Fred Thomas should be indie rock royalty by now. If the DIY lifer’s years at the helm of pop darlings Saturday Looks Good to Me and City Center weren't enough, he's done stints in a dozen other bands, produced countless albums, and—with his recently released Aftering—completed a stunning trilogy of lyric-driven solo records. Together, the albums could be looked at as a sociological study in not wanting what everyone else wants, or perhaps a philosophical treatise on why we have nostalgia for things that weren't especially great. At the very least, the albums are Thomas' memoirs of an adulthood spent staring out the windows of tour vans, hiding in the corners of basement shows, and taking it all in.

JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON