The Audible Snail writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2023: The Audible Snail

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2023. Our next list is from DJ The Audible Snail.

What does music sound like as it emerges? Fucked Up’s “Cicada” comes to mind as a single track to wrap around 2023. Grappling with isolationism, war, disease, late capitalism swinging its ax with rigor and rage, we seek art, sweetness, connection, reconciliation with age. 2023 marks a year of whiplash, reaching back for what was, pushing forward for what could be. Jenny Lewis’ Joy’All is a masterpiece of reflection — ‘What the fuck was that?!’ on the song “Puppy and a Truck” is as a good a sentiment as any. My top 10 albums of 2023 are complied of new and rediscovered and reinviting bands and artists. A bit emo, a bit alt country, a love of rock ‘n’ roll, psych pop & r&b for the soul, punk rock always, a splash of experimentalism, and some good ole Massachusetts hardcore. Listen to these albums to emerge—or molt.

10,000 Gecs by 100 Gecs (Dog Show Records)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

“Hollywood Baby” by 100 Gegs might be the catchiest song of the year. The track certainly hit CHIRP Radio’s heavy rotation airwaves with reckless abandon when 10,000 Gecs was released in March. Hailing from St. Louis, 100 Gecs is an electronic duo who won hearts this year with their playful lyrics and bouncy refrains. The track “Frog on the Floor” is an absolute joyful masterpiece of youth, curiosity, and compassion. This album charts my top 10 because of its innovation, creativity, positivity, sass, and experimental prowess.

Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart by Lucinda Williams (Highway 20 / Thirty Tigers)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart is Lucinda Williams’ 15th studio album and the first release since she suffered a stroke in 2020. Williams is in full voice and power on this rollicking bar-rock album. “New York Comeback” is the album’s top single, full of bittersweet rock reminiscence, baseball and theatre references, Backed by The Boss (Bruce Springsteen) on vocals—it is an absolute gem. The title track, “Rock N Roll Heart” is a nod to the bootstrap dreams of working class kids looking for a way out of small town life. A hauntingly beautiful ode, “Jukebox” pays tribute to the company music can bring to lonely souls at late night bars: “They've got an old Wurlitzer, it's a work of art, / And I've got a handful of quarters / And I know how to ease my lonely heart.” The opening vocals and melody on “Jukebox,” as well as on “Hum’s Liquor,” are refreshing callbacks to 1993’s “Something About What Happens When We Talk.” For catchy, yet foreboding blues rock, play “This Is Not My Town.” Alt-country goddess, blues and bar-rock ballads, composed for lonely hearts of rock 'n' roll dreams, Lucinda Williams is an absolute musical icon. Sit with these songs. They’ll do you good.

History Books by The Gaslight Anthem (Rich Mahogany / Thirty Tigers)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

The Patron Saint of Door Dashing, Brian Fallon, and The Gaslight Anthem released History Books, the band’s sixth studio album and the first full length since 2015. At 10 tracks and 40 minutes front to back, this album is solid rock ‘n’ roll. Equally rollicking and remorseful, History Books checks all the bittersweet boxes of ballads for anyone waiting for the band to reunite after an extended recording break. Bruce Springsteen also makes an appearance on the album’s title track, and there is something about New Jersey grit that pulls this album together. At Riot Fest 2023, Brian Fallon joked with the crowd that he’d be Door Dashing after the set, noting that musicians don’t make enough money to live, and—well, “it’s better than doing cocaine.” Transformative and transcendent, as all major life changes and choices can be, this album wrestles demons and demands angels, and earnestly succeeds as a masterpiece in the process

HELLMODE by Jeff Rosenstock (Polyvinyl)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

From the punk/hardcore foundations of Bomb the Music Industry!, Jeff Rosentock brings us HELLMODE, his fifth studio solo album. It is emotionally glorious, loud, and angsty for all the late-capitalist aging hearts in this strange and unraveling world. It is an album about heartbreak, loneliness, and regret, nestled into punk bass rhythms and some ska beats akin to his 2021 album, SKA DREAM. “DOUBT” was the first single released; paired with a disturbingly beautiful animated short, the song is so vulnerable and honors the fragile state of isolation, anxiety, and depression in this age after quarantine. The notes acoustically and gently open on “HEALMODE,” a track that’s a little softer on the soul . The distortion on “WILL U STILL U” is a plea for forgiveness in the form of playful guitar riffs and drum chaos through an ever progressing crescendo of noise. A fun punk song, play “I WANNA BE WRONG” for two-minutes of quick moshing. A good 7-minutes track to plan at the end of a show, “3 SUMMERS” attempts to wrap up the album’s disconnected sentiments: “I want the banks and schools to close / I want the universe to glow.”

Perennial by Woods (Woodsist)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Namesake to their sound, Perennial is Woods’ twelfth studio album and is a polished psych-folk flora-inspired composition that entangles sweetness with distinctly poetically darker lyrics. The band is known for their electro loop jams, and the Brooklyn band traveled to California to record this dreamy soundscape coalescing folk rock roots & undertones. “Little Black Flowers” is a catchy love song, with vocalist Jeremy Earl’s gorgeously high pitched lyrics leading the reverie: “Wrap your lips around the sun / Take your eyes and turn it to the moon / And I'll show you that this might be having fun.” A perfect release for crisp weather, the album is a meditation on winter months—play “White Winter Melody” for an instrumental jazzy serenade. “Day Moving On” has a lighthearted, pop refrain that will have you bopping your head and dancing. One of the album’s pre-released singles, “Weep” is a lyrically-forward groovy track. Enjoy this ethereal forest stroll through sound.

I’ve Got Me by Joanna Sternberg (Fat Possom)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Lyrically hearts on our sleeves, Joanna Sternberg’s 2nd studio album, I’ve Got Me, is an earnest recording of raw emotion. Folk emo acoustic and poetically composed, this album captures the intensity of interconnection gone wrong and co-dependent relationships. It is an album for daydreaming and dismantling misogyny on a personal level. It’s self-deprecating and crystal clear—& absolutely a must listen if you want to hear a piano key dismantle the patriarchy.

Music from the Song Film: Omoiyari by Kishi Bashi (Joyful Noise)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

In Music from the Song Film: Omioyari (empathy, or compassion for another), Japanese-American singer, songwriter, and composer, Kishi Bashi takes a quiet and serious look at the Japanese concentration camps in the American west during World World II. The album’s composition and improvisations tell a story of colonialism, racism, relocation, and patriotism. Both the film and the album expose the inhumanity of family separations within the Japanese immigrant experience during the last century, and the current crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border. It is an album for peace and of sorrow, an orchestral masterpiece woven through with reflection, narrative, piano, and violin. It is a love story and reverie for connection. “Violin Tsunami for the Victims Of Tacoma Deportation” is the album’s crescendo, the crisis brought forth at the heart of the story, followed by “Epilogues from Improvisations on EO9066,” a spoken word meditation on what it means to be an American. The second track, “Red, White, and Blue,” sets the story with sadness, the color blue a dripping metaphor for love and loss, and — honestly, a brilliant narrative technique found in fables — an invitation to listen. “Summer of ‘42” is a love song that appears on his 2019 full length album: Omoiyari. “A Safe Place for Animals” is an adorable song for children. A bit jazzy, “1853: Commodore Perry and HIs Black Ships” is a catchy instrumental number. Play “Chicago Meditation” for a quiet, historical instrumental. And of course, there is the acoustic version of 151a’s “Manchester” — a gorgeous lullaby for humanity. Take time with this score and with these songs — and with this history. See the songfilm, and let Kishi Bashi invite you to dream of a world with symphonic compassion.

Death is Nothing To Us by Fiddlehead (Run for Cover)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Hailing from my home state of Massachusetts, Fiddlehead releases their third studio album in post-hardcore glory. Loud, rumbling distortion and anger-fueled lyrics fiercely resilient. The band doesn’t hold back on its critique of capitalism, illuminating workhorse culture and working class strife. Holding the baton for the longstanding Massachusetts hardcore scene, Death is Nothing To Us is a respite spin on an angry sunny day.

End by Explosions in the Sky (Temporary Residence Limited)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Anytime you want to hear stars twinkle, drop a turntable needle on Explosions in the Sky. End is their eighth studio album and their first release since 2016. Relax into space with the band’s marching band drum hypnotic, enter a dreamscape of emotional highs and lows, amble through joy inducing crescendos, and relax into mesmerizing compositions. Ever uplifting and celebratory, the band continues to release epics. Let this album soundtrack a quiet adventure, a sunny day, an inquisitive heart.

7s by Avey Tare (Domino)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

7s is Avey Tare’s fourth solo LP. Its loops and repetitions reminiscent of Animal Collective’s 2016 Painting With, especially the first track “Invisible Darlings,” which sounds like a pop-psychotropic underwater adventure. “Lips at Night” is unassuming and lovely, becoming sweeter over multiple plays. “The Musical”is a meta referential and lyrically solid track, perhaps the most poppy—and it is, in fact, a strange homage to the art of musical making. The album’s tone shifts during “Hey Bog,” becoming a little more reflective and serious. “Hey Bog” is a story, or memory or adventure in a wilderness—you can almost imagine it scoring a contemporary animated remake of The Wind in the Willows, a fun and admirable compositional feat. Lots of piano and organ melodies, 7s is a concise forty-three minute montage that is simultaneously joyful and ominous. The last song, “Cloud Stop Rest Restart” is the loneliest.

Honorable Mentions

Favorite Singles of 2023
“Radio” - Margo Price, Sharon Van Etten
“Time Ain’t Accidental” - Jess Williamson
“Take Tall Walks” - Clementine Was Right
“Bringing Back the Feel” - Árstíðir
“Space Invader” - The National
“Aselstine” - Yo La Tengo
“Hear Us Out” - Rancid
“Violent Jubilee” - Fust 
“Borrow Trouble” - Feist
“Black Earth, WI” - Ratboys
“Good Sex” - Palehound
“Cicada” - Fucked Up
“Spend the Night” - BJ The Chicago Kid, Coco Jones
“Puppy and a Truck” - Jenny Lewis
“Tiny Garden” - Jamila Woods