I have been trying to figure out for a few months now what the best CD of 2013 is. There were a lot of great and serious contenders and the year was another fertile year for music. The band Chvrches (yes, that is how it is spelled) released their lush collection of techno music The Bones of What You Believe. That was pretty dazzling. Then for awhile I was captivated by Patti Griffin's record American Kid, a heartfelt collection of country songs, most of them inspired by the memory of her late father. There were also great records this year by Haim (Days Are Gone) Lorde (Pure Heroine) and Still Corners (Strange Pleasures). Man, I tell you, it was HARD. So much music, so little time.
But, in the end, one record stood out above all the others. Hipster douche bags all over America probably will not get this set of songs because there is no guile in them, no grains of irony. The best record of the year is all about life and experience and romance. It's about getting out on the open road, being adventuresome, and HAVING A GOOD TIME. It is, without a doubt, the sweetest collection of pure pop I have heard in five years or so.
The CD that finally won my heart, and my choice for the best album of 2013, is Talking Dreams by the band Echosmith. Remember that name, because I'm certain that this group will bring us more great music in the years to come. What makes this debut effort even more amazing is that Echosmith, which consists of four siblings from southern California, is waaaay on the young side, with none of the members being over the age of nineteen. Indeed, the drummer, Graham Sierota is only fourteen, and his sister Sydney, who fronts the band and plays keyboards, is only fifteen. But don't let that dissuade you from buying and downloading this album, because you have never heard more accomplished and passionate musicians than the Sierota family. I'm sure that there are pros out there who have been playing music for decades (like me for instance) who would give their eye's teeth (whatever that is) to sing and play and write as effortlessly as this family.
The whole record is FANTASTIC. Not one dud among the twelve tracks here. (Fourteen on the deluxe edition.) But, of course, some stand above the rest, and in an ideal world would be monster runaway hits. Go to YouTube or wherever and sample. There's the plaintive title track, with its galloping mix of guitar and drums, above which Sydney sings: "This is a short race/This is a short life/Let's run not walk/Through this beautiful life/ This is a good day/This is a good sign/ You've got green eyes/ And I've got sunrise..." Not Dylan by any stretch of the imagination. But the lyrics are sparse and evocative, as optimistic and unaffected as the sounds they are wedded to. And then there is the song "Bright", a lovely ballad that reminds me of something that Taylor Swift might attempt, if that chick really had any talent. A stand-up bass on that track is a nice touch, the key element that sets the cut apart from a lot of the maudlin stuff you hear on the radio. And it's really sweet to hear Miss Sydney sing about how some boy makes her shine bright like the stars. (Yeah, I'm telling you, no Joy Division fans are gonna make it through this record.) Then there's the single "Cool Kids", which has been getting some play out there in radio/Internetland. That is about as catchy as it gets, with its bassy riffs and insistent chorus. It's the ultimate song about wanting to fit in somewhere, about teenage uncertainty.
So yeah, Echosmith. GET IT NOW. Right now the group has been doing a lot of touring, opening for such alternative acts as Twenty-One Pilots and Owl City. Hopefully, Talking Dreams will sell a bajillion copies and the band will be headliners very soon. They richly deserve it. (Even if I have blue jeans in my closet older than all of 'em.)