Here we are on the penultimate day of the year 2024. Tomorrow I'll do my "best of 2024" mega-post to celebrate another tremendous year in the punk/garage/power pop/etc. universe. But here's the thing: I'm just one person. I'm not going to be aware of even half of the great music that's out there. So I revived an old tradition and called upon some friends to augment F & L's end-of-the-year festivities. Below are some 2024 top ten lists from some friends of the blog. The majority of the releases mentioned below never got reviewed here. So hopefully you will check out some of these releases, and I will too! I'm really proud of these lists because they represent a diverse selection of musical tastes. Thanks to all of you who contributed. Let's make this an annual thing!
Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven
Split System - Vol. 2
Hood Rats - Crime, Hysteria & Useless Information
Zatopeks - Loitering and Sauntering
Pleasants - Rocanrol In Mono
The Samples - Speak Truth to Power
Alien Nosejob - Turns the Colour of Bad Shit
Sex Mex - Repackaged
Cut Piece - Your Own Good
Split System - Vol. 2
Hood Rats - Crime, Hysteria & Useless Information
Zatopeks - Loitering and Sauntering
Pleasants - Rocanrol In Mono
The Samples - Speak Truth to Power
Alien Nosejob - Turns the Colour of Bad Shit
Sex Mex - Repackaged
Cut Piece - Your Own Good
The Circulators - Insufficient Fun
Wim Reckers
2 The Bug Club - On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System
4 Itchy and the Nits - Worst Of
5 The Courettes - The Soul of... The Fabulous Courettes
7 SPRINTS - Letter to Self
8 Still Animals - self titled
9 Kewpie Dolls - self titled (EP)
10 No Brains - Cheap Shot
In no particular order, the ten records I played the most in 2024.
Black Russians - III
Randells - Peel Eat Repeat
The Cavemen - Ca$h 4 Scrap
The Pill - Hollywood Smile
Bloodstains - self titled
T.S.O.L. - A-Side Graffiti
Mugger - Luck Forever
Hellscape - Self titled
Dollhouse - I Hate You Don't Leave Me
Hayley and the Crushers - Unsubscribe from the Underground
And I watched every single live performance or video that Slaughterhouse has up on YouTube. Trust me - THEY will be the band to watch in 2025!
As I said, no particular order. Just the tunes I went to the most this year!
Jeffrey Thunders
Laura Jane Grace - Hole In My Head
Lysol (now called Fan Club) - Down the Street
The Real Losers - Good Clean Fun
The Real Shocks - Demo
Knee - self titled
Ejaculators - Wank Generation
MK Ultras - self-titled
The Plums - Demo 2024
The Circulators - Insufficient Fun
The Losers - Land of Opportunity
Hoodrats - Crime, Hysteria & Useless Information
Honorable mentions:
Teen Cobra - Buzzkill
Crimeline - Stray Bullets
Bad Anxiety - self titled
Mike Melanson
Marky & The Mopeds - self-titled 12" - NIM Records
Various Artists - Can't Escape From What You Are (DOA tribute) 12" - Sudden Death Records
The Weirdolls - Almost Unbreakable Toys 12" - Wanda Records
The Follow Ups - Know Who Your Friends Aren't - Mom's Basement Records/Faster and Louder Records
The Real Rejects - Not Allowed 10" - Alien Snatch Records
Smooch - A Force To Be Rockin' With 12" - Wanda Records
Various Artists - Punk Canada Vol. 3 12" - En Guard Records
The McBains - self titled 12" - Faster and Louder Records
Various Artists - Can't Escape From What You Are (DOA tribute) 12" - Sudden Death Records
The Weirdolls - Almost Unbreakable Toys 12" - Wanda Records
The Follow Ups - Know Who Your Friends Aren't - Mom's Basement Records/Faster and Louder Records
The Real Rejects - Not Allowed 10" - Alien Snatch Records
Smooch - A Force To Be Rockin' With 12" - Wanda Records
Various Artists - Punk Canada Vol. 3 12" - En Guard Records
The McBains - self titled 12" - Faster and Louder Records
Poppy Robbie
1. Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets - Indoor Safari
2. Amy Rigby - Hang In There With Me
3. Robyn Hitchcock - 1967: Vacations in the Past
4. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More
5. VCR - Season 3
6. Hoaxxers - "Thought That You Should Know" b/w "Heartsick" single
7. Matt Riggle - One and Only
8. My Favorite Boxer - Thimble: Our Music Is Celebration
9. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
10. The Coward Brothers - self-titled
I'd also like to add a 2023 vote for Pretenders' Relentless. Finally got around to diving into that album this past month and it's a punch to the gut. Great album!
Honestly, since I stopped doing my radio show here in Nashville a couple of years ago, I haven't kept up with newer music like I should. But there was still a ton of stuff I loved this year. While it's a given that I've forgotten some stuff, off the top of my head, here are my Top 10 songs for 2024.
10. 20/20 - "Laurel Canyon"
What did we do to deserve a brand new 20/20 track in 2024?? And a whole album coming in January?? That's a pretty good sign for 2025, I think.
9. Ben Folds - "Sleepwalking Through Christmas"
One of my favorite songwriters doing a full Christmas album? That will always be a Top 10 moment for me! It's hard to pick a favorite from the record this soon, and I may need to revisit this next year.
8. Beach Bunny - "Clueless"
Beach Bunny is definitely in my top five "newer" bands. So many great hooks, and the lyrics actually seem to be somewhat meaningful, as opposed to most of the nonsense people write today.
Beach Bunny is definitely in my top five "newer" bands. So many great hooks, and the lyrics actually seem to be somewhat meaningful, as opposed to most of the nonsense people write today.
7. Classic Pat - "Video to Radio"
I'm super lucky to be friends and bandmates with one of my favorite musicians, someone who does as much as he can just for the fun of it. I could pick any of the dozens of songs Pat does each year, but his Kidd Video project was extra fun this year, and the video is amazing.
I'm super lucky to be friends and bandmates with one of my favorite musicians, someone who does as much as he can just for the fun of it. I could pick any of the dozens of songs Pat does each year, but his Kidd Video project was extra fun this year, and the video is amazing.
6. The Cure - "A Fragile Thing"
Getting a new album from The Cure was one of the best things about 2024.
Getting a new album from The Cure was one of the best things about 2024.
5. Spose - "Wrong"
This is probably way out of place on this site, but Spose was my most listened to artist in my 2024 Spotify Wrapped thing, which is far from the only way I listen to music, of course. But it's still pretty interesting, and it has a lot to do with this album. All of the songs are good (particularly the three first released on the EP), but "Wrong" really spoke to me, with quotes like, "Everything you like, I'm anti," "I'd rather be dead than be like anybody," and "I like my autotune way out of tune."
This is probably way out of place on this site, but Spose was my most listened to artist in my 2024 Spotify Wrapped thing, which is far from the only way I listen to music, of course. But it's still pretty interesting, and it has a lot to do with this album. All of the songs are good (particularly the three first released on the EP), but "Wrong" really spoke to me, with quotes like, "Everything you like, I'm anti," "I'd rather be dead than be like anybody," and "I like my autotune way out of tune."
4. Ben Kweller - "Optimystic"
Following the tragedy of losing his son last year, you'd understand if we didn't hear from Ben Kweller for a little while. But this song... it says it all. "Lose your heart/Back to start/Your brains go 'pow'/I'm not optimistic now." I don't think I could ever have done something like this, but Ben's talent is undeniable. The fact that it sounds something like Radish and/or his Sha Sha era is just a bonus. Can't wait for the album.
3. Wyatt Funderburk - "Anna"
One of my best friends and favorite people is also one of the greatest current musicians around. We've been waiting for this EP for a long time, and Wyatt delivered, as expected. (Shout out to my brother Todd for playing the drums here.) Be sure to also check out Wyatt's other recent release, Hibiki's Parkside.
One of my best friends and favorite people is also one of the greatest current musicians around. We've been waiting for this EP for a long time, and Wyatt delivered, as expected. (Shout out to my brother Todd for playing the drums here.) Be sure to also check out Wyatt's other recent release, Hibiki's Parkside.
2. Nada Surf - "In Front of Me Now"
People who have written this band off as some MTV one-Buzz Bin-video novelty act have missed out on decades of dynamic songwriting by Matthew Caws. This particular track offers a great chance to reflect, especially heading into a new year. I'm captivated by lines like "Always re-writing what I was reading/But also doubting what I was conceiving." But I think the lyric that fits me best is "In the middle of summer, I was Decembering." That's me!
1. 2nd Grade - "I Wanna Be on Your Mind"
I was so excited about the new 2nd Grade album this year that I wrote a whole song to announce/celebrate its release. This song is everything you could enjoy about bands like The Apples in Stereo and The Byrds. I'm loving everything this band does.
Mike has also created a Spotify playlist of his top 20 songs of the year.
Jack White - No Name
Mistress 77 - Can't Stop
Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders - Keepin' Chaos At Bay
Split System - Vol. 2
Faz Waltz - Endless Beat
Swami John Reis & The Bed Of Nails - All Of This Awaits You
Kerry King - From Hell I Rise
Green Day - Saviors
Redd Kross - self-titled
Los Chicos - Never Is Too Much
The Fadeaways - Pretty Wild
Check out Ted's full annotated top ten list over at Takin' a Ride!
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