The Best of 2019

In Features by Jason L.

This year has been a blur and I’m not sure I listened to half the music I planned to. As I started compiling my Best of 2019 playlist, I found several albums that slipped through the cracks after saving them for a future listen. One of them was Encore by The Specials which has been on constant repeat in my car all week. Incredible! They last released an album in 1998 which is a few years before The Regrettes’ front-woman Lydia Night was born. Time seems to be slipping away faster and faster as we get older. Luckily, bands like The Regrettes and Bang Bang Romeo are emerging and will carry the rock-n-roll torch when some of us are gone.

January brought a spectacular EP from Sunflower Bean. The lead single “Come For Me” has been on constant rotation for me in 2019 and still gives me a thrill. At the other end of the calendar, UK post-punk band Shopping dropped “Initiative” just this month and it’s impossibly fun and smart. Wedged in-between these two songs was a long anticipated debut from England’s mighty Bang Bang Romeo that delivers stadium-sized anthems while celebrating an inclusive and compassionate worldview. 

This was the year that I finally “got” Lana Del Rey and Norman Fucking Rockwell! certainly deserves the acclaim it has received. The ethereal voice and atmosphere finally hit home for me and the album belongs on everyone’s Best Of list. In other realms, Bruce Springsteen went a little bit country (Western Stars), Sturgill Simpson went a little bit rock (SOUND & FURY), and we were lucky enough to be alive to hear both albums. Sleater-Kinney ruffled some feathers with The Center Won’t Hold but it’s a brilliant record that will survive the criticism. 

If forced to choose only one album from 2019, I would stand my ground and insist on two: The Regrettes’ How Do You Love? and Lily & Madeleine’s Canterbury Girls. Both bands balance the energy of youth with a blossoming maturity. The songs are sharp, emotional, and honest. While The Regrettes trade in various shades of pop-punk to deliver their effervescent tales, Lily & Madeleine deliver Americana-tinged pop songs that harken back to the classic songwriters of the 1970s. Both bands have been building a loyal following on the road and the future only promises more amazing music from them. There is more music than I can write about so if you want to hear more, the Best of 2019 playlist is below. Enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who read even a single sentence I wrote in 2019 whether here, at Drunken Werewolf, Strangeways Radio, Hard Rock, or the Daily Duranie. Music pulls me in many directions and I hope our paths cross in 2020.