10. Wild God — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Grief and joy are two sides of the same coin. On Wild God, alt-rock gothic poet laureate Nick Cave doesn't flip the coin but spins it — gazing in rapturous and horrified wonder as grief and joy swirl into indistinguishable kinetic shape. The Bad Seeds' majestic rock instrumental soundscapes provide a sonic backdrop for Cave to wail like a broken preacher who's seen both love that felt heavenly and eternity's darkness. Wild God is the rare top-tier album that can be hard to listen to at times because Cave's horrifyingly clearsighted lyrical grandeur carries a power and weight that can shake listeners' souls to their cores.
9. Manning Fireworks – MJ Lenderman
Well, 2024 proved to be another banner year for all the worst people you know — the chronically lonely men who refuse to acknowledge that their own toxic traits and lack of emotional honesty might've led them to these low places. With a hint of Randy Newman-esque unspoken satire, MJ Lenderman offers snapshots of them on Manning Fireworks. Lenderman's brand of indie slacker Southern rock serves as the perfectly ramshackle sound for his lyrics about jerks who simply cannot cope and hide their hurt through midlife crisis denial, ridiculous materialistic brags, Buffalo beach houses, kiddie-pool-shallow religiosity and nostalgic, solitary, late-night Guitar Hero sessions. Manning Fireworks is the pile of empty Jack Daniels bottles you notice in the corner of the underfurnished new apartment of your recently divorced buddy — it might make you wince, but if the light hits the refuse just right, the rays refract in strangely stunning ways.
8. All Hell – Los Campesinos!
A defiant salvo declaring "We're not dead yet!", each track of Welsh DIY indie band Los Campesinos!'s All Hell rings out with an anthemic urgency. You can hear singer Gareth Paisley wrestling with what the future means as his youth slips through his fingers, but the leftist emo fire in his belly hasn't extinguished and it guides his aim as he snipes shots at spineless punks and his own mental health. In a world where pessimism often seems the sanest tact, Los Campesinos! crafts a glorious agonized symphony of distortion for downtrodden millennials to rally around.
7. brat – Charli XCX
There's having a good year and then there's having such a good year that the mere color of your album cover becomes immediately iconic. Charli XCX finally rose to the level of pop superstar by delivering an array of instant club classics on brat. Charli turns her messy, hot, mean girl attitude up to 1,000 as she sassily swaggers on bass-heavy bangers like "Von Dutch" and "365," while still allowing for some post-afterparty sobered up self-reflection. An all-time all-night rager of an album that never gets tiresome, it's obvious why the middle months of 2024 will forever be known as brat summer.
6. The Golden Age of Self-Snitching – Revival Season
With hip-hop in 2024 being defined by a beef between two millionaire MCs, Atlanta duo Revival Season provided a much needed dose of grounded ferocity via The Golden Age of Self-Snitching. Rapper Brandon "BEZ" Evans snarling afro punk freneticism proved to be a blast of fresh air when paired with producer Jonah Swilley's kinetic old school beats that slam together funk, reggae and rock sounds. Evans revels in spitting spite at social failures, calling out rap posers, and generally being an unrestrained delight, as the LP radiates a bouncing block party vigor that doesn't ever bother to catch its breath.
5. Am I Okay? - Megan Maroney
Being able to navigate wildly different tones across an album can be extremely difficult, but Megan Maroney and her continually clever lyricism makes it seem like a piece of cake on Am I Okay?. She proves equally adept nailing big pop country love songs, cutting country rock rippers, and humorous borderline novelty songs about astronauts and Ms. Universe, while still being able to deliver heartbreaking emotional gut punches that showcase how success doesn't make one's inner sad girl disappear over night. In an era when lots of pop country seems frustratingly lightweight, Maroney proves the genre still has plenty of life when an artist has the skill to avoid an onslaught of tired cliches.
4. Fate & Alcohol – Japandroids
Even when trying to avoid any fanfare after calling it quits, Japandroids proved to be incapable of going out without a bang. The Vancouver duo's final album still reaches the anthemic highs that made the group arguably the best pure distillation of rock and roll spirit. Frontman Brian King's knack for making love feel like an uncontrollable explosion of life still results in chest-thumping bliss, and drummer David Prowse's stick strikes still explode like jubilant fireworks. While the bass drum still thunders like youth heartbeats across Fate & Alcohol, King's lyrical soul-searching and literal sobering up gives glances of the hope that can be found via love for even the most indecisive weary travelers. Japandroids might be finished, but the band's sonic vibrations won't stop resonating in romantic rock hearts anytime soon.
3. Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs – Alkaline Trio
Beloved pop punk bands putting out their best albums in decades has been a trend of the past few years, and Alkaline Trio's Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs might be the best of the reenergized bunch. On the group's best album since 2005's Crimson, the trio once again nails its darkly beautiful brand of angsty and extremely catchy macabre melodic punk. Songs like "Bad Time," "Hot for Preacher" and the title track can stand up next to the band's best hopeless and hopelessly romantic tunes. While Alkaline Trio might revel in being a soundtrack for cemetery souls, there's no need to pour dirt on the band's grave quite yet.
2. want – MAITA
In order to get what you want in life, you must first determine if those wants are actually needs. Portland singer-songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler (aka MAITA) gracefully conducts this self-searching process on want. She pushes aside intrusive thoughts and lays her wants bare across 12 captivating indie rock tracks: wanting clear lines of communication, wanting to be an object of desire, wanting to find a calmer mental health state and more. While she might express exasperation with those in her life who cause some of those frustrations, she never shies away from turning her sharp lyrical tongue inward to search for the problems' roots. The truth is that we can't always get what we want, but listening to want might allow listeners to at least temporarily lower their bulwarks in the face of disappointments in order to let in those needed slivers of joy.
1. UTOPIA NOW! - Rosie Tucker
Late-stage-capitalist fatalism isn't supposed to sound this f—ing fun. But Rosie Tucker finds bursts of bliss in our dark times while putting on an absolute songwriting clinic on the indie rock marvel that is UTOPIA NOW!. There's no soft-peddled subtlety to be found here as Tucker rails against junk consumerism plastic poisoning our bodies and the planet while exploiting the working class, bemoans planned obsolescence being baked into modern creative endeavors, and deals with the folks who champion cold-hearted dehumanization. Tucker's deft wordplay never veers into lecturing and their fragile tenderpunk heart makes every moment of quieter vulnerability feel touchingly authentic. Tucker even brings empathy to moments of existential nihilism. When they sing, "If at the bottom of everything we are all alone / Then I want nothing but unending bliss for my enemies," you believe every earnest word. The world is a heavy place that only seems to be getting worse. UTOPIA NOW! doesn't offer a utopian escape from all of that, but by staring the darkness in the eyes and being frank about what they see, Tucker provides a note of compassionate hope that cuts through the cacophony of the digital age. ♦ TOP ALBUM HONORABLE MENTIONS
As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again – The Decemberists
Chaos Angel – Maya Hawke
GNX – Kendrick Lamar
Hit Me Hard and Soft – Billie Eilish
Hole in My Head – Laura Jane Grace
Honey – Caribou
Prelude to Ecstasy – The Last Dinner Party
Mirror Starts Moving Without Me – Pom Pom Squad
Radical Optimism – Dua Lipa
Tigers Blood – Waxahatchee
OTHER INLANDER STAFFERS' TOP 10s
MADISON PEARSON1. Manning Fireworks - MJ Lenderman
2. Djesse Vol. 4 - Jacob Collier
3. Imaginal Disk - Magdalena Bay
4. Oh Brother - Dawes
5. brat - Charli XCX
6. Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
7. Charm - Clairo
8. All I Ever Want Is Everything - Blu DeTiger
9. Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
10. Family Business - Lawrence
COLTON RASANEN
1. Girl With No Face - Allie X
2. MEGAN - Megan Thee Stallion
3. brat - Charli XCX
4. Big Ideas - Remi Wolf
5. Alligator Bites Never Heal - Doechii
6. Desire, I Want To Turn Into You: Everasking Edition - Caroline Polachek
7. Heaven Hates Me - Gregory Dillon
8. I Love You So F***ing Much - Glass Animals
9. Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé
10. Harlequin - Lady Gaga
