New Video / Daddy Issues / "High St."

From one of my favorite rock albums of 2017, Deep Dream.  RIYL: Bully, Weezer, Veruca Salt, Smashing Pumpkins.

Trailer's Top 40 Albums of 2017

We'll be posting a few individual contributor's "Best of 2017" lists this week. 

Not all though - don't want anybody finding an error in my tally.... it's already official. 

Anyway, here's my top 40 (only 20 counted toward FTM Top 20).

1. Tyler Childers - Purgatory

2. Turnpike Troubadours - A Long Way From Your Heart

3. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine

4. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some

5. Gregg Allman - Southern Blood

6. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding

7. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv

8. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sessions

9. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind

10. Vagabon - Infinite Worlds

11. Colter Wall - s/t

12. Daddy Issues - Deep Dream

13. Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface

14. Chris Stapleton - From A Room: Volume 2

15. Drew Kennedy - At Home in the Big Lonesome

16. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw

17. Travis Meadows - First Cigarette

18. Kate Rhudy - Rock n' Roll Ain't For Me

19. Zephaniah OHora and the 18 Wheelers - This Highway

20. Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome, and The Gone

21. Dori Freeman - Letters Never Read

22. Jason Eady - s/t

23. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention

24. JD McPherson - Undivided Heart & Soul

25. Hellbound Glory - Pinball!

26. Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives - Way Out West

27. Sunny Sweeney - Trophy

28. Midland - On the Rocks

29. Parker McCollum - Probably Wrong

30. Greta Van Fleet - From the Fires

31. Chris Stapleton: From A Room: Volume 1

32. Valerie June - The Order of Time

33. John Baumann - Proving Grounds

34. Big KRIT - 4eva is a Mighty Long Time

35. Nicole Atkins - Goodnight Rhonda Lee

36. Kendrick Lamar - Damn.

37. Dalton Domino - Corners

38. Natalie Hemby - Puxico

39. Margo Price - All American Made

40. Pallbearer - Heartless

Farce the Music's Top 11 Songs of 2017

11. The Kernal - Tennessee Sun

A cool 70s country inspired Americana roller with a simple earworm of a refrain. "Letting go of everything that I don't need on my way down" brings to mind the vibe of Son Volt's "Windfall," but this song looks back at the past before embracing the blank slate of the future.

10. Kate Rhudy - I Don't Think You're An Angel (Anymore)

I love everything about this song. The gentle instrumentation, the heavenly harmonies, and the somehow sweet but venomous at the same time lyrics. This song's a beauty.

9. Daddy Issues - High St.

Yeah, I miss the rock of the 90s but that's not why I dig these ladies. They inhabit these throwback pop-grunge tunes with a wise-ass wink and a modern gravity. The whole album is killer, but this one's the best of the bunch, in my estimation.

8. Tyler Childers - Whitehouse Road

Though he's been at it for years, Childers made his introductions to the Americana community at large this year in a big way. His album Purgatory has graced many a "best of 2017" list, and it's not just because he's the 'hot new thing.' Childers' lyrics cut to the heart of the matter but they get there aimed from his unique perspective. "Whitehouse Road" is about too much partying the wrong way, but it still comes off like a singalong for the good times. 

7. John Mayer - In the Blood

I have not been a Mayer fan in the past. I've always realized he was a talented guitarist, and that his songs were well-crafted, but something just never clicked for me. "In the Blood" is a revelation. Well-crafted, beautifully written, and masterfully performed. With this great song, and his hilarious Twitter account, I've likely turned the corner on Mr. Mayer.

6. The War on Drugs - Strangest Thing

6 minutes and 41 seconds of low-key classic rock bliss. The guitar solo is a cathartic release. 

5. Craig Finn - God in Chicago

A short story set to music shouldn't work this well as a song, but "God in Chicago" is an understated gem. Only a one-time refrain/chorus is sung - the rest of the song is spoken word, mostly over a simple piano melody. It's a song about tying up loose ends and making sense of tragedy, which you might not expect to get from a story about a drug deal. 

4. Ruston Kelly - Black Magic

This song was stuck in my head more often than any other in 2017. The chorus is just so damn catchy. And this song is so dark. It's the antithesis of a love song. The imagery evokes a horror movie. Though it's likely a misheard line on my part (and that of all the lyrics websites), I'd still love for Ruston to explain what the line "Love is like a bag of drugs, it blows out both your knees" means. Oh, and I'm guessing the reference to Ryan Adams' "Love is Hell" is intentional.

3. Brandi Carlile - The Joke

A song for the underdog. I'm usually a lyrics guy, but I didn't even realize what the song was about the first 3 or 4 times I heard it - I was just in awe. That the song is an anthem for the times without getting remotely political makes it that much better. Carlile really turns loose here. Breathtaking. 

2. Turnpike Troubadours - Pay No Rent

A selfless wish for good tidings. A true love song - whether that love be for a one-time significant other or a friend who comes and goes. Evan Felker brings songs like these to life with colorful detail, everyman philosophy, and warm sincerity. Besides the solid lyricism, "Pay No Rent" is relentlessly catchy, memorable, and it just makes you feel good. 

1. Sunny Sweeney - Bottle By My Bed

A good artist can make you appreciate a song that doesn't necessarily relate to your life. A great artist can make you feel exactly what he or she is going through when they sing the words, no matter what they're about. Sunny Sweeney is a great artist, and this is a fantastic song. I dare you not to feel the longing of a woman who desperately wants to be a mother when you hear "Bottle by My Bed." It just aches. A career song.

Favorite Albums of 2017: Mid-Year Report

This is Trailer's list of favorite albums. The year-end list will look a lot different because all 

Farce the Music's contributors will vote on it, there will be actual write-ups of the top albums, and besides... there are 6 more months in the year.  There's an Americana/Country-only list at the bottom.

 

1. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine



2. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind


 

3. Pallbearer - Heartless


 

4. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv


 

5. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sessions


 

6. Steve Earle & The Dukes - So You Wannabe An Outlaw


 

7. Jason Eady - s/t


 

8. Daddy Issues - Deep Dream



9. Chris Stapleton - From A Room: Volume 1



 

10. White Reaper - The World's Best American Band


 

11. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some


 

12. Zephaniah OHora and the 18 Wheelers - This Highway


 

13. Colter Wall - s/t



14. Black Joe Lewis - Backlash


 

15. Vagabon - Infinite Worlds


 

16. Sunny Sweeney - Trophy


 

17. Dalton Domino - Corners



18. The Shins - Heartworms



19. Valerie June - The Order of Time



20. Son Volt - Notes of Blue

And here's a Top 20 list for Americana & Country only:

1. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine
2. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind
3. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv
4. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sessions
5. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw
6. Jason Eady - s/t
7. Chris Stapleton - From A Room
8. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some
9. Zephaniah OHora and the 18 Wheelers - This Highway
10. Colter Wall - s/t
11. Sunny Sweeney - Trophy
12. Dalton Domino - Corners
13. Valerie June - The Order of Time
14. Son Volt - Notes of Blue
15. Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives - Way Out West
16. Robyn Ludwick - This Tall to Ride
17. Strand of Oaks - Hard Love
18. The Kernal - Light Country
19. Nikki Lane - Highway Queen
20. Angaleena Presley - Wrangled

Daddy Issues Performs "Dog Years"

From their excellent 2017 album, Deep Dream.
RIYL: Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Silverchair.