GRAMMY CHEW: ALTERNATIVE

This year’s Best Alternative Music Album Grammy race will be between Wet Leg’s self-titled debut and everybody else. The category of Best Alternative Music Performance is one of the six new categories added to the Grammy Awards for 2023, and it’s unfathomable to imagine this category anchored by any performance other than Wet Leg’s “Chaise Longue.” This Isle of Wight duo has been credited by my peers, including esteemed KROQ PD Kevin Weatherly, as the band that's reminded us of the earliest days of alternative music, when bands had the power to shift culture and redefine what was considered mainstream. Wet Leg, unlike many U.K. artists, has put in the work in the States, recently wrapping up West Coast shows opening for Florence + the Machine (Florence Welch’s influence is unparalleled), which, by my estimation, is the band’s fifth tour of the States since the release of “Chaise Longue.”

There are countless female or female-fronted acts that could find themselves nominated for the Best Alternative Music Album Grammy, but these are the standouts:

Beabadoobee, Beatopia (Dirty Hit)
Beach Bunny, Emotional Creature (Mom + Pop)
Beach House, Once Twice Melody (Sub Pop)
Björk, Fossora (One Little Independent Records)
Mitski, Laurel Hell (Dead Oceans)
MUNA, MUNA (Saddest Factory)
Snail Mail, Valentine (Matador)
Sharon Van Etten, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong (Jagjaguwar)
Wet Leg, Wet Leg (Domino)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cool It Down (Secretly Canadian)

Arcade Fire’s latest, WE on Columbia, is deserving of a Grammy nod (or two), and this could be the year for Father John Misty, whose Chloe and the Next 20th Century on Sub Pop solidified his place as a critical favorite. I’m also betting on some love for The Smile, a project featuring Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead; the album is A Light for Attracting Attention on XL. Omar Apollo should also be recognized by the Alternative committee for his debut album, Ivory (Warner Records). If Steve Lacy was submitted for Best Alternative Music Album, as I was told, look for Gemini Rights on L-M/RCA and the breakout single “Bad Habit” to get major looks.

Beabadoobee, Beach House, Mitski, Sharon Van Etten

My favorite “alternative” album of the year, Spoon’s Lucifer on the Sofa, was submitted for the Rock categories this year, which is where you’ll also find The Black Keys, Jack White, etc. In my perfect world, Spoon’s “My Babe” would be a lock for a Best Alternative Musical Performance nomination. HOWEVER, there are a number of exceptional performances that could get a Grammy nom this year:

The 1975, “Part of the Band” (Dirty Hit)—my pick, besides Wet Leg’s “Chaise Longue”
Omar Apollo, “Evergreen” (Warner Records)
Arcade Fire, “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” (Columbia)
Superchunk, "Endless Summer" (Merge)
Arctic Monkeys, “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” (Domino)
Beabadoobee, “The Perfect Pair” (Dirty Hit)
Alex G, “Runner” (Domino)
Gorillaz, “Cracker Island” (Warner Records)
Steve Lacy, “Bad Habit” (L-M/RCA)
Mitski, “The Only Heartbreaker” (Dead Oceans)
MUNA, “Silk Chiffon” f/Phoebe Bridgers (Saddest Factory)
Angel Olsen/Sharon Van Etten, “Like I Used To” (Jagjaguwar)
Arlo Parks, “Softly” (PIAS)
Destroyer, "June" (Merge)
The National, “Weird Goodbyes” f/Bon Iver (4AD)
Snail Mail, “Valentine” (Matador)
Wet Leg, “Chaise Longue” (Domino)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” f/Perfume Genius (Secretly Canadian)

It was a spectacular year for indie rock—I hope the Alternative committee acknowledges these artists.

Top row: The 1975, Steve Lacy, Arcade Fire. Bottom row: Spoon, Arlo Parks, Omar Apollo