[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Haim, Don’t Save Me
http://open.spotify.com/track/6Je5Vjd8VXVpQYcOiav5KU
One of the most-hyped indie-rock albums of the year – Grantland called it “so perfect that there's hardly anything ‘indie’ about it” – deserves the accolades.  Spotify labels it “R&B-influenced soft rock,” and these three sisters from the San Fernando Valley have drawn comparisons to Fleetwood Mac mashed with 80s pop.  The hard-to-pigeonhole style has a number of different influences, but the common theme is fun, catchy melodies.  My favorite song is “Don’t Save Me,” but you also might like to try “The Wire,” “Forever,” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.”

Wild Child, Crazy Bird
http://open.spotify.com/track/5d9SYJezRJqMYJBQu1X3Mp
Wild Child’s song “Living Tree” was named one of NPR’s best songs of 2013.  “Crazy Bird” is better, maybe my favorite song of the year.  It’s incredibly catchy, and I love the sound of the female singer’s voice.  I’d generally describe them as folk-pop.  NPR’s description of “Living Tree”: “Kelsey Wilson, one of two leaders of this playfully old-timey Austin-based band, has the voice of a Jazz Age Broadway baby, all coos and hiccups and shivers. Songs like this one are gin cocktails, fizzy with just a hint of a juniper-berry bite.”

Cold Blood Club, Goodbye to All That
http://open.spotify.com/track/46d4Lmy1ZHpyPEixBKHjRH
Electro-pop dance rock, I don’t know how to describe this, but it’s catchy and fun.  The 2012 release “Ladies and Gentlemen” is better (http://open.spotify.com/track/4l2zmEkeFgJvug3EsuDHDG).

Gaslight Anthem, “45” or Handwritten
http://open.spotify.com/track/25Sd73fleKUVPNqITPZkn1
http://open.spotify.com/track/2NUwA4xWCIxU3TVw9Un3nK
These songs were actually released in 2012, but they’re too good to omit.  Gaslight Anthem is a more modern/alternative-sounding Bruce Springstreen.  (Spotify calls it soulful punk rock, but I’d dispute the “punk” appellation.)  I think my favorite description of Gaslight’s songs is “heart-on-sleeve rock anthems” (though I think that was describing the earlier, admittedly better “59 Sound”).

The National, I Should Live in Salt
http://open.spotify.com/track/6gf7WF9nXNON9HdNtrdEDq
Some people describe The National as boring or bland; I think you just need to give the songs a few listens.  They’re soulful, deep, and melodic.  I’d also recommend from the same album “Demons,” “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” or “Sea of Love.”  Spin says: “Anatomies of melancholy in modern music rarely come with skeletons as complete as the National's.”

Frank Turner, Plain Sailing Weather
http://open.spotify.com/track/4Rpz1cMDsEgHbQc9A5o0VC
Turner “turns out highly quotable, sometimes deliriously catchy rants about life after punk.”  This is just a good rock album, and “Plain Sailing Weather” is its best song.

Okkervil River, Down the Deep River
http://open.spotify.com/track/1SIQLf6ZWauO1fcPxl9lvB
Stealing this from an online review: “bruised and brooding melodies, eclectic and calculated arrangements, deep and poetic lyrics.”

Finally, I’d also echo the recommendations for MS MR (though I might pick the song “Fantasy”) and Tegan and Sara’s “Closer.”

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Haim, Don’t Save Me
http://open.spotify.com/track/6Je5Vjd8VXVpQYcOiav5KU
One of the most-hyped indie-rock albums of the year – Grantland called it “so perfect that there's hardly anything ‘indie’ about it” – deserves the accolades.  Spotify labels it “R&B-influenced soft rock,” and these three sisters from the San Fernando Valley have drawn comparisons to Fleetwood Mac mashed with 80s pop.  The hard-to-pigeonhole style has a number of different influences, but the common theme is fun, catchy melodies.  My favorite song is “Don’t Save Me,” but you also might like to try “The Wire,” “Forever,” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.”

Wild Child, Crazy Bird
http://open.spotify.com/track/5d9SYJezRJqMYJBQu1X3Mp
Wild Child’s song “Living Tree” was named one of NPR’s best songs of 2013.  “Crazy Bird” is better, maybe my favorite song of the year.  It’s incredibly catchy, and I love the sound of the female singer’s voice.  I’d generally describe them as folk-pop.  NPR’s description of “Living Tree”: “Kelsey Wilson, one of two leaders of this playfully old-timey Austin-based band, has the voice of a Jazz Age Broadway baby, all coos and hiccups and shivers. Songs like this one are gin cocktails, fizzy with just a hint of a juniper-berry bite.”

Cold Blood Club, Goodbye to All That
http://open.spotify.com/track/46d4Lmy1ZHpyPEixBKHjRH
Electro-pop dance rock, I don’t know how to describe this, but it’s catchy and fun.  The 2012 release “Ladies and Gentlemen” is better (http://open.spotify.com/track/4l2zmEkeFgJvug3EsuDHDG).

Gaslight Anthem, “45” or Handwritten
http://open.spotify.com/track/25Sd73fleKUVPNqITPZkn1
http://open.spotify.com/track/2NUwA4xWCIxU3TVw9Un3nK
These songs were actually released in 2012, but they’re too good to omit.  Gaslight Anthem is a more modern/alternative-sounding Bruce Springstreen.  (Spotify calls it soulful punk rock, but I’d dispute the “punk” appellation.)  I think my favorite description of Gaslight’s songs is “heart-on-sleeve rock anthems” (though I think that was describing the earlier, admittedly better “59 Sound”).

The National, I Should Live in Salt
http://open.spotify.com/track/6gf7WF9nXNON9HdNtrdEDq
Some people describe The National as boring or bland; I think you just need to give the songs a few listens.  They’re soulful, deep, and melodic.  I’d also recommend from the same album “Demons,” “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” or “Sea of Love.”  Spin says: “Anatomies of melancholy in modern music rarely come with skeletons as complete as the National's.”

Frank Turner, Plain Sailing Weather
http://open.spotify.com/track/4Rpz1cMDsEgHbQc9A5o0VC
Turner “turns out highly quotable, sometimes deliriously catchy rants about life after punk.”  This is just a good rock album, and “Plain Sailing Weather” is its best song.

Okkervil River, Down the Deep River
http://open.spotify.com/track/1SIQLf6ZWauO1fcPxl9lvB
Stealing this from an online review: “bruised and brooding melodies, eclectic and calculated arrangements, deep and poetic lyrics.”

Finally, I’d also echo the recommendations for MS MR (though I might pick the song “Fantasy”) and Tegan and Sara’s “Closer.”