ManSquatch's Top 20 albums of 2012 (AND THEN SOME)

1. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

That voice, those songs, the intensity — Sharon Van Etten, this isn’t a review so much as a marriage proposal. Where did you come from? Why are you so good at everything? Can I have your number?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBldhDijhfg

2. Deep Sea Diver - History Speaks

That voice, those songs, the intensity — Jessica Dobson, this isn’t a review so much as a marriage proposal. Where did you come from? Why are you so good at everything? Can I have your number?

Oh, I said that already about SVE? WHAT ARE YOU, THE INDIE ROCK CRUSH DREAM KILLER?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alsfAS4l1FY

3. Father John Misty - Fear Fun

J. Tillman writes like a honty-tonk Beatle, sings like a Fleet Fox (because he was a Fleet Fox), and has a sense of humor that is somewhere in the middle of Nilsson and Zappa. No way I’m not loving that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS84BMFszW0

4. The Orwells - Remember When

Listen to the album, and then realize that these lo-fi punk-rocking fuckers are all still in high school. Something’s in the water in Chicagoland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXrd6pnehpA

5. The Lumineers – S/T

Hey, Mumford & Sons — suck it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2yTiDlr8Mc

6. Damien Jurado - Maraqopa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyhKQKtPLl4

7. Grizzly Bear - Shields

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuG9i5cwGW0

8. Soundgarden - King Animal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iyv4le1ap8

9. Sera Cahoone - Deer Creek Canyon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YWR7ZM7xQE

10. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROla_B49KbQ

11. Gardens & Villa – S/T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcNUFOlynPI

12. Jack White - Blunderbuss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s92smjLq_38

13. Bowerbirds - The Clearing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fijyCMF9D80

14. Deep Time – S/T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0loDMML7YU

15. Heartless Bastards - Arrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJOXrnPIUg

16. Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXCBKMOF7OI

17. Gary Clark Jr. - Blak and Blu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3zW0iX8Xw8

18. The Maldives - Muscle for the Wing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIAkcgiqLdU

19. Tame Impala - Lonerism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H570ifQfpDk

20. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bemz-7fofcs

Honorable mentions: The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter; Baroness - Yellow & Green; Beach House - Bloom; Christian Mistress -Possession; Delta Spirit – S/T; Dr. Dog - Be the Void; Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel…; King Tuff – S/T; The Mynabirds - General; Pinback -Information Retrieved; Sea Wolf - Old World Romance; Two Gallants - The Bloom and the Blight

Tags: Alabama Shakes, Band of Skulls, Bowerbirds, Brent Stecker, Damien Jurado, Deep Sea Diver, Deep Time, Father John Misty, Gardens & Villa, Gary Clark Jr., Grizzly Bear, Heartless Bastards, Jack White, mansquatch, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Sera Cahoone, Sharon Van Etten, Soundgarden, Tame Impala, The Lumineers, The Maldives, The Orwells