2013 was a bit of a letdown for me musically, but so far 2014 is kicking enough ass to make up for it. ATR all-time faves Spoon are inches away from releasing their new masterpiece into the wild, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo have made a beautiful music baby as The Both, there’s a whole bunch of interesting rap and EDM all around us and oh, this Cincinnati-based lo-fi rock outfit called Tweens is kind of blowing my mind with their debut eponymous LP on Frenchkiss Records.

I mean are you kidding me with that? Get out of town, that’s exactly what I’ve been in the mood for, oh, for about a decade now. Straightforward rock, a lady who knows how to kick out the jams, no pretense whatsoever. Killer stuff.