ALL HELL
Los Campesinos!
It had been seven years since Welsh DIY indie band Los Campesinos! put out an LP, so to make up for lost time the septet comes out swinging with an anthemic urgency akin to a punk (and less problematic) Arcade Fire. The members may have grown up a bit, but there's still a snarling leftist emo-leaning undercurrent in singer Gareth Paisey's bones as he spits lines about career retrospectives ("Holy Smoke (2005)"), spineless punks ("Feast of Tongues") and deteriorating mental health (every All Hell song?). In a world where pessimism often seems the sanest tack, Los Campesinos! craft a glorious agonized symphony of distortion to rally around.
FATE & ALCOHOL
Japandroids
In non-morbid musical news terms, nothing this year has been quite as devastating as Vancouver rock duo Japandroids deciding to call it quits without even a goodbye tour. But at least Japandroids didn't go out with a whimper. Fate & Alcohol finds singer/guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse still nailing their high energy anthemic formula that always felt like the essence of rock and roll perfectly distilled. King's knack for making love feel like an uncontrollable explosion of life still results in chest-thumping bliss — while Prowse's drums explode like jubilant fireworks — on songs like "Alice." But there's also plenty of soul-searching as King wrestles with his new sobriety ("D&T," "Upon Sober Reflection") and finds love after getting called out on his indecisiveness ("Chicago," "All Bets Are Off"). Japandroids might be finished, but the band's sonic vibrations won't stop resonating in romantic rock hearts anytime soon.
GNX
Kendrick Lamar
This year Kendrick chose violence. After landing a no-doubt knockout haymaker in his rap battle with Drake via the all-time diss track "Not Like Us," he surprise-dropped GNX to serve as his musical victory parade around Los Angeles. Riding the high, GNX finds Kendrick at his most brashly confident — basking in his own glory while still doling out a few stiff punches ("Wacced Out Murals"). While the album isn't gonna top anyone's list of the MC's best LPs, it's wildly compelling to listen to him wrestle with contradictory internal struggles that the spotlight on his feud has awoken within him. He's a mogul ("Heart Pt. 6") trying to stay real to the streets ("Squabble Up"). He wants to be a righteous Christian ("Reincarnated") while also building his ego to God-tier levels ("Man at the Garden"). Regardless, there's never a dull moment on GNX, as the lyrical ferocity and huge beats further cement 2024 as The Year of Kendrick.
HONEY
Caribou
Are the 4 pm sunsets bumming you the f— out? Try Caribou's Honey for sonic relief! Caribou producer/multi-instrumentalist/singer Dan Snaith has long provided a wildly accessible entry point for folks wanting to dip their toes into electronic music waters (2010's Swim is one of the best albums ever), and his newest LP offers a direct injection of sunny unrelenting beats. As long as you don't get hung up on the AI-assisted vocal filters Snaith uses to sing in a variety of voices (though if that's a deal-breaker, that's valid!), there's no better album this fall to get a dance party started whether at the club or just in alone grooving in your room.
MANNING FIREWORKS
MJ Lenderman
We're in the midst of an epidemic of American male loneliness, and no songwriter has quite tapped into the inherent haplessness of that demographic quite like MJ Lenderman does on Manning Fireworks. With a hint of Randy Newman-esque unspoken satire, the album offers up non-celebratory portraits of dudes flailing while doing anything but being emotionally honest with themselves. 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 ("She's Leaving You"), ridiculous materialistic brags about smartwatches and Buffalo beach houses ("Wristwatch"), kiddie pool shallow religiosity ("Manning Fireworks") and nostalgic solitary late night Guitar Hero sessions ("Bark at the Moon"). 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.
MAHASHMASHANA
Father John Misty
Not only do Kendrick Lamar and Father John Misty weirdly have their albums cycles synched (both have released five albums the past 12 years, always on the same year), but there's an argument to be made that they're Los Angeles' two finest songwriters. Mahashmashana finds FJM feeling looser than he's been in years. Oh, he's still luxuriating in poetic bad trip existentialism ("Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose"), but between all the darkness, he seems to at least be having a smidgen of fun again. He doles out his typical caustic cynicism on the swirling and grandiose chamber rock title-track opener and follows it up with the gleefully funky "She Cleans Up," which is 100% what Cake would sound like with FJM as its singer. The neon glow of the sprawling eight-minute "I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All" comes across like the bastard child of Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" and The Killers' "The Man", if that kid grew up to be a chainsmoking lounge singer with the blues. Sometimes there's a thin line between a smile and a snarl.
MIRROR STARTS MOVING WITHOUT ME
Pom Pom Squad
After losing herself slightly in the whirlwind of indie buzz after 2021's debut Death of a Cheerleader, Pom Pom Squad's Mia Berrin examines her fractured vestige in shattered glass on the band's sophomore album. Toeing the line between bubblegrunge and dark pop akin to early Billie Eilish, Mirror Starts Moving Without Me consistently delivers big catchy riffs and eerie rock soundscapes that make imposter syndrome and young adulthood uncertainty sound like a horror movie. Berrin might be wrapped in fear, but the results are scary good.
NEVER, NEVERLAND
Unto Others
Unto Others is far from a household name, but if you sat an unknowing listener down to sample tracks from Never, Neverland, the new album's extremely polished production and tight sound might have them believing the Portland group is one of the biggest hard rock bands on the planet. The quartet concocts a deliciously dark rock brew that at various times features dashes of guitar-driven '80s hard rock, melodic metal, goth rock with faint notes of The Cure and The Misfits-esque macabre punk. All those sonic threads are tied together around frontman Gabriel Franco's deep baritone, which calls to mind Glenn Danzig's mighty pipes. With a thematic bent that could be categorized as Satanic Panic Romantic, the songs keep a gloomy tone but aren't afraid to bask in a little loving light, like on the catchy-as-hell ripper "Time Goes On."
PARADISE POP. 10
Christian Lee Hutson
While he has been best known as a friend and collaborator with Phoebe Bridgers, Christian Lee Hutson fully comes into his own on Paradise Pop. 10. At times on his prior records his songwriting has felt like he's trying too hard to show off, yet this 11-song collection of delicate tunes with the general vibe of things aren't great, but I'm happy you're happy finds him confidently settling into his voice. Shades of Heatmiser (Elliott Smith's band) can be heard on the more indie folk rocking tunes like "Carousel Horses," while his habit for writing vocal mirroring guitar parts on soft folk tunes feels more natural on songs like "Water Ballet." Hutson's lyricism reflects on that ethereal limbo when certain connections are relics of the past, but it's hard for your brain to fully let go of them. It's a spot that's sad, but not without a slight silver lining to be found in the beauty that was.
WILD GOD
Nick Cave & 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. This may be Cave's 18th album, but he hasn't lost an ounce of vitality when wailing about deities ("Wild God") or eulogizing the transcendent feeling of all-consuming love ("O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)"). All the while, the Bad Seeds create an atmospheric soundscape that rattles the soul. Every word that leaves Cave's lips feels heavy, but it's always weighty staring down the abyss to find truly existential beauty. ♦
ALSO DON'T MISS...
Beautifully Broken - Jelly Roll
The Bed I Made - The Softies
Evergreen - Soccer Mommy
F-1 Trillion - Post Malone
The Hard Quartet - The Hard Quartet
Home in Another Life - Enumclaw
Love or Fear - Betsy Rogue
No Obligation - The Linda Lindas
Romance - Fontaines D.C.
This Is How Tomorrow Moves - Beabadoobee
