This album comes off as the most definitive and most complete that Joyce Manor have to offer.

One of the most relatable, heartbreakingly specific albums of the year.

It's all over the place but in a good way as it prides itself on attributes and characteristics that can best be described as rushes of earnest shoutalongs, candidly told and catchily brought to life musically. All with a songwriting vulnerability like he's never shown before.

Against all odds, My Bloody Valentine managed to put together an album that keeps enough of the elements that made us cherish Loveless, while stretching their sonic palette just enough to keep things interesting.

Overall, Muncie Girls have created a fresh touch to the mixture of indie and punk. The band has officially mastered their sound and made ten songs the band should truly be proud of.

While Bad Religion’s forays into new territory may be subtle, they’re certainly there, and it’s commendable to see a nearly 40 year old band still trying to find ways to innovate and make their sound fresh and new. I know that I’ll catch some grief for this, but I honestly would call this the best Bad Religion album since The Empire Strikes First, and a sign of a revitalized band that’s ready to start making some more great music again.

This is far and away the best record Ragan has done.

If you’re mostly into pop-punk, you probably won’t like this. Everyone who likes it rougher needs to check out Iron Reagan and Crossover Ministry.

This is the result of three women who have perfected their sound, now it’s our job to listen.

In an album that is about a breakup, the band is more unified and more cohesive than they have ever been before. I say it before with every Screaming Females album, but really, THIS ONE is the best one yet.

Daylight have released an album that'll have you talking about it for weeks.

The album itself is PROOF that chaos and anger and conflict and an open mind and fun is what gives Morris his strength, creativity, and singularity.

The Sciences proves that Sleep has got the goods and no manner of years could pull the magic from the Pike-Cisneros connection. And more importantly than that, Sleep, when merely focusing on being Sleep instead of a being collection of influences, is able to produce work that is uniquely them, uniquely fresh, and frankly, inimitable.

Baldi's lyrics encapsulate those tenets just as well as the music he and his bandmates create.

Whereas most inside/silly jokes are used by a closed group to draw their own bonds closer, here, the Melvins are using that device to invite people into the world. And frankly, it’s a fun and funny world despite the gratuitous use of the F-word.

This record is so good we don't need to focus on those details. With I Hate Music, Superchunk will once again land near the top of my year-end list.

We have the most lush Mountain Goats record to date: Pallett was the perfect producer for the album.

What’s particularly neat here is that record masterminds Mike Haliechuk and Jonah Falco have forged their most diverse and chameleon-onic sound bed to date.

Cope is a loud dose of poetry which I can see stretching its musical arms very far and very wide.

Yes, the Vivian Girls were and are good, but we already knew that. However, more importantly, Memeroy cements that NO ONE can do what this trio does and, more than that, they’re doing it even better now then they were before.

As talented as Oberst is on his own, his symbiotic relationship with the other members of Bright Eyes makes it easily Oberst’s best project and one I hope continues on for the foreseeable future.

On “When It Rain,” Brown shouts, “You ain’t heard it like this before,” like a madman. Atrocity Exhibition proves him right.

This whole album really takes no prisoners, and brings to mind everything that was good in the underground music scene from the eighties into the early/mid-nineties. Lyrically, the band takes no prisoners and holds nothing back shouting down religion, political leaders the world over, and anyone else that gets in their way. They also are able to do what so many modern bands fail to do, blend their influences well.

Painted Shut is a phenomenal follow-up to 2012 and one that'll be creepin' on you so hard. No longer is Hop Along the world's best-kept secret.

Truly, this is one of the best reggae records of the year… and one of the best records of the year.

This comeback record--the band's first since 2006--feels like their most mature, seasoned and solid body of work to date and also, it feels like they're pressing forward like never before in a world mangled by torn emotions.

This record blew away all expectations. It never stands still and always finds a way of resonating.

What I think makes this album stand out just a bit more, edgier and whatnot, from her debut three years ago in Stranger in the Alps is there's a fearlessness to embrace the mainstream aesthetic just a bit more. Not something like Lana del Rey's style or that kind of thing, but a more contemporary, alternative and dare I say poppy sound.