Amen & Goodbye by Yeasayer

The band at #12, Brooklyn, NY’s Yeasayer, thrives on the bizarre and the gross. They like to push the limits of what you’re able to withstand as a consumer of popular media, to make you question your long-held beliefs about what is palatable. In a similar fashion to Tool, their videos tend to feature otherworldly elements that leave you striving for some semblance of normal. But unlike Tool, and in stark contrast to the similarities in their music videos, the band’s music isn’t as off-putting to the masses.

In past Top 31s, (#4 in 2010, #30 in 2012) I’ve compared their sound to Duran Duran. This album is less so. It’s more unique, and somehow more Yeasayer-sounding. This is progress. I loved their 2010 sophomore album, Odd Blood, but their 2012 album Fragrant World barely made the Top 31 that year. Amen & Goodbye, while not exactly the same as Odd Blood, is much more connected to that older sound that I loved.

I don’t think I expected Yeasayer to stick around as long as they have. They don’t seem to garner a whole lot of attention, and their off-putting videos and graphics (see above) would seem to drive people away from their music. But I suppose I’m not that unique in my love for them. Here’s to many more years of great Yeasayer albums.

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13. Sea of Noise by St. Paul & The Broken Bones
14. You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
15. Painting Of A Panic Attack by Frightened Rabbit
16. Why Are You OK by Band Of Horses
17. Not To Disappear by Daughter
18. Sunlit Youth by Local Natives
19. I Had a Dream That You Were Mine by Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam
20. ★ by David Bowie
21. Farewell, Starlite! by Francis and the Lights
22. This Unruly Mess I’ve Made by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
23. LNZNDRF by LNZNDRF
24. Puberty 2 by Mitski
25. Light Upon the Lake by Whitney
26. A Corpse Wired for Sound by Merchandise
27. Away by Okkervil River
28. case/lang/veirs by case/lang/veirs
29. Love Letter for Fire by Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop
30. Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future by Underworld
31. Preoccupations by Preoccupations