Let’s call Bats “folk-rock” as shorthand, even though any one descriptor isn’t going to capture the depth of the work. Jess Awh’s languid voice belies the true nature of her songs. When you hear Good Game Baby in passing — at a friend’s house, in the car — it sounds anodyne. But just beneath the tranquil waters of folksy strumming and pedal steel lurk the violent howls of a strangled fuzz guitar, the cascading blips of chiptune synths and a subtle tension pulling every lyric completely taut. The sounds of the city, of voices overlapping, people colliding, perspectives wrestling, all by Awh’s design — that’s here too. It’s meat-and-three musique concrète, bootgaze for the ages, and even “folk-rock.”
Best Folk-Rock Album
