2024 Releases That Need Love
All of the following are 2024 releases which currently have under 50 Sput ratings and have not yet been reviewed
. Here’s my all-in-one sales pitch for some pretty good music that may have slipped under your radar
. |
1 | | English Teacher This Could Be Texas
(47 ratings)
Another one of those art-forward post-punk/indie rock/sophisticate bands Britain seems to be flinging out left and right lately. Not a ton of flashy musicianship on this one, but the lyrics are largely immersive across the board. Solid foundation for what could grow into an even better discography. |
2 | | Concrete Winds Concrete Winds
(41 ratings)
Utterly filthy blend of death metal and grind. Comes in searing hot, thoroughly scars, and is done before you know it. Vocals occasionally send this thing into deep-fried production territory. Shit’s intense. |
3 | | Tapir! The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain
(40 ratings) Debut LP/compilation of the English indie folk band’s previous EPs - but if you haven’t heard those, there’s no catch, really. Just gorgeous stuff, extremely accessible despite a somewhat convoluted (and also not particularly pressing) lyrical story. Vocalist has crazy range. Excited to see where this act goes from here. |
4 | | Metz Up On Gravity Hill
(36 ratings)
I’ve come around on this band lately after not being super into their early output. Few surprises await here, but they nail the aged noise rocker transition to indie-fied, psyched out shoegaze about as well as anyone can. Still groovy as fuck, if a little chameleon-like (their Achilles heel) compared to this scene’s heavyweights. |
5 | | MONO OATH
(35 ratings)
Love their classical post-rock formula or hate it, here’s another MONO album - and dare I say it's perhaps their best in a dozen years? But you know what you’re getting into with these guys; your mileage will ultimately depend on if you want more of the one specific thing they offer (and I do, even if their glory days have been over for a long, long time. Old pleasures die hard.) |
6 | | Mdou Moctar Funeral for Justice
(30 ratings) A little frontloaded, but I’ve seen multiple people describe this as Moctar’s most electric, aggressive release, and while that holds up in moments, this record is also an exceptionally concise and diverse overview of the guy’s cocktail of psychedelic blues and Tuareg traditional music. The anti-colonial overtones are as loud as ever and righteous as hell. |
7 | | The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis
(12 ratings)
Fugazi’s rhythm section with guitarist Anthony Pirog and saxophonist JBL. Super tasty, moody, angular (“he said the thing!”) jazz rock that grooves way harder than you’d think. These dudes’ chemistry is something special - here's to hoping it’s not the last time they collaborate. |
8 | | Ramper Solo postres
(6 ratings)
And now: the It Came From RYM section of the list. If "Andalusion folk music mutated into slowcore balladry with post-rock song lengths" sounds like something you’d dig, do not miss this project. I do think a track or two here is excessively lengthy and there aren’t many new ideas introduced by the time its back half rolls around, but the surreal, nocturnal atmosphere of this thing is super engrossing, lyrics en espanol be damned. |
9 | | Dillom Por cesárea
(4 ratings)
Provided you can stomach Dillom’s nasally vocal style, this is a must-hear hip-hop project, flexing a versatile display of additional influences (indie rock/trap/neo-soul etc) in service of a blazing fast character study about a child’s descent into murderous madness. Semi-autobiographical with an exaggerated, grisly ending and absolutely no room for filler, it’s one of the quickest jolts of horrorcore I’ve heard to date. Perfect for spooky season! |
10 | | Nubiyan Twist Find Your Flame
(4 ratings) Soul/R&B/funk/jazz masterclass consistently elevated by rock solid fundamentals and highlight-ready vocal features. Easy listening in a positive light; bored at work and need something to pass the time? This will get your butt wiggling and your head migrating somewhere livelier. |
11 | | Gerycz Powers Rolin Activator
(4 ratings) A smorgasbord of improvised ideas here that play into Powers & Rolin’s “pastoral jazz” shtick well, backed up by Cloud Nothings’ Jayson Gerycz on drums, who possesses more chops than you’d expect from the high octane performances he's become renowned for in his main band. Solid chemistry throughout, though I do think the back half lingers a bit longer than it needs to. See also: the criminally unheard Powers/Pulice/Rolin’s Prism LP from last year, which is an even more thorough and less percussion-driven take on similar atmospheres. |
12 | | Wapddi Like Our Friend Murphy
(4 ratings)
This is the best twinkle daddy emo you haven’t heard yet this year. Now go hear it. Like, now. Go. Just do it. Thank me later. |
13 | | My Brightest Diamond Fight The Real Terror
(3 ratings)
Extremely stripped back singer-songwriter stuff, most of which was studio-manipulated to sound as intact as the demos as possible. There’s a weird but compelling energy to how sparse its arrangements are, in a vein not unlike PJ Harvey’s album from last year. Shara Nova’s vocal performances here are simply stunning too. Incredible raw talent. |
14 | | Sungazer Against the Fall of Night
(3 ratings)
The album Adam Neely and Shawn Crowder come closest to surpassing both their YouTuber roots and nerdy dispositions. Don’t get me wrong; this thing still packs an unhinged degree of time signature fuckery, but the songs at their core sound like a more complete, organic package and toe a more accessible line, foregrounding melody within the quantum virtuosity in a way they’d previously mostly glossed over. It’s a notable stride forward. |
15 | | Eudaemon Tour Demo 2024
(1 rating - haha that’s me)
A friend’s black metal band who’s been on the up and up in the Midwest lately. It’s been cool to hear their growth and they’re now operating at a level that could be modestly sustainable if some breaks go their way. Give ‘em a chance! |
|