Thanks @matthaber, @topshelfsquad, @OotyPa and everyone else for the recommendations. I really appreciate it! I have kept up with some of the Japanese bands coming out and really liked the By the End of Summer and Jyocho releases. The latter was on my top ten for 2018. Another band from Japan I really dig is Arigarnon Friends, but most of the other ones are new to me so I am really looking forward to checking these bands out. I definitely agree with the difficulty of buying the albums, would really like to have Jyocho on vinyl. Going to follow these on bandcamp so I have them queued for work this week. Only got to Pens+ so far, but that is definitely the style I'm looking for! Didn't really dig Glintshake on first listen, but will give them another try during the week. Don't worry I had that one pre-ordered! :) I just found about them recently, but yeah, definitely tailored to my interests. Surprisingly good list. Awesome to see a lot of the stuff I really liked this year on the list like Origami Angel and Forests. Only one it was really missing for me was Big Nothing. I'm still working through my thoughts on Panorama and American Football (LP3) which were the other notable omissions. The two most consistent labels for me lately have been Take This to Your Heart and Old Press Records.
Sorry if this has been posted already but just heard about this band. Really good Working Titles, by A Blackbird en Route
this thread gives me so much anxiety. no idea how you all keep up with so many bands. there is too much music
i am thankful everyday i am a programmer who gets to sit at his computer all day at his job and block out the world with music lmao