{"id":2914,"date":"2019-11-27T23:28:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T07:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=2914"},"modified":"2019-12-30T21:57:56","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T05:57:56","slug":"albums-of-the-teens-i-guess-things-fall-apart-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2019\/11\/albums-of-the-teens-i-guess-things-fall-apart-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"“Albums of the … Teens, I guess?”: Things fall apart in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Robbie Fulks and friends at the Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, Calif., June 9, 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Let’s get this out of the way. There is no use denying that one thing\u2014one person<\/em>\u2014looms large over 2016 and, one way or another, colors the way we all think about the entire year. But enough about “Damn, Daniel<\/a>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all seriousness, I don’t think it’s just 20\/20 hindsight that gives the impression that the music of 2016 is permeated by a sense of existential dread. These five albums each seem to address a sense of … unease with the world\u2014some directly, some more implicitly, some with humor and wit, some with hushed melancholy. Who’s ready for a low-flying panic attack?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal, <\/em>Pinegrove<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Released: February 12, 2016<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emo and country may seem like an odd pairing at first, but think about it: Hank Williams singing about a whippoorwill who is too blue to fly is pretty darn emo. So Cardinal’s <\/em>eight self-produced tracks of shuffling rhythms, pedal steel guitar, hints of banjo, and Evan Stephens Hall’s high-and-lonesome introspection is not that bonkers, and the execution is near perfect. A word about including Pinegrove<\/strong>: At the height of 2017’s #MeToo moment, as the band was looking to capitalize on the breakthrough success of Cardinal<\/em>, Hall posted a puzzlingly vague statement in which he took responsibility for an accusation of “sexual coercion.” The New Jersey band subsequently delayed the release of a follow-up and took a year off from touring. The incident still looms over the band, although subsequent investigations and interviews have shown it to be a not-so-clear-cut situation<\/a>. The fact that the primary accuser and Hall reached an agreement through mediation, and she is OK with the band’s return to recording and touring, is enough for me. That’s why you’ll find Pinegrove on this list, but not another alt-country singer who put out an album I liked this decade but stands accused of much skeezier behavior toward several women, none of whom have indicated that he has made anything approaching amends. For folks who … <\/strong>are gonna be OK with hearing things like “so long to silent nerves and hesitant oblivion” sung with a twang … by a guy from New Jersey. Moment that gets me every time: <\/strong>“I should call my parents when I think of them \/ I should tell my friends when I love them.” If you listen to just one song: <\/strong>The opener, “Old Friends.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n