As tradition calls for since 2015, here’s twenty personal favourites among newly recorded albums released in 2024. Each album comes with a commentary and a featured track as a taster. Most artists have been around for quite a while and are on previous years’ lists, but prepare to meet some new acquaintances. Hopefully, the usual spread between genres will mean that everyone can pick up unexpected listening tips, no matter what type of music you happen to like.
20. The Surfrajettes – Easy As Pie
According to these Torontonians, traditional surf with lotsa reverb is definitely up forever. It’s an all-instrumental all-female album that celebrates the heyday of instrumental music in the best way possible. The Surfrajettes have been around since 2015. Easy As Pie is The Surfrajettes’ second album.
19. The Fleshtones – It’s Getting Late (and More Songs About Werewolves)
Impressively, even though The Fleshtones have been around since 1976, they’re still putting out great records. It’s Getting Late is their umpteenth album and the kings of super rock meet all the high expectations with a smile on their faces. Their latest entry (Face Of The Screaming Werewolf) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 10 in 2020.
18. Randells – Peel Eat Repeat
Swedish Randells really go bananas on their third album. Expect energetic and uncomplicated Green Day-sounding Ramones-flavored melodies throughout. Incidentally, Randells also introduced PopDiggers’ SinglesGoingSteady series with Seven Inch.
17. The Dictators – s/t
A slightly reconfigured Dictators (Keith Roth as a new member on vocals and guitar) finally managed to get the band together and recorded the first studio album since 2001. Nine originals and one cover (Transmaniacon MC by Blue Öyster Cult) are performed in a way just as if time had stood still, but the album has a modern-day compact sound added that begs you to crank the volume up to at least eleven. Very missed Scott “Top Ten” Kempner plays guitar on two of the tracks.
16. The Courettes – The Soul Of…
A sign that The Courettes are moving up the career ladder is that Richard Gottehrer has mixed two of the songs on The Soul Of…. At the same time, their songs have become more arranged and less rough compared to their previous albums, but without losing any of their appeal. Their latest entry (Back In Mono) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 02 in 2021.
15. Shannon And The Clams – The Moon Is In The Wrong Place
The Moon Is In The Wrong Place has a big sound that gives Shannon Shaw’s soulful voice plenty of space. It’s their seventh album – this time dealing about everything between grief and its opposite. Like the previous two albums, this one was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and owner of the Easy Eye Sound label. Shannon And The Clams’ latest entry (Onion) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 06 in 2018.
14. Bad Nerves – Still Nervous
Sometimes Bad Nerves plays so fast on Still Nervous that you instinctively check if the turntable is at the right speed. So, take a deep breath before listening and prepare to be run over by this adrenaline-fueled mix of fast punk and melodic hooks found on these Londoners’ long-awaited follow-up of their debut album.
13. Th’ Losin Streaks – Last House
Last House is Th’ Losin Streaks’ third album – although their history as a group stretches back twenty years. In many ways Last House is a classic garage album, gathering strength from 60s beat and 70s punk in particular. We even get a Link Wray-influenced instrumental and a cover of It’s Your Time (a 1966 original by the pre-Lollipop Shoppe, The Weeds) in this 15-song bundle.
12. Dwight Yoakam – Brighter Days
In many ways, Brighter Days complements Dwight Yoakam’s two previous great studio albums 3 Pears (2012) and Second Hand Heart (2015). It’s a classic country album that oozes satisfaction that this longtime outsider in the music industry is walking on the sunny side of his personal life.
11. Nick Lowe – Indoor Safari
Indoor Safari consists of ten self-penned songs and two fitting covers: A Quiet Place (original by Garnett Nimms, 1964) and Raincoat In The River (original by Sammy Turner, 1961). The long-standing collaboration with Los Straitjackets continues, but we’re still waiting for Nick Lowe to wear a Mexican wrestling mask on stage. (Indoor Safari would have received a slightly higher rating if Yep Roc Records had not released most of the featured songs earlier.)
10. The Reflectors– Going Out Of Fashion
When you need a power pop energy injection in the classical meaning, Going Out Of Fashion is the place to be. With late 70’s UK/US band like The Records and The Rubinoos as the point of departure, Going Out Of Fashion attacks power pop and energize it in the same way that The Exploding Hearts and The Speedways do. Going Out Of Fashion is The Reflectors’ third album. Their latest entry (Faster Action) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 05 in 2021.
09. Still Animals – s/t
Say what you want about the bands associated with Slovenly Recordings, but they can really make noise. Slovenly is by the way represented on this list twice (Th’ Losin Streaks’ Last House at # 13 is the other one). After two four-songs-self-released cassettes, Still Animals had their first album out on vinyl 2024. The classical setting with guitar, bass, drums and vocals can obviously reap success if the volume is far too high and if you are stubborn enough.
08. The Black Keys – Ohio Players
If I count correctly, enthusiasts and childhood friends Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have released their fifteenth album under the name of The Black Keys. On Ohio Players (yeah, they got their permission), typical Black Keys songs get a slightly different edge by the assistance of Beck (Hansen), Noel Gallagher (yes, you read that right), rapper Juicy J and Greg Cartwright. This groovy collaborative 14-songs-in-44-minuets-album is right down my bowling alley. Black Keys are frequent visitors on this list – their latest entry on an earlier edition was at # 16 in 2022.
07. Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Delicious Vice
Wayward ex Gun Clubber, Bad Seed and Cramper Kid Congo has finally released a new album with The Pink Monkey Birds after an eight-year hiatus. A certain Chicano-saturated doom can be sensed in the wasteland-filled songs, some of which would fit perfectly in a Gothic Western film. Very specially guested by Alice Bag. Congo’s combo’s latest entry (La Araña Es La Vida) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 10 in 2016.
06. Chuck Prophet with ¿Qiensave? – Wake The Dead
The positivity of Cumbia helped Chuck Prophet keep his spirits high while he was recovering from cancer. Therefore, it stands to reason that his choice of musical style on Wake The Dead with ¿Qiensave? as a backup band is intended to recreate this positive feeling. Chuck Prophet always seems to have new exciting discoveries in the works – always with a twinkle in his eye. His latest entry (Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 15 in 2020.
05. Jenny Don’t & The Spurs – Broken Hearted Blue
Jenny Connors career is intertwined with Dead Moon in several ways. Jenny Don’t & The Spurs’ first single was released on Fred and Toody Cole’s Tombstone Records in 2013. When Andrew Loomis passed away, Kelly Halliburton (current bassist of The Spurs) replaced him as drummer in Dead Moon and the band was renamed Pierced Arrows. Jenny Don’t & The Spurs’ gigs often end with the Dead Moon classic Fire In The Western World. Other similarities end here as Jenny Don’t plays pure county, albeit with a gothic touch. Broken Hearted Blue is no deviation from that route.
04. Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Past Is Still Alive
Hurray For The Riff Raff is Alynda Segarra’s music project. The Past Is Still Alive is framed by her father’s death shortly before the recording of the album, which is manifested in the first and last tracks – Alibi and a voice message on the telephone answering machine from her father. As the title implies, nothing is really over. The Past Is Still Alive is a kind of memoir that revolves around grief and love but without becoming nostalgic. Her latest entry (The Navigator) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 02 in 2022.
03. Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders – Keepin’ Chaos At Bay
Pat Todd formed The Rankoutsiders in 2005, the year after the split of Lazy Cowgirls where he was the singer. Since then, they have had an impressive and steady top notch output (twelve singles, nine albums and three split 7”s). Each and every one of them is deeply rooted in traditional rock and roll. Their latest entry (Sons Of The City Ditch) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 02 in 2023.
02. JD McPherson – Nite Owls
You can tell that Nite Owls is dedicated to the memory of Duane Eddy because it contains stripped-down classic rock and roll with that special twangy desert feel. JD McPherson goes from strength to strength and Nite Owls sure is the album to have under your belt when touring. One song is guested by Bloodshot Bill and the final track is co-written with Al Anderson of NRBQ and Wildweeds fame. JD McPherson’s latest entry (Undivided Heart & Soul) on an earlier edition of this favourite album list was at # 02 in 2017. By the way, his previous album, Socks, has now also become a children’s book!
01. The Sleeveens – s/t
The Sleevens was formed by happenstance when James Mechan (bass; Stiff Little Fingers’ guitar technician) and Stef Murphy (vocals and guitar) called in Ryan Sweeney (drums; ex-Cheap Time) and Eli Steel (guitar; ex-Sweet Knives) to a session in Nashville. The personal dynamics boded extremely well and after some live shows their first single (a long version of Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls b/w Small Talk With Jonathan) was released in 2023 under the name Stef + The Sleeveens on the Nashville based punk label Sweet Time, formed by Ryan Sweeney. It sparked such interest that Dirtnap Records decided to handle their debut album.
Since Sleeveen is an Irish noun for an untrustworthy or cunning person, this gives a clue as to why the debut album sounds the way it does. The Sleeveens personify a rare combination of European and American rock and roll roots – a mongrel that picks up, shakes up and transforms the sleaziest 1970s style of punk that both sides of the Atlantic have to offer into something absolutely fresh. A wonderful cover of The Undertones’ second 7” Get Over You (1979) underscores and encapsulates this stance. The fact that the master of mastering, Jim Diamond, mastered the album further speaks to that it’s worth an instant embracing.
Be the first to comment