The 60 Best Albums of 2024, According to Some Guy in Chicago
The music that made the year at No Expectations, from 22º Halo to Youbet.
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Thanks for being here. This is the last No Expectations of 2024. With the EOY list below finally published, I’m taking a break to recharge for the holidays. I’ll be in Denmark following Christmas for a vacation but I’ll return to the newsletter either January 9 or January 16 to champion the music I love. I appreciate you guys allowing me to take some time. Plus, I figure after going through all 60 LPs featured here, you probably don’t need more recommendations. Want the weekly Chicago show calendar while I’m away? Subscribe to Daily Chicagoan, the newsletter I produce for my day job at WTTW News. Live music recs run on Wednesdays.
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No Expectations: The Best Albums of 2024
Before I started No Expectations in 2022, I’d spent the past decade writing about music at outlets like VICE, the Chicago Tribune, the A.V. Club, and a few other places. Every November, my colleagues and I would narrow down what we’d include in our publication’s year-end list. At VICE, for example, I worked alongside several talented folks with genre-specific beats: hip-hop, electronic, pop, country, R&B, and punk. Being one of the only writers based in the Midwest, I was the “Chicago music guy” who also really liked indie rock. I take pride in being a friendly dude to have around in any office setting but sometimes these meetings would get contentious. That said, my suggestions would occasionally get shot down. It happens. (They were usually things like, “Instead of this blockbuster album that hit no. 1 on the Billboard charts, how about this post-punk LP from a band I saw play a 100-cap room?” I’d likely say no too if I were in charge).
One of the good things about having a personal outlet like a weekly music newsletter is that I don’t have to worry about consensus. It’s not my job to come up with some grandiose “What did music mean for culture in 2024?” take. Good publications should take into account as many genres as possible, music made from around the world, and how it affected the zeitgeist this year. No Expectations is not that kind of platform. This is just one 33-year-old who lives in Chicago’s opinion. I like what I like and that’s ok. In fact, I prefer it this way. At this point in my life, I’m drawn to individual Best Albums Lists over holistic EOY wrap-ups litigated by several underpaid staffers and freelancers. This way, you can see the eccentricities of a critic’s tastes and find things you normally wouldn’t on these bigger lists.
While there’s a lot of indie rock and guitar music on this roundup, there’s also weirdo jazz, rap, ambient music, experimental, electronic, country, jam, and future-forward R&B. I think it’s pretty eclectic and pretty great, which is a good thing because I picked them all out. After I stopped working full-time at music publications, the part of my brain that ranks albums stopped working so you’ll see the full Top 60 from A-Z. If this makes you mad, subscribe to the paid tier and I’ll publish this same list paywalled and ranked in order of preference. Just let me know that’s why you signed up in the message box.
Now, though this is a top 60, there are several purposeful exceptions that I’m going to explain here. Before I started my full-time job as the newsletter producer for WTTW News (PBS Chicago), one of my main sources of income was writing press bios for artists (the blurbs you see when buying a ticket to a show or scrolling Spotify). These albums would’ve made the list had I not been paid to write about them before they were announced. Still, because money was involved, I’ll put them here and not in the official roundup. Here they are below.
The Don’t Get Mad at Me For Excluding List (I Wrote the Press Bio Edition):
Ducks Ltd, Harm’s Way, Eric Slick, New Age Rage, Fake Fruit, Mucho Mistrust, Good Looks, Lived Here for a While, Horse Jumper of Love, Disaster Trick, Jess Cornelius, CARE/TAKING, Lily Seabird, Alas, Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven, Milly, Your Own Becoming, Minor Moon, The Light Up Waltz, Rich Ruth, Water Still Flows, Rui Gabriel, Compassion, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Revelations, Sonny Falls, Sonny Falls, Valebol, Valebol, Villagerrr, Tear Your Heart Out
If there’s anything else I missed below there are three possible reasons. 1). I missed it but your recommendation is the unsung album of the year and the No Expectations list is trash because of its exclusion. 2). I missed it but now that I’m listening to it I wouldn’t place it above any of these 60 LPs. And 3). I heard it but it’s not very good so I purposefully omitted it. Jokes aside, I should also mention that because I don’t have the time to write 60 blurbs in a week, several of these are lightly reworked write-ups from previous No Expectations newsletters. Though it might be a sign of laziness, I’d like to think of it as “standing by what I said.” There’s still a bunch of new stuff I haven’t written about yet, so if you’re one of No Expectations’ most loyal readers, you’ll likely discover some hopefully novel things below.
Anyway, I hope you find something to dig into here. Don’t feel pressured to give it a full read in a single sitting. Take whatever free moments you have the rest of this month to slowly work your way through. There’s really no rush. Also, I included Apple Music, Tidal, and Spotify playlists of all the albums mentioned (minus one artist not on streaming) at the very bottom of this lengthy newsletter. Thanks for checking it out.
22º Halo
Lily of the Valley
Philadelphia band 22º Halo has been quietly releasing winsome, lo-fi songs for the past half-decade treading murky waters between folk, slacker rock, and bedroom pop. Between the writing of their last LP, 2021’s Garden Bed, frontman Will Kennedy’s partner and musical collaborator Kate Schneider was diagnosed with brain cancer. Her battle with the disease and their resilience in getting through it is at the heart of Lily of the Valley, one of the year’s most emotionally powerful indie rock full-lengths. For a record that deals with such heaviness and a devastating period in their lives, it’s incredibly vivacious, alive, and hopeful. Single “Virtual You” deals with grappling with the present amid digital memories of past lives while “Orioles at Dusk” looks back on the spark of falling in love.
Adrianne Lenker
Bright Future
This might be a controversial opinion but I truly believe Adrianne Lenker is the closest thing my generation has come to having its own Bob Dylan. From every Big Thief record to her solo career, few contemporary songwriters match her evocative, innovative lyrics and staggering consistency from album to album. While this sounds hyperbolic, 2022’s Big Thief LP Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You and this year’s solo effort Bright Future make me confident in this spicy take. On the latter, the tracklist sequencing is especially inspired. It opens with both the album’s most difficult and personal song, “Real House,” a stark and sparse account of a particularly traumatic childhood memory. From there, the palate softens into the captivating but still resonant “Sadness Is a Gift.” She has a knack for freshness and certain songs have such a familiar grace that it’s breathtaking.
Allegra Krieger
Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine
There’s a water-like quality to Allegra Krieger’s vocal delivery. On Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine, the New York songwriter can weave unlikely notes, and diaristic observations into something totally hypnotic. Her piercing but satisfying voice undulates and soars throughout the 13 tracks here but it truly shines when she sings bluntly about death and dark thoughts. Highlight “One or the Other” deals with an apartment fire that killed her neighbor and it opens with the haunting lines, “I had a dream the night before the fire / That I killed someone / A sign of bad luck or just a reminder / That we all have a hand in destruction.” Just reading the words, the LP can be unrelentingly bleak but there’s such a peacefulness to Krieger’s writing and musicianship that carries the material to something transcendent and even hopeful.
Astrid Sonne
Great Doubt
Danish artist Astrid Sonne has such an unorthodox and beguiling album in Great Doubt. It threads the needle between airy avant-pop and brooding, menacing electronic but it’s all bonded by the London-based composer and violist’s sturdy compositions. While she sheds the experimentalism of her previous efforts for a comparatively straightforward singer-songwriter LP, the songs still surprise and shock throughout. “Do you wanna” and “Give my all” are both subtle but potent. If you play this for a friend, you’re going to get a “Whoa, what’s this?” immediately. If you dug recent LPs from fellow Danish act ML Buch (who’s longtime friends with Sonne) and Molina, you’ll love this too.
Blue Ranger
Close Your Eyes
The Albany, New York-based group Blue Ranger thrives in a muted palette of rustic, anxious folk on their new full-length Close Your Eyes. These songs boast a tangible heart that’s relentlessly charming even if it occasionally gets on edge, especially on “Step Line” and the rocking “As Simple Goes.” The title track slowly builds with a woozy slide guitar introducing subtle synths and fiddle. The gradual, mundane steps to eureka moments are Blue Ranger’s magic. The band is guitarist Josh Marré, his identical twin and multi-instrumentalist Evan, drummer Matt Griffin, and violinist Connor Armbruster. Armbruster’s violin is their secret weapon, lending lush, glittering textures to these songs that can turn menacing and dissonant in a split second.
Bnny
One Million Love Songs
Chicago’s Jess Viscius has built an unimpeachable catalog as the musician behind Bnny (fka Bunny). Her dreamlike songs bluntly tackle love and loss with a tangible psychological clarity and a keen ear for smart, mindful songwriting. One Million Love Songs is the band’s sophomore effort. It’s such a remarkable leap. Compared to the band’s grief-laden and soft debut Everything, which was written after the 2017 death of Viscious’ partner and Parent frontman Trey Gruber, this LP is a more holistic look at love and heartbreak. It’s melancholic but hopeful, raw but assured. Co-produced by the band and Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza, every band you can think of from Asheville, North Carolina), Vicius’s refined melodies sound huge on songs like “Good Stuff.” It’s the most hi-fi presentation for Bnny’s material yet but the songs are all so strong they deserve nothing less.
Bonny Light Horseman
Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free
When Bonny Light Horseman, the supergroup of Anaïs Mitchell, Fruit Bats’ Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman, released their debut record in January 2020 it hit me like a ton of bricks, especially the single “Deep In Love.” Their third album—a double LP called Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free—is just as emotionally walloping. To some extent, every song feels like a songwriting clinic. While short interstitial tracks titled things like “grinch / funeral” and “think of the royalties, lads” might make you think they’re half-assing it, everything is so strikingly intentional on this record. There’s the enchanting harmonies between Mitchell and Johnson on “Old Dutch” and the impeccable chorus on “Tumblin’ Down.” These are just immaculately and lovely made tunes: all jaw-droppingly pretty.
Cameron Winter
Heavy Metal
As the frontman of the unpredictable New York City indie rock band Geese, Cameron Winter thrives on sudden left turns. His band’s 2021 debut Projector lovingly channeled 2000s Meet Me In the Bathroom alt-rock into youthful raucousness while their follow-up 3D Country was a bonkers but successful experiment that occasionally sounded like the Rolling Stones put through a blender. Winter’s solo debut Heavy Metal is another unexpected twist. Despite what you’d imagine from its title (or his career so far), this is his ornate singer-songwriter LP. There are delicate strings, warm pianos, and songs so earnest about love and god that it might make Leonard Cohen blush. As a vocalist, Winter is dynamic and theatrical, throwing his voice around to quiet falsetto coos and guttural warbles. If the first song feels too out there, stick around for “Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)” and “Love Takes Miles.”
Cindy Lee
Diamond Jubilee
Cindy Lee’s colossal and engrossing LP Diamond Jubilee, all 32 songs and two hours of it, is probably the most interesting music story of 2024. If you’re not aware, Lee is the drag alter ego of Patrick Fiegel, who used to be the frontperson of the influential Canadian indie rock band Women. Up until a few months ago, Diamond Jubilee was not on any streaming service—only available to hear on YouTube or by purchasing a digital download of .wav files through a Geocities site. You still can’t find it on Spotify or its competitors but it’s topping year-end lists and still gaining a sizable audience. But even without the proof in the pudding that you can have one of the most critically acclaimed albums outside of the streaming apparatus, this is just a fantastic full-length that never overstays its welcome despite the gargantuan runtime.
Clairo
Charm
Since she first appeared on my radar in 2017 with “Pretty Girl,” Clairo’s pop tunes have always been well-made and tasteful. I’ve liked her writing but beyond a few songs, nothing’s been totally in my wheelhouse. (This might be because I am not her target audience). That said, her latest Charm is a ‘70s-indebted, sparkling, and lavish album. It’s stellar, and shockingly close to No Expectations-core even if it operates too much in a hazy, mellow tempo. Recorded with Leon Michels (Colemine Records, El Michels Affair), the arrangements are pristine and the recordings sound immaculate. There’s a stretch of tracks from “Thank You,” to “Terrapin,” and “Juna” that are among the year’s best. Though I’d normally bump a bigger name like Clairo to highlight a smaller artist in this newsletter, I think this self-released LP is worth your time.
The Clearwater Swimmers
The Clearwater Swimmers
It's hard to think of a more autumnal record from 2024 than the Clearwater Swimmers' self-titled debut. These 10 perceptive and folksy songs thrive on simplicity with unfussy arrangements while evoking classic albums like Strange Geometry, Harvest Moon, and Magnolia Electric Co. The project of Maine-born songwriter Sumner Bright evolved into a full-fledged band after a move to Queens. This group thrives on hushed, lived-in intimacy that can morph into an apocalyptic squall of blown-out electric guitars and twang. It’s all fastened by Bright’s soft but compelling tenor. He sings of fleeting, subtle moments with sensitivity and unflinching openness. There’s not a dud on the record, but opener “Valley, single “Heaven’s a Bar,” and “River” especially soar.
Closebye
Hammer of My Own
New York City’s Closebye have a sophomore record that’s so refreshing, fun, and quietly inventive that it’ll break you out of any musical rut you might be in. Hammer of My Own, which came out in August, is still the best thing I’ve heard in weeks every time I put it on. Each song is excellent in drastically different ways, from the surging rock of “Power Trip,” to the understated folk of “What’s In It For You,” and the 2000s radio-pop of the title track. While the bones of each tune are undeniably strong, the arrangements’ playfulness and the surprising instrumental flourishes give the LP its magic. When you think the opener “Lucky Number” will be menacing thanks to its screaming intro, it morphs into a breezy soft rock. As the silky pop of “Pilates” settles into a total earworm, it becomes eerie and gnarled.
Dave Vettraino
A Bird Shaped Shadow
For the past seven years, I’ve wanted to write a story that maps Dave Vettraino’s musical collaborations around Chicago. He’s mixed, engineered, and produced LPs from what feels like 60% of the local bands I’ve ever written about. His credits include Deeper, Dehd, Lala Lala, NE-HI, Melkbelly, Minor Moon, V.V. Lightbody, Pool Holograph, Resavoir, Macie Stewart, Stuck, and dozens more. For a time, he was also one-third of The Hecks, which had one of my favorite albums of 2019 in My Star. He’s one of Chicago’s best collaborators: musicians here love him and his resume speaks for itself. On his new LP A Bird Shaped Shadow, Vettraino makes a lived-in and easygoing instrumental collection that oscillates between indie rock, jazz, and ambient. It’s an arresting, meditative effort that features collaborations from Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart, Rob Frye, Dos Santos’ Daniel Villarreal, and Rob Frye.
The Dead Shakers
So I Guess I Keep Making Albums Until I Die?
Burlington, VT’s Kevin Bloom dedicates the new album from his wildly collaborative project the Dead Shakers to the late Norma Tanega, the influential folk and experimental songwriter. From the opening cover of her tune “Now Is the Time,” it’s clear her mesmerizing and unconventional music-making had a profound effect on him. Across 20 acid-washed and unwieldy songs, So I Guess I Keep Making Albums Until I Die? is an opus of left-field, thrilling psychedelia. It features a who’s who of Burlington’s thriving music community, including collaborations with Zack James (Dari Bay), Nina Cates (Robber Robber), Greg Freeman, Cotter Ellis (Goose), Sam Snyder (Overhand Sam), Izzy Hagerup (Prewn), and several more. I could point out individual songs that floored me, but this is an album best listened to in full and in a single sitting. It’s a trip.
Eggy
Waiting Game
Eggy are the jam band most tailored to an indie rock fan’s tastes. On their latest LP Waiting Game (produced by White Denim’s James Petralli), the New Haven quartet writes such tasteful, spunky, and playful songs that anyone listening blind would have no clue they come from the jam community. Across 10 colorful and tight tracks that barely crack the half-hour mark, the band leans on a perennial pop sensibility and strikingly grounded lyricism. They sing about people, feelings, and relationships with a palpable realism that feels refreshing. “Laurel” is a killer tune with an explosive chorus held together by drummer Alex Bailey’s silky voice. The same goes for the swirling “Smile,” the touching title track, and the breezy “Come Up Slow.” Though each member of Eggy writes and three sing live, here, the vocal duties go solely to Bailey (an Oak Park, IL native).
Finom
Not God
Finom is the long-running duo of Chicagoans Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart. Since 2014, they’ve made some of the most inventive, playful, and impressive art-rock across four albums and three band name changes. (They started as Homme, then Ohmme, and now they’re Finom). In 2017, I wrote at VICE that they are “the heart of Chicago’s music community” and it’s still true. Since then, their community building, gracious vibe, and headstrong attitude to their music have only strengthened. Finom’s fourth LP, the Jeff Tweedy-produced Not God, is their strongest yet. It’s still provocative and adventurous indie rock with spotless vocal harmonies but here, they’ve honed some of their pop sensibilities for a tighter, more confident effort. “Haircut” boasts a Devo-like bounce while a surging post-punk groove anchors the highlight “Hungry.” Think of it as Kate Bush performed by Deerhoof or if Joni Mitchell signed to Drag City in the ‘90s.
Friko
Where we’ve been, Where we go from here
In the second-ever No Expectations newsletter in December 2022, I raved about seeing Friko play Metro with opening bands Lifeguard and Cafe Racer (RIP). I wrote, “Indie rock lately can feel insular and claustrophobic but Friko isn’t afraid to make it feel huge, cathartic, and totally earnest.” At the time, Friko (which is composed of singer Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger) had only a self-released EP out and hadn’t started recording what would become Where we’ve been, Where we go from here. Still, there was a lot of buzz then and it’s been a steady build until this debut. Now on the label ATO, the Chicago band lives up to whatever sky-high expectations the hype cycle can spark. Opener “Where We’ve Been” showcases Kapetan’s dynamic and powerhouse voice: it warbles vulnerably at the start but slowly builds to a hair-raising howl. There are several fantastic and theatrical songs here. It deserves every accolade.
Good Morning
The Accident
Melbourne-based duo Good Morning put out two LPs in 2024: May’s Good Morning Seven and November’s The Accident. Both are brilliant enough to feature in any Best Of List but The Accident is leaner, more compelling, and features some of the finest lyrics of any LP this year in its closing eight-minute track “Soft Rock Band.” It’s an unmistakably autobiographical song where lines are as cutting as “And I've been the Narcan / And I've been the coke / And I've been the punchline / I've been in on the joke." Though the band toured a bunch this year, opening up for Waxahatchee and others, they announced a hiatus with this LP. I hope they return but if this is their swan song, it's hard to think of a better way to go out than that track.
Haley Heynderickx
Seed of a Seed
Portland’s Haley Heynderickx is a fantastic guitarist and songwriter who makes verdant and imaginative folk. It often reminds me of Norma Tanega and Hannah Frances. Her spry acoustic fingerpicking weaves around her conversational and captivating voice throughout the 10 tracks here. Simultaneously homespun and expansive, these songs are hard to shake. She can sing about an asshole cat, running errands, and a welcome glass of wine at home with astounding gravitas, finding the miracles in the mundane. Throughout Seed of a Seed, there are moments of profound revelation and simple pleasures. Each tune is delivered with a generous spirit. Truly beautiful stuff here.
Hannah Frances
Keeper of the Shepherd
This is the best album I’ve heard in 2024. From the very first song on Keeper of the Shepherd, Hannah Frances solidifies herself as a singular, unyielding talent. Each mystifying tune here feels enduring, combining the knottiest parts of folk with sweeping energy and her powerful voice. The opener “Bronwyn” and the title track elegantly unfold with vividly rendered full-band arrangements but the more minimalist numbers soar with the same urgency. It feels crude to mention first-rate RIYL acts like Cate Le Bon, Sandy Denny, or The Weather Station when talking about this album because right now, Frances feels peerless. Every time I revisit, I find a new, awe-inspiring wrinkle to get lost in.
Hataałii
Waiting for a Sign
Hataałii (pronounced: Hah-toth-lee) is from Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, and writes some of the most fascinating songs of the year on Waiting for a Sign. The 21-year-old crooner and songwriter is an unorthodox frontman: his baritone warbles meander and twist dramatically around these hazy songs. As a writer, he's somewhere between impressionistic and resolutely direct. On the deceptively sunny "Something's In the Air," he sings, "Oh I got some news for you / Sometimes life ain't easy Sioux / For people who look like me and you / Low nose and oh a deadly stare." Opener "Alex Jones" hints at nihilism with lines like, "I ain't never had no job / Just gettin up and gettin off / Couple bucks and I'm feeling good." Beyond the writing, which is densely packed and profound, is how incomparable he is as a performer. No one sounds like this: you can see hints of Nick Cave or Mac DeMarco (who is a fan) but no one is even close to how enticing a Hataałii song can be.
hemlock
444
While Carolina Chauffe’s recorded output as hemlock is all great, even the song-a-day experiments in May and October, their latest 444 feels like their most heartfelt statement yet. Recorded with a full band, these arrangements are crunchy and enthralling splitting the difference between intimate homespun folk and twangy indie rock. On “Drive & Drive,” Chauffe gets into the work that goes into being a full-time artist. They sing, “Or maybe I'm just built to drive and drive and drive to a new city every day / And sleep in someone's guest bed every night / People are so generous, it's true, people are kind.” Elsewhere, songs like “Depot Dog” and “Hyde Park” soar with Chauffe’s hypnotizing voice. They’re an emotive frontperson who can undulate between notes effortlessly (take the palpable anger as they document a traffic nightmare in “Hazards”). This is one of the finest LPs of the year and while Chauffe’s proudly operated in DIY spheres, 444 deserves to introduce them to a broader audience.
Hour
Ease the Work
Hour is a sprawling Philadelphia-based instrumental collective led by Michael Cormier-O’Leary. (He also runs the influential record label Dear Life which puts out great releases from Florry, MJ Lenderman, and more. Hour hasn’t unveiled an LP since 2018 but Ease The Work is worth the wait. Recorded live in an old movie theater on Peaks Island in Maine, these songs are luscious, open, and often exquisite. Hour’s musical territory is pastoral and organic: crisp piano, lilting strings, delicate electric guitars, and brushed percussion. Though you can zone out, relax, and let these leisurely songs wash over you, they’re challenging enough to demand a closer listen. “Brain Scrub” simmers with intensity while “Dying of Laughter” floats with plaintive keys blending with mournful strings.
Jessica Pratt
Here in the Pitch
This is another instant album of the year contender. Since 2012, San Francisco songwriter Jessica Pratt has been making chilling, stripped-back folk music that feels like it’s always been around but is never a throwback. 10 years ago, she put out a song called “Back, Baby” which is one of the only tracks that can make me cry anytime I put it on. On her fourth album Here in the Pitch, there are more than a couple of tunes that I can easily see ascending to that personal alltimer status. It’s an album full of evocative, impressionistic lyrics, and immersive yet simple arrangements. Between “World On a String,” the haunting “Empires Never Know,” and opener “Life Is,” which reminds me of Richard Swift in the best way, it’s all really superb. It’s a masterclass from a songwriter who keeps elevating her craft.
JP Harris
JP Harris Is a Trash Fire
East Nashville’s JP Harris is a mainstay in his city’s music community, a carpenter by trade, and has my standout country album of the year. His lyrics combine everything I love about the genre: self-awareness, cutting satire, decency, and heart. It can be laugh-out-loud funny and gutting in the same song. Plus, his arrangements are lovingly reverent to country music’s past while never being anything less than totally enthralling. Harris’ wit and earnestness as a writer allow him to indulge in a Kristofferson imitation on “To the Doves” and totally pull it off. Elsewhere, the title track finds him contemplating his place in the music industry and in his city’s gentrification. He sings, “I’m like a trash fire raging at the scrap metal yard by the highway / It keeps burning against their will / It might take me some time, but you know I’m gonna do it my way / The world keeps turning, and I stand still.” It’s an admirable sentiment, but the whole thing is just a dose of Harris’ exceptional but self-deprecating talent.
Katy Kirby
Blue Raspberry
Katy Kirby’s 2021 debut Cool Dry Place is one of those albums that already feels like a classic. Every song is fantastic and it’s so tastefully and expertly constructed that it never loses its luster no matter how many times you spin it. The Texas-raised, NYC-based songwriter’s follow-up Blue Raspberry, out on new label ANTI-, might be even better. “Cubic Zirconia” is stunning while “Hand to Hand” is dazed and almost aquatic. My favorite is the light but irresistibly catchy “Drop Dead.” While a lot has happened in Kirby’s life since I interviewed her for VICE’s Noisey Next series in early 2021, it’s been such an honor to witness the growth.
lake j
Dizzy
You may already know Cadien Lake James through his time with the influential Chicago indie rock outfit Twin Peaks, but this year he’s venturing out with a solo project called lake j. On March 1, he unveiled his marvelous debut LP called Dizzy. For the past eight or so years, James has been one of my very best friends so take this recommendation with that necessary disclaimer. That said, this LP is so unbelievably in my wheelhouse and I think it’ll do the same for you. Here, James takes on a much breezier and laid-back slant than the rowdy rock of Twin Peaks. When I first heard some of these songs, they reminded me of The Sea and Cake and Pinback. Even if the lyrics suggest a quiet melancholy, there’s ebullience in the arrangements like on the bouncy “Wild Wind” and funky “Tell Me Something Good.” It’s uniformly tasteful and engaging stuff, especially on the string-laden “Keeping Score,” the almost proggy “Looming Towers,” and the unhurried eight-minute closer “Sparrow.”
Lamplight
Lamplight
Lamplight is the project of Virginia’s Ian Hatcher-Williams. His debut self-titled LP is a deeply introspective and thoughtful collection of pastoral folk rock. No song sounds alike but its nine tracks somehow seamlessly flow from the 6/8 shuffle of the understated opener “Play” to the raucous, penultimate tune “Empathy.” The whole thing sounds appealing and considered but never expensive or glossy. As a writer, Hatcher-Williams has strong instincts for hooks–some songs are so catchy and immersive that they feel like they wouldn’t feel out of place on Coldplay’s Parachutes. (Your mileage may vary but this is a big compliment here). If you liked any new releases I’ve previously written about in this newsletter from Minor Moon, Blue Ranger, or Wildflower, you’ll be into this too.
Lee Baggett
Waves for a Begull
Lee Baggett is a longtime West Coaster who’s been making music for a long time, releasing records under a variety of different monikers, and collaborating with Little Wings. Beyond knowing that and the fact that he’d done a Langiappe Session for Aquarium Drunkard where he covered Def Leppard, I’ve never ventured into his catalog. His latest, Waves for a Begull, makes me want to do a deep dive. It’s a crunchy and warm dose of Neil Young with Crazy Horse-indebted rock that’s mellower and less apocalyptic. Across 11 songs, Baggett and his three-piece backing band create breezy songs complete with snaking guitar solos that never meander and rich Hammond B3 organ licks—Baggett’s voice yelps and coos with equal grit too. The whole thing feels spectacularly up my alley.
Little Kid
A Million Easy Payments
Little Kid describe their songs as “mostly slow Toronto music.” While that’s technically true, A Million Easy Payments is one of the most engaging records I’ve heard all year despite mostly operating in a mellow tempo. Released on the great Orindal Records founded by Chicago’s Owen Ashworth (Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Advance Base), the eight tracks here are intimate, meaty, and relentlessly hummable. Opener “Something To Say” features subtle banjo and it soars in its chorus. While you can compare this to soft-spoken artists like Mutual Benefit or Youth Lagoon, Little Kid feels more exploratory on songs like the jazzy “Beside Myself” and more approachable on standouts like “Somewhere In Between.”
Loving
Any Light
Loving are a remarkably affecting folk band from British Columbia. Their 2020 LP If I Am Only My Thoughts hit my inbox during a fairly fraught and reflective period in my life and made a lasting impression. Their songs operate at a steady, deliberate pace, taking solace in not rushing it and not forcing it. It’s unrushed, easygoing listening that on deeper investigation shows a group of sophisticated and supremely thoughtful songwriters who do all the small things right. Though their latest Any Light, barely stretches past the half-hour mark, no second is wasted with the quietly powerful “Uncanny Valley” and the doleful closer “Blue.” Though there are no think-piece-ready songs that would place the band on the cutting edge of this kind of music, there are few records I found myself returning to more this year.
Lunar Vacation
Everything Matters, Everything's Fire
Georgia’s Lunar Vacation expertly operate between several polarities on their sophomore LP Everything Matters, Everything's Fire. It’s their most polished album to date, but it somehow never loses its bite. When it’s at its most shoegaze-indebted squall, it keeps the galvanizing, arena-ready pop in its writing. At its most accessible, it’s still full of surprises and mystifying production flourishes. Signed to the small-but-scrappy label Keeled Scales which boasts Good Looks, Jo Schornikow, and several other newsletter favorites, no artist on their roster makes hooks flow so seamlessly and sound so effortless as these Atlanta-based twentysomethings. Opener “Sick” is a woozy earworm, complete with thrumming acoustics and airy vocals while the following track “Set the Stage” is a pure bliss dreamscape of fuzzed-out guitars. They seem poised to follow what Alvvays accomplished: writing consistently great songs while becoming more expansive and assertive as arrangers.
Lutalo
The Academy
Lutalo’s The Academy is an absorbing and deft LP that’s a document of a multi-hyphenate talent. Across 12 tracks, the Vermont-based, Minneapolis-raised songwriter Lutalo Jones transforms a familiar palette of mazelike indie rock and warm folk into something alien and bewitching. Every reference point I try to muster to ground this album feels unsatisfactory. Their voice jumps from cooly plainspoken like Kurt Vile or a baritone Labi Siffre to expressive, booming, and dynamic on rocking numbers like “Broken Twin” and “The Bed.” Jones, along with co-producer Jake Aron (Snail Mail, L’Rain), decamped to the famed Texas studio Sonic Ranch and recorded each instrument themself. The Academy is the first entry in a saga of albums Jones has planned out and this chapter mostly deals with nostalgic meditations on family, friendship, and growing up. They’re a smart and empathic writer, especially on tracks like “Big Brother” and the shoegaze haze of “Oh Well.” As a composer, they can thread the needle between Built To Spill-indebted guitar theatrics to plaintive acoustic numbers with equal virtuosity.
Maddy Kirgo
Shadow on My Light
New Orleans songwriter Maddy Kirgo draws from the most charming parts of country music and the most tasteful flavors of indie pop for her sophomore record Shadow on My Light. Recorded with Video Age’s Nick Corson and Duncan Troast (their band is a prime example of how tantalizing navigating the fringes of classic songwriting can be), these 10 songs exude wit, charisma, and confidence. Songs like “Beautiful Babe” and “Cowboy in Frame” use golden harmonies and luxuriant arrangements, while “Trading Partners” and “Happy Wife / Happy Life” highlight Kirgo’s caustic humor. Her flawless voice occupies an upper register that reminds me of Natalie Prass, which is a really big compliment. Like Prass’ debut, this LP digs deep into American musical history to find something fresh and alive for 2024.
Major Murphy
Fallout
Major Murphy’s songs can be gentle and driving but each is imbued with a smooth precision. They’re from where I grew up in Grand Rapids and they’d still sound like home if they weren’t. Fallout is their third full-length and it’s their most dreamy and compelling yet. Now a trio, with frontman Jacob Bullard, founding member Jacki Warren-Bullard, and drummer Chad Houseman, the LP strips the band’s formula to its barest essentials while also taking them into weirder, more fleshed-out places than ever before. Lead single “Time Out” is a charged rocker that tackles the daily grind with striking optimism. Elsewhere, “The Water” imbues samples and strings while the closer title track is the most experimental the band’s ever gotten.
Margaux
Inside the Marble
Five years ago I was obsessed with Margaux’s debut EP More Brilliant Is the Hand That Throws the Coin. It was intricate but immediate pop music that was so confident that I was shocked to find out she was then only 20 years old. Now, Margaux is in the band Closebye and the touring bassist for Katy Kirby and her immaculate debut LP Inside the Marble came out this summer. It’s somehow even more assured than the 2019 EP. The tracks here feel both unfussy and ornate, lived-in and cosmic. “I Wouldn’t Want It Any Other Way” is stripped-down melancholy while “Make The Move” has a relaxed groove and subtly bright strings. While I’m sure the half-decade gap between releases was likely a tough ask as a working musician, the outstanding finished product makes me happy she took her time with this full-length.
Merce Lemon
Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild
The Pittsburgh songwriter’s Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild has a lightness and palpable power thanks to Merce Lemon’s voice and her writing’s observant humanity. Recorded with Lemon along with Colin Miller and Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun studio in Asheville, there’s wailing pedal steel from Xandy Chelmis (Wednesday, MJ Lenderman) and soaring, feedback-heavy guitars from Lemon, Reid Magette, and Farrar. These textures add heft to her already-sturdy tunes. Tracks like “Slipknot” exude restlessness while others, like the single “Backyard Lover” find a glimmer of hope in debilitating grief. Few records can capture the intense vulnerability of bedroom pop with forceful, country-tinged arrangements that jump from breathtakingly gorgeous to dirge-like and pummeling. She’s the real deal: a songwriter’s songwriter with an unwaveringly free vision.
MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks
What else is there to say about the fourth solo LP from MJ Lenderman? This might be the most written-about indie rock record of the 2020s but I couldn't be more happy that the 25-year-old has earned such deserved acclaim. That said, I think the songwriting here transcends the hacky "dudes rock" jokes that fans assign to his music. Though it does rock (take "Wristwatch" or closer "Bark at the Moon" and its outro of feedback), he's tapped into something more profound and true than his peers. Lenderman's a funny and observant lyricist, who can find a crack of light in the darkest crevices of masculinity and loneliness. He's probably his generation's Warren Zevon (if Zevon grew up listening to Dinosaur Jr.) and the songs here are endlessly replayable. I might still have more of a soft spot for Boat Songs but seeing Manning Fireworks resonate so acutely has been a highlight of my year.
Punchlove
Channels
In my teens, I was obsessed with shoegaze, especially bands like Slowdive, Swirlies, and My Bloody Valentine but for some reason, I haven’t been able to connect with the so-called “shoegaze revival” beyond a small handful of bands. Brooklyn’s Punchlove are an obvious exception. Where I’d argue some of their peers take the genre’s touchstones and use them as a crutch, this band’s first priority is clearly their unassailable songwriting. Tracks like “Screwdriver” are frantic and explosive, while the woozy “Guilt” accentuates their inclination for mesmeric atmospherics. There’s a lot to love here, especially if you love loud guitars, hair-raising choruses, and smart production.
Ravyn Lenae
Bird’s Eye
Ravyn Lenae, the L.A. via Chicago R&B singer’s latest full-length Bird’s Eye might be her best yet. Beyond her airy yet commanding voice, her biggest asset is her astounding taste as a songwriter, curator, and arranger. Every beat and arrangement sounds future-forward on this relatively pared-back LP, her innovation lingers as she lets each track speak for itself. There are so many moments in Bird’s Eye that genuinely delight. Listen to any song and you’ll find a flourish in the arrangement or a tweak in the chorus melody that’s so left-field it’s startling. Where she’s experimented with glitchy electronics and beats, the arrangements here feel organic and often analog: touching on bossa nova, rock, ‘70s pop, and reggae. It’s hard to pick a focus track but the album captures summer’s sunny aura better than anything else this year.
Robber Robber
Wild Guess
Post-punk should be energetic, unpredictable, and risk-taking. On Wild Guess, Robber Robber delivers that sweet spot over nine electric tracks. The Burlington quartet fronted by Nina Cates alongside drummer Zack James (Dari Bay), guitarist Will Krulak, and bassist Carney Hemler, thrives on charging and aggressive songs with an infectious melodic center. “How We Ball” is spellbinding and hooky while “Sea Or War” excels on clanging riffs and frantic drums. It’s always fun and freeing, never dour or monotonous. If you’ve been floored by the idiosyncratic tunes from bands like Palm, Spirit of the Beehive, or the Hecks, you’ll find a wealth of incredible material to dig into here. Produced by the band and recorded with Benny Yurco and Urian Hackney (The Armed, Iggy Pop), it’s 2024’s finest dose of the genre so far.
Rosali
Bite Down
One listen to Bite Down, the fourth album from the North Carolina-based songwriter Rosali, will make you a believer. Recorded with Omaha rockers David Nance & Mowed Sound, with Nance on bass, Kevin Donahue on drums, Destroyer’s Ted Bois on keys, and Rosali’s co-producer James Schroeder on guitar, these are elliptical, compelling folk songs. They both rock as hard as anything from Yo La Tengo and Neil Young and intrigue like Sandy Denny or Will Oldham. Rosali’s lyrics are character-driven and emotive with lines so good they take a minute for their power to settle in. The delivery on closer “May It Be on Offer” where she sings, “There is hope upon me/there is reason to try” gives me chills.
Sam Evian
Plunge
Sam Evian is a great guitarist but he barely plays a lick on his new album Plunge. Instead, he picks up the bass and enlists a cast of collaborators like Liam Kazar, Adrianne Lenker, and Palehound’s El Kempner to play lead and rhythm parts. The result is the loosest and most raucously direct LP of his career. Recorded at his home studio Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskills, it’s Evian’s most collaborative LP and also somehow the one that feels the most uniquely his. He gleefully pays homage to classic ‘60s and ‘70s songwriting on this LP with ebullient power-pop and Beatles-esque riffage. It’s called Plunge because every day during these sessions, Evian and his band would jump into the sometimes freezing lake on his property. True to its title, these tunes are refreshing, rejuvenating, and totally worth the dive-in.
Sierra Ferrell
Trail of Flowers
Of the country, bluegrass, and folk albums released this year, Sierra Ferrell’s formidable Trail of Flowers has to be one of the most critically acclaimed of 2024. It got raves in the WSJ, the L.A. Times, Spin, and Paste, and Ferrell just won Artist of the Year and Album of the Year at the 2024 Americana Music Association Awards. Take one listen to the fourth album from the West Virginia-born, Nashville-based songwriter and the praise seems obvious. There are a handful of basically perfect, durable songs like the heart-wrenching opener “American Dreamin’,” the ebullient and snarky single “Million Dollar Bar,” and the fiddle-anchored “Lighthouse.” Beyond these clear standouts, every other track is still pretty damn good from the old-timey, jazz-inflected take on the 1930s Arthur Fiddlin’ Smith tune "Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County“ and the jaunty single “Fox Hunt.” For an artist who’s collaborated with everyone from Diplo to the Black Keys, Billy Strings, and Zach Bryan, Ferrell’s appeal is as broad as her talent is mind-boggling.
Smino
Maybe In Nirvana
This might be hard to believe but a little less than a decade I was mostly known as a music journalist who covered hip-hop. At the time I was working for RedEye Chicago covering its burgeoning scene led by artists like Chance the Rapper, Saba, Vic Mensa, Noname, and more. One rapper whose music is likely my favorite of all acts I’ve ever put on the cover of that publication is Smino. The St. Louis-born artist is a dexterous lyricist, his voice is animated and exudes charisma, and his ear for genre-defying beats (thanks to his producer/collaborator Monte Booker) is second to none. Maybe In Nirvana came out December 6 but it’s billed as a “prequel” to his 2022 full-length Luv 4 Rent (which made my list that year). Though not as ambitious as its predecessor, this collection is still a blast. Smino’s voice goes from a squeal to a croon with equal ease, his flow floats over the arrangements, and songs like “Hoe-nouns” and “Trequan” are spectacular.
SML
Small Medium Large
Supergroup SML boasts a murderers’ row of artists at the bleeding edge of jazz and experimental music with saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, synth player Jeremiah Chiu, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Booker Stardrum. Signed to the boundary-pushing Chicago label International Anthem, their debut Small Medium Large splices their live recordings into a cohesive, meditative whole. There are extended, improvised jams that fuse krautrock with spaced out-synths, cacophonous improvisation, and wailing horns. It’s as challenging as it is exhilarating, a dense but ripping collection of locked-in players and heady grooves. “Search Bar Hi-Hat” is droning and simmering while “Three Over Steel” is looping psychedelia.
Styrofoam Winos
Real Time
If you’ve listened to MJ Lenderman’s rambunctious 2023 live album And the Wind (Live and Loose!), you’re familiar with Styrofoam Winos, who opened those shows and guest on the closing cover of “Long Black Veil.” The Nashville trio is Lou Turner, Joe Kenkel, and Trevor Nikrant: all accomplished solo songwriters who combine for some of the most effective heartland rock of the year. There’s an ease to their chemistry that’s endlessly charming on songs like the ambling single “Angel Flies Over,” the quietly wistful “Master of Time,” and the relentlessly catchy kiss-off “Rollin’ With You.” These three are just undeniably good at writing songs and really, that’s all you need. This album is the platonic ideal of what Steven Hyden calls “a patio album.”
Tapir!
The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain
The first time I heard about the U.K. avant-folk collective Tapir! was via a joke from Friend of the Substack Ian Cohen. He posted a screenshot of the album and wrote, “Would you believe a band with that name putting that cover on an album with that title sounds like raw, uncut 2006 (complimentary).” He’s dead on. If you grew up loving the earnest art-folk of Sufjan Stevens, the fist-raising catharsis of early Arcade Fire, and the exuberance of the Polyphonic Spree, you’ll find a lot to love about The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain. It’s a three-act album full of biblical allusions, monsters appearing, tempestuous storms, and spoken-word narration. “Untitled” is sensational, closer “Mountain Song” is galvanizing, and “My God” is lyrically fascinating even if the melody takes a bit too liberally from the Replacements’ “Swinging Party” (or Nancy Sinatra’s “Something Stupid”). Where “indie sleaze” nostalgia feels stale, whatever mingling of aughts textures this accomplishes feels vital.
Tasha
All This and So Much More
Seven years ago, I interviewed the Chicago-raised songwriter Tasha at VICE and premiered one of her first-ever released songs in “Lullaby.” I was impressed then by how lived-in and inviting her songs already felt despite the sparse arrangements but each successive release has gotten fuller and more searching. Now, Tasha’s based in New York and just wrapped up a long stint as a performer in Illinoise, the Sufjan Stevens-inspired musical that hit Broadway this year. All This and So Much More her latest LP is her most audacious yet but it never loses the coziness of her more stripped-back early releases. Opener “Pretend” is alluringly enveloped in hazy synths but it steps into a higher plane when Tasha’s comforting yet commanding voice reaches the chorus. There have been few things more rewarding in my career than witnessing Tasha take risks and grow from a good songwriter to a great one.
This Is Lorelei
Box For Buddy, Box For Star
When I’m making End of Year Lists, I always ask myself, “Would I still include this album if its best song wasn’t on it?” With Box For Buddy, Box For Star, there are at least four perfect pop songs that stand among 2024’s true highlights. The Water From Your Eyes member and prolific New York songwriter Nate Amos really struck gold with tracks as infectious as “I’m All Fucked Up” and “Dancing in the Club,” which evoke the Postal Service, Big Star, and Magnetic Fields. “Perfect Hands” bounces with programmed drums and twinkling pianos while it’s to imagine the duet opener “Angel’s Eye” being sung by Linda Rondstadt and Glen Campbell. It’s a varied but impossibly fun LP that shows the magic of not overthinking and leaning on what feels good.
Twine
New Old Horse
Noisy and turbulent, Adelaide, Australia’s Twine amalgamate the battering ferocity of post-hardcore with slow-burning heartland twang that recalls Songs: Ohia or the Frames. On the quintet’s debut New Old Horse, bedlam and anger simmers in both the buzzsaw fiddle and frontman Thomas Katsaras’s throaty yelps. It’s unrelenting, invigorating, and often surprisingly pretty. Though anxiety and a sense of impending doom pockmark these heavy tracks, there’s a warm core of melodicism that bottles up its furor. Though its 10-tracks approach the 50-minute mark, it’s such an impassioned odyssey that it feels all too brief. The one band on this list that I need to experience live in a sweaty, small club.
Ulna
Gazebo
As a member of Bnny and the now-defunct Cafe Racer, Adam Schubert has been one of Chicago’s most beloved indie rock sidemen. Ulna is his solo project, which serves as a vessel for his uncompromising folk-rock songs that excel in unflinching honesty and minor-key knottiness. His latest full-length Gazebo is a bittersweet and observant look at his own childhood. For all the hurt feelings and suburban angst, Schubert approaches the material with a keen eye for resonance and learned lessons. Come for his superlative songwriting that evokes Girls, Built to Spill, and the Microphones, and stay for guest appearances from Squirrel Flower’s Ella Williams and Bnny’s Alexa Viscious. It’s the kind of album that slowly seeps into your brain and doesn’t let go.
Vampire Weekend
Only God Was Above Us
Vampire Weekend passes the Five-Albums Test with their latest Only God Was Above Us. In my opinion, they’re the best band featured in Meet Me in the Bathroom and have such a wonderfully zig-zagging career that makes them a particularly thrilling band to dive into. Only God Was Above Us is a sharp 180-turn from their 2019 standout effort Father of the Bride, which incorporated jam band signifiers into their sound, and feels more like the natural successor to 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City. “Classical” is already my favorite song they’ve ever done, complete with masterful stand-up bass parts and everything that makes VW a good band: self-aware lyrics, an ebullient blastoff into pop bliss, and clanging guitars. Elsewhere, the jazzy “The Surfer” and the piano-led “Mary Boone” round up a spectacular second side. If I were to redo my Discography Deep Dive into the band’s catalog, I’d slot this at number two behind Father of the Bride.
Waxahatchee
Tigers Blood
I’ve been writing about Katie Crutchfield’s music for as long as I’ve been a music journalist (I included Cerulean Salt in a 2013 Best of List and there’s a now-mercifully wiped from the internet blurb I wrote about 2012’s American Weekend). Watching her grow from the catchy punk of P.S. Eliot to the warm country rock of Waxahatchee has been such a joy to witness. Now a bonafide indie rock star thanks to 2020’s Saint Cloud and her Plains project with Jess Williamson, Tigers Blood nails whatever stratospheric expectations folks had for a follow-up. Teaming up with producer Brad Cook, drummer Spencer Tweedy, and guitarist Jake Lenderman, Tigers Blood has as many good songs as the number on the tracklist. While every tune is a contender for a favorite, I think “Crowbar” is the one.
Way Dynamic
Duck
One listen to Way Dynamic’s shimmering sophomore LP Duck, and it’s clear Melbourne-based bandleader Dylan Young is a keen student of mellow ‘70s songwriting from Carole King and Jackson Browne to Todd Rundgren and Harry Nilsson. Still, it’s more forward-thinking and fresh than a reverent pastiche: the danceable “Sports” ramps up its energy with muted funk while “Doctor Doctor” luxuriates in steady synth chords. Everything here is well-crafted, intentional, and easy to get lost in. More concerned with writing an impenetrable pop song than settling a vibe, Young guides this tracklist with an uncomplicated magnetism, his falsetto pleasant and his melodies improbably hummable. If there’s new music in store for 2025 (and I’ve heard there is), it’s near my most-anticipated of 2025.
Weak Signal
Fine
In May, Rosali recommended Weak Signal’s last album War&War as part of her Taste Profile interview with No Expectations. She was right to do so: The New York trio of Tran Huynh, Sasha Vine, and Mike Bones make deceptively simple no-frills rock music that takes as many cues from Iggy Pop (who is a fan) as it does the Velvet Underground and Yo La Tengo. It’s noisy, immediate, and totally rips. Fine, which came out last month, is the band’s most accessible collection yet (even though it opens with 90 seconds of feedback). The riffs are muscular yet tasteful and Bones sings with a sardonic, lowkey delivery that imbues humor and antipathy in equal measure. One song, called “Rich Junkie,” is an acid-tongued ripper about how money can allow you to skirt the rules. Elsewhere, “Wannabe” boasts a breezy chorus that’s as close to pop songwriting as they get while “Barking At the Moon” exudes frantic punk energy. This is a record with modest ambitions that still bests so much of 2024’s rock offerings with bigger press budgets and label backing.
Wildflower
Green World
Wildflower is the songwriting project of Portland, Maine’s Adrian O'Barr. On Green World, the band makes leafy and vibrant folk with ample twang and jazz-minded experimentation. It’s kind of the platonic ideal of a “spring album.” The songs bubble over patiently like on the nine-minute opener “Seabirds,” which slowly builds for three minutes until O’Barr’s agreeable vocals, which remind me of Damien Jurado or Major Murphy’s Jacob Bullard, enter the mix. Elsewhere, the instrumental track “Cloud Bay” is stunning: it bursts with a vivacity right out the gate but it slowly lilts into something more calming. This is immersive music: the kind of gentle Americana to get lost in.
Wild Pink
Dulling The Horns
Wild Pink’s songs boast palpable emotional stakes in both John Ross’s conversational lyrics and the arrangements’ cloudy atmospherics. His fifth album Dulling The Horns is his band’s best yet. It’s a testament to hitting the reset button and only using the barest essentials in the studio. Recorded mostly live, it’s refreshingly direct and hard-hitting with a heavier rock foundation that finds the beauty in the rough edges. Songs like “Eating the Egg Whole” reference Michael Jordan’s beret and the Montreal Expos while the title track is an enveloping, fist-raising ode to moving on. Ross’ storytelling and tuned ear for gratifying tunes will make you feel like you’re on the journey with him.
Winged Wheel
Big Hotel
There are a lot of heavy hitters involved with Winged Wheel, the percussion-centric band that excels on kosmiche grooves and spaced-out jams. There’s Chicago’s Whitney Johnson, who performs in Matchess, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, Detroit’s Fred Thomas, Spray Paint’s Cory Plump, Midwestern guitarist Matthew J. Rolin, and Water Damage's Lonnie Slack. Together, the group makes taut, cerebral, and ruminative tracks that strike a balance between Stereolab, Can, and Neu!. It’s an excellent mix that maintains its propulsive motion throughout to the point where it feels like one, spectral and heady track. This a welcome trip.
Youbet
Way To Be
New York trio Youbet specialize in the sort of knotty indie rock that unfurls slowly. You’ll like it on first listen, but you’ll love it if you gradually allow it to settle in your rotation. Fronted by Nick Llobet, whose raspy voice contorts from breathiness to upper register howls, is the band’s strongest asset. Their melodic sensibility wraps around the labyrinthian arrangements that veer from Flamenco-inspired fragility to blaring rock guitars. Thanks to an idiosyncratic sound, it’s tough to contextualize. Sometimes it sounds like the Beta Band, other times Radiohead, but mostly it’s a singular document of clear-cut songwriting talent, especially on tracks as irreproachable as “Vacancy, “Seeds of Evil,” and “Do.”
The 2024: Year in Review Playlist:
Apple Music // Spotify // Tidal
Thanks for making it all the way through. See you in 2025.
lol this list makes me feel like we went to a lot of the same shows at the bottle! As a Chicagoan breaks my heart not to see Dehd on this list…what is it about them that keeps them from breaking through ??? I can’t figure it out, they’re making music as good as anyone else right now
was surprised not to see katie gavin's album on the list. i'm *pretty* sure i found it through no expectations and really liked it.
my top 5 for the year are:
-the past is still alive: hurray for the riff raff
-temple needs water, village needs peace: lukah/real bad man
-visions of dallas: charley crockett
-bury my heart in east oakland: nimsins & jooneyor
-strange medicine: kaia kater