This list is in no particular order — only what seemed to flow the best when (hopefully) listened to completely as one long mix of some of the best new music Greater Cincinnati musicians released in 2023.

Some of these songs were released either as a single from an EP or album, and some are just standalone releases by artists either currently located in Cincinnati or native to the Queen City.

This list should be evidence of what the city has to offer when it comes to original music and an example of the scope of variety working within Cincinnati’s many music communities. Hopefully you discover something new and support these artists in whatever way you can. Go to shows, buy records or downloads, listen with your windows down in summer, hum the songs walking the halls at school or work. This community of music matters as much as any other.

Whether you know every artist here or none, we hope you listen to all of the tracks here as one long varied playlist of Cincinnati sounds in 2023.

Listen to this playlist with all of our favorite local songs from 2023.

Tweens at MOTR Pub Local punk favorites Tweens perform on the MOTR stage after the release of a handful of new recordings over recent months. The date also marks the opening of MOTR’s most recent visual artist on display, Jessie Boone, whose paintings are simultaneously subtle and vibrant with stylized takes on realism and focused views on the world. 9:30 p.m. Nov. 24. Free. MOTR Pub, 1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com. Photo: Andy Licardi
Jordan Dracula’s Tattoo Side Show at The Comet The night features several vendors as well as music by Kae Savage, who put out one of the songs of summer, “Eye Wanna Be Ur Dog” a mystical funk reworking of The Stooges’ classic song. Jonny Terror, The Morbids, Rat Trap and DJ Inhuman will also be performing at the event. 8 p.m. Aug. 9. The Comet, 4579 Hamilton Ave., Northside. Photo: Kae Savage
Maura Weaver, Endless Mike and the Beagle Club (PA), Ryan Malott and Eugenius at The Comet Making a return after a victory lap of touring for her dreamy and heartfelt debut solo record I Was Due For a Heartbreak, Maura Weaver and current tourmates, Pittsburgh’s Endless Mike & the Beagle Club, make a stop at The Comet with Ryan Malott of local Americana-tinged punk band 500 Miles to Memphis and Cincinnati experimental hip-hop artist Eugenius. 9 p.m. Nov. 1. $5-10 donation. The Comet, 4579 Hamilton Ave., Northside, facebook.com/thecometcincinnati. Photo: Alexzandra Roy
“Eggshells” by Mol Sullivan Mol Sullivan is one of the most written-about and, deservedly, praised artists in the city. She has put out a handful of vibrant and imaginative videos that do well to match her inventive and effortlessly pleasant songs over the last year. “Eggshells” is a contemplative baroque pop of the highest order and features Sullivan displaying her power of melody with lush vocals coloring the sound over top spare instrumentation. The track will be featured on her upcoming full-length album, GOOSE, out in January 2024. Photo: Provided by Mol Sullivan
“Motorbike” by Motorbike Motorbike formed and released their self-titled debut album this year, featuring members of Vacation, Tweens, The Drin and more backing Welsh transplant Jamie Morrison on vocals. The band is at once nuanced and immediate. The interlocked drums and guitar-driven punk swim around Morrison’s vocals, sometimes adding counter melody, but most often, punches of rhythm like cylinders of an engine that push the songs further into flame. Photo: Alexzandra Roy
“Motor of the Universe” by Spiderhand “Motor of the Universe” touches on the fears and anxieties of recent times with the urgency and perfectly unsettled tension and immediacy of the work that singer Vivien Rusche did with her band The Dents in the first generation of punk. The Dents are featured on the cover of the compilation of early punk from Cincinnati released in 2019, We Were Living In Cincinnati: Punk and Underground Sounds from Ohio’s Queen City (1975-82). Rusche is as vibrant and charged as ever on this record, and several songs on the album could have fit on this list. “Opposite” or “Wednesday” are great and deserve a listen; go ahead and listen to the rest of the record, Monkey Back Guarantee, while you’re at it. It’s more than worth it. Photo: Shane Lamb
Jess Lamb & the Factory, Annie D and Daisychain (Chicago) at Southgate House Revival Powerhouse singer-songwriter and local celebrity Jess Lamb and her crack band, the Factory, perform with the inspired Ann Driscoll (now going by Annie D) and her full band. Annie D’s songwriting is equally innovative and entertaining. Both acts appear with Daisychain, a female-fronted, ‘60s-tinged garage-pop band from Chicago. 9 p.m. July 7. Free. Revival Room at Southgate House Revival, 111 E. Sixth St., Newport, southgatehouse.com. Photo: Willie Caldwell
“Till There’s Nothing Left” by Eric Stein Cincinnati musician Eric Stein has had a storied career as part of The Griefs, The Greenhornes and his Grotesque Brooms over the years, but his songwriting has never wavered, only becoming more and more potent with time, honing the craft to levels likely not touched by many local artists outside of Guided By Voices or a handful of other celebrated local legends. This song, like many other recordings that pass through the walls of his home studio, will stick in your head for days, to much delight. Each part is catchier and more distinct than the last. Photo: Eric Stein Facebook
“Gimme More” by BEEF The fuzzed-out and angular but danceable rock and roll drive of “Gimme More” is indicative of BEEF’s spaced-out garage punk sound. The band quickly made a name for itself after a move from Richmond, Virginia, in recent years. The track is from the band’s self-titled record released on Feel It Records in August. Photo: Jeff Hoffman and Beef
Leggy and Daisychain (Chicago) at Southgate House Revival Local female-fronted punk group Leggy can be as sweet as Bubbalicious and as bitter as Black Jack, blending nuanced pop with a rock and roll heart. They make a return to Southgate House Revival with Chicago melodic garage pop band Daisychain. 8 p.m. Dec. 21. $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Southgate House Revival, 111 E. 6th St., Newport, southgatehouse.com/event. Photo: Danny Phantom
“It’s Too Quiet..’!!” by Pink Siifu and Turich Benjy feat. Pher, Nick Hakim, and Kamilah Cincinnati hip-hop-connected artists, Pink Siifu and Turich Benjy, joined forces to release the well-received It’s Too Quiet..’! on Oct. 31. The collaborative album got high-profile write-ups from publications like Pitchfork and Stereogum, and the two can be seen in recent social media posts with the album cover being advertised in Times Square. This song, the title track off the album, features the two each taking their own distinct sections and melding them together as one, like two segments or chapters of a story. The first, featuring Turich Benjy in full force, star-making rapid-fire delivery before an abrupt transition that flows right into Pink Siifu’s laid-back, nonchalance filtered through slight distortion and backed by a digitized slow-burn melody and accompaniment like some sort of harmonious, futuristic-sounding dystopia. Photo: instagram.com/pinksiifu
“Kitchen” by Strobobean Local art-pop band Strobobean released this song in the spring around a string of tour dates. The layered kinetic pop of “Kitchen” builds with each turn from one section to another, never taking any overly conventional paths while simultaneously going down as easily as a late-night snack. The song moves onward like a trance before crescendoing into more harmony and background vocals than you can count, with Katrina Eresman’s lead vocal and guitar countering the seemingly now untethered rhythm section of bassist Rae Fisher and drummer Jake Langknecht. Photo: Alexzandra Roy
“I Tried To Warn You” by Cold Stereo Cold Stereo has perfected guitar and electric organ heavy nuggets of power pop bliss. The band, backed by drummer Tommy Biddle’s driving metronome-perfect drums, propels this less than two-minute track right into near-anthemic territory. Just like leader Todd Uttley asks the band at the start of the recording, “Do you feel good?” you can now also answer, “Yes.” Photo: Provided by Cold Stereo
“Domination Dominique” by Mary Henry One of the newest bands on this list, Mary Henry blends guitar, bass and drums-driven, pop-adjacent punk rhythm with horror-show synthesizer and organ-soaked dissonance. This song touches on the explosiveness of other standout tracks like “Toast” while demonstrating their often dark, atmospheric sound. It’s also an inventive, dynamic and catchy song, hopefully an introduction for even more people to one of the city’s rising bands. Photo: Alexzandra Roy
“Company Man” by Choncy Another one of the youngest and newest bands on the list, Choncy released their debut full-length album, Community Chest, on local label Feel It Records in February of 2023. This frenetic and explosive track edges from garage punk to near full-blown hardcore. The peaking, in-the-red bass and guitars counter each other in punchy, staccato driving rhythm backed by near-dance-punk drums, with vocals getting looser and looser while the band pushes harder and harder. With songs like “Company Man,” Choncy shows potential to move right on up the ranks. Photo: instagram.com/choncyband
“Eyes Only For Space” by The Drin The Drin has found a fair amount of success in recent years. This track, from the band’s record, Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom, released at the beginning of the year on Feel It Records, shows some of the experimental elements the record incorporates. The dark, cold wave, industrial sound the band is known for is all present, with the addition of an atmospheric, reverb-soaked, dub reggae rhythm with a contemplative vocal set to a slow burn that’s all atmosphere, like slipping into a fever. Photo: Bruno Cervera, Unsplash
Hello Sapien Album Release (with mystery guest) at MOTR Pub Led by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Stone, Hello Sapien releases their first full-length album, The Casual Observatory, with a celebration at MOTR Pub. Recorded and mixed in Chicago, the album features Stone’s imaginative lyrics and spry vocals backed by and built up with instrumentation from his band. The dynamic Americana-influenced songwriting is varied with a range of temperaments stretching like the landscapes of peaks and valleys he sings about with a few endearing quirks that offer some surprise. A surprise guest is hinted at as well. 10 p.m. April 27. $10. MOTR Pub, 1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com. Photo: Provided by Hello Sapien
“Traffic” by Fruit LoOops “Traffic” is the latest single off the band’s recently released record, You’re Somebody’s World, from Torn Light Records. It’s in line with the band’s unhinged and combustible noise rock sound that seems to pull from industrial clatter and noises from the digital age as much a generation of punk and rock and roll. Photo: Adriana Noritz
“RnB Vibe” by Siri Imani feat. Auntie JoJo and Cleocrt Siri Imani heads up a community-defining operation with her Imani Productions, hosting events all over town on a regular basis and with Triiibe Foundation, an organization that helps feed those in need and empower the community through outreach. As an artist she also guests on shows and recordings across genres, such as with harpist Victoria Lekson or with singer/songwriter Jess Lamb. This track, featuring Auntie JoJo and 2023 breakout singer Cleocrt, is a throwback to R&B slow jams with Imani handling the hook. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
“Beverly Hills Kentucky” by Toon Town Toon Town’s sound is soaked in muddy Ohio River water and lit by the lights of Northern Kentucky‘s past excess in gambling and nightlife. This recording seems as informed by all the living that happened in the Beverly Hills Supper Club that stood in Southgate, Kentucky, as much as the disaster that was its fate. The video, shot in the historic gem the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel and riverside with riverboats going by, only adds to the storied charm. Photo: facebook.com/toontownmusic