I'd like to echo the sentiments that there have been plenty of good albums this year, albums that I really enjoy and get passionate about, but not a whole lot clamouring for all-time greatness. It's not unusual that I haven't given a 5-star rating to a 2017 album on RYM - I usually only bump something to five stars after it has lasted with me for a couple of years - but I've had little reason to give out 4.5 stars, despite handing out plenty of 3.5 or 4-star ratings.
I love Deafcult's album Auras, but I really expected that by now something else would've come along to dethrone it. But it's still in very strong contention to be my number one.
The other album in strong contention for number one is Blood Command's Cult Drugs. If you like that Brutus album, get this one. Now. It's even more wild, ranges across a broader sonic palette, and doesn't have a stupid song about a baby seal. It's visceral and clever and brilliant.
Here are some other albums I'd like to highlight that haven't been mentioned much or at all around these parts. At least some of them will end up in my top ten, and I think they all deserve a nod at this early stage:
Bullet Height: No Atonement (Pure Reason Revolution are back... kinda. Jon Courtney does his thing, and parts of it sound so much like the second and third PRR albums that it makes me emotional such a perfect band are no more.)
Citizen: As You Please (great grunge-influenced emo; I don't think the Brand New comparisons are as strong as some reviewers claim, but hey if you need something that sounds kinda like them but doesn't feature Jesse Lacey, here you go!)
The Holy Circle: s/t (I get vibes kind of like Haelos here, but more straightforward dream pop in execution)
Hundredth: Rare (metalcore band goes shoegaze with top results)
The Orbweavers: Deep Leads (absolutely beautiful folk that traces stories of history and the Australian landscape)
Pale Honey: Devotion (plain catchy indie rock)
Palehorse/Palerider: Burial Songs ("doomgaze" has not become a thing despite the work of Jesu or The Angelic Process, but this album proves it should be a thing)
Panda Riot: Infinity Maps (come on, they're a shoegaze band called Panda Riot, of course this is good)
Save Ends: A Book About Bad Luck (one of my favourite bands of the last few years, punk energy and emo passion - though, actually, start with their 2013 debut, Warm Hearts Cold Hands)
And of course I'm going to keep banging on about the great music coming out of New Zealand by the likes of Fazerdaze, Yumi Zouma, Mermaidens, Miniatures, Nadia Reid, etc. I reckon some of you will like Aldous Harding a fair bit more than I do, too.
Lastly: the new Ride is even better than the new Slowdive, and that's saying something given the Slowdive album is a shoegaze classic in its own right.
