It's been a year of intense, crazy events. Assassination attempts on former presidents. European governments overthrown in waves of unexpected left-wing landslides. Tenacious D imploding. Hold on, that was just the past few weeks.
Yep, we're midway through this thing called 2024 and it only promises to get more interesting / terrifying / Jack Black-esque, depending on your perspective. Thankfully, the SPB team are on hand to guide you through the music you may have missed thus far.
Read on to hear our writers' handpicked favorite records of the year so far, just in time for you to pretend you already heard them when you include them in your year-end list in just six months' time. You're welcome.
Christopher D's Top 5 Of 2024 So Far
Ultrabomb-Dying to Smile
DC-Jam Records
Some may think this is a Punk Supergroup that will slip into the moonlit graffiti-strewn alleyway never to be spotted again. However, this is where I must correct you on your erroneous ways of doubt.
Ultrabomb explodes all over your turntable with this pristine Bone White vinyl.
How can you go wrong with Finny McConnell (The Mahones), Greg Norton (Husker Du) and Jamie Oliver (U.K Subs)?
Ultrabomb have gelled with this release proving they are no one-trick magical unicorn but a lasting project that exudes camaraderie, strength and experience. Get it before it detonates.
The Fallen Leaves-Simple Songs For Complex People
Parliament Records
Humming and buzzing in like a vintage tube amp. The Fallen Leaves have no hidden aces up their well-manicured suit sleeves. Well-crafted, straight-to-sharpened point-shooting daggers like Link Wray stabbing his amp with a switchblade.1960's garage neat no ice. Slug it down and feel the warmth down your spine.
Hey, you can't go wrong with two former members of Subway Sect!
Andy Blade + Buddies- Being Alive is Fun
Holy Dotage Records
Perhaps this is the Jack in the Box that screams and laughs poking out his smiling head bobbing and weaving and luring you in to do it again and again and Again. Andy Blade (Eater) serves up this delightful tray of surprises proving his wealth of talent. Yes, being alive is fun! but so are repeated listens of this release. Full of twists and turns on Dead Man's curve.
The Sabrejets-The Restless Kind
Raucous Records
Keep It Greasy and keep it pure. The Sabrejets roll out rockabilly the way it was intended to be shoved in your wax-filled ear. No this is not Psychobilly, Horrorbilly or any other type of Billy's. Seems it might take these fine gentlemen from Belfast to knock some Brylcreem into your well-quaffed hippie hair, shove a switchblade comb into your back pocket and drop you into a pair of Brothel Creepers. Go Cats Go!
Night Finger-Creepy Crawl
Trophy Records
Night Finger let your fingers do the walkin' as they do the Creepy Crawl into your blackened heart. Toronto veterans Classy Craig (Leather Uppers ) and Steve Scarlet (Sinisters) writhe and wiggle like a basement millipede with their two hundred legs bashing out Garage, Soul, R&B and R'N"R the way it was meant to be stirred rattled and shaken. Eddie Munster approved! Move over Wednesday!
- Christopher D
Delaney’s Top 5 Of 2024 So Far
1
IDLES - TANGK
Partisan Records, 2024
The best review I can give this album is my chiropractic bill. I’m staring down my 30th birthday and starting to realize moshing may be an activity for the youth (a part of which, I was rudely informed by my younger sister, I no longer am). Earplugs in I jumped into the pit at IDLES’ Vancouver concert and quite promptly threw my back out. TANGK is music that needs to be moved to (even if my vertebrae disagree). While this album veers into slightly more polished territory than their previous work it still holds their core ethos near and dear- love, support and revolution. It’s up to you how much you buy into that but it’s undeniable that the group is still kicking out some of the biggest tunes today. From the ultra danceable ‘Dancer’ to the tension filled ‘Jungle’, TANGK holds up under the immense weight of IDLES greatest hits.
2
On her second solo album Laura Jane Grace throws back, looks ahead and reminds us why we should be grateful for the present. Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace released her solo album, Hole In My Head, earlier this year. A foil to pandemic times Stay Alive, it reaches out with retro tinged punk tunes that catapult her from sounding like Bob Dylan to Joan Jett to Phoebe Bridgers and back again. One of my favourite things about Grace’s music is no matter how much inspiration she may draw from another musician or band’s sound she always sounds exactly like herself. Most apparent on ‘Mercenary’, she embodies everything she has been, and currently is. It’s equal parts quiet rage and a deeply hummable melody.
3
Garage rock gets extra sludgy on LP Letter to Self released on City Slang. Anxieties about religion, politics and mental health run rampant to the tune of pounding drums and self-righteous guitar. Dublin four piece, SPRINTS’, first full length release takes the phrase ‘wall of noise’ as a personal challenge (spoiler alert: the band wins). The Irish punk band’s star continues to rise in the good company of contemporaries Fontaines DC and Pillow Queens- Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox even produced the group’s most recent release.
4
Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven
Epitaph Records, 2024
One of the rare instances of a band getting more raucous with time (and success), Mannequin Pussy’s third studio album I Got Heaven sets the mood with heavy drums and cutting vocals. Two parts punk, one part alt-rock and just a dash of screamo, the band shines on their most cohesive album yet. Their aspirations are clear (mainstream recognition) but the lyrics are their most intimate to date. Album opener and title track ‘I Got Heaven’ is a personal favourite from the LP.
5
One of the best live acts I’ve seen this year, Spiritual Cramp’s album doesn’t quite capture their on stage energy but it does a hell of a good job wrangling their many influences. A Cramps like vocal tinge creeps into one of my favourite tracks- ‘Slick Rick’. Tinny drums and rumbling guitars twine together low in the mix as the band prods at working class debt vs aesthetics with their lyrics. As a group, they thrive in a live environment, but their recorded work is well worth a listen (or two, or three).
- Delaney
Dennis' Top 5 Of 2024 So Far
1
I heard nothing of this band for a while, so I had given up hope of ever hearing new material by them. Fortunately for me, here we are with their new album. It continues right in line with their previous album and ep's. This means you are in for a treat of fast and highly melodic punk. The band takes a couple of clues from the French OI! scene which only makes it more catchy. Considering how often I played this record it more than deserves to take the top spot in this list.
2
When browsing the discography of a label I recently discovered I pushed play on Underneath's From The Gut Of Gaia. I was shocked. What a record! The band plays mathcore that reminds me a bit of The Red Chord. It also made me realize I used to like this kind of music (well, I am very picky in this scene, but there are a couple of releases that I really, really like!). I admit to giving The Red Chord a couple of spins again and enjoying it a bunch. This record however got at least as much playtime. It is great example of everything I like about this particular scene. It is technical, but not for the sake of technicality, it is aggressive, it is memorable. Great stuff!
3
Shortly after writing this review I went on a weekend trip to Brussels. There I visited the Magritte museum. I saw a couple of paintings there that must have inspired the artwork of this album as it plays with perception in exactly the same way. Anyway, emo is having a great year as far as I am concerned. I have listened to a lot of great releases already. Cancionero De Los Cielos is the best I've listened to so far. The only release that could challenge it's status is the new Regarde, but with only seven songs, I consider that an EP. This album really sticks out for how it combines influences and styles into one coherent album.
4
Desert Lily - Trapped In My Thoughts
White Russian Records
If you look for Desert Lily in you're music app, the first thing the app presents is probably the Make Do And Mend song this band is named after. I am stating this as if I know it for a fact, but I don't. However, considering how Desert Lily very clearly is heavily inspired by Make Do And Mend I would be surprised if I am wrong. Like Underneath Desert Lily made me realize I miss a certain sound. Like Underneath Desert Lily made me relisten the older records I hold dear. Also like Underneath, Desert Lily proved itself to be a worthy heir of those older bands. Trapped In My Thoughts is a great record I keep coming back to. It makes writing incredibly catchy and emotive tunes sound so easy!
5
The second Spanish entry in this top 5. You might conclude the Spanish scene is very vibrant at the moment and I would definitely agree with you. Svdestada drinks from a bit of a different well than Viva Belgrado though. This is deeply rooted in the neo-crust scene. Spain has given us a whole lot of great bands already and Svdestada show they are ready to take the torch and run with it. Their sound is urgent, fast and they have a knack for coming up with those melodies I associate with the Spanish scene.
- Dennis
Loren's Top 5 Of 2024 So Far
1
Post-punk art-punk eggpunk something something. There is one common word in all those style names, I guess. And while all of those words hold some meaning, let’s just get to the point: Uranium Club play verbose, angular rock that grabs your attention and keeps it. It’s 2024. Now that you’ve got the recommendation, click a link and decide for yourself.
2
I’ll admit it took me a few listens for Grumpster’s third LP to hit the way Fever Dream got me two years ago. But once it clicked for me, it’s clearly the same band as they transition to a slightly rougher sound that maintains that same underlying melodic pop base. This time you’ll get notes of grunge and even hardcore but those labels don’t really tell the story. The most applicable label is simply that it’s East Bay punk with some serious pop sensibility bubbling under the surface.
3
What can I say, I’m a sucker for the way that Chris Mason makes rough melodies shine. New band Faulty Cognitions has this same vocal feature, but with a college rock thing going on. You get verbose, meaningful lyrics that still manage real emotion. There’s a sense of longing, but more cathartic than anxious.
4
Vial teased their new record with a run of singles -- which is the norm these days, I guess. But in this case, snippets really do help to shape the full record. The band is sort of all over the place, ranging from serious to sad to silly, on burnout, but with a unified framework of accessible, empowering indie-punk. It’s catchy and fun, but it manages to balance that with an impossible to describe authenticity.
5
Protopunk is one of those words you see thrown around with new bands but the label never really fits. Maybe it’s a simple matter of time or technology, but some things can’t be recreated. Yet, life is full of surprises. Sleeveens remind me of the early days of protopunk. It’s raw and primal and the energy transcends through the recording. But they aren’t just covering “Search and Destroy” here. They’re telling their own stories about growing up, struggle, and finding their own.
- Loren
Spyros's Top 5 Of 2024 So Far
Sumac - The Healer
Thrill Jockey, 2024
Aaron Turner, Brian Cook, and Nick Yacyshyn still chase the free rock dragon. With their feet firmly planted on the sludge and post-metal domain, the experimentations that started with the Keiji Haino collaborations are further developed in The Healer. The result is the most coherent manifestation of this joining of forces, where the sludge weight delivers the brutality and the improvisational playing breaks the norm. Just when you think Sumac have reached the summit with 2020’s May You Be Held, they show you there is still a lot of mountain left to climb.
Lussuria’s works have always been defined by their intricate construction, and Under Crumbled Stairs is no different. Here, Jim Mroz descends once more into the darkness of the human mind to unearth something terrifying. The main guide is the dark ambient lineage, but Mroz further expands the scope. The scenery is augmented via musique concrete methodologies, where samples and fragments of reality add depth. The electronic backbone is strengthened through the usual industrial applications, but dark techno motifs also arise from the shadows. But, it is Lussuria’s restrained approach that clinches this work. It is an ability to produce something challenging while retaining a minimal point of view.
Apart from the obvious, this being the collaboration between two legends of the broader electronic sphere, Extinct displays a transformative process. Not so much on the side of the audience, but on the side of the creators. The interaction between Merzbow’s noise and Meat Beat Manifesto’s IDM is not static, it deeply affects the two creators. As the two long-form compositions unfold one entity devours the other, spits it back out but it is no longer the same. The beats of MBM carry the power electronics of Merzbow, and through the latter’s noise applications, a decapitated rhythmic structure is born. It makes Extinct a unique and transformative release on both artists’ stellar discographies.
Fir - De Stilte van God
Tour de Garde, 2024
The Spectre has departed (at least for a moment) the Old Tower and is now roaming in the black metal fields of Fir. The project’s debut, De Stilte van God is a return to the ‘90s Scandinavian scene and its grim demeanor. The fury of “Morgenster” is bright and intense, while the sorrow of “Laatste Licht” runs deep. Still, the shadow of the Old Tower looms over De Stilte van God, and Fir traverse the dark ambient space, but they never lose sight of their lunar black metal.
Spectral Voice - Sparagmos
Dark Descent, 2024
Sure, crushing riffs and unearthly vocals are always cool. But, on their own, they are not enough. For Spectral Voice this fact was always obvious, and it resulted in one of the best death/doom records of the past decade in Eroding Corridors of Undoing. Now, they surpass their previous feat with a deeply disturbing and astute work in Sparagmos. Much like its namesake, the listening experience is excruciating. It feels like slowly being ripped apart by the droning melodies, the endless echoes, the harrowing psychedelic tinges, and the dark ambient spaces. It is final and inescapable.
- Spyros Stasis
