by Sean Pratt

The year is coming to a close which means it’s time for reflection, the academy has of course voted on who’s winning what for the Grammys. But ever since the score for Stuart Little 2 was snubbed for not only film score of the year, but every award. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I knew I had to find a new reliable source for what music is objectively good, So here are Centennial’s very own picks for Album of The Year.

Leia W. – GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo

“Aside from being her biggest fan. I think this album really demonstrates Olivia Rodrigo’s growth as a person & as an artist. She really gets more personal in “GUTS” compared to “Sour”, which is really saying something given how notorious her previous album is. The songs this time also have more complexity in the sounds and overall better composition, not to discredit her previous album. GUTS has so much diversity within each song, not having every other one sound the same (which is something a lot of albums tend to do). GUTS really just took everything great about Sour and amplified it by a lot, while making it its own thing.”

Sean P. – Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling by Slaughter Beach, Dog

“Over the years, frontman Jake Ewald’s growth as a songwriter has been such a joy to watch, and this new album is such a breath of fresh air. This year has been a great year for all kinds of music, but hearing some new great folk music in 2023 is not something I was ready for, and this album proudly wears that hat while looking and sounding great doing it. The band’s use of homey instrumentation is unprecedented, but feels so much groovier than ever you just can’t help but tap your foot to an album like this, and also while i’m at it, the way it uses electric guitar is so cool to me and like oh my god bro i can go on and on

Harrison T. – The Maybe Man by AJR

“AJR has recently gotten more and more experimental with new releases and this album represents this perfectly. I think the best songs on TMM are probably inertia, touchy feely fool and the maybe man. There’s vulnerability with the song God Is really real made after the passing of a loved one. There’s imaginative lyrics with the maybe man. And my favorite inertia has so much emotion in the vocals it’s amazing. Solid 20/10”

Sophia S. – Jenny From Thebes by The Mountain Goats

“John Darnielle’s writing has been written about into the dust, but it’s just that good. The narrative through the whole album is heartfelt and connects with almost 30 years of story and tradition of the Mountain Goats whole discography. Jenny is a mystery in the center of the album, driving the narrative in a way that tells a really good story. Also the cover art is really awesome”

Alex M. – CHOMPO 1 by CHOMPO

“It has half an orange in one song, as a feature. It’s got lots of good songs. It rocks my world”

Truly a mastercraft of a sentence, Alex.

There’s a lot to take away from this I feel, Listed before you are four great albums, as well as Chompo 1. Each of these albums speak to the reviewer in one way or another, and that’s what I think is so cool about music. These albums all sound so different from one another, you pair up Chompo into Olivia Rodrigo on the aux and you my friend have two things. A sonically confusing queue with a good chance of getting kicked out of the function, but also you have two pieces of art meant to speak to people, which is exactly what they have done, and to speak and connect to somebody when you don’t even know about their existence, it forms a beautiful covenant between the listener and the artist, and that is something to be celebrated.