Early Picks for Top Underrated Albums of 2019

A new kind of alternative.

We are over the halfway mark in 2019 and we’ve already seen a lot of solid albums. So far we got a predictably superb Baroness record, a very impressive new LP from Little Simz, and a rager of a new PUP record just to name a few; and with several notable new releases from artists like TOOL, Wilco, and Hiss Golden Messenger still to come, 2019 will end up another very respectable year for music.

But for every critical darling there are always several great albums that fly under the radar either for lack of name recognition, lack of marketing budget, or for not fitting the sonic mold that every critic, intentionally or not, imposes on their ratings. That’s why we put together this list of ten albums that aren’t getting much critical attention, but we think need to be heard.

Death of the Neon by String Machine

String Machine’s sophomore record is even more breathtaking than their equally underrated debut album Threads From the Youth Fossil. Death of the Neon mixes folk, indie, emo, and post-rock to create a unique atmosphere that defies traditional categories, spearheaded by some of David Beck’s most vulnerable lyrics to date.

The Language of Injury by Ithaca

UK Label Holy Roar continue a recent trend of putting out great metal albums with Ithaca’s bone-crushing debut. This is chaotic hardcore at its finest; a record that is complex and raw both musically and lyrically from a band that should be mentioned in the same breath as greats The Chariot, Every Time I Die, and Norma Jean.

This is Not the End by Spielbergs

After a couple brushes with cult success in prior bands, the members of Norwegian punk outfit Spielbergs have finally done it. This is Not the End is an expansive magnum opus for the scene veterans, filled with anthemic shout-alongs, big fuzz riffs, and successful forays into more cinematic material.

Cause & Affection by Oginalii

The debut from sludgy Nashville rock outfit Oginalii is a genre-bending odyssey taking cues from free-jazz, power pop, progressive rock, and hardcore just to name a few. Cause & Affection is one of the most refreshingly original rock records in recent memory: it’s heavy, it’s catchy, it’s smooth, it’s dark, and it does all of it without calling to mind any comparable band.

Safe and Also No Fear by Slaughter Beach, Dog

After a brief, but intensely popular career as one of the two lead writers and singers of Modern Baseball, Jake Ewald gave up emo for folk. His latest under solo moniker Slaughter Beach, Dog showcases the strength of his trademark storytelling over laid-back folk-rock arrangements more similar to Wilco than his punk roots.

2020 by Shin Guard

Last year Pittsburgh screamo new-comers Shin Guard released one of our underground albums of the year in Cerebral. Not even one year later they returned more experimental, technical, and heavy than ever before with 2020; an artsy post-hardcore masterpiece filled with unpredictable turns, probing lyrics, and uncontrollable frenetic energy.

Pale Cicada by Makeunder

If Oginalii released the most original rock record of the year, Makeunder released the most original record period, regardless of genre. Mixing influences from RnB, to funk, to folk, to art rock the California project put out the densest dance record the world has ever seen, somehow turning songs about wrestling with death and poverty into something you can move your feet to.

The Big Freeze by Laura Stevenson

Laura Stevenson is not getting nearly enough attention. Since leaving the Jeff Rosenstock-led band Bomb the Music Industry! she has consistently proven her chops as a folk writer over the course of several albums. Her newest, The Big Freeze, is arguably her best yet; a diverse and vulnerable offering that should put her in the conversation as one of the most talented lyricists of the decade.

You’re Gonna Miss Everything Cool and Die Angry by Catholic Werewolves

Catholic Werewolves easily have the best album name of 2019 so far, and their concise, 15 minute mini-LP is also one of the best punk records of the year. You’re Gonna Miss Everything Cool and Die Angry is a witty and fun record reminiscent of Jeff Rosenstock about the seemingly systemic angst in American 20-something life.

Princess Diana by The Manana People

2019 is the year of bands with “psyche” in their genre-tags and The Manana People are one of the best of the lot. Their brand of “psyche-country” combines Beach Boys level harmonies with old-timey Western guitars, and quirky theremin and synth parts, wrapped together with a dusty lo-fi production that makes this unique album feel straight out of a Sundance film.

We’ve put all ten of these albums into a playlist for your enjoyment below.

Monthly Recap: The Best Music of January 2019

An overview of the top Albums on Not a Sound from January, 2019.

January 2019 is in the books and so is our first real month as a website! We covered 19 albums, produced one think piece, made a “Fantasy Indie Label League,” and released our first podcast this month. It’s been busy, but Ian and I have enjoyed every moment of it.

If you’re new to the blog or if you missed any of our coverage this month, don’t worry: just like your favorite teacher back in high school, we’ve made a cheat sheet for you. Here are some January highlights from Not a Sound, just for you.

Top 3 Ranked LPs

Tomb – Angelo De Augustine (8.8)

Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Ambient

Asthmatic Kitty: Jan. 11, 2019

When someone experiences a significant breakup or loss of a romantic partner, there is usually a rush of conflicting feelings. Sometimes they manifest in betrayal and anger. Sometimes there is only shock and an inability to process the event. But more often than not, the most overwhelming feeling is one of deep mourning over the fact that something that was once good and beautiful is now gone. The mind spins trying to make sense of everything; relishing memories, attempting to sort out how we got from there to here. On the title track and album opener of Angelo De Augustine’s excellent Tomb, he captures this initial feeling perfectly, at once evoking remembrances of a beautiful relationship, wondering how it is now gone, “I walked into your life at the wrong time / never quite been perceptive of real life / it was not your fault or a fault of mine / but it’s hard to let you go this time.” It is more than mourning; it is a search for justification, a deep and resounding “why?”

Read Our Full Review

Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center (8.0)

Alternative, Folk, Emo

Dead Oceans: Jan. 25, 2019

Apparently, Phoebe Bridgers really likes working with other people. After releasing last year’s excellent boygenius EP in October with fellow indie stars Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, she has returned with another collaborative album, with virtually no prior warning. This past Thursday, our ears were blessed by the self-titled debut from Better Oblivion Community Center, a collaboration between Bridgers and emo-folk veteran Conor Oberst (most famous for his work with Bright Eyes).

Read Our Full Review

Future Ruins – Swervedriver (8.0)

Alternative, Shoegaze, Fuzz Rock

Dangerbird: Jan. 25, 2019

The sixth studio album by U.K. shoegaze outfit Swervedriver is a dynamic musical exploration of modernist dystopia. It is the second new record from the band since reuniting in 2013, building on their 2015 comeback I Wasn’t Born to Lose You with a more experimental spirit while still delivering all of the touchstones fans from their 90s heyday have come to expect. Though the end product isn’t overwhelmingly groundbreaking for the band, it is a thoroughly impressive album on its own merits, swinging easily between massive arena fuzz rock, expansive shoegaze, and 70s-inspired progressive rock tendencies.

Read Our Full Review

Top 3 Ranked EPs

Change of Scenery – Buddie (7.8)

Alternative, Power Pop, Fuzz Rock

Super Wimpy Punch: Jan. 11, 2019

“How can I live with myself not helping anyone else?” As the flurry of distorted guitars reach their blaring crescendo on opening track Sloth, vocalist Dan Forrest of Philadelphia alternative outfit Buddie sets the tone with just one line. Once a conservation biologist in Equatorial Guinea, Forrest now spends his time writing fuzz rock in the vein of Pavement and early Weezer, though where his forebears made their careers writing about unrequited love, on Change of Scenery Forrest instead writes songs that are much more uniquely conscious. They may still be dorky, but only in the sense that anything passionate that isn’t drenched in cynicism isn’t patently “cool” in 2019.

Read Our Full Review

The Mystic and the Master – Laura Stevenson (7.4)

Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Acoustic

Laura Stevenson LLC: Dec. 20, 2018

The Mystic and the Master is the first new release from the New York songwriter since her 2015 full-length Cocksure. It is a two-song double single released on her mother’s birthday as a nod of appreciation for “enduring” the raising of her and her sister. In contrast to some of her prior work, both tracks are performed with only acoustic, strings, and voice. This stripped back arrangement feels even more intimate than usual for Stevenson, who makes use of the opportunity to deliver some of the sharpest and most nostalgic lines she’s penned yet.

Read Our Full Review

I Carry My Awareness of Defeat Like a Banner of Victory – Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean (6.8)

Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal

Howling Frequency: Dec. 14, 2018

Titled after a line from Fernando Pessoa’s pseudo-autobiography The Book of Disquiet, I Carry My Awareness of Defeat Like a Banner of Victory carries, in a roundabout way, an almost positive message considering the extreme nihilism that birthed it. It wears disillusionment like a coat of arms, not knowing exactly for what reason, and knowing full well that time will bury it just the same as all other banners. But in a world that seems incoherent and meaningless, it is a banner nonetheless, a marker designating something in the endless desert of nothingness, the awareness of the void, the one true victory that the emptiness can offer. Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean mirror this bleak landscape through the EP, offering little comfort while exploring the open face of the abyss with their eyes wide and their confidence unflinching.

Read Our Full Review

The January DIY Deep Dive

Parental Guidance – Ok O’Clock

Emo, Indie Punk, Grunge

Ivy League DIY: Jan. 20, 2019

The sophomore full-length from Kansas City, MO songwriter Lance Rutledge is a vulnerable reckoning with grief on the cosmic level. Here he tries to process a world that seems to be unraveling; attempting to reconcile the death, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse pervading his circumstances with the concept of a loving and caring God. It’s confessionalism at its most frank and unapologetic, calling to mind recent emo monoliths Sorority Noise and The Hotelier.

Read Our Full Review

To hear all the artists we covered this month (and a few we didn’t), check out our Monthly Listen playlist below.

Review: “The Mystic and the Master” by Laura Stevenson

Laura Stevenson has been quietly making a name for herself for the better part of the last decade. After a stint playing keyboards for the now legendary punk band Bomb the Music Industry!featuring none other than the eternal Jeff Rosenstock, Stevenson embarked on her own as a singer/songwriter, releasing her first solo offering A Recordin 2010. Since then she’s released three more full lengths and garnered a modest, but devoted following on the back of her artfully introspective lyrics and emotive singing voice. Despite her real-world success though, Stevenson has largely flown under the critical radar. This is confusing not only because of her clear talent as a lyricist, but also considering she runs in the same circle as recognizable artists like Jeff Rosenstock and Chris Farren. Her predicament calls to mind that of Kevin Devine, another artist who is almost as talented as he is criminally underrated and whose situation seems to defy all prevailing logic.

The Mystic and the Masteris the first new release from the New York songwriter since her 2015 full-length Cocksure.It is a two-song double single released on her mother’s birthday as a nod of appreciation for “enduring” the raising of her and her sister. In contrast to some of her prior work, both tracks are performed with only acoustic, strings, and voice. This stripped back arrangement feels even more intimate than usual for Stevenson, who makes use of the opportunity to deliver some of the sharpest and most nostalgic lines she’s penned yet.

On the title track she paints a stunning portrait of her mother: “Cause she loves you ’til she shrinks and she thins / Like a violet in a violin / And she’ll paint you a shiny porcelain tooth / Like the one that hangs in hunch / From her second man’s sucker punch.” With each subsequent line Stevenson blows the dust from the family photo album, providing vivid if melancholic snapshots of family tradition, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice. It’s storytelling through embodiment, unpacking the person of her mother into an engaging narrative. When she moves on to the second track, Maker of Things, she pivots into a more traditional storytelling method, but achieves the same effect. Here she juxtaposes a fight between her sister and her mother at a gas station during her childhood with witnessing the closing of the same gas station as an adult. Staring into the parking lot, surrounded by “for sale” signs, Stevenson trades her air of nostalgia for resolve: “I don’t feel small / I don’t wince, I’m not ashamed / I feel big, I push back, only time I did that.”

Though brief, The Mystic and the Master double single is one of the most gripping releases from this December, a clinic on emotive storytelling and a reminder of the underappreciated songwriter’s superior skill with words. For those unfamiliar with Laura Stevenson’s back catalog it also provides an easy launch pad into her work; some of her most potent songs put into a succinct and accessible package. Hopefully this movement on her part foreshadows a full form return to new music, because with her writing the sharper than ever, 2019 could finally be the Stevenson breakout we’ve been waiting for.

7.4/10 (Stand Out)

For more information on how our scoring system works see: https://notasound.org/2018/11/01/our-rating-scale/