48. Young Guv - GUV III and GUV IV: Songwriter Ben Cook's Young Guv project made the Timmys in 2019 with his first two albums. He doubles up again in 2022 with another two sets of power pop goodness. It's spot the influence once again, with everything from Teenage Fanclub, early Cheap Trick and a number of would-be-star one hit wonder bands serving as clear influences.      

42. Avalanche Kaito - Avalanche Kaito: Just as metal seems to pop up every year, so does some kind of world music hybrid. Meet Avalanche Kaito, a Burkina Faso-born vocalist/instrumentalist teaming up with a Belgian guitarist and drummer. The result is more other-worldly than world music, African music colliding with European experimentalism.

41. S.G. Goodman - Teeth Marks: A new-to-me female singer-songwriter, Kentucky's S.G. Goodman reminds me a little of a bluesier Courtney Barnett with less of a drawl. My Morning Jacket's Jim James produced her debut - S.G. produced this one herself and is creating Southern Rock for the 2020s.

40. Billy Woods - Aethiopes: Dark underground rap that is both musically and lyrically challenging. I like it more the more I listen to it.

39. Ezra Furman - All Of Us Flames: Ezra Furman returns to the Timmys - her 2018 concept album about a guy and his lover who just happens to be an angel really caught my attention. Great melodies and hooks, maybe a little Lou Reed/Bowie influence and in someways, and hear me out on this one, Ezra is a bit like a trans-Bruce Springsteen. Emotional both lyrically and musically.

38. Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B: One half of this London duo is Georgia Ellery who also plays violin in Black Country, New Road.  On their debut full length, Jockstrap merges electronics with interesting pop sounds -  slightly reminiscent of Bjork at times, The XX at others.

37. The Boys With Perpetual Nervousness - The Third Wave Of...: Chiming guitars, lighter than air vocals, The Boy With Perpetual Nervousness could be a Teenage Fanclub tribute band. Except when they sound like The Byrds.   

36. Drugdealer - Hiding In Plain Sight: Drugdealer's last album in 2019 made the Timmys with its 70's AM radio pop. That's still here, but he's added a bit of Boz Skaggs/Steely Dan yacht rock to his smooth as silk mix.

35. Courting - Guitar Music: Liverpool's Courting kicks off their debut album with some quiet harp and string flourishes and then 33 seconds in, it sounds like a CD skipping and into an entirely different glitchy song. Not at all the Guitar Music the album's title seems to promise. But when the three minute song ends, some static, drums, bass and - wait for it (it takes 45 seconds into the second song for them to arrive) - guitars! Another British post-punk band that has some fun, oddball twists on that style which keeps things interesting.    

34. Sloan - Steady: What a good year for power pop 2022 was. Canada's Sloan is approaching 30 years of making music and their hooks and vocals are as strong as ever. Top 40 superstars in some sort of alternate universe.       

33. Heiner Goebbels - A House of Call: My Imaginary Notebook: So there's always a few non-rock genres sneaking into the Timmys each year - metal, jazz, world music, ocassionally country - but not classical. Until now, that is. And this isn't your grandfather's classical. A House of Call was composed by Heiner Goebebels and performed by the Ensemble Modern Orchestra - and it's probably more experimental than classical, to be honest. Yeah, there's an orchestra, but there are tape fragments, loud jazzy sections, traffic sounds - a really creative mixed bag.

32. Animal Collective - Time Skiffs: When Animal Collective miss their mark, they are still really interesting. This wasn't their strongest album, but still Top 50 worthy in my book. Spacey, meandering and more than a little psychedelic but staying on track enough to be melodic. 

31. !!! - Let It Be Blue: !!! (chk chk chk) have been around for more than 20 years now and their 9th album sees more of the punky funk that put them on the map. This is fun, messy and the home of one of the best and most unexpected covers of the year - their take on R.E.M.'s Man On The Moon.

30. Craig Finn - A Legacy Of Rentals: The Hold Steady make the Timmys more often than not, so no surprise that their lead singer/songwriter Craig Finn make an appearance here. More spoken word-ish and understated than the full band's records, Finn's honesty and creativity still shine through in the lyrics. 

29. The Chats - Get Fucked: Sloppy Australian punk rock with a sense of humor - think Ramones or Descendents - that will definitely get the party started. A 13 song album with only two songs over three minutes.   

28. Makaya McCraven - In These Times: Chicago-based drummer who is most often lumped in to the jazz category, though his music goes beyong that. Jazz is a good touchpoint based on the instruments/compositions, but there's hip-hop, rock and African influences throughout. Energetic at times, instrospective at others, this is modern jazz fusion without being corny or cliched.

27. Disq - Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet: The third album by Madison, Wisconsin's Disq and the first I'm hearing of them. Punky indie rock that reminds me a little of Superchunk at points. Melodic and a little rough in all the right places.

26. The Flatliners - New Ruin: Did I just say "melodic and a little rough in all the right places"? That goes for Canada's Flatliners as well. More agressive and loud than Disq - more Clash, less alt-rock. This is their sixth album and the first I've hear of them but not the last.  

25. Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful: A band I'm surprised hasn't made it to the Timmys before. This is their ninth album of psych-tinged alternative - think The Flaming Lips but from the UK instead of OK and more pills than acid. Bonus points for the best use of a bass harmonica since Pet Sounds.

24. Beyoncé - Renaissance: Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. No, really, Beyoncé belongs in my top 50 this year. Artists like Beyoncé are usually more about singles than albums, but here she cranks out an album that covers a number of dance music styles that works great as a start to finish listen.    

23. Father John Misty - Chloë and The Next 20th Century: Another Timmys regular - not his best but still interesting. FJM tries to expand his sound and when it works, it's great, and when it doesn't it's still pretty good.  

22. Weird Nightmare - Weird Nightmare: METZ vocalist Alex Edkin took 10 years of demos and turned it into his solo debut as Weird Nightmare. Noisy and catchy, not too far removed from Parquet Courts.  

21. Bodega - Broken Equipment: Brooklyn's Bodega is poppy, dancy post-punk with a little bit of a Blondie vibe here and there.

20. Big Joanie - Back Home: The second album from this trio of black women from England. A little 80's UK Indie pop, a little Sleater-Kinney with vocals similar to Tracy Chapman or Joan Armatrading. Catchy, energetic and original.  

19. Big Theif - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You: First time on the Timmys for Big Thief, this sprawiling album (20 songs in 80 minutes) is a solid collection of alt-folk to spend a cold grey afternoon with. 

18. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Boy Named If: It's hard for me not to put an Elvis Costello album in my Top 50 - the question is how high? This time out he's higher than usual as he really goes back to the sound of The Attractions' glory days like he hasn't done in years. Not on the level of his earliest work from start to finish, but there are flashes of brilliance throughout.  

17. TV Priest - I can't help but compare TV Priest to IDLES, both in their sound and career. Both started very loud and angry and have moved it a quieter, broader direction - well, relatively speaking. Their music still cranks along when it needs to, but like IDLES, TV Priest is trying to grow with each album and both bands are worth watching.  

16. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention: Tom and Johnny from Radiohead team up with Sons of Kmet drummer for what is the closest thing to Radiohead we've gotten from one of their side projects. It's not Radiohead, but it's damn good.

15. Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems: If you're black and in a punk band (3 of the 4 Soul Glo members are black), there will be Bad Brains comparisons. The band even jokes about this in their videos. Soul Glo reminds me more of Fucked Up - they start with a hardcore blueprint but take their music in all kinds of new directions - horns here, a guest woman rapper there.     

14. Black Midi - Sugar/Tzu: Black Midi are on the more experimental side of post-punk, along with bands like Squid and Black Country, New Road. Weird and almost two chaotic to be listenable, but manages to walk that very fine line (for me at least, I can see lot of other people disageeing with me on this one).   

13. Meat Wave - Malign Hex: Another Chicago band, loud punk with melodies, not unlike Protomartyr and even a little like Naked Raygun here and there.    

11. Yard Act - The Overload: Somebody, somewhere made a wish that there would be a band that combined IDLES and Sleaford Mods. That wish came true and that band is Yard Act. Mostly spoken vocals over driving guitars and some solid beats.   

10. Special Interest - Endure: The third album from New Orleans' Special Interest - an outstanding mix of punk, disco, funk and soul. Really unique.  

9. Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer: Did I just say unique? How about a Belgian duo making really smart electronic dance pop with topical lyrics? Look no further than this album which uses humor to discuss race and gender issues over some really good grooves. 

8. Preoccupations - Arrangements: I keep saying post-punk - here is more of it - loud, abrasive guitars that somehow leaves enough room for melodies to sneak through.     

7. Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset: Animal Collective's Panda Bear and Spaceman 3's Sonic Boom team up for a collection of sugary sweet melodies with bleeps and squeaks thrown in at all the right times. Really fun stuff.   

6. Sault - 11: Sault was #6 on my list last year with an album that was available digitally for 90 days and disappeared from streaning platforms. In November of 2022, they released five albums on the sane day. While I would have preferred they took the best songs and do just one album (or maybe a double), 11 was the cream of the crop, blending soul, reggae gospel and so much more into their own unique sound.

5. Weak Signal - War And War: And this is why the Timmys take so long for me to do - well, in addition to having a job, a family and a life - I dig deep to listen to as many things I can. A very late listen for me that struck me on first listen. The first track reminded me of "Just Like Honey" by Jesus and Mary Chain and almost turned me updide down the way that song did when I first heard it in 1985. Jesus and Mary Chain is a good comparison, as is The Velvet Underground and Car Seat Headrest as it has the same kind of low-fi catchiness.       

4. Jack White - Fear Of The Dawn: When Jack White is on, he can be a force of nature. And on this album, he is ON. One of two records he released in 2022, this one is loud and snotty with guitars and effects zooming past your heaed left and right. The other one was acoustic, quiet and in my opinion, 100% forgettable. Heavy in all the right ways, one of my favorite things - if not the most favorite thing- he's ever done.

3. Gang Of Youths - Angel In Realtime: Recommended to me at a New Year's Eve party (thanks, Julian!) this is an amazing album, the kind of anthemic rock that's hard to get just right but Australia's Gang of Youths nail it. The album focuses on the singer coming to terms with the death of his father. A tough story to tell, period, but to tell it in such a soaring and uplifting way is truly something. There is a lot to unpack here, and a great album to listen to from start to finish.   

2. Wet Leg - Wet Leg: Alright, I'll say post-punk one last time, as that's probablly the genre Wet Leg fit into most comfortably, but there's a lot of pop sounds here as well. Never taking itself too seriously, this is a peppy fun debut and was one of my favorites all year long.   

1. Spoon - Lucifer On The Sofa: Spoon is no stranger to the Timmys, as more than a few of their nine previous albums have wound up on my year-end lists. They have been one of those bands where I thought "they have a classic album in them, when will it come out?" The answer turned out to be February of 2022. This album still sounds like Spoon, but the songs and playing really seem to gel over a whole album in a way that they haven't before. They kick things off with a cover of a Smog song - if you listen to the original, you'd think Spoon did it first, their version seems so effortless. At 10 songs in 38 minutes, there are not many notes out of place, not many things I'd want to change. Well, the album cover. Spoon usually has great album covers but this one is probably their worst. It doesn't matter, it's the music that counts and Spoon nailed it this time out. If you like this, also check out the dub version Lucifer On The Moon, reconstructed by none other than dub legend Adrian Sherwood. Not as good as the original, but an interesting interpretation.