Pete's Log: 2022 Music

Entry #2165, (Music)
(posted when I was 44 years old.)

December arrived and I realized I'd spent most of the year just listening to The Cure for some reason. So I panicked and decided I had to find some new music. Jamie and I did enjoy Riot Fest this year, but nothing there stood out as anything I wanted to own. Instead I spent the last two weeks actually paying attention to what the internet was suggesting to me and found six albums I wanted to buy. So here they are - in the order in which I purchased them.

  • Amyl and the Sniffers - Comfort To Me
    Released in late 2021, but (like everything in this list) discovered by me in December 2022. I cannot get enough of this album. My favorite tracks are Guided by Angels and Hertz (the former of which keeps getting stuck in my head), but the whole album is solid. It's easily my favorite on this list.
    They are from Australia and play high-energy pub/punk rock. The talk-screamy delivery of the lyrics makes me think at times of a punkier female Art Brut but their energy is on a whole other level.
  • The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field
    Sticking to the Southern Hemisphere, the Beths are a band from New Zealand and this album, released in September, is apparently their third. Their music is indie pop rock deliciousness. There's somebody they really remind me of, but I can't get my brain to make the connection. Some of their songs give me a bit of a Wir Sind Helden vibe. Really digging it.
    I had Jamie give the album a listen and she likes it as well. As luck would have it, Jamie discovered they are playing a show in Chicago in the spring, so she bought us tickets. We're pretty excited.
  • Wet Leg - Wet Leg
    Wet Leg is a British band and their debut album was released in April. Apparently Chaise Longue went "viral" back then but I didn't come across them until (you guessed it) December.
    They play artsy pop rock with a certain un-seriousness to it. It amuses me.
  • HOME - Falling Into Place
    This is a Synthwave album released in 2016 by Randy Goffe, a musician based in Chicago. If you like Synthwave, I recommend giving it a listen.
  • Dinosaur Jr. - Sweep It Into Space
    This is one of those bands that feel like I should've been into them in the past, but for whatever reason I never got into them. They've been around (off and on) since 1984 and this is their latest album, released April of 2021. It's a fun mellow alternative rock album. Lots of distortion, but it's mellow distortion.
  • Embrace - Embrace
    Apparently it's still possible for me to discover Ian MacKaye bands I wasn't familiar with yet. Embrace was a short-lived pre-Fugazi act and this is their only album, released in 1987. If you can't get enough Fugazi, then I think this is worth checking out. (Also, it is unreal to me that it's been more than two years since I last recommended an Ian MacKaye album. I could've sworn that was just last year.)