20 Best EPs of 2018 (So Far) -

Welcome to our Best of 2018 series, in which we explore the year’s best albums, songs and extended plays.

Attention spans are brisk these days. So, extended plays are becoming more commonplace than ever. While many folks have little use for short discs, there remains plenty of value in unique perspectives. Regardless of genre, from folk-rock to synth-pop to straight-ahead country, EPs are the gold standard these days, especially with the continued high-cost of making music and streaming taking such a gigantic bite out of revenue. Paired with nationwide tours, offering up digestible projects just makes smart business sense. Now that the year has officially hit the middle mark, we are taking stock of the year’s best music. At the bottom, we’ve got a handy-dandy playlist for optimum convenience.

Below, B-Sides & Badlands has chosen the 20 best EPs of 2018…so far.

SUMif, Pretty Cage (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Dancing Avocado Songs

Residing in San Francisco, a rather unlikely locale for her particularly frothy and wild electro-pop blend, Steph Wells (who goes by the stage name SUMif) enlisted Craigslist for chance musical encounters, scoping out others’ crafts so she could mold her own, and began piecing together what would culminate in her debut EP. “Come a little closer / Let’s just be,” she whispers on glitter-rave opener “In with Me” through clinking coins and dazed electronica drops. The tone-setting piece whisks through the eardrums, knocking back joyous incisions and jolting the nervous system awake. That makes sense, since her intent is to make people dance at all costs. “I’m running around,” she knots over crimping synth jabs and folding her voice like crisp, dazzling-white origami. Her breathy vocal hangs on that theme throughout much of the EP. [Full review here] – Jason Scott

Carry Illinois, Work in Progress (buy)

Genre: Pop/Alternative

Label: Independent

Electric and eclectic indie-pop band Carry Illinois grant stunning insight with their new EP, Work in Progress, a bristled and homely and humbled lineup of tunes. It’s worn around the edges, but underneath, there beats a truly remarkable, one-of-a-kind heart. It takes an astounding amount of courage to own your own shit, and singer-songwriter Lizzy Lehman is one of the bravest people walking this earth. Her footsteps are scorched, and she breathes fire with each syllable. “I’m a work in progress / Let’s get to it,” she determines on the broiled, gut-stabbing title song, the backbone that not only embodies her journey to self-worth but serves as a crucial admission of a time within we seem to be trapped and bound by stigmas, bigotry and political and social ruin. [Full review here] – Jason Scott

SHEARE, Music for Photo Booths (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Independent

A purveyor of massive, sticky, haunting hooks, SHEARE reaches an apex of his budding career with “Bedroom,” a shivering alloy of bubbly synths and his classic falsetto. “Oh, there’s something I been missing sitting on the kitchen floor / And I said, ‘I think I need a minute,’” he sings, fighting valiantly to pick up the pieces after a breakup but always being spooked by the memory of her, even in the confines of his bedroom. “But babe, it’s been a long time coming / Running away, standing in place.” As is his way, he pours out his heart and soul three minutes at a time. “Tidal Wave,” a cut on his shiny new EP, Music for Photo Booths, a title ripped from a chance meeting which led to a tumultuous but addicting relationship, digs into “me and my hang-ups in relationships,” he says. [Full review here] – Jason Scott

King Princess, Make My Bed (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Zelig Music

King Princess’ debut EP Make My Bed is a lush introduction to the mind of the (hopefully) soon to be superstar, possessing levels of queer intimacy that many of her peers work their entire careers towards. “Talia” and “Make My Bed” reach to the deepest depths of loneliness and despair; “Upper West Side” navigates the complicated space between desire and disdain; and “1950” and “Holy” paint a picture of the kind of love and lust so powerful it leaves you breathless. Around all of this unfiltered emotion, King Princess builds sonic landscapes of sugar-coated electro-rock, making these confessionals radio smashes in the making. – Chris Will

Lizzy Farrall, All I Said Was Never Heard (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Pure Noise Records

Singer-songwriter Lizzy Farrall lays her wounds out for us to bear witness, and as she regals tales of broken hearts, self-blame and family affairs on her long-awaited debut EP, All I Said Was Never Heard (an aptly grueling title exposing inner strife and her struggle to contain it), we are left emotionally drained. Her vocal density is bone-chilling, ignited from the outset with “Broken Toy,” a forlorn, whimsical folk ballad about a former lover, who has somehow managed to live in a world without her. “After all this time, my mind still wonders back to you,” she opines with crisp, venomous licks of childlike angst over treacherous, slippery guitar strokes. Her voice flutters with drunken spite, the tension paper thin as she draws out each lyrical detail until it snaps. [Full review here] – Jason Scott

Whiskey Wolves of the West, Country Roots (buy)

Genre: Country

Label: Rock Ridge Music

The collective minds of Tim Jones and Leroy Powell exact a smooth-as-whiskey blend of Nashville-stylized country, robust and southern-rich Americana and blues-rock with Country Roots. “I’m stuck here walking the floor / With a job I hate, alimony that’s late / And I’m headed for another divorce,” the pair howl on “Rainy Day Lovers,” a thunderstruck and zesty mourner of the burdens in life. “#1 (The Ballad of Dallas Davis)” is a frosty, sleepy-eyed mid-tempo seeing the narrator run for the hills and over the earth’s edge, while “Sound of the South” is an equally-lethargic stunner, as breezy and nonchalant as the next. “Lay That Needle Down” sits on the guitar’s metallic grooves, and “The Song Ain’t Gonna Write Itself” is a sublime honky-tonker knocking down the shots as a frantic rate. The duo’s first EP is inspired, thrilling and downright satisfying. – Jason Scott

JOY., Six (buy)

Genre: Pop/R&B

Label: Sony

One of Australia’s brightest up-and-coming artists, JOY., presented her latest work this March with the Six EP. The seven-song compilation showcases her sensual and airy vocal delivery that deliciously floats over the dark and mystifying production on each of these tracks. The stellar songwriting also plays a key role in the quality of this extended play, illustrating the story arc of a relationship gone wrong from beginning to end. The first (and potentially best) track, “Fake It” starts the timeline with JOY. having to mask her pain and disinterest in keeping the relationship going, ending with “Lose Control,” where the songstress has lost the ability to keep her relationship afloat before she even realized it. A journey worth taking. – Galvin Baez

LPX, Bolt in the Blue (buy)

Genre: Pop/Rock

Label: Independent

You may not know the name Lizzy Palpinger, but you know her through her phenomenal contributions to the music industry. Outside of her band MS MR, Palpinger is the co-founder of Neon Gold records, the label that houses some of the most forward thinking players in pop music ⎯⎯ Tove Lo, Charli XCX, and Marina and the Diamonds to name a few. She steps into her own with her new solo project LPX, ripping through the fabric of music with the Bolt In The Blue EP, a razor sharp no-holds-bar proclamation of feminist independence and badassery. Her visceral vocals crunch around sinewy, punk-inflected tracks like “Tightrope” and “Bolt in the Blue,” and she thunders through the stratosphere with the epic, heart-stomping standout “Slide.” – Chris Will

Wallows, Spring (buy)

Genre: Indie/Rock

Label: Atlantic

Listening to indie-rock trio Wallows, featuring Cole Preston, Braeden Lemasters and 13 Reasons Why star Dylan Minnette, is like stepping lavishly into the golden haze of yesteryear. Their debut EP is a collection of dim, discolored and long-forgotten polaroids, clicked and printed in between magnificent memories of life’s most splendid moments and tucked away in a cedar chest, now dusty and dank somewhere in the attic. Where cuts like “Ground” and “It’s Only Right” wriggle along in the earth’s gnarled fingertips, “These Days” and the exceptional “1980s Horror Film” shimmer and dance in the gloriously penetrating sun of so-Cal folk-rock, soaked in a cloudy classic filter and then air-dried with a savory modern charm. – Jason Scott

Loote, single. (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Island Records

“Heartache is real. Anxiety is real. Passion is real,” New York pop duo Loote have expressed in talking about their debut EP, single., a jaunty, glistening upheaval of angst and heartache. “Girl, on the night we met in the city, I should have just got drunk and stayed home,” band member Jackson Foote regrets with “Wish I Never Met You,” which glitches and fragments in vocal-distorted shards and rhythmic buoyancy. Joe Jonas joins on “Longer Than I Thought,” tempered with guitar echoes and beachy shadows, extending the EP’s generally luminous tone. “Out of My Head” is built on piercing finger-snaps, and Emma Lov struggles with being single, with the guitar-laden “IDK Single.” Lov’s vocal timbre is as beguiling as Julia Michaels’, especially on opener “Your Side of the Bed,” a biting and and fierce and scorching performance. – Jason Scott

Dan Sadin, Self-Titled (buy)

Genre: Indie/Rock

Label: Coronado Sound

The Dan Sadin EP trembles and aches, like aftershocks of an altogether damaging, merciless earthquake. “Here Comes the Heartache” sees Sadin opening the floodgates even though he can see the trouble peeking just over the horizon. “I thought I had gotten away / Thought I had nothing to say / I guess it’s just a little too late,” he considers, gentle tugs of celestial guitars looping in ghostly quivers. Then, with “Edge of the Dark,” his jawline is tense ⎯⎯ making his steely-eyed determination made known amidst an outbreak of classically-80s pop-structured beats and grooves. “Moonlight, you had the shivers / You woke me up and asked to hold you tight / Our bodies touched, and for a moment, seemed like everything was gonna be alright,” he sings and wraps a tender, clammy embrace around an unnamed lover. [Full review here] – Jason Scott

Trixie Mattel, One Stone (buy)

Genre: Country

Label: Independent

The queer voice in country music is flourishing, thanks in large part to mainstream songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and such outliers as Brandi Carlile, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Karen & the Sorrows and others. Trixie Mattel, stage persona of Brian Firkus, a fixture on RuPaul’s Drag Race, bares heart and soul with a new album called One Stone. Between the walls of hearty-stock fiddle, banjo and acoustic guitar, Mattel seeks to expose small-town, conservative culture. With “Little Sister,” Firkus acknowledges archaic gender roles in a heartfelt love-letter to his younger sister. “Red Side of the Moon,” a breathy, downcast ballad, explores rumors of Dolly Parton’s alleged secret relationship with Judy Ogle. “The Well” is another raw, raspy number, in which Firkus references such classic country tunes as “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash and “Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette. In total, One Stone is a breathtaking body of queer art. – Jason Scott

Calamity the Kid, Late Bloomer (buy)

Genre: Rock

Label: SRY MOM

“The world isn’t what it was in the sixties, all peace and love,”Sam Doniger, frontman of pop-rock outfit Calamity the Kid, sings with the group’s debut single “American Muscle,” a polished, punk-ish teardown of the American dream. In under three minutes, Doniger doesn’t mince words, curating his frustrations over police brutality, racial tensions and being spoon-fed a lie. That’s only scratching the surface of the band’s brazen lyricism and sonic touch points, drawing upon Nirvana, Green Day and Good Charlotte. Their debut EP, Late Bloomer, sees its name from Doniger’s propensity of being “late to everything,” he says. The EP, containing titles like “Fuckboys” and “Die Young,” which is a staunch, soul-tearing rallying cry, is directly connected to “these generational feelings of apathy or disconnected in other ways.” [Full review here] – Jason Scott

Sasha Sloan, Sad Girl (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: RCA

Sasha Sloan, who’s written for a slew of pop superstars in the past few years, shows she has as much promise as a singer as she does as a songwriter with her debut EP, Sad Girl. The morose collection of sad yet sweet pop shows Sloan proudly laying her insecurities bare for her audience, whether it’s due to her own decisions or the decisions of a lover. This blunt, self-effacing honesty allows her to be strong in her own convictions, even with her downtrodden songwriting. “Normal” is her assertion of her own introspective tendencies, “Ready Yet” is her admission to still having feelings for a lover who did her wrong but refusing to let them back in. “Fall” is her flipping the script and promising she’ll right her wrongs to a former beau, and all of these flow with soft and supple pop-centered production. It’s a promising debut from someone who’s already contributed so much to the pop world. – Chris Will

OMYO, Introduction, Vol. II (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Two Six Records

London pair OMYO ⎯⎯ made up of William Edward and Tom McCorkell ⎯⎯ mount a divine brew of the organic and the manufactured. Introduction, Vol. II is a dreamscape, littered with R&B-based funk (“Poster”) and calls out into the wild yonder (“Never Let You Go” is McCorkell’s best heart-rending exhibition, mingling ardent singer-songwriter lyricism with tinseled production). “Daydreamers” continues that trend in blurring the lines between genres, often feeling transcendent in tone and shattering the ceiling on the way to the cosmos. “Comeback” is sturdier on the guitar, a reliable and hulking foundation on which to layer thick vocals and musical fabric. The suitable bookend, “Mine,” is the set’s most somber, reflective of the deeper, grimmer underbelly of mankind. – Jason Scott

Francois Klark, Love (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Independent

Francois Klark, a native of South Africa, excavates his bones with his debut ⎯⎯ the rhythmic, well-forested eight-track piece which combs his rich heritage with smatterings of modern accents. From the campfire incantation “For You,” featuring the battle cry of Katlego Maboe and Marla Walters, to the fleecing piano ballad “Spaceman” and the blotchy, muted “Run,” Klark’s first EP is a foolhardy, scintillating oasis that serves as quite the benchmark for daring pop music. “Giving My All” peeks out of the shadows of a towering, ancient cathedral whose stained glass still sparkles from the sunlight’s gentle caresses. “Please Stay” tears at the veins, snatching them out of the arms and the chest, leaving the heart throbbing for relief. – Jason Scott

Mazie, omw (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: MAD Dragon Records

Mazie carries her own blood-soaked cross, penning an EP of scratchy synth-pop confessionals, often staggeringly exposed about scavenging through a relationship’s embers, shedding innocence and numbing pain with wit. “You know that I’ve been on track / Feel it on my bones like that,” she sputters on the zipper-twisted opener “afterglow,” a meditation on bidding adieu to her adolescence. “ghost” then trembles with the angst of jarring dialtones and feeling mental pressure of being ghosted in the digital age, an act of merciless selfishness. The 18-year-old’s vocal slips and hovers much like a specter shaking brittle chains and lingering behind its earthly, long-decomposed form. [Full review here] – Jason Scott

Betty Who, Betty, Pt. 1 (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Independent/AWAL Recordings

Unchained from a major label, Betty Who has a new lease on life, as so profusely evidenced with her first EP of original material since 2017’s criminally-undervalued The Valley. Betty, Pt. 1 is a salty and sweet extravaganza of spunky misbehaving, submerged in full-broiled R&B and gummy beats. Lead single “Ignore Me” is like a connect-the-dots puzzle, linking up her previous work with a new kind of liberation, and the no-fucks “Look Back” banger is a hair-raising runaway walk, awash with sex appeal and dripping with swagger as satisfying as her electric live show. “Just Thought You Should Know,” named one of our Best Songs of 2018 (So Far), glows and vibrates like only ’80s-fused bops can, and the final moment, “Friend Like Me,” sees Betty Who veer into sweeping folk-pop with great effect. – Jason Scott

Michael Blume, cynicism & sincerity (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: S-Curve Records

There’s just no comparing what Michael Blume does to anyone else. He’s a masterclass. His second EP is a balancing act, a propulsive routine of frantic, scratchy hip-hop and venomous, destructive spits. “R U Mad” is a savage stimulant, sex-positive and volatile. “Maybe Love is True” torches right from the outset, a gospel-flecked, groovy opener that affirms his dynamism and fearlessness. “Blunder” and “Lifting You” chill you to the bone, leaving “I Got You” to adhere to the stickiness of piano and highlighting every true color of his honeyed and textured vocal resonance. cynicism and sincerity is a revelatory entry in his growing catalog and signals his sheer genius on complete display. – Jason Scott

Sean McVerry, Private Lives (buy)

Genre: Pop

Label: Sleep Well Records

The confetti falls through the air, in fragments that spin and shimmer and dance in the disco ball’s reflective aura. Sean McVerry twirls, too, a throaty, peculiar creature whose voice crimps between the pages of his new EP. “So Certain” pulses in the fumes of classic ’80s neons, lending to broad threads of arctic, mellow craftsmanship. “Red Light” is the disc’s juiciest bubble-gum pop performance and confirms McVerry’s mass appeal, subsequently diversified with the luminescence of “Get Real” and “Too Close,” which mauls at the earlobes with ferocious bite. Beginning to end, Private Lives could soundtrack any of a slew of iconic ’80s flicks, which says plenty about McVerry’s spirit, ripped from a bygone era and transported amidst 2018’s weird try-hard concoction. – Jason Scott

Honorable Mentions: Black Sneakers on Concrete by Jack Killen; Day Job Guys by Bad Business; Attention Seeker by the Regrettes; Sunshine from the Blue Cactus by Whiskey in the Pines; and Insecurities in Being by L CON.