"It was a rebuilding year for rock in some ways. Finally able to get back on the road, a number of established stars returned with new albums in 2021, but the guitar music that kept us on our toes often came from indie acts with well-deserved breakthroughs beyond their corners of the genre. Turnstile threw a hardcore party. Japanese Breakfast let her joy spill out. Mdou Moctar played some of his most explosive guitar solos yet. Dry Cleaning left their inscrutable thoughts ringing in our ears. Illuminati Hotties offered a pop-punk opus from the brink, and Spirit of the Beehive honed their nihilistic, cut-and-paste psychedelia.
If there is one unifying factor, it's that 2021's best rock albums are filled with surprises, from Iceage's sunny turn to black midi's nightmarish prog-punk showtunes to Low's prism of distortion. Below, we round out entries culled from our overall albums list with more LPs and EPs just as worthy of your time, which are listed alphabetically."
-Pitchfork-
