2022 Recap: Twice as Nice

Because there are a lot of 2’s in 2022 (and really because there was so much great music released) I was inspired to double my typical output for the lauded/much anticipated year-end recap. Gone are the days of the top 50 songs and the top 10 albums. This year, its a top 100 and 20 respectively.

Whether it’s Father John Misty’s eulogy to his fallen feline friend (“Goodbye Mr. Blue”), Alex Turner’s sulky condition that his next stop include a disco ball (“There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”), or Wet Leg expressing their sympathies to the mother of a loser (“Ur Mum”) there’s a lot going on in here. Without anymore fuss, here is the mighty playlist below. 100 songs, from (basically) 100 different artists.

You might say, “100 songs! I can’t listen to all that!” You can… but fine. Over 6 hours of music I guess is pretty daunting. So I thought I would provide the people some way of prioritizing their listening experience, if they didn’t want to blindly trudge through the weeds. Below is a spreadsheet I made, within which you can sort by genre, geography, label, band experience, popularity or the famous SchaefeRank (just my ranking of them). While I doubt everyone will enjoy every song, there is something for everyone, presumably.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KJfYWrEASlXffvXVJ21QMMnehM5JsgK5/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114539179288691305076&rtpof=true&sd=true

Trends

Like last year, there were some genre trends that I thought were especially pervasive compared to previous years. However, this just as well may be simply reflective of what kind of music I have particularly been enjoying in 2022, and have nothing to do with music culture at large. In any case, this is what the kids are up to these days (or at least what I’m up to):

The 70’s are back, with artists of all makes utilizing funky, upbeat sounds fit for dancefloors, blouses and flared pants. In America, disco culture was mainly borne out of black funk, R&B, and soul from record companies such as Motown and Stax. The genre reached its zenith in the mid 70’s, with artists like George McCrae and Gloria Gaynor being some of the first to top the charts with groovy hits.

Meanwhile, across the pond EuroDisco was likewise a sensation, with groups such as ABBA (Sweden) and Donna Summers (Germany).

While disco fever was relatively short lived, with it lasting in the popular mind not much later than the 80’s with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, it has had a lasting influence on music, and has always been present if only by niche artists. However, with Beyoncé and Harry Styles employing the genre today, there’s really no argument that it is fully back in the spotlight. Here are the 2022 songs that are keeping the magic alive, with varying degrees of strict adherence.

Since house music as a genre historically filled the space that disco had left in the 80’s, it should make sense for me to write about it subsequently here as well. While a not-very-distant relative from disco, house music was distinctly characterized by being more synthetic than its predecessor. Instead of horns and strings, house employed synthesizers and electronic drum machines for a more DIY and accessible scene, thus more conducive to the “underground.” That has really exhausted my knowledge of the genre, and I’m not very well-equipped to give any historical examples without a certain amount of research that I’m not paid enough for. Maybe Garrett (a savant on the topic) can shed some light here sometime. Until then, we’ll get right to 2022; here is a playlist of this year’s ecstasy-fueled, sweaty, strobe-y club bangers.

This one hurts to write a little, because I think it is the first time I have noticed a renaissance in a genre or period that I was alive for and experienced. My fragile sense of youth is hanging on for dear life. You win this time, scene kids. While the original ones to do it are making their own comebacks (see new music by Paramore, Blink-182), the mantle has been taken up again by the youth, who are coming of age now and creating music within a genre they grew up with and are nostalgic about. However, I think artists today are elevating the genre even above it’s popular predecessors. While I may dread the impending revival of side bangs, “I ❤ boobies” wristbands, and 3-D glasses with the lenses popped out, I welcome the artists below making music of angsty rock that is not just a phase, Mom.

But before then, a quick history survey:

As an alternative to grunge in the alternative rock scene, Green Day appeared with the major breakthrough album Dookie which ushered in the mainstream pop punk era.

5 years later, Blink 182 along with Sum 41 (big numbers genre) set the tone for what the new milleneum would look like: adults complaining about being teenagers (the angsty extrapolation of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys)

Enter Avril Lavigne, breaking the glass ceiling of the genre… nothing would ever be the same.

By the mid-aughts, it was everywhere. The zenith of horomonally-driven guitar pop: Zumiez in audio form.

With that inspiration in mind, here are today’s homages:

Best Albums

While the streaming age and TikTok has glorified the hit single, let us never forget the power of a holistic piece of art: the well-executed LP. Here are the artists who have managed to put together the most complete, consistent, and… um… cool collections of songs in 2022.

1. Lucifer on the Sofa – Spoon
Everyone knows that rock is not, in fact, dead—but what wasn’t readily apparent was just how alive it really was. Most successful (well, shall we say critically acclaimed) rock albums in the recent past have some spin on the genre that qualifies it as “alternative”—Spoon’s past albums themselves inclusive. However, Spoon has done the seemingly impossible by creating a full-blooded, quintessential rock album that doesn’t seem tired, overdone, or derivative. While there are influences—for example, “Wild” is a track that sounds like if U2 had a song on the Rolling Stone’s “Let it Bleed”—Brett Daniels’ charisma and the band’s wont of having a groove or a hook in a song keeps every song fresh, even after playing the album over and over (spoken from experience).
If you like: Cage the Elephant, The Rolling Stones
Favorite Song: Feels Alright

2. Wet Leg – Wet Leg
With the amount of buzz the Isle of Wight post-punk duo generated with only having one song out (“Chaise Longue”), its tempting to crown them as the Gen-Z Strokes (The Strokez? The Ztrokes?). By following through with a full album top-to-bottom with rippers of garage rock that make malaise and sexual angst danceable, its hard not to make the comparison. One does get the feeling that they are capturing generational phenomena with their wry observations, such as e-romance disdain (“I don’t need no dating app / to tell me that I look like crap” – Too Late Now), male fragility (“all right, you’re a good guy / whatever helps you sleep at night” – Piece of Shit) or underestimating one’s own social anxiety (“I have to find a way out of the plans that I made in the past” – I Don’t Wanna Go Out). Not that the band is all doom and gloom, as there are plenty of sunny, tender songs (see “Supermarket”) to endear you to them.
If you like: The Strokes (circa “Is This It?”), Illuminati Hotties
Favorite Song: Wet Dream

3. The Car – Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys have defied expectations and seemingly taken left turns with every album release following 2009’s Humbug. So if fans were anything like me, they didn’t know exactly where The Car would drive us. But once in the passenger seat, it felt like frontman Alex Turner was taking us the only direction he was ever going to go.  Coming back to Earth after their lunar resort residency concept album, The Car continues its predecessor’s tempered, lounge-y crooning but looks in the past rather than the future for inspiration. While some songs have some “bow wow wow” 70’s funk sex appeal (see “I’m Not Quite Where I Think I Am” and “Jet Skis on the Moat”), just about every song has orchestral string arrangements that have the taste of golden-age, studio set movie scores. Both sounds feel very conscious, given Alex Turner’s lyricism. For the 70’s, the first two songs talk of disco balls and disco strobes respectively. Cinematically, Turner sings: “And twizzling around an umbrella, I’ll sing a tune” (a Singin’ in the Rain reference); of Jet Skis on the Moat, “They shot it all in CinemaScope;” and “it’s like your little directorial debut” in Mr. Schwartz. While some find the lyricism opaque (when being kind—nonsensical when not) it never mattered to me whether it made sense logically because it always was effective setting an emotional scene, and the above examples are the content matching the form for a well-executed vision of romantic brooding.
If you like: David Bowie, St. Vincent (circa 2021)
Favorite Song: Body Paint

4. Blue Rev – Alvvays
Out of personal experience, there’s always three stages of listening to an Alvvays album. Because of their wont for hazy, reverb-y, layered tracks the first listen always (ha) sounds a bit noisy or convoluted.  But by the second listen, the melodies shine through despite my obtuseness. However, still, every song sounds a bit similar to me to really feel strongly about any individual song, so you just enjoy the album as a whole. Then, at some point with enough familiarity, the nuance and distinction come out, with each song starting to add something rich and strike a different feeling. Here, Blue Rev offers punchy guitar riffs reminiscent of The Smiths (see “Pressed” and “After the Earthquake”), synth new wave dreamscapes (see “Tile by Tile” and “Velveteen”) and—at their best—swelling anthems of emotional arena rock release (see “Belinda Says” and “Easy On Your Own?”).
If you like: Wolf Alice, NewDad
Favorite Song: Belinda Says

5. Laurel Hell – Mitski
Mitski had very well publicized strife with music, finding the touring, fandom, and the creative process exhausting to the point of career re-evaluation. The first two tracks on Laurel Hell very much reflect this, especially “Working For the Knife” which reflects a disillusionment and ennui for her current path. She starts with “I cry at the start of every movie / because I wish I was making things too,” which begs the question: If Mitski isn’t making things, who is? After this entrance, a listener would be forgiven for bracing themselves for a sulking, jaded  40 minutes. However, track three (“Stay Soft”) turns the corner and Mitski tells us (though I suspect to herself) to “open up your heart” and to “stay soft, get beaten / its only natural to harden up” over a glistening, strobe-fitting, dancefloor ballad. By the time “The Only Heartbreaker”—a high-brow reimagination of “Maniac” by Michael Sonbello—comes around, you’re high-stepping in leg-warmers and sharing in Mitski’s new wave catharsis. It’s a an album with highs and lows, and wonderfully represents the emotional volatility of just being alive.
If you like: Japanese Breakfast, Miya Folick
Favorite Song: The Only Heartbreaker

6. Gulp! – Sports Team
Sports Team have a penchant for acerbic social critique, but in the way that it sounds like they really enjoy it. The 6-piece Brit-rockers on their sophomore album maintain their M.O., which is raucous, hook-laden indie rock with un-minced, abrasive commentary on whatever is the ire of frontman Alex Rice’s attention at the moment—himself not excluded. Reminiscent of the kick-the-door-down ethos of the Arctic Monkeys when they first arrived, you might call this punk if they didn’t have such an eye towards radio playability. The album is basically uninterrupted tracks of high-octane bombast, until the final, slow-burning play “Light Industry,” which is so good it makes you wonder if the album could have benefitted from a little restraint intermixed in the excitement.
If you like: The Replacements, Parquet Courts
Favorite Song: Light Industry

7. If My Wife New, I’d Be Dead – CMAT
It’s a pretty common phenomenon for people to use humor to deflect emotional intimacy, laughing off a prompt to be vulnerable. However, what CMAT does instead is use her hilarity as a tool to be very bare and revealing in her music without being dreary, taking her troubles on the chin. On paper, CMAT’s schtick sounds curious: an Irish twenty-something performing American western country (“Groundhog Day”), but venturing into genres like club pop (“No More Virgos”) and aughts radio rock (“Every Bottle (Is My Boyfriend)”). However, every musical adventure works as it is imbued with comedic lyricism that make the themes of romantic misadventure and yearning palatable with pop hooks. Ultimately, the album is such an uncompromising manifestation of its creator’s larger-than-life personality, it’s near impossible to believe its her debut. I came to her first visit to Nashville (certainly important to her, as “Nashville” is also the title of track 1) and I couldn’t decide whether I actually enjoyed the intimate experience of seeing her in a basement with less than 100 people present, or if I was irked because she was a performer with such star power that she deserved to be in front of 10,000.
If you like: [I have no idea]
Favorite Song: I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!

8. Inside Problems – Andrew Bird
With apologies to Bird’s fantastic 2019 album, My Finest Work Yet, I am going to have to say that Inside Problems, is in fact, his finest work yet. Bird doesn’t depart from the qualities that have made him a folk mainstay: his plucky violin mastery, scholarly lyricism and graceful singing timbre. However, Inside Problems comes with a bit more accessibility or pop sensibility than is typical for him, and he has successfully struck the balance of high-brow and hedonism. There’s something Beatles-esque about the album, with the “Eleanor Rigby”, stair-stepping strings in “Faithless Ghost,” the backup vocals throughout, and whimsical sense of occasion or drama that precedes every chorus. For an album that contemplates Bird’s own psyche, its very light-hearted tonally without sacrificing the usual air of importance Bird’s sophistication delivers.
If you like: Father John Misty (early), Lord Huron
Favorite Song: Faithless Ghost

9. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow – Weyes Blood
Here, Weyes Blood delivers the defining album of “post-pandemic” grappling and recuperation. For And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, Natalie Merling goes a little more analog than Titanic Rising, but again—as represented from each of her albums’ titles—she thematically is optimistic about what it is to be human in the midst of the isolation and anxiety.  Whether that be ironic comfort that solidarity in social estrangement provides (“It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”), the safe harbor of a partner when all else is iffy (“Hearts Aglow”), or the cautious optimism of a fresh start from the mess (“Children of the Empire”). Merling’s angelic (not hyperbole) singing paired with the choral backups, patient piano, and swelling crescendos culminates in a beautiful, reaffirming piece that makes one feel like there’s at least a silver lining in the tempest, if it isn’t blowing over soon.
If you like: The Weather Station, Alexandra Savior
Favorite Song: Children of the Empire

10. Ivory – Omar Apollo
What really impresses me the most about Ivory, and makes it incessantly repeatable, is how well Apollo manages to perform different genres. There’s the frenetic indie rock of “Talk,” the 2000’s, Akon-circa-Trouble R&B of “Endlessly,” the slickly produced pop hit of “Go Away,” and the vulnerable singer/songwriter ballad à la Perfume Genius, “Petrified,” all of which are intermixed with Apollo’s bread and butter R&B. As Apollo deftly oscillates between swaggering confidence and vulnerable intimacy, applying genre at his whimsy to compliment the emotion, he contains multitudes—and all of them are compelling.
If you like: Anderson .Paak, Steve Lacy
Favorite Track: Endlessly

11. Why You Lacking Energy? – Cassia
If you’re lacking energy, listening to this LP might give you a boost. Probably my pick for album of the summer, the English group have a sunny sound (uncharacteristic for their home). In their sophomore album Why You Lacking Energy?, the band has grown into their confidence. In addition to the buoyant, beachy pop aesthetic they’ve cultivated since their debut, there’s something more suave and sexy about their follow up. The best songs on here have languid grooves and a sound that drips thick. While “Motions” and “Right There” are your more traditionally catchy summer songs, tracks like “Seasons” and “See Myself” make you want to dance hip-dominantly and get a little sticky. However method they get us there, the album is end-to-end good vibe escapism, the importance of which these days really can’t be overstated.
If you like: Hippo Campus, Tommy Newport
Favorite Track: See Myself

12. Sometimes, Forever – Soccer Mommy
Sophie Allison’s third album adopts a continuous thread of fuzzy, bedroom indie rock but is able to operate with enough flexibility within that genre to deliver an interesting and multifaceted album. “Shotgun” is moody and angsty with a AM-ish baseline running through it, “Bones” is a soft-touch testimonial with 2000’s pop sound, and “Feel It All The Time” is an atypical but compelling fusion of pop punk and country, that reflects her Nashville heritage writing about her truck as vessel for escaping her worries. But no matter how Allison melds genres in a novel way, each rendition is imbued with emotional heft and insightful lyricism that would make you bet on her no matter what she tried.
If you like: Snail Mail, Lucy Dacus
Favorite Track: Feel it All the Time

13. Cheat Codes – Danger Mouse and Black Thought
Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) is one of the most prolific producers in the industry right now with a laundry list of acclaimed musicians and albums that he has written and produced. For his second most recent project (more recent is the newest Broken Bells record Into The Blue which came out less than two months after this) Burton teams with Black Thought, equally acclaimed rapper and emcee of The Roots. The product of these two legends coming together is predictably electric, defying the typical mold of modern hip-hop and harking back to the lyrical, jazz-influenced rap of 90’s east coast (think A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, a bit of Biggie). That’s not to say the album doesn’t think modern rap has anything to offer, with features by Joey Bada$$, the late MF DOOM who Burton had produced with before, and A$AP Rocky and Run the Jewels.
If you like: Nas, A Tribe Called Quest
Favorite Track: Because

14. Expert In A Dying Field – The Beths
In Expert In A Dying Field, the New Zealand group deliver sharp and polished indie rock by way of 2000’s pop punk. The band’s tight but exuberant melodies draw you in, but singer Elizabeth Stokes’ singing her introspective and allegorical lyrics with emotional candor is what keeps you coming back play after play. The catchy choruses are something of a spoonful of medicine help down the love-life thought-prompts that are relatable once you have realized exactly what Stokes is portraying.
If you like: Courtney Barnett, Beach Bunny
Favorite Song: When You Know You Know

15. Alpha Zulu – Phoenix
It is fitting that the Versailles-born band recorded this album in the Louvre and used a Botticelli from the 15^th Century as their album art, because Alpha Zulu is something of a renaissance for Phoenix. Though to say they are “rising from the ashes” as their moniker suggests would be a discredit to their body of work, this album is certainly their best since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. “Rest Assured, I’m having fun” says Thomas Mars in “The Only One,” and the rest of us listening are too. The band doesn’t really do much different from what they’ve been doing sonically the last two decades, but there’s something ineffably fresh about this iteration. It’s just a treat to hear the indie pop staples do what they do best.
If you like: Two Door Cinema Club, Foster the People
Favorite Song: Tonight

16. Leave a Light On – Pillow Queens
The Dublin-based rock group on their sophomore album take a page out of compatriot U2’s book to make pulsing, dramatic anthems. While the songs contain James Joyce-esque lyricism that alludes and analogizes rather than makes obvious, the words contribute to the emotional atmosphere—often effusive, whether yearning or melancholy—that the music creates.
If you like: SOAK, Porridge Radio
Favorite Song: Hearts & Minds

17. Formentera – Metric
When you start an album with an over 10-minute track called “Doomscroller,” no less release it as a single, it makes a statement that you’re not one for conventional commercial wisdom, and are just going to do what you want.  While the lengthy single tests the patience of any listener in the streamer age (myself included), it’s that brazen, iconoclast ethos that made Metric the long-standing institution they are. Formentera is a frenetic, cyberpunk LP full of synth riffs and throbbing electronica, meaning it ultimately sounds just cool. However, Emily Haines’ insightful and sometimes philosophical wordsmithing ensures that it isn’t futuristic just for the sake of it, but rather contemplates the future to come and whether we want it.
If you like: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sylvan Esso
Favorite Song: What Feels Like Eternity

18. Fever Dream – Cannons
Fever Dream is one of the more aptly titled albums on this list, as Cannons delivers atmospheric, phantasmagoric club music. On the A-side, lead singer Michelle Lewis’ silky voice just floats over the top of Ryan Clapham and Paul Davis’ thumping bass and grooving synth. However, on the B-side the group takes some genre adventures, such as the reggae “Purple Sun,” and an acoustic-guitar driven “Lightening” that sounds like a singer-songwriter floating through a space nebula.
If you like: The Undercover Dream Lovers, Jungle
Favorite Song: Bad Dream

19. Marci – Marci
Because I have no self-restraint for low-hanging fruit, I have to say “merci” to Marci (Montreal native, since that makes the joke more apt) for her solo debut. While she’s been around the proverbial block having been the keyboardist of TOPS since 2017, her eponymous album is her first individual foray and it’s a treat. While the influence she has on TOPS is evident from similar sounds (or possibly that TOPS has had on her?), the album is full of shimmering disco and dance that recalls 70’s Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall mixed with 80’s Hall and Oats (think “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”).  
If you like: Parcels, TOPS
Favorite Song: Terminal

20. Everything is Dangerous but Nothing is Surprising – Body Type
The Australian all-girl garage rock group’s debut album has all the raucous intensity of new-comers, but has the polished licks of seasoned rock vets. The sharp, Guitar Hero-ready guitar solos mixed with the rowdy defiance of lead singer Sophie McComish culminates in gritty but considered feminist post-punk.
If you like: Sprints, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (circa 2003)

Also, after creating my list, I was curious what the “experts” thought, so I compiled the “best album” lists of various music orgs that have some baseline level of credibility. Under each periodical is what they ranked the album (if at all).

Albums	Pitchfork	RollingStone	Billboard	The Guardian	NPR	Stereogum	Paste	Slate	AV Club	DIY	WNXP (Nashville)	KEXP (Seattle)
Lucifer On The Sofa		13					9		12			11
Wet Leg		10	10	8	31	13	4	17		7	2	1
The Car			23	6						5		47
Blue Rev	3	12		25	33	1	3	3	3	15	11	7
Laurel Hell	43	60	44	21				25	19		20	23
Gulp!
If My Wife New I’d Be Dead
Inside Problems
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow	37					46	24	47	2	13		26
Ivory		15	9
Why You Lacking Energy?
Sometimes, Forever	45	42				4	16		24		16	30
Cheat Codes				46							3	21
Expert in a Dying Field	47	67				7	14	22				10
Alpha Zulu				50								66
Leave The Light On
Formentera												87
Fever Dream
Marci
Everything is Dangerous, but Nothing’s Surprising

I’d categorize my album picks into 3 categories:

Consensus picks (put on a list more than or equal to 50% of the time):

• 2. Wet Leg – Wet Leg (10)
• 4. Blue Rev – Alvvays (11)
• 5. Laurel Hell – Mitski (8)
• 9. And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow – Weyes Blood (7)
• 12. Sometimes, Forever – Soccer Mommy (7)
• 14. Expert in a Dying Field – The Beths (6)

Minority Picks (put on a list less than 50% of the time)

• 1. Lucifer on the Sofa – Spoon (4)
• 3. The Car – Arctic Monkeys (4)
• 10. Ivory – Omar Apollo (2)
• 13. Cheat Codes – Danger Mouse & Black Thought (3)
• 15. Alpha Zulu – Phoenix (2)
• 17. Formentera – Metric (1)

Idiosyncratic Picks (put on no lists)

• 6. Gulp! – Sports Team
• 7. If My Wife New I’d Be Dead – CMAT
• 8. Inside Problems – Andrew Bird
• 11. Why You Lacking Energy? – Cassia
• 16. Leave a Light On – Pillow Queens
• 18. Fever Dream – Cannons
• 19. Marci – Marci
• 20. Everything is Dangerous, but Nothing’s Surprising – Body Type

This may be an exercise in warning the reader of some picks that I like more than I should. However, I will defend myself and say that there is perhaps an issue of unpopularity with some of these simply because of lack of information. I.e., not everyone knows about these albums or else they’d be on other lists too. Probably a combination of the two. What surprised me was that my top pick, Lucifer on the Sofa, was only on 4 lists, but didn’t fall below 13 on any of them. Whereas Mitski’s album was in 8 lists, but did not get above rank 19 on any of them. I guess some albums are just so that if you like it, you love it, or such that everyone can like it just moderately well.

The Schaefies^™  

Best Album

Best Song

Best New Artist

Because I find the Grammys criteria for what “new” is to be dubious, I feel a responsibility for my new and superior awards to be transparent. To be a “new” artist, you must 1) have not yet released a full LP and 2) not been featured on any previous year-end recaps. It may be arbitrary and stringent but that’s how I’ve done it in the past and it’s been fine!

Best Debut Album

Record Label of the Year

(I just made this the record with the most artists in the “best of” playlist, and in the case of a tie, the higher ranked songs)

Best Pop Song

Best Alternative Rock Song

Best Rock Song

Best R&B Song

Best Country/Americana Song

Best Disco Song

Best Dance/Electronic Song

Best Punk/Post-Punk

Best Folk Song

Best Hip-Hop/Rap Song

Best Vocal Pop Song

Congratulations to our winners! They must be thrilled!