Sunday, December 15, 2024

24 for 2024: My Top Indie Music Releases of the Year



Hello, and welcome back to another of my annual year-end best-of new music lists. Here's the deal... this is my list. It's not your list. It's not Rolling Stone's, Paste's, Pitchfork's, or anyone else's list. So what you can expect is shit that I like. If you don't like it, that matters not. But before you start scrolling, I'll tell you what to expect.

First, nearly all of the music I highlight is somewhere in the indie rock/indie pop, shoegaze, experimental/art rock, and dream pop/bedroom pop genres that I enjoy. Looking for metal, hip-hop, R&B, mainstream pop, country, or jazz? Find another list. Side note: I love music in all those genres too, but again... this is my list. You'll find 24 of my favorites highlighted below, with another batch of dozens of honorable mentions below that. Everything detailed below was released in the calendar year of 2024, and are listed in alphabetical order; I couldn't possibly rank this stuff. Anyway, have fun and let me know if you discovered anything cool while perusing this year's list!




Allegra Krieger
Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine (Double Double Whammy)

This is the fifth album by 28-year-old New York singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger, and if you’re looking for something to listen to on a rainy Sunday, or even a cloudy Thursday, here’s your album. A tasteful blend of folky singer-songwriter sounds and indie rock vibes, the whole album is smart and satisfying.

Key Track: How Do You Sleep




Being Dead
EELS (Bayonet Records)

There’s nothing not to like about Being Dead, as long as you’re down with quirky and experimental artistic pop that sounds like a future-retro version of the Mamas and the Papas on even more drugs. EELS is their second album, and sometimes it’s hard to tell if they’re doing what they do genuinely or ironically, but either way they did some of the most interesting, fun, and surprisingly hooky collections of new music in 2024.

Key Track: “Big Bovine”





Bistro Plate
“Space Limo” (Self Released)

This is a brand new three-piece band out of Australia… I’m not sure they’re on a label at all, and I think they have three singles out over the past few months. And they’ve all been good, ranging from brisk rock on their first track “Autodog” to the lush sounds of “Space Limo” that I’ve chosen to highlight here. Synths and guitars take turns to glisten and crunch. Serene but exciting. Music to put on when you’re getting ready for a night on the town.

Key Track: Space Limo



 

Crumb
AMAMA (Crumb Records)

I've been a fan of Crumb since the first time I heard their initial EPs in the mid-2010s. They have an immediately identifiable and distinctive sound, mostly due to the uniquely great voice and guitar playing of frontwoman Lila Ramani. Their latest is fuzzy psyche-pop with an articulate smooth groove, and it's fucking great.

Key Track: The Bug




Cool Band
Cool Band (Self Released)

Like many of the smaller artists whose music attracts me, I don’t know much about Cool Band, other than that they’re from somewhere in California, and that they released a self-titled album in September. I do know that the album is packed with delightful, good-sounding, and melodic indie pop/rock songs. They are indeed a cool band.

Key Track: Multi Level Marketing






DIIV
Frog In Boiling Water (Fantasy Records)

One of the “biggest” bands on my list this year, DIIV (pronounced “dive”) is a shoegaze/indie rock band formed in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve been a fan for years, but really got deep into them with their 2019 release Deceiver. Their new album is absolutely outstanding. It’s a thoughtful record that requires multiple listens to try and understand the deeper meanings. Is it an actual-ass concept album? Maybe it is.

Key Track: Brown Paper Bag




Draag
Actually, the quiet is nice (Self Released)

Hailing from Sylmar, the northernmost Valley-based suburb of Los Angeles, CA, Draag is a sludgy dream pop band with abundant elements of shoegaze and occasionally even metal. This band is always beautiful, even when they’re ugly. There’s nothing not to like about their latest EP. I've never heard a Draag song I didn't like,  which is super rare for any band.

Key Track: Orb Weaver




Duster
In Dreams (Numero Group)

I’m pretty sure that Duster is one of the two most longterm bands on my list this year (the other being Idaho), having both gotten started in the early/mid 90s. Duster seemed to be somewhat forgotten for years until the start of the 2020s, when their resurged as a result of popular use other tunes in TikTok videos. Their sparse, melancholic, slowcore sound is the perfect vibe for certain moods.

Key Track: Poltergeist




Ford Chastain
Wavelines (Self Released)

Hailing from OKC, Ford Chastain is a bedroom pop guy with jangly guitars and dreamy vocals. I called him — not disparagingly — a combination of Kurt Vile and Real Estate. Okay, I called him Vile Estate, and that’s a high compliment coming from me. This album is summery in its laid-back vibe, but also has some underlying sad resignation that pulls me in as well.

Key Track: No Way




Hockey Season
“You're Not Here Anymore” (Self Released)


I thought I’d discovered Hockey Season in 2021 with the release of their album Sticky Concrete. However, it turned out I’d already been listening to the band when they were known as Toronto-based Swanes, a band comprised of brothers Michael and Stefan Bildy. Unfortunately, Mike didn't survive his bout with severe mental disorder, but Stefan has carried on the band's smooth and sophisticated indie alternative pop/R&B with a new name and a few singles released this year.

Key Track: You’re Not Here Anymore




Homeshake
CD Wallet (Self Released)


This is the solo musical project of Montreal-based singer-songwriter and musician Peter Sagar, who used to play guitar for Mac DeMarco. Very cool indie alternative stuff here throughout. By the way, Homeshake was a busy boy this year; after the 9-song CD Wallet album, he released a whole-ass other 12-song LP called Horsie later in the year.

Key Track: Smoke



 

Idaho
Lapse (Arts & Crafts)


This was a very pleasant surprise. Idaho is a Los Angeles-based band founded in 1992. But their 10th studio album Lapse comes after a 13-year hiatus. These guys — along with bands like Songs: Ohia, Codeine, and Red House Painters — are slowcore pioneers. They reconnected at a band member's mom's desert house in 29 Palms, CA, wrote and recored some new music, and this is the fantastic result. As I told my bandmates in They Stole My Crayon, I feel less weird about our pending new album after not having released one since 2016.

Key Track: On Fire



 

Juicer
Retire The Fences (Self Released)


This is the debut album by Brooklyn’s Juicer. Is it part of the ongoing resurgence of the ‘90s sound? Yes. Is it packed with dreamy shoegaze guitars, low key but intense vocals, and unapologetic melancholy? Also yes. If you appreciated bands like Pavement and Archers of Loaf back in the day, you’re gonna want to get you some Juicer now.

Key Track: Let Go




Knitting
Some Kind of Heaven (Mint Records)


Another debut album! I love new music, but I especially love new music from new bands. Knitting, out of Montreal, is fucking fantastic. Indie shoegaze rock and pop that thinks it’s lo-fi but is actually quite articulate and pleasant and super melodic. This crazy batch of seemingly nonbinary Canadian kids made some of the best music of 2024.

Key Track: Sleeper





Lutalo
The Academy (Winspear)


I got deep into Vermont based singer-songwriter Lutalo Jones via last year’s album AGAIN, but he’s topped that with this new release. it’s insanely good; I featured more tracks from his The Academy this year in my daily song recommendations than that any other band or artist. Sometimes I hear Neil Young in this guy, other time Nick Drake, or Smashing Pumpkins, or Bob Dylan, or Bill Callahan… but mostly I hear Lutalo. It's definitely an album you can listen to start to finish, and my only challenge was deciding which track to feature here.

Key Track: About (Hall of Egress)



 

Merce Lemon
Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild (Darling Recordings)


It’s folky, it’s country (in a very good way), and it’s definitely one of my favorite discoveries of 2024. This music of this singer-songwriter out of Pittsburgh is warmth embodied in sound. You hear the Harvest-era Neil Young in all the best of ways, while still seeming fresh and pertinent to the now. Special extra credit for featuring Xandy Chelmis of Wednesday on pedal steel, who reminds me of Sneaky Pete Kleinow.

Key Track: Backyard Lover




MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks (Anti- Records)


This is weird because I mentioned a member of the band Wednesday just above. Now here’s another: MJ Lenderman, whose fourth solo album is the only one on my list that also made many of the indie media’s “best of” year-end lists. I’ve appreciated this Asheville, NC-based singer-songwriter for a good while now, but he’s really hit his stride with this album. And if this music sounds a bit like that of his other band, that’s because it features contributions from his Wednesday bandmates Karly Hartzman, Xandy Chelmis, and Ethan Baechtold.

Key Track: She’s Leaving You




Sea Lemon
“Crystals (feat. Benjamin Gibbard)” (Luminelle Recordings)


This was a surprisingly great track, and I'm not sure why I was surprised. I've enjoyed the music of Seattle-baed Natalie Lew (aka Sea Lemon) since her debut, and while I'm not the world's biggest Death Cab or Postal Service guy, on many occasions I've appreciated the songwriting and performances of Ben Gibbard. Still, this fuzz-pop jam seem to be more than the sum of its parts. Great track. 




Shower Curtain
words from a wishing well (Angel Tapes/Fire Talk)


Yes, more shoegaze alt-rock out of Brooklyn. You got a problem with that? I didn’t think so. This is another debut album, I should note, and it’s great… and has potential for even better stuff in the future of this band. Swirling fuzzy guitars, noise miasma, and dream-like vocals by Victoria Winter. All good. More please.

Key Track: Edgar




Snoozer
Mid-Earth (Born Losers)

Here's something maybe sorta funny? Snoozer's debut album comes close to two decades after this literal band of brothers first formed. Mike and Tom Kelly are known only for their rocking house shows around their native Philadelphia. Oh, and for Tom being the live touring drummer for Alex G. But I didn't know any of that when I got turned on to Mid-Earth, and this shit is fucking fantastic multilayered indie rock. Well done, lads.

Key Track: Behave




Snowy
Age Difference (Blossom Rot Records)


Melbourne, Australia-based singer-songwriter Liam Snowy Halliwell seems to release a solo album like, every other month. You'd think I was exaggerating; I'm not. Maybe a little. But not much. However, Age Difference is just the third album by the indie folk Snowy Band (distinct from his solo output), and it is utterly amazing. Lyrically poetic, musically evocative, hard to even pin down to any genre at all.


Key Track: God Texted Back




Sofia Bolt
Vendredi Minuit (Born Losers)


France-born, Los Angeles-based musician, songwriter, and producer Amelie Rousseaux records as Sofia Bolt. Her second LP combines dreamy pop, orchestral psych, and sweet grooves. As a fan of art-pop in general, I dove into this one right way. I'm even working on my French to possibly cover the title track at some point.

Key Track: Vendredi Minuit




Various Artists
TRAИƧA (Red Hot Org)

I'm not quite sure if I've ever included a "various artists" collection in my best-of list. Maybe I have. I'm too lazy to look, but regardless, this absolutely fantastic album -- released by activist and music production non-profit Red Hot -- includes 46 songs and contributions from over a hundred musicians in celebration of the trans community and to bring awareness to trans rights. And yes, many of the contributors on TRAИƧA are via the gifts of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. My hats off to all of them. I can't just highlight one song off this massive gathering of greatness, so here are a few standouts...

Key Track: Deeper Understanding (Hand Habits feat. Bill Callahan)


Key Track: Feel Better (Adrianne Lenker)


Key Track: Make 'em Laugh (Benét + Faye Webster)




Wand
Vertigo (Drag City)


I enjoyed the slow mutation of LA-based psyche-rock quartet Wand from their more druggy, fuzzed-out origins to whatever you'd call their latest outing Vertigo. This band's sixth studio album has country elements, but more desert country than anything you'd hear in Nashville. It's not very surprising considering that the last solo effort from frontman Cory Hanson was literally called Western Cum. But this is a fine album in its own right, great for a day fucking around in Joshua Tree or anywhere there's dirt and cacti.

Key Track: Hangman





Honorable Mentions

Barney Cortez
"Nowhere To Hide"

Caroline Polachek/Weyes Blood
"Butterfly Net"

Chastity Belt
"Kool-Aid"

Clothesline from Hell
"You Don't Know"

Dana Gavanski
"Let Them Row"

Eyedress
"Occasional Stoner"

Fake Fruit
"Long Island Iced Tea"

Far Caspian
"Finding My Way Home"

Fanclubwallet
"Bands Like That"

Faye Webster
"Undressed at the Symphony"

Goat Girl
"ride around"

Goon
“Death Spells”

Jaeger
"Dragonslayer9999"

J.R.C.G.
"Drummy"

Julia Holter
“Something in the Room She Moves”

Kamasi Washington
“Asha The First (feat. Thundercat, Taj Austin, Ras Austin)”

Kim Deal
“Nobody Loves You More”

Lozenge
"Aubrey Plaza"

Maxband
"Lines"

Mk.gee
"Alesis"

Mount Kimbie & King Krule
“Empty and Silent” 

Niall Summerton
"Tear Me Apart"

Nilüfer Yanya
"Mutations"

PACKS
"Missy"

Peel Dream Magazine
"Anorak"

Sex Week
"Toad Mode"

Semiwestern
“abasement tapes”

The Smile
"Teleharmonic"

Spirit of the Beehive
“LET THE VIRGIN DRIVE”

urika’s bedroom
"Metalhead"

Vilde
"A Hideous Win"

Winter
"Sallow"

Wishy
"Spit:

World Brain
"Ville Fleurie"

youbet
"Vacancy"

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