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101 Favorite Albums of 2024: 74-50

Hello again, welcome to another edition of me writing way too much about albums you haven’t heard of or didn’t like. There’s a massive range here, from Latin pop and country to industrial metal. I’m not going to repeat everything I said in the intro to my first post, just know that this year was truly remarkable for new music. There’s definitely some albums in here that topped other year-end lists, so if you’re mad about something being low, please understand that we’ve entered the territory of albums I truly loved. There was just a lot of them this year.

Also – these mini-reviews were copied directly from earlier posts, I edited but if there’s a reference that doesn’t compute, that’s why.

I hope you find something new through these posts! On with it:

#74. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere

I’ve said elsewhere that death metal is one genre where bands don’t have to be innovative and often aren’t – because even the most template death metal bands will still find a big audience. But some bands do experiment, none more so that Blood Incantation. Their 2019 record Hidden History of the Human Race is no less than one of the five or so best metal records of the last decade. The band has only grown more experimental, as this record edges hard on progressive rock alongside death metal standards. It’s only two songs – six on streaming, each song broken up into three sections – both over 20 minutes. Both tracks are odysseys, with sections of unfiltered death metal in parts. But both songs embrace prog rock just as much. The second track, “The Message,” takes an obvious inspiration from Animals, the best Pink Floyd album. It’s a purely unique record top-to-bottom, and an obvious candidate for metal album of the year.

#73. Katy Kirby – Blue Raspberry

An album as sweet as its title. This is standard-fare pretty indie, to the point where one of the singles sounds a little too reminiscent of Angel Olsen’s “All Mirrors.” But when everything works as well as it does here, who cares? I was taken aback by how much I liked this one, something I mindlessly threw on based on two songs I’d heard. Very patient, gorgeous indie-folk that knows when to be soft or bombastic. The focus is on melody above all, with obvious care put into every track. And while it mostly stays soft, the whole album builds to a much grander, 2-minute finale that takes you by surprise. Genuinely loved this one. 

#72. Shellac – To All Trains

Rest in peace Steve Albini. If you’re reading this, then you’re probably well-versed in Albini’s work already, but he was a god in the music scene. A talented musician who utterly despised the industry, most of his work was production behind the scenes. He produced records for anyone ranging from Nirvana to your shithead neighbor’s weird noise band – and never took a penny for his work. His last record as a musician came only days after his sudden passing, and it’s hauntingly beautiful. It’s also a pretty normal Shellac record; chunky and bass-heavy post-punk with snarled and often witty lyrics. The band was self-described as “minimalist,” I wouldn’t exactly use that term but these songs are all surprisingly easy. Most of them are perfectly digestible and just off-putting enough to drive away casual folks. Opener “WSOD” jams on a fun riff for a while. But the real ominous standout is “I Don’t Fear Hell,” where Albini sings about waiting to join all his friends down below. Classic Albini – dark, funny, groovy and hauntingly prescient. Albini was one of the best guys around but if he ended up in Hell, then brother, we’ll all see you there. 

#71. Chick Corea & Béla Fleck – Remembrance

I am but one man who mostly loves garage rock, so I simply don’t keep up with modern jazz like I wish I could. Imagine my surprise at seeing two of my favorite jazz artists collaborating, hit immediately by the shock of remembering that the former artist has passed. This record is technically a compilation, a mix of studio songs, improvisations and live tracks, but it doesn’t feel like one. Everything is coherent and similar, and the smatterings of applause throughout signify a captive, sometimes nonexistent live audience. With Corea on piano and Fleck on banjo, you likely know what you’re going to get – and there’s a lot of it. It’s a beautiful set of collaborations, often just the two men alone, together. Very pretty and very fun music for any jazz fan.

#70. Fange – Perdition

Like some of the best metal albums I’ve heard this year, I don’t actually know where this recommendation came from. The French band is on their seventh album, but were totally off my radar until this year. It’s catch up time for me, because I loved this. The French band does a punishing mix of industrial, death metal, sludge and a touch of rock (for melody seasoning). The vocals are menacing and the music is both metrical and unforgiving. It’s all very heavy and intense, but the band finds ways to warp a little melody in there as well. It’s closer to industrial than anything else, but you wouldn’t even confuse this with Nine Inch Nails. It’s straight metal, too.

#69. Vince Staples – Dark Times

This album shares much in common with the rapper’s 2021 self-titled album, and the reasons why I didn’t like that album are why I do like this one. Staples made his name doing bass-heavy, aggressive rap that married huge beats with lyrics that were often shockingly blunt and depressing. But he’s always one for making what he wants to, instead of falling to fan service. Dark Times is much more minimalist, calculated and jazzy. While he explored this side on his self-titled, it was ultimately very repetitive. This album is an unpredictable delight through and through. Vince even directly references that he’s not making another Big Fish Theory. This record is patient and unique, and represents a proper shift in tone while remaining distinctly Vince. Almost definitely going to be one of my favorite rap records of the year.

#68. The Body & Dis Fig – Orchards of a Futile Heaven

The Body are a band who can do basically no wrong by me. If you read my favorite songs of 2024 post, I went into what makes them special. The song chosen for that list does not in fact come from this album, so more on that later. This release is a full-album collaboration with Dis Fig. The band is used to these collabs, they’ve done a ton of them. This is standard Body stuff, which is to say purely dissonant, extreme noise music. It isn’t metal, but it’s less anything else. Dis Fig is an artist I’m wholly unfamiliar with, but her vocals help cement these otherwise exploratory or nonconformist extreme songs, in one of the band’s more logical collaboration efforts. This is music for a small audience but damn is it good.

#67. E L U C I D – Revelator

Although I’ve been a fan of the duo Armand Hammer for a few years, I didn’t know E L U C I D by name until he popped up on the excellent album that Shabaka released earlier this year. This new solo record is a whirlwind of avant-garde rap. Much of it is low-key, opting for bars over vibes. The first few songs are electrically thrilling, high-energy bangers with totally unpredictable instrumentation. The running thread is a nonadherence to traditional song structures, a very free-form work similar to the jazz album he popped up on. It’s all smooth, and his flow is excellent. It’s funny at points, at other points daring. The whole thing is unpredictable, even as it settles in a more relaxed state. It’s just extremely fun. I always seem to love the rap that’s on the fringe of the mainstream.

#66. Kali Uchis – Orquídeas

My knowledge of Latin music is limited, and my knowledge of the Spanish language is nonexistent, so I will always have to view music like this as an outsider. This album is a companion piece to last year’s Red Moon In Venus – an English language album and #63 on my 2023 year end list. Orquídeas is a blast, a comprehensive album that both sticks to traditional reggaeton and strays well beyond it. Even as a companion piece, it feels distinctly separate from Red Moon, highlighting Uchis as a multi-threat artist. Have fun with this one.

#65. Machine Girl – MG Ultra

There’s nothing out there like Machine Girl. They have a lot of elements that I theoretically shouldn’t like, but I love their music. I guess the way to describe the duo is techno-hardcore, hardcore music with a lot of glitchy electronic elements and unpredictability. More often than not, this album is heavy and gonzo, which is right up my alley. It’s fun as hell, while still being mildly off-putting to anyone trying to embrace traditional electronic or hardcore music. Though Machine Girl have been at it for over a decade, I can see this unholy hyperpop-metal concoction being a new scene soon.

#64. Fontaines D.C. – Romance

The previous Fontaines D.C. records were inconsistent in how much they grabbed my attention, but they were consistent in that the songs all kinda sounded the same. The (very) Irish post-punk band has had a relatively standard sound prior to Romance. Well the book’s out the window. This record actually has a majority ballads, but the band hits the highest energy of their career too. They rap, there’s punk, and there’s tender love ballads. The band has always sounded a little inauthentic in their emotions previously; not here. This is earnest and real from a band that has never sounded so ambitious or energized. Don’t go in expecting the high-octant energy of the singles, but do go in expecting what is easily the band’s best album to date. This will go down as a highlight in a stacked indie year.

#63. Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well

There’s been a few examples this year of artists I love rebounding from weaker albums (Vampire Weekend, St. Vincent, ScHoolboy Q). Add Kacey to the mix. Coming off her breathtaking and Grammy-crushing country album Golden Hour, Kacey turned to a more pop-focus for Star-Crossed, and it was, bluntly, meh. For Deeper Well, she’s gone back to the atmospheric country that made her an arena star. It’s a welcome return, as the whole here is excellent. It’s a dreamy album, the same summer-y camping vibes as before. She’ll probably never make another record as good as Hour, but that’s an immense bar to clear. This one doesn’t really have standout songs like that record did, but the full product is wonderful. She’s also shifted her lyrics into a more serious zone. So many of her previous songs coupled breezy music with lyrics about wasting time and days spent milling around. Here, she’s quitting weed and strengthening her relationships. This serves as both a sequel and companion piece to Hour. Loved it.

#62. The Only Humans – It’s a Beautiful Night. I Think I’ll Disappear Forever. 

Full disclosure – I know most of the members of this band. I’m ex-coworkers with three of them, and am actively friends with one. But removing any bias, I’m including a lil review here because this album is genuinely excellent. The band has the proper and orchestral look of the Decemberists, with the music to boot; and, singer Tim Howd sounds like a dead ringer for John Darnielle. The expansive album is a conceptual one, as death invades from all angles. But the record is a lot of fun, and no two songs are really the same. My personal fave is the maximalist “Esplanade.” I know it’s a way overinflated year for indie, but if you’re trying to look beyond the headliners, please check this one out.

#61. Hinds – VIVA HINDS

It’s been a long four years since the last Hinds album. In that time, the bassist and drummer both left, reducing the band back to the two vocalist-guitarists that initially formed it. That might be a disaster for some bands, but for Hinds it was freeing. I’ve been in their camp since the first album from the Spanish indie group (duo), and this record is probably their best one yet. These songs are sweet and unassuming, but confident and broader. That last note is important – this is the widest-ranging Hinds album, with tender songs, rousing ones like the excellent “En Forma,” and space for both Beck and Grian Chatten to show up and do their own thing. The 2024 indie pot has way overflowed, and in a different year this would be a standout. It’s still a real winner.

#60. Cursive – Devourer

When all is said and done and the dust on Cursive’s career is settled, they’d better be recognized as one of the most underrated groups in music history. Ask a casual indiehead and they’ll say they love The Ugly Organ. Well folks, Cursive is still putting out records that good twenty years later. Their tenth album Devourer is simply one of the best rock records of the year, and it doesn’t even have a damn Wikipedia page. It’s apocalypse time on Devourer, in case you were expecting the mood to have softened. But it is very fun, the band is still treading the same thin line of emo, indie and rock, and in the last few years they’ve expanded to include a full-time trumpeter and cellist. It’s a unique affair even if it doesn’t sound like one at a first glance. People are sleeping on Cursive, y’all should get with them.

#59. Camera Obscura – Look To The East, Look To The West

Another legacy indie artist, and one that I have relatively kept up with. Or at least I did during their original run, as this is their first album in eleven long years. It’s utterly fantastic, likely going to be one of the best indie albums in a severely crowded year. These songs are patient, mature and lowkey, and practically every one of them is extraordinary. My three picks are the opener “Liberty Print,” “The Night Lights” and the closing title track, but nearly every song works. Oddly, the only one that struck me as dull was “Big Love,” which seems to be the most popular so far. But, for all the hip parents out there still spinning Yo La Tengo and Hold Steady records, this is another entry for the record cabinet. 

#58. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD

I never know how to write about Godspeed. I don’t even really like drone music that much or post-rock at all. But these folks operate on another level, and even a “lesser” album from them can still be extraordinary. Despite being fully instrumental, the band manages to capture the plague and despair of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in touching and intense pieces. There’s also some of the inspirational music that has touched their more recent albums, too. If you’ve never listened to GY!BE, this may not be the best place to start. But their music can only be heard to be experienced. 

#57. Torey D’Shaun – Come And See.

I’ll take music recommendations from anywhere – including music a Lyft driver is playing that I like. I don’t know much about the rapper, but a song came up on shuffle on the drive home from the airport and I saved it, only to see a full album coming out ~2 weeks later. It’s a gem. The self-described Christian rapper does tackle the concept of faith across this album, sometimes more devout than others. Some songs here are life-affirming, others are doubtful tales of tragedy, sometimes with no resolution. The songs here are earnest and poetic, whether you’re religious or not. And if you’re not, well the beats are great and his flow is solid anyways. Well-rounded lyrics, big beats, and a ton of pathos. This was an unexpectedly great find.

#56. GUHTS – Regeneration

A decade removed from Deafheaven’s tectonic plate-shifting black metal album Sunbather, another band is going the pink cover route. While the book cover-judging comparison can be made, this album packs a different punch. Sludgy, unpredictable post-metal dominates this release, hitting all points between smooth and sinister. It’s abrasive, but not the point of, say, Full Of Hell or anything. It’s one of the most well-rounded metal albums of the year so far – and one of the best of the genre in any capacity. Don’t sleep on this one, if it’s your tune. 

#55. Little Simz – Drop 7

I debated on even considering this one eligible for my list – it is a drop, after all, and clocks in at just under 15 minutes. But when you’ve got the dark horse candidate for best current rapper in play, even the one-offs are extraordinary. While some of Little Simz’s previous works have been steady and heady, this is her at her most impatient, firing a bunch of short songs off the cuff. Big beats and quick tempos make this a whirlwind of a little EP. 

#54. Thou – Umbilical

Historically I’m very hit-and-miss on sludge metal, but Thou holds a special place in my heart. The prolific group hasn’t been consistent over the years, but when you release as much music as they have, some of it is going to hit. The worst thing a Thou album can be is boring, and Umbilical is never boring. The band hasn’t really changed their tune – grim opining, screeching, riffs with the thickness and speed of molasses, and morose black and white imagery. But they’re completely checked in, pummeling the listener with relentless guitar and screams, making sure to fill (nearly) every song with unique elements. Hopefully, this won’t get lost in the sea of their other releases. It’ll certainly be one of the best metal albums of the year. 

#53. Chat Pile – Cool World

Chat Pile had an incredibly high bar to clear on their sophomore record and, if we’re being honest, they didn’t clear it. Their debut God’s Country remains one of the best records of the past 5 years. But the rafters aside, this record rips. The band continues their manic blend of post-hardcore and sludge metal into something that seems obvious but is wholly unique. The riffs are heavy as hell, the lyrics political and the vocals anguished and immediate. These guys are simply a band with a lot to say. The first two tracks on this album haven’t stuck with me, but the run of songs in the middle is nuts. “Frownland” and “Funny Man” are two of the best heavy songs of the year. Unpredictable and urgent, and loud as all hell. Chat Pile are here to stay.

#52. Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

I’m not overly familiar with Portishead, what I’ve heard I’ve liked, but it isn’t music I feel any nostalgia for personally. I’m even less familiar with solo endeavors from their singer, Beth Gibbons, who dropped her first proper solo album 33 years after the first Portishead record. It’s a gorgeous album, one that starts innocently before expanding into something grander. The cover implies a folksy affair, and at most times it is. It’s brooding chamber pop, sometimes soft but sometimes sinister, like slipping back into a nightmare. It’s also usually acoustic, but when the guitars kick in, they really kick in – some of these songs drone and shout loudly, unexpected explosions after multiple songs of slumber. It’s a gorgeous record, one of both extremes, yet often just restrained chamber pop. We expected nothing less.

#51. Bruiser Wolf – My Stories Got Stories

Bruiser Wolf and Danny Brown go way back, and it shows here – this album is full of darkly comic tales of binges and dangerous situations. Brown guests early too, on a whiplash track. Bruiser Wolf builds his lyrics in the same way DB does, poetic and funny with dense meters. But he also couldn’t sound different, rapping matter-of-factly and methodically, like he’s teaching a lesson. His vocals and lyrics are engaging, all bolstered by booming and exciting beats behind him. This is my first foray into his music, I’m gonna check out the previous album now too.

#50. Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet

I love the harmless pun of the title, referring to both the 36-minute runtime and Carpenter herself. Now, surely you’ve already heard this album, I got to it a bit late. It’s utterly delightful, I loved it. It scratches the same itch that Carly Rae Jepsen does – bouncy pop songs that deal with the complexities of relationships that also aren’t plastic. It can be difficult in today’s landscape to make pop music that’s truly authentic but this album is top-to-bottom. It’s raunchy and clever, nearly every song is a winner. It’s easy to see why this is the album that’s really broken her out of Disney containment; if it wasn’t for Chappell Roan, this would’ve been Carpenter’s year to lose. And if it wasn’t for Charli, this would probably be the best pop album of 2024. Those aren’t exactly setbacks, this is an album we’ll be talking about for years to come.

That’s a wrap on this part of the list, which has grown long and sour. Check back tomorrow for the next installment!

Because I cannot ever help myself, here’s five more albums I wanted to include: The Bug Club – On The Intricate Inner Workings of the System (lo-fi post-punk with goofy lyrics), Bat For Lashes – The Dream of Delphi (atmospheric indie legend), Full Of Hell & Andrew Nolan – Scraping the Divine (noise), Couch Slut – You Could Do It Tonight (gritty post-hardcore), Esh & the Isolations – Nowhere, To Be Found (indie rap)

The Rundown: September 2024

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of me writing way too many words about albums you’ve already formed an opinion on! If you’ve stumbled on this, I’ve been doing flash reviews of (almost) every new album I listen to this year. Some of the previous posts have been, well, long, but this was a different month. I spent two weeks in September on a nice vacation, my ears far away from any streaming services. Still, I’ve got 27 flash reviews for you – and a lot of these are utterly fantastic albums. 2024 has spoiled us greatly. Below, we’ve got a ton of excellent new indie albums, a pair of post-hardcore releases that will be near the top of my AOTY list, some solid metal, and a predictably great country release. I hope you find some gems for yourself in here! Let’s get cracking.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Wild God

I’ve mentioned a few times that this exercise has mostly become me showing my own ass, and here I must do it again: I am not very familiar with the Nick Cave catalog. I’ve listened to (and loved) his earliest and most recent records, but there’s 20 years in the middle I haven’t heard. In my limited experience though, I’ve realized the best Nick Cave songs are ones where there’s just minimal piano or static noise and Cave talking lyrics. He does that a lot here. There’s also songs that have full-band with choir backups, and they’re just as stunning. It’s unbelievable that Cave still stuns this much, but every track on this album works well. Most of them work tremendously well. Cave is one of music’s premier storytellers, and this is another legendary release. It’s one of the best albums of the year. No question. I’m in awe. 

Grade: 8.5/10   Initial release date: 8/30/24

Tycho – Infinite Health

This one is pretty tough to grade, because listening to this record served much more of a purpose than the sheer entertainment value of every other record. This album was hand-selected as background music for me to sleep to on a grueling, intercontinental flight. This sounds like an extreme backhanded compliment, and maybe it is, but it did the trick. Not to say that this boring, it’s an album that’s mentally stimulating but peaceful enough to nod off to. I’ve never been super into Tycho, because it’s not necessarily for me, but they’re a great band. It’s all instrumental post-rock that marries complex and layered rhythms with a fun and playful aura. When you’re listening to it while 75% asleep with your head on a hard plane window, it’s a fun stimulation; it’s tougher to tell when one idea ends and the next begins. Will I ever give this one a chance while I’m alert? Probably not – but if funky post-rock is your scene, you can’t go wrong here.

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 8/30/24

DIIV – Frog In Boiling Water

This one kinda hurts to write. I really like DIIV, or at least I really like the idea of them. There’s no other band out there like them, a shoegaze-inspired psychedelic band doing tons of cool guitar noodling while still somehow firmly indie. “Doused” is easily one of my favorite songs. But the band’s fourth album was, to me, very limp. I respect bands taking new approaches, and I seem to (thankfully!) be in a tiny minority here, as the record is getting rave reviews. The music is denser and slower, with the fun noodling replaced by droning chords. It’s alright in practice, but an album full of it gets tedious quickly. I think the parts are better than the whole, as the album needed some songs of other tempos either quicker or slower. It didn’t click with me. Then again, this isn’t the first time DIIV hasn’t clicked with me – so maybe someday it will. For now, it’s…fine.

Grade: 7/10   Initial release date: 5/24/24

Good Looks – Lived Here For A While

Alright I’m way behind and I don’t remember this album completely clearly so let’s be quick – this is a wickedly fun indie album, mostly standard indie but with some threatening shoegaze elements. I think I was just in the right mood for something like this, because it scratched an itch that I didn’t realize I had. There’s a handful of great songs here, and nearly all of them are inherently listenable. Very fun stuff!

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 6/7/24

Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

I’m not overly familiar with Portishead, what I’ve heard I’ve liked, but it isn’t music I feel any nostalgia for personally. I’m even less familiar with solo endeavors from their singer, Beth Gibbons, who dropped her first proper solo album 33 years after the first Portishead record. It’s a gorgeous album, one that starts innocently before expanding into something grander. The cover implies a folksy affair, and at most times it is. It’s brooding chamber pop, sometimes soft but sometimes sinister, like slipping back into a nightmare. It’s also usually acoustic, but when the guitars kick in, they really kick in – some of these songs drone and shout loudly, unexpected explosions after multiple songs of slumber. It’s a gorgeous record, one of both extremes, yet often just restrained chamber pop. We expected nothing less.

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 5/17

Oceanator – Everything Is Love and Death

I love Oceanator for the same reason I love illuminati hotties – basic, effective indie-punk. And like IH, Oceanator is much more indie than punk, just with some occasional punk flares. There isn’t much to say here, it’s another very standard but very fun record. There’s something very comforting about Elise Okusami’s music: it’s warm and inviting even as she sings about interpersonal differences. This isn’t really any different than previous Oceanator records, but hey the system still works. 

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 8/30/24

Aborted – Vault of Horrors

Now here’s something you don’t see every day – a death metal album with full collaborations. Every song features a different guest vocalist, so the full effect is one that’s far more unpredictable than a standard death metal release. It’s fun throughout, the songs rarely fall victim to normal death metal trappings. I will say, there isn’t really a standout song; they’re all good, but none are great. But considering how repetitive the genre can be, we’ll call it a win. Riffs, drums, screams, and massive ridiculousness, what more could you need?

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 3/15/24

Beeef – Somebody’s Favorite

Bear with me, because there’s a few blast reviews I didn’t get to before leaving for a two-week, offline vacation. This is one and it is just no longer fresh in my brain. But, Beeef is one of Boston’s most prized groups right now, and Favorite showcases why. The band plays patient indie, nostalgic tunes about regional memories. The songs are conventionally appealing, but don’t have a forced alignment to radio structures. Some songs barely hit two minutes, some stretch past six. There’s a maturity here well beyond their goofy band name. Beeef has been great for years, and this only elevates them further. Please, check them out. This Beeef has some mustard on it.

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 9/6/24

Kal Marks – Wasteland Baby

Kal Marks are one of my favorite Boston bands, even more so than Beeef, and yet this album still obliterated my expectations. The Kal Marks wheelhouse is midtempo post-hardcore that’s very bass-y in both music and vocals. Generally, their songs are ones that are heavy and divisive, but not exactly inaccessible. Here, they branch out a bit, introducing some poppier elements and some more optimistic lyrics. There’s plenty of just heavy shit, too, though; it’s a well-rounded record. Quite frankly, it’s one of the best heavy albums I’ve heard all year, local bias or not. Nearly every song floored me in some way. If you’re into a variety of post-hardcore bands like METZ or Protomartyr, then add this one to your list. They’ve done it again. This will absolutely be one of my year-end favorites. Finally, a good album with the name “Wasteland Baby.”

Grade: 8.5/10   Initial release date: 9/13/24

Uranium Club – Infants Under the Bulb

This one came via recommendation from someone who I believed referred to it as punk; the band name and song titles certainly indicated so. It took me a few songs to really vibe with the style, which is really more post-punk than anything, but not really in the same style as other bands I’ve covered this year like Cheekface or Guppy. This band has a lot of energy and spunk, they just present it in an odd way. The talk-sung lyrics didn’t really work for me at first, but I wasn’t expecting something like it. Once I got more into it, I found some stuff to appreciate. The band has boldness and humor in their lyrics. My two favorite tracks came back-to-back, “2-600-LULLABY” and “Abandoned By The Narrator.” Stick around for the comically named “Big Guitar Jackoff In The Sky,” which aptly has some of the finest guitar work of this year. Fun stuff, but some of it is just a head-scratcher.

Grade: 7/10   Initial release date: 3/1/24

Chromeo – Adult Contemporary

Another release that I jumped into blind, hell it wasn’t even really the genre I was expecting. I’ve definitely always lumped Chromeo and Chromatics together in my brain even though they’re not (particularly) similar. This was slight but ultimately fun funk music. The duo has been around a while and it’s clear this album is not meant for the youth – it’s a record about staying funky into middle age. There’s some tongue-in-cheek stuff (check the title!) but it’s also mostly played seriously. It’s very 2010’s, and it sticks to one gameplan. What starts as a fun record gets pretty played out by the midpoint, and less inspired. The duo is high-energy, but playing it very safe, which is fatal to the record’s back half. Still, throw on the first couple tracks for a quick lil dance party. We finally found the white boys bussin it down sexual style. 

Grade: 7/10   Initial release date: 2/16/24

MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks

Let’s not mince words – this was my most anticipated record of 2024. The first single off this album, “Rudolph” was one of my favorite songs of 2023. The second single, “She’s Leaving You,” is easily making my 2024 list. Lenderman’s primary band, Wednesday, handily won my Album of the Year mark in 2023. I really set my sights too high on this one, as it didn’t quite deliver, but that’s on me – it’s one of the best records of the year. Lenderman’s solo music bridges the gap between Neil Young and Kurt Vile; it’s off-the-cuff guitar playing and talk-sung vocals, with intricate and specific lyrics that detail American loneliness. Lenderman’s previous album focused on the grungier side of those artists, and this one is heavier on the Americana side. There’s enough Southern gothic here to make Flannery O’Connor happy but, predictably, there’s a lot of humor and just unpredictable references that make these stories entertaining. I don’t think Neil Young ever sang about Ferraris, Guitar Hero or the Cars film franchise. I always love specificity in lyrics even if it makes the songs less applicable – to me, it shows personality and care. Lenderman is always all about that. Only complaint here is that the energetic/somber balance is off in favor of the latter, but it’s a minor complaint. This guy is just on a different level from everyone else.

Grade: 8.5/10   Initial release date: 9/6/24

Tierra Whack – WORLD WIDE WHACK

Ever since releasing a 15-song, 15-minute album, Tierra Whack has established herself as one of the more ambitious and exciting acts in rap. WWW follows the artist’s signature short songs, with only one song over three minutes here. The livelier songs that kick off both halves of the album are easily the best – namely “MS BEHAVE” and “X,” high-energy ditties that don’t settle for any conventional rap sound. Most of the songs are more template – sometimes frustratingly so, but often they’re still quite enjoyable. It isn’t Whack’s finest work, but it’s fun top-to-bottom, and it’s over as soon as it starts. 

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 3/15/24

Sheer Mag – Playing Favorites

Sometimes you just need some good ol’ rock & roll. I was raised on classic rock and I will always have a deep appreciation for it. I love all of it, but the bluesy hard-rock of ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, Foghat, etc, is music I particularly like. That’s what Sheer Mag has always done at least somewhat, and they lean way into it here. Good old guitar rock. The song “Eat It And Beat It” – an obvious play on “Hit It And Quit It” – will certainly be the best straightforward rock song I hear this year. It’s fun as hell. The best songs on the album are. There’s a lot of complacency here too, to be fair – a handful of rock songs that don’t really bring the heat and just exist. They prevent this from being an excellent album, but it is still a very good and fun one. In fact, it helps them align even more with classic rock bands – it’s all about the singles.

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 3/1/24

Uniform – American Standard

Uniform’s first few albums were solid but I kept waiting for a breakout release. 2020’s Shame was that release, a mix of industrial guitars and guttural post-hardcore that seemed to come out of the same catacombs on that album’s cover. The band’s newest album is impossibly even bleaker, complete with a smog-heavy cover of smog-plagued rural anywhere. The band also sounds even bleaker, and stretches themselves way out of a comfort zone. That comfort zone is reasonably-lengthed songs. Side A of this record is one, 21-minute song. Side B is only three songs. By stretching their songs out, the band can hammer home the innate misery of their music. This is angry, humorless stuff, just the absolute depths of unhappiness. Uniform is not an easy band to classify musically, even harder here because they stretch into doom-metal for the first time. But this isn’t really metal, and not really post-hardcore. It exists in its own dimension, a hell dimension of some sort. This is not something that’s appealing to most people, but I love this band and they crushed my highest expectations.

Grade: 8.5/10   Initial release date: 8/23/24

Einstürzende Neubauten – Rampen (apm: alien pop music)

This project has mostly resulted in me showing my ass a lot, and here I must do it again: I’ve listened to very little Einstürzende Neubauten in my time. It’s not like there’s little to listen to, this is the band’s 13th album in a 40-odd year career, plus tons of other releases. Although the industrial pioneers initially started by making super abrasive music, they’ve cooled off over the years. This is the only later-career album I’ve heard, and I got what I expected – mostly very chill music with an industrial background. Some of these songs stretch a bit (or fully) into ambient territory, although the better ones are more melodic. It’s never really heavy, opting instead for balanced rhythms. The opening two songs are quirky and fun, the two best on the album. There’s way too much, at 15 songs and 74 minutes, and a lot of it can feel like bloat. But, it’s a great workday record, surprising for a band that used to be so aggressive!

Grade: 7/10   Initial release date: 4/5/24

Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition

I always have trouble writing about death metal, so much of it is so similar that it can be difficult to separate bands, even if the albums are differing in quality. So excuse me when I just say – this is good ass death metal. I’ve loved Gatecreeper for a few years now, and this just rips. It’s not the most interesting Gatecreeper album, I think some previous ones have been more ambitious or exploratory. But, there’s nothing wrong with playing the basics when you’re this good at them. Sometimes, you just need the ground-pounding albums like this.

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 5/17/24

Chick Corea & Béla Fleck – Remembrance

I am but one man who mostly loves garage rock, so I simply don’t keep up with modern jazz like I wish I could. Imagine my surprise at seeing two of my favorite jazz artists collaborating, hit immediately by the shock of remembering that the former artist has passed. This record is technically a compilation, a mix of studio songs, improvisations and live tracks, but it doesn’t feel like one. Everything is coherent and similar, and the smatterings of applause throughout signify a captive, sometimes nonexistent live audience. With Corea on piano and Fleck on banjo, you likely know what you’re going to get – and there’s a lot of it. It’s a beautiful set of collaborations, often just the two men alone, together. Very pretty and very fun music for any jazz fan.

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 5/10/24

Kim Petras – Slut Pop Miami

I contain multitudes. Listening to this a day after Corea/Fleck was a whirlwind. This mini-album is both a parody of and the logical end to the 00’s pop scene, a set of short songs that are as sexually explicit as humanly possible. Gone are the metaphors, gone is even something like “If You Seek Amy,” replaced by songs like “Butt Slutt” and “Can we fuck?” On the one hand, the songs are fun, even if repetitive and simplistic. On the other hand, you have to wonder what the point is. Petras has made a name for herself in the same simple, bubblegum pop, so if this is satirical, then it starts in the wrong gate. More importantly, does this require this level of analysis? Hell, “Anal Y Sis” could be a track on this very album. It’s fun! 

Grade: 7/10   Initial release date: 2/14/24

Kate Nash – 9 Sad Symphonies

I’ve been saying for years how unfair and unfortunate it is that Kate Nash fell out of the zeitgeist. I maintain that her previous album, 2018’s Yesterday Was Forever, is deeply underrated. Unfortunately, her comeback album just doesn’t have the juice. The indie singer has always had a flair for punk, even recording with bands like FIDLAR, but this record dilutes that energy. These are standard, template indie songs that are inherently pleasing but little else. The string-based opener feels like a red herring, but it isn’t. These tracks just don’t have the fitful spunk that set Nash apart from her contemporaries. If it were a quiet year for indie, this might be one to check out. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Grade: 6/10   Initial release date: 6/21/24

Big|Brave – A Chaos of Flowers

Big|Brave are a fascinating trio. They belong to the same circle of extreme metal like The Body and Full of Hell, and they belong to the same circle of Gothic folk like Chelsea Wolfe and Marissa Nadler. They’ve carved out a niche with practically no contemporaries. Flowers is a beautiful album, the songs are as haunting and gorgeous as the band has ever recorded. Every now and then, they remind you that they can get heavy and deeply inaccessible, but often they keep it quiet. Sometimes these songs edge on pure minimalism – the band works to hit both sides of the spectrum, and they do so very successfully. This isn’t a metal album, but it’s an album best appreciated by metal fans. A fascinating record by a fascinating band.

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 4/19

Darkthrone – It Beckons Us All

Like any true metal band, Darkthrone has petered out into legacy status. Darkthrone were instrumental in the foundation of black metal, though they were just as quick to abandon it. In the years since, they’ve remained active as a duo, releasing albums meandering around concoctions of black, doom, and speed metal or even hardcore punk. This release is largely doom-metal based, although not exclusively. I’ll be honest, the first song is irritating. It’s boring doom with off-key vocals. But some of these songs rip, especially the ones that hide energy or have tempo changes. Darkthrone doesn’t really have anything to prove to anyone these days, but they’re still making solid metal records. 

Grade: 7/10   Initial release date: 4/26/24

Magdalena Bay – Imaginal Disk

I was hesitant to even put this on my list because the list is so clogged and I wasn’t sure I’d get around to it. But rave reviews of both professional and personal manners convinced me – and it’s fun as hell. A loaded but never bloated indie-pop record, this one is not afraid to take chances. One song might be bouncy, standard indie-pop a la Charly Bliss, the next might be jazzy indie. The duo jump into 70’s ballads and drone guitar on a whim. A curated tracklist means the more ambitious tunes elevate the more standard tunes, so they all bounce off each other rather than seem like filler. It’s nearly an hour and yet there isn’t a skippable moment. I’m not sure if I ever heard their debut album, but this sophomore release feels like a true mission statement. Don’t sleep on this one. 

Grade: 8.5/10   Initial release date: 8/23/24

Fontaines D.C. – Romance

The previous Fontaines D.C. records were inconsistent in how much they grabbed my attention, but they were consistent in that the songs all kinda sounded the same. The (very) Irish post-punk band has had a relatively standard sound prior to Romance. Well the book’s out the window. This record actually has a majority of songs that are ballads, but the band hits the highest energy of their career too. They rap, there’s punk, and there’s tender love tunes. The band has always sounded a little inauthentic in their emotions previously; not here. This is earnest and real from a band that has never sounded so ambitious or energized. Don’t go in expecting the high-octane energy of the singles, but do go in expecting what is easily the band’s best album to date. This will go down as a highlight in a stacked indie year. UPDATE: Shockingly, they picked up a few Grammy noms for this. Well deserved, lads.

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 8/23/24

Chastity Belt – Live Laugh Love

I was a fan of Chastity Belt’s early work before the band went a little too soft for my taste. I’ll admit that I haven’t really kept up with their output but the album title and cover combo grabbed me, as did a general desire to see where the indie-punkish ladies were at. The soft-indie turn has mostly continued, although the album does offer some surprises. Early track “Funny” has an ominous drone quality, effective and unexpected. Other early tracks are fun and bouncy, but the back half suffers. Side B is mostly very uninspired, just routine indie. It’s a shame because there’s some good stuff here, but it gets very tedious. 

Grade: 6.5/10   Initial release date: 3/29/24 

Bat For Lashes – The Dream of Delphi

What a year it’s been for mature, legacy indie artists. I haven’t really kept up with BFL, but as a human with ears and a heart, I love her early albums. Delphi is in the same realm; at its best, these are dreamy and warm indie songs, almost hallucinatory. The title track – presented as both the opener and the closer with an extended version – is one of the most engaging and haunting songs I’ve heard all year. Other points on this album hit a volume so low that I had trouble even hearing anything on the train – not the ideal listening situation. Indeed, there’s a little too little here, the true structured moments are too far in between. But the great songs are great, and worth the price of admission on their own.

Grade: 7.5/10   Initial release date: 5/31/24

Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well

There’s been a few examples this year of artists I love rebounding from weaker albums (Vampire Weekend, St. Vincent, ScHoolboy Q). Add Kacey to the mix. Coming off her breathtaking and Grammy-crushing country album Golden Hour, Kacey turned to a more pop-focus for Star-Crossed, and it was, bluntly, meh. For Deeper Well, she’s gone back to the atmospheric country that made her an arena star. It’s a welcome return, as the whole here is excellent. It’s a dreamy album, the same summer-y camping vibes as before. She’ll probably never make another record as good as Hour, but that’s an immense bar to clear. This one doesn’t really have standout songs like that record did, but the full product is wonderful. She’s also shifted her lyrics into a more serious zone. So many of her previous songs coupled breezy music with lyrics about wasting time and days spent milling around. Here, she’s quitting weed and strengthening her relationships. This serves as both a sequel and companion piece to Hour. Loved it.

Grade: 8/10   Initial release date: 3/15/24

And that’s another month down! I hope you perused this and found something that sounds interesting to you – or potentially something to avoid. Check back in next month, I’ll be going over some great death metal, a couple of my favorite rap records of the year, a ton more great indie, a wild African album and, unfortunately, what’s probably my most disappointing record of the year. All that and more!