Dec 11, 2025
Top Albums From Every Year of Farce the Music's Existence
It's year-End List season, (The 2025 albums list should be ready sooner or later) so it's time for a recap of which albums topped our lists in past years.
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No links, no summaries, no pretty album covers, just lists.
Who knows? Maybe you'll see something you've been forgetting to check out.
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2024
1. Futurebirds - Easy Company
2. Red Clay Strays - Made by These Moments
3. Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood
4. Johnny Blue Skies - Passage du Desir
5. Hanna Juanita - Tennessee Songbird
6. The Droptines - s/t
7. 49 Winchester - Leavin' This Holler
8. Sierra Ferrell - Trail of Flowers
9. Kaitlin Butts - Roadrunner!
10. American Aquarium - The Fear of Standing Still
11. John Moreland - Visitor
12. Shane Smith & The Saints - Norther
13. Pony Bradshaw - Thus Spoke the Fool
14. Taylor Hunnicutt - Alabama Sound
15. Billy Strings - Highway Prayers
16. Jonathan Peyton - Nothing Here's the Same
17. Zach Top - Cold Beer & Country Music
18. Silverada - s/t
19. Mindy Smith - Quiet Town
20. Jamey Johnson - Midnight Gasoline
21. Ben Jarrell - A Country Song
22. Ritch Henderson - Alive in Alabama
23. Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy
24. Emily Nenni - Drive & Cry
25. Benjamin Tod - Shooting Star
26. Wyatt Flores - Welcome to the Plains
27. Taylor McCall - Mellow War
28. Joe Stamm - Memoirs
29. Jesse Daniel - Countin' The Miles
30. Maggie Antone - Rhinestoned
2023
1. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes
2. Lucero - Should’ve Learned by Now
3. William Prince - Stand in the Joy
4. Gabe Lee - Drink the River
5. Deer Tick - Emotional Contracts
6. Bully - Lucky for You
7. Ruston Kelly - The Weakness
8. Charles Wesley Godwin - Family Tree
9. Margo Cilker- Valley of Heart’s Delight
10. Pony Bradshaw - North Georgia Rounder
11. Lori McKenna - 1988
12. JD Clayton - Long Way from Home
13. Turnpike Troubadours - A Cat in the Rain
14. Whitney Rose - Rosie
15. Drayton Farley - Twenty on High
16. Amanda Fields - What, When and Without
17. Willie Tea Taylor - The Great Western Hangover
18. The Steel Woods - On Your Time
19. The War & Treaty - Lover’s Game
20. Jason Hawk Harris - Thin Places
21. Brent Cobb - Southern Star
22. Sundy Best - Feel Good Country
23. Brit Taylor - Kentucky Blue
24. Jake Stringer - Just Happy to Be Here
25. Shaker Hymns - The Highway & The Boulevard
26. Brennen Leigh - Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet
27. Jeffrey Martin - Thank God We Left the Garden
28. Colby Acuff - Western White Pines
29. Colter Wall - Little Songs
30. Jaime Wyatt - Feel Good
2022
1. Kaitlin Butts - What Else Can She Do
2. 49 Winchester - Fortune Favors the Bold
3. Vandoliers - s/t
4. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
5. Ben Chapman - Make the Night Better
6. Ian Noe - River Fools & Mountain Saints
7. Aaron Raitiere - Single Wide Dreamer
8. The Wilder Blue - s/t
9. Miko Marks & The Resurrectors - Feel Like Going Home
10. Michaela Anne - Oh to Be That Free
11. Gabe Lee - The Hometown Kid
12. Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue
13. Wade Bowen - Somewhere Between the Secret & the Truth
14. Arlo McKinley - This Mess We’re In
15. Adeem the Artist - White Trash Revelry
16. Kelsey Waldon - No Regular Dog
17. Amanda Shires - Take it Like a Man
18. Tami Neilson - Kingmaker
19. Band of Horses - Things are Great
20. Plains - I Walked With You a Ways
2021
(returned to just me doing the rankings this year)
1. Morgan Wade - Reckless
2. Charles Wesley Godwin - How the Mighty Fall
3. James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds
4. Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming
5. Mike & The Moonpies - One to Grow On
6. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days
7. Billy Strings - Renewal
8. Jesse Daniel - Beyond These Walls
9. Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita
10. Emily Scott Robinson - American Siren
11. Margo Cilker - Pohorylle
12. The Steel Woods - All of Your Stones
13. Jason Boland and the Stragglers - The Light Saw Me
14. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour
15. Mac Leaphart - Music City
16. Mastodon - Hushed and Grim
17. John R. Miller - Depreciated
18. TK & The Holy Know Nothings - The Incredible Heat Machine
19. Langhorne Slim - Strawberry Mansion
20. Cole Chaney - Mercy
2020
1. American Aquarium - Lamentations
2. The Wilder Blue - Hill Country
3. Tennessee Jet - The Country
4. Zephaniah Ohora - Listening to the Music
5. Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
6. Ward Davis - Black Cats & Crows
7. Ruthie Collins - Cold Comfort
8. Futurebirds - Teamwork
9. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions
10. Tami Neilson - Chickaboom!
11. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. I
12. Run the Jewels - RTJ4
13. Waylon Payne - Blue Eyes, The Harlot…
14. Arlo McKinley - Die Midwestern
15. Jaime Wyatt - Neon Cross
16. Ashley McBryde - Never Will
17. Jesse Daniel - Rollin’ On
18. Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started
19. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath
20. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom
2019
1. Vandoliers - Forever
2. Ian Noe - Between the Country
3. Tyler Childers - Country Squire
4. Charles Wesley Godwin - Seneca
5. Mike & The Moonpies - Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold
6. Kelsey Waldon - White Noise / White Lines
7. Jade Bird - s/t
8. Jason Hawk Harris - Love and the Dark
9. Dalton Domino - Songs From the Exile
10. Whiskey Myers - s/t
11. Molly Tuttle - When You’re Ready
12. Cody Jinks - The Wanting
13. Sturgill Simpson - Sound and Fury
14. Black Pumas - s/t
15. The Highwomen - s/t
16. Caroline Spence - Mint Condition
17. Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies
18. (Tie) Tom Russell - October in the Railroad Earth
18. (Tie) Left Lane Cruiser - Shake and Bake
20. Hayes Carll - What It Is
2018
1. Lucero - Among the Ghosts
2. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks
3. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You
4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
5. Cody Jinks - Lifers
6. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox
7. American Aquarium - Things Change
8. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
9. Whitey Morgan & the .78s - Hard Times & White Lines
10. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk
11. Shooter Jennings - Shooter
12. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - Years
13. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon
14. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere
15. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins
16. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness
17. Great Peacock - Gran Pavo Real
18. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light
19. Sleep - The Sciences
20. High on Fire - Electric Messiah
2017
1. Tyler Childers - Purgatory
2. Turnpike Troubadours - A Long Way From Your Heart
3. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
4. Colter Wall - s/t
5. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 2
6. Gregg Allman - Southern Blood
7. Jason Eady - s/t
8. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv
9. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine
10. Travis Meadows - First Cigarette
11. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind
12. J.D. McPherson - Undivided Heart & Soul
13. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 1
14. Zephaniah OHora - This Highway
15. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw
16. Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome and The Gone
17. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention
18. Hellbound Glory - Pinball
19. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some
20. Margo Price - All American Made
2016
1. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
2. Cody Jinks - I'm Not the Devil
3. Lori McKenna - The Bird and the Rifle
4. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day
5. Austin Lucas - Between the Moon and the Midwest
6. Justin Wells - Dawn in the Distance
7. Flatland Cavalry - Humble Folks
8. Drive-by Truckers - American Band
9. Blackberry Smoke - Like an Arrow
10. Caleb Caudle - Carolina Ghost
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here…
12. (tie) Jeff Shepherd & the Jailhouse Poets - s/t
12. (tie) The Sword - Low Country
14. Luke Bell - s/t
15. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
16. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town
17. Elizabeth Cook - Exodus of Venus
18. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Bomber Heights
19. Arliss Nancy - Greater Divides
20. Quaker City Night Hawks - El Astronauta
2015
(2015 was the first year we did a staff-voted list)
1. Turnpike Troubadours - s/t
2. James McMurtry - Complicated Game
3. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
4. Chris Stapleton - Traveller
5. Whitey Morgan - Sonic Ranch
6. American Aquarium - Wolves
7. The Yawpers - American Man
8. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune
9. John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat
10. Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes
11. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (tie)
William Clark Green - Ringling Road (tie)
Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Squelch (tie)
2014
1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
2. The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream
3. Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water
4. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers
5. Old 97's - Most Messed Up
6. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
7. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
8. Kelsey Waldon - The Goldmine
9. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
10. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
11. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Dereconstructed
12. Stoney Larue - Aviator
13. Tami Neilson - Dynamite!
14. Cory Branan - The No-Hit Wonder
15. Fire Mountain - All Dies Down
16. St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City
17. Don Williams - Reflections
18. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain
19. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives - Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
20. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul
2013
1. John Moreland - In the Throes
2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern
3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain
4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners
5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener
6. Run the Jewels - RTJ
7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless
9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels
10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park
13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life
14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons
16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk
17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You
18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely
19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield
20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans
2012
1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead
2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down
3. Chris Knight - Little Victories
4. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin
5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street
6. The Departed - Adventus
7. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
8. Uncle Lucius - And You Are Me
9. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, M.A.A.D. City
10. The Trishas - High, Wide and Handsome
11. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle
12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
13. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops
14. Shooter Jennings - Family Man
15. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
16. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines
17. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home
18. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven
19. Matt King - Apples and Orphans
20. Lucero - Women and Work
2011
1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch
2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest
3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods
4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha
6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs
7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade
8. The Black Keys - El Camino
9. Adele - 21
10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival
11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World
12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog
13. Stoney Larue - Velvet
14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea
15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
17. Wilco - The Whole Love
18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous
19. Mastodon - The Hunter
20. Will Hoge - Number Seven
2010
1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song
2. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
3. Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me
4. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds - Wrong Control
5. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
6. Joe Pug - Messenger
7. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino
8. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights
9. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets
10. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers
12. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t
13. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual
14. The Black Crowes - Croweology
15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
17. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac
18. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows
19. The Black Keys - Brothers
20. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do
2009
1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day
2. Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West
3. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk
4. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine
5. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park
6. BettySoo - Heat Sin Water Skin
7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly
8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is
10. Drew Kennedy - An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel
11. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...Until the Freeze
12. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
13. Son Volt - American Central Dust
14. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right
15. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
16. Joshua James - Build Me This
17. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
18. Miranda Lambert - Revolution
19. Krizz Kaliko - Genius
20. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
2008
1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song
3. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
4. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
5. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
6. Sun Kil Moon - April
7. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
8. The Felice Brothers - s/t
9. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive
10. Fleet Foxes - s/t
11. NQ Arbuckle - XOK
12. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
13. Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
14. Metallica - Death Magnetic
15. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
16. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
17. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
18. Bruce Robison - The New World
19. The Steeldrivers - s/t
20. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way
Jan 10, 2025
Farce the Music's Top 30 Albums of 2024
Futurebirds’ mix of rock, indie folk, and Americana is right in my wheelhouse. Easy Company is the most accessible album they’ve released, but they didn’t sacrifice any of the song craft or heart to reach this point. Across 12 tracks, 4 each written by the 3 lead songwriters/vocalists, they run the gambit from upbeat country rockers like “It’s Alright” to the optimistic sadness of mid-tempo ballad “Bloom.” For every despairing lament there’s an elbow in the ribs of a line like “I settled on the party like a cold wet rag.” Futurebirds are hard to categorize, but their warmth and absurdly catchy hooks should appeal to a broad array of people who haven’t heard them yet. And despite the word “indie” appearing in the first sentence, there’s no pretentiousness or inscrutable lyrics; these guys’ tunes are full of story-telling, humor, hope, prose, and purpose. Easy Company is easy to digest but hard to escape once the melodies are stuck in your head.
Sometimes, the viral sensation proves worthy of the hype. Of course we all knew about The Red Clay Strays before they blew up on TikTok the past few years, but no gates shall be kept; y’all come on in. There’s a weight to these songs on Made By These Moments. Everything feels important and timeless. You’re gonna get that when the band touches on so many classic sounds. Yeah, you’re going to hear some Johnny Cash, or Otis, or some southern rock, but The Strays have pulled all these influences into a modern sound that is undeniably their own. This is sweaty, passionate music for the feeling AND thinking soul.
The Droptines are bringing back alt-country with a vengeance on their self-titled debut full length album. These songs are full of piss and fire lyrically, but there’s a lot of space in the music, and a sense of longing no matter the tune’s subject matter. “Bill of Sale” is a bastard son of Johnny Cash and early Son Volt with a little lonesome western flair. “Hyna” gives us some loose balladry with bawdy language and burning desire for a woman south of the border. It’s only two verses and a spoken outtro from said woman, giving it an unfinished quality, but that’s kind of the point. This is an impressive first effort, and I honestly expect a future masterpiece from these guys, considering how fully realized they already are.
Honorable Mentions
Sarah Jarosz - Polaroid Lovers
Josh Morningstar - s/t
Kimmi Bitter - Old School
Lost Dog Street Band - Survived
Josh Meloy - Where You Came From
Karen Jonas - The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch
Blackberry Smoke - Be Right Here
Kelsey Waldon - There’s Always a Song
Old Heavy Hands - Small Fires
Tony Martinez - Everywhere West
Miranda Lambert - Postcards From Texas
JP Harris - JP Harris is a Trash Fire
Colby Acuff - American Son
Swamp Dogg - Blackgrass
Red Shahan - Loose Funky Texas Junky
Willi Carlisle - Critterland
India Ramey - Baptized by the Blaze
Caleb Caudle - Sweet Critters
Kim Richey - Every New Beginning
The Secret Sisters - Mind, Man, Medicine
Rob Leines - Headcase
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes - I Built a World
Reckless Kelly - The Last Frontier
Blaine Bailey - Home
Stephanie Lambring - Good Mother
Rich O’Toole - Ghost
Amigo the Devil - Yours Until the War is Over
Cody Jinks - Change the Game
Leon Majcen - s/t
Katie Pruitt - Mantras
Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well
The Montvales - Born Strangers
Lizzie No - Halfsies
Ellis Bullard - Honky Tonk Ain’t Noise Pollution
Willie Nelson - The Border
JJ Grey & Mofro - Olustee
Kim Richey - Every New Beginning
Sam Morrow - On the Ride Here
Jordan Lee King - By and By
Casper McWade - Something for the Pain
And probably some more that slipped my mind
Favorite Non-Country/Americana Albums
1. MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks
2. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
3. Pearl Jam - Dark Matter
4. Schoolboy Q - Blue Lips
5. Pallbearer - Mind Burns Alive
6. Kendrick Lamar - GNX
7. High on Fire - Cometh the Storm
8. Killer Mike & The Mighty Midnight Revival - Songs for Sinners & Saints
9. Ab-Soul - Soul Bounce
10. Judas Priest - Invincible Shield
11. The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards
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