Alternative Music Playlists – Vol. 48: 2023
Listen To The List: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5G7UWtmFgkxdlr67StUYWP?si=abfdc506e8204763
Alternative music in the year 2023 can mean a lot of different things. Many of the early first wave bands are still making good music for their old fans and many new ones who rightly understand their importance and impact. Then there are the alt rock bands of the 1990’s and early 2000’s that were important and popular when alternative music was at its commercial/mainstream zenith. Finally, there are the newer bands of the past decade or so (including the current new cool artists) that have continued to make alternative music in the age of streaming and the internet. Many of these bands are excellent but have not garnered the same widespread appeal because music is in such a fractured age. Still, alternative rock is well into its third full generation as we get close to the 50th anniversary of punk rock exploding onto the scene in the late 70’s and changing everything. So, in 2023, alternative rock is something of a grab bag of styles, genres, and eras, that sometimes have little in common other than the desire to be different, do something new, or challenge listeners. A different person could compile a different list to represent the year gone by and be perfectly correct. This is one reflection on the state of alternative rock in 2023.
- “Carry You Home” – Circa Waves From the album Never Going Under
Circa Waves capture the sound and spirit of newer bands in 2023 very well. On their fifth album Never Going Under the four-piece from Liverpool combines indie rock, 80’s-influenced new wave, and pop to create a modern-sounding fusion of those styles that is filled with plenty of hooks and melody. One of the best songs on Never Going Under is the slightly maudlin “Carry You Home” and it represents the sound of newer alt music in 2023 very well.
- “This Is Why” – Paramore From the album This Is Why
Paramore had been one of the most lasting of the emo and punk-pop bands of the early 00’s before going on hiatus so that singer/leader Hayley Williams could work on some solo material. However, with emo and pop-punk music having a comeback moment of sorts in the past year or two, it makes sense for Paramore to return. Indeed, the announcement of a Paramore reunion and new album came with a fair amount of positivity from both fans and critics. “This Is Why”, the title track from the new album is a clever and catchy mix of the older Paramore sound with some influences from Hayley Williams’ excellent solo work.
- “Tropic Morning News” – The National From the album First Two Pages Of Frankenstein
The National have slowly built up their reputation and fanbase until they have become one of the most successful bands in alternative rock, and they have done it without ever really scoring a mainstream hit. The National released two albums in 2023 with First Two Pages Of Frankenstein and Laugh Track, both very good albums that hone their sound more than expand it (indeed, in some ways they even pull back a little from the electronic experiments of their previous albums). That said, these albums are nuanced, quietly simmering gems that feature many superb songs. One of the best of these is the first single from First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, the propulsive yet melancholy “Tropic Morning News”, a song that perfectly captures both the sound and the general feeling of The National at their very best.
- “Cool About It” – Boygenius From the album The Record
Boygenius is the female singer/songwriter collective of Pheobe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus. The three women first set aside their successful solo careers to release an EP together as Boygenius in 2018. However, 2023 saw them come together to release their first full album The Record, which became a major critical (and decent commercial) success. “Cool About It” is a folky, country-influenced song that evokes Laurel Canyon vibes even while vaguely recalling the Simon & Garfunkel classic “The Boxer” in its melody and overall tone. It’s a quiet and lovely song from some of the most talented artists making music right now.
- “King Of Oklahoma” – Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit From the album Weathervanes
Jason Isbell has been on a hot streak over the past few years and that run continued in 2023 which saw Isbell star in the Martin Scorcese film Killers Of The Flower Moon. His 2023 album, recorded with his usual band The 400 Unit, is a set of songs inspired by his work on the film. Weathervanes is not the soundtrack for the movie, but rather songs inspired by the themes and tone of the film, and “King Of Oklahoma” is both one of the standout tracks and a good example of the film’s themes serving as his muse.
- “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart” – Inhaler From the album Cuts & Bruises
It is not singer Elijah Hewson’s fault that he sounds so much like his famous father, but at least for me, it is so hard to hear Inhaler (who I really do enjoy) and not make comparisons to U2. To be fair, Inhaler has made attempts to step out of U2’s shadow and much of Cuts & Bruises finds the band staking claim on its own sonic territory. However, one of the album’s best songs is the warm, soulful ballad “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart”, which is both a great song on its own merits and (perhaps unfairly) a song that feels like it would have been perfectly at home on U2’s homage to America Rattle & Hum.
- “An Arrow In The Wall” – Death Cab For Cutie From the non-album single “An Arrow In The Wall”
Death Cab For Cutie never put out a bad album and have become one of the most successful bands of the 21st century. That said, on 2022’s album Asphalt Meadows the band felt reinvigorated. 2023 saw Death Cab leader Ben Gibbard in the spotlight as he celebrated the 20th anniversary of both Death Cab For Cutie’s classic album Transatlanticism and The Postal Service’s Give Up; touring with both bands at once and playing both records in their entirety. Death Cab For Cutie didn’t release a new record in 2023 but the band did put out the stand-alone single “An Arrow In The Wall” as a new song to promote the tour. The song continues the more experimental tone of many of the songs on Asphalt Meadows while also having a vaguely electronic vibe to it that at least echoes Gibbard’s work with his Postal Service side project. The song was somewhat overlooked but is another very good song from the boys in Death Cab For Cutie.
- “Bauhaus Staircase” – OMD From the album Bauhaus Staircase
Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark have had an incredible late-career revival over the past few years with albums like History of Modern, English Electric, The Punishment of Luxury, and the single “Don’t Go” (which is included on their 2023 album Bauhaus Staircase even though it was first released in 2019). OMD’s new album Bauhaus Staircase is not quite as consistent as those other records in my opinion but it is still a solid listen with several excellent songs. One of the more noteworthy songs is the title track “Bauhaus Staircase” which finds OMD trying to find a happy midpoint between their more experimental artistic side and their more pop-oriented dance/club music. “Bauhaus Staircase” is a bright, uptempo number that still manages to feel like it is connected to their weirder, more artistic and experimental detours.
- “Your Side Of Town” – The Killers From the compilation album Rebel Diamonds
The Killers were always rooted in the electronic and new wave music of the 1980’s but they have never felt quite so connected to the disco sound of the late 70’s and early 80’s as they do on their new single “Your Side Of Town”. It is a sound that is both familiar for The Killers and, yet, a little bit new and different as well. A welcome addition (along with last year’s “Boy” and another new song called “Spirit”) to a new best-of compilation that The Killers released.
- “Ghosts Again” – Depeche Mode From the album Memento Mori
Depeche Mode released their best album in years with 2023’s Memento Mori, an album that seemed to draw on nearly all eras of the band’s career and find a way to blend the various sounds and styles into something interesting. A variety of factors may have helped Memento Mori be a stronger album than their recent records. Perhaps Martin Gore and Dave Gahan, the two remaining members, were refocused by the unexpected death of their friend and fellow bandmember Andy Fletcher early in the recording of the album. Gore’s choice to work with an outside songwriting partner for the first time (Richard Butler of Psychedelic Furs) also possibly brought a new spark to the songs. Certainly, the lead single “Ghosts Again”, co-written with Butler, feels like a near-classic Depeche Mode single with its pulsing electronics, defiantly optimistic lyrics, and chiming synths. Indeed, it was a perfect lead single for the album, which deals with themes of mortality and life, darkness and light, across the record. All themes that are made more poignant with the loss of Fletcher. It is unclear if this is the end of Depeche Mode or just the start of another new chapter, but either way, Memento Mori is a fitting record.
- “Alife” – Slowdive From the album Everything Is Alive
Shoegaze music is another 90’s genre that is having a revival of sorts and Slowdive, always among the more melodic of the shoegaze bands, put out one of the best albums of their career with 2023’s Everything Is Alive. “Alife” wraps its pop-oriented hooks and melody in a gauzy film of sound and production, while Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell intertwine their voices over and through it. In the process making “Alife” feel both strangely current and like a perfect throwback to when alt rock ruled the radio.
- “Vampire” – Olivia Rodrigo From the album Guts
On one level Olivia Rodrigo is undoubtedly a pop singer, but it is undeniable that Rodrigo also is playing a large role in reviving many older alt rock styles as she knowingly draws on nervy new wave like Elvis Costello, bratty pop-punk like Avril Lavigne, and Lilith Fair alt rockers like Alanis Morissette, for a new generation. “Vampire” takes the teenage drama of her earlier hits “Drivers License” and “Traitor” and pushes them a little farther, making them a little bigger and a little stranger. “Vampire” is rewriting the alt rock playbook but it is introducing those rules to a new group of young fans. And it is undeniably catchy.
- “i/o” (Bright Side Mix) – Peter Gabriel From the album i/o
2023 saw Peter Gabriel release his first album of new material in 21 years with i/o. Like most Gabriel projects there is more to the album than just a collection of new songs, and i/o is no different as each of the album’s twelve songs has two different mixes, a “bright side” mix and a “dark side” mix (although in most cases the different mixes are relatively similar). Anyone looking for the art-pop of Gabriel’s 80’s work like So won’t find a lot here to love, but to fans who like Gabriel’s deeper and more reflective work, especially Up and the more thoughtful moments of Us, there will be a lot to discover on i/o. Indeed, the title track is a quiet and subtle, yet warm song about life’s interconnectedness that will get under your skin with a few listens. It might not be worth the 21 year wait but it is a good song and a good album.
- “Los Angeles” – Lol Tolhurst, Budgie & Jacknife Lee (featuring James Murphy) From the album Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the work of the unlikely post-punk supergroup consisting of former Cure drummer and keyboardist (and punching bag) Lol Tolhurst, Siouxsie & The Banshees’ drummer and percussionist Budgie, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Jacknife Lee. This trio of post-punk survivors and their producer came together to create musical soundscapes and then invited an array of guest vocalists and instrumentalists in for various songs. “Los Angeles”, the first song released from the trio, features LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy on vocals and is somewhat indicative of much of the record. While the album does have dark and brooding moments, much of Los Angeles sounds like a modern echo of the psychedelic and strange post-punk of The Cure’s post-Pornography singles, the Banshees’ A Kiss In The Dreamhouse, or more psychedelic and experimental Cure and Banshees’ side projects like The Glove or The Creatures. Indeed, the song “Los Angeles” feels like a modern descendant of Oingo Boingo, Nick Cave, and The Cure’s run of quirky pop singles from the early 80’s like “Let’s Go To Bed” and “The Love Cats”. It is a weird but welcome melange of early 80’s influences reimagined for a new era.
- “Shame” – Lauren Mayberry From the non-album single “Shame”
Lauren Mayberry, singer and frontwoman for Chvrches, decided to try her hand at some solo work and released the singles “Are You Awake?” and “Shame” in 2023. The second of these, “Shame”, is the more interesting of the two. “Shame” draws on peers like St. Vincent, Hayley Williams, and Lorde, and inspirations like the Eurythmics to create a twisted slice of synthpop that is funky, danceable, and just a little dark. “Shame” is the kind of song that likely would have been a radio hit in the 80’s or early 00’s but today is largely lost outside of Mayberry and Chvrches fanbase. And, pun intended, that is a shame.
- “Blame Brett” – The Beaches From the album Blame My Ex
The Beaches are an all-female Canadian rock band that draws on a variety of alt influences from the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s to create a sound that is somewhat akin to Wet Leg. However, these Canadians are not copycats as they began making music together in 2013 and have released a series of EP’s and an album in the years since; even being awarded Canada’s Juno Awards for Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2018 and Rock Album of the Year in 2022. 2023 saw The Beaches release Blame My Ex which featured the single “Blame Brett”. On “Blame Brett” vocalist and bassist Jordan Miller says to blame all of her bad behaviors and insecurities on her ex-boyfriend, not her. It’s a clever twist of a song that comes across as both tough and vulnerable; she’s broken, but it’s not her fault. The Beaches are another in the long line of young female bands and artists that seem to be reviving rock music over the past few years.
- “Edging” – Blink 182 From the album One More Time
Early 2000’s styled pop-punk has been in a full revival over the past few years. A string of new bands have helped to revive the style (not to mention several pop stars have at least played around with the style), while several bands from the early 2000’s, such as Paramore and Avril Lavigne, have made a comeback. Another band from that era that had new music in 2023 is Blink 182, who reunited the classic line-up of Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker, to release One More Time. A few moments on One More Time find the boys in Blink 182 showing some signs of maturity, but the lead single “Edging” consciously plays up the bratty, immature, ear candy style that made the band famous in the first play.
- “Atomic City” – U2 From the non-album single “Atomic City”
More than forty years after their debut album Boy announced their arrival U2 are still playing a significant role in the world of rock (and old enough to be showing up on the same list as Bono’s son’s band). While one could debate whether or not the non-album single “Atomic City” is worthy of a spot here – although the song is a catchy stab at fizzy pop-punk with a clever, knowing nod to Blondie’s classic “Call Me” – U2 has once again shown themselves to be a band that matters. 2023 saw the opening of Las Vegas’ new, immersive concert venue The Sphere and U2 was tapped to open it with a residency celebrating the anniversary of their career-altering album Achtung Baby. “Atomic City” was a new song recorded and released to help promote the residency. In theory, “Atomic City” is a song written to be in the style of their 90’s work found on Achtung Baby and Zooropa, but truthfully it sounds more like something that would have been on their early 00’s album How To Build An Atomic Bomb (a cousin to “Vertigo”, perhaps). Either way though “Atomic City” is a fun and energetic song from a band that sometimes takes itself too seriously and forgets that rock should be fun and energetic.
- “The Narcissist” – Blur From the album The Ballad Of Darren
“The Narcissist” is the lead single from Blur’s 2023 acclaimed album The Ballad Of Darren. In recent years Blur leader Damon Albarn has been better known for his work with his post-modern music side project Gorillaz than for his work with Blur. Blur had scored a well-received comeback with 2015’s The Magic Whip but the release of The Ballad Of Darren shows that Blur is back as a working band. “The Narcissist” finds Blur exploring the melancholy, British Invasion influenced side of their sound and doing it as well as they ever did. Indeed, “The Narcissist” is among the best things Blur has done in quite a while.
- “Swimming Pools (Drank)” – Trevor Horn (featuring Tori Amos) From the album Echoes – Ancient & Modern
Alternative music has become very post-modern by 2023. Influences can come from anywhere and unusual combinations of styles, genres, and even collaborators are often the rule, not the exception. That said, the new covers album from noted producer Trevor Horn, a one-time member of new wave band The Buggles and prog rock outfit (gone pop) Yes, is a strangely effective mix of styles and artists. The best of the bunch is probably Horn’s reimagining of Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)” which features Tori Amos on vocals. Horn’s production and orchestration lends the song a dark, haunted majesty and Amos’ vocals work perfectly for the song. It is an unexpectedly effective cover version of the song.
- “A&W” – Lana Del Rey From the album Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?
Lana Del Rey continues her recasting of the corruption and decay of our modern, urban culture as Camelot-era America (or is it the other way around?) and she continues to find new and interesting ways to do it. By blending modern hip-hop influences and production with the witty, literate, and maudlin observations of Smiths’ era Morrissey, and the candy-coated pop of 60’s girl groups, Lana Del Rey makes lonely, oversexed modern music that feels like a corrupted version of a more innocent time. “A&W” – both a reference to the Root Beer soda chain and burger joint that evokes 50’s nostalgia with its car side service and initials for “American Whore” – is a song suite that transitions from an icy, orchestrated ballad to a pulsing electronic bridge that finally segues into a hip hop section that finds Del Rey directly drawing on the late 50’s R&B song “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop”. “A&W” is a perfect balance of the innocent and the corrupt, of the old and the new, of naivete and sexuality, of pop, indie, and hip hop. Another classic from LDR.
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