Top 69 EPs of 2020

This was a ridiculous year, so I chose a ridiculous number. Here are, ranked, my 69 favorite short-form music-releases that came out in 2020 which are explicitly marketed as EPs. I will go without blurbs for 69-11, but will add some short blurbs for the top 10, further down. Stay tuned for my least favorite albums and my favorite albums of 2020, coming very soon. Thank you.

69. VIC MENSA — V TAPE

68. Fax Gang — FxG3000

67. Against All Logic — Illusions of Shameless Abundance

66. Portrayal of Guilt / Slow Fire Pistol — Split

65. Sutrah — Aletheia

64. Mindforce — Swingin Swords, Choppin Lords

63. Uncommon Nasa — Ornate

62. galen tipton — goddexx

61. Alex Cameron — Miami Memories

60. SassyBlack — I Be Bae // Stuck

59. Mutually Assured Destruction — Fever Dream

58. Viagra Boys — Common Sense

57. Departure Chandelier — Dripping Papal Blood

56. Masterpiece Machine — S / T (Rest in peace, Riley Gale)

55. Chromeo — Quarantine Casanova

54. ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ — ooo ̟̞̝̜̙̘̗̖҉̵̴̨̧̢̡̼̻̺̹̳̲̱̰̯̮̭̬̫̪̩̦̥̤̣̠҈͈͇͉͍͎͓͔͕͖͙͚͜͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢ͅ oʅ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡( ؞ৢ؞ؙؖ⁽⁾˜ัิีึื์๎้็๋๊⦁0 ̟̞̝̜̙̘̗̖҉̵̴̨̧̢̡̼̻̺̹̳̲̱̰̯̮̭̬̫̪̩̦̥̤̣̠҈͈͇͉͍͎͓͔͕͖͙͚͜͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢͢ͅ ఠీੂ೧ູ࿃ूੂ 

53. Sewerslvt — IRLY

52. Kemba — The World is Watching

51. 박혜진 Park Hye Jin — How can I

50. Animal Collective — Bridge to Quiet

49. Akai Solo — Eleventh Wind

48. ME REX — Triceratops / Stegosaurus

47. Fraxiom — Feeling Cool and Normal

46. BbyMutha — Muthaleficent // IDNTLIKEU.

45. Christine and the Queens — La vita nuova

44. Dirty Projectors — Windows Open // Flight Tower // Earth Crisis // Ring Road

43. India Jordan — For You

42. Jockstrap — Wicked City

41. Hidden Mothers — Hidden Mothers

40. Dragged Into Sunlight — Terminal Aggressor II

39. Arafura — Arafura // Tinggi / Alchemy

38. Kitty — Charm and Mirror

37. Serengeti & Kenny Segal — Ajai Epilogue

36. Your Arms Are My Cocoon — Your Arms Are My Cocoon

35. Kelly Moran / Prurient — Chain Reaction at Dusk

34. Militarie Gun — My Life is Over 

33. Sadistik — Delirium // Elysium

32. Machine Girl — RePorpoised Phantasies

31. Komusō / Setsuko — Split 2020

30. Bring Me The Horizon — POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR

29. Channel Tres — i can’t go outside

28. Standing on the Corner — G-E-T-O-U-T!! The Ghetto

27. Haru Nemuri — LOVETHEISM

26. Serpent Column — Endless Detainment

25. Infant Island — Sepulcher

24. C.H.E.W. — In Due Time

23. Wake — Confluence

22. Left at London — Transgender Street Legend, Vol. 2

21. NNAMDÏ — Black Plight

20. Ada Rook — separated from her twin, a dying android arrives on a mysterious island.

19. Cakes da Killa & Proper Villains — Muvaland

18. Slauson Malone — Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak)

17. Blue Hawaii — Under 1 House

16. Bedwetter — Headboard / Here I Am

15. Che Noir — After 12

14. PUP — This Place Sucks Ass

13. Uboa — The Flesh of the World

12. Burial / Four Tet / Thom Yorke — Her Revolution / His Rope 

11. JPEGMAFIA — EP!

10. Fuming Mouth — Beyond the Tomb

While I wasn’t blown away by the band’s 2019 studio album, the EP they dropped near the end of 2020 definitely knocked my socks off, making for one of the most thrilling (and criminally short) metal releases of the year. If this is what can be expected from Fuming Mouth’s next LP, consider me over-the-top excited.

9. Zulu — My People… Hold On

2020 was a year fraught with renewed turmoil in regards to police brutality discussions in the United States – of course. That’s not a new observation. This led to a reckoning, with many new and existing bands confronting this reality, some in more revolutionary terms than others. Enter the mysterious Philly-based metalcore project Zulu, whose latest EP is some of the most punishing, confrontational art-as-politics I heard from this past year. It drops more knowledge in its few minutes than any president could ever conceivably do, that’s for sure.

8. Shygirl — ALIAS

UK-based experimental hip-hop phenom Shygirl comes through with a catchy and very well produced exploration of what we now know as “hyperpop,” with some help from Sega Bodega, Kai Whiston, and the late, great SOPHIE. Keep an eye on Shygirl, because she is going to reach some insane levels of popularity in the coming years. ALIAS is seductive, strange, and completely on its own playing field.

7. Tkay Maidza — Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2 

Speaking of rappers from outside the U.S., producer-turned-rapper Tkay Maidza hails from Australia. While the Last Year Was Weird series certainly predates the pandemic, this EP (which is basically long enough to be its own album, in fairness) felt exactly right for its time. Its boundless creativity helped Tkay ink a deal with the legendary 4AD label, and this year should hold some further developments on that. Until then, these tracks serve as a generous helping of colorful, high-quality bangers, each demonstrating a different facet of the talent Tkay brings to the table.

6. Conway the Machine & The Alchemist — LULU

I will be talking plenty about the various Griselda members in my Albums list, rest assured. Just know that this is one of three incredible projects Conway released in 2020. The Alchemist, as well, was very prolific in 2020, and will definitely be represented in at least two forms in the albums list, so let’s just save the good stuff for then, shall we? If you like hip-hop and don’t know about Conway the Machine and the other members of Griselda, then I don’t know what to tell you. Fix your computer, or something.

5. Soul Glo — Songs to Yeet at the Sun

Whereas the aforementioned Zulu EP is metalcore, through and through, Soul Glo (also from Philly) bullets down the straight-up hardcore route. The excellently named band released their excellently named EP, Songs to Yeet at the Sun, to massive acclaim in 2020, and rightfully so. This reminds me of some of the best formative hardcore bands of the late ’70s and early ’80s, but with a contemporary edge, particularly the way the band messes around with hip-hop. Soul Glo is undoubtedly one of the must-watch punk bands for 2021, having already put out another EP upon publication of this post. Hopefully an album is coming soon, because these guys are making some of the most high-impact guitar music in the game right now.

4. Two Minutes to Late Night — Covers Vols. 1-6

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We all developed various media obsessions during the quarantine. One of “phases” I went through involved binging the metal-inspired web show Two Minutes to Late Night, all episodes of which are available on YouTube. It’s a comedic “late night”-style series with interviews, sketches, characters, and one-of-a-kind live performances, with Mutoid Man serving as the backing band, and shows taped at the Saint Vitus bar in Brooklyn. Sadly, filming such a show is expensive, and a second season has not been formally announced. Instead, the show’s creators, Jordan Olds (in character as corpsepaint-adorning host Gwarsenio Hall) and Drew Kauffman, came up with a novel idea to keep the content coming. They would use their Patreon earnings have their various punk/metal friends record remote covers to host on their YouTube channel, similar to the supergroup-style covers they would perform on the Vitus stage. The first of these would release in January 2020, a few short months before the pandemic began, necessitating remote work, an extremely unique coincidence which helped raise the show’s platform immensely throughout 2020.

As part of Bandcamp’s monthly Bandcamp Friday program, Olds and Kauffman compiled their various covers onto various EPs, releasing a total of six throughout 2020. Sadly, these were only available for one day, to those who purchased them on that particular Bandcamp Friday. So, naturally, I was that person, and I have all six (now seven) of these EPs. Still, fret not: you can hear members of Primus, Mastodon, Tool, War On Women, Cave In, Converge, Integrity, The Distillers, Circa Survive, and countless other musicians cover deep cuts and classics by Brian Eno, Steely Dan, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Rush, and plenty of legends. It’s all on their YouTube channel, with extremely well-edited videos to go along with each one. If you haven’t gone down the Two Minutes to Late Night rabbit-hole yet, you’re missing out, and thankfully, there’s still time to get hooked.

3. Mattachine — Isolation as a Form of Torture

I’ve talked at length about the importance of the stretch of road between Richmond, VA and Washington, DC in terms of hardcore, metalcore, and screamo music. One of the bands exemplifying that trend that is currently active is Infant Island, a group whose EP Sepulcher is listed further above, and whose album Beneath will be discussed on the Albums list. My third favorite EP of 2020, though, belongs to a side-project of Infant Island, featuring vocalist Alexander Rudenshiold and drummer Austin O’Rourke. That band is called Mattachine, and their debut EP Isolation as a Form of Torture is one of the most off-the-wall metalcore/screamo releases I’ve probably ever heard. It went mostly under the radar, it seems, even with people who pay attention to this scene, so I highly recommend you check out this little eight minute collection of tracks, to hear the pure, unbridled power of rage.

2. Backxwash — Stigmata

So, I will definitely talk a lot more about Toronto-based rapper-producer Backxwash in my Albums list. The metal-influenced rapper is undoubtedly one of the most standout artists in the genre right now, and her EP Stigmata is a prime example of this. Each instrumental samples from a Christian hard rock or metal song, incorporated as a reference to Backxwash’s religious past and her current fascination with anti-religious metal music. She goes hard on this thing, and it serves as an excellent companion to the incredible, award-winning God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It, which will be discussed in a few days.

1. Zeal & Ardor — Wake of a Nation

The best EP of 2020 came from one of the greatest metal bands working today, Zeal & Ardor, with the astonishing Wake of a Nation. This isn’t simply on here for its political value, which comes extremely well-received near the end of one of the most exhausting and horrific displays of public cruelty this world has seen. It truly is that impactful of a musical release, with the band continuing to experimental with and evolve past the black metal influences which marked their first few releases, with much more blues and gospel influence shining through this time. It also feels like a response to the public’s reception to the band’s existence in the first place, which has ranged from rapturous fandom to reactionary hatred. Whatever it is, it’s a much different experience from what the band gave us on Devil is Fine and Stranger Fruit. At one point, it seemed like Zeal & Ardor might only be one thing, but Wake of a Nation has proven that Manuel Gagneux and his band are not content to fit into the box they initially put themselves in. I wait with bated breath for the next evolution of Zeal & Ardor’s rage-and-anxiety-fueled blues-metal.