The best 70s-ish retrospective albums of 2023

Given that the first decade of my life happened to coincide with the entirety of the 1970s, I have a solid reverence for the peculiar time. Recollections of wearing an R. Crumb-influenced “Keep on Truckin’’” T-Shirt flipping through a Time magazine replete with images of dead bodies lying around vats of cool aid while watching an episode of the Love Boat with a pet rock in my lap. That was the looniness of a moment in the 70s.

I have vivid, and loving memories of basically all things 70s pop culture (ranging from films, game shows, fashion, hair styles, weird political stuff, stop motion animated Christmas specials, and religious cults). But more than anything, the music. I guess I can credit my older sister, Gena, for my passion for 70s tunes, listening to her blare vinyl discs of the Bay City Rollers, KISS, Sweet, and Supertramp from the neighboring bedroom (and of course the Columbia Record and Tape Club for sending me monthly 8-track tapes for the low price of $2.99). Streaming music is certainly awesome, but there was nothing like unwrapping a new record from its plastic, immediately throwing it on the turntable and scanning through all the pictures, song lyrics, and liner notes contained within the sleeves of the album cover.

Even though there has been a resurgence of 70s-style disco in recent years resurrecting the vibes of masters like Georgio Moroder and Donna Summer (with some banger albums over the last few years from Dua Lipa, Róisín Murphy, and Kylie Minogue), 2023 has pushed the envelope on returning the sounds of the “20s” back to the glorious 1970s. More than any year I can remember, the various genres of 70s music represent a remarkable influence on several of this year’s albums. From disco to country, krautrock to “classic rock,” and even some stabs at the foundations of heavy metal (and, sadly, I am confident that I have missed a multitude of 70s influenced R&B, soul, and funk music this year). Nevertheless, my humble list below represents fifteen joyful discoveries in sonically re-experiencing the decade of my birth.

15. Juliana Hatfield – Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO

In spite of the rather sardonic opinions of various That 70s Show characters about the pop/rock bands of the era, I look back on acts like Styx, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Bee Gees as formative influences on my musical tastes. As a curious expression of the 70s soft rock sound, the collection of tunes found in Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO released on the Friday before Thanksgiving represent probably the most unique addition to my flashback list. In between her recent major releases, Hatfield has recorded a few covers albums handling the tunes of artists who had their most productive years firmly planted in the 1970s, including Olivia Newton-John and The Police. Hatfield’s exploration into the tunes of ELO certainly seems reasonable given the Newton-John/ELO album split in 1980 on the Xanadu film soundtrack. The strength of this record (and the reason I include on this list) is that Hatfield swerves from straight imitation of the ELO tunes, dialing back on Jeff Lynne’s often heavy production, to more modest albeit period-appropriate interpretations. A standout of this approach includes her take on “Strange Magic,” which slows the tempo of the original into something more resembling a ballad but with backup vocals and basslines that one could discover floating amidst a Karen Carpenter composition. The collection reaches its height with “Telephone Line,” as Hatfield somehow manages to capture the song’s epic nature with a more muted manifestation. Considering all three of Hatfield’s recent cover albums, I confess huge love for what she is doing with these period explorations, and I want more.

14. Kerry Charles – I Think of You

My sister Gena saw Boz Scaggs live last summer in Salt Lake City. Boz is pushing 80 now (and had to postpone his summer tour because of health but still rocking). It seems fitting somehow that Kerry Charles has emerged on his debut release to carry the torch of Scaggs’ jazzy brand of yacht rock (a recent term for the vibe that I actually kind of dig – as opposed to the stupid “hair metal” moniker pinned to 80s hard rock). With its abundant horns, funky keys, and Charles’ whispery falsetto, I Think of You is a breezy voyage and a worthy soundtrack for sailing to Catalina Island as anything released this year. My favorite moment in the collection arises with the title track when Max Cudworth’s sax initially hits after the song’s breakdown, foreshadowing what the sound of I Think of You delivers through its efficient thirty-minute run. Cudworth’s sax solos carrying significant portions of “Stephanie Changing” and “Shoo-In” are likewise highlights. Charles’ vibe has also been identified as “dad rock” – really? We had to find a term more pejorative than hair metal to describe music for white men in their 50s and 60s?

13. Surahn – Soft Rock Summer

The relatively obscure Australian multi-instrumentalist, Surahn Sidhu, is certainly an interesting chap. Not a prolific recording artist, but he has toured with countless bands, written songs for various artists, and has his own projects like Sidwho? and The Swiss (sadly never heard of them though). Soft Rock Summer is Surahn’s masterpiece and likely a culmination of all his musical influences and projects. The album opener, “Don’t Panic,” kicks Soft Rock Summer off with definite disco stylings, but framing the record as disco doesn’t even come close to capturing the vibe here as the tracks settle into an exploration of the jazziest funk of the 70s (reminiscent of the glorious Donald Byrd). An album highlight, “Surrender” begins like a classic rock tune backed by horns but, its final third breaks into a trumpet solo (shouts to Ross Irwin on horns) that is so reflective of a few cuts from Byrd’s fabulous 1975 album Places and Spaces (desert island disc!) like “Dominoes” and “Just My Imagination.” The closer, “Ecstasy,” is a seven minute plus funk showcase that I could listen to on repeat through the night. Surahn’s reenactments of the deep-ass funk of the 70s might have been my favorite musical discovery of 2023.

12. Girl Ray – Prestige

This nasty album by Girl Ray represents a totally new direction for the band. Evidently, bandleader, Poppy Hankin, envisioned Prestige as a fantastical soundtrack for an imaginary nightclub, spinning disco-inspired dance music as a nod to early 1980s NYC ballroom culture. With this imaginary space and time as the album’s underlying concept, Girl Ray pivots from the more mainstream indie pop and R&B-influenced tunes from their two previous albums. What I find most compelling on Prestige is the decade-crossing the album undertakes. Hankin and her mates appear to be rooting around the creative tensions that artists like Donna Summer, the Commodores, and Gloria Gaynor faced with the fading popularity of the funk and disco sounds of the late 70s as British synthpop arose at the outset of the 80s. The album closer “Give Me Your Love” (released as a single in 2021) captures the moment quite well and wouldn’t be out of place falling right after the Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” on MTVs rotation during its inaugural week. Otherwise, the beachy breeziness of “Hold Tight,” the pure disco of “Love is Enough,” and the enthusiasm of the first track, “True Love,” represent my favorite songs on the record. Whether or not it was the band’s intent, Prestige effectively works within the margins of the 80s/70s collision, offering a compelling take on the last gasp 1970s dance culture.

11. U.S. Girls – Bless This Mess

Released in late February, Bless This Mess was the initial foray into the disco-laden sounds appearing through the year. The groovy keyboard, drums, and baking vocals of the very first chord on the opening track of the record, “Only Daedalus,” is a pretty sweet indication of the 70s vibes that were approaching over the course of 2023. The song is a lounge-funky groove fest about the mythic father of Icarus in Greek mythology. The money shot of the album arises at the latter end with disco banger “Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo)” and is really the only throwback dance tune featured in the collection. The rest of Bless This Mess is an assemblage of pop tunes, some capturing 70s funk and R&B (“Only Daedalus,” and “Just Space for Light”) and others maybe not so much (there are definite overtures to 80s synthpop, “So Typically Now,” and “Futures Bet” being the standout exemplars). Bless This Mess represents an interesting document of Meg Remy’s creative progression from the challenging, artsy DIY rock of 2008’s Introducing into a retrospective pop exploration that happens to be a lot of fun.

10. The Go! Team – Get Up Sequences Part Two

I have been a huge fan of The Go! Team over the years, largely because of the urban, retro mashup exuberance most of their music emits. It didn’t occur to me how on the nose The Go! Team’s aesthetic conjured 70s nostalgia for me until reading Bill Pearis from Brooklyn Vegan comparing the band’s music to the psych tunes sometimes occuring in 1970s episodes of Sesame Street. That reference provoked a memory of watching the PBS kids shows Zoom and The Electric Company as a little boy, realizing how much the music from those programs recall The Go! Team’s vibe. Especially “The Train Song,” which seems ripped directly from a children’s educational public television program. The songs on the Get Up Sequences Part Two are much catchier this time around then on 2021’s Part One somehow, with bangers like “Whammy-O” and “Getting to Know (All the Ways We Are Wrong for Each Other).” Really, every tune on the album is enjoyable, with or without the allusions to children’s literarcy education backed up by a funky psychedelic soundtrack.

9. Cory Hanson – Western Cum

Electric guitar-driven rock has existed on life support since the late 90s (and is dying a slow death according to the Washington Post). But at least there are artists like Cory Hanson around to derisively carry its flag (and indie album labels that will release such things). Western Cum is a tour de force of guitar riffs and solos accompanied by some Southern rock twang reminiscent of a handful of 70s classic rock acts like the Allman Brothers and Thin Lizzy. No mistaking the confines of what the album might offer right off the bat, as the initial guitar lick of opening song “Wings” profoundly announces its retrospective dimensions (with a guitar solo occurring at its latter half as anthemic as anything found on “Free Bird”). The album’s other unique attribute is found in its folksy, peculiar lyrics gaining inspiration from Western American mythology with topics like ghostly hauntings, highway murderers, and tales of revenge. There is a great deal more complexity going on in Western Cum that might not be gleaned by the heights of its classic rock tribute vibe. “Persuasion Architecture” encapsulates that premise with its insane transitions from what initially appears to be something akin to contemporary hardcore to twangy steel pedal guitar within a matter of seconds. The proggy “Driving Through Heaven,” essentially a synthesis of all the pleasant sonic surprises bounding within the album, is an epic guitar jam journey, traveling for nearly ten-and-a-half minutes through a myriad of solos, riffs, and weird lyrics. Western Cum is an album that could only be made only in the world of indie music production (now, a soapboxy missive). The brilliance of contemporary indie music is that the “genre” is boundless – indie suggests a variance of just about anything from synthpop to jangly rock to R&B and soul (and numerous other subgenres). It is a fascinating irony that “indie” occupies the corner of the music industry to which a host of creative contemporary artists flock in world where Fall Out Boy gets nominated for Grammys.

8. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Land of Sleeper

Pigs x7 gives the gift of 2023’s best Black Sabbath-influenced doom riffage album. In doing so, the band nearly recreates a best-of-the-early-70s Sabbath collection. The most revealing instance occurring about four minutes and thirty seconds into “Big Rig” with a riff bowing down to “Electric Funeral” from 1970’s glorious Paranoid (as the riff grooves through the remainder of the tune, I half expected vocalist, Matt Baty, to start bleating out the lyrics “Electric Funeral, Electric Funeral…”). Of course, what really made Black Sabbath “the Architects of Metal” and ultimately cemented their sound into what we now call “doom” (even though doom as a genre didn’t really emerge as a thing until the 80s) was their rhythm section. Ewan Mackenzie (drums) and John-Michael Hedley (bass) manage to expertly pay homage to the greatness of Bill Ward and Geezer Butler. The closer “Ball Lighting” nicely exemplifies their contributions with bluesy rhythms supporting the piano keys initiating the tune (the whole passage with the piano is just so random and illustrative of the weird elements contained in any of Sabbath’s first five albums). The drum interlude at the breakdown in “Pipe Down” is classic Ward and the bass riff in opener “Ultimate Hammer” nicely showcases Hedley’s adoration of Butler. Although unmistakably a Sabbath tribute record, Land of Sleeper contains other classic metal influences. Mr Medicine has an unmistakable Motorhead vibe, and there are traces of various doom metal acts throughout the album, most notably Trouble (my absolute favorite Sabbath-obsessed band of the 80s), Saint Vitus, and Candlemass. Hooray for heavy music!

7. Dylan Earl – I Saw the Arkansas

And now for something completely different … I love 70s country because it conjures memories of bouncing around with my dad in his green International truck hunting for deer and pheasants in rural central Utah. Those trips never failed to include hours of uninterrupted listening to Glen Campbell, Waylon, Willie, and Tompall Glaser (shouts to “Put Another Log on the Fire!”) pulled from a brown case of 8-track tapes. Reviewers have identified the vibe of I Saw the Arkansas reminiscent of 1990s country music, about which I know nothing and couldn’t name a song by Alan Jackson or Randy Travis if an old Winchester rifle were directed at my forehead (sorry hardcore 90s country fans – I admittedly suck). I can at least confirm that the sounds of the album clearly remind me of the aforementioned 70s country Gods. The gems in this collection are “White Painted Trees” – a song that recounts Earl driving around in his pickup through the Arkansas Delta – “Buddy,” and “Fever.” Earl’s songcraft is simple but magnificently retrospective of the classics. Perfect background music while I’m sitting in front of the fire waiting on some bacon & some beans.

6. Melenas – Ahora

The Pamplona, Spain band Melenas are often associated as a standard-bearer of motoric beats, suggesting primary influences from the 70s German krautrock-meisters Kraftwerk, Neu!, und Can. For my sensibilities, the tunes on Ahora more closely resemble the products of a handful of British artists from late 70s influenced by krautrock and experimenting with synthesizers. Acts such as John Foxx-era Ultravox (Systems of Romance) and early synth-driven Human League (Reproduction) come to mind. Ahora spins its own unique sound and pigeonholing the album as a product of 1970s vibes certainly misses some of the other period influences on this album (like 60s-based lounge, jangle, and 90s Stereolab). Nevertheless, listening to tunes like “1986” and “Tú y yo” evokes the experience of chilling in a club with a martini circa 1979, discovering the fresh new grooves of British synthpop before they really became a thing on MTV.

5. Teke::Teke – Hagata

Reflecting a strong similarity to Japanese surf rock auteur Takeshi Terauchi, the Montreal band Teke::Teke simultaneously capture a kaleidoscope of musical influences on the brilliant album Hagata. Over the last four to five years, the band has undertaken several personas from a dedication to surf rock-influenced eleki music (they performed strictly Terauchi covers in their early days) and strong nods to psych and progressive rock as well as 60s and 70s film scores. Hagata further demonstrates that Teke::Teke has little to no inhibitions as the compositions exhibit multiple period influences, sometimes occurring from chord to chord in one song, with lyrics entirely in Japanese. The tune “Doppleganger” very much encapsulates what I love about this album (and probably why I placed it in this 70s list). It has the feel of a pop song included in a soundtrack for a Roger Moore James Bond flick set somewhere in Asia. The same goes for “Setegaya Koya” – I just rewatched Enter the Dragon for the umpteenth time last week, and I swear that the opening passage was grabbed straight from the scene of Bruce Lee’s late-night sojourn through “Han’s private island.” Whatever time period and genre Hagata captures best (I personally think it’s 70s cult movie soundtracks), the band provides a fix for those like myself who desperately miss the zaniness of fellow Canadian genre benders Yamantaka // Sonic Titan.

4. Jesse Ware – That! Feels Good!

Although Beyoncé’s 70’s-influenced Renaissance was no doubt fabulous last year, Jesse Ware’s 2020 album, What’s Your Pleasure?, may have single-handedly legitimized the resurgence of this decade’s wave of contemporary disco. Ware does it again on That! Feels Good! but maybe even better the second time around. Ware creates a sound on the album that transcends strictly disco and captures the popular music mainstream of the era. Certainly, the title track “Free Yourself,” and “Freak Me Now,” are definite disco dancefloor bangers. But the best songs on the record “Hello Love” and especially “Begin Again” expertly recreate 70s pop music arrangements with strings, horns, and a chorus reminiscent of a holiday variety TV show hosted by Carol Burnett and Tim Conway. Musically driving the retro-spectacle are Afro-funk meisters Kokoroko who join as Ware’s accompanying band to generate the rich 70s textures found throughout the record. I’ve read critics compare Ware’s career to British singers Adele and Florence Welch – but thank God the artists have followed different trajectories. While she missed the popular acclaim afforded to her fellow Brits in the early stages of her career, Ware’s creative artistry and confidence have progressively strengthened from the debut in 2012 to her present masterwork. I’m holding my breath for what Jesse Ware does next.

3. En Attendant Ana – Principia

Don’t allow the obvious references to Stereolab and 90s post-rock fool you, please. When listening to Principia, I feel like I discovered a long-lost album from some obscure European pop group pulled out of a stack of dusty vinyl from Uncle Joe’s attic. The vibe of this French indie pop band’s early 2023 release (landing on the same day in February as the U.S. Girls record) exists somewhere within that transitionary plane between the late 60s and the early 70s. Comparison’s of En Attendant Ana to Stereolab persist (perhaps fairly), yet the latter band was strongly influenced by 70s funk, jazz, pop and krautrock. Principia’s moving parts coalesce to establish similar period influences. The vintage effects on this record highlighting its occasional crackly production, retro organ, lockstep basslines, motorik beats, and intermittent trumpet and saxophone elegantly mingle to declare “lost pop classic from 1973!” Margaux Bouchaudon’s vocal delivery likewise captures a smooth, classic rock aesthetic à la Grace Slick. The streak of bangers positioned in the middle of the collection (from “Wonder,” followed by “Fools and Kings,” and ending with “The Cutoff”) steadily generate a sensation of retrospective phrenzy. Nevertheless, in spite of its period influences, Principia’s optimism still seems somehow embedded squarely in 2023.

2. The Lemon Twigs – Everything Harmony

Consuming The Lemon Twigs’ rather swell fourth album, Everything Harmony, evokes the experience of listening to Skinny Johnny Mitchell spin soft rock tunes from Sweet Baby James Taylor, Brian Wilson, or John Denver through the night on Salt Lake’s KCPX AM radio. Kicking off the summer in early May, Everything Harmony was the first album I heard this year that was completely and explicitly melodious 70s easy listening rock. Sporting amazing vintage haircuts and bellbottom jeans to match their ambiance, brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario masterfully spin the period vibes with Beach Boys lite harmonies against some rather downtrodden lyrics. While Everything Harmony features some overly sentimental themes ranging from despair and loneliness (“Born to Be Lonely”) to intense heartbreak (“What Happens to a Heart”), the lyrical anguish is counterbalanced with some expertly crafted antiquey songs. The gloomy themes are thankfully broken up just as the album is reaching its final stretch with my favorite song of the year, “Ghost Run Free,” a spirited pop tune that might have emerged from a Partridge Family episode. Haters of period pastiche have lambasted the album with aggressive criticisms of the D’Addario’s derivative tendencies. To that critique, I say, just chill.

1. Jake Shears – Last Man Dancing

Jake Shears made the album he always wanted and the album I needed – the result being a sweltering disco inferno. The former Sister Scissors singer divides the lively record into two halves – the first being a series of dance bangers (with a splash of various 70s influences, like Barry Gibb-esque soft rock sounds) and the second a darker, late-night party DJ set filled with high tempo house music offering a series of guests including rapper Big Freedia and singer Amber Martin. With all of its grooviness what makes this album an achievement are the singles – “Last Man Dancing,” “I Used to Be in Love,” and “Too Much Music” anchor the album with some sizzling hits, making the other really good songs sequenced in between those (“Do the Television” and “Really Big Deal”) relaxed breaks from the dancefloor. Although the record’s second half misses the pop hits present on the side one, Shears’ DJ set packs enough of a punch on tunes like “Radio Eyes” and “Doses” to keep me out dancing like a better man with white satin gloves well past 4am.

Honorable Mentions (five more 2023 albums with overt 70s influences, about which I am too tired to write).

5. 5. Jonas Brothers – The Album

 

Fuck you, I went there. The stylish single “Waffle House” was on constant Spotify replay for nearly the entire summer. I couldn’t help it!

 

4. Tanith – Voyage

Tanith is a contemporary hard rock band dedicated to less radio friendly 70s artists like Uriah Heap (a personal favorite) and Wishbone Ash. Voyage is an interesting take on the period with genre-appropriate, corny lyrics.

 

3. John Andrews and the Yawns – Love for the Underdog

Groovy bass, breezy string arrangements, and light jazziness typify this seventies AM, soft rock release from a consummate backup player with acts such Cut Worms, Woods, and others.

 

2. Megafauna – Olympico

Olympico is a fun classic rocky collection of tunes from veteran Austin psych band Megafauna. “Bi Postal” is the coolest tune and could have been a song featured by a bad ass girl band like the Runaways. Check out the video in which singer, Dani Neff, mimics the experience of being at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe.

1. Jaakko Eino Kalevi – Chaos Magic

At times sounding like the soundtrack to sooo-bad-their-good early 80s B-flicks (think Ice Pirates or Super Fuzz), Finland’s Jaakko Eino Kalevi channels disco (a la Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer) in addition to synthpop and prog on this super strange psychedelic pop album.

 

As an added bonus (because I love to compose end-of-year “best of” lists), here are my top 50 albums of 2023.

2023 nathanjbobb Top 50

1. Del  Water Gap – I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet

2. Girl Ray – Prestige

3. Mitski – The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We

4. Fireworks – Higher Lonely Power

5. U.S. Girls – Bless This Mess

6. Jeff Rosenstock – HELLMODE

7. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Circus – Council Skies

8. Navy Blue – Ways of Knowing

9. The Go! Team – Get Up Sequences Part Two

10. White Reaper – Asking for A Ride

11. Heartworms – A Comforting Notion

12. Vagabon – Sorry I haven’t Called

13. Ohhms – Rot

14. Jess Williamson – Time Ain’t Accidental

15. shame – Food for Worms

16. The Tubs – Dead Meat

17. Cory Hanson – Western Cum

18. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes

19. Parannoul – After the Magic

20. Indigo de Souza – All of This Will End

21. Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite

22. ORA77K – CODESWITCH 2: Night Owls Only

23. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Land of Sleeper

24. Sincere Engineer – Cheap Grills

25. Palette Knife – New Game+

26. Screaming Females – Desire Pathway

27. Dylan Earl – I Saw the Arkansas

28. Militarie Gun – Life Under the Gun

29. Strange Ranger – Pure Music

30. Metric – Formentera II

31. Melenas – Ahora

32. Hotline TNT – Cartwheel

33. Teke::Teke – Hagata

34. Jamila Woods – Water Made Us

35. Jesse Ware – That! Feels Good!

36. En Attendant Ana – Principia

37. Jorja Smith – falling or flying

38. The Murder Capital – Gigi’s Recovery

39. The Lemon Twigs – Everything Harmony

40. billy woods – Maps

41. Spanish Love Songs – No Joy

42. Noname – Sundial

43. boygenius – the record

44. Wednesday – Rat Saw God

45. Scowl – Psychic Dance Routine

46. Spiritual Cramp – Spiritual Cramp

47. Jake Shears – Last Man Dancing

48. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

49. Kassa Overall – ANIMALS

50. Ratboys – The Window