So, 2022 was a year, wasn’t it? (Take a deep breath and listen to Mountain Goats — it’s almost over.) 

On top of an already busy schedule, I finally took the plunge and began writing reviews for TGEFM. My first (guest) review was a self-deprecating look at the latest Goo Goo Dolls record. I also had the opportunity to review some records I loved and some I wouldn’t have taken a second glance at. 

In the interest of a better 2023, let’s look back at my 2022. 

Three Records I Wished I Heard Before 2022

These aren’t 2022 releases, but I first heard them in 2022. I’m a bit late to the game, but these albums helped define this past year for me.

3. Colter Wall – S/T

On the first full length from the Saskatchewan country singer, Colter Wall eschewed Nashville trends to write a traditional country record. No one is penning haunting murder ballads like “Kate MacKannon” nowadays, and his live performance for the Original 16 Brewery gives me chills—especially when the kick drum returns for the outro. 

Recommended Track: “Kate MacKannon”

2. Covet – Technicolor

This San Jose rock band recorded this LP at Vu Du Studios under the care of the mighty Mike Watts, and Triple Crown Records released it back in June 2020 while the world was ending. Filled primarily with instrumentals, it’s lush, dynamic and angular. It scratches my Explosions in the Sky itch like no one else, and I certainly covet guitarist Yvette Young’s guitar tone. 

Recommended Track: “nero” 

1. Catbite – Catfite

Back in 2019, this Philly ska outfit released their self-titled LP, which has helped kick off Bad Time Records into the tiny giant that it’s become. In June 2021, the band recorded hardcore punk versions of these songs, instilling their jazzy ska sensibilities with the sound and fury of 1979. I didn’t find it on Bandcamp until earlier this year but was instantly hooked. (YO VINYL NERDS: these songs received a physical release in 2022 along with the alt-country stylings of Catlite).

Recommended Track: “Amphetamine Delight”

Three EPs from 2022

3. August is Falling – The Simple Plan

A lost release from one of the classics of the Myspace era, this group finally released their debut EP thanks to inspiration from the Cleveland wild boy himself, Machine Gun Kelly.

… I can’t keep up the kayfabe on this one. It’s actually a joke EP from Pat Finnerty of What Makes This Song Stinkfame. The title references his simple plan to get a hot tub with somewhere between seven and nine steps. It’s highly referential to his Youtube vlog, down to the whole song about a Blinds to Go worker who made a cameo in his Weezer video. 

You know what’s not a joke? These songs are catchy as hell, and the song “August is Falling” is better than most songs released in the aughts—even without Butch Walker’s help. 

Recommended Track: “August is Falling”

2. Be Well – Hello Sun

Hot off the heels of their debut EP, this Baltimore/DC supergroup came back with an EP of their raw emotional hardcore. Each song is loaded with highly personal lyrics that are still accessible and relatable for the listener. (YO VINYL NERDS: the B side to this EP is silkscreened and gorgeous.) 

Recommended Track: “Hello Sun” 

1. End It – Unpleasant Living

If you asked me in June what my favorite release of 2022 had been, I would have assuredly answered that it was Be Well. Then Flatspot Records released this EP in July. It’s so raw. It’s so heavy. It’s so angry. It’s so Baltimore. 

Recommended Track: “The Comeback”

Ten LPs from 2022

10. MxPx – Southbound to San Antonio

In some ways, it’s cheating to count this in 2022, since this is a live recording from 2020. The only thing that’s 2022 about this record is the physical release back in January. It’s been a hell of a three years, and I’m over punk rock posturing.¹

This is a ripper of a show from the band that got me into punk rock, and MxPx pulls tracks from through their extensive back catalog. The record also makes good use of crowd mics, allowing that full show experience. In a year where I didn’t get to see much live music, this was a welcome treat. 

Recommended Track: “Walking Bye” 

9. Beach Rats – Rat Beat

Do you like Lifetime? What about Bad Religion? How about those Jersey mooches, The Bouncing Souls? Beach Rats sport members from each of these groups, and they play fast, snotty punk rock that gets stuck in your head. Check it out. 

Recommended Track: “Bikes Out”

8. Firebreather – Dwell in the Fog

I am not a metalhead by any stretch of the imagination. However, I love me some doom metal — especially when the band doesn’t get too stoned to keep up the BPM (see: High on Fire). This Swedish trio follows up their equally excellent Under a Blood Moon LP with this effort. Growling lyrics and thunderous drums support the mountain of riffs, leaving the listener entranced and subtly headbanging. 

Recommended Track: “Kiss of Your Blade” 

7. Dissidente – The War on Two Fronts

This Pittsburgh, PA band released one of the best ska LPs of the year (sorry, JER). Seamlessly fusing skate punk, ska-punk and elements of hardcore, the band howls dire anthems about the current state of politics and culture, which I infer to be the two fronts. (It ends with a stark instrumental that underpinning the rabbi’s speech following the Tree of Life Synagogue shootings in 2018, which is just a real way to fuck up your day if you’re not careful.)

Recommended Track: “10/27/2018”

6. Pool Kids – S/T

I was hesitant about the release of this record, especially given how much I enjoyed their debut LP, Music to Practice Safe Sex To. While that record was largely the product of singer/guitarist Christine Goodwyne, who recorded almost all the instruments, Pool Kids have since expanded to a four piece. 

There’s no sophomore slump here for this Tallahassee band. They still have noodly riffs pan(handle)-fried to perfection, and everyone is showing off their Midwest emo (post-hardcore?) chops. The songwriting is even tighter than before, and Christine seems to have used her pandemic time to craft even more hummable melodies. I can’t wait to finally catch them live. 

Recommended Track: “That’s Physics, Baby” 

5. Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems

I’m loathe to compare this Philly group to Bad Brains because it’s a downright fucking lazy comparison for any black hardcore band. Neverthless, I’m about to make that comparison because Soul Glo have crafted something so urgent, frenetic and unique in 2022 that gives me the same chills I got when I first listened to Black Dots back in high school. 

Recommended Track: “Fucked Up If True”

4. Gnome – King

This band came out of nowhere as a shining example of what happens when my Youtube algorithm actually works. This Antwerp power trio makes the best kind of metal—fuzzy and groovy, all while knowing how to keep tongue placed firmly in cheek lyrically. With King, they stack riffs like LEGO blocks to create one of my favorite LPs since The Sword’s Warp Riders. Put on your redcap before you drop the needle because you’re going headbanging. 

Recommended Track: “Ambrosius” 

3. Spell It Out – Out of Chaos

I just reviewed this record last month, so there might be some recency bias going on here. However, the scene veterans in Spell It Out have crafted a mish-mash of everything I love in hardcore and punk, showing influence from Saves the Day, Lifetime and Youth of Today without sounding derivative. It’s a travesty the band isn’t getting more recognition. 

Recommended Track: “Stand Up!” 

2. Berthold City – When Words Are Not Enough

Hardcore bands are often the masters of the extended play (see above), and Berthold City is no exception. Their first two EPs are the best examples of how to write youth crew anthems since The First Step broke up in the late aughts. When I heard that they were working on an LP, I was reticent because bands often lose their stride when recording a full length. 

With When Words are not Enough, you can X up and point your finger at the play button. Berthold City makes the step up effortlessly, gracing with another soon-to-be classic in the genre.

Recommended Track: “Left With Nothing”

1. Celebration Summer – Patience in Presence

Given that I work in Northern Virginia, I feel no small amount of shame that I hadn’t heard of Celebration Summerbefore Jeff posted it in the TGEFM Discord. I feel even greater shame because these songs are a breath of fresh air. 

From their Instagram, it looks like they’re getting ready to record again—and I’m looking forward to seeing them locally. (I got a babysitter so I could attend their last Baltimore show, only for them not to play because of an auto accident.) 

Recommended Track: “Resin” 

1 Posturing has always been difficult for me since my spirit animal is Milo Aukerman.

Anniversary records of note

1208 – Feedback is Payback 20th anniversary

I remember buying this CD back in 2002 from a Best Buy at the Pyramid Mall during lunch my senior year of high school. Along with label mates Deviates, this record was lost in the glut of skate punk coming out of Epitaph and Fat Wreck during this era. It holds up well—so well, in fact, that I reviewed it as part of my trial for this website. 

Recommended Track: “Pick Your Poison”

The Gaslight Anthem – Sink or Swim 15th anniversary

Debut LP from the Jersey Brucecore outfit, assembling the cast of characters that would populate later albums. I’m ecstatic to see that they are back together and touring again. (I missed them when they rumbled through D.C., and I can’t wait to sing along again — even if their sets look to be heavy on Get Hurt.)

Recommended Track: “Angry Johnny and the Radio” 

Hold Tight! – Blizzard of ’96 10th anniversary

This album is a lost classic in a year full of heavy hitters. These Richmond punks burned hot and bright with this and their first LP Can’t Take This Away. These were the anthems to my long distance relationship with my now-wife, with whom I celebrated my tenth anniversary in August. The chorus to “Purple Beanie” itself belongs with “Born to Run” on the wall of songs about escaping small town America, with singer Jake Guralnik imploring his partner: “Close your eyes, don’t look down / We conquered both those shitty towns / If this is it, I’m giving everything.”

Recommended Track: “Purple Beanie” 

Menzingers – After the Party 5th anniversary

The Menzingers and I go way back. In my college years, I spent entirely too much time in West Scranton while I was dating a girl who, frankly, deserved someone better than me. 

As a result, I have some opinions about the early aughts Scranton underground music scene. For example, I never thought there was any way that the kids from Bob and the Sagets would amount to anything. Then, I thought these Scranton lads would never outdo On the Impossible Past. Then they released this stellar LP of unskippable tunes that really smacked me in the solar plexus because I can taste the Turkey Hill iced tea when listening to “Bad Catholics”, and I see the the coalway hellscape in almost every track. 

Recommended Track: “Tellin’ Lies” 

Time and Pressure – Halfway Down 1st anniversary

This Gateway City hardcore band looked to have a bright future ahead. They released this furious yet thoughtful album to great acclaim, only to almost immediately break up as members moved away from Missouri. This anniversary is even more tragic with the recent passing of the band’s bassist, Blake, who is gone too soon. There’s a reunion benefit in late January that you should attend if you’re in the area. 

Recommended Track: “Between the World and You” 

Cool other media

3. Thanks to Paramount Plus, we got a whole lot of new Star Trek—and that’s a good thing. (Yes, I’m even including the missteps in Picard Season 2.) 

2. In addition to writing music reviews in my spare time, I also design roleplaying games. 

I was a lead designer on the Tome of Beasts 3, a hefty hardcover full of monsters. If your tastes trend towards this, you should check it out. 

1. I consume a lot of stand up comedy, and the continuing streaming wars have been a blessing in terms of new specials, including hours from Ronny Chieng, Fortune Feimster and the late Norm McDonald. 

My favorite special was Look at You by Taylor Tomlinson. A voice wise beyond her years, she spends her hour discussing mental health issues in a funny way that is also (fairly) respectful and broachable.

What I’m looking forward to in 2023

3. Spanish Love Songs will be releasing their fourth LP in the new year. After the last three morbid masterpieces, I can’t wait for the next record that will make me spontaneously chop onions. 

2. Gorilla Biscuits. Praise. End It. Be Well. April 1 in Baltimore. BE THERE.

1. Bad Time Records Club for 2023. Having leaned hard into ska during the pandemic, I broke down and bought everything in advance. (Don’t let me down, Sosinski.) 

And of course, listening and reviewing new music for you. But for your clicks and comments, I wouldn’t be here.