Best Album
1. Are These the Good Days? (Crown)
The debut LP from the bluesy trio of Carlos Zubillaga, Josh Borchardt and Oscar Webber, Are These the Good Days finds Crown in righteous psych form. One of the best-sounding albums of the year, Crown employed Brian Lucey, who also mastered the Black Keys’ El Camino and Brothers. From the backmasked freakout of “Prelude” to the tight strut of “Olympus,” Are These the Good Days rips through blues and psych forms under Lucey’s impeccable final glaze.
2. Apology (J. Ryan)
3. Satellites (Reed Deming)
