Top 2013 Album Of 2014 in 2015

How does this guy do it? 

Sean Tillmann makes the kind of music I wish everyone made. Flooded with vintage tones over feedback-laden tracks that make you feel like you're listening to 60s vinyl, Har Mar Superstar's Bye Bye 17 was one of my top-three discoveries last year. And it didn't happen until the end. It was a fateful night in November at First Ave with The Voidz...

Consistency has become a key factor in my capacity to love a recording artist. From "Lady, You Shot Me" all the way to "Late Night Morning Light" Tillman croons his way into the hearts of many with his scraggly, perfect vocals. I find that I give artists with soul much more credit than those with the smoothest or most academically correct/proper voices. What feels like improvisation runs a rampant thread through Bye Bye 17, and rather than distract from the message of each melody, it enhances. As well he should, Tillmann knows what he's doing, both vocally and lyrically. He tackles thick subjects like kinksex and suicide with unexpected charm and flow (dare I say pep or enthusiasm?), as well as the typical loneliness and heartbreak you'll find coming from the songs of any singer with a head and a heart. Simply put, the man has a way with words with a pristine set of lungs to match. 

On the liveaction side of things, Tillmann's tendency to disrobe onstage and then strike an uncomfortable pose (for you, not him) or toss out a gyrational dance move only adds to the obscure charisma that you welcome inexplicably. I've never smiled so much watching a set, and I told him so. Singers that make performing look like a breeze are the ones I like to watch, and Tillman carries it with confidence. He's up there doing his thing with a drummer, a guitarist, and a stereo system, and he does it better than anyone else in his category. Is there anyone else in his category?

Compared to his yikes-worthy disaster of a self-titled debut (the only song I can semi-stand is "Girl, You're Stupid" and even that drags on for more than its fair share; the rest of it just feels like an ode to talking about himself from some kind of third-person alter-ego angle in a mess of autotune and half-rap, but I won't discuss that now...okay but really, the only way I can deal is by calling it, sure, whatever, "art" and moving right along), Bye Bye 17 is the blessing of sound I never asked for. At just 29 minutes in total length, it's easy to play through five or six times in a day, something I do more often than I should care to share, but am definitely not ashamed to admit.