Welcome back, time for another quick rundown of some 2024 albums I’ve listened to! You can check out the January edition, where I did brief reviews of about a dozen 2024 releases. This time around, I’ve got 14 quick blasts, and one local rec for good measure. First time around the albums were ordered by grade, this time around it’s by release date. I hope you like the number 7.5, because there’s a disproportionate number of albums with that grade. I still haven’t done the Smile’s album, somehow, whoops. Let’s crack on:
Infant Island – Obsidian Wreath
I’ll be honest, I put this one on when I was putzing around the apartment cleaning, so it didn’t quite get the same kind of attention that most albums get (when I’m mindlessly processing stuff at work with headphones on). That said, I deeply appreciated the way this band made a wholly unique and creative blackgaze album within the confines of traditional metal. There’s nothing particularly special on a surface level, but scratch even just a bit into these songs and they reveal a density, a cruelness, and a certain sereneness that counteracts the volume. It’s always refreshing to hear a cool blackgaze album like this.
Initial release date: 1/12/24 Grade: 7.5/10
Kid Cudi – INSANO
Oof. First off, I respect that Cudi isn’t trying to make a grand statement. This is an issue that plagues modern albums, especially in hip-hop – the thought that every record needs to be an Atrocity Exhibition or an Astroworld, something Earth-shattering. Cudi eschews this for a relaxed, fun reminder of his strengths. The monkey’s paw of that is that this album is just weak all-around; loud but boring beats are matched with bland lyrics. Cudi sounds like he’s having fun, which does translate over, but it isn’t enough to carry the record’s ridiculous 64 minute runtime. You can extrapolate the best five songs or so and trash the other fifteen. It’s a stopgap album.
Initial release date: 1/12/24 Grade: 5.5/10
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.
Initial release date: 1/26/24 Grade: 8/10
Vitriol – Suffer & Become
Not much to say about this really other than it’s some articulated, dense, and rip-ass death metal. This feels akin to the band Aborted, featuring maximalist songs with little to no breaks, chaotic rhythms and pristine production. It’s not as tongue-in-cheek as those legends though, played very seriously here. I ended up having to listen to this one in parts, which I don’t like doing, so once I give it a full one-day runthrough I might bump the grade up.
Initial release date: 1/26/24 Grade: 7.5/10
J. Mascis – What Do We Do Now
Ok so same thing goes for this as with the Infant Island record – I was moving around the apartment with this one playing. I’m always a bit trepidatious about J. Mascis’s solo music, because it’s often just him and a guitar, which is my least favorite version of him. But this is much more, it often sounds like a full band, just one that is a lot janglier than Dinosaur, Jr. is. This music is loose and midtempo, enough energy to be fun but not so much so that it just sounds like more Dino. The album does suffer from repetition, as practically every song follows the same template. But, the best tracks here do what J. does best; jangly guitar, lyrics about regrets and miscommunications, and strained talk-sung vocals. Definitely one of his better solo releases.
Initial release date: 2/2/24 Grade: 7.5/10
Little Simz – Drop 7
I probably wouldn’t review something this brief – 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.
Initial release date: 2/9/24 Grade: 8/10
Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
If you’re a Chelsea Wolfe fan, you pretty much know what you’re going to get here. This album is full of slow, patient, goth-folk. The tracks here are brooding, dark and still melodic. Though the songs are not lengthy, the consistent eerieness and relaxed tempos give them a lot of space (and make them feel longer – which is not a complaint). This is Southern Gothic at its finest, a soundtrack for a Flannery O’Connor work. It falls victim to repetition on the back half, which is unfortunate, but the whole thing is saved with a stunning closing track. It’s not Wolfe’s best, but that’s a high benchmark.
Initial release date: 2/9/24 Grade: 7.5/10
Laura Jane Grace – Hole In My Head
I appreciate how Laura Jane Grace always makes sure that her solo albums are not just Against Me! records under a different name. I haven’t been too fond of some of her more pop-punk solo outings over the past few years, but this one worked for me. The first couple songs on this one do sound like Against Me! runoffs, aka excellent punk bruisers, but most of the album has more of a folk-punk feel. It’s largely acoustic, but still energetic, witty and original. It does feel like a solo record in the proper sense – put a backing band and you’ve got an AM! record, but they’re not missed, either. It’s a fun avenue for Laura, one she really hasn’t explored since Reinventing Axl Rose all the way back in 2002. There’s nothing life-changing here, but it’s a very fun and earnest record if you’re a fan.
Initial release date: 2/16/24 Grade: 7.5/10
IDLES – TANGK
I’m doing the exact thing I shouldn’t do with an album like this and vomiting some thoughts immediately after listening to it. I love the UK indie-punk hybrid IDLES, but I specifically love Joy As An Act Of Resistance. and I always want my IDLES albums to sound just like that one. Naturally, they don’t, because staying fresh is always the name of the IDLES game. TANGK, in fact, tries to be the polar opposite of Resistance, in that it relies heavily on slower tracks. There’s a haunting quality to this one, even with bangers like “Hall and Oates” and the LCD Soundsystem-assisted “Dancer.” The opening and closing tracks are particularly slow and quiet, but there’s patience throughout. I don’t think it really works well! The band utilizes these downbeats effectively when they’re infrequent – but here it’s every other song. Going along with that, it doesn’t feel like the band has much to say this time around. Admittedly, I haven’t dug into the lyrics much yet and I should, but this band has always been at the forefront of urgency, and here they sound like backseat drivers. With all of that said, the album still bangs hard sometimes, it’s still a solid release – I just expected more oomph.
Initial release date: 2/16/24 Grade: 7/10
serpentwithfeet – GRIP
I simultaneously went into this one having never really heard the music of serpentwithfeet and still getting exactly what I expected – sultry, beautiful R&B. This exists in the realm of artistic R&B artists like Janelle Monae that make rhythmic, seductive music that nonetheless feels like it eschews any kind of “radio value.” Chalk it up to the homoerotic album cover, maybe, but this is absolutely on the alternative, experimental side of things. Breezy and hypnotic, this is a gem.
Initial release date: 2/16/24 Grade: 7.5/10
MGMT – Loss Of Life
A lot of the albums on this list I’ve had to listen to in segments (because I’m listening at work – don’t ask). For this one, I’m glad I did. This is a quietly gorgeous album, from a band not really known for that type of thing. Their first album is of course an experimental classic, but the next two shit the bed. Album #4 was a great-if-not-standard synth pop record, and it’s what I expected here. Really, it’s more guitar-focused, the plainest songs they’ve written to date but far from the worst. There’s some fun ones (especially the whiplash “Bubblegum Dog”) but a lot of songs are just excellent indie ballads. The back half has some patient, subtly impactful songs, and I would’ve missed them if I did this record in one swoop. Allow yourself some time to absorb these songs.
Initial release date: 2/23/24 Grade: 7.5/10
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven
This album had a lot to live up to. Mannequin Pussy are one of the only bands where I generally love every song they’ve put out. Ferocious, unpredictable and catchy, they’re a punk band that doesn’t really seem to think they’re a punk band. And on their fourth album, they do branch out a lot more. I don’t think the 100% streak continues, however, the best songs here are the best they’ve ever done. It’s a ripper of a record, and one that has more ideas and, *ahem,* patience than previous releases. Missy Dabice gives her best-yet vocal performance on “Sometimes,” a song that stretches closer to indie than anything else. But there’s still punk bruisers everywhere, too. Tremendous stuff.
Initial release date: 3/1/24 Grade: 8/10
Pissed Jeans – Half Divorced
In direct opposition to a lot of albums in this post, and the norm in general, this is the leanest and meanest version of Pissed Jeans we’ve ever seen. The post-hardcore band has always treated its aggressive music as a pseudo-joke, as they satirize specific topics like middle managers and guys who have humiliation fetishes. There’s some of that here, specifically in screeds against used underwear sales and guys who disturb you when you’re on break. But there’s also a general, visceral anger here. These songs are way shorter than normal, most under two minutes, just ferocious punk blasts from a band that normally stretches things out. The best song is still tongue-in-cheek; “Everywhere is Bad,” a parody of songs where singers get easy clout by listing cities, instead decrying every city, planet, galaxy, and dimension. Best album of the year so far.
Initial release date: 3/1/24 Grade: 9/10
Kim Gordon – The Collective
Haha what the hell. The beautiful thing about listening to the solo projects from Sonic Youth members was seeing what influences they individually brought to the table – Thurston Moore brought the noise guitars, Lee Ranaldo brought the classic rock vibes, and Kim supplied the most experimental elements. On her second solo record (mind you, she is SEVENTY years old), she creates something entirely new and diabolical. This is noise-trap. It’s a noise-rock record centered around hip-hop beats, but not in any kind of Death Grips way. Some of these songs were intended for Playboi Carti, but somehow ended up in her lap. And that’s really the only way to describe them. I’ve never heard anything like this, even from Kim. It’s pure experimentation, and it certainly won’t work for everyone. But I absolutely loved it. 2016 rap filtered through 80’s no wave. After several decades, Kim is still just operating on a different level.
Initial release date: 3/8/24 Grade: 8.5/10
LOCAL NOOK: So, given that I already write for a local blog, and I naturally listen to artists I or we cover, it feels a little weird to me to write about them here too. However, I’ll use some space for recs. The indie group Happy Just to See You dropped a great, fun and heartwarming indie album, garnering yet another 7.5 rating from me.
Check back next month for more reviews!
Post-Grad Music Reviews 