Wait, didn’t I already review the 2010s? Indeed I did! See here for my picks for the best albums of the 2010s from that first review. But we’re not quite done, and the reason why involves 2024…

It turns out that 2024 was the 25th year of the millennium. And that is just too rich a symbolic target for me to forgo- the chance to discover the 25 best albums of the first quarter century of a new millennium! I have all the source material I’ll need: I’ve reviewed the 2000s in several venues, did the above-mentioned 2010s review, and have top 20-23 lists for 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023, with the search for 24 for 2024 now underway.

But my 2010s list is a little light comparatively. While my 2000s list from various sources sports around 60 entries, my 2010s review of 52 of the the critic’s top-ranked albums resulted in 34 picks. In order to balance that out a bit decade by decade, I’ve decided to go ahead and review the next tier down of 2010s albums per my original source lists. That will give us 36 more albums to review, which I’ll do in 6 blocks of 6. And hopefully thereby have a few more picks for my aspired Grand Review of 2000-2024!

So far we’ve had: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 And with that, let’s get on with part 5!

Light Up Gold (Parquet Courts, 2013)– Well slap me silly and call me Susie, it’s Rock n’ Roll! More specifically, it’s an indie left of center rock that feels familiar, in a timeless way. Bits of Modern Lovers, a dash of the Voidoids, a fair sprinkle of Wire, more than a pinch of the more madcap side of Southern California hardcore, a dribble of the Replacements, etc. I could picture this band, in a certain version, in any of the 70s, 80s, or 90s. But here they are, from Texas by way of New York City, all the way in the Twenty-Teens! It may not really cover any new ground, but darned if it doesn’t do what it does well nigh perfectly!

Let England Shake (PJ Harvey, 2011)– Well that was ridiculously great. How this darkly inflected exploration of what England is and what England means didn’t make it higher on the aggregated critic’s list is honestly beyond me! It feels richly poetic. Which it turns out is not just my imagination, per Wikipedia: “Harvey began writing lyrics for the album before setting the words to music. She has cited the poetry of Harold Pinter and T.S. Eliot as influences, as well as the artwork of Salvador Dalí and Francisco de Goya, the music of The Doors, The Pogues, and The Velvet Underground and the films of Stanley Kubrick, Ken Loach and Ari Folman.” Given the subject matter, and compared to the harsh edges her music is capable of, it often feels surprisingly delicately arranged and melodically light as well. This turns out to be true as well, with early composition done on the autoharp, which she was becoming enamored of at the time. The sometime spritely beauty, though, just enhances the disquiet of this pretty, powerful album.

El Mal Querer (Rosalia, 2018)– I had been enjoying Spanish singer/songwriter Rosalia’s more recent albums in my yearly reviews, so I was favorably disposed toward this. And, indeed, there is a lot to like here in terms of combining arty song craft with catchy electronic production. It never feels totally together to me though, as an album. I’m not mad at it though!

Silence Yourself (Savages 2013)– My teenage self would have loved this album by English post-punk band the Savages! It perfectly hits a post-punk/goth early eighties feeling. My adult self also likes it a lot, but is not sure if that feeling adds up to epochal album for the twenty-teens. If you’re looking for something that’s got vibes somewhere in the neighborhood of Bauhaus, Gang of Four, Magazine, and Siouxsie though, you won’t be disappointed.

Are We There (Sharon Van Etten, 2014)– These songs are beautiful, moody, and emotionally literate. They’re also all in such a similar musical and vocal range track to track that it has trouble working for me as an album. Alas!

Clean (Soccer Mommy, 2018)– The teens certainly had a crop of earnest young things with emotionally complex lyrics and a music that is part lo-fi bedroom pop, part grunge, and part edm effects. That influence has continued strong into the twenties, and I feel like Soccer Mommy is one of the progenitors of the sound. She got her start on MySpace, and released two indie albums, but this was her proper studio album debut, and it crystalizes a sound and an era. While languid, it has more than enough heart, wit, and musical flourish to make it work.

And with that we have made it through group five of six! Of this batch, Let England Shake and Light Up Gold are yeses, and I would say Clean is a maybe. What awaits us in the final bracket?!?!?