2023 has very much been a year of two halves professionally. In June I left my job working as a steward at Glasgow Cathedral and took up the role of paralegal at Digby Brown, becoming a trainee solicitor with them in September. On the whole the year has been characterised by the fulfilment of expectations rather than dashed hopes. It has been a time of making and carrying out plans and embarking on new journeys.

As for the gig-going calendar, I’ve seen Dry Cleaning, Lemon Twigs, Alvvays, Geese, Free Love, LA Priest, Warmduscher, Weyes Blood and Flyte. I saw them at Barrowlands, SWG3, King Tut’s, Rum Shack, Hug & Pint, Maryhill Community Centre, Old Fruitmarket and Oran Mor respectively. Lemon Twigs and Geese were the best gigs, both of whom put out great albums this year – more on that later on. The gigs were in medium-sized (SWG3 small stage) and small venues (King Tut’s) respectively and, particularly in the case of Geese who are just breaking out and whose lead guitarist just left the band, you got the sense of witnessing something special.

My top tunes of the year were mostly new songs from old favourites with the exception of “3D Country” by Geese, which has the same title as the album and is definitely my discovery of 2023. The others were “Billie Toppy” by Men I Trust, “One Night with the Valet” by Tennis and an epic collaboration between Thundercat and Tame Impala on “No More Lies”.

As for my two SWG3 gigs this year – Lemon Twigs and Alvvays – they were two contrasting experiences. Lemon Twigs are not exactly a “cool” band – they make very good music but don’t make any attempt to pander to current trends. They have an aesthetic, clearly but I think the reason people are drawn to them is the quality of the songwriting. The audience is there to relish the artistry of every chord change and modulation, to wait for a resolution to a phrase that twists and spins out in unexpected directions before announcing satisfyingly, finally, we are home. Alvvays, sadly, are victims of their own popularity and half the crowd aren’t there to hear the new album and instead converse amongst themselves when there’s a song they don’t know.

My Spotify Wrapped threw up much the same as previous years with Mac Demarco coming in at number one alongside King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Tennis. A new artist who made it into the top 5 was Say She She who are a vocal trio comprising former session musicians that makes catchy, groovy, soulful, funky bangers.

In terms of this year’s top albums, I would say I have five that I can award the “would recommend” tag in 2023.

5. Jonny by The Drums

I wouldn’t say that The Drums re-write the book on this one but in my opinion they up the emotional intensity on their latest album, Jonny. As the title would suggest, it is a very personal record about the songwriter’s childhood trauma and healing from this. Of course, it’s also humourful, cheeky and most importantly contains several songs that are hard not to replay over and over. It combines a kind of surf-punk, minimal aesthetic with a powerful sense of melody and of course the lead vocalist’s unmistakable crooning and vocal affectations. These may not be to everyone’s taste, but I am certainly a fan. The best tunes, in my opinion, are “Better” and “Teach my Body” for the combination of emotional depth/vulnerability and tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

4. Petrodragonic Apocalypse etc. by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

My love for this band will never die. Even if I skip a record, I know that there is a banger coming round the corner, usually within the next six months. And this is a banger of a record. This is the sequel to 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest which is regarded as the band’s first foray into thrash metal. It isn’t just bringing back the same sounds as on that album though. Here we have more ambition, harder riffs, crazier time signatures and most notably, seriously impressive drumming inspired by Tool. The album imagines a world where oil is worshipped as a deity but is truly a malevolent god, manifesting in the Dragon of the title. “Dragon”, the penultimate track is the album’s most ambitious and one of three epic near-10 minute pieces. If you want a taster though, “Gilla Monster” most neatly encapsulates the tone, even if not quite as lightning-fast as many of the other tracks.

3. Pollen by Tennis

I was a big fan of Tennis’s previous record, Swimmer which came out in 2020. Pollen is yet to quite reach the heights of repeated listens to that one, but it is still a very good album. It is full of sugary earworms that will repeat themselves endlessly and add a romantic wistfulness to mundane activities such as, for example, going to Lidl. Tennis are a married couple and this album tells the story of how they met over a few of their tracks, of the risk, trepidation and weirdly specific common interests, such as a passion for Latin. It also has songs about working in hospitality and hayfever, so all-in-all a highly relatable listening experience. “Gibraltar” stands out as an accessible single, which I presume refers to their sailing lifestyle, which they embark on between touring and recording. For me, though, a lyric that stands out from the closing track, “Pillow for a Cloud” accompanied of course by a gorgeous melody, is “Time passing used to thrill me/Now it only terrorises me”.

2. 3D Country by Geese

This is the second album from Geese who I had heard tracks by before but not got seriously into. I think I saw their session on KEXP, but this was in 2020/21 when they were doing the “From Home” sets. The first album seemed pretty cool but more in the way they reminded me of The Strokes. With 3D Country Geese have produced something much more original and weird. In one sense, it’s classic rock and roll but in another, it’s totally unconventional. The lead singer does share some similarities with Julian Casablancas in his vocal affectation but is much more unpredictable. Instrumentally it is very rich and features gospel backing vocals on many tracks which add so much. They do noise, they do sweetness, they do comedy and absurdity. My advice to you is to check Geese out. You may feel their songs are on the out-there side at first, but you will be rewarded with repeat listens and continually notice touches that show how much attention to detail has been paid in putting together this seemingly chaotic record. “Cowboy Nudes” is a great single to get started with, as is “3D Country”, but an album favourite of mine is “Crusades”.

1. Everything Harmony by The Lemon Twigs

I came away from The Lemon Twigs’ gig at SWG3 knowing I had to buy this album. From top to bottom, it is tune after tune. No heed is paid to any current music trend. It would sit comfortably with any classic record from the late 60s/early 70s. The musical ideas are given time to develop and the phrasing is so much more elongated than anything you would expect to hear on mainstream radio. And yet, there is a market for it. They have a niche and they do it so well and I am so glad they do.

It is extremely jangly and joyous where it means to be but there is also a deep melancholy, verging into melodrama mixed into this album. “I Don’t Belong To Me” is devastatingly downbeat as is the repeated titular lament of “Every Day is the Worst Day of my Life”. For Everything Harmony at its most Everything Harmony though, I would recommend “Any Time of Day” – what chord (and key) changes! There is not a bad song among them.