Leonard Nevarez: Best of 2014

Here are Sound it Out writer Leonard Nevarez’ favorites from 2014…in alphabetical order!

Check out all of our 2014 year-end lists here.

Nicole Atkins – Slow Phaser
A sassy, keen songwriter, this woman’s voice just slays me.

Courtney Barnett – The Double EP
Droll and unassuming, Courtney Barnett won me over like everyone else. This year felt like the Australians rode in like the cavalry to save rock’n’roll.

Black Bananas – Electric Wall
Imma just say it: THIS IS THE ROYAL TRUX RECORD WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

Brody Dalle – Diploid Love
Scratched an itch for the 90s alt-rock of Hole and Seven Year Bitch I didn’t know I had anymore.

John Doe – Best of John Doe: So Far
I love this man’s voice and music but completely forgot to keep up with him for, oh, the last 25 years. In one fell swoop this anthology solved that problem.

Hamilton Leithauser – Black Hours
Romantic, bittersweet, intimate — we used to listen to Chris Isaak for this kind of mood.

Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein – Mad World
Among the many things I learned from this addictive collection of interviews and essays about the acts behinds new wave’s greatest hits: a Hollywood producer needs to greenlight the sordid story behind Animotion’s “Obsession” toot sweet!

Ty Segall – Manipulator
Just when I thought I was done with garage rock, this guy pulled me back in.

Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
I don’t know if this is the psychedelic album that modern country music needs, but Simpson’s voice cracks like vintage Waylon Jennings, he writes like nobody’s business, and his band kicks all kind of shit.

The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
Color me surprised that the 80s MOR rock of Bruce Hornsby or Dire Straits could be harnessed to indie rock as heartfelt and emotional as this. Man, fuck Mark Kozelek!