The Grandest of the Grand: Music in 2024 - PART 2
FINALLY - it's time to reveal the top music of 2024!
Wait, you didn’t read part one? I mean, I guess that’s ok, because it’s not like a cliffhanger or anything, but you’ll miss a lot of great music and horrible Kyle movie takes if you don’t!
But yeah let’s get into it here and get to the meat and grime of some of our favorite 2024 music…
KYLE: as you might imagine, I have a million questions about your hot pants reference, but I shall take those offline.
Update time! The Pearl Jam album was pleasant, though I careened pretty wildly from “hey I like this song!” to “oh no, they’re really in their old man rock phase, aren’t they?” Haven’t listened to an Eels album in probably fifteen years and I’m probably good for another fifteen now, but I dug the hell out of “If I’m Gonna Go Anywhere.”
Trying to check out a bunch of your honourable mentions. I think you might’ve talked about The Bug Club before, as certain tracks–specifically “Lonsdale Slipons”–sound very familiar to me. I respect the hell out of an 11-track sub-30 minute album. OTHER THOUGHTS LARRY KING-STYLE: My original comment was that Callinan is like a hornier Michael Hutchence until I realized the implication but fuck it it’s accurate and I’m sticking with it (“Untitled 8” is sublime)…Lindsay, Joy, and Party Dozen albums are all delights…how the fuck have I never heard of The Dare? This is extremely my shit and I cannot stop listening to it. “Good Time” fucking cooks (among several other standout tracks). I can only assume this is somehow James Murphy’s son??
Alright, let’s tackle my #10 to #6 here.
10. GNX by Kendrick Lamar
Look, do I understand what Kendrick is rapping about most of the time? I do not. But am I an attentive listener? Honestly, also no.1 Having said that, I know what I like and I like this. “wacced out murals” is such a strong start, kicking off, in slightly disorienting fashion, with lyrics in Spanish from Deyra Barrera2 before launching into what can only be described as a beat out of a horror movie. (I wasn’t the first person to get there; also it turns out it’s a sample of “Friends” by Whodini!) Turns out the whole track is mostly about him being pissed off that people weren’t happier he was picked for the Super Bowl halftime show (and, in retrospect, with lines like “won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me” THE CLUES ARE ADMITTEDLY THERE), but even on a profoundly superficial level, this track–and album–is a complete fucking vibe. (Kendrick’s Genius page is a trip.)
Don’t have much else to add, though the temptation to embarrass myself further is ever-so-tantalizing.3 The whole album slaps, though I am particularly fond of the tracks featuring SZA (“Luther” and the previously mentioned “gloria”).
9. Brat by Charli XCX
A ranking sure to displease everyone! What else can be said about an album that has essentially been talked to death? Not much! The album is a ton of fun and, if we were ranking things solely on how often I listened to them at the gym, this would be my clear #1. But it’s equally clear that the Charli discourse has fully spun off its axis and is halfway to Jupiter now. “Everything is romantic”? Banger. “Sympathy is a knife”? Banger. “360”? Banger. “Talk talk”? Banger. “Girl, so confusing”? Yeah ok also a banger Kyle you need to stop now. And while I don’t begrudge anyone listing this as their album of the year, it’s still sorta wild to me that it’s pretty much the consensus AOTY. But that’s ok! (I’m a little less sold on the merits of Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat because it frankly seems rather unnecessary, but perhaps I need to give it another shot.)
What I have a tougher time stomaching is blanket praise for her live work. I saw more than a few tweets that her Grammy performance a couple weeks ago was, hands down, the greatest Grammy performance in history and, folks, she wasn’t even singing! It wasn’t even the best performance of the night!4 Loved the pageantry, but let’s pump the brakes a bit here.
8. I Got Heaven by Mannequin Pussy
PHILLY REPRESENT
Ten tracks, 30 minutes long. HOOK THAT INTO MY VEINS. Marisa Dabice is singing her guts out and I am very much here for it.
“Loud Bark,” “I Got Heaven,” “Sometimes,” and (my favorite) “I Don’t Know You” are the standouts here. I am admittedly less wild about their screamier stuff, which takes up roughly the final third of this album, but I love that after four relatively “hard” tracks, they close with the poppy, achingly pretty “Split Me Open.” A super impressive effort.
T6. Challengers OST by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
T6. I Saw The TV Glow OST by Various Artists
A tie? WHAT A FUCKING PRETENTIOUS MOVE! (Sorry, I know we’re not supposed to write lines for each other.)
I think this slotting has a lot to do with how much I like both of these movies (they were both in my top ten for 2024). On the flip side, I think the soundtracks were a big reason why I enjoyed the films as much as I did. I think you can make a pretty serious claim that Challengers does not work without Reznor and Ross’s propulsive score, which grabs you by the throat in the very first scene and simply does not relent for the rest of the movie. If you’re making me pick—YOU ARE, RIGHT??—I would say “Yeah 10x” and “Match Point” are my favorites. (Also: it is thoroughly impossible to me that you haven’t seen this yet!)
It was during my flu-addled I Saw The TV Glow rewatch a couple weeks ago that I noticed how critical the music is to this haunting gem of a movie (billed as a horror, but which—no shade intended whatsoever—is significantly more complicated than that). It opens with a gorgeous cover of what I considered previously to be uncoverable track (the sublime “Anthem For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl”) and, while it doesn’t necessarily chart a consistent course from there, it’s all beautifully done. Jay Som channeling early Counting Crows on “If I Could” (complimentary), the quiet devastation of Sloppy Jane and Phoebe Bridgers’s “Claw Machine,” the never not great Drab Majesty delivering yet again on “Photograph,” Frances Quinlan not-quite-a-breakup-song “Another Season” (which plays over the end credits), Caroline Polachek delivering on the seemingly squandered promise of “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” with “Starburned and Unkissed”…it all just works so fucking well. Wait you haven’t seen this one either WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE FUCK
OK, time to get schooled again. What else was I oblivious to in 2024?
CHRIS: I'm not sure I can out maneuver the inclusion of TWO movie soundtracks being in someone’s top 2024 music list. What a flex. And boy do I have a band for you if you’re into Mannequin Pussy… welcome to a preview of the 2025 music year in review with The Lambrini Girls!
That said, my next few selections have their own knots to untangle. Looking at it, there may be no greater window into my soul and mindset of the past year. I would just like to remind everyone before we delve down this path of righteous indignation, that Beyonce, Michael Kiwanuka, AND St. Vincent would have been here to provide at least a little more balance to the rage rage rage of the dying light that this list deals in. That I have to even create that caveat of course says a lot, but here we are. So without more preamble, let’s plow into this sticky forest…
10. Flight b741 - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Folks, I’m not even going to attempt to try and explain the thing that is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Their name alone invokes some cheesy Tenacious D style of satirical music but that drops away immediately once you start listening. Though that’s not to say there’s not some word shit going on with these guys. Drop into the “gizzverse” for even a little and you’ll see what I mean. But behind all of that is a talented group of musicians doing exactly what they want, giving no shits for the establishment. Did I think this album would make my top 10 when I casually hit play on the first song? Absolutely not, in fact I expected to not even finish it. But that’s the thing with KGatLW - they live to distort your expectations. This vibed out 70s jam album is simply another direction the band steers toward. I dare you to predict where they will go next.
9. Real Power - Gossip
Gossip did what I think is one of the best covers in modern music with “Careless Whisper.” That it’s a throwaway on some Radio 1 compilation and therefore difficult to find only makes it better. And this new album captures the spirit and energy of that song. The dance rock sound on this album is a fun, open vibe that will take you on a dance floor journey that only it knows how to do.
8. Three Bells - Ty Segall
Is this where the pattern begins to reveal itself? Will I attempt to trepanate myself by the end of this list, because i broke the code sent from God? Ty Seagall takes many cues from King Gizzard and is a spiritual cousin to the band. If you’re familiar with his output you will know what that means; if you’re not, this is as good an album as any to jump into the fun. Synth pop sounds layered upon layers of fuzz distortion and hooks, Segall is a musical svengali. I’d be surprised if you listened to this and didn’t find something at least intriguing, because that’s what Segall trades in: interesting, boundary pushing sonic adventure. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention his other 2024 release, Love Rudiments, created using all percussive instruments.
7. Tangk - IDLES
I’m not going to lie - one of my favorite musical moments of 2024 was the drop between “IDEA 01,” the first song on this album, and “Gift Horse”, the second. Few artists can capture the unique emotion one feels between those two songs, and I feel this should be called out - it’s an amazing feeling. The thing is… I’m not about to tell you you’re going to like it; in fact, you may hate it. But the feeling it gives you, the loose wobble feel of a skateboard under your feet when you step on one for the first time is the jumping off point of this album. Of course, if we’re talking about reactions you feel when challenged by something, we’re going to have to talk about…
6. Strange Burden - Font
I am not about to recommend this album. It is mean, and it is aggressive, in a very emotional way. It is interested in making you feel something you maybe don’t want to feel. It is weird, off kilter, and disorienting. And yet… just when you think you can’t take it, it brings you back ever so slightly to a familiar place that, while not exactly comforting, gives you a moment to reflect on just what the fuck is happening. I’m not sure you’ll ever figure it out, nor that you’re supposed to, but it’s those moments that can keep you tethered to reality for long enough to prepare you to get rocket launched back into discomfort. If you’re willing to take the plunge into this sonic odyssey (and it’s a short trip - the album is less than 30 minutes) you have to promise me to push through the first track. You will be rewarded.
Like the Australian outback, this album is filled with things trying to kill you; survive it and be rewarded.
5. Chorus - Mildlife
The first few bong(o) hits kick this thing off and morse code the message that this isn’t your dad’s Leon Redbone eight track collection. And just when you’re about to wrap your head around that, the synth hits and it’s time to get out of your grey sweatpants of normalcy, jump on a different wavelength, and boogie into the universe this is soundtracking. And it only goes groovy from there. It’s not a mad, dark, murderous universe… it’s a cosmic orgy of sound fucking fun and fun really enjoying themself… Midlife is our galactic tour guide. If there is a restaurant at the end of the universe, this is pumping through the speakers.
4. Beautiful Blue Collar Boy - Baby Jake
This isn’t simply an album, it’s a flaming hot mixtape tossed into the glovebox of a beat-up pickup barreling through the backroads of Americana. Baby Jake crafted a sonic fever dream that feels like Springsteen got into a knife fight with Post Malone. The tracks are drenched in nostalgia, cheap beer, and a kind of dirt romance you would find in a gas station parking lot late at night. It nods back to the days of teenaged awkward love, the kind of love born in back seats and awkward maneuvers. The album mixes different genres with the reckless abandon of a cocaine fever dream, and gives a little something for everyone, regardless of whether everyone wants it or not.
3. Where's My Utopia - Yard Act
British junk rock - I can’t get that description out of my mind ever since hearing Yard Act. Not sure whether the band would appreciate the label or not, or if it even makes sense, but it has that grimy, London back alley feel. Listening to this gets me closest to feeling like a down and out bloke barely staying afloat in some moldy flat smoking a pack a day and embracing a sour constant rainfall.
2. No Name - Jack White
There’s not a heckuva lot to say about Jack White these days. He plays the blues, plays it hard, loose and fun and delivers enough freshness while keeping in step with its roots. To blindly release an album in Record Store release day with no fanfare only adds to the whole story.
1. Heavy Metal - Cameron Winter
There should be no surprise to see the lead singer of Geese’s solo outing getting a shout out here. With the spectral voice of a preacher presiding over a funeral for a ghost, Winter’s voice stops on every floor of the vocal range elevator, delivering both fear and salvation for everything that ails us, even if we don’t know what those things are yet. Sure, the lyrics at times would make James Joyce scratch his head, and are often too dense by half, but at the end of the day, isn’t that the game we play?
My God… this is a collection of albums that no sane person should sit and listen to all the way through. I just want to take this moment and apologize. I am glad we’ve given you the hammer to finish this thing up because were these the last words to read, I would fear the thoughts they would conjure. Apparently 2024 was a year of anger, confusion and disillusionment for me, mixed in with some aggressive dance music. I trust you had happier memories…
KYLE: man…to call your list “eclectic” is an insult to the word eclectic. Honestly impressive.
Prior to seeing your list, I had only listened to IDLES, Yard Act, and a bit of Winter (and, I won’t lie, I struggled a bit with his voice…but it sounds like I’m due for a revisit), so I feel like I’m not qualified to comment,5 but I am intrigued. (I do also really love “junk rock” as a term.)
This is the part where I admit I got extremely into Ty Segall’s Love Rudiments these past couple days, which is basically Segall channeling Philip Glass (the kids verdict as it played over dinner last night? “Extremely weird”) before realizing that I misread your list and that this was not the 2024 Segall album you had included in your top ten. Whoops! Back to the drawing board!6 But I did like it, so it goes on my honourable mention list, along with Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT (somewhat polarizing amongst our music group, but plenty hooky enough for me—don’t sleep on “CHIHIRO”), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet (NON-DELUXE VERSION,7 it remains quite strange to me that “Taste” and “Bed Chem” are significantly better than the infinitely more popular than the first two singles on the album), Los Bitchos’s Talkie Talkie (just completely forgot about it, probably woulda made my list otherwise; love “Don’t Change”), and Bloc Party’s A Weekend in the City B-Sides8 (new BP that is good? How is that possible? It’s because it’s actually old Bloc Party!).
Without further ado (am I allowed to say that after this many words to this point? SCREW IT!), my top five:
5. This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway by Lola Young
At some point a few weeks ago my daughter mentioned in passing that “Messy,” Lola’s breakout hit (and angling very hard to be my song of the year), had gone viral on TikTok and that she was telling anyone that would listen that she knew of the song months earlier because I had put it on one of my playlists and it basically made my whole year. I TAKE BACK ALL OF MY MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT PARENTING!
The Winehouse comparisons were probably inevitable even before she signed with Amy’s old record label and, shockingly, it’s only a bit of a reach, because Young is fucking going for it here with killer vocals and acid-tipped lyrics and absolutely delivers. This album is probably best described as the soundtrack to a fundamentally broken relationship, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better 1-2 to kick off an album than “Good Books” and “Wish You Were Dead.” Taylor will put you on blast, but it’s pretty clear Lola will wreck your entire life in 38 biting minutes (hard not to think of the Mulaney quote about kids being mean in oddly specific ways when listening to this).
But, yeah, this album completely rules, so much so that I’m willing to overlook that the final song is just a spoken word track (which I ordinarily cannot tolerate).
4. Tigers Blood by Waxatchee
“Bored” is such an absolute bop, and I feel like I could live inside the opening bars of “3 Sisters” forever (I pick you up inside a hopeless prayer / I see you beholden to nothing / I make a living crying, it ain't fair / And not budging / I don't see why you would lie / It was never the love you wanted / It's a state of mind you design / You get everything that you want). All Crutchfield does is write distractingly9 gorgeous lyrics and catchy choruses. A perfect album for patio drinks with friends or a windows down drive on a gravel road (but not both!), to me, this is summer in album form.
3. Mahashmashana by Father John Misty
Almost exactly ten years ago, Carrie and I spent a weekend at a family cottage in Grand Bend. We played a six-hour game of Twilight Struggle (this would probably not be described as a high point by Carrie). I won an 18/1 bet on Brandt Snedeker winning the Farmers (amount wagered: five dollars–heady times!). I read something like 500 pages of Stephen King’s Wizard and Glass (a top three King book for me for sure) and I listened to Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear more or less on repeat. (Turns out it was released February 10, 2015 and I don’t think I had realized at the time it had just come out). I remember thinking “this FJM fellow is going to be one of my favorite artists for years to come” and…boy, was I ever wrong about that, as I found mostly everything he released after that to be pretty fucking insufferable.
So you can imagine my surprise when FJM kept dropping tracks from his forthcoming album and I kept digging them. “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All”? In. “She Cleans Up”? In. “Mahashmashana”? In. “Screamland”? Extremely in.10
What has changed? I genuinely don’t know! I do, if I’m being honest, still find his lyrics to be a bit, uh, indulgent,11 but I think I’m kind of won over by the energy here, which has a rockier–dare I say dancier, in places?–vibe than I was expecting. More stuff like this, please!!
(Editor’s note: I too, have similar, complicated relationship with FJM and his output, and a similar reaction to Mahashmashana. My initial reaction is it feels as though FJM is older, wiser, still acerbic but perhaps not in committed to making others feel stupid. At least not as much. Hey, it’s a working theory)
2. Songs of the Lost World by The Cure
This is the one album released this year where I remember exactly where I was when I heard it the first time (at my son’s ninja warrior class—they made me go to the fucking YMCA when I was his age, but I digress…) and the reason I remember is because as soon as I finished listening to it, I immediately queued it up again and eventually ended up listening to it three times in a row. It is frankly outrageous for a 14th (!) studio album (not to mention their first in almost two decades) to be this good.12
This, it must be said, rules from start to finish, and while part of me thinks it’s dopey to focus on only a portion of it (given that there are only eight tracks on the album), the “A Fragile Thing” - “Warsong” - “Drone:Nodrone” - “I Can Never Say Goodbye” - “All I Ever Am” run (tracks 3 through 7) is just so wickedly good. It’s fully 2:15 into “Warsong,” all fuzzy guitar and patient drumming to that point, before Smith jumps in with his absolutely devastating–and altogether too timely–lyrics.13 Hot damn.
This was very, very close to being my #1 choice if not for
1. Don’t Forget Me by Maggie Rogers
Maggie, my queen. This one really knocked me on my ass. Rogers wrote that she “wanted to make an album that sounded like a Sunday afternoon” and, man, is it ever a rousing success on that front.
There truly isn’t a bad track on the album, from the slightly ethereal and floaty opener (“It Was Coming All Along”) to edgier and more mournful tracks (“Drunk,” “If Now Was Then,” and “Never Going Home”) to hook-centric pop stuff (“So Sick of Dreaming” and the extremely underrated “On & On & On”) to my actual Song of the Year (the truly immaculate rearview breakup tune, “The Kill,” delivered with such astonishing clarity). You really can’t go wrong here. Hell, for good measure, I’ll even throw the rollicking non-album cut “In The Living Room,” which she released as a single in October, and which works so perfectly as the flipside to “The Kill” that I genuinely can’t believe it’s not on the main album.14 It’s really wild to me that this is only her third (!) album and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Are we done? Did we do it? I think I blacked out…
CHRIS: We are done. And what did we learn? That Kyle has some wild movie opinions and he hates… The Eels? Weird. But seriously, I think this is a fantabulous list of interesting music and organically captures the year in music. I think Kyle calculated we’ve provided over 33 hours of stuff for y’all to listen to. And while it’s impossible to hear everything released in a year, I think these lists definitely reach under the couch, grab the dusty Cheetos and brush them off for everyone to enjoy. I hope y’all had as much fun as we did putting this together, and please - be on the lookout for more cool experiments like this from Gas Station Cuisine! Until next time…
Playlists: Chris’s top ten albums; Kyle’s top twenty albums; and honourable mentions.
With the latest example being that when I noted it was weird that Kendrick won Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the Grammys but wasn’t even nominated for Album of the Year, someone needed to patiently explain to me that, in fact, it was not weird, since his wins were for the standalone “Not Like Us” and that GNX, released in late November 2024, wasn’t even Grammy eligible. Not great by me!
I literally learned while working on this that a GNX is a Buick. FUCK WHY DID I SAY THAT
Chappell Roan, come on down.
…and, yes, it does seem like a curious time for me to draw this particular line in the sand.
As it turns out: Three Bells is also a ton of fun, and the same goes for the Gossip album.
ENOUGH ALREADY!
aka Another Weekend in the City
Seriously: I’ve discovered that I can’t read when I’m listening to Waxahatchee because I keep unintentionally pausing to notice some new lovely turn of phrase from her.
This is the best track on the album…and one of my favorite songs of the entire year.
Why is this recap so mean?? There’s genuinely something wrong with me.
It should legitimately be against the law for a band I used to expectantly watch premiere videos on Much Music’s Coca-Cola Countdown on Friday afternoons in elementary school to still be relevant in 2024, if for no other reason than I am old as shit.
Oh, it's misery the way we fight
For bitter ends we tear the night in two
I want your death, you want my life
We tell each other lies to hide the truth
And we hate ourselves for everything we do
It’s shame wounded pride, vengeful anger burning deep inside
Poison in our blood and pain, broken dreams, mournful hopes
For all we might have been, all misunderstood
But no way out of this
No way for us to find a way to peace
We never found before
However we regret
All we will ever know
Is bitter ends
For we are born to war
(For we are born to war)
Well, screw it, it’s an honorary Don’t Forget Me track as far as I’m concerned.