Stuff and Things

Quite late, but that's what happens when you get a new job. Here's my personal top albums of 2024! Write-ups for each below, in ascending order.

17. Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown Portishead was always my favorite trip-hop group of the ‘90s, their uniquely dark sensibility inside the head-nodding beats and intricate record scratching really drew me in. And of course in the center of it all was the powerful yet ghostly voice of lead singer Beth Gibbons. Decades since Portishead’s 3rd and final album, she has put out her first solo album, and it is very unique. None of the hip-hop sound is here, but there is lots of rich, warm groove for her ethereal voice to float along with. I’ve seen it referred to as Chamber Pop, which fits. There are often thundering drums and classical instrumentation enveloping the listener. One of my favorite songs is “Rewind”, which sounds a little like if Mezzanine-era Massive Attack covered Dead Can Dance, mixed with some abstract jazzy stuff. “For Sale” includes some wonderful gypsyesque strings, it sounds like a song from a haunted pirate movie. The entire album is gorgeously mystical and dark.

16. Soccer Mommy – Evergreen Consistently beautiful, achingly emotional, Soccer Mommy makes some of the absolute best indie pop ever. I fell in love with her 2020 album Color Theory, and have since dug her entire back catalog and kept up on her subsequent releases. To varying degrees, all of her music is built off a bedrock of gentle, swirling acoustic guitars, sometimes layered and atmospheric, sometimes stripped bare. 2022’s Sometimes, Forever added in more electric crunch, but Evergreen dials it back down for the most part. She is the best at what she does, and what Soccer Mommy does is make lush indie pop to stare longingly into the night sky to.

15. Jack White – No Name The White Stripes were one of the most consistently interesting rock bands of the 2000s, crafting an incredible variety of vintage-blues-rock-meets-the-21st-century music. Since their breakup in 2011, I’ve never connected with any of the solo work or side projects that Jack White has made. Until now. His untitled new record, dropped out of nowhere as a surprise gift vinyl to shoppers at Third Man Records stores is a revelation. Both his strained voice and scratchy guitars have a great rough and tumble sound. The walking rhythms and pop melodies underneath that rough exterior make the songs incredibly listenable and enjoyable. A true modern classic.

14. Blink-182 – One More Time… Part 2 I assume these are just songs left off of last year’s One More Time, as that album had a lot of songs. However, these are not lesser than anything on that album, all the same richly produced electropop-punk sound is back on display, with catchy choruses and danceable beats aplenty. “See You” has a U2-esque smooth guitar sound backing its dreamy pop, punctuated by the sharp hits of Travis’s drumbeats. “Can’t Go Back” adds echoey piano into the mix, while “Everyone Everywhere” is a fast punk yell-along. It took me a while to listen to this album, but once I gave it a close listen I realized it’s just more of the same Blink goodness they’ve made since their self-titled. I didn’t expect more so soon, and I hope we eventually get a true follow-up, but even if not this is not a bad place to leave it.

13. Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department / The Anthology Taylor Swift’s latest, a surprise double album, took me a long time to appreciate. Compared to her last… 6 albums at least, TTPD was very placid and lacking in memorable hooks the first few times I listened to it. The first song to crack through was The Anthology’s “thanK you aIMee”, her not so subtle diss track to Kim Kardashian. It had a memorable chorus and great melodies. One of the other best songs to me is “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”, its fast-paced pitter patter is of a piece with songs like “Mastermind” from Midnights. I love it so much, but it is very much the exception that proves the rule on these albums. Listening to them over and over for months, it did slowly reveal itself. There is a lot to love, but it is still a minor entry in her discography for me.

12. Halsey – The Great Impersonator Each song on this album is inspired by a different singer throughout time, from Björk to Stevie Nicks, David Bowie to Britney Spears. Musically they somehow all merge together into an epic tapestry, all anchored by the truly unique voice of Halsey herself. Lyrically the album is about Halsey’s health struggles and contain plenty of off-putting vocabulary and winceworthy descriptions. A quick favorite is her Stevie Nicks inspired “Panic Attack”, it’s dreamy ‘70s strut is a perfect backing to Halsey’s comparisons between love’s and anxiety’s effect on the body. I absolutely loved Halsey’s 2021 album, a collaboration with Trent Reznor as producer. This album has a much more guitar-based and varied sound, but the power and vulnerability she showed there is still around in full force. This will be an album I enjoy digging into even further, it has a lot to offer.

11. Sum 41 – Heaven :x: Hell I haven’t really listened to an album by Sum 41 since 2004’s Chuck. This year they put out their final album, a 2 disc set where the first disc Heaven has songs in their early 2000s pop-punk sound, and the second disc Hell is more heavy metal, like what they’ve apparently been doing more recently. I loved both discs a lot! Heaven is a pure slice of nostalgia, bringing me right back to high school, when bands like Blink-182, The Offspring, and Sum 41 ruled TRL and my personal cd collection. “Landmines” and “Dopamine” were singles off this album, and both are perfectly catchy pop-punk, they bring smiles and headbanging in equal measure. The Hell side was really cool to me, as this is a side of the band I didn’t really know. They bring the same arresting hooks from their pop side and apply them to a sharper, louder metal sound. It’s supremely catchy speed metal. Many songs include legit guitar solos, “It’s All Me” has some wonderfully fun lead guitar shredding. “House of Liars” dials it back a bit, with something a little slower and darker. The entire album is a fitting testament to this band, I’m glad they went out on top, and I just might have to dig further into their discography after enjoying this heavier side they’ve got going on.

10. Finneas – For Cryin’ Out Loud Finneas’ 2021 album Optimist topped my list that year, so I had high hopes for its successor this year. But while Optimist had a wide variety of musical sounds, and tons of sexy fun hooks, For Cryin’ Out Loud is much more subdued. Most of the album has a smooth, ‘70s soul sound to it. It’s certainly pleasant, but just doesn’t grab me as much as I hoped. I respect his decisions though, and obviously he’s still a musical genius (spoilers for this year’s #1 album). The best song is easily lead single “For Cryin’ Out Loud”, it is similar in tone to Optimist’s “The ‘90s” with its effortless swagger instrumentation backing intensely anxious lyrics. I also really like “What’s It Gonna Take To Break Your Heart”, which starts off with that smooth ‘70s sound I mentioned before, then slowly grows into a richly layered soundscape of wailing heartbreak by the end. I love Finneas, he’s always magnetic and I love watching him grow as an artist. This one just fell a little short.

9. Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism Dua Lipa’s previous album, 2020’s Future Nostalgia, was a nonstop hit machine, just banger after certified banger, and landed at #3 on my list that year. Radical Optimism is not a radical departure, it’s more of the same but just a little lacking in impact. There is a lot to love though, lead single “Houdini” is the standout track, a classic bop that will stand the test of time. “Whatcha Doing” has the funky bass and headbopping beats to spare. One of the best and most unique songs is “Maria”, which has Dua Lipa trading in ‘90s style latin pop. Her voice is still breathy and beautiful with her accent providing a wonderful exotic edge. The catchy melodies and perfect beats are still there, it’s just a little more subdued compared to the neon explosion that was Future Nostalgia.

8. Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter I really fell for Beyoncé through Lemonade, her 2016 epic. I didn’t really relate to its follow-up, the house and dance-infused Renaissance, beyond its lead single “Break My Soul”. Upon learning that her next album would be country-infused I was immediately intrigued. One of my absolute favorite songs from Lemonade was the southern countrified “Daddy Lessons” and I was hoping for more of that. The first single from the album “Texas Hold’Em” was definitely in a similar vein, if a bit less intense. It’s an absolutely beautiful song, with a hillbilly groove anchored by banjo and acoustic percussion. The entire album is 27 tracks long (including some spoken intros and interludes and such) and runs the gamut of genre and tone. Most of it is at least somewhat folk-tinged if not outright country. There’s also a lot of modified covers and homages, from the Beatles’ Blackbird to Dolly Parton’s Jolene. Beyoncé makes these songs her own, often changing lyrics and crafting whole new narratives. I really enjoy the cover of Jolene, even if lyrically it’s very messy. Most of the album just flows, there are fun ‘radio show intro’ interludes giving the mishmash of an album a reason for its eclecticism. Finally, the best song on the album is an absolute showstopper called “Ya Ya”. It is the audio equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino film, where a bunch of genres were thrown into a blender and a whiskey-soaked badass banger sauntered out. It’s impossible not to dance to this song, it’s one of the coolest songs I’ve ever heard. Beyoncé’s absolute fearlessness, her commitment to reclaiming country music for black people, and her impeccable pop chops make this an album that demands to be heard, and I look forward to what she puts her stamp on next.

7. House of Protection – Galore EP I found this electro-metal band through either youtube or instagram recommendations, and was pretty instantly taken by their wild eclecticism and heavy guitars. They sometimes sound like if Slipknot and the Crystal Method got mixed up, with screeching, danceable big beats underneath loud guitars. The vocals alternate between shouting and melodic singing. It all makes for a very energetic combination, really fun to drive to. They have a modern nu-metal feeling to them, very multicultural. I’m always looking for more new heavy music, but am really picky about it. These guys cut through the noise with a simple and short gut punch of an EP. Their video for the opening song “Pulling Teeth”, filmed in India, is what really made me interested. I highly recommend it.

6. Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet I knew her as Olivia Rodrigo’s blonde rival, but hadn’t really heard much of Sabrina Carpenter’s music, until this year when she completely blew up with the singles “Please Please Please,” Taste,” and above all else, “Espresso”. I found myself completely enraptured by “Espresso,” loving it whenever it played on the radio until I just had to get it on my computer. It has a vaporwave sound to its production, drenched in the dreamy side of the ‘80s. It’s easily one of my favorite songs of the year, a smooth slice of pop perfection. Very reminiscent of Cannons, my number 1 played artist for a couple years now. The rest of the album ranges from slightly softer, guitar based ballads to bouncy electronic bubblegum pop. I’m real happy to have a new pop princess in my rotation. 5. Slackerjazz – Couch Potato Soul Coughing described their music as “deep slacker jazz”. Several months ago, a very indie band called “Slackerjazz” posted links to their album on the Soul Coughing subreddit. They do a very credible Soul Coughing sendup, with the syncopated beats, standup bass, and science-fiction synths underneath weird poetry lyrics. The singer is female though, and the whole thing is less of a rip-off act the more I’ve listened to it. They manage to put their own twist on the already very idiosyncratic Soul Coughing formula, and I absolutely love it. For anyone who liked that band or just fans of weird, cool music in general, I can not recommend it enough. My favorite song is “Don’t You Dare”, check it out.

4. Sleater-Kinney – Little Rope When Sleater-Kinney broke up in 2006, I was devastated. They had just put out their most daring record, The Woods. I saw their final concert, in Portland, and figured that was it for “the best band of all time” (according to the Portland weekly paper I first heard about them in, in 2002). But in 2015 they reunited, putting out a new album that was a perfect follow-up to The Woods. Since then they’ve released 3 more albums, and I treasure each of them, like gifts from an alternate timeline. They’ve gone some very different places, to the edges of moody electronica and back. They’ve lost their drummer Janet. But the core of Sleater-Kinney, the dueling guitars and offset vocals of Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein are as sharp as ever. Little Rope opens with the fantastically dark “Hell”, haunting verses giving way to explosive choruses like only a 90s band can. The rest of the album never lets up, hitting all their flavors. The cheerful grrrl punk on “Don’t Feel Right” could’ve easily come off 2000’s All Hands On The Bad One, next to The Center Won’t Hold-esque electro rock on “Crusader”, and The Woods-light “Say It Like You Mean It”. I’ve been following this band for almost 25 years, and their passion and creativity have never disappointed. “Best band of all time” indeed.

3. Linkin Park – From Zero Speaking of bands with long hiatuses, 2024 truly was the year of Linkin Park’s resurrection. After the tragic passing of Chester Bennington in 2017, the band seemed irrevocably broken. Bandleader/producer/rapper Mike Shinoda continued to make music, and last year’s unburied gem in the 2003-era LP song “Lost” brought Linkin Park back into the pop landscape. This year they returned with a vengeance, bringing Dead Sara’s Emily Armstrong as a new lead. She doesn’t try to be Chester, she brings her own sound and fury to LP. They are the same, they are different. The album was preceded by three singles, the first of which, “The Emptiness Machine” is really the platonic ideal of a perfectly balanced Linkin Park song. It’s amazingly catchy and heavy, with a perfect intertwining of Mike and Emily’s voices. The second single “Heavy is the Crown” is a bit heavier, with more rapping, it reminds me of “Bleed it Out”. The third single brings it down a bit, “Over Each Other” is a slower, moodier, slightly poppier song sung solely by Emily. The rest of the album is great, it’s 11 songs and barely clears a half hour in length, but that means I have learned it front to back quite well, and quickly. One of my favorite tracks is “Overflow”, it’s a bit more electronic and atmospheric. As I get older and my favorite bands age too, their varying trajectories are very interesting to follow. Linkin Park’s has been one of the most unique, and I am just so happy for their revival. I’m grateful I was able to see them live at the height of their powers in 2003, and will soon be seeing LP 2.0 later this year. May their new life suit them well, and give us all more wonderful music.

2. DAVVN - BRBTTYL They don’t make ‘em like they used to, right? DAVVN is the brainchild of a couple millennials who don’t want to grow up, and prove that sometimes, they do make ‘em like they used to. This EP is jampacked full of early oughts style pop-punk, with a modern indie gloss sheen. The title track “BRBTTYL” directly references both Avril Lavigne and “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in its bouncy ode to millennial young adulthood. Every song is a relentless assault of hot pink guitars and bubblegum hooks. The first few times I heard them, I literally couldn’t believe that this was a new band, I said to myself “I can’t believe someone is making songs that sound like this again!” This is the sound of my adolescence, Avril and Blink-182 and Paramore. Plus, similar to Slackerjazz and 2022’s #4 album by Junatime, it’s just fun to love a super indie band, who no one else knows, a band you can really hold close and cherish as your own. I hope they tour, and come near here. That would be a really fun concert. This band is so small they don’t have any vinyl for sale, but instead have some burned CD-R mixes available to buy. They’re an adorable sugar rush for anyone with nostalgia for this time and style, and always bring a smile to my face.

Once again, the list was pretty much sorted by early February, but it took me a while to write up the post.  Here's my notes on my Top 15 albums of 2023!

15. Metallica - 72 Seasons

I haven't truly loved a Metallica album since last century, and their previous album, 2016's "Hardwired... To Self Destruct" was exceptionally boring to me.  Modern day Metallica songs are mostly long and kinda repetitive, without much of the inventive structure that made their classic material great, nor their occasional experimentation and pop chops that boosted the best of their ‘90s music.  72 Seasons is a bit better than Hardwired, it's more on par with 2008's "Death Magnetic".  The reason it manages to make the list though is the final song, "Inamorata".  An 11 minute long epic complete with a wah-pedaled slow solo in the middle.  It is very reminiscent of their trio of epics from 1996's "Load" album; "Bleeding Me", "Thorn Within" and "The Outlaw Torn".  Metallica hasn't made a song that sounded like this in nearly 30 years, and it just fills me with such happiness.

14. Pierce the Veil - The Jaws of Life

A truly strange album.  It's kind of like... if My Chemical Romance were simultaneously more poppy and more heavy?  There are some truly deep, heavy metal moments on this album, mixed in amongst the screamo vocals and tiktok trap beats.  It's a very modern mix of genres , which is why I think of this album as carrying the nu-metal torch in a way.  The first song I heard was a relatively soft pop-rock single called "Emergency Contact", it really reminds me of Placebo. 

13. Olivia Rodrigo - Guts

Olivia's debut "Sour" was a great pop-punk punch to the gut in 2021.  Her followup has a few really great tracks (the first three especially; "All-American Bitch", "Bad Idea Right?" and "Vampire") but the album as a whole hasn't grabbed me as strongly as Sour did.  Still good though.

12. Alex Lahey - The Answer is Always Yes

A great straight ahead rock record, Alex Lahey's third album is really fun and chill.  The opener "Good Time" has laid-back swagger reminiscent of Beck, and lyrics espousing how everyone needs a good time after the last few years have been so rough for us all.  She has a wonderful punk edge to her voice, but can sing a very pretty melody when called for.  The music has gained some extra layers since her debut in 2017, there's occasional pleasing fuzz tones to the guitar.  This album has some pretty indie rock ballads amidst the fun rockers too.  A really well-rounded rock record.

11. Paramore - This Is Why

I've never really connected with Paramore, they seem like a great pop-punkish group that I should like but I just never got into them in a big way.  This new album (their sixth) does something a little different than I've heard before.  Exemplified by the title track "This Is Why", they've brought a jagged, start-stop new wave sound to the music.  Recently I've listened to a bunch of old Talking Heads and Blondie, and "This Is Why" has a similar sonic pallette to those late '70s/early '80s weirdos.  It was intriguing enough to get my foot in the door and enjoy everything this band had on display.  A very unique and interesting album, great to erratically dance to.

10. Blink-182 - One More Time...

My first favorite band, my first concert, Blink-182 have been a very important soundtrack to my life.  I didn't dislike their last two albums without founding member Tom Delonge, and did not foresee this reunion actually happening any time soon.  That said, I'm glad it finally happened.  Their first song released from it "Edging" was a little stupid, and didn't make me expect too much.  But then in September they released the video for the title track "One More Time..." and I cried while watching it.  This stupid pop punk band has meant so goddamn much to me over the years, and this song delves into their personal history and breakups and makeups.  Just hearing Mark and Tom trade vocals on a beautiful ballad like this feels so good.  The album has a lot of songs, 17 in total, but being punk songs the whole album is still only 44 minutes.  I'd say the album as a whole skews closest to their 2003 Self-Titled album in sound.  Which most people probably consider their creative peak, so it's not a bad choice.  Who knows what will happen in the future, but I'm glad these guys got together one more time at least.  I'm seeing them in concert this summer, for a full-circle nostalgic trip.  It's good to have them back for however long it lasts.

9. Metric - Formentera II

Metric put out a "part 2" of sorts to my 2022 album of the year.  It has a gloriously catchy, synthy sound mixed with their signature smooth guitar sound.  There's a lot to love on this album, from the meandering soft rock of "Days of Oblivion" to the disco swagger of cheating anthem "Just The Once".  I'm so glad this band has continued to thrive for over 20 years, it seems they'll never lose their effortless cool.

8. K.Flay - Mono

2022's Inside Voices/Outside Voices album was a creeper hit for me, I listened to it more and more over time.  I was still in full fledged fandom mode for it when she put out Mono.  I listened to a little bit of it but it took several months before I seriously gave this album a chance.  It has won me over big time.  I'm impressed by how big and loud so much of it is, especially the song "Irish Goodbye" featuring the singer/guitarist of Pierce the Veil.  It uses dubstep-like drops in its chorus that never fails to make me bang my head.  It's not all big guitars though, there's lots of her softer, weirder songs too.  "Spaghetti" is a wandering stoner monologue of a song, set to '90s alternative guitar and a simple boppy drumbeat.  K.Flay has consistently put out weird, interesting music that mixes her punk-white-girl-rapper past persona with the complicated experimental soundscapes of her elder millennial existence.

7. Kesha - Gag Order

The final album that Kesha had to make under her record contract that connects her to her abuser, Kesha pulls no punches on it.  She enlisted legendary producer Rick Rubin for this album, and it's unlike anything she's done before.  Swirling cold synths and tinkling acoustic guitars surround her natural voice while an ominous deep robotic bass throbs underneath.  This is the music of PTSD, a survivor being supported to tell her truth.  It's a very powerful statement, I recommend the visualizer video for "Eat the Acid", it's surprisingly intense in its simplicity.  Lyrically I also really like the song "Hate Me Harder", for anyone who wants to stand up to their haters or abusers.

6. Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

Fall Out Boy has taken me many years to appreciate.  I really liked their 2015 album American Beauty/American Psycho, and a couple of their previous album's hits, but hadn't gone much deeper.  But within the last year I've fallen in love with both their first greatest hits collection (of their music from 2002-2009) and this, their newest album.  It has everything I love about Fall Out Boy and more.  They take the pop-punk-emo playbook of the early 2000s and inject it with a sweeping, cinematic epic quality that is hard to quantify but instantly pulls me in.  The song "Hold Me Like a Grudge" is so ridiculously catchy, they've injected a slight disco-riffic quality, with a danceable bassline and handclaps.  Handclaps for God's sake!  I can't not dance around when this song is on.  As for that epic quality I mentioned, the song "Heaven, Iowa" has it on full display, going from a soft crooning intro into a full blown prog explosion over the course of its 4 minutes.  They've got my full attention now, and I am listening intently.

5. Crosses - Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.

Deftones' gothy synthwave side project Crosses finally puts out a second full length album ten years after their first.  It's a bit more dynamic, a bit more electronic than their debut, big and booming, sexy and dark.  I took Phoenix to see them in concert earlier this year and this sound was so cool to hear live.  Chino's sexy, ethereal whisper-to-a-scream voice is on full display, dancing on top of the pulsing beats and sharp synths.  Listening to Crosses makes me feel like I'm in an underground vampire club in the late 80s, hoping to be bitten by a femme fatale in sunglasses and patent leather.

4. Cannons - Heartbeat Highway

Cannons shot out of nowhere for me in 2022, with their debut album landing at #2 on my list of that year.  Their retro dream pop that captivated me then is in full force again on their sophomore effort.  It took me a little while to warm up to, at first I was a little disappointed because it seemed so similar.  But it didn't take long for that to not be a con at all, and now I am completely in love with this album, just like I was with their first.  I can see the small differences, and appreciate both albums on their individual merits.  This album has consistently been one of my top listened to in the car, their soft soothing sound has been there for me when I need something to make me feel better.

3. Various Artists - Barbie Soundtrack / Mark Ronson - Barbie Score

The Summer's movie hit was also a gigantic musical hit for me and my whole family.  The soundtrack had some instant classics, including Lizzo's adorable "Pink" and "Pink (Bad Day)" and Dua Lipa's modern pop disco anthem "Dance the Night" (easily one of my most played songs of the whole year).  Ryan Gosling's breakaway book number "I'm Just Ken" and hilariously over-the-top cover of "Push" always brought a smile to our faces.  It's so much fun to sing along with his mushy mouth vocals.  Billie Eilish's piano whispery wonder-anthem "What Was I Made For?" somehow embodied the message of the movie perfectly and always gave me a chill when I heard it.  Most of the rest of the soundtrack was filled with modern pop tracks that ranged from kinda meh tik-tok autotune pop to really engaging fun songs ("Choose Your Fighter" and "Man I Am" being highlights of the latter).  This brings me to the score.  Mark Ronson, retro producer known for his work with Amy Winehouse and Bruno Mars, has taken the colorful plastic world of Barbie and given it a '70s sunshine and lollipops soundscape to match.  Many songs are of a piece with the Lizzo and Dua Lipa tracks, which he also produced, and by the time of "Beach Off" he's in full '80s technicolor soundtrack mode.  There are softer bits too, he uses Billie Eilish's pianoline as a soft introspective theme for the film's quieter moments several times.  This score has been wonderful to put on in the background while working or cleaning, it picks me right up, never bores, and always has something new to hear.

2. Linkin Park - Lost Demos

I'll admit this isn't a normal album.  But its significance can not be understated.  It begins with "Lost", a 2002 era song, fully finished but cut from their second album Meteora and subsequently forgotten about.  Meteora has always been my favorite LP album, and being able to "go home again" and hear a new track with that perfect early-'00s nu-metal blend of rough guitars and smooth electronic production was great.  LP hadn't sounded like this in years.  Of course, the real draw was the late Chester Bennington's unique emotional howl, unheard on new material since his sad passing in 2017 (the day after my birthday of that year).  "Lost" dominated radio last year, and rightfully so.  The next two songs on the album are standard Linkin Park songs, juxtaposing Mike's rap verses with Chester's emotionally charged choruses in a wonderful showcase of the band's musical alchemy.  After that are some songs that do include vocals but are clearly a little less fully realized.  The bulk of the rest of the album are demos of Meteora era songs, some with alternate lyrics and completely different ideas on display.  Taken as a whole it's not as strong as a full studio album could be.  It is instead an interesting complement to Meteora and a welcome window into a past that we'll never be able to fully enter into again.  RIP Chester, thank you for bringing us one more badass banger from the archives to remind us of your legacy.  And thank you Mike for packaging it into this alternate historical document of an album.

1. Dessa - Bury the Lede