Casey's EPs, Songs and Albums of 2013

After the relative mediocrity of 2012 following up the fantastic year of 2011, it's nice to see that 2013 let no one down. It makes sense based on the length of a typical album cycle that many of the bands that put out great albums in 2011 and 2010 would return for 2013, and we saw the return of Vampire Weekend, Kanye West, The National, The Wonder Years and far more atop many lists. However, debuts really made an impact on my list personally, as three of my top four favorite records of the year happened to be a band's first full length release. Owel, The World Is A Beautiful and The 1975 all showed that they are full of fantastic songwriters and are bands whose popularity should continue to skyrocket through 2014, and their followups will be sought after by far more people than these fantastic debuts. However, the best record of the year was one I was only slightly anticipating after a poor last release, but ended up being one of the biggest growers of the year. Below, you will be able to see my favorite 10 EPs, 25 songs and 25 albums of 2013, a year which had plenty for everyone. If you click on an album title, it will link to our coverage (if we had any) and if you click on a song title, it will bring you to YouTube or Soundcloud. Enjoy!

Album Review: Their / They're / There - Their / They're / There

Album Rating: B+

Their / They're / There's EP is essentially the creation of indie punk. Mike Kinsella of Owen joined together with Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It and Matthew Frank of Loose Lips Sink Ships to hang out and play some music, and it turned into this six-track indie gold. The record uses the past musical experiences of three very large names in indie rock and meshes them wonderfully, with creatively progressive rhythms and melodies that more than tip their hat toward emo bands of the 90's.

Artist Of The Day: Their / They're / There

A while back, I participated in a few events called "fantasy band drafts" where the participants picked out active band members in order to create the band of their dreams. I wouldn't doubt for a second that the idea of an "emo supergroup" led by prolific Into It. Over It singer-songwriter Evan Weiss and American Football/Owen superstar Mike Kinsella popped into the minds of quite a few people. Well, that group is fantasy no more, as the the two musicians teamed up with guitarist/songwriter Matthew Frank of math rock group Loose Lips Sink Ships to form the grammatically judgmental Their / They're / There. First single "Concession Speech Writer" perfectly represents everything that the whole EP has to offer. Expect more of Weiss's silky smooth vocals over twinkly riffs that have almost a metal quality to them and Kinsella's creative drum patterns. While it may be disappointing to some that Kinsella doesn't take over lead vocals even once throughout the six song EP, the band obviously had an idea of what they wanted to do and they easily succeeded in creating a strong six song release based on showcasing that idea. The EP will definitely remain one of the stronger emo releases of the year, but based on the cast, did anyone actually doubt that?

You can stream "Concession Speech Writer" on Rolling Stone, and be sure to check out the band on Facebook. The band's self-titled EP is out on Record Store Day (4/20).