Ian Shelton (Regional Justice Center, Militarie Gun) tells us about his favorite albums of 2021

IAN SHELTON'S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2021

JRCG - Ajo Sunshine
The man who brings the world DREAMDECAY has made his second solo record. It’s a record that finds a balance between catchy, noisy, and challenging—everything I want a record to be. I’ve heard that the live performances are incredible and I’m so bummed I was out of town when they came to LA, but that’s how it always seems to work.

Dazy - MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD
Ever since I heard Dazy’s Crowded Mind EP I’ve been hooked. That felt like a major work from the band and I feel like we all were blessed with the fact that we got more songs within the same year.

Angel Du$t - Yak!: A Collection of Truck Songs
I got the pleasure of hearing this record at various stages—from demos, to visiting in the studio, to the final record, to seeing it live—and it grabbed me in each way. AD is a band that exists on its own, no one else sounds like them so it’s always amazing to observe them putting something new into the world. My favorite tracks (especially live) are "All The Way Dumb" and "Cool Faith."

Ingrown - Gun
I’ve got personal investment in this one, it came out on my label and that’s because of one simple reason: it’s incredible. Abrasive, groovy, catchy—it’s got everything. Ingrown will definitely be viewed as one of the greats of this era of hardcore.

Turnstile - Glow On
I feel like if this isn’t on your list at this point you’re lying, just undeniable songwriting. A hardcore record that showed ultimate growth without trying to pass over its hardcore audience. It’s exciting to be making music in the same time as Turnstile is expanding things for all of us.

Viagra Boys - Welfare Jazz
I was only exposed to the song “Sports” so I wasn’t ever totally sure what this band sounded like, but when I heard “Ain’t Nice” and “Creatures” off this record I became obsessed. They create simple songs that have so much identity packed into them and it’s just straight up fun. That’s not something I usually seek out, but the end of the record with “To The Country” and “In Spite of Ourselves” adds emotional depth and makes the record feel like something more to me.

Citizen - Life In Your Glass World
This is a band whose records I’ve always tried and enjoyed but from the first time I heard “I Want To Kill You” I knew I would be in love with Life In Your Glass World. The instruments feel very different from Citizen's other releases but their singer has such a distinct identity that it still feels like their band. Similar to Turnstile it seems like they're committed to expanding their own musical language without wanting to leave their actual fans behind for the sake of being pretentious.

Kanye West - Donda
Most people don’t like this record because they went in not wanting to like it BUT for those capable of looking past that there’s so many legitimately amazing and beautiful moments. Watching the listening parties and hearing the record develop and change felt special, and it’s interesting that it’s still changing (however I don’t think the sequence of the DELUXE version accomplishes what the original release does). Any hater should listen to “Moon” and “Come To Life.” The only song I skip 100% of the time is “God Breathed On This” so one out of 27 songs is an amazing ratio.