Yesterday (November 27), we kicked off our year-end coverage with a list of the 20 Worst Album Covers of the Year. Today, we're getting to the good stuff: namely, the very best albums of 2017. As we do every year, we're rolling out a Best of 2017 album list for each genre that we cover, beginning with albums 20 to 11 of our Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums today (November 28). Tomorrow, we'll publish albums 10 through 1 (Edit: you can read this now, here).
Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2017, 20-11:
20. Partner
In Search of Lost Time
(You've Changed Records)
Who moves from Sackville, passing over Montreal and Toronto, to launch their career in Windsor, Ontario? Only a group as committed to blazing their own path as Partner. On their debut, In Search of Lost Time, Josée Caron and Lucy Niles are at perfect ease being themselves, penning songs about watching TV, smoking weed and living with roommates. But it's the way they match this tongue-in-cheek banality with soaring '90s guitars and an amazingly droll sense of humour that gives this album its undying charm.
There are thousands of musicians in Toronto right now wishing they could craft something as original as Partner have going from their Windsor apartment.
Daniel Sylvester
19. The National
Sleep Well Beast
(4AD)
There's a list of descriptors that writers always use to describe the National — melancholic, elegant, contemplative, poetic, restrained, grand — and though the band must be tired of that same old list, their seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast is a testament to the power of their sonic consistency.
With lost love hanging over each track, the band tackle themes of persistence with their trademark drama. On "Turtleneck," Matt Berninger lets his voice crack while singing "This is so embarrassing / Ah, we're pissing fits / Crying on our doorsteps in T-shirts loose and ripped"; synth beats slip their way onto "Walk it Back" as Berninger whispers "forget it, nothing I change changes anything." It's the National's characteristically composed vulnerability, but with Sleep Well Beast, they're letting the dark, beautiful cracks show.
Courtney Baird-Lew
18. The xx
I See You
(Young Turks)
Though the xx are famous for being introverted and sullen, they sound anything but on I See You. The Mercury prize-winning trio's third effort (and first since producer Jamie xx struck out on his own with the hugely successful In Colour) is joyous, danceable and deeply assured.
Opening track "Dangerous" sports rallying cry horn blasts and seductive singing from both vocalists Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. Croft and Sim give a more earnest, pining turn on "On Hold," though it's no less grooving thanks to the kinetic instrumental from Jamie xx. On I See You, the xx let you hear their joy.
Kyle Mullin
17. Sheer Mag
Need to Feel Your Love
(Wilsuns RC)
Rock'n'roll is far from dead, particularly if bands like Philly quintet Sheer Mag are going to keep breathing new life into the genre. While the band's debut LP could have coasted on its stockpile of catchy riffs recalling the best of AC/DC and Thin Lizzy, it stands out from the pack thanks to frontwoman Tina Halladay's breathtaking sense of urgency.
Reclaiming longtime signifiers of male aggression as beacons of inclusivity, Halladay's lyrics turn muscular rock into calls to action, speaking out against police brutality and systemic oppression. The year made it clear that "more of the same" just won't cut it moving forward, and Need to Feel Your Love helped lead the charge on enacting lasting change.
Matt Bobkin
16. (Sandy) Alex G
Rocket
(Domino)
When lo-fi pop prodigy Alex Giannascoli first broke beyond Bandcamp with 2014's DSU, the Philadelphia singer-songwriter received comparisons to Elliott Smith thanks to his intimate, Pacific Northwest-inspired indie rock. But Rocket — his second full-length for a label following the critically acclaimed Beach Music — is the first album that finds him sounding entirely his own (even with added musicians this time around).
A hodgepodge of idiosyncratic alt-country (the album's first four tracks), abrasive punk ("Brick"), experimental soundscapes ("Horse") and auto-tuned piano balladry ("Sportstar"), Rocket is a testament to Giannascoli's singular vision, and another reason why artists like Frank Ocean are taking notice, too. (Domino Recording Co.)
Matthew Ritchie
15. Weaves
Wide Open
(Buzz Records)
Weaves' 2016 debut stood in stark contrast to rock's stilted state, but Wide Open found the Toronto quartet embracing their role as one of the genre's most exciting bands going by making a big, classically anthemic record.
From the opening notes of "#53" through the strutting "Slicked," mid-tempo power-ballad "Walk Away" and epic closer "Puddle," the band hit all the notes we've come to expect from our stadium rock heroes. Yet Weaves filter the form through their typically jazzy, askew — and always fun — musical worldview, conforming to expectations just long enough so they can fuck with them.
Ian Gormely
14. King Krule
The OOZ
(True Panther Sounds)
On his second album as King Krule, London songwriter Archy Marshall asks listeners to spend an hour wallowing in his regret and fury. But The OOZ isn't merely a tortured artist record; its dark subject matter belies Marshall's ability to glom onto different genres and absorb them into his own cohesive sound.
Wilted Bossa Nova ("Logos"), charging punk ("Emergency Blimp") and noir-ish jazz ("Biscuit Town") bathe tracks in nocturnal unease, while Marshall bellows fractured narratives of insomnia-ridden nights and drunken mistakes. It's a discomfiting experience, but Marshall's ability to sustain this mood without lapsing into self-flagellation or cliché makes The OOZ one of the year's most haunting listens.
Matthew Blenkarn
13. Fleet Foxes
Crack-Up
(Nonesuch)
After being largely absent through indie folk's time in the spotlight of pop music trends, Fleet Foxes avoided falling victims to the very sonic tropes they helped popularize with Crack-Up. It's a record at once dynamically challenging, compositionally impressive and infinitely more rewarding than what those same peers have created to this point — and with their trademark immaculate harmonies intact.
As frontman Robin Pecknold expressed on Reddit last year, "I feel like there was a period from 2012 to 2016 where it would have been very culturally exhausting to release a 'folk'-sounding album." In our currently exhausting culture, Crack-Up is a welcome retreat.
Calum Slingerland
12. Mac DeMarco
This Old Dog
(Royal Mountain)
Earnestness suits Mac DeMarco well.
On his third full-length and first as a Los Angeles resident, the BC-born singer-songwriter set aside a lot of the humour that's made him such a beloved figure in order to explore more solemn themes like mortality and his damaged relationship with his estranged father. This introspection, coupled with the reliance on only an acoustic guitar and keyboard, further illuminated both his developing musicianship and his fascination with '70s soft rock influences.
With This Old Dog, Mac DeMarco proved that he isn't just a butt-rearing hero for millennials — he's also one of the most talented songwriters of his generation.
Cam Lindsay
11. Father John Misty
Pure Comedy
(Sub Pop)
Pure Comedy might not be the best record of the year, but it's that special, rare breed of album that makes you feel awful while still compelling you to listen over and over. Josh Tillman hammered out a politically and philosophically charged folk diary that doesn't just beg its listeners to re-evaluate their lifestyles and beliefs by theme and lyrics, but through the warm sonic coercion of strings and rich acoustic guitar.
Full of wit, sadness and only one or two real preachy old man lines (like the bit about Taylor Swift in VR — yikes!), Pure Comedy oozes the pessimism of 2017 without succumbing to it entirely.
Corey van den Hoogenband
Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2017, 20-11:
20. Partner
In Search of Lost Time
(You've Changed Records)
Who moves from Sackville, passing over Montreal and Toronto, to launch their career in Windsor, Ontario? Only a group as committed to blazing their own path as Partner. On their debut, In Search of Lost Time, Josée Caron and Lucy Niles are at perfect ease being themselves, penning songs about watching TV, smoking weed and living with roommates. But it's the way they match this tongue-in-cheek banality with soaring '90s guitars and an amazingly droll sense of humour that gives this album its undying charm.
There are thousands of musicians in Toronto right now wishing they could craft something as original as Partner have going from their Windsor apartment.
Daniel Sylvester
19. The National
Sleep Well Beast
(4AD)
There's a list of descriptors that writers always use to describe the National — melancholic, elegant, contemplative, poetic, restrained, grand — and though the band must be tired of that same old list, their seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast is a testament to the power of their sonic consistency.
With lost love hanging over each track, the band tackle themes of persistence with their trademark drama. On "Turtleneck," Matt Berninger lets his voice crack while singing "This is so embarrassing / Ah, we're pissing fits / Crying on our doorsteps in T-shirts loose and ripped"; synth beats slip their way onto "Walk it Back" as Berninger whispers "forget it, nothing I change changes anything." It's the National's characteristically composed vulnerability, but with Sleep Well Beast, they're letting the dark, beautiful cracks show.
Courtney Baird-Lew
18. The xx
I See You
(Young Turks)
Though the xx are famous for being introverted and sullen, they sound anything but on I See You. The Mercury prize-winning trio's third effort (and first since producer Jamie xx struck out on his own with the hugely successful In Colour) is joyous, danceable and deeply assured.
Opening track "Dangerous" sports rallying cry horn blasts and seductive singing from both vocalists Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. Croft and Sim give a more earnest, pining turn on "On Hold," though it's no less grooving thanks to the kinetic instrumental from Jamie xx. On I See You, the xx let you hear their joy.
Kyle Mullin
17. Sheer Mag
Need to Feel Your Love
(Wilsuns RC)
Rock'n'roll is far from dead, particularly if bands like Philly quintet Sheer Mag are going to keep breathing new life into the genre. While the band's debut LP could have coasted on its stockpile of catchy riffs recalling the best of AC/DC and Thin Lizzy, it stands out from the pack thanks to frontwoman Tina Halladay's breathtaking sense of urgency.
Reclaiming longtime signifiers of male aggression as beacons of inclusivity, Halladay's lyrics turn muscular rock into calls to action, speaking out against police brutality and systemic oppression. The year made it clear that "more of the same" just won't cut it moving forward, and Need to Feel Your Love helped lead the charge on enacting lasting change.
Matt Bobkin
16. (Sandy) Alex G
Rocket
(Domino)
When lo-fi pop prodigy Alex Giannascoli first broke beyond Bandcamp with 2014's DSU, the Philadelphia singer-songwriter received comparisons to Elliott Smith thanks to his intimate, Pacific Northwest-inspired indie rock. But Rocket — his second full-length for a label following the critically acclaimed Beach Music — is the first album that finds him sounding entirely his own (even with added musicians this time around).
A hodgepodge of idiosyncratic alt-country (the album's first four tracks), abrasive punk ("Brick"), experimental soundscapes ("Horse") and auto-tuned piano balladry ("Sportstar"), Rocket is a testament to Giannascoli's singular vision, and another reason why artists like Frank Ocean are taking notice, too. (Domino Recording Co.)
Matthew Ritchie
15. Weaves
Wide Open
(Buzz Records)
Weaves' 2016 debut stood in stark contrast to rock's stilted state, but Wide Open found the Toronto quartet embracing their role as one of the genre's most exciting bands going by making a big, classically anthemic record.
From the opening notes of "#53" through the strutting "Slicked," mid-tempo power-ballad "Walk Away" and epic closer "Puddle," the band hit all the notes we've come to expect from our stadium rock heroes. Yet Weaves filter the form through their typically jazzy, askew — and always fun — musical worldview, conforming to expectations just long enough so they can fuck with them.
Ian Gormely
14. King Krule
The OOZ
(True Panther Sounds)
On his second album as King Krule, London songwriter Archy Marshall asks listeners to spend an hour wallowing in his regret and fury. But The OOZ isn't merely a tortured artist record; its dark subject matter belies Marshall's ability to glom onto different genres and absorb them into his own cohesive sound.
Wilted Bossa Nova ("Logos"), charging punk ("Emergency Blimp") and noir-ish jazz ("Biscuit Town") bathe tracks in nocturnal unease, while Marshall bellows fractured narratives of insomnia-ridden nights and drunken mistakes. It's a discomfiting experience, but Marshall's ability to sustain this mood without lapsing into self-flagellation or cliché makes The OOZ one of the year's most haunting listens.
Matthew Blenkarn
13. Fleet Foxes
Crack-Up
(Nonesuch)
After being largely absent through indie folk's time in the spotlight of pop music trends, Fleet Foxes avoided falling victims to the very sonic tropes they helped popularize with Crack-Up. It's a record at once dynamically challenging, compositionally impressive and infinitely more rewarding than what those same peers have created to this point — and with their trademark immaculate harmonies intact.
As frontman Robin Pecknold expressed on Reddit last year, "I feel like there was a period from 2012 to 2016 where it would have been very culturally exhausting to release a 'folk'-sounding album." In our currently exhausting culture, Crack-Up is a welcome retreat.
Calum Slingerland
12. Mac DeMarco
This Old Dog
(Royal Mountain)
Earnestness suits Mac DeMarco well.
On his third full-length and first as a Los Angeles resident, the BC-born singer-songwriter set aside a lot of the humour that's made him such a beloved figure in order to explore more solemn themes like mortality and his damaged relationship with his estranged father. This introspection, coupled with the reliance on only an acoustic guitar and keyboard, further illuminated both his developing musicianship and his fascination with '70s soft rock influences.
With This Old Dog, Mac DeMarco proved that he isn't just a butt-rearing hero for millennials — he's also one of the most talented songwriters of his generation.
Cam Lindsay
11. Father John Misty
Pure Comedy
(Sub Pop)
Pure Comedy might not be the best record of the year, but it's that special, rare breed of album that makes you feel awful while still compelling you to listen over and over. Josh Tillman hammered out a politically and philosophically charged folk diary that doesn't just beg its listeners to re-evaluate their lifestyles and beliefs by theme and lyrics, but through the warm sonic coercion of strings and rich acoustic guitar.
Full of wit, sadness and only one or two real preachy old man lines (like the bit about Taylor Swift in VR — yikes!), Pure Comedy oozes the pessimism of 2017 without succumbing to it entirely.
Corey van den Hoogenband
