Best of 2020 (Vince's List)

It’s almost over. Yes, 2020 can fuck off….you’re heard it a million times already.

This year has been defined by loss. Millions have lost love ones. Many more have lost their livelihoods, their passions, or at best…their sense of normalcy. We have lost our safety nets, old coping mechanisms, the closeness of family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. The things that we haven’t lost have changed. Even music has changed. The loss of live music has rippled throughout our world affecting the artists we love and the sense of community they sustain for all of us.

My favorite albums embody the shared sense of loss, anger & sadness that we all experienced this year. It was especially hard to keep it to only 25 this year, but here they are. Each one of these albums helped soften the blow of 2020. Try out something you haven’t heard of….they’re all incredible.

-VH

1. Soft Kill - Dead Kids R.I.P. City

2. Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream

3. MSW - Obliviosus

4. Korine - The Night We Raise

5. Georgia Maq - Pleaser

6. Infant Island - Beneath

7. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

8. Gilt - Ignore What’s Missing

9. Scalp - Domestic Extremity

10. Retirement Party - Runaway Dog

11. Lawrence Arms - Skeleton Coast

12. Soft Kill - Premium Drifter

13. Initiate - Lavender

14. Dikembe - Mush

15. Power Alone - Rather Be Alone

16. Soon - What the Fuck Did We Do to the Earth

17. Narrow Head - 12th House Rock

18. Vanguard - Rage of Deliverance

19. Diet Cig - Do You Wonder About Me

20. Changeling - III

21. Lucky Malice - Magnetic

22. Nø Man - Erase

23. Lié - You Want It Real

24. Vile Creature - Glory Glory! Apathy Took Helm!

25. Crowning - Survival/Sickness

2020 - A Year in Review (Amanda's List)

Not sure what can express my feelings more this year than all that hardcore has got to give. The hardcore that I keep coming back to is angry, political, feminist, quick, and yet hopeful at times. Power Alone embodies all of these in a swift, poignant album. All We’ve Got is a 40 second song and is the perfect anthem for the shitshow that was 2020. Other hardcore that falls into this field is from Initiate, Nø Man, Buggin, Smut, & Raspberry Bulbs. While hardcore fills up the many of my top 25 - there are other gems that brought me joy in their lightness (Diet Cig), danceability (Korine), and ease (Georgia Maq). This year exasperated the gaps between so many and so much. You need a balance of hard and soft to get through it. Personally, 2020 has brought so much rage & pain and yet I have found some solace in the midst of chaos. Isolation forces reflection and self-acceptance. I go into 2021 knowing more of who I am, what I want, and how I want to live.

Cheers and remember we are all we’ve got.

🖤ab

  1. Power Alone - Rather Be Alone

  2. Soft Kill - Premium Drifter (Demo)

  3. Emma Ruth Rundle/Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

  4. GILT - Ignore What's Missing

  5. Diet Cig - Do You Wonder About Me?

  6. Korine - The Night We Raise

  7. Ratboys - Printer's Devil

  8. Soft Kill - Dead Kids R.I.P. CIty

  9. Georgia Maq - Pleaser

  10. Jeff Rosenstock - No Dream

  11. Initiate - Lavender

  12. Lucky Malice - Magnetic

  13. Narrow Head - 12th House Rock

  14. Peel Dream Magazine - Agitprop Alterna

  15. Caroline Rose - Superstar

  16. Couch Slut - Take a Chance on Rock'n'Roll

  17. Bully - SUGAREGG

  18. Vile Creature - Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!

  19. THICK - 5 Years Behind

  20. Nø Man - Erase

  21. Insect Ark - The Vanishing

  22. MSW - Obliviosus

  23. Knxwledge - 10,000 Proof

  24. Retirement Party - 1988

  25. Buggin - Buggin Out

 

“We’ve all been burned, our patience wears thin
Try to protect ourselves, guard our emotions
And yes, a big “fuck you” to those who abuse
But we need to be real to the ones who are true
Because the only thing that prevents despair
Is knowing that our friends will be there
Listen to each other, it’s how we grow
And challenge what we think we know
'Cause in the end, we’re all we’ve got
Drop your fucking ego, bring each other up”

Power Alone “All We’ve Got”