyl since the Conjure Me single in 1992. Most Dulli vinyl is on black or white, with the occasional clear release. The only records that strayed from that at all in 30 years were the 2017 Sub Pop album reissues and the European Somethin’ Hot 7" from 1998. /endrecorddorknote
The Beths — Expert in a Dying Field
The Beths have mastered the art of the indie pop song. Also, pastel colors, it would appear. When I first started listening to this album, I thought it followed a similar pattern to their second album (solid first song, fantastic second song, then mixed results in the middle). I was wrong — I hit the last quarter of the record, and it floored me. The last three songs on here are as good as anything they have done to date. The biggest winner is A Passsing Rain, which is now probably my second favorite Beths song (after Little Death). I played the hell out of that song this year. Other major standouts: I Told You that I Was Afraid, Knees Deep, Silence Is Golden, 2am). This one came out on a bunch of variants: canary yellow, spring green (Carpark exclusive — 1000 copies), “galaxy blue” (Rough Trade exclusive with bonus flexi — 1000 copies), hot pink (Vinyl Me, Please exclusive, numbered — 500 copies).
Fresh — Raise Hell
I adore Fresh. This is well known. When I first listened to Raise Hell, I didn’t have the immediate “welp, that’s my new favorite song” reaction I have had to several of their prior efforts, but then proceeded to listen to Fuck Up like 26 times in a row that week. Comparing it to their other albums is an unfair standard. Raise Hell is a stellar record start to finish and I listened to it a ton in 2022. Excellent indie rock songs throughout. The infectious Fuck Up aside, Going to Bed and Our Love are the ones that grabbed me most. Released on Specialist Subject and Get Better Records on lilac marble vinyl (500 copies) and light blue marble vinyl (1000 copies).
I heard that Myles, one of their guitarists, did not tour with them on a bunch of dates this year. I hope that doesn’t mean he is starting to focus on other projects more instead of Fresh. That would be a bummer. This complete group of musicians is a unique winning formula.
Momma — Household Name
This album caught me off guard. I listened to it, thought it was solid, and that was that. And then I kept listening to it. A lot. It’s super catchy, but the guitar work is something you would have expected out of an early 90’s “alternative” album. They are not shy about their influences. There’s one song on there that has a straight-up 1993 Smashing Pumpkins riff. Anyway, quite solid overall. Brave and Medicine were my go-to tracks.
There were several variants for this one: Polyvinyl had it on red vinyl, black vinyl, and the clear with blue smoke “Early Bird Edition” (the latter limited to 500 copies). The UK and Europe versions were released on Lucky Number: there was a red vinyl version and a more scarce Dinked exclusive on clear vinyl with white splatter — that one came with a bonus 7" flexi and was numbered (out of 500).
Swami John Reis — Ride the Wild Night
Hell yeah. This is a record I desperately needed in 2022. This one has characteristically strong John Reis guitar work and a bunch of fun rock songs. We don’t get new Rocket from the Crypt albums these days, but this is a solid substitute. Reis keeps cranking out great albums and I am here for all of them. Rip from the Bone just shreds. I Hate My Neighbors in the Yellow House slays me. The title track is also excellent. Released, naturally, on Swami (300 on black vinyl, 1200 on green).
Archers of Loaf — Reason in Decline
New Archers of Loaf album! In 2022! This one was a long time coming. It was critically acclaimed, but fans have had mixed reactions to it. Personally, I think it’s really good. I don’t know what people were expecting…Icky Mettle II, in their fifties? I agree with what I have seen written about Reason in Decline most frequently: that it is a good evolution of the Archers of Loaf sound, without the band trying to recreate what it was decades ago. Since I am me (at last check), I like the louder songs a lot more than the softer songs, but that’s always been true for me with this band (with the exception of Scenic Pastures).
The first three tracks (Human, Saturation and Light, and Screaming Undercover) are all really strong. In the Surface Noise is as well. Saturation and Light is my favorite on here. The only real issue with this record is that I loved the two singles they released in 2020 so much that they set unrealistically high expectations for the album. I don’t like any single track on the album better than the two A-sides of those singles. That shouldn’t detract from the fact that we got a really solid new Archers of Loaf album, 24 years after the last one.
Released on Merge Records with several variants: black vinyl, white vinyl with red and purple swirl (“Merge Peak Vinyl” edition), turquoise vinyl (North Carolina indie exclusive — 500 copies), and purple with black and white swirl (Vinyl Me, Please exclusive — 500 copies).
Plosivs — S/T
I guess John Reis wasn’t in enough bands? We got TWO new albums from John Reis bands in 2022. This one was a San Diego supergroup, including both Rob Crow and Atom Willard. It was awesome to see John and Atom working together on something for the first time since Atom left Rocket from the Crypt in 2000. This is a killer, straight-ahead rock record. Rob Crow handles the vocals on here, so it is a quite distinct sound from the John Reis record above. Both feature his signature shredding, though.
The song I went back to more than any others was Broken Eyes, but there are a lot of good ones on here. I got to go to the first non-San Diego show of their brief tour in Brooklyn, and they killed it. The record came out on black and red vinyl. The black one was sold at their shows and the red one was sold in stores. The black one is significantly harder to find.
Me Rex — Pterodactyl/Plesiosaur
Aside from last year’s crazy, infinite-variation full-length album, Me Rex releases have tended to come in 4-song EP form. Two of those EPs came out in 2022, and they were combined and released on one record. This band is the brainchild of Myles from Fresh. This style of music normally doesn’t grab me (i.e. complex, mopey British guy songs…does that count as a genre?). Me Rex captures a specific intensity, with enough catchy parts that it all really works for me. The background vocals by Kathryn (also of Fresh) really pull some of the songs together. Skin, It Itches is the big winner on here for me. It’s all very good, though. Released on Big Scary Monsters on marble smoke vinyl (200 copies) and blue vinyl (300 copies).
Martha — Please Don’t Take Me Back
Martha is back with a characteristic Martha album. Something’s different, this time, though. These songs are much heavier in tone than any prior efforts. The darkness of the world around them has really started to permeate their songs. You’d never know it without the lyrics — the songs have the same upbeat indie rock/pop punk tempo and energy that they’ve always had. But the songs feel much, much more hopeless on this record. It’s very good. But the sound and the lyrics kind of conflict, and I’m still getting used to it.
Baby, Does Your Heart Sink? and Beat, Perpetual are standout tracks. Released on Specialist Subject in the UK and Dirtnap/Green Noise in the U.S. with a number of variants. We had cherry cola (Specialist Subject exclusive — 300 copies), white (Dirtnap/Green Noise exclusive — 300 copies), olive green (Rough Trade exclusive — 300 copies), blue (indie store exclusive — 400 copies), clear with white splatter (1000 copies), and black vinyl.
The Slackers — Don’t Let the Sunlight Fool Ya
Speaking of reliable…a new Slackers record dropped in 2022. Very solid, as we have come to expect from the Slackers over many years. The threshold has been high for me with ska albums in recent years and I don’t know why. A lot of new ones just don’t grab me, even though I am listening to old ones all the time. The Slackers always put out good material, though. They have never been shy about writing songs that reflect the world around them. This one is their response to the pandemic and the Trump years. There are some particularly strong tracks hiding on the back end of the album, such as Nobody’s Listening.
The record came out on Pirates Press, and I dread it whenever that happens, as they are prone to excessive re-presses and variants (even if it allowed me to put the great picture above together). The first press was on orange/yellow galaxy vinyl (1000 copies) grimace purple/cyan vinyl (1000 copies), and black vinyl (1000 copies). The second press was of 1000 copies on blood red/neon violet galaxy vinyl…sort of. Basically, the red dominates and you can only tell the other color is there at all if you hold it up to the light. Otherwise, it looks almost the same as the red one from the next pressing, as you can see in the picture above. Right…then there was the third pressing. They hit us with a literal rainbow of colors: 7 colors, 150 copies of each of red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple vinyl. There was even a fourth pressing — 1000 copies on white/neon violet galaxy vinyl.
Empath — Visitor
Empath is an interesting one. It’s noise rock, which doesn’t always land with me, but when it does, it’s great. This album showed a solid progression in their songwriting. The noise is still there, but the songs are generally more cohesive. It shows some good overall growth. Born 100 Times is the song I liked most off of this record. Passing Stranger is another really good one. I finally got to see Empath live this year, and it was really interesting to see some of these tracks come to life. Visitor was released on Fat Possum Records. There were three vinyl variants: bone vinyl, black vinyl, and “pink cloud” vinyl, which was a Rough Trade exclusive, limited to 300 copies.
Cheerbleederz — Even in Jest
I don’t know why I didn’t listen to this album sooner. I guess I had to dip my tow into the full extended Fresh musical universe this year, though. (Do we call that the FMU? Is that a thing? It is now a thing.) Cheerbleederz is a three-piece band, including Kathryn from Fresh. They’d had some singles and EPs out before this year, but this is their first proper full-length. It’s quite good. I’m still digesting it. It can be a little uneven at times, but overall, a very solid indie rock record. Notes App Apologies, Nail Biter, and Break Ur Arm are my early favorites. I’ll be giving this one a lot more listens, though, and my preferences may shift over time. The record came out on Alcopop! Records (500 copies on yellow vinyl).
And that wraps up the albums I wanted to feature this year. Thank you for reading. Here are some other excellent songs I dug in 2022.
2022 Excellent Songs
My Idea — I Should Have Never Generated You
Oceanator — Morning
Long Neck — Soft Animal
The 2022 Playlist
And finally, here is my Best of 2022 playlist. If I had a better way to share this than Spotify, I would use it. But if you follow me on Spotify (either through that playlist or just by searching my name), you can check out my best-of playlists for each of the last 8 years.
