14. Wand - Laughing Matter

The last Wand record that crossed my path was 2015’s Golem, which crept on to the lower reaches of my list that year. That record was fun retro wizard-metal, but it ultimately had a limited shelf life. Having skipped Golem’s follow up, I was pleased, when I dipped back in with their latest, to find that Wand’s evolution has been stark. On Laughing Matter they’ve ditched the beards, riffs and pointy hats, and moved into progressive indie/mellow post-rock territory. Radiohead are a definite touchstone in a few places, although there’s lots else on show here too (much of it not Radiohead-y at all). Nicely straddling the prog/catchy tightrope and varying things up quite a bit song to song, this is accomplished stuff. As another early 2019 release, like John Garcia, its relatively high placing in part is due to the fact that it has hung around all year.