Favorite EPs and 7"s of 2013

Though I listened to more new releases in 2013 than any given year prior, and was still able to come up with a list of 40 favorite albums, and even an additional list of 15 favorite EPs and 7"s, I would consider the year a downer overall in music. I LIKED a lot of stuff, but LOVED very little. Oh well, it happens.


(15) Sore Subjects EP - Best Practices (self-released)
On the Sore Subjects EP, Best Practices play loud, messy, melodic, emo-y punk rock with nice, full chords and  some barking vocals that remind me of Bear Vs. Shark. It's only four songs, but these are some real jammers. Am I crazy, or does the bass guitar on the EP closer cleverly wink at Limp Bizkit's "Re-Arranged?" Am I crazy for noticing this and Googling the LB song to make sure?
Top jam: "Home for Halloween"


(14) Totale Night EP - Merchandise (Night People)
Merchandise's latest, the Totale Night EP, is nowhere near as good as last year's Children of Desire, but, it didn't really need to be. For such a young band, it still shows plenty of promise, and I respect the more difficult aspects of some of these songs. There are no outright 80s goth-pop bangers like "Time" (which was probably my favorite song from last year), but there's still plenty of that goth drama to go around, as are there the continued inevitable comparisons to Morrissey's vocal stylings. I'm intrigued to hear what a proper full-length from these guys would sound like now.
Top jam: "Winter's Dream"


(13) Jaws 7" - Multicult (Reptilian)
Multicult are a band that one of my bands had the pleasure of playing with back in the summer. They are a three-piece muscular rock group in the vein of Dischord/Touch and Go/Matador/Sub Pop records from the 90s, ie ALBINI-ROCK. At the show, when asked (by me) what kind of music they were inspired by, the drummer said, "Well, singer/guitarist is really into 80s Detroit techno, bassist is really into industrial music, like Ministry and Skinny Puppy, and I am SUPER into Prince and Michael Jackson. But, in reviews, we always just get compared to Big Black." Regardless, these two songs are really bad ass.
Top jam: "Luxury"


(12) The Worst Part EP - Martin (Square of Opposition/De Nada)
Here is some most excellent pop punk from one of the guys from recent technical pop punk legends, Spraynard. Martin is much more straightforward: simpler song structures, not nearly as much guitar noodling. There is some real bad assery going on, especially in "Sandy" and EP closer "Tiny Scratch." The Worst Part is a truly great debut and shows a ton of promise. Hoping for a full-length in 2014?
Top jam: "Sandy"


(11) Deer Widow EP - Deer Widow (Save Your Generation)
My friend Tony started a record label this year, Save Your Generation, and things took off very quickly for him. Deer Widow is made up of four guys who play or have played in The Most Dangerous Animal, Kid Brother Collective and Dead by Sunday. This is my favorite release that Tony has put out thus far, and it is 90s-style emo of very high quality. The catchy melodies, intermingling, clean guitars, bouncing bass and upbeat drums are things I would have loved in high school, and that I actually still love today.
Top jam: "The Path Forsaken"


(10) Analog Weekend EP - Their/They're/There (Polyvinyl/Topshelf)
Their/They're/There is a supergroup consisting of Evan Weiss (Into It. Over It., Pet Symmetry, numerous other projects), Matthew Frank (Loose Lips Sink Ships) and Mike Kinsella (Owen, ex-Owls, ex-American Football, ex-Cap'n Jazz). If that doesn't give you an emo boner, I don't know what does. And get this: Analog Weekend is their SECOND EP released in 2013. I know, right? They pretty much sound like exactly what you'd expect, considering their collective discography, ie mathy, intricate, extremely catchy emo. No ifs, ands or buts about it. It rules.
Top jam: "Travelers Insurance"


(9) Split 7" - Glocca Morra/Summer Vacation (Lauren)
Probably my favorite newer band, Glocca Morra, had a very quiet year, but, at least I got two songs out of 'em. "Burning Love, Burning Desire" and "Number 2" are groovy, melodic indie rock jams in the vein of Archers of Loaf, which is quite a bit different than the bright, noodly, uber catchy emo of Just Married (my favorite album of 2012), and I am totally okay with that. The Summer Vacation tracks don't even really matter, but they're fine exercises in poppy emo punk.
Top jam: "Number 2" (Glocca Morra)


(8) Empty Estate EP - Wild Nothing (Captured Tracks)
A new EP from Wild Nothing was quite a surprise in 2013, and though it didn't quite reach the heights of 2012's brilliant Nocturne, it did not disappoint, either. Some of these songs are bigger, more straightforward, and even poppier than anything Jack Tatum's done yet (see: fantastic opener and second-best moment of the EP, "The Body in Rainfall"). And, then there's more indulgence and experimentation than usual ("Ocean Repeating (Big-Eyed Girl)," "Data World"). The best moment, of course, is the jangly, funky synth-pop we've all come to expect in "A Dancing Shell."
Top jam: "A Dancing Shell"


(7) Split 7" - Pet Symmetry/Dikembe (Storm Chasers)
Pet Symmetry is another new project from Evan Weiss (see: three blurbs ago), this time in collaboration with two dudes from Chicago emo pop group Dowsing. Dikembe are a very good, technical poppy emo band from Gainesville. Both of these songs are fantastic, especially the Dikembe one, which is their best yet.
Top jam: "Keys to the Jeep" (Dikembe)


(6) Wish Hotel EP - Ducktails (Domino)
2013 was quite a year for Real Estate-er Matthew Mondanile. The Wish Hotel EP, which elaborates on the dreamier, funkier sounds of the fourth Ducktails LP, The Flower Lane (released earlier in the year), is a sort of victory lap. As much as I love The Flower Lane, I'm intrigued by how much progress was made even from those songs to these ones. There's a little bit more of a psychedelic element here, and throw in the even beefier production, this EP is sort of reminiscent of Tame Impala, which isn't a bad thing at all. A full length of songs like these could be dangerous.
Top jam: "Wish Hotel"


(5) Double Weirdo 7" - Double Weirdo (self-released)
This debut release from Ypsilanti boys Double Weirdo is shockingly stellar. It's been a while since I've been truly excited about an Ypsilanti band, and it feels nice. There's quite an interesting mix of sounds going on here, from folk (finger-picked guitar), garage and post-punk (driving bass and drums), bringing to mind The National and even The Sea and Cake in some instances, but still sounding entirely their own.
Top jam: "Tame Tame"


(4) Their/They're/There EP - Their/They're/There (Polyvinyl)
Here's the first EP released by Their/They're/There this year. It's definitely better than Analog Weekend, but not really by much, and possibly only because it has more songs. The only thing I'll add is that, man, it's so nice to hear Mike Kinsella playing drums in a rock band again.
Top jam: "Their/They're/Therapy"


(3) I'll Wait 7" - Husband & Wife (Crossroads of America)
My friends from Bloomington, Husband & Wife, went out with a small bang in 2013. Before the release of their career-spanning b-sides and rarities collection (which I still need to pick up), they put out this little ditty, which features, probably, their two greatest songs. "I'll Wait" is an outright pop/rock jam with Mike Adams' typically catchy melodies and some nice fuzzy guitar leads. "Don't Rush" is a slower, groovier tune reminiscent of Built to Spill at the top of their game, with Tim Felton's best vocal melodies to date and a fantastic, cathartic ending (with some excellent, surprising chord changes to boot). I will miss these guys.
Top jam: "I'll Wait"


(2) Admiral Airwave 7" - Javelins (Suburban Sprawl)
I could spend this entire blurb complaining about how it took Javelins five years to release their first new material (two songs!) since 2008. But, I'll end it there, since "Admiral Airwave" and "Secret Safe" prove that even though they take forever to do anything at all, this band continues to get better. These songs may be a tiny bit darker, but they're still bouncy, and tend to focus more on a repetitive groove rather than intricate structures (nothing wrong with that). There's still the whole MBV-meets-The Sea and Cake thing going on here, but compared to 2008's Heavy Meadows, the vocals are catchier, the bass soars even higher, and the guitars sound more like outerspace and aliens than ever. No one else around sounds like this, and that is quite a feat. The only real issue I have here is the lack of artwork/packaging for the $6.00 I payed for this. The pink vinyl is really nice, but, c'mon, guys!
Top jam: "Secret Safe"


(1) Spring Songs EP - Title Fight (Revelation)
Are Title Fight the best band going right now? Quite possibly. Sure, the Spring Songs EP could be considered a continuation of 2012's instant classic (and my second favorite album of that year) Floral Green, but, it is more than just that. The band is scaling back their punk rock and hardcore tendencies even more to showcase a sound that harkens back to the beardy emo-punk of Dead Reckoning-era Small Brown Bike just as much as heavier classic alternative rock. An interesting thing about the track order here is that each song is better than the previous one, thus the EP ends just about perfectly. Title Fight's next full-length could end it all.
Top jam: "Hypnotize"