“Endless Talk” - Wild Flag

Despite my fondness for Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, I overlooked the Wild Flag album until it wound up on several critics’ year-end lists. It’s sort of the perfect summer-in-the-middle-of-winter treat. Much has been made of how Beyonce’s “Countdown,” and its accompanying video, pushed pop’s “joyful exuberance” better than anything else this year, but Wild Flag accomplished something similar, without conceding the conceptual framework that made those original riot grrl bands so great.