#10 on the 2025 Bacon Top 31 — Horsegirl

January 22, 2026 by Royal Stuart in 2025, Top 31

Phonetics On and On by Horsegirl

Welcome to the Top 10 of 2025! The trio of people who make up the phenomenal band Horsegirl met at the School of Rock (the globally-franchised for-profit music education program) in Chicago in 2019, while the three of them were in high school, which says something about their chemistry and why they work so well together. Setting aside whatever outside factors drove them to the School, they all had a youthful love of music and their instruments enough to want to learn more, to then find each other in that environment, and then form a band around that shared experience, to the benefit of us all.

Now, having relocated to New York while two of the three of them attend NYU, they deftly balance the demands of university while creating music as “indie darlings.” Phonetics On and On is their second album; I have not heard their debut album, but through my research I’ve learned that their “high school record” debut is louder and bigger, probably not for the better. What I can tell you is that Phonetics is 11 songs of pure indie-rock bliss.

With Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein (the NYU students – although it’s possible they’ve graduated now? And possibly even moved back to Chicago? My sources are decidedly mum about their more recent history, since Phonetics came out nearly a year ago, on Valentine’s Day 2025) alternating lead and background vocals and lead and rhythm guitar, and Gigi Reece behind the drum kit, the band fills a void last filled by a slew of late 90s / early 2000s bands such as Built to Spill, Liz Phair, and Rural Alberta Advantage. There’s even a line of similarity you could draw all the way back to the Violent Femmes’ 1983 self-titled debut.

All of those reference points have louder, more in-your face songs in their catalog, but Phonetics is a quiet affair. Finger plucked acoustics, with the occasional fuzzed out guitar, time and key changes that evoke my favorite prog-rock turns, and the dueling voices of Cheng and Lowenstein blending together in a slightly-off but oh-so-endearing way. The album was produced by Welsh musician Cate Le Bon, who is at least partially responsible why Phonetics may feel like a left-turn for those who got into the band’s debut album. “Play less notes” was a key bit of production advice from Le Bon, who has produced albums by other indie luminaries, such as Kurt Vile, Deerhunter, and even Wilco’s most recent album, 2023’s Cousin.¹

I could have picked any one of their videos as the “best” from this album – they’re all just so good. “2468” (featured above) is a bouncy, brain-wormy song that could easily have been created during grade school recess. Cheng even picks up the violin for this song – I love a band that can break out the orchestral stringed instruments. “Switch Over” is also bouncy, but in a more droning, jam-session clip. “Frontrunner” is twangy, with the un-harmonic doubled vocals pulling you through. And “Julie” slows it way down, with lots of non-word vocals (da da da da da da da…).

There aren’t many bands that evoke the music I fell in love with when I first moved to Seattle back in 1997, but Horsegirl is one of them. I suspect we’ll be hearing much more from the trio as the year rolls on, and I will be first in line to pick it up.

^{1. Phonetics On and On was recorded in Wilco’s Chicago studios, The Loft.↩}

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#4 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Big Thief

January 28, 2020 by Royal Stuart

Two Hands + U.F.O.F. by Big Thief

Sometimes it takes me a while to get into a band that you would otherwise think would be right up my alley. Big Thief, here at #4 with yet another double-album release in 2019 (if you’re counting at home, that‘s four total artists that each released two albums in 2019 and appeared here on the Top 31: Sault, TR/ST, Foals, and now Big Thief), are exactly that. They have all the right pieces and parts: lead female singer with a crackling voice, jangly and unmistakably “indie” guitars, and they hail from Brooklyn, New York. And yet, it took them releasing two utterly amazing albums in one year for me to sit up and pay attention.

The quartet has a traditional mix of guitar (Buck Meek), bass (Max Oleartchik), drums (James Krivchenia), and vocals (Adrianne Lenker, who also plays guitar). The last time we heard from Big Thief on the Top 31, we were listening to their 2nd album, Capacity, all the way back at #23 in 2017. Fast forward to right now, and U.F.O.F. was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the Grammys (it didn’t win).

Like the Recording Academy, I no longer misunderstand the band, and I can finally claim to be a true fan, excited to pass on that love to you. I admit I’ve not been able to parse Lenker’s lyrics (I don’t hear lyrics in songs, usually), but her singing, often doubled up on herself, is pushed forward in the mix, all the way to the fore, so close to your ears you can feel her breath. Meek’s guitar work is at times delicate and finger-picked, providing a metronomic beat that provides a bed for Lenker to lie down upon. Krivchenia’s drum kit sounds reserved, and small, preferring tight percussion to elaborate solos that reminds me of Paul Banwatt’s drumming for Rural Alberta Advantage.

It’s impossible for me to tell you which of these two albums is better than the other. They both hit different buttons for me, but I’ve reached for both equally since they both were released. You’re just going to have to listen to them both yourself and report back which one you prefer.

PS — I’m really peeved that the band hasn’t released any proper videos for any of the songs from either of these albums. This dumb audio-only clip will have to do.

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5. Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten
6. I Am Easy to Find by The National
7. 5 + 7 by Sault
8. Giants of All Sizes by Elbow
9. i,i by Bon Iver
10. Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka
11. The Destroyer (Parts 1 + 2) by TR/ST
12. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish
13. Cheap Queen by King Princess
14. Anima by Thom Yorke
15. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 + 2 by Foals
16. Gallipoli by Beirut
17. My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird
18. Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa
19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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#10 on the 2017 Bacon Top 31

January 22, 2018 by Royal Stuart

The Wild by The Rural Alberta Advantage

Welcome to the Top 10 of 2017! At #10, we have a mainstay of the Bacon Review. I’ve featured the Rural Alberta Advantage many times over the years. Their debut, Hometowns, was #6 in 2009; Departing, their 2nd album, was all the way up at #2 in 2011; and their third album, Mended With Gold was my absolute favorite album of 2014.

With nowhere to go but down, the Toronto band’s fourth album, The Wild, comes in at a relatively meager (for them) #10 on the year. By many accounts, this album is their best album to date. I’ve been more attracted to their previous efforts, but I will admit this one has grown on me significantly over the months that it’s been out. Their sound is generally the same, but the band has been through a fairly significant line-up change since their last album: keyboardist/background vocalist Amy Cole left the band in 2016, to be replaced by Robin Hatch. Robin’s contribution to the band could be seen as fairly equal to Amy’s, but when I saw the band live a few months ago, I was disappointed by Hatch’s lack of dynamism on the stage.

Nils Edenloff’s songwriting continues to shine, and his voice has taken on a Tom Waits-esque strain that I worry can’t be maintained long term, lest his voice wither away completely. Drummer Paul Banwatt’s excitement behind the kit is still very much evident, and continues to be the main draw for me.

This is a great album in a sea of greats from the trio. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the band’s ability to stay around and current given their rather meager following, but I will continue to sing their praises. Someday, maybe they’ll catch on with a larger American public, but for now, I will love them as if they were my own.

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11. american dream by LCD Soundsystem
12. Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes
13. Famous Last Words by The True Loves
14. Cry Cry Cry by Wolf Parade
15. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty
16. Shake the Shudder by !!!
17. La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by La La Land
18. The Underside of Power by Algiers
19. What Now by Sylvan Esso
20. 50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields
21. Plunge by Fever Ray
22. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
23. Capacity by Big Thief
24. The Tourist by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
25. CCFX EP by CCFX
26. Woodstock by Portugal. The Man
27. MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent
28. On the Spot by Hot 8 Brass Band
29. A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs
30. Planetarium by Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, & James McAlister
31. A Moment Apart by Odesza

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The Rural Alberta Advantage — Not Love or Death

June 13, 2015 by Royal Stuart

Here’s a brand new video from my #1 album of 2014, Mended With Gold from The Rural Alberta Advantage. This band can really do no wrong, and this video is no different. Young interracial love is captured in a dream-like bedroom while the band performs off to the side. A great song, an interesting video, from one of my favorite bands. Enjoy!

#1 on the 2014 Bacon Top 31

December 31, 2014 by Royal Stuart

Mended With Gold by The Rural Alberta Advantage

My choice for #1 this year has no doubt flummoxed a few of you, and is completely obvious to a few more. The Rural Alberta Advantage are a polarizing kind of group, one that I’ve loved for the entirety of their short musical careers, and one I am continually surprised by their rather meager following. This trio from Toronto is consistently great, as evidenced by all three of their full-length records having been placed in my Top 10 for each of the years they came out. (Their debut, Hometowns, was #6 in 2009, and their 2011 album, Departing, was my #2 that year.)

Even though their name is unnecessarily complex, the songs that The Rural Alberta Advantage play are simple. The lyrics tend not to be obtuse in their telling of loss, love and life. The chord structures chosen by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Nils Edenloff are basic. The keyboards played and background vocals sung by Amy Cole are straightforward. But just because something lacks surprise doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic. Sometimes expected, tried and true is exactly what is needed. And that’s what the RAA have given us with this album.

There is one surprise in the band: drummer Paul Banwatt. I could write an entirely different post just about his drumming on all three of the band’s albums. With Mended With Gold, the RAA nicely modified the levels of each player to showcase their strengths. There are multiple opportunities for Banwatt to blow us away with his frenetic percussion and Cole to shine as her voice rings clear as a bell when paired with Edenloff’s nasal lead vocal.

One could argue that the RAA’s new album, Mended With Gold, isn’t as good as the critically-acclaimed 2014 output from, say, The War on Drugs (my #13), or Run the Jewels (my #28), and according to KEXP listeners and Pitchfork writers, who respectively ranked those bands as their #1 albums of the year, you’d be right. From what I can tell, The Rural Alberta Advantage didn’t make any other countdown’s #1 slot, and it looks as if they didn’t make many year-end countdowns at all.

And that’s not to say those other countdowns are wrong. The Bacon Top 31 isn’t a compilation of opinions. It’s my opinion, and mine alone. And I’m not judging albums on technical merit or the place they hold in the echelon of all recorded music. A lot goes into what makes a #1 album for me, and the decision to put this album at #1 was not easy (as you could tell by my review of Elbow’s brilliant album at #2). It just shows that the RAA’s amazing Mended With Gold played a bigger role — the biggest role — for me this year. That’s it. Nothing scientific here. In the future, when I look back on 2014, Mended With Gold will be the album I remember as the soundtrack for the year.

I listened to this album, and the band’s other two albums, a lot in 2014. It’s been a very up and down year for me, personally, and the liveliness of the RAA catalog has stuck with me and helped me through it all. These songs were never background material — they were always front and center, demanding my attention and distracting me when I wanted it most.

The band played the Croc this year, back in October, to their first ever sold-out show in Seattle, and I was there. The set they played matched closely with the two previous times I’d seen the band, and the new songs from Mended With Gold fit right in. This new album is the RAA’s best yet, as the strength of the new songs when paired with the older songs clearly showed during their set.

And there we have it, my Top 31 albums of 2014. Now having compiled this list for 6 years, I feel I’m finding my groove. I’m always thinking about the list throughout the year (I’m already listening to things that will definitely be on the 2015 list). And by the time November rolls around I start shaping the list, questioning what will be in the Top 10. This year was no different than previous years, in that things continued to move up and down as the month of December crept on. And the Top 5 were shuffling around right up until I posted tUnE-yArDs at #6.

It’s always fun trying to look at these albums objectively, picking apart exactly what it is that draws me to them. That’s really why I elect to write about each album. It gives me perspective, on music, and on the year. So here’s to another year of great music. I hope you’ve enjoyed listening as much as I have.

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2. The Take Off and Landing of Everything by Elbow
3. They Want My Soul by Spoon
4. Are We There by Sharon Van Etten
5. And The War Came by Shakey Graves
6. Nicky Nack by tUnE-yArDs
7. Not Art by Big Scary
8. The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett by Eels
9. Owl John by Owl John
10. LP1 by FKA Twigs
11. Black Hours by Hamilton Leithauser
12. Give the People What They Want by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
13. Lost in the Dream by The War On Drugs
14. Warpaint by Warpaint
15. Heal by Strand of Oaks
16. Stay Gold by First Aid Kit
17. This is All Yours by ∆
18. Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
19. Only Run by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
20. Augustines by Augustines
21. El Pintor by Interpol
22. I Never Learn by Lykke Li
23. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
24. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
25. Voices by Phantogram
26. Morning Phase by Beck
27. Hungry Ghosts by OK Go
28. Run the Jewels 2 by Run the Jewels
29. Cosmos by Yellow Ostrich
30. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
31. With Light & With Love by Woods

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