The Best Connecticut Music of 2022

Throw a rock from anywhere in the Land of Steady Habits and you’re likely to hit a screamo, hardcore, or generic indie band. It’s what you’d come to expect from a state with a small population, demographics that are approximately 75% white, and hundreds of rich liberal parents willing to spring for instruments and studio time. This is not to disparage the vibrant and nurturing scenes that foster these particular brands of steady habits- much of it seems quite competent and capable for what it is.

But if that’s not where your sonic palette ends, your resources to discover local music are quite limited. While there’s been a virtual cottage industry dedicated towards keeping folks abreast of CT music of the general rock persuasion (albeit not yet one that has proven sustainable for their thankless creators- see CT Sets, the late CT Indie, the late CT scramble, and the hopefully just dormant CT Verses- come back Disco Volante Bob Sacamano!), their pickings that fall to the fringes of popular white guy genres has been fairly limited.

You can spin the roulette wheel to check tags on Bandcamp or try to follow a Soundcloud bread crumb trail towards something more exotic, but chances are you’ll soon be masochistically wasting your precious time in a junkpile of half-baked in-jokes or amidst an arsenal of acts suffering from genre dysmorphia (95% of bands in CT apparently need their public schools to teach them what “shoegaze” actually means).

I’ve found some luck checking out trusted local venues and googling the acts to find if they’ve shared any of their sounds online. Being a homebody with kids, I don’t actually go to these shows, but it’s nice knowing they exist and I try to spread my money through the apps where I can. All of this is to say if anyone has found the magic formula for accelerated discovery, please pass it on. The list below is likely nowhere near comprehensive and I was still unearthing new treasures right up to the buzzer. Who did I miss? What was I wrong on? What’s the nutmeg state’s greatest kept secret?

(Warning note: I’m writing about music that, in many cases, there is incredibly little information on. When available, I will be using the preferred pronouns of the artists I’m taking about. However, I did have to make assumptions on the gender identities of others. I apologize in advance and am happy to correct the record if anyone listed below has been misgendered or if any other information is incorrect).

30.

Myself & God- Suspension

Dawson Goodrich- Stealing is Wrong

Dawson Goodrich- The Body Electric

Dawson Goodrich- Music for Children

(Self-released, Newtown)

There’s a lot of interior mystery oozing off Dawson Goodrich’s Bandcamp page. Goodrich appears to be a public school music teacher (his profile simply states “Music (K-12)”), which may explain the gaggle of young folks hovering around him in one of his old photos. His prolific set of music truly runs the gamut and can be hard to keep track of. Some may be kosmische and ethereal, others may be raw guitar jams. Some may be scrappy first-takes and others sound quite accomplished. Some releases appear for a few days only to disappear before you’ve had a chance to return your bookmarks. This has led many (well, me mainly) to speculate that several of these are demos and collaborations with current students. Forget trying to figure out the mystery of who CT Verses is (was?) and focus instead on what Dawson Goodrich’s deal is, and whether he’s available to be your music teacher.

29.

New Social Gospel- non000relea​=​=​=​sed comp​-​-​-​222111133

Caleb Duval- Caleb Duval 6

(firstname lastname, Hartford)

Borrowing the naming technique from IDM’s golden era of mashing the keyboard, New Social Gospel’s unpronounceable debut on the Hartford-based noise label firstname lastname Records comes courtesy of weirdo improv noise titan Caleb Duval. It’s at the more accessible end of what firstname lastname puts out, but don’t expect any radio friendly unit shifters here, even if one track is technically a mashup of Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen (think more the plunderphonic digital fuckery of the early aughts Tigerbeat6 crew). Duval also put out ten distinct solo joints under his own name this year, each a different brand of onanistic high energy freakout. My personal favorite is the harsh-edged scramble of “6”, consisting of two “psalms” and two “pslams”. Pslammin’ indeed.

28.

Ghouls, Etc.- “I Don’t Want to Die in Vermont”

(Empty Space, West Haven)

Tallbois- “Void of Wonder”

(self-released, Kent)

Okay, so you gotta give some cred to some of the indie bois out there, I suppose. Ghouls, Etc. dubbed themselves the “spookiest band in CT”. Tallbois have called themselves “all boy, sad girl, junk rock” inspired by The Replacements, GWAR, Pavement, Limp Bizkit, and KC and the Sunshine Band. None of this promo-speak passes muster (well maybe The Replacements bit), but these are two fantastic powerpop-adjacent tracks that elicit the feel of being from the middle of nowhere Connecticut and how simultaneously dreadful and liberating that can be.

27.

Human Flourishing-The Warming Shed

(Mini-Raining, New Haven)

“Benevolent Noise Gods” from “Butt, India”, Human Flourishing is actually the buttchild of Conor Perreault and Greg Paul. With that intro, you might be expecting something wry or tongue-in-cheek, something with at least a little bit of schtick. Anything other than two somewhat spacey and noodly longform sets of patient ambient improvisational music with unexpected synth loops or grainy field recordings wrapping themselves around mantric plucking. Ah, set your expectations higher, these humans be flourishing.

26.

More Klementines- sk8 @ yr own risk

More Klementines- Who Remembers Light

(Twin Lakes, North Branford)

Complimentary releases by the pastoral psychedelic threesome from somewhere adjacent CT farmlands. The first is a reference to a makeshift skate ramp built during the height of COVID for neighborhood kids to use that became a method for transporting equipment. Its two lengthy jams, recorded mid-pandemic are at times effervescent and at other times doom-laden, much like the experience of the pandemic itself. Who Remembers Light is certainly the post-COVID record, seeking astral answers that have no earthly translation outside the transcendent waveform transmissions we’ve got here.

25.

Sea of Bones- Acherontia Atropos

(Self-released, New Haven)

Gary R. Amedy- The Cold Room

(Redscroll, New Haven)

Elder post-metal statesmen Sea of Bones have been around since 2005. So they’re now roughly the age of the average kid in their pits. But that doesn’t mean they’re out of ideas. The latest epic 16.5 minute piece of sludge assault was popped off in one-take, and sounds like an entire underworld emerging from beneath the gravel, showcasing just how effortless this is for these guys. Meanwhile, bassist Gary Armedy explored a different side of his personality on an often unsettling timbral ambient solo cassette released on the imprint of Wallingford’s premier physical media destination Redscroll Records that sets the thermostat as low as it can possibly go.

24.

The Tines- “Collarbone”

(Funnybone, New Haven)

The entire debut by The Tines is worth a listen, but I’d like to draw particular attention to the intoxicatingly warm buzz of its standout single “Collarbone”, which seems to exist in the eternal plateau of post OK-Computer artsy possibility.

23.

Indigaux- (unobtainable tracks on Soundcloud)

(unreleased, New Haven)

Rare talent Dymin Ellis of the “hyperpunk” liberatory project Indigaux, has still not released any of their output through official means. So in the meantime, we will have to settle for bits and streams. Ellis was also the mastermind behind this past year’s Punq Noire and its goal of reclaiming punk for its queer, multiracial, femme ancestry might give you a hint behind the hue, intent, and power of Indigaux’s musical project.

22.

Stefan Christensen- Ruby

(ever/never, New Haven)

With proceeds going to the Connecticut Bail Fund, Ruby is a loving, melancholy, disillusioned, and often bitterly angry tribute to Rob Talbot, a friend of Christensen’s who was known to many in the local music scene before he was murdered by New Haven corrections officers in 2019. Christensen’s instrumentation is intentionally junked and overblown, giving the entire affair an even more desolate and austere feel than had it been played on regular equipment, as if nothing after this tragic incident works or fits anymore.

21.

Grizzlor- B-Sides

(self-released, New Haven)

Sludgy and royally fukt in all the best ways, Grizzlor is such an intensely good noise-rock act that even their excess material absolutely rips. RIYL: Dope-Guns-’N-Fucking In The Streets (either the Amphetamine Reptile comps or those things themselves).

20.

Zygote- “Wrapped in Wires”

(Self-released, New Haven)

Zygote is a veritable Z network, comprised of the musician Zaaqqara on vocals, guitar, and bass, as well as Zymatik, handling synths and other production. They’ve now wrapped two complex weird pop odysseys with masterful dark visual accompaniments. Something tells me that when the longer piece finally drops, it’s going to be a fully realized vision worth sitting down and taking your time with.

19.

Microplastiks- “Blinded”

(Self-released, Mansfield)

One would expect the Quiet Corner with all its normcore quaint New England-ness to be an incubator of sorts for a counterculture of freaks to react against. I’ve yet to harvest a bounty yet, but I did discover the inimitable Microplastiks, sometimes known as Charter Ghost, who makes a host of well-produced and occasionally infectious postpunk tunes. “Blinded”, their latest, is driven by a Peter Hook/Facory Records guttural bass and icy synths into a disaffected refrain of “How does it feel/To be blinded?” before exploding into an overblown drum n bass finale that caps the mood perfectly.

18.

Doom Beach- Copperhead

(The Ghost is Clear/RedScroll, New Britain)

With a name like Doom Beach, it kinda says right on the tin what you’re getting. Scorched earth feedback and drone-laden doom metal designed by make your inner ear bleed. Kind of incredible that it’s just two dudes making such an unholy racket.

17.

Sotolish- “Viotech”

(Self-released, New Haven/Providence)

Less than 2 minutes of collaboration in 2022 between New Haven’s Sotorious Fedeli (formerly of Political Animals) and Providence-based trip hop act Delish Music seems like almost too cruel a tease. Between the penchant for neologism, the vaguely politically-charged cyberpunk-ish lyrics, and the synergy between Sotorious’s gruff vocal timbre and Delish’s discordant melodies, it’s hard not to think of a kind of Nutmeg El-P, which is something you didn’t even realize you needed until you heard it.

16.

thefamilystoned- THESE THINGS ARE BEAUTIFUL YOU ARE THESE THINGS

(Mini-Raining, New London)

Sometimes known as Slyne and the Family Stoned (get it? Of course you do), thefamilystoned is New London psych troubadour Michael Slyne and friends (or “punks and freaks and lovers and misfits and drifters and soul searchers and jazz cats and pseudo pop queens and tone benders”) exploring the outer limits of fuzzy sound. THESE THINGS ARE BEAUTIFUL is one of the loose collective’s most accomplished sets, really leaning into Slyne’s tender side, providing some much needed self-care from deep within the void.

15.

Killer Kin- “Kill for the Kin”

(Self-released, New Haven)

A song whose title not only doubles as a theme song for the band itself, but also appears as a mystery box in the video for The Tines’ “Collarbone” (see #24). Killer Kin’s on-stage persona adheres to much of rock’s traditional swagger; shirtless frontman, tons of leather and denim, big swinging guitars and even bigger attitude. Disaffected, ironic college rawk of the 90s was supposed to kill this stuff dead. So it’s a big swing to attempt to pull this off, especially at the regional level. But as the song says, “You gotta go out to go all in”, and this is precisely the kind of meth-addled Stooges-esque driver to make you believe in all that stuff again. New Haven has worked hard to clean up its reputation over the past decade or so, but Killer Kin are determined to make it feel grimey again.

14.

FiFac- Skittering

(Daft Alliance, Wallingford)

My jaw dropped to the floor when I discovered that there was a dude from Wallingford, CT one town over from me, doing Footwork- and a good rendition of it at that- several years back. Since then, Jeff Dragnan of Fifac (short for Fireworks Factory, the kind Poochie and co. never arrive to) has branched out into everything from conversely glowing and glowering ambient, blunted hip-hop instruments, a soundtrack to an illustrated book of short horror stories, and avant-garde collaborations with several other people on this list. His best 2022 release however was the abstract and expansive Skittering, whose cover image of a many-legged insect traversing a contaminated wasteland seems to perfectly encompass its general vibe.

13.

Skeleton Yaks- In Sausalito

(self-released, New Haven)

Jake Gagne’s Skeleton Yaks project (formerly called Won Ton Death) had its dreamy bubbly-synth-led tune “it won’t obey its bedtime” named as “Song You Need” by The Fader magazine upon In Sausalito’s release earlier this year. And while that’s true, it’s the longform album itself that truly stuns. An album conceptually about the fringes of perception, desire, and ontological recognition, it tracks a journey from the aforementioned ebullient Animal Collective styled skewered pop into a radical reinterpretation of the The Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping” through the “Revolution #9” lens of loops and drones.

12.

Brandon Dunlap & Body of Research- Weight on the Bannister

(Astral Research, West Hartford)

An atmospheric and gothic hinterland from Astral Research’s guru Brandon Dunlap (with assistance on synth and tamburica by Sky Semone and on guitar by Michael Slyne of thefamilystoned) with a foundation of reverbed acoustics recalling Grouper doing backup for Six Organs of Admittance only filtered through what the album-opener refers to as a “rotting signal”.

11.

VXO- “Life on Earth”

(Self-released, Norwalk)

Norwalk’s VXO primarily describes themselves as an “experimental vocalist”, so they’ve abandoned the clubby jungle and grime sounds of previous works and focused this latest single on creating a warm hub of textures pitch-bending to and fro and surrounding the central voice like forcefield. A song called “Life on Earth” might suggest a bold statement, but as VXO’s Vanessa Gaddy coos delicate lines like “we may never learn” as twinkling chords pop into view only to drift off into the distance, it almost sounds like an communication sent into the distant future trying to convince the aliens that discover our remains that we were more than that which brought us to the brink.

10.

Queen Moo- I Am the Sun

Queen Moo- The Electric Trooth

(TwoMoo, Hartford)

Though they hail from the capitol city, this band named after a misinterpreted Mayan myth about an Atlantean Queen makes music that evokes more green and pastoral regions of the state. This may sound like a backhanded compliment but trust me it’s not; my first impression (slap me dear reader) upon hearing their latest full-length The Electric Trooth was that period of potentiality at the beginning of the 90s when every Phish-adjacent jam band could either lean hard into the granola or go full Ween. Queen Moo has the chops and a proggish acumen on display in their instrumentation, but thankfully they’ve embraced the freakier and more flamboyant sides of their sound. And rather than shying away from tunes, they can unleash when they need to; the anthemic “Fear of the Sun” is a much-needed pounding mainline of glam and powerpop. Forget any dead colonial hags. God save this Queen.

9.

Glambat- “Breathing Ritual”

(self-released, New Haven)

We could do worse than to have Glambat release one immaculately composed soaring rock paean per year (last year it was “Elm City Jesus” which could be a contender NHV’s unofficial anthem), but such a phenomenal cut like “Breathing Ritual” would make that prospect a tragedy nevertheless. A minor chapter book of moods, “Breathing Ritual” starts modest and unassuming before building too a life-affirming chant at the end. Glambat’s Emily Alderman once said she wanted her music to be the “antithesis of the millennial whoop”, so I’m going to interpret the ooohs at the end of Breathing Ritual as more along the lines of Liz Fraser style beckoning from an ethereal plane than an attempt to woo the masses (though would that be so bad if this band got huge?).

8.

Spiral Wave Nomads- Magnetic Sky

(Twin Lakes, New Haven/Albany)

New Haven has served as a homebase for all sorts of dreampop-adjacent droney psych since Landing made it their homebase over 20 years ago. Spiral Wave’s two Nomads, Eric Hardiman and Michael Kiefer, have pedigree across a variety of acts in this milieu so their bonafides should not be in question going into this release. Even still, they have defied expectations on Magnetic Sky, creating dense and detailed soundscapes our of not only their usual guitar and drums, but unconventional choices like the shahi baaja and the mellotron. As the track “Pharoah’s Lament” (named after the late Pharoah Sanders) suggests, there’s also a spiritual jazz element to the euphonically chaotic LP as well, like if Bardo Pond only ingested the happy pills. Tune in, turn on, drip out.

7.

DJ Apostle- Aimless and Nameless

DJ Apostle- Meltdown

DJ Apostle- Apotheosis

Daesin- 2022 Singles

(Self-released, Danbury)

Of CT’s major cities, I hear the least from Danbury these days. I blame the realty creeps who closed Trash American Style down. So, it was with shocked glee that I discovered that there’s a dude in Danbury who’s not only making drum n’ bass, but tuuuuunes so big they could have accidentally dropped off the B side of a Reinforced or Moving Shadow back in “1995”, the year that one of Daesin’s best singles celebrates. While the latter and cuts like “Future Tune (We Shape the Future)” are mind melting bouts of xtc, Daesin’s palette is expansive enough to cover a more industrial-tinged darkcore/techstep side of things as well with tunes like “Roko’s Basilisk”. Moniker #2 DJ Apostle fuses an even vaster area of sounds together. His Apotheosis long-player loops gangsta swagga atop big blunted Board of Canada bass undulations, while his Aimless and Nameless ping pongs effortlessly from coldwave workouts to downtempo Adult Swim bumps to overblown drill n’ bass panic attacks. Though shrouded in mystery (literally can’t find any information on this shadowy Burial-but-from-CT figure), these are some aliases to watch.

6.

Perennial- In the Midnight Hour

(Redscroll, Connecticut/Western Mass)

Jagged-edged noise rock crossing state borders out of the ruins of Lions Club and Aeroplane, 1929 that jacks up the BPM to race across the finish line in under 22 minutes. While Perennial’s brew of garage rock, no wave, and dance-punk with dabblings of soul-funk and jazz may not be wholly original, none of the Brooklyn bands that materialized every 4 seconds in Brooklyn attempting this type of thing in 2004 were this ambitious, nor were they as in sync, or as endlessly listenable. And each successive jab at “cutting up the pattern” (as one song puts it) is so frenetic and relentless that every time Perennial pull back to vibe on some organs or cut the din to focus on a drum break, it’s like a breath of fresh air. A 23rd minute may have been excessive, really. But once you wipe the sweat from your brow, you might just be tempted to dive back in again.

5.

Ye Gods- Babalon Works

(Phage Tages, New Haven)

Antoni Maiovvi- In Private

(Redscroll, New Haven)

An “Electrodisco Horror Mindmelt DJ” who comes to us by way of Bristol and Berlin, Antoni Maiovvi has a CV that seems almost too impressive to include on a list of local yokels. While his In Private LP is a soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist, something many artists attempt (shit, even I’ve pulled that one), Maiovvi has actually scored horror films, in recordings that found their way to the premier labels for such things (Death Waltz, Lakeshore). He also co-runs an imprint called Giallo Disco, which is precisely as cool as it sounds, and he spent much of the year touring with Mogwai. These are two sets of dystopian textures, labyrinthine synths, occult minor chords, and vocals that feel like they’ve been mechanically ground down into a paste. All of this should be incentive enough to go check him out, but if that’s not enough here’s my pitch; imagine Coil or Cabaret Voltaire if they came to their prime in the era of technoise and Opal Tapes instead of during acid house (and this guy’s in Connecticut? Fuck off, that can’t be right).

4.

Ize- “Trash”

(self-released, Bridgeport)

Mø.- First Commandment: $corn

(d$b records, Connecticut)

Slermy- Slermy Day V1

(3945176 Records, West Haven)

So, this is a bit of cheat because these are all separate artists, each with their own beautiful quirks and distinguishing features, but there’s also a sort of familiar current passing through each of them, an aggressive post-apocalyptic “something happening here” vibe that’s hard to shake. To the best of my knowledge, neither Ize nor Mø. nor Slermy have any real connection to one another, but there’s a palpable anger, aggression, and post-internet production aesthetic that unites them.

Bridgeport rapper Ize has worked his NY club connections to significant effect before, collaborating with the likes of AceMo, Color Plus (who also worked with VXO on this list), and Earthearer for his album Ize Cream Man (which I initially included here until I realized doesn’t qualify since it was released on several platforms last year before it made its way to Bandcamp earlier this year). “Trash” continues in the vain of his earlier work like “This is Not a Drill” (one of MixMag’s tracks of the year), with aerobic vamping over an amped-up jungle beat.

Mø. is practically ungooglable, not least of all because of Mø.’s name’s proximity to the pop singer (this one has a period at the end of their name). In fact, I’ve only identified them as a CT musician because of their placement on a Spotify playlist run by CT Sets. Close in kin to Death Grips or Backxwash in a propensity for summoning brutal howls from deep within the subconscious, Mø. seems to have a specific relationship to hardcore (“in(e)ternal pt. 2” is a straight up metalcore song).

Of this assortment then, Slermy seems to be the most reserved, despite having songs called “World Domination” and “Kill Yo Ass”. Slermy, who also doubles as a clothing designer, took his name from a drink in Futurama and intentionally misspelled it to form the acronym “Spreading Love, Evolving, Reclaiming, and Maintaining” and makes music that is…it’s so tempting to say “slermy” right now. It’s also super fun to say too. Say it out loud; Slermy. But in all seriousness, if Ize and Mø share DNA in hyperkinetic deconstructed club and aggro industrial hip-hop, there’s also a current of wavvy queer rap, chiptune electro, and the squelchier end of trap, which comprise the bulk of Slermy, plus or minus a protective layer of scintillating auto-tune. Truly exciting stuff all around, and here’s hoping this leads to some kind of unique weirdo regional scene.

3.

Hellrazor- “Jello Stars”

(Self-released, New Haven)

Hellrazor released a great album of art-damaged noise-rock this year called Heaven’s Gate. It’s the kind of record that reminds me of the period in the early 90s when the majors were picking up bands from Touch and Go or Blast First and they’d release something that was the most commercial their sound could possibly get without selling themselves out or shortchanging the sound they’d become known for. The whole thing sounds like a million bucks and would surely have wound up somewhere on this list. But for these purposes, I need to call out the impeccable outlier single “Jello Stars”; three minutes and forty four seconds of melodically delicious astral shoegazer (yes, actual shoegazer!) magic. With the pumping propulsion and manic inceptional/recurring breakdowns that recall “You Made Me Realise” and coming off like the long-lost single released between Isn’t Anything and Loveless, this is aminor miracle of a song that should be making national/international/galactic gelatin-infused waves.

2.

Them Airs- VR Fletching

Them Airs- Exploding Whip

(Self-Released, New Haven/Meriden)

Them Airs are the closest thing Connecticut has to post-rock in the “Lost Generation” sense of the word. Not the kind of noodly, contemplative, and somewhat indulgent instrumental score music that the term now represents, but the early 90s rock crit usage describing a sensibility that evolved in response to an overabundance and oversaturation of guitar-driven music. That post-rock incorporated elements of both the hypermodern frontier of electronic music and bleeding edge of avant-garde sounds to grate against the trad rock structure and forge something formalistically exciting and sonically innovative.

They may seem to occasionally gesture towards the jammier end of things, such us on Exploded Whip’s B-side and perhaps their longest track to-date “High Tension Spigot”, but there’s always an intrinsic weirdness built-in, as if they’re constantly trying to subvert their most conventional tendencies. Their high watermark of the year is “VR Fletching”, which not only doesn’t sound like Connecticut, but doesn’t sound of this planet; an alien pop tune that nevertheless thrashes between time signatures to violently jolt your neck when you’re mid-bop until all that was once solid turns into Them Airs. Despite a relentless live presence, a full length didn’t materialize from the band this year, just like last year. However, given the high quality of the shorter material they did release, this seems to be an act of calculation rather than of paucity of ideas. When it does come, it’s going to blow the roof off.

1.

Amaii- I’ve Seen Better Days

(self-released, Connecticut)

If you’d told me just a few weeks back that anyone would be able to grab the Connecticut Music belt from Them Airs, I’d never have believed you, but that was before I heard maximalist hyperpop superstar-in-the-making Cass, aka Amaii. Amaii is an enigma of sorts. She shares little info about her hometown and personal life online. A few online reviewers have noted that she is “big in Geometry Dash twitter”, but beyond that what we’re left with is a carefully curated persona.

Which is not to say that Amaii is withholding. Far from it. I’ve Seen Better Days is almost a series of rants from deep within the unconscious and feels even more intensely confessional than the sad girl indie set (and indeed, Phoebe Bridgers- in extracted interview form- appears at the beginning of a song problematically dubbed “Kanye Rant”). This is the howl of the disconnected postmodern subject.

Musicians from Connecticut have frequently had a complicated relationship with the state. Some frequently reject their roots, or view the state as a stop-through to another destination, but then there’s also artists like Amaii who don’t really seem to be from Connecticut not because she’s planning on leaving or disavows the state, but because she seems to live completely online. And I’ve Seen Better Days, on down to the Citizen King-referencing title is an experience completely mediated by a life-lived via the fractal lens of pop culture and social media. The album’s opening lines “Take me somewhere else/I don’t wanna be here anymore” (repeated throughout the album) feel especially claustrophobic when you consider how the places Amaii seems to inhabit on I’ve Seen Better Days seem almost permanently inescapable, the world that follows you around in your pocket wherever you go like a permanent Greek chorus shouting messages of rejection and anxiety no matter where you are (something I can only imagine is heightened through Amaii’s queerness).

Throughout this spectacularly dense, strange, and yet somehow weirdly confessional and intimate record, Amaii is having a conversation with the detritus around her, frequently in the form of samples of the late capitalist trash culture surrounding her. Based on the fact that these samples are transcribed in the lyric sheet, they play a crucial role in the narrative of the album, from Bojack Horseman trying to deny his depression to the startling yelp of a YouTuber shouting “Kill Yourself” to Sonic the Hedgehog saying “Your mask can’t hide how sad and lonely you are”. The entirety of the internet, and hence the entirety of the cultural landscape, is Amaii’s sandbox. Elsewhere in the lyrics, she is revealing Drake’s credit card number, going down on Tyler the Creator, telling of J.K. Rowling, sleeping with Matt Walsh’s wife, curbstomping Republicans and playing Mario Kart.

This mode may ring counterfeit to hyperpop’s main thesis of artifice as the ultimate realization of the modern moment. It was a movement, after all, founded in part by A.G. Cook and SOPHIE’s real song about a fake energy drink hosted by a fake singer. Therefore, I’ve Seen Better Days represents a pivot in direction, almost an escalation. Like most hyperpop, it’s overcaffeinated and sugary, but it’s also so turnt up and sorta cruddy in the mix so that everything just sorta distorts into static at points, burying the elaborate technical tricks Amaii is employing throughout. No doubt this may turn fidelity geek listeners off, but it recalls to me the way Dave Fridmann’s productions scrape the ceiling to emulate the walls crumbling down and the earth shaking from the friction of the music’s emotions. There are moments here that even Doom Beach couldn’t compete with in terms of heaviness, even if the mode- windswept synth choruses, manic pixie breakbeat asides, tilt-a-whirl disco, and the vocals that fluctuate between tender affected melodies to puerile chipmunk rants- is not in the least bit metal or harsh-noise-adjacent.

I’ve Seen Better Days might have won this list by intensity alone, but there’s also so much else going on that can’t be ignored. Here’s hoping at least half of this energy, playfulness, and spirit of invention carries over into Connecticut’s music next year.