2019 Albums of the Year Bracket Results

It's time for Change the Rotation's 7th annual albums of the year bracket! Each year, we take our collective 32 favorite albums of the year and pit them against each other in a ruthless March Madness style contest. This brutal competition is how we determine the site's album of the year. A quick refresher on Change the Rotation's bracketology: four of us (Dave Anians, Danny Collins, Steve O and myself) each submit a list of our favorite records of the year. Any record appearing on at least two of our lists automatically makes it onto the bracket. The remaining spots are divided evenly between the four of us. Albums are drawn randomly into their positions on the bracket. All four of us vote on each matchup until we have a champion. We all assign each album a point value so if there is a tie vote on any matchup, the points for both albums are totaled to determine the winner. Stream all 32 albums through the links at the bottom of this post. Now, the results:

Philadelphia post punks Control Top swept through the first region, taking down returning bracket bands PUP and Martha. Good Riddance went down in the first round after making the final matchup last time out. Mannequin Pussy had strong support but couldn't get by PUP's third album.

Durham, North Carolina's The Muslims made the final four with their second album, defeating Not On Tour, Amyl and the Sniffers and Problem Daughter. This region of the bracket included bands from Belgium (Brutus,) Israel (Not On Tour) and Australia (Amyl and The Sniffers).

Local hardcore band (and last year's champion) The Kreutzer Sonata made the final four again, taking out Ezra Furman, Titus Andronicus and Soul Glo. Locals Death of Self made the sweet sixteen with their debut album. Ezra Furman's most explicitly punk album had a good showing.

England's Petrol Girls took the last region in their first bracket appearance, beating out No Men, Absolutely Not and The Coathangers. Locals No Men and Absolutely Not did well in their first bracket appearances.

The Muslims advanced to the final matchup with Mayo Supreme as we bid a fond farewell to Control Top's Covert Contracts.

Petol Girls' Cut & Stitch took out defending champions The Kreutzer Sonata and their album The Rosehill Gates.

Petrol Girls' Cut & Stitch is Change the Rotation's 2019 album of the year! This is the first time a band from outside the US has won the bracket. Cut & Stitch joins our previous bracket champions: The Beauty Between by RVIVR (2013,) Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me! (2014,) Constructs of the State by Leftöver Crack (2015,) , Dies by Gouge Away (2016,) Rhombithian by Sincere Engineer (2017) and The Gutters of Paradise by The Kreutzer Sonata (2018). Congratulations to all the bands on this year's bracket. Stream all 32 albums through the links below:

The 1865 - Don't Tread On We!
Absolutely Not - Problematic
Amyl and the Sniffers - Amyl and the Sniffers
Antagonize - Slip Death
Apes of the State - Pipe Dream
Blacker Face - Distinctive Juju
Brutus - Nest
Choked Up - Dichoso Corazon
The Coathangers - The Devil You Know
Control Top - Covert Contracts
Cutting Room Floor - Sink / Swim
Dana Skully and the Tiger Sharks - Burn Trailer Down. I Am Not Coming Back
Death of Self - Look Elsewhere
Devil Master - Satan Spits on Children of Light
Ezra Furman - Twelve Nudes
Good Riddance - Thoughts and Prayers
The Kreutzer Sonata - The Rosehill Gates
Mal Blum - Pity Boy
Mannequin Pussy - Patience
Martha - Love Keeps Kicking
Martyrdöd - Hexhammaren
The Menzingers - Hello Exile
Millencolin - SOS
The Muslims - Mayo Supreme
No Men - Hell Was Full So We Came Back
Not On Tour - Growing Pains
Petrol Girls - Cut & Stitch
Problem Daughter - Grow Up Trash
PUP - Morbid Stuff
Soul Glo - The Nigga In Me is Me
Titus Andronicus - An Obelisk
WAAX - Big Grief