Kevin Bronson on December 23rd, 2020

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2020: The year that sucked but didn’t sound like it.

Presenting “Popular With Us: Buzz Bands LA’s Favorite Albums of the Year,” served here as 20 genre-spanning main courses with our usual list of “honorable mentions” offered as side dishes.

As trying as this year was, it certainly won’t be remembered for shitty music.

To purchase the albums, click on the album covers. For the mentions, we used Spotify links — but, as always, if it strikes you, support the artists. It looks as if it’ll be a while before we can do so by buying concert tickets.

||| Also: See our 101 favorite songs of the year.

20. EL TEN ELEVEN, “Tautology”

Surely worthy of a more Eggers-ian title that merely “Tautology,” the triple-LP, which was released in three parts, finds the groundbreaking instrumental duo of Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty doing no less than soundtracking the arc of human life. Simply monumental.

Pairs well with fellow explorers: Juliana Barwick, “Healing Is a Miracle”; Brendan Eder Ensemble, “To Mix With Time”; L.A. Takedown, “Our Feeling of Natural High.”

19. MONDO COZMO, “New Medicine”

With songs like “Black Cadillac,” “Upside Down” and “Come On,” Mondo Cozmo’s Josh Ostrander puts his own twist on the musical legacy of denim-shirted rock troubadours. Familiar, yes, and satisfying.

Pairs well with other L.A. artists we were seeing everywhere in 2010-11: Dawes, “Good Luck With Whatever”; Cold War Kids, “New Age Norms 2”; Best Coast, “Always Tomorrow”; The Airborne Toxic Event, “Hollywood Park”; Grouplove, “Healer”; Sea Wolf, “Through a Dark Wood.”

18. MATING RITUAL, “The Bungalow”

Pure pop euphoria — and smartly done, right down to the winking lyrics — “The Bungalow” is the fourth album in four years from brothers Ryan Marshall Lawhon and Taylor Lawhon (who pledged long ago to do five full-lengths in five years). For whenever there are parties again.

Pairs well with: Magic Bronson, “Sweat”; Poolside, “Low Season”; Youngblood Hawke, “Edge of the World.”

17. CARTALK, “Pass Like Pollen”

Way back when Chuck Moore debuted the single “Noonday Devil” in 2019, we suspected Cartalk’s album would be special. With one foot in indie-rock, one foot in Americana and a heart wide open, Cartalk does not disappoint on the Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties)-produced debut. As we’ve said before, no artificial sweetener needed.

Pairs well with: Matt Costa, “Yellow Coat”; Photo Ops, “Pure at Heart”; Jess Cornelius, “Distance”; Rilo Kiley’s catalog.

16. L.A. WITCH, “Play With Fire”

The L.A. trio sprinkles their dark/fuzzy/squalling garage-punk, psych-rock and (even) country with messages suited for our time — like “Gen-Z” about being slaves to technology and “True Believers” about information overload. Their second album, it’s a rock ’n’ roll scrum, complete with the bruises.

Pairs well with: Death Valley Girls, “Under the Spell of Joy”; Iress, “Flaw”; Secret Stare, “Secret Stare”; Alexa Melo, “DEMOÏTIS”

15. JHENÉ AIKO, “Chilombo”

Forgiving its daunting running time (over an hour, and that ain’t even the deluxe edition), Aiko’s third album of R&B&A (A for atmosphere) drifts through the icy waters of post-breakup in mostly mellow fashion. The album, up for three Grammys, uses singing bowls in its production, so it’s the rare record with a vaguely New Age feel that includes good ol’ kiss-off songs. Highlights include the many collaborations, especially her duet with John Legend on “Lightning & Thunder,” along with “10k Hours” (feat. Nas) and “B.S.” (feat. H.E.R.).

Pairs well with: Angela Muñoz, “Introspection”; Ricky Reed, “The Room”; some but not all of TOKiMONSTA, “Oasis Nocturno.”

14. LOYAL LOBOS, “Everlasting”

Native Colombian Andrea Silva’s spellbinding confessionals make “Everlasting” stand out in the horde of dream-pop releases this year. “Criminals” bares her emotional bruises; “Whatever It Is” speaks to new possibilities. They bookend a totally immersive album.

Pairs well with: Winter, “Endless Space (Between You & I)”; Mines Falls, “Mines Falls”; No. 1 on this list.

13. GRANDSON, “Death of an Optimist”

In his explosive rock, pop and rap, songwriter Jordan Benjamin seesaws from exultant celebrant of change to harbinger of doom. It’s the battle of G vs. his dark alter-ego X, each inhabiting alternating songs and each of those armed with big hooks and acerbic sociopolitical commentary. It’s a “Dirty” fight that makes for a fist-pumping listen; here’s hoping we never see “WWIII.”

Pairs well with: Clipping, “Visions of Bodies Being Burned.”

12. LAVENDER DIAMOND, “Now Is the Time”

Speaking of optimism: On most days, Becky Stark’s was the voice we needed to hear in 2020 — a clarion call for healing and transformation in a world choking on vitriol. The album is chamber-pop that could have been made in any era of music history. The singles “Look Through the Window” and “This Is How We Rise” are like that kiss on the forehead from Glinda as the forces of evil circle on their broomstick.

Pairs well with: Aloe Blacc, “All Love Everything”; Jenny O., “New Truth”; Freedom Fry, “Songs From the West Coast”; Cayucas, “Blue Summer.”

11. MODEL CHILD, “Dropout”

The latest in a line of artists who honed their craft as writers-for-hire (in this case, co-writing songs for the likes of Shawn Mendes, Nick Jonas and Jessie Ware), Danny Parker unleashes his inner cuckoo, channeling the fun side of pop-punk, grunge and Britpop of ’90s radio. It’s all power-pop in the end, smart and smart-alecky, but produced to sound very current. “Strawberry Bowl” is the obvious entreé, but all praise songs like “Trend” and “Drain Me” for still existing irony-free in 2020.

Pairs well with: Hazel English, “Wake Up!”; Dent May, “Late Checkout”; Dan Croll, “Grand Plan”; Blushh, “R.I.P. Apathy.”

10. MAPACHE, “From Liberty Street”

Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch recorded their 2017 debut on a single microphone; this time their Grateful Shred bandmate Dan Horne (Cass McCombs, Mapache, the Chapin Sisters, Allah-Las, et al.) produces, and the results are magical. Old country, California country, Mexican folk (Blasucci lived south of the border for two years) — the album’s unvarnished beauty and preternatural harmonies abide folk music’s traditions. Pick a porch with a view and press play.

Pairs well with: Jonathan Wilson, “Dixie Blur”; Distant Cousins, “Here & Now”; Supermoon, “Half Country”; Robert Francis, “Amaretto.”

9. OPEN MIKE EAGLE, “Anime, Trauma and Divorce”

This has all the trappings of a downer — indeed the album chronicles “the worst year of [his] life” — but Open Mike distances the listener from the truly bleak with dark humor and by channeling his despair through anime characters. Even if you’re anime-ignorant (though a little research helps), you can’t help but root for a man wishing he had the superpowers to wash the slate clean. Of course, throughout the album Open Mike remains a wordsmith nonpareil. It’s almost balletic.

Pairs well with: Drakeo the Ruler, “Thank You for Using GTL”; Rhys Langston, “Language Arts Unit”; The Koreatown Oddity, “Little Dominiques Nosebleed.”

8. THUNDERCAT, “It Is What It Is”

There’s almost too much on jazz-funk polymath Stephen Bruner’s follow-up to 2018’s “Drank,” and it’s not just the list of guests (Childish Gambino, Kamasi Washington, Ty Dolla $ign, Steve Lacy, Lil B, Louis Cole, BADBADNOTGOOD and Steve Arrington among them). It’s the swings from silly to serious. This record’s looser feel makes sorting through all the warp-speed changes in style, orchestration and mood worth many a return visit.

Pairs well with: Wargirl, “Dancing Gold”; Terraace Martin, Robert Glasper and 9th Wonder, “Dinner Party.”

7. TOUCHÉ AMORÉ, “Lament”

The L.A. post-hardcore quintet’s fifth album is the explosive sound of figuring things out. There is sandpaper-voiced Jeremy Bolm, disentangling years of rage, despair and anxiety (as addressed on 2016’s “Stage Four,” about losing his mother to cancer, and 2013’s “Is Survived By,” about his own career identity) and charting a path forward. And there are the expansive, melodic songs, full of more textured guitars (Deftones? Fucked Up? shoegazers?) and a broader palette shepherded by producer Ross Robinson. Touché Amoré have swung for the fences here, and connected.

Pairs well with: Seahaven, “Halo of Hurt”; Irontom, “Cult Following”; Fuzz, “III.”

6. HAIM, “Women in Music Pt. III”

Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim have been women in music for almost a decade, so take their deadpan album title (and its winking acronym “WIMPIII”) as a little shade thrown at the lingering doubters. There could hardly be any after this, their third album, their most stylistically diverse and emotionally direct collection yet. With forays into indie-rock, funk, West Coast pop and folk balladry, it’s not for the genre-adherent, but that’s the magic. The subject matter — romance, sexism, depression, grief, health issues — took them there, and by the end listeners will feel like honorary members of the sisterhood.

Pairs well with: Long walks down Ventura Boulevard.

5. YOUNG JESUS, “Welcome to Conceptual Beach”

“There are magicians making love and doing dishes,” John Rossiter sings on the 10-minute closing track to Young Jesus’ dauntingly titled fifth album. And making music, too. The Chicago ex-pat — whose work has been labeled post-rock, art-rock and even “emo-adjacent” — crafts spare, style-shifting soundscapes for a cascade of (yes) high-concept lyrics, so rich in ideas they could spawn a thousand salon nights. Start with the album’s prize, “(un)Knowing.”

Pairs well with: Blake Mills, “Mutable Set”; Gregory Uhlmann, “Neighborhood Watch.”

4. CHICANO BATMAN, “Invisible People”

“Everything is everything, brothers and sisters,” Bardo Martinez said early in the year, when the single “Color My Life” was released. The fourth album by the beloved L.A. quartet, with its warm, funky grooves and sanguine disposition, makes it feel like everything’s gonna be OK, too. Eyes open, everyone.

Pairs well with: Tropa Magica, “Tripiando Al Infinito En Mi Récamara”; Rudy De Anda, “Tender Epoch.”

3. BIG BLACK DELTA, “4”

Beholden to the ’80s but not stuck there, one-man tornado Jonathan Bates delivers a cathartic slab of cinema that draws on post-punk, techno and industrial music and forays into metal, piano balladry and instrumental rock. Inspired by the artist’s newfound sobriety, “4” services both those who needs concise gems and fans of Big Black Delta’s experimental side. “I can’t stay in one ‘genre’ because that makes life impossibly boring,” Bates says. And as “4” seesaws from crushing to crooning to challenging, it leaves in its wake an afterglow of post-dark period hope.

||| Pairs well with: Greg Dulli, “Random Desire”; Moaning, “Uneasy Laughter”; Gateway Drugs, “PSA”

2. X, “Alphabetland”

When “Alphabet” was released (by surprise) in April on the 40th anniversary of “Los Angeles,” it was as if your itinerant family arrived on our doorstep, this time with new stories to tell. The first album from X’s original lineup in 35 years, it’s full of piss and vinegar lyrically, with John Doe and Exene Cervenka trading off lead vocal duties. Never has a band with 268 birthdays between them sounded so vital.

Pairs well with: Alice Bag, “Sister Dynamite”; Sparks, “A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip”; Thelonious Monster, “Oh That Monster”; KillRadio, “Election Year”; No Age, “Goons Be Gone”

1. PHOEBE BRIDGERS, “Punisher”

The best albums say the things we can’t locate the words for, find meaning in the seemingly mundane, hold a mirror to our foibles, expose worlds we’re blind to and tell stories as if they were secrets. Phoebe Bridgers’ second album checks all the boxes, combining stark honesty, a veneer of innocence and dark humor to shape her affecting melodramas and personal musings. Owing to an all-star group of producers, co-writers and players, the album posseses a warm aural embrace — part folk, part psychedelic, part electronic. It may or may not evoke nostalgia (certainly “Garden Song” does); in the songs, Bridgers keeps you in the moment. And though not a product of the pandemic, “Punisher” seemed made for it, right down to closer “I Know the End.” On “Punisher,” she shows she knows the beginning and middle, too.

Pairs well with: Ethan Gruska, “En Garde”; Christian Lee Hutson, “Beginners”; Kacey Johansing, “No Better Time.”