The Home For Wayward Records 2021 Top 5 (So Far)
Jeff Tweedy - Love Is The King - The Covid pandemic hasn’t slowed Jeff Tweedy down one bit and if anything, he’s working even harder than normal. His new LP, Love Is The King, is already my favorite of his solo albums. It’s laid back and peaceful and finds Tweedy comfortably at home with his material. He has such a quiet elegance to his music and lyrics, that it’s hard to not fall immediately in love with this LP.
Shame - Drunk Tank Pink - I love post-punk music, so I fell in love with Shame’s 2018 debut, Songs of Praise. Their sophomore LP, Drunk Tank Pink, takes a while to get rolling, but by the end of side one its at a full boil that eventually explodes on side two. I always worry about bands losing that debut LP sound, but Shame finds a way to avoid that pitfall and come back strong with this one.
*Release Date To Be Determined*
Weezer - OK Human - It can be infuriatingly difficult to be a Weezer fan. They can put out a great LP and then follow it up with multiple duds, as was the case with The White Album being followed by the disappointing Pacific Daydream and the dreadful Black Album. OK Human finds Rivers and crew dropping a surprise LP of lush orchestral pop songs that mine the sounds of Harry Nilsson and The Beach Boys. While that might sound weird, it works incredibly well and may be my favorite thing they’ve done since 2014’s Everything Will Be Alright In The End.
*Buy OK Human [Indie Exclusive]*
Julien Baker - Little Oblivions - The third studio album from Julien Baker, Little Oblivions is a fantastic album that covers a myriad of sounds, from Indie rock to country, shoegaze and even a bit of pop punk. Over her career, Julien Baker has proven that she’s one of our best songwriters, along with contemporaries Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. (both of whom join her in the band Boygenius) This album just came out last week and I’m already completely in love with the entire thing.
Cloud Nothings - The Shadow I Remember - 2011’s Attack on Memory and 2014’s Here And Nowhere Else from Cleveland, Ohio’s Cloud Nothings absolutely blew me away. Incredible pop songcraft wrapped in a wall of feedback and noise, both albums made me feel like I’d found a new favorite band. While their last two albums haven’t quite hit those highs, their new LP, The Shadow I Remember, gets pretty close. This is one for the guitar players and people who love noise at full volume.