Best of 2017: Street Sects' Leo Ashline Picks Favorite Albums of the Year | Revolver

Best of 2017: Street Sects' Leo Ashline Picks Favorite Albums of the Year

Industrial-hardcore musician backs Queens of the Stone Age, Melvins and more
Street Sects 2017 Press
Leo Ashline (left) and Shaun Ringsmuth

Austin-based duo Street Sects have perfected a punk attack to go with their caustic synth compositions, making the live presentation of the recent Rat Jacket EP and End Position LP to be that much more unrelenting. Two years of stellar releases and hard touring means a lot of time spent listening to music in the van, so Revolver cornered frontman Leo Ashline to ask him about his favorite records of the year. The results of that conversation are below. 

Liars - TFCF

Becoming a solo act hasn't diluted the brand, as the new record manages to still sound like Liars while also exploring new territory. Surprisingly personal and heartfelt.

Melvins - A Walk With Love & Death

Sort of a Voltron of various other Melvins albums, it combines some of their best stylistic motifs into one of their strongest statements in years.

Com Truise - Iteration

At once colder and more alluring than any of their previous efforts, this is an immaculate piece of work.

Xiu Xiu - FORGET 

Any year Xiu Xiu puts out a new record it's almost certain to wind up in my top ten, but FORGET is far and away my favorite album of the year. In a catalog loaded with masterpieces, this might their best yet.

Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson

Ariel Pink proves once again that he's a master songsmith, wrapping sophisticated pop hooks in his own unique brand of earnest absurdity.

Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

Inventive post-punk with exceptional lyrics. Lives up to the hype.

Queens of the Stone Age - Villains

Razor sharp and polished beyond perfection, Queens of the Stone Age return with another instant classic, melding Elimanator-esque dance floor blues with cutting edge, million dollar production value. 

Odonis Odonis - No Pop

Toronto's shapeshifting synth assassins deliver the goods on this one. Anxious, sinister grooves and sneering vocals interjected amidst carefully arranged slices of combustible tech-noir.

Destroyer - Ken

With each new record, Destroyer has always pushed into new stylistic territory while maintaining all of his usual trademark songwriting elements. I feel like this record might be the first time he's actually backpedaled somewhat — to the lush territory of his career peak, Kaputt — but it's a welcome return, and the songs here are as strong as anything he's ever done.

Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Good Time was far and away the best movie of the year in my opinion, and easily one of the best movies I've seen in the last decade. The soundtrack played a huge part in making it what is, ratcheting up the urgency and tension and heightening the do-or-die realism of this nightmarish urban masterpiece.