There's a good amount of variety on this record, and for me, it all works more or less perfectly, except - and this threw me a bit at first - opening track 'Meet Me in the Street,' which is maybe the first track I've heard by the band so far that strikes me as just faintly less-than-convincing, a moment where their spot-on style seems to teeter on the edge of hamminess. You can step back and look at this band as some pastiche of a thousand retro moves (Rich Bienstock's Rolling Stone feature is an illuminating deep dive into what makes them tick aesthetically) or you can marvel at the almost prog-like detail that the Seely brothers bring to their arrangements (check out that beautifully gnarled intro to 'Suffer Me' or the tastefully rangy bass lines in the 'Just Can't Get Enough' verses), but to me, their songs, again like all the best pop/rock, demand instant surrender, suspension of disbelief, whatever that state is where the music is just happening and you're on board and happy and lost and absolutely content. I still rock out with abandon on every single listen.Īs with so many of the greatest pop/rock songs, at this point, less than a year after I first heard this one, I can't imagine it not existing. I've spent the past couple months learning this one on guitar (yes, months I'm a beginner on the instrument), and I've probably played it a hundred times or more. Their music is as addictive and instantly gratifying as candy, but without the queasy after-effect: Beyond the catchiness, the level of craft is outrageous. With Sheer Mag, you get all this and more. Others are that I really love ripping rock guitar and soulful, hooky vocals. My listening brain has many different facets, but one of my Basic Truths as a music fan is that I'm a song guy. Now that they've finally (well, really, it's only been a few years, but it seems like a mini career in 2017 terms) proved themselves in the full-LP format, I feel comfortable labeling them the best band in America that isn't a longstanding institution like the Melvins, or something. Sheer Mag just continue to deliver, and by that I mean, micro-refining their already extremely refined asethetic.

(Here is my write-up for the Rolling Stone year-end list.) This won't come as much of a surprise to readers who recall my 20 wrap-ups. The below might seem like a round-up of stragglers or honorable mentions, but that's not at all the case. OK, so here we are, beyond the genre-centric year-end lists I've posted recently ( jazz, metal).

Peter brotzmann discography torrent