Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2013

 2013

I only have four runners-up for 2013, but it's genuinely been one of the most difficult years to rank. So many albums in 2013 were able to warm or console my damaged soul, so the connection I have to them is incredibly deep. My original ranking for the albums of 2013 is once again not really in the same order as it is now because the impact of some of the albums has changed over time. I'm probably going to get more personal in this article than I've ever gotten about this year in my life, so...apologies I guess.

I gave Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend a hard time at first, but it might be my favorite of their albums now. In my defense, there were a lot of really good albums that year. I think some of the songs were just slow-burners though. Like you don't realize until months later that "Finger Back" has tunneled its weird way into your head. 

Until Modern Vampires, Vampire Weekend had been self-produced. For this album, however, they brought in producer Ariel Rechtshaid (formerly of The Hippos) who would go on to produce most tracks for their 2019 album Father of the Bride, and Haim's Grammy-nominated 2020 album Women in Music Pt. III. He brings a more commercial sound that is still indie enough to not drive away their old fanbase. The men in the band also spent some time apart, working on side projects before reconvening for Modern Vampires. They wanted the album to sound original and attempted to reject anything that sounded like their first two albums.

Modern Vampires of the City is a good album. It's different. The pitch-shifting they did made it interesting, Koenig's songwriting is on-point, and it shows a kind of maturity greater than that of their first two albums. 

My third and fourth favorite albums from 2013 are a tie. They are both very good albums for entirely different reasons. 

Electric by The Pet Shop Boys is one of the best electronic dance albums of all time in my opinion. I was disappointed by Daft Punk's Random Access Memories and I don't even know why I ended up buying Electric, but it was everything I wanted from electronic music that year. Everyone I've forced to listen to it has also really enjoyed it (or that's what they've told me with a knife to their throats. JK).

Electric was produced by Stuart Price, the producer behind their next two albums and The Killers' Day and Age. The Pet Shop Boys told Price that they wanted to make a dance record. He in turn tried to make every track sound euphoric and fresh, which I think he succeeded in doing. Electric reached #3 on the U.K. Albums Charts and #26 here in the U.S., making it the most successful Pet Shop Boys album in 20 years.

Apart from sounding great, the album features an unreliable narrator ("Love is a Bourgeois Construct"), an amazing and surprising Bruce Springsteen cover ("The Last to Die"), and a song about the pure, joyous love of music ("Vocal"). Despite the 20+ years of work by The Pet Shop Boys, Electric sounds new and vibrant.

She and Him released their third album of original material, aptly named Volume 3. Volume 3 is peak retro-pop. She and Him's first two albums were great, but this one was far more refined and complex, yet somehow also more accessible and relevant to the present day. The most interesting cover of the three on the album is "Sunday Girl," a cover of a Blondie song from Parallel Lines. Lead singer Zooey Deschanel's original material is flawless also. My favorite original tracks include "I Could've Been Your Girl," "I've Got Your Number, Son," and "Snow Queen." "I've Got Your Number, Son" is about learning that your significant other is a bit self-centered, and stringing you along while they figure out what they want. Not saying that sums up my 2013 but uh...it does. On the other end of the spectrum, "I Could've Been Your Girl" is almost (and quite possibly is actually) like the ending of the same relationship, realizing that they could have had a good relationship, but for whatever reason it wasn't what the guy wanted. 

The final two albums are almost a tie also, but since there can be only one on the leaderboard, I have to pick the one that just slightly pushed ahead in terms of relevance to my life.

Thus, the final runner-up has to be Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara. Heartthrob was originally my album of the year for 2013, but it had almost the whole year to marinate and I was still probably holding onto some of the "love-will-triumph" ideals of this album. 

Commercially, Heartthrob has been the most successful Tegan and Sara album to date in the U.S., reaching #3 on the Billboard Charts and #1 on the Alternative Charts. This is probably thanks in part to the #1 U.S. Dance hit, "Closer," which also received the "Glee bump." "Closer" has also been the band's best-performing single to date here in the U.S.

It is also just incredibly good. Tegan and Sara transitioned into '80s pop seamlessly, but continued to make the same sad, lovesick music that was expected of them. The great Greg Kurstin (whose name I'm sure you're tired of hearing by now) was brought on for the majority of the album, lending his magic touch. 

The aforementioned "Closer" kicks off the album with a punch. Co-written with producer Greg Kurstin, for once the twins are singing almost seductively about intimacy with a romantic partner. As the lyrics say, "It's not just all physical." I think the best part about the song is their promise to cherish this partner. Tegan Quin told Rolling Stone "all I intended was to write something sweet that reminded the listener of a time before complicated relationships, drama and heartbreak. I was writing about my youth, a time when we got closer by linking arms and walking down our school hallway, or talked all night on the telephone about every thought or experience we'd ever had." Like "Closer," "Drove Me Wild" is a nostalgic tale of a more innocent time. There's something incredibly personal about "Drove Me Wild." The imagery makes it more real. The concept of nostalgic tales of love would be fully realized on 2019's Hey, I'm Just Like You. 

"Goodbye, Goodbye" explores breakups in the age of text and social media, but also features the heartbreaking line that always cut me to the core, "You let me try//knowing there was nothing I could do//to change you." I'm not sure who I should feel worse for in that line, the narrator who feels misled when someone implied that they could change, or the recipient of the message who the narrator was attempting to change, only to get discouraged when they couldn't. I know who my heart does break for, but that is colored a bit by my own life around that time.

"I Was a Fool For Love" has to be my favorite on the album. I adore the metaphors throughout, as if they were some sort of knight in shining armor for the subject of the song, but I also love the piano and love the way the ladies' voices are produced. Most of all though, I enjoy the overall message. I was a fool for love. I stuck around when I shouldn't have, I tried to protect and save someone who didn't even care about my feelings. Hearing someone else verbalize that is very cathartic. So many breakup songs are about hating that person or missing that person, but this one is just about how foolish and broken you can feel after getting out of a relationship you shouldn't have invested so much in. The only song that came close around this time was "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift, but even that one is just about making a bad decision. "I Was a Fool For Love" is about really investing yourself into someone emotionally even though you probably shouldn't have, not just getting involved with someone who is emotionally unavailable. Much like "Goodbye, Goodbye," a big part of the plot in this one involves the fact that they kept convincing themselves that it was going to get better. The Quins based this one on "Umbrella" and "Unfaithful" by Rhianna. Greg Kurstin's ability to recognize what sound was possible for it was the primary reason he was chosen as the album's main producer.

"I'm Not Your Hero" ends up being about alienation not in the romantic way so much as alienated from peers in the music or political communities. Musically, critics compared it to "L.E.S. Atristes" by Santigold and "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap. Another comparison it saw was to Fleetwood Mac. Originally, it was much slower, so I'm curious as to what it would have sounded like slower and with the synths replaced by a droning Lindsay Buckingham guitar part. Co-written with fun.'s Jack Antonoff, "How Come You Don't Want Me" is a song written primarily by Sara Quin. From my perspective, it seems to be about a low self-esteem driving a lover away and the narrator then feeling even more insecure when their lover is able to easily move on. I don't know if that's the correct interpretation, but it feels that way. I think "I Couldn't Be Your Friend" should have closed the album. Sonically, it might not be the obvious choice, but there's something very final about realizing you can't be friends with an ex that screams "end of the album!" to me. 

Even though "I Was a Fool For Love" is a ballad also, "Love They Say" felt like more of a ballad for me. Also, holy crap...this song was bad news for me. The only song that made me romanticize a bad situation as much as this one was "True Love" by P!nk and Lily Rose (Allen). This song was my mantra for every time it seemed like the relationship was going to pull through. "Forget the bad times! There's nothing love can't do!" "Now I'm All Messed Up" is another heartbreaking tale of abandonment and of imagining who your beloved is seeing now. If "How Come You Don't Want Me" is Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out with Him?," this song is "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now." I always write off "Shock to Your System" until I hear it again and remember that it's about someone  remarkably damaged from a former relationship. Sara Quin has stated that she watched a great deal of movies during the writing process, and that Drive (2011) was a big inspiration. 

This album takes on love from many different angles. More than that though, it takes on relationships from many angles. That's why it feels one way when you're trying to repair something and another way when you're bemoaning the loss of a relationship. Stay tuned for my article on the music that makes up toxic relationships. It will of course contain this album and the next one.

You can't make this up. I took this next album into work to listen to for my review the morning after my breakup became official official. I normally save the personal stuff for the end on the album of the year itself, but this one is really hard to separate, so bear with me. 

In 2013, of Montreal went for a new sound again with Lousy With Sylvianbriar. Frontperson Kevin Barnes has always been known to switch up their sound regularly, but this time was a little bit different. As I've said in earlier articles, the band's early work was very independent-sounding. It saw a lot of comparisons to The Kinks and then the sound changed a couple more times, became electronic, dance-y, experimental. The album that came directly before this one, Paralytic Stalks, was a complete psychedelic soundscape. It was weird and jarring. It was unclear where the band were even going to go from there. 

...and then Lousy With Sylvianbriar came out and it was a relief that the sound was back to a normal realm. Sylvianbriar is incredibly acoustic, but beyond that, it is just excellent. Barnes was separating from their wife of ten years, the mother of their child (Barnes is nonbinary and genderqueer and goes by him/her/their pronouns, so even if it makes it a little harder to read, I'm going to use them/they/their out of respect). Barnes tends to have full creative control of their projects- writing, performing, producing, and in many cases firing the entire band Brendon Urie-style to suit their needs (or whims. I'm not in the band but I also don't judge).

Keep in mind that my definition of "acoustic" in this instance is clouded by how incredibly electronic and experimental the preceding album had been. Barnes continues their habit of being very verbose, to the point that the verboseness is more a measure of the band's genre than any musical element is.

"Obsidian Currents" contains heavy use of the pedal steel and is one of the slower songs on the album. "Belle Glade Missionaries" is faster and utilizes a walking guitar line, along with very old-school country percussion. The lyrics are some of the most poignant on the album, but more on that in a moment. Even slower than "Obsidian Currents" are "Sirens of Your Toxic Spirit" and "Raindrop in My Skull," the latter being possibly the only of Montreal song without Barnes as the lead vocalist. 

Barnes drew a great deal of inspiration from Sylvia Plath whilst working on the album, and "Colossus" is an example of her influence. More specifically, "Colossus" describes Plath's life. Barnes also offers up the idea that "your family are just losers," which he describes as a surmountable fact rather than an insult, as if accepting this statement is the first stage to moving on. "Triumph of Disintegration" is a track that acts as more advice for the audience. 

"She Ain't Speakin' Now" is one of the most simple premises on the album with some rocking guitar and percussion. "She Ain't Speakin' Now" was written when Barnes' wife and daughter were both incredibly sick with the flu.

"Hegira Émigré" is one of the most up-tempo songs on the album, strangely finding itself close to the close of the album between two slower songs.

Like I said, it's difficult to talk about this album without putting it through the filter of my own experiences, so let's just dive into that.

Taken in my ex's car, 2013.

In 2013, I was attempting to write reviews for most albums within a week of their release so I preordered a lot of albums I thought I would like and then tried to write the articles as fast as I could. There was no way this one wouldn't have gotten reviewed. The style of music Barnes chose for Lousy With Sylvianbriar was exactly my cup of tea. Considering when I listened to the album for the first time, I was also far too keen to get my feelings out (but in a far less personal way than this here). As I said earlier, I was going fresh through my breakup the day I first listened to this album, yet I still don't think that's why it hit so hard. I say that because certain parts of the album hit me in September of 2013 while other parts didn't strike me or resonate until months or even years later.

"Sirens of Your Toxic Spirit" is probably one of the first songs that struck me. There are breakup songs about missing the person and breakup songs that are kind of a middle finger to an ex, and then there's "Sirens of Your Toxic Spirit." Even the title sounds vitriolic. There has been a lot of talk in the past couple of years about toxic people and cutting them out of your life. Not only was this one ahead of the trend, it speaks of a toxic spirit. It condemns their entire soul's toxicity. This person isn't just rotten to the core, they are poisonous from the roots up. I'm going to have to present almost the full lyrics because they are incredibly well-written and were poignant to me in my situation.

What I recall
Remember best is the insanity
And the clatter

Misapprehensions are
Killing you but not
Fast enough to really matter

The flume of your struggle
Is flooded with sorrow and
Poisons everybody near it
I'm not a patron of yours anymore
Don't want to hear it
The sirens of your toxic spirit

Of your addictions and shiftiness
Inherited from your father
I know you struggle to keep them in check
But at this point why even bother

The flume of your struggle
Is flooded with sorrow and
Stifles everybody near it
I'm not a patron of yours anymore
Don't want to hear it
The sirens of your toxic spirit

What friendships you have left
Do not derive from love
They're just a warped form of charity
I've wounded you and you've wounded you too
At least we can feel good about the parity

"Sirens" isn't a hate letter, but it is a memory of a relationship you are glad to be out of. It's a message to that person that you will not be back, that you will not talk to them again. It's a sigh of relief that "I'm not a patron of yours anymore" and a statement that because of that fact, the narrator doesn't want to hear anything the antagonist has to say. So many of those statements seemed to apply to my situation, right down to the verse about "what friendships you have left."

The overall mood of "Colossus" (and the album as a whole) was a familiar one, but the idea that "my thoughts go dark and all out of focus//I have no peace in my mind" rang true as I suffered through some of the most confusing times of my life. 

"Raindrop in My Skull" is a fairly straightforward song about depression, even if it's not about your own depression. Barnes has a knack for expressing their mental health it a relatable and poetic form, and describing it as a "raindrop in my skull" that they're "too messed up now to get it out" might be the simplest way to describe depression I've ever heard. 

On that note, "Triumph of Disintegration" describes a time in which "the one thing that is good about me//Has begun to express itself in malicious ways." I'm going to need to point out quite a few things in these lyrics also. It kicks off with a brutally frank and explicit line about the last ten days being awful that really expresses the emotions of having a stretch of bad days. The lyrics go on to say "You had to forgive your enemy cause it was making you psychotic//To keep fighting him inside of your head." That line falls somewhere between good advice and just a brutal circumstance in which your hatred of someone is actually effecting the way you interact with other, unassociated people. But the song isn't even close to explaining that point, only a few lines later saying "I had to make myself a monster just to feel something ugly enough to be true." I related to that line in a sense that I will explain to you in a convoluted way. You know how people have theorized that the "Karen" real-life trope is caused by women who feel disenfranchised and want to make up for it by finding their power somewhere else? It's kind of like that. As a victim of emotional abuse and torment, I found myself being ruder and meaner to people who probably didn't deserve it, just so I could brush my sadness away with rage for a moment. More on that topic in a few. The final line I want to discuss is the unusually-structured chorus, "What is the flaw in just running away?//Running away fixes everything, how can I why should I stay?" Fight or flight can't be applied to every moment of your life. Being able to daydream about packing it all up and disappearing is absolutely a relief. Of course, the implication is that this would be no good at all, as you will eventually have to come back and fix the problems anyway.

That's a lot about a couple of songs. Let me tell you about the one that really changed my thought process a couple of years later. 

"Belle Glade Missionaries" has a few lines in it that I thought were fitting at the time. "It's your dysphoric mania that makes you so likable//And everybody wanna save you//Save you just for themself" is a front-runner. A couple of years after my breakup, there is a particular line that stood out to me- "all the evil in the universe//there are no victims, only participants." You see, the further I got from that relationship, the more I realized how messed up he had really been toward me, and the more I began to feel sorry for myself and the more I felt victimized. That line changed everything. Now I'm not saying that you can never feel sorry for yourself or that you can't accept and process the fact that you were victimized. For me though, that line was about owning up to the fact that you remained in the situation, and more importantly, that you did things that weren't so nice to other people as a way to regain your power. Yanno, that Karen stuff I was talking about. There are victims of evil all the time, but the kind of evil Barnes seems to be speaking of is within a relationship. The narrator is describing or speaking to a particular person. Sometimes it's healthy to realize that even if you are the victim of physical or emotional abuse, you have the power to change your situation. If that's not helpful to you, just ignore it. I'm not trying to victim blame, it's just that it helped me find my own power again.

Okay, that's about enough of that personal stuff, please show me the leaderboard so I can go back into hiding.

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2014.

Top 10: Albums of 2013

There are a lot of "opinions" present in and surrounding the music of 2013. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had a hit with the progressive "Same Love," Miley Cyrus was the center of controversies (but what else is new?) and Robin Thicke ensured that he would never have a feminist fanbase. Pharrel Williams became pretty much the crowned king of the radio, P!nk's album about different parts of love (which came out last year) became a must-play. Lady Gaga slipped quietly to the peripheries, despite her new album release, almost as though she really doesn't care about being the center of attention anymore. Ah yes, and lest I forget to mention it, Snoop Dog became Snoop Lion. From across bodies of water, Lily Allen made a comeback, and a sixteen-year-old from New Zealand who calls herself Lorde became a somewhat unlikely pop sensation with her song that denounces the displays of wealth that seem to prevail in rap.

I was quite impressed with the way the year turned out musically. Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" was a pleasure, even if I couldn't quite get into the groove of Gaga's "Applause." Below are ten of my favorite albums from 2013.

10. Un Album by DALI
In today's computer age, anyone can make an album. Anyone with talent, that is, and luckily, DALI has that talent. Released on Bandcamp, Un Album is a gorgeous mix of low-fi, folk, and mid-sixties girl groups, wrapped into a burrito of modern music marketing and twee lyrics. And not only is she talented enough for a promising career if she sticks with it, but she has the good sense to surround herself with talented people, like the director/cinematographer of the video for "Wildflowers."

Key Tracks:

"Wildflowers"

"The News"

"Woody Allen Song"

9. Heartbeats by Alex Sheridan

I interviewed Alex Sheridan earlier this year about Heartbeats, which was produced in my hometown. Heartbeats was a fairly commercially successful album considering it was independently released. Despite the fact that hip-hop isn't usually my cup of tea, I truly enjoyed it. Sheridan winds his way through a series of mild hip-hop tunes, coloured by complementary genres, with cameos by an array of singers and rappers.

Key Tracks:

"Say You Gotta Man"

"Muddy Shoes"

"F.I.N.E."

8. Comedown Machine by The Strokes

The Strokes were up to their usual tricks, with a decent album that just doesn't quite have the staying power to make it into anyone's top five. Comedown Machine picks up where Angles left off, but with more grit from the earlier albums, and slightly fewer electronic noises.

Key Tracks:

"Tap Out"

"One Way Trigger"

"Partners in Crime"

7. Fly By Wire by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
I reviewed Fly By Wire when it first came out. While I'm still waiting for anything to match Pershing in terms of quality, Fly By Wire was a great piece of work, with calm, catchy tunes and jangle-ey guitar. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin might have a name that stands out from the crowd, but they don't seem to rely on anything over-the-top to make themselves more sell-able, they just let the music speak for itself.

Key Tracks:
"Harrison Ford"
"Lucky Young"
"Nightwater Girlfriend"



6. Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend finally found a central sound for their music this year. Modern Vampires of the City has a complex religious level to it, but it also has a level that isn't complex: earworm songs with enough energy to keep you hooked.

Key Tracks:

"Step"

"Diane Young"

"Ya Hey"

5. Lousy With Sylvianbriar by of Montreal
As I stated in my review, of Montreal channelled 60s country and folk for Lousy with Sylvianbriar, reminiscent of the band's early albums, but completely new. There's a standout lyric from the album that really stuck with me: "all the evil in the universe//there are no victims only participants." Definitely the band's finest work in a while.

Key Tracks:
"Belle Glade Missionaries"
"Triumph of Disintegration"
"Raindrop in My Skull"

4. Electric by Pet Shop Boys
While I'm by no means an expert in the discography of Pet Shop Boys, I didn't think they would be able to remain relevant in the modern music scene. But I was grossly mistaken, because Electric is everything you could want from an electronic pop album. It's still very much a Pet Shop Boys album, but every bit as relevant to the present as any band formed in the past ten years is, and sometimes more. No other recent album does such a great job of reminding us that dance and catchy pop are finally wed and building a house together [my full review here].

Key Tracks:

"Love is a Bourgeois Construct"

"Thursday"

"Vocal"

3. Nanobots by They Might Be Giants

Much like Electric, Nanobots proved that an experienced band can still put out quality material. Like most great They Might Be Giants albums, Nanobots is scattered with superb pieces of musicality and lyrics, right alongside equally superb tracks less than a minute in length ("Hive Mind" is six seconds). I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that there are no rules to a They Might Be Giants album, apart from the fact that it has to be quality.

Key Tracks:

"Circular Karate Chop"

"Call You Mom"

"Icky"

2. Volume 3 by She & Him
If there is a precedent for clean-sounding retro-pop, I'm pretty sure She & Him set it, and Volume 3 is their finest work so far. Along with almost a dozen original compositions, Mark Ward and Zooey Deschanel improve upon and take ownership of a Blondie song and Ellie Greenwich's "Baby," and even take a stab at "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me." Volume 3 is crisp, clean, and artfully crafted: a must-hear.

Key Tracks:

"I've Got Your Number, Son"

"I Could've Been Your Girl"

"Together"

1. Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara

Many Tegan and Sara fans were disappointed with this album, but I think Heartthrob is every bit as good as their earlier albums. I reviewed it back when it came out, and I think it's grown on me since. Heartthrob doesn't just touch on aspects of relationship emotions like some of Tegan and Sara's earlier albums did, it wallows in them. It highlights the highs in a relationship, like "Closer," the assuredness ("Love They Say"), the sadness ("How Come You Don't Want Me?"), the regret as in "I Was a Fool" and "Now I'm All Messed Up," and the memories ("Drove Me Wild). Every song on the album is dripping with feelings, not rivaled since "Take Me Anywhere." Though I think their live shows have suffered from this new sound, I think Heartthrob is as good as anything they've otherwise created, and definitely one of the best albums of the year.

Key Tracks:

"I Was a Fool"

"Drove Me Wild"

"Love They Say"

Album Review: Lousy With Sylvianbriar by of Montreal

The last couple of albums of Montreal released didn't seem to be on the same level as either their early work, or Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?. But from the very first preview of "Fugitive Air," it became clear that Lousy With Sylvianbriar was going to be a good album (or a bad album with a really good track on it). Fortunately, not only did the rest of the album live up to "Fugitive Air," but sometimes surpassed it, and the album art makes it totally possible to judge an album by its cover.

Lousy With Sylvianbriar actually kicks off with "Fugitive Air," a mostly-retro, low-fi song. "Fugitive Air" contains a line I can only assume to be a reference (or misheard lyric) to "Abraham, Martin and John" by Dion: "Has anybody here seen my orphan blonde?" But more importantly, "Fugitive Air" brings to mind early of Montreal tracks, but with the twist of all the musical elements they've explored since then, and a much "harder" 60s rock feel than they ever explored before. 

From there, the album moves on to "Obsidian Currents," which gives up the harder sound for some pedal steel and a floating feel. Certain elements of "Obsidian Currents" feel like they come straight off of George Harrison's self-titled album (although that's surely not the influence). One of the strongest tracks on the album, "Belle Glade Missionaries" is next, with a distinctly 60s country feel. Kevin Barnes said he was very inspired by 50s and 60s country music on this album, and you can hear it in the loveliest of ways.

"Sirens of Your Toxic Spirit" is another standout track, with a slower tempo and gorgeous harmonies. The following track, "Colossus" has a monotonous feel, that Barnes seems to use at times to express a feeling of stagnation. 

The album takes a clear stance of mental unrest on "Triumph of Disintegration," which begins by declaring "The last ten days have been a mother****er," and goes on to say  "I had to make myself a monster just to feel something//ugly enough to be true." Along with the lyrics on the subject of depression, which Barnes has been working on and perfecting for years, there's great guitar and a use of tambourine that hasn't properly been explored by any band in years. "Triumph of Disintegration" gives way to "Amphibian Days," which bridges the gap between monotony and carefully crafted beauty. 

The instrumental rock gets a little harder for "She Ain't Speakin' Now" and the very 60s, Bob Dylan-esque "Hegira Émigré," which is easily one of the highlights of the album. "Raindrop in My Skull" features beautiful lead vocals by Rebecca Cash as well as more slide guitar and tambourine. It's interesting the way Cash manages to perfectly echo and compliment the voice of Barnes. 

The album closes on "Imbecile Rages," a track which begins with a hard-rock feel, but wavers between gentle lyricism and angry sounds. "Imbecile Rages" perfectly wraps up the album, in terms of both sound and overall feel. 

Lousy With Sylvianbriar does a terrific job of both maintaining a homogeneous sound, and not being boring, of sounding old and new, and of sounding like a concept album at both the start and finish, but not really seeming as though it's trying to be a concept album. Luckily, of Montreal have gotten their groove back, and it would be a mistake to miss out on it.

of Montreal are a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia.

Lousy With Sylvianbriar is out today and can be purchased here.

Album Review: Fly By Wire by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Bands can take many approaches in releasing a new album. The norm lately seems to be changing drastically into a 70s or 80s revival band, but Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin have remained pleasantly consistent in their sound. Their last album featured a brief shift into louder, clean sound on Let It Sway (which comes with having Chris Walla produce your album). However, Fly By Wire calls back to a sound much more similar to Pershing. It's not a regression, instead it is the band becoming very comfortable with their particular sound.

The album begins gently with "Harrison Ford," which disappointingly seems to have nothing to do with the actor. But the sound is sweet and soft with the tenderness of a Broom track and the catchiness of a song from Pershing. "Young Presidents" is poppier, but still calm and quiet, somehow bridging the unnoticed gap between noise-pop and hard rock. The next track, "Cover All Sides," is a good example of many aspects of the band, featuring a harmonious chorus, a soft verse, and their particular brand of jangling-yet-wailing guitar, and even the slightly inaccessible, but still completely sensical lyrics.

"Lucky Young" has the uplifting feel of "Modern Mystery" (and the blank-syllable chanting as well), but falls short in terms of overall staying power. On "Ms. Dot," the band manage to channel the beat from Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" and the chord changes from the bridge of The Monkees "Last Train to Clarksville" without sounding particularly like either song. That said, "Ms. Dot" is not a particularly standout track, but the tempo of the album picks of quite a bit for "Loretta," which has a reggae beat (although not feel) to it.

The album begins to wind down by "Unearth," which contains similar musical concepts to "Dead Right," but not played off as well. "Bright Leaves" is another track not quite up to par with the rest of the album.

Still, "Nightwater Girlfriend," an outstanding single from the album is used as the second to last track. "Nightwater Girlfriend" is a highlight of the album, featuring many elements that make the band good, and hooking you from the very first bar of guitar. "Nightwater Girlfriend" gives way to the title track, "Fly By Wire," which is a weaker track, but it still works fine as a wrap-up.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin have always seemed to me to be a good band that there's not to much to say  about. Fly By Wire enforces this idea. It's a good album, but somewhat indescribable. "Nightwater Girlfriend" is a great track, and  the rest of the album is pretty decent as well, but unless you know what to expect from the band, it's nothing to dive into.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are an indie pop band from Springfield, Missouri.

Fly By Wire is out September 17th, and can be purchased here.

Album Review: Electric by Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys have been consistently putting out albums since 1986, although most Americans who even recognize the name tend to think of them as the one-hit wonder band that gave us "West End Girls." But they have certainly done much more, and Electric is a testament to what a good band they truly are. Almost twenty years after the band's inception, and they are still putting out music that is fresh and relevant with heavy helpings of artistic integrity.

Electric opens with "Axis," a track which introduces the sound and overall feel of the album. Although "Axis" contains some 80s sounds reminiscent of when the band began, it sounds more like the pseudo 80s that is so popular now. This type of modern but nostalgic sound continues consistently throughout the album.

"Bolshy" is a dance-sounding track (another theme with this album), followed by what seems to me is the most sale-able single from the album, "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct." "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" opens with an instrumental that falls somewhere between the dance sound of the album and a pop baroque featuring a harpsichord sound reminiscent of some Vampire Weekend. The lyrics are artfully crafted, and paint the picture of a man who has given up on love following a breakup. I don't think they could have picked a better single for the album, and it truly is both a great pop and dance tune. The entire piece is incredibly polished, and owes a good deal to both its writer and producer.

Following "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct," the sound of the album takes a slightly darker turn. "Florescent" is a solid track, although there's nothing particularly notable about it. "Inside a Dream" seemed to be the low point of the album, although it's still not a bad song, just not incredibly good.

The biggest surprise on the album is "The Last To Die," which is actually a cover of a Bruce Springsteen track from Magic. Pet Shop Boys do such a great job of owning the song, I never would have identified it as a cover. It is a beautiful cover of a very poetic and haunting tune that I can imagine being used in a zombie film. "The Last To Die" is a reference to a John Kerry quote regarding the Vietnam war: "...how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

"Shouting in the Evening" is a heavily synthesized tune which is the shortest on the album. It turns into "Thursday" almost before you realize it. "Thursday" is a brilliant pop tune, and probably the best song on the album after "Love is a Bourgeois Construct." It also contains the Pet Shop Boys chanting style reminiscent of  the chorus in "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Toward the end of the song, Example does a little rapping, transforming the song into something not unlike a Mark Ronson and the Business International track.

The album closes with another very strong piece, "Vocal," which was featured in Youtube ads for the album. "Vocal" is almost an ode to clubbing, but more importantly, an ode to music, and how it relates to mood. "Vocal" is positive and upbeat in a way most songs do not dare to be.

Electric is one of the best albums I've heard lately by a band that isn't one I'm gaga over. Much like They Might Be Giants Nanobots, Pet Shop Boys have taken the things that they are known for (electronic music innovation) and continued to grow and develop so that the age of the band is unrelated to the relevance of their music. I feel like Electric does what Random Access Memories by Daft Punk could have done. Electric doesn't try too hard, but it also doesn't rely on old material to convince buyers it will be good. Too many bands entering their second or third decade are busy trying to convince listeners that they are still young and talented and forget to actually be good (I love you B-52's, but this means you). If you're looking for something with a touch of 80s a heavy scoop of dance feel, I recommend you check this album out.

Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic pop duo.

Electric can be purchased here.

Album Review: Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara

The sound of the 1980s is here to stay, and nothing announces its reign quite like Tegan and Sara's Heartthrob. While the art direction can trick us into believing it's just a continuation of Sainthood, the sound is far from it. Just like Taylor Swift taking the last steps toward pop last year, and fun. becoming radio-marketable, Tegan and Sara have made an album that has moved them from indie rock to indie pop (which is much more salable to the masses).

Heartthrob opens with "Closer," the incredibly poppy lead single that was actually played on some radio stations months ago. "Closer" serves as a pretty accurate preview of the album, with a much more dance-like feel than any of Tegan and Sara's earlier work. "Goodbye, Goodbye" is emotionally much closer to traditional Tegan and Sara, but the melancholy lyrics are juxtaposed by incredibly upbeat instrumentals and synths that wouldn't need remixed to be played in a club.

One of the top tracks on this album is "I Was a Fool," which is sure to be another single given time. Although it's a different sound for Tegan and Sara, it reminds us of the raw emotion these girls can convey, and uses call and answer vocals that are part of their traditional sound (as in "Call It Off," amongst others). The keys interwoven with the synths serve to be just as emotional as the lead vocals, giving every aspect of this song the kind of care and intricacy that a good track needs.

"I'm Not Your Hero" features some of the best lyrics of the album, such as: "I'm not their hero/But that doesn't mean that I wasn't brave." It begins much like their usual work, but moves into an 80s power ballad at the chorus.

The most upbeat, and possibly one of the best tunes on this album is "Drove Me Wild." "Drove Me Wild" brings the sensuality of the album to another level with lines like: "When I envision you, I think of your sheets//tangled up beneath me."

"How Come You Don't Want Me" and "I Couldn't Be Your Friend" are two incredibly 80s tracks, with electronic drums, beats, and echo effects. These songs convey the emotional volatility the girls are known for, but with a very different sound than the usual. "Love They Say" is far less poppy, and contains an almost tear-jerking level of sentimentality. It has a much more stripped-down sound than the rest of the album, and relies primarily on the vocals and the powerful lyrics (You don't need to wonder if love will make us stronger//there's nothing love can't do). The calmer sound carries over to the introduction of "Now I'm All Messed Up," which begins with the poignant line: "Stay//You'll leave me in the morning anyway." "Now I'm All Messed Up" builds to a more heavy sound, and evokes the emotions felt by someone who is fairly torn in a relationship, between how much they love someone and how much the person is hurting them. The most gorgeous part of the song is when the chorus of "go, go, go if you want//I can't stop you" is interrupted by a call of "Please stay" between each line, expressing the sentiment that the narrator seems to be trying to hard to deny throughout the first half of the song.

The closer for the album is "Shock to Your System," which seems to be a fairly even mix of the Sainthood sound and the new Heartthrob sound. It's not the most powerful song on the album, but it works as a wrap-up.

Heartthrob has more of a common theme than previous Tegan and Sara albums, each song outlining the virtues and downfalls of love and relationships, and each track dripping with passion. The primary negative is that there is less of the "curled up in the corner" sound that one can expect from certain earlier works. Heartthrob has a new kind of strength of character, even in the saddest songs. It's also wonderful the way the songs range from singing the praises of love in "Love They Say" to describing the sickening feeling one gets when they imagine where their lover is now in "Now I'm All Messed Up." This album is far more sensual and even sexual than one would typically expect from this duo, but it's never tacky. While I personally don't enjoy it as much as The Con, the artistry is undeniable, and the lyrics have reached a new level of maturity and elegance.

Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie rock duo.

Heartthrob can be purchased here for $5.