Alternative Music Playlists – Vol. 46: 2021
Listen To The List: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6XJqnFg8ehgKvvnOUCf2De?si=095e6f18c8e1477c
2021 was a year that saw the spiritual daughters of Kate Bush, Debbie Harry, Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette and the other women of the 90’s Lilith Fair scene rise and make the alternative world take notice. Twelve of the artists included on this year’s list are women or groups where women play a key and vital role in the group. Many of these female artists are still fairly new in their careers, but some are more veteran artists. However, all of them draw on older and varied influences and traditions – how can you not at this point in alt rock history? That said, as I’ve discussed with previous years’ lists, the lines between genres, and even between the alternative and the mainstream, are more blurred than ever; with little to no meaningful distinctions existing between alternative rock, pop, R&B, hip hop, dance, etc. Rock and pop music has become thoroughly post-modern, borrowing from where it wants and combining things in any way that makes sense, especially for younger artists who have grown up with digital music and streaming and where self-made playlists replace the album as constructed by the artist as the primary way to listen to music. As you listen to these songs from 2021 it is easy to hear echoes of the 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s, and 2010’s sometimes in the music of artists way too young to have heard those influences firsthand (and vice versa to hear more modern influences in some of the older artists whose commercial heydays are likely past but who are still making interesting music). So while this 2021 list is comprised mostly of younger and newer artists, a few veterans of the alternative rock scene do appear as well and some of these ignore current trends (as much as there are current trends). I’ve also expanded the list from the eighteen songs I have done in the past to a slightly longer 21 track list and may use this as an excuse to go back and lengthen the other yearly lists by three tracks as well at some point. Here is 2021:
1. “Drivers License” – Olivia Rodrigo From the album Sour
Olivia Rodrigo was one of the breakout stars of 2021 with a run of hits that were a perfect blend of pop hooks, emo drama, new wave punch, and Lana Del Rey styled tragedy. Olivia Rodrigo proved she could rock out with “Brutal”, which borrowed liberally from Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up” (and for which he gave his blessing), but it was her quiet/sad/angry girl anthem “Drivers License” that really let her make her mark. A heartbroken ballad of betrayal that draws on the nostalgia of Lana Del Rey, the anger of Alanis Morissette, and the sadness of Death Cab For Cutie, all wrapped into a slow burning and slow building indie pop song. “Drivers License” is a prime example of how the new draws on what came before and twists it in new ways in 2021.
2. “Hush” – The Marías From the album Cinema
The Marías are built around a core duo of vocalist María Zardoya and drummer/producer Josh Conway. The two met at a Laurel Canyon Music Revival set where Zardoya was performing and Conway was in charge of the sound. The pair hit it off and became musical and romantic partners, building the rest of the band around them. 2021 saw their debut album Cinema released and with it the sultry, sexy, and pulsing single “Hush. “Hush” blends modern indie rock with a streak of 80’s synthpop for something that sounds both modern and retro. “Hush” is dark and slinky and full of hooks, a great single that hopefully predicts a long future for The Marías.
3. “How Not To Drown” – Chvrches (featuring Robert Smith) From the album Screen Violence
Scotland’s Chvrches still feel like a fairly new band but 2021 Screen Violence is already their fourth album, making the trio veterans by this point. “How Not To Drown”, like most of Screen Violence, pulls back from the almost pure electropop of their previous record Love Is Dead and returns Chvrches more directly to their 80’s influences. Of course, this is most directly expressed and heard by the fact that “How Not To Drown” is a duet with The Cure’s Robert Smith (who is in good voice). However, the update of the 80’s influences is heard in more than just the fact that Robert Smith sings on the track. The song is built off a synth hook that could almost have been stolen from mid 1980’s Depeche Mode or New Order, while Smith’s distinctive guitar style can almost be heard on the track. All that said, “How Not To Drown” is not an exercise in pure 80’s nostalgia. All of these elements are filtered through the prism of Chvrches’ sound and fits into their own discography easily. Furthermore, “How Not To Drown” deals with the depression and isolation of living in a world lived in lockdown and through screens (hence the album title) due to the global coronavirus pandemic, a very current topic for the time.
4. “The Last Man On Earth” – Wolf Alice From the album Blue Weekend
Over the past few years Wolf Alice has been one of the fast-rising stars of the alt rock world as their first two albums blended (or at least juxtaposed) the fuzzy, distortion and anger of 90’s alt rock with the more effervescent and ethereal dreampop side of 90’s alt music. The Blue Weekend album finally melds these two sides in a way that is both more natural and more the band’s own vision. “The Last Man On Earth” was the lead single from Blue Weekend and it aims big as it builds from a hushed ballad to a massive-sounding, cinematic anthem that is defiantly optimistic. It is powerful and beautiful and in a different time in music history it would have dominated the airwaves. As it is, it is one of the best songs from one of the best bands of the past ten years.
5. “Bed Head” – Manchester Orchestra From the album The Million Masks of God
Manchester Orchestra, who actually hail from Atlanta, Georgia, not the industrial English metropolis that is home to many of the greatest alternative rock bands of all time, have been making music since the early 2000’s, slowly increasing in both skill and notice. 2021’s The Million Masks of God blends post-hardcore rock with touches of emo, new wave revival, and the conceptual and thematic arc of prog rock, as the album deals with themes of life, death, and what comes next in response to the death of Robert McDowell’s father from cancer. First single “Bed Head”, which is a great example of the fusion of the band’s sound with the themes of the record, went on to become a successful single on alt rock radio this past year.
6. “Meet Me At Our Spot” – The Anxiety From the album The Anxiety
A duo, made up of Tyler Cole and Willow Smith (yes, Will Smith’s daughter that sang “Whip My Hair” a decade ago) that mixes indie, emo, pop and R&B influences that is both catchy and edgy. Admittedly, I am cheating on this song a little as “Meet Me At Our Spot” was originally released in 2020 without any fanfare or label support and to no success. However, “Meet Me At Our Spot” slowly found an audience over 2021 due to its use on social media platforms like TikTok and in summer playlists and so was rereleased in October of 2021 to radio play and commercial success. In a fusion of style and production that is somewhat reminiscent of the sound of Fun. a few years back, “Meet Me At Our Spot” is an earworm that became a hit almost purely due to people discovering it on their own until the music industry couldn’t ignore it anymore.
7. “Shy Away” – Twenty One Pilots From the album Scaled & Icy
For their 2021 album Scaled & Icy Twenty One Pilots pulled back some from their flirtations with both gothic overtones and hip hop culture and created an album that is lighter, brighter, and more indebted to the shimmering synths and colorful look of the 1980’s. This brighter tone and mood can be heard on the pop-oriented and catchy “Shy Away”. “Shy Away” is one of several songs on Scaled & Icy (the title itself a derivative of the phrase “scaled back and isolated”) that tries to lighten the pressures of the pandemic era by attempting to lighten the mood and add some light to a dark and lonely time. “Shy Away” is a fun song and a warm new direction in the sound of Twenty One Pilots.
8. “My Limb” – Hayley Williams From the album Flowers For Vases/Descansos
Paramore’s Hayley Williams released her second album in under a year when she surprise released her sophomore effort Flowers For Vases a mere ninth months after her excellent solo debut Petals For Armor dropped in 2020. Flowers For Vases feels like a quieter and even more introspective sister album to Petals For Armor, and perhaps that is appropriate since Williams wrote, sang, and played every note on the album. “My Limb” is one of the standout moments on the album, at turns elegant and edgy as Williams struggles with whether to work to save her relationship or not. “My Limb” is a quiet song, but it is the quiet discomfort of internal conflict, of someone at war with themselves, not of tranquility, acceptance, or even resignation. “My Limb” may not roar and rage, but it is a song that is unsettled and unsure, and that gives it an emotional resonance that most of us can relate to. “My Limb”, along with both of Williams’ solo albums generally, makes a strong case for her being a more interesting and inventive artist alone than she ever was in Paramore.
9. “The Walls Are Way Too Thin” – Holly Humberstone From the EP The Walls Are Way Too Thin
British, indie pop singer Holly Humberstone was introduced to the world in 2020 with several successful singles (including a cover of Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees”) and the Asleep At The Wheel EP. 2021 saw her follow-up this strong start with another well crafted EP The Walls Are Way Too Thin. The EP also spun of the successful title track “The Walls Are Way Too Thin”, which draws on recent influences like Lorde and Billie Eilish, while also reaching further back to draw from bands like Radiohead and The Police. “The Walls Are Way Too Thin” is a story of jealousy and heartbreak that is set to a quiet pulse that is reminiscent, but not outright theft, of “Every Breath You Take” and it lends the song a sense of familiarity and timelessness that works in this new context.
10. “Arcadia” – Lana Del Rey From the album Blue Banisters
2021 was a busy year for Lana Del Rey as she released not one, but two new albums with Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Banisters. Both albums dial back on the rap/gang culture trappings and other modern references that pepper her earlier work and update the innocent sound of a bygone era for the 21st century. “Arcadia” is a hushed piano ballad that equates her own body to the geography of California as she tells her own story of coming to L.A. to find success and happiness, only to ultimately find one of the two. The song is lush, pained and seductive all at once, with perfectly placed strings and subtle trumpet in the background that raise “Arcadia” from being just another good Lana Del Rey song to a career highlight.
11. “Pay Your Way In Pain” – St. Vincent From the album Daddy’s Home
St. Vincent continues to channel the ghosts of both Prince and David Bowie (with maybe a little Tori Amos thrown in there as well) on her lead single from Daddy’s Home, “Pay Your Way In Pain”. This is not a bad thing though as the song is damn good. Working once again with producer Jack Antonoff, St. Vincent draws on the musical melee of late 70’s New York City to tell a story based on her own father’s release from prison on “Pay Your Way In Pain”. The song is quirky, slinky, groovy, and a little crazy – perfectly St. Vincent.
12. “Beautiful Beaches” – James From the album All The Colours Of You
British indie rock legends James released their 16th album All The Colours Of You in 2021, continuing their excellent late career revival. Recorded under unusual circumstances – the band’s four primary songwriters were each stuck in different countries during the pandemic lockdown so much of the album was recorded remotely rather than together as they usually work – the album sounds somewhat different than some of their previous work. Then again, James have repeatedly changed their sound and style over their career so maybe that is just a coincidence. Either way All The Colours Of You has both high and low points, but one of its best is the second single “Beautiful Beaches”. “Beautiful Beaches” is the true story of singer Tim Booth and his family’s forced evacuation from their home just ahead of the California wildfires in 2019. In spite of its origins “Beautiful Beaches” is a catchy indie pop song that builds to an anthemic chorus that is both uplifting and hopeful. It is another classic should-have-been hit from James.
13. “Solar Power” – Lorde From the album Solar Power
Lorde, who has built a career as something of an edgy and icy indie princess, lets her hair down and gets warm and loose for her surprise summer release “Solar Power”. Opening with little more than Lorde’s voice singing in something just above a conspiratorial whisper and an acoustic guitar strumming simply, “Solar Power” is immediately recognizable as Lorde and also sounds like nothing else she has done. Eventually, the song builds into a breezy folk-based ode to the beach before finally opening up into a full-blown pop song with Phoebe Bridgers singing back-up vocals and a horn section providing warm accents. “Solar Power” was successful but it still seems like it should have been an even bigger summer hit. Still, it’s another great song from Lorde.
14. “Intruder” – Gary Numan From the album Intruder
The last time Gary Numan turned up on one of these yearly lists was when I compiled the list for 1979! That list included his British hit “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and makes mention of his sole American hit “Cars”. Now, 42 years later, Numan is on the list again. In truth, Gary Numan, who was one of the true pioneers of electronic/synth music, had never gone out of favor. And while he is remembered primarily as a one-hit wonder in the USA, Numan had a run of hits in the UK in the early to mid 80’s before largely fading away into obscurity. However, he kept making music and evolving his sound, and by the mid 1990’s Numan was being namechecked as an influence by artists like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and the members of Depeche Mode. Indeed, Numan’s own music slowly moved more in an industrial and electro-rock direction and by the time the 2000’s rolled around Numan was ready to embark on a late career revival that saw him make a run of strong albums and become critically respected in a way he never had been before. This all culminated with this excellent 2021 release Intruder and its superb title track, which is an excellent song that both shows how groups like Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode were inspired by him and how he has now, in turn, been inspired by them. Indeed, Numan’s “Intruder” falls somewhere in between the sound of those two legendary bands and proves he is an incredible artist in his own right.
15. “Extreme Greed” – Ist Ist From the album The Art Of Lying
Drawing on obvious references like Joy Division, Interpol, and Editors, England’s Ist Ist carries the torch of gloomy, brooding, post-punk to a new generation. “Extreme Greed” features a wall of guitars and icy synths supporting the deep growl of singer Adam Houghton. While still in debt to their influences Ist Ist’s sophomore album The Art Of Lying finds the band starting to also take those influences in their own direction and is certainly a band worth paying attention to if you are a fan of post-punk or goth rock.
16. “It Won’t Always Be Like This” – Inhaler From the album It Won’t Always Be Like This
Inhaler had released a few singles and EP’s over the past few years, but 2021 saw Inhaler finally release their debut album It Won’t Always Be Like This. The opening song is the title track “It Won’t Always Be Like This”, and while there is no escaping the fact that lead singer Elijah Hewson sounds almost like a dead ringer for his father Bono, Inhaler uses the album to expand their sound enough that they don’t quite sound like U2 circa Boy version 2.0. Sure, they still have plenty of U2 in their DNA, but there are also modern production flourishes and perhaps a little more pop-orientation inherent in Inhaler’s sound as well. This difference can be heard on “It Won’t Always Be Like This”, a song the band released as a non-album single in 2019 but was re-recorded here for the album. This new version was then released as a single in 2021. Maybe not quite as strong as their previously best-known song “My Honest Face” (which was also re-recorded for the album), but “It Won’t Always Be Like This” has the same anthemic mix of light 80’s post-punk and college rock influences filtered through the slick pop-sense of recent indie rock; making “It Won’t Always Be Like This” feel like a descendent of Coldplay, The Killers, Travis, or Mumford & Sons (at least without their banjos) as much as U2. Of course, since all of the bands listed there are musical descendants of U2 themselves this may be splitting hairs a bit, still with “It Won’t Always Be Like This” Inhaler seem to be finding a place outside of being the legacy heirs to U2.
17. “Quiet Town” – The Killers From the album Pressure Machine
The Killers’ new album Pressure Machine continues Brandon Flowers and company’s merging of Bruce Springsteen’s sense of Americana with U2’s cinematic sweep and New Order’s electronic pulse. However, that strange but effective fusion never has worked better than it does on Pressure Machine, an album about the light and dark of growing up and staying in the small, rural, Mormon-dominated towns of central Utah. Pressure Machine is the rare modern album that really is an album and is best listened to from start to finish as a single work. That said, the individual songs work well as snapshot looks into the bigger picture as well, and Flowers knows his subject matter well as he spent many of his formative years living in these towns (and I can verify this accuracy as these towns are where I live now). One of the best songs on Pressure Machine is “Quiet Town”. “Quiet Town” sounds like a 21st century update of one Springsteen’s melancholy story songs from Darkness On The Edge Of Town, The River, or Born To Run (or with its warm 80’s styled synths maybe an outtake from Born In The USA that was deemed to somber for that record). “Quiet Town”, like most of the album, balances a palpable sense of despair that is rooted in the lack of opportunity and diversity found in these places with the sense of faith, hope, and security that is found in their communities and their God. Pressure Machine is an album about the loss of a simpler, more innocent time and place, and the good and bad that comes from this kind of change, and “Quiet Town” is a good example of this overall theme.
18. “Elevator Boots” – Counting Crows From the EP Butter Miracle, Suite One
The four songs that make up Counting Crows’ new EP constitute the first new music from the 90’s stalwarts in seven years. However, a listen to “Elevator Boots” (or any of the four songs on Butter Miracle) reveals that in the world of the Counting Crows not too much has changed – and that is a good thing. “Elevator Boots” has the same rambling feel influenced by sunny 60’s folk, 70’s heartland rock, and 80’s college rock, that the band has had since “Mr. Jones” made them stars in the early 90’s. Sure, the production here is a little slicker than it was on their early albums, but no more so than on Hard Candy or This Desert Life, and “Elevator Boots” would feel right at home on nearly any of their albums. Yet, “Elevator Boots” is not a retread, it sounds familiar but not redone, and for fans of Counting Crows specifically and the 90’s or early 00’s more generally, that is exactly what a new Counting Crows song should be: Warm, earthy rock and roll that is embedded with a sense of Americana; all while Adam Duritz’ emotive voice tells a story that makes us feel as if we are there in their heads and hearts.
19. “Roots and Wings” – The Wallflowers From the album Exit Wounds
I could almost just rewrite the above comments about Counting Crows here for The Wallflowers’ new song and album as well. Jakob Dylan and company return to their classic sound for “Roots and Wings”, the lead single from 2021’s new album Exit Wounds. “Roots and Wings” sounds like it could have been on The Wallflowers’ 1996 masterpiece album Bringing Down The Horse and is a return to form. While it doesn’t sound much else being played on the radio currently, “Roots and Wings” should appeal to anyone who liked The Wallflowers in the 90’s or that discovered Jakob Dylan through watching Echo In The Canyon, his acclaimed documentary on the mid 60’s California folk rock scene.
20. “Monday” – The Regrettes From the single “Monday”
L.A. pop punk band The Regrettes have previously released two albums that have largely flown under the radar (although their punk pop cover of “Helpless” from Hamilton is a fun listen) but 2021 saw the group earn some real notice and airplay with the hooky earworm “Monday”. More pop than punk “Monday” has the bratty but catchy feel of Blondie or early Avril Lavigne, which means that “Monday” is colorful and fun more than it is dangerous. No matter though because it is an infectious song that deserved the attention it got.
21. “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used)” – Beach Bunny From the EP Blame Game
Beach Bunny is a musical descendent of Avril Lavigne and Paramore and sonic sister of Olivia Rodrigo and Soccer Mommy. While technically a full band, Beach Bunny is primarily the musical outlet of Lili Trifilio, a Chicago indie pop artist who released a run of singles and EP’s as Beach Bunny before expanding Beach Bunny into a full band to record their debut album Honeymoon in 2020. Beach Bunny followed up the success of Honeymoon with the Blame Game EP in 2021; the highlight of which is the punk pop single “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used)”.
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