My favourite albums of 2022

DECEMBER 17 ― With my band Couple finally releasing our fourth studio album this year, two years after the original release date sometime in 2020, 2022 has been a year chock full of all sorts of musical highs for me.

With the gigging scene starting to open up in June, it has been a whirlwind of shows and tours as build-up to our album’s release in late September.

And that much playing would naturally lead me to seek out a lot of other music to listen to as a sort of palate cleanser.

To my surprise, I loved so many albums this year, like the latest ones by Pup, Ghost, Guided By Voices and Built To Spill that I simply couldn’t cram all of them into this list, because even putting in 10 albums into a list is already a pretty long exercise.

So, without wasting any time, let’s jump into it, shall we?

Joyce Manor ― 40 Oz. To Fresno

Even by Joyce Manor’s standards of excellence ― I think of them as one of those very rare bands that only have “all killer, no filler” albums in their catalogue ― this new album is quite simply on another level.

This nine-song album is again all killer, no filler, but the standard of pop hooks on this one is just so out of this world (pick ANY song on this album and I can guarantee that you’ll be enchanted if guitar-driven alternative/emo/pop-punk is your thing) that this CD has been in my car ever since I first got it in June, so surely this is my most played album of 2022, and if that’s not a sign that it’s my favourite album of 2022, then I don’t know what is.

Joyce Manor’s new album is quite simply on another level. ― Screenshot via YouTube

Prince Daddy and the Hyena ― Prince Daddy and the Hyena

Okay, this album was released in April and I probably received the CD at least one month before Joyce Manor’s latest CD, it has also not left my car and I probably played this just as much, if not more than Joyce Manor’s.

Where this one slightly loses out to Joyce Manor is in the standard of pop hooks on some of the songs here, they’re just not as consistently superb.

But the highs here like Keep Up That Talk and El Dorado can easily match the magic of their previous album Cosmic Thrill Seekers, which was my favourite album of 2019.

Mom Jeans ― Sweet Tooth

Speaking of pop hooks, it’s just remarkable how easily 5th wave emo/sparklepunk staples Mom Jeans managed to change gears and churn out an upbeat emo pop-punk album with their latest one, Sweet Tooth.

If ever a record from the 5th wave emo scene deserves mainstream attention, it’s this one.

All 13 songs here sound radio-ready, and should’ve been huge radio hits if the music business is a fair one.

They’ll probably score a bigger record deal because of this album, but if they do manage to come up with another set of songs this catchy, joyous and memorable on their next album, then that’d mean that they’ve managed to capture lightning in a bottle twice, which frankly, is damn near impossible.

Asunojokei ― Island

If, like me, you’ve got a weakness for Deafheaven’s version of blackgaze and Envy’s version of screamo, then you will find it really, really hard to resist the charms of Japanese band Asunojokei, whose latest album Island is an astonishing mash-up of the two aforementioned bands, melding the best of both worlds.

Even if I didn’t understand a word of the Japanese lyrics screamed/spoken by their vocalist, Island felt like a well of emotions being unleashed beautifully, with hooks and melodic gifts crashing into you from all directions.

I may have jokingly called them “Deafheavenvy” among friends, but trust me when I say that this is one of the most jaw droppingly emotional albums that I’ve heard this year.

Uni Boys ― Do It All Next Week

If you’re a fan of late 70s/early 80s punky power pop (The Nerves, The Beat, The Plimsouls etc), I’m hugely happy to report that finally, after the tragic demise of The Exploding Hearts in 2003, there are now at least two excellent young bands flying that flag ― The Whiffs and Uni Boys.

While we await the new album from The Whiffs, it looks like Uni Boys have dropped one heck of a statement album with Do It All Next Week, getting every single thing right to nail that 70s punky power pop sound, right from the wonderfully hook-laden songwriting down to the twin guitar attack and some seriously legit-sounding vintage production.

Just check out the song On Your Lovin’ Mind and get ready to be blown away by how authentic everything sounds!

Heart To Gold ― Tom

An accidental discovery on one of my Bandcamp exploring days, it’s just incredible how awesome this album is and how unknown and under-reported this band/album is.

Sounding like a more 90s alternative oriented combination of the things that make Prince Daddy And The Hyena, Mom Jeans and Origami Angel such beloved bands in the 5th wave emo scene, Tom is a down-to-earth and downright consistent emo record that’s chock full of upbeat bangers that will surely incite massive singalongs as more and more people discover this hugely promising band.

On any other year, this might even be my number one favourite album of the year, pity it had to compete with so many other great bangers this year as well.

Forests ― Get In Losers, We’re Going To Eternal Damnation

Singaporean band Forests have long been a favourite of mine, with their brand of 5th wave emo effortlessly reaching the western part of the hemisphere ever since their exuberant debut album made US emo fans take notice.

While their debut album, a perfect combination of math rock licks and party/weed emo, will always be my favourite Forests record, their third album is now a very close second, expanding their sound by incorporating elements of indie pop and dream pop into the mixture, resulting in such unforgettable songs like Snowball (with such unforgettable wordplay like “Did you miss me enough to drink, or did you drink enough to miss me?”) and Jazz Ruined My Life.

Dazy ― OUTOFBODY

One-man band Dazy was on my list last year with his 24-song collection MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD and he’s back this year with his proper debut album OUTOFBODY, which is armed with the same penchant for killer hooks like last year’s collection of EPs/singles, but with much cleaner production values.

Displaying the same amount of love for classic power pop songwriting and 90s Britpop, all laid on a thick bed of fuzzed out and jangly guitars and backed by an intentionally machine-sounding drum machine (imagine a power pop song by Ride with Godflesh-like production), OUTOFBODY is one of those perfect windows-down-volume-up road trip albums, a blast from start to finish.

Militarie Gun ― All Roads Lead To The Gun (Deluxe)

When it comes to hardcore bands potentially making a breakthrough to a wider audience this year, I think it’s clearly a toss-up between Drug Church or Militarie Gun (both of whom incidentally share a band member), and even though it’s Drug Church that’s armed with the cleaner vocals, I found myself liking Militarie Gun quite a bit more, possibly thanks to the more appealing and very 90s alternative-tinged guitar riffs.

Just listen to the beautifully jangly riffs on Don’t Pick Up The Phone and notice how the shouty hardcore vocals still blended in very nicely, making for a surprisingly catchy listening experience.

While I still don’t think they’ll reach Turnstile levels of wide acceptance, Militarie Gun might still be the next big thing in hardcore come next year.

Young Guv ― GUV III

When it comes to jangly power pop, the last few years have seen no shortage of great new talents, from The Dates to 2nd Grade, and the very prolific Young Guv is another one to add to that esteemed list.

Armed with two albums this year ― GUV III and GUV IV ― it’s the first of these two that really caught my fancy as it’s got more “power” and “bounce” in its pop when compared to the latter, which is a lot softer in mood and execution.

It boggles the mind how so many jangly earworms can come out of one person in just one year, and GUV III, right from the knock-out 1-2-3-4 punch of drop dead gorgeous album opener Couldn’t Leave U If I Tried to similarly luminous fourth song Only Wanna See U Tonight to the lovely album closer April Of My Life is one absolutely vulgar display of power pop!

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.