Over the past few weeks, our most active record reviewers have had the task of choosing their 5 favorite recordings of 2023, and here they are. This selection is unique and quite different of all you can find on the web or through traditional medias.
While Slow Pulp has always delivered on heartwrenching, heavy alt-rock that leaves you ready to cry while also ready to destroy a venue, there’s a soft new scent shrouding the jagged edges of this Wisconsin-bred four-piece on Yard. Slow Pulp’s appeal lies in the incredible rawness and vulnerability delivered by lead vocalist Emily Massey. Her perfectly imperfect vocal technique is nothing short of masterful, artfully breaking her voice in tight tandem with lyrics so deeply personal you almost feel embarrassed hearing them. With mournful harmonica solos, slide guitar, and some of the most imperceptible but direly necessary synth I’ve ever heard, this album reaches out and flirts with ideas from old-school folk and country—like we’re growing up and learning to love dad’s record collection. All the while, one foot stays firmly planted in the sultry shoegaze sounds that make Slow Pulp so irresistible, and make Yard one of my albums of the year.
