2023 was another huge year for music, with loads of incredible singles, EPs, and terrific LPs worth adding to your collection, and now that it’s over, it’s time to present our much-anticipated Top 100 Albums list.
During the past 12 months, we have listened to nearly 500 albums with lots of great music from a variety of genres, and as expected, post punk has been the most popular genre, followed by indie rock, dream pop, new wave, indie pop, shoegaze, synthpop, alternative, electronic, dark disco and so on.
After spending days debating and arguing over our favorite records, these are Kool Rock Radio’s 100 best albums of 2023, listed in alphabetical order.
KOOL ROCK RADIO ► THE 100 BEST ALBUMS OF 2023 (A to Z)
- Afflecks Palace ► ‘The Only Light In This Tunnel Is The Oncoming Train‘ (Spirit Of Spike Island) [indie guitar/psych pop/britpop]
- Alison Goldfrapp ► ‘The Love Invention‘ (Skint/BMG Music) [electronic]
- Baba Ali ► ‘Laugh Like a Bomb‘ (Memphis Industries) [dance punk/post disco]
- Beach Vacation ► ‘Coping Habits‘ [indie pop/indie rock/dream pop]
- Black Swan Lane ► ‘Dead Souls Collide‘ (Eden Records Group and Wanderland Music Publishing / BMI) [post punk/alternative]
- Bleach Lab ► ‘Lost In A Rush of Emptiness‘ (Nettwerk) [indie/dream pop]
- Blinker The Star ► ‘Animal Math‘ [indie rock/indie pop/alternative]
- Body Of Light ► ‘Bitter Reflection‘ (Dais Records) [synthpop]
- Cathedral Bells ► ‘Everything At Once’ (Born Losers Records) [dream pop/shoegaze]
- Chain Of Flowers ► ‘Never Ending Space’ (ALTER) [post-punk/shoegaze]
- Chappaqua Wrestling ► ‘Plus Ultra‘ (EMI) [indie/alt]
- Cosey Mueller ► ‘Irrational Habits‘ [electronic/synthwave/synthpunk]
- CROY ► ‘Strangers’ (Icy Cold Records) [post punk/cold wave/electronic]
- Current Affairs ► ‘Off the Tongue‘ (Tough Love Recordings) [post punk/new wave]
- Daiistar ► ‘Good Time‘ (Fuzz Club) [noise-pop/alt/shoegaze]
- Datarock ► ‘Media Consumption Pyramid‘ (YAP Records) [post-punk/art rock/indie dance]
- Dead Leaf Echo ► ‘The Mercy of Women‘ (PaperCup Music) [shoegaze/nouveau wave]
- DECEITS ► “If There’s No Heaven…” [post punk/coldwave/new wave]
- Deeper ► ‘Careful!‘ (Sub Pop Records) [post punk/indie rock]
- Delta Crash ► ‘Stare into The Sun‘ (Pig Parade Records) [indie rock/indie pop]
- Deluxxe ► ‘If You Were Me‘ (Avant! Records) [post punk/new wave]
- Depeche Mode ► ‘Memento Mori‘ (Columbia Records and Mute Records) [alternative/electro]
- DETECTS ► ‘Seconds‘ (Way-Off Records) [post punk/shoegaze/darkwave]
- DMA’S ► ‘How Many Dreams?‘ [jangle pop/indie rock]
- Drop Nineteens ► ‘Hard Light‘ (Wharf Cat Records) [shoegaze/alt]
- Duran Duran ► ‘Danse Macabre‘ (BMG) [new romantic]
- Echo Ladies ► ‘Lilies‘ (Rama Lama Records / Gazehop Records) [dream pop/shoegaze]
- Egyptian Blue ► ‘A Living Commodity‘ (Yala Records) [psychedelic-punk/post punk]
- Fews ► ‘Glass City‘ (Welfare Sounds & Records) [alternative/post punk/noise pop]
- Film School ► ‘Field‘ (Felte Records) [shoegaze/psych/alt]
- Flamingods ► ‘Head of Pomegranate‘ (The Liquid Label) [psych/funk/alt]
- Gene Loves Jezebel ► ‘Love Death Sorrow‘ (Cleopatra Records) [gothic/dark rock]
- George Hennessey ► “If You Can’t Find What You’re Looking For Please Ask” (MASSIVE 92) [britrock]
- Harsh Symmetry ► ‘Imitation‘ [new wave/post punk/synthpop]
- Headman ► ‘DeTurning’ (Relish) [electronic/post punk/proto-house]
- House Of Harm ► ‘Playground‘ (AVANT! Records) [post punk/new wave/synth pop]
- Human Tetris ► ‘Two Rooms’ [post-punk/new wave]
- Inhaler ► ‘Cuts and Bruises’ (Polydor) [rock n roll/indie rock]
- IST IST ► ‘Protagonists‘ [post punk/new wave]
- Jennifer Touch ► ‘Midnight Proposals‘ (FatCat Records) [dark wave/electronic]
- Johnny Dynamite & the Bloodsuckers ► ‘The Tale of Tommy Gunn‘ (Born Losers Records) [synth pop/lo-fi]
- Korine ► ‘Tear’ (Avant! Records) [new wave/synthpop/electro pop]
- Kosmetika ► ‘Illustration‘ (Poilsport Records) [post punk/garage pop/krautrock]
- La Sécurité ► ‘Stay Safe!‘ (Mothland) [art punk/post punk]
- Lauds ► ‘Imitation Life‘ (Fort Lowell Records) [jangle pop/alt/dream pop]
- LOBSTERBOMB ► ‘Look Out‘ (Duchess Box Records) [indie rock/glam-punk]
- LSSNS ► ‘Transit‘ (Sinnbus) [electro/new wave/synthpop]
- Mareux ► ‘Lovers From The Past‘ [darkwave/coldwave/synth]
- Miles Kane ► ‘One Man Band’ (Modern Sky UK) [indie rock]
- Missing Persons ► ‘Hollywood Lie‘ (Cleopatra Records) [new wave/synth pop]
- Monograms ► ‘A Fine Commitment‘ (PaperCup Music) [nuke wave/post punk]
- More Ephemerol ► ‘Apotheosis Pageant’ (Ephemerol Night Terrors) [synth wave/electronic]
- Nation Of Language ► ‘Strange Disciple‘ [PIAS] (post punk/new wave/synth-pop)
- Night Nail ► ‘Fates Explained‘ (Metropolis Records) [darkwave/post punk]
- NNHMN ► ‘Circle of Doom’ [electronic/dark ambient/experimental/synth]
- Noel Gallagher‘s High Flying Birds ► ‘Council Skies‘ (Sour Mash Records) [rock/alt]
- OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) ► ‘Bauhaus Staircase‘ (White Noise Records) [synthpop]
- Pale Blue Eyes ► ‘This House‘ (Full Time Hobby) [indie pop/indie rock]
- Palm Ghosts ► ‘I Love You, Burn In Hell‘ (Sweet Cheetah Records [pop/new wave/post punk]
- Plague Pits ► ‘Creatures’ [dark wave/post punk/minimal synth]
- Plattenbau ► ‘Net Prophet‘ (Dedstrange Records) [post punk/no wave/indie]
- Public Body ► ‘Big Mess‘ (FatCat Records) [post punk/alt]
- Public Interest ► ‘Spiritual Pollution‘ (Erste Theke Tontraeger) [post punk]
- Roosevelt ► ‘Embrace‘ (Counter Records/Ninja Tune) [synth-pop/disco]
- San Tropez ► ‘Maybe Tomorrow‘ (Shore Dive Records) [dream pop/electronic/shoegaze/alt]
- Seablite ► ‘Lemon Lights‘ (Mt.St.Mtn Records) [shoegaze/noise pop/jangle pop]
- Secret Attraction ► ‘LP3‘ [dream pop/lo-fi]
- SENSES ► ‘Little Pictures Without Sound‘ (42’s Records) [indie rock/britpop]
- Sextile ► ‘Push‘ (Sacred Bones Records) [acid house/punk/electronic]
- Sir Chloe ► ‘I Am The Dog‘ (Atlantic Records) [indie/alternative]
- Sir-vere ► ‘LOVESCOPE’ [post punk/electronic/alt]
- Slowdive ► ‘Everything is Alive‘ (Dead Oceans) [shoegaze/dream pop]
- Soft Riot ► ‘No.‘ (Possession Records/Wave Tension Records) [synth pop/electronic/minimal/dark wave]
- Soft Science ► ‘Lines‘ (Shelflife Records /Spinout Nuggets/Fastcut Records) [dream-gaze]
- Stranded ► ‘Velvet Trace’ (Grey Market Records) [post punk/dance/psych/new wave]
- Surf Friends ► ‘Sonic Waves‘ (Flying Nun Records) [jangle pop/surf rock]
- Taleen Kali ► ‘Flower of Life‘ (Dum Dum Records) [post punk/riot grrrl/shoegaze]
- Telehealth ► ‘Content Oscillator‘ [post punk/new wave/art rock]
- Temples ► ‘Exotico‘ (ATO Records) [neo-psych]
- The Backlash ► ‘Rise‘ (Shore Dive Records) [Britpop/alt/shoegaze]
- The Bright Light Social Hour ► ‘Emergency Leisure (Escondido Sound) [mood punk/psych rock/cosmic]
- The Doormen ► ‘The Truth in a Dark Age’ [new wave/coldwave/postpunk]
- The Empty Threats ► ‘Monster Truck Mondays‘ (P.A.K. Records) [post punk/indie rock/alt]
- The New Romantics ► ‘The New Romantics’ [synth pop/cinematic pop]
- The Royston Club ► ‘Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars’ (Run On Records) [indie rock/alt]
- The Serfs ► ‘Half Eaten By Dogs‘ (Trouble In Mind) [post punk/synth punk/electronic]
- The Slow Readers Club ► ‘Knowledge Freedom Power‘(Modern Sky UK) [indie electro/doom pop]
- The True Faith ► ‘Go to Ground‘ (A La Carte Records) [coldwave/post punk/darkwave]
- The Utopiates ► ‘The Sun Also Rises’ (V2 Records) [indie rock/baggy/alt]
- The Vacant Lots ► ‘Interiors‘ (Fuzz Club) [post-punk/synth-pop]
- The Veldt ► ‘Illuminated 1989’ (Little Cloud Records / 5BC Records) [shoegaze]
- The Velvet Hands ► ‘Sucker Punch‘ (Blood Records) [rock n’ roll/garage]
- Treeboy & Arc ► ‘Natural Habitat’ (Clue Records / EMI North) [post-punk/indie/alt]
- Tuff Turf ► ‘Dead Heat’ (American Scream Records) [new wave/post punk]
- Veil of Light ► ‘Sundancing‘ (Avant! Records) [cold wave/cold wave/synth punk]
- Vox Low ► ‘Keep on Falling‘ (Born Bad Records) [post-punk/dark wave/psych]
- Who Saw Her Die? ► ‘Madness Clears My Mind’ [darkwave/goth/synthwave]
- Wild Nothing ► ‘Hold‘ (Captured Tracks) [indie pop]
- Youth Valley ► ‘Lullabies For Adults‘ (Shelflife/Make Me Happy) [indie pop/shoegaze/dream pop/alt]
- ZZZAHARA ► ‘Tender‘ (Lex Records) [indie/alt]
This list was made by writers, editors and producers at Kool Rock Radio.
►►►Keep supporting the bands and labels by buying their records and merchandise.
KOOL ROCK RADIO BEST ALBUMS OF 2023
