Capacity, Brooklyn band Big Thief’s sophomore LP, follows its debut Masterpiece by just over a year. How’d they turn that one around so quick? It turns out they finished Capacity before releasing Masterpiece, but the music on each suggests vastly different worlds. Masterpiece’s somberness sprung from the page via quivering reflections including “Paul” and “Real Love,” not to mention rocking anthems such as “Masterpiece” and “Humans”; Capacity constrains itself achingly with cold, brittle arrangements and exaggerated fragility in frontwoman Adrienne Lenker’s featherlight voice. “Great White Shark” creeps around swaths of barely lit hums and plucks, “Capacity” wails with a wintry whisper, and “Shark Smile” embellishes its tensions with a rhythm as driving as it is insular. With these duskier monoliths come even more precise lyrics; although Masterpiece remains no slouch at painting vivid pictures of its characters, settings, and emotions, Capacity breathtakingly deals in excessively intense moments, such as car crashes (“Shark Smile”), head injuries (“Mythological Beauty”), and comas (the aptly-titled “Coma”). Despite the upped ante lyrically, the album sounds more restrained than Big Thief has previously been known for, though this has always been a band whose contrasts are its highlights. - Max Freedman

The Staff's Lists:

Alex Wexelman (@AlexWexelman)

01. Boosegumps - On My Way To Meet You

02. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

03. Spencer Radcliffe & Everyone Else - Enjoy The Great Outdoors

04. Anna Altman - Freightliner

05. Big Thief - Capacity

06. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

07. Lorde - Melodrama

08. Alvvays - Antisocialites

09. Girlpool - Powerplant

10. Yucky Duster - Duster's Lament

11. Kendrick Lamar - Damn.

12. Emily Yacina - Heart Sky

13. Lomelda - Thx

14. Lexie - Record Time!

15. SZA - Ctrl

16. Thelma - Thelma

17. Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness

18. Thundercat - Drunk

19. Florist - If Blue Could Be Happiness

20. Palm - Shadow Expert

ANNIE FELL (@zitremedies)

01. Palehound - A Place I'll Always Go

02. Torres - Three Futures

03. St. Vincent -MASSEDUCTION

04. Helium - Ends With And

05. Girlpool - Powerplant

06. Kesha - Rainbow

07. Who Is She - Seattle Gossip

08. Quay Dash - Transphobic

09. SZA - Ctrl

10. Lorde - Melodrama

COLE KINSLER (@DUSTETC)

01. Big Thief - Capacity

02. Lomelda - Thx

03. Pile - A Hairshirt of Purpose

04. Bad History Month - Dead And Loving It

05. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

06. Twain - Rare Feeling

07. Palehound - A Place I’ll Always Go

08. Rick Rude - Make Mine Tuesday

09. Bill Orcutt - Bill Orcutt

10. Kamasi Washington - Harmony of Difference

11. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up

12. Girlpool - Powerplant

13. Hand Habits - Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void)

14. Kevin Morby - City Music

15. Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher

16. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

17. Dark Mtns - Up Above This Cloud

18. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice

19. Will Henriksen - Blue House

20. Tall Friend - Safely Nobody’s

DAN GOLDIN (@post_trash_) *

01. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley

02. Oh Sees - Orc

03. Once & Future Band - Once & Future Band

04. Rick Rude - Make Mine Tuesday

05. David Nance - Negative Boogie

06. Shilpa Ray - Door Girl

07. Girlpool - Powerplant

08. Palehound - A Place I'll Always Go

09. Christian Fitness - Slap Bass Hunks

10. Birthing Hips - Urge To Merge

11. Flagland - Two Brothers & A Ghost

12. Dove Lady - One

13. Night Idea - Riverless

14. Protomartyr - Relatives In Descent

15. Nnamdi Ogbonnaya - DROOL

16. Damaged Bug - Bunker Funk

17. Old Iron - Lupus Metallorum

18. Converge - The Dusk In Us

19. Tera Melos - Trash Generator

20. Water From Your Eyes - Long Days, No Dreams

DYLAN PENNELL (@DYLAN_PENNELL)

01. Tennis - Yours Conditionally

02. Mac Demarco - This Old Dog

03. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley

04. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

05. SZA - Control

06. Weezer - Pacific Daydream

07. Jens Lekman - Life Will See You Now

08. Toro Y Moi - Boo Boo

09. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

10. The xx - I See you

11. Sampha - Process

12. Alvvays - Antisocialites

13. American Football (LP2)

14. Ryan Adams - Prisoner

15. Twin Ponies - Self Titled

16. Dan Auerbach - Waiting on a Song

17. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

18. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest

19. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

20. Real Estate - In Mind

ETHAN JAYNES (@ETHAN_JAYNES)

01. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me

02. Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

03. Richard Dawson - Peasant

04. Lingua Ignota - All Bitches Die

05. Who Loves You - Green & Tangerine

06. Remo Drive - Greatest Hits

07. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up

08. Show Me the Body - CORPUS I

09. Creepers - The Lost Transmissions

10. The National - Sleep Well Beast

11. Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy

12. Big Thief - Capacity

13. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

14. Slowdive - Slowdive

15. Lomelda - Thx

16. Pile - A Hairshirt of Purpose

17. Washer - All Aboard

18. American Poetry Club - Glad to Be Here, Etcetera

19. Space Mountain - Supermundane

20. Space Camp - Force Femmed

Ggregg Stull

01. Bad History Month - Dead and Loving it

02. Pile - Hairshirt of Purpose

03. Palm - Shadow Expert

04. The Spirit of the Beehive - Pleasure Suck

05. Big Thief - Capacity

06. Edmonson - Strange Durations

07. Sweet Baby Jesus - Lyres of Ur

08. Anthony Fremont's Garden Solutions - Anthology

09. Climax Landers - S/T

10. Two Inch Astronaut - Can You Please Not Help

11. Big Heet - On A Wire

12. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley

13. The Cradle - Little Missionaries

14. Christina Schneider - Violence Etcetera

15. Lomelda - Thx

16. Big French - Stone Fish

17. Rick Rude - Make Mine Tuesday

18. Spit - Ego in Drag

19. Converge - The Dusk in Us

20. Bonny Doon - S/T

JASMINE BOURGEOIS

01. Girlpool — Powerplant

02. Kendrick Lamar —DAMN.

03. Palm — Shadow Expert

04. Japanese Breakfast — Soft Sounds from Another Planet

05. Tyler, the Creator — Flower Boy

06. (Sandy) Alex G — Rocket

07. Thelma — Thelma

08. IDK — IWASVERYBAD

09. Angel Olsen — Phases

10. Palberta/No One and the Somebodies split — Chips for Dinner

11. Vagabon — Infinite Worlds

12. Mathew Lee Cothran — judas hung himself in america

13. Darto — Human Giving

14. Kalbells — Ten Flowers

15. Nnamdi Ogbonnaya — Drool

16. Mayhem Lauren — Gems from the Equinox

17. Sleater-Kinney — Live from Paris

18. Guerilla Toss — GT Ultra

19. Slowdive — Slowdive

20. Furnsss — Furnsss



JEFF LAUGHLIN (@beardsinc)

01. Chad Vangaalen - Light Information

02. 1970s Film Stock - Birds

03. JLin - Black Origami

04. sir Was - Digging A Tunnel

05. Thundercat - Drunk

06. Tara Jane O'Neil - Tara Jane O'Neil

07. Big Thief - Capacity

08. Wand - Plum

09. Sontag Shogun - Patterns for Resonant Space

10. Irreversible Entanglements - Irreversible Entanglements

11. Courtney Marie Andrews - Honest Life

12. Katie Von Schleicher - Shitty Hits

13. Ulsect - Ulsect

14. Upper Wilds - Guitar Module 2017

15. Shilpa Ray - Door Girl

16. Lojii/Swarvy - Due Rent

17. Jonwayne - Rap Album 2

18. Dustin Wong and Takako Minekawa - Are Euphoria

19. Amenra - Mass V

20. Wooden Wand - Clipper Ship

JOE GUTIERREZ

01. Big Thief- Capacity

02. Lomelda- Thx

03. Mega Bog- Happy Together

04. Hand Habits- Wildly Idle

05. Little Star- Little Star

06. Real Life Buildings- Significant Weather

07. Doubting Thomas Cruise Control- Bob Ross II

08. Gun Outfit- Out of Range

09. Blois- Lake

10. Shelf Life- Christian Coated Ethical Arena

11. Tomber Lever- Furniture Pedagogue

12. Priests- Nothing Feels Natural

13. Calgrove- Wind Vane

14. Dude York- Sincerely

15. Nana Grizol- Ursa Minor

16. Dylan Earl- New Country To Be

17. Tyler Childers- Purgatory

18. Becca Mancari- Good Woman

19. Twain- Rare Feeling

20. Stef Chura- Messes

Jonathan Bannister (@j_utah)

01. Drab Majesty - The Demonstration

02. Shilpa Ray - Door Girl

03. Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

04. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

05. Pile - Hairshirt of Purpose

06. King Krule - The Ooz

07. H. Grimace - Self Architect

08. Second Still - Second Still

09. Skeleton Hands - Wake

10. Two Inch Astronaut - Can You Please Not Help

11. Glaare - To Deaf and Day

12. Honeyrude - The Color Blue

13. Desperate Journalist - Grow Up

14. Kindling - Hush

15. Washer - All Aboard

16. Death of Lovers - The Acrobat

17. Car Crash Sisters - Sundance Sea

18. Grave Pleasures - Motherblood

19. Bethlehem Steel - Party Naked Forever

20. Bad History Month - Dead and Loving It

JOSHUA ROBBINS (@latebloomernc)

01. Quicksand - Interiors

02. Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires - Youth Detention

03. Incendiary - Thousand Mile Stare

04. Mt. Mountain - Dust

05. Elder - Reflections of a Floating World

06. Pissed Jeans - Why Love Now?

07. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

08. Racquet Club - S/T

09. Dylan Earl - New Country to Be

10. Kindling - Hush

11. Cloud Nothings - Life Without Sound

12. Two Inch Astronaut - Can You Please Not Help

13. Able Baker Fox - Visions

14. Open City - S/T

15. Cayetana - New Kind of Normal

16. Bash & Pop - Anything Could Happen

17. Firewalker - S/T

18. Ryan Adams - Prisoner

19. Sinai Vessel - Brokenlegged

20. Junior Astronomers - Body Language

Julie K. Smitka (@julieksmitka)

01. Blanck Mass - World Eater

02. Drab Majesty - The Demonstration

03. Bodykit - NO-NRG

04. Laurel Halo - Dust

05. Zola Jesus - Okovi

06. Jlin - Black Origami

07. Earthly - Heart

08. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

09. Sneaks - It's a Myth

10. Destroyer - ken

11. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me

12. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

13. John Carpenter - Anthology

14. Big Thief - Capacity

15. Thundercat - Drunk

16. Bjork - Utopia

17. Reduction Plan - Somewhere

18. Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol. 2

19. Odonis Odonis - No Pop

20. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

kat harding (@iwearaviators)

01. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN

02. Bully - Losing

03. SZA - CTRL

04. Fazerdaze - Morningside

05. Feature - Banishing Ritual

06. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

07. Steelism - ism

08. Lorde - Melodrama

09. Joan Shelly - s/t

10. House and Land - s/t

KATIE HANFORD

01. cooking - cooking (with gas)

02. Bilge Rat - Bilge Rat

03. The Spirit of the Beehive - Pleasure Suck

04. Pardoner - Uncontrollable Salvation

05. narra - narra

06. Homeshake - Fresh Air

07. Tyler, The Creator - Scum Fuck Flower Boy

08. WEED - Born Wrong Love

09. Cherry Glazerr - Apockalipstick

10. no friends - no friends

11. The Human Fly - Gruesome

12. Strange Ranger - Daymoon

13. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

14. Big Thief - Capacity

15. Radiator Hospital - Play the Song You Like

16. Ty Segall - Ty Segall

17. Art School Jocks - Art School Jocks

18. infinite bisous - w/ love

19. Hoops - Routines

20. Slowdive - Slowdive

KENNY RAMOS (@kennyramoslife)

01. Miguel - War & Leisure

02. Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet

03. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

04. David Nance - Negative Boogie

05. Migos - Culture

06. Palehound - A Place I’ll Always Go

07. Cousin Stizz - One Night Only

08. Cherry Glazerr - Apocalipstick

09. Kendrick Lamar - Damn

10. Girlpool - Powerplant

MARY KATE CROWE (@memkaycrowe)

01. Lorde - Melodrama

02. Princess Nokia - 1992 Deluxe

03. Big Thief - Capacity

04. St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION

05. The Glaciers - Quarry's Light

06. Lexie - Record Time!

07. Jay Som - Everybody Works

08. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN

09. SZA - CTRL

10. Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet

11. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me

12. Vagabon - Infinite Worlds

13. Girlpool - Powerplant

14. Radiator Hospital - Play the Songs You Like

15. Daddy Issues - Deep Dream

16. Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm

17. Lana Del Rey - Love Lust For Life

18. Weaves - Wide Open

19. Conor Oberst - Salutations

20. Feist - Pleasure

MAX FREEDMAN (@ANTICLIMAXWELL)

01. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

02. St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION

03. Jay Som - Everybody Works

04. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket

05. Fufanu - Sports

06. Moses Sumney - Aromanticism

07. Alvvays - Antisocialites

08. Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens

09. Zuli - on human freakout mountain

10. Perfume Genius - No Shape

11. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

12. TORRES - Three Futures

13. ammút - Kinder Versions

14. Run the Jewels - RTJ3

15. abriel Garzón-Montano - Jardín

16. Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights

17. Kelela - Take Me Apar

18. Yaeji - yaeji EP/EP2

19. Lorde - Melodrama

20. LCD Soundsystem - american dream

Mike LeSuer (@zebraabraham)

01. Keeping - Ruin Value

02. Space Camp - Force Femmed

03. Surf Curse - Nothing Yet

04. Caddywhompus - Odd Hours

05. Uniform - Wake in Fright

06. Oh Sees - Orc

07. Converge - The Dusk in Us

08. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley

09. Big Thief - Capacity

10. Show Me the Body - CORPUS I

11. Billy Woods - Known Unknowns

12. Downtown Boys - Cost of Living

13. White Suns - Psychic Drift

14. Jim and the French Vanilla - Afraid of the House

15. King Woman - Created in the Image of Suffering

16. Pope - True Talent Champion

17. Witch Coast - Devil Vision

18. Gnarwhal - Crucial

19. Bee Bee Sea - Sonic Boomerang

20. Big Walnuts Yonder - s/t

MYLES DUNHILL (@MylesDunhill)

01. Thundercat - Drunk

02. Iglooghost - Neo Wax Bloom

03. Sun Araw - The Saddle of the Increate

04. Nmesh - Pharma

05. Yaeji - s/t EP 1 + EP 2

06. King Krule - The OOZ

07. Eric Copeland - Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect

08. doon kanda - heart

09. V/A - Mono No Aware [PAN Records]

10. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

11, Grandaddy - Last Place

12. Washed Out - Mister Mellow

13. Giant Claw - Soft Channel

14. Peaking Lights - The Fifth State of Consciousness

15. X.Y.R. - Labryinth

16. Perfume Genius - No Shape

17. Felicia Atkinson - Hand in Hand

18. Laurel Halo - Dust

19. Slowdive - s/t

20. Flat Worms - s/t

NATHAN SPRINGER (@DROWNLOADING)

01. the spirit of the beehive – Pleasure Suck

02. Palm – Shadow Expert

03. Beverly Tender – What Did You Do to My Water?

04. Climax Landers – S/T

05. Crumb – Locket

06. Yucky Duster – Duster’s Lament

07. Club Night – Rally

08. Blois - Lake

09. Ada Babar and Kasra Kurt – Nino Tomorrow

10. Shady Bug – tbh idk

11. Gas – Narkopop

12. Dove Lady – One

13. Hoops – Routines

14. Thelma – S/T

NICCOLO DANTE PORCELLO (@NICCOLOPORCELLO) *

01. Palm — Shadow Expert

02. Ratboys — GN

03. Stef Chura — Messes

04. Cherry Glazerr — Apocalipstick

05. Charly Bliss — Guppy

06. Pile — Hairshirt of Purpose

07. Bethlehem Steel — Party Naked Forever

08. Club Night — Rally

09. Radiator Hospital — Play The Songs You Like

10. Tall Friend — Safely Nobody's

11. Girlpool — Powerplant

12. Two Inch Astronaut — Can You Please Not Help

13. Palehound — A Place I’ll Always Go

14. Bad History Month — Dead and Loving It: An Introductory Exploration of Pessimysticism

15. Spirit of the Beehive -- pleasure suck

16. Chastity Belt — I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone

17. Beverly Tender — What Have You Done To My Water

18. thanks for coming — Sspplliitt EP

19. Jay Som — Everybody Works

20. SHEER MAG — Need To Feel Your Love

QUINN MYERS (@RQUINNMYERS)

01. Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

02. King Krule - The Ooz

03. Posse - Horse Blanket

04. Chad VanGaalen - Light Information

05. Omni - Multi-task

06. Palehound - A Place I'll Always Go

07. Bad History Month - Dead and Loving It

08. Twain - Rare Feeling

09. Washer - All Aboard

10. A. Savage - Thawing Dawn

11. Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet

12. Neil Young - Hitchhiker

13. Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness

14. Richard Dawson - Peasant

15. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

16. Girlpool - Power Plant

17. Pile - A Hairshirt of Purpose

18. Chain & The Gang - Experimental Music

19. Big Thief - Capacity

20. Fleet Foxes - The Crack Up

TIM CRISP (@betteryetpod)

01. Ratboys - GN

02. Vagabon - Infinite Worlds

03. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley

04. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

05. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

06. Pile - A Hairshirt Of Purpose

07. Meat Wave - The Incessant

08. Big Thief - Capacity

09. Tall Friend - Safely Nobody’s

10. SZA - Ctrl

11. Adult Mom - Soft Spots

12. Hard Girls - Floating Now

13. Florist - If Blue Could Be Happiness

14. Wild Pink - S/T

15. His Electro Blue Voice - Mental Hoop

16. Walter, Etc. - Gloom Cruise

17. Sincere Engineer - Rhombithian

18. Aye Nako - Silver Haze

19. Worriers - Survival Pop

20. Rozwell Kid - Precious Art

TORREY PROTO (@torreysbrewin)

01. Odonis Odonis - No Pop

02. Liars - TFCF

03. Phew - Light Sleep

04. The Spirit of the Beehive - Pleasure Suck

05. Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

06. Tera Melos - Trash Generator

07. Oxbow - The Thin Black Duke

08. Two Inch Astronaut - Can You Please Not Help

09. milo - who told you to think??!!?!?!?

10. Cornelius - Mellow Waves

11. Algiers - The Underside of Power

12. Pile - A Hairshirt of Purpose

13. Alexander F - Alexander F

14. Wiki - No Mountains in Manhattan

15. Vagabon - Infinite Worlds

16. King Krule - The Ooz

17. Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

18. Idles - Brutalism

19. Pierre Kwenders - MAKANDA at the End of Space, the Beginning of Time

20. White Suns - Psychic Drift

* both Niccolo Dante Porcello (Sad Cactus Records) and Dan Goldin (Exploding In Sound Records) submitted Top 20 lists that were taken into consideration for the staff pick total that included bands from their respective labels. In the interest of not publicly ranking their own bands, the lists submitted here are their favorite albums without inclusion of any Sad Cactus or EIS artists.