This seems to be the right thread to place thoughts about 2013 albums. I revisited a couple today that I previously liked but hadn't really dug into.
The Drones - I See Seaweed: You guys know I love Nick Cave. Dude released my hands-down favorite album of the year and his discography is awesome. This band is from Oz just like Nick, and they want you to know it. They probably like him as much as I do, as I haven't heard a more purely Nick Cave album since Let Love In. It's nice that someone agrees with me that it's his peak. Those songs crawl and explode and, surprisingly, never actually drone despite 6-7 minute runtimes. I find this album musically lithe and surprising throughout. Disappointingly, I don't like the vocalist. He sounds like Cave and the dude from Frightened Rabbit mixed together, which is not good at all. And he sounds like he really knows he's an awesome lyricist, which is hardly ever a good thing. 7/10 for now.
Deafheaven - Sunbather: Speaking of shitty vocalists, this album might be even worse in that regard. Thankfully, the mixing engineer agreed and turned the guy's mic almost all the way down. I can't hear let alone understand one word that comes out of his mouth, which is a blessing. Otherwise, this terrific metal/shoegaze/post-rock hybrid really knocks me out. It gets a little repetitive, but I catch some serious feels when this thing ratchets up the emotion, which is nearly all of the time actually. Love the blast beats, love the guitars, love everything but that mildly annoying screeching sound that adds nothing to the record whatsoever. 8/10.
