HCTF's best of 2021 (20-16)

• 20-16
• |
• 15-11
• |
• 10-6
• |
• 5-1

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HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally.

Today: countdown from number 20 to 16.

Please shop at your local record store. Most of them have a website where you can order your stuff. Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows when it's safe to do so again. Tell your friends. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music.

Tautologic: Wheels Fall Off

Few albums come full circle without dropping the ball a few times along the way, but Wheels Fall Off by Chicago based progressive art rock sextet Tautologic is one of them. After a short intro/slash nursery featuring the band's songwriter Ethan Sellers kids they are off for a visit to a musical candy store, touching base with ska (Memo To Yourself), Zappa-esque instrumentals (Rocket Surgery) and breakneck speed folk (Fat, Dumb, and Happy, High School Reunion).

Tautologic cater to fans from so many genres that it could have turned into a muddy, faceless mess, but they are able to get to the core and add a smattering of bells and whistles that lets each track shine like the queen of the prom. Whether it is funky disco (Covered In Grit) or a late night jazzy torch song (Summer, 1995), this band really has both the stamina and the skills "to keep driving 'til the Wheels Fall Off".