Welcome to the fifth consecutive Best Albums of the Year countdown here at Hidden Track. Hopefully, you know by now that we pride ourselves on covering music that spans any genre, any age, any geography, and any instrumental makeup. To us, good music is good music. Period.

So, you can rest assured of the one thing that will always make our list a cut above the rest: we consider everything. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between. At the end of the day, we’re a diverse open-minded music blog. Our writers work here because they have great taste in music, and thus they are encouraged simply to write about what catches their interest. We have no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’ve hit day two of our week-long countdown of the 25 best albums of 2012. Let’s check out numbers 20 through 16…

20) Heartless Bastards – Arrow

Sounds Like: Drinking a good whiskey: that moment that straddles clear-headed sobriety and a warm-hearted buzz.

Key Tracks: Only For You, Skin and Bone, The Arrow Killed the Beast

The Skinny: To be a truly great rock band, at some point you need to stop sounding like the great rock bands of the past and chart your own path. With 2009’s The Mountain and even more so with this year’s Arrow, The Heartless Bastards have proven their greatness, staked out a path and delivered some truly kick ass rock and roll. As I wrote earlier this year, Arrow features “superlative songs with patient, build-to-climax construction and some of the most soulful female vocals to sing them.” Erika Wennerstrom has a special from-the-soul passion – when she sings here of life, longing, love, you wish she was singing about you. Listen again and again and you might just convince yourself she is.

- Aaron Stein

• Previously On HT: #25 – #21
• Spotify Playlist: Hidden Track’s Top 25 Albums Of 2012

19) Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself

READ ON

These bands might not be as new to you as some of my other left field picks, hopefully you’ve heard them already, but if not, you don’t want to be missing out on these two kick ass female-fronted albums which are sure to be on the shortlist for my favorites of 2012.

Heartless Bastards: Arrow

The Heartless Bastards are one of those bands that isn’t quiet under the radar, but still doesn’t quite get the universal admiration I personally think they deserve. Heck, all Erika Wennerstrom and company do is put out killer rock album after killer rock album, no big deal! This year’s Arrow is a crowning achievement: superlative songs with patient, build-to-climax construction and some of the most soulful female vocals to sing them. Each time I listen to this album I discover a new favorite track, there ain’t a weak link in the bunch. I love the mature confidence of the opening “Marathon,” the subtle swing of “Only for You” and the heartfelt wail of “The Arrow Killed the Beast.” Aw, hell, I love it all, this is rock and roll in 2012 at its finest.

MOG: https://mog.com/m#album/62981801

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B006VOPR7K

Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/heartless-bastards/album/arrow

Cat Power: Sun

READ ON

We dare you to find a more adorable music video right now than the one that blues-rockers the Heartless Bastards just released for their latest single Only For You. For their second clip off of Arrow, Erika Wennerstrom & Co. teamed up with Louisiana Kreutz and Brad Beesley (who is known best for his work with The Flaming Lips), for a video that features a playful storyline of inter-office romance, but played out with little kids as adults that drive, drink and smoke. Let’s check it out…

Heartless Bastards – Only For You

The Heartless Bastards kick off the West Coast leg of their summer tour tonight with a gig at Wooly’s in Des Moines, Iowa.

Once in a while we get some good perks for running HT. Last Monday, I was invited out to see Erika Wennerstrom – the force behind the Heartless Bastards – for a private showcase at New York City’s Mercury Lounge. The diminutive and slightly nervous Wennerstrom stepped up to the bare stage with an acoustic guitar in hand and delivered a half-hour set that featured a handful of songs off her band’s upcoming album The Mountain, along with some older cuts and a B-side thrown in for good measure.

As a solo act, Wennerstrom and her powerfully booming voice gave her material a more of a folk-blues sound, but when she plugs in and is backed back a rhythm section (which has rotated from album to album) the sounds shifts to more of a raw blues-rock. Check out the video for All This Time…

The Heartless Bastards hit the road at the end of the month for a mix of headlining and support dates with the Black Keys, Andrew Bird and The Gaslight Anthem. The Mountain will be available in stores on February 3.