Top 30 Records of 2024
by Kyle Kohner
From the sprawling self-titled record by indie-darlings Hovvdy to the brutal, unhinged hardcore calamity of Knocked Loose, 2024 was filled with ceremonious returns to the limelight, bold debut statements, and impressive reinventions of the self. Some releases made me look intensely inward, like those from Young Jesus and Mount Eerie, while others were chaotic and unrelenting—Geordie Greep and JPEGMAFIA come to mind, for obvious reasons.
No matter the emotion or the moment, there was always the perfect record to put on. That’s the beauty of writing about music—no matter where I am, there’s always a record that speaks directly to me, and I get to rave about why. But this year, 30 projects stood a cut above the rest. Without further ado, here are my 30 favorite records of 2024.
30. Hovvdy – S/T
Hovvdy has evolved from creating small, charming, and quiet music to crafting the boundless and unexpected sound they’ve always wanted, perfectly captured in their sprawling, self-titled record that reflects all their creative urges across nearly 20 carefully curated tracks.
29. Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To
Over the past few years, Knocked Loose have taken modern hardcore front and center and into the mainstream, and yet, they’ve never sounded more unhinged, brutal, and ready to blow a nail gun into your head—You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is them pulling the trigger.
28. Mount Eerie – Night Palace
With every new project, Phil Elverum seems to grow ever more attuned to the natural world, crafting music that feels both grounded and otherworldly. Listening to a Mount Eerie record is like stepping into the eternal: life may flee, but within his musings on existence and the world it inhabits, it is never truly gone. Elverum’s ability to weave the fleeting into the infinite is nothing short of supernatural on Night Palace.
27. Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out to She Reaches
An understated marvel of a record, She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She weaves every shadowy thread of her past work into a mesmerizing display of gothic grandeur at its most potent, where dark wave, doom, and ethereal haze collide in ceremonial brilliance. Wolfe has long been the reigning monarch of modern goth, but here she doesn’t just carry the torch—she sets everything behind and in front of her ablaze.
26. Dehd – Poetry
Poetry is a collection of off-skewed indie rock jams that fall into the framework of Dehd’s signature sound, except this time, the hooks are hookier, and the choruses resound deeper with a simple but connective romantic thread coursing through it all.
25. Geordie Greep – The New Sound
Theatrical, twisted, and wholly Geordie Greep, The New Sound is ripe with chaos and cleverness. The frontman of the now-defunct Black Midi weaves his wit and astute musical sensibilities into an absurdist’s display of jazz fusion, prog, and Latin-inspired madness. Darkly funny and, at times, unnervingly poetic. Greep isn’t here to make sense—he’s here to provoke and confuse; he’s a menace, as always, and utterly thrilling for it.
24. Mk.gee – Two Star & The Dream Police
Two Star & the Dream Police is a hypnotic soundtrack to a time-traveler’s lovelorn dream, where lo-fi grit meets kaleidoscopic nostalgia-induced wonder. Mk.gee masterfully turns dissonance into intimacy, creating a space where heartbreak feels surreal and strangely beautiful.
23. Parannoul – Sky Hundred
Sky Hundred wraps up the Parannoul project with a finale equally devastating and triumphant. It’s a record that blends dense noise with moments of melodic clarity, capturing the emotional intensity that has defined the band’s work, but in a way that feels more vulnerable and exposed than ever. While it might not be their best, it’s undeniably their most cathartic.
22. Ka – The Thief Next To Jesus
Released just months before his passing, The Thief Next to Jesus, Ka’s haunting parting message solidifies his legacy as one of hip-hop’s most profound voices. The album weaves raw reflections on life, spirituality, and survival, with Ka’s sharp lyricism and somber delivery to paint a vivid picture of his inner world. Ka’s final record is a reminder of a brilliance we lost too soon.
21. Armlock – Seashell Angel Lucky Charm
Armlock’s Seashell Angel Lucky Charm finds beauty in emotional detachment. With minimalism driving the subtle tension between humanity and artificiality, Armlock’s latest leaves listeners stirred by alienation as a mechanized spirit emits from the duo’s hankering for hypnotic precision and simplicity.
20. JPEGMAFIA – I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
With zero concern for critics or internet noise, Peggy channels his unfiltered intensity into every track on I Lay Down My Life For You. This album is as fierce as it is raw—a chaotic, aggressive declaration of self—JPEGMAFIA is doing this for no one but himself because why shouldn’t he? He has literally laid down his life for his art, a dedication that has made him one of the most electrifying voices in modern hip-hop.
19. The Goalie’s Anxiety At The Penalty Kick – The Iliad and the Odyssey and the Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
With its fleeting beauty made even more poignant by the band’s breakup mere months after its release, The Iliad and the Odyssey... is, in fact, quite the journey—both through life’s quietly magical moments and its trivial pains. Along the way, expansive slowcore arrangements combine with intimate imagery to evoke the weight of time passing and the warmth of small, meaningful experiences about pushing through.
18. Chat Pile – Cool World
The world is dark and dreadful, and it weighs heavily on Oklahoma’s Chat Pile—crushing them as they laugh, blue in the face, bracing for death and deeper depravity. That burden seeps into their latest effort, Cool World, where gnarled, sludgy noise rock stomps a relentless heel on our chests with an insidious pressure that reveals a seedy underbelly that grows more suffocating and filthy the more you listen.
17. Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future
Adrianne Lenker’s Bright Future sees the personal cave so inward that miraculously, we’re presented with an aching expression of community, multitudes, and the intimate relationships that made Lenker into the generational songwriter she is today. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more moving record in 2024.
16. Fontaines D.C. – Romance
Romance marks a confident evolution for Fontaines D.C. as it saw them channel their trademark grit into something broader and more refined. Their intensity remains intact, but the album embraces a new sense of warmth and ambition, pulling in shades of Britpop and art-pop without losing their edge. This is not a reinvention—it’s growth—they’ve proven they can slow down and still hit as hard as ever.
15. Chanel Beads – Your Day Will Come
Your Day Will Come is an eerie, untethered collection of ethereal pop fragments that blur past and future, clarity and abstraction. With ghostly vocals and warped instrumentation, Chanel Beads beckons listeners into mystery and unsettling depths. Amorphous yet gripping, the album’s beauty lies in its elusive presence. This debut album wasn’t just delivered—it was conjured.
14. Tyler, The Creator – CHROMAKOPIA
As soon as we have Tyler, The Creator pinned, he swerves the other way. His latest, CHROMAKOPIA, is a testament to his relentless reinvention—bold, unapologetic, and unpredictable. With daring production choices and his unmistakable edge pushed center stage, the album challenges at every turn to prove his place as one of hip-hop’s most unpredictable and compelling figures.
13. Famous – Party Album
Famous’ Party Album is a chaotic, unsettling record replete with self-loathing and existential frustration. From anxious outbursts to moments of surprising tenderness, Party Album is an uncompromising debut from the weird and wiry mind of Jack Merrett that stands out for its honesty and unpredictability, even if the record (and Famous as a whole) continue to float disillusioned and heartbroken under the radar.
12. Speed – ONLY ONE MODE
Speed’s Only One Mode lives up to the band and record’s namesake—relentless beatdown hardcore bursting with energy, positivity, and a passion racing toward the guardrails at a million miles an hour. Fueled by crushing riffs and unshakable conviction, this debut delivers rallying cries that make you want to break free, break barriers, or maybe just break stuff.
11. Porter Robinson – SMILE! :D
Bubblgum-colored bit-pop with bleak streaks of self-deprecation, Porter Robinson’s SMILE! :D is a hyperventilating whirlwind of the artist’s most zany impulses. Bit-pop, emo, and trance collide in dazzling chaos, as do joy and despair. Anchored by the raw plea, “Don’t kill yourself, you idiot.” SMILE! :D shifts vulnerability into a radiant act of defiance, balancing life’s heaviest truths with its brightest, most absurd possibilities.
10. Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee
Evocative and haunting, like a message sent from the late ’60s to disclose a secret that could break both hearts and the space-time continuum, the final chapter of the Cindy Lee project carries gravity that can’t be explained and certainly shouldn’t be ignored. Diamond Jubilee, like its inimitable creator, is breathless and, by its own evocative nature, timeless.
9. Wunderhorse – Midas
Straight, unfiltered alt-rock might not sound too appealing on paper these days, but Midas proves otherwise and delivers it straight to the vein, proving that the genre still has bite. From explosive moments to others far more tender, Jacob Slater’s evocative lyrics and the band’s chaotic energy collide in a record packed with raw intensity and haunting, gothic weightiness.
8. Charli xcx – BRAT
Breathless, overwhelmed with adrenaline, drenched in sweat, but in tears too, BRAT dominated the zeitgeist of 2024, and yet it brims with complex emotions, exorcised through club-indebted sounds and approach. This is pop music crafted most colorful, loud, and unashamed—exactly how it should be.
7. Willi Carlisle – Critterland
Critterland is an unnoticed country-folk masterpiece, brimming with raw honesty and soul-stirring authenticity. Carlisle’s storytelling captures life’s beauty and flaws with unmatched depth, painting vivid portraits of struggle and grace. It’s music that leaves a mark, as unforgettable as it is timeless.
6. Foxing – Foxing
They’re louder and angrier but doing things on their own terms. The St. Louis emo legends’ fifth record is their most realized and arguably most impressive offering. Their midwest emo heartache is now colored a few shades darker, a lot noisier, and far more futile, and yet, it’s their most emotionally thrilling and musically expansive effort.
5. The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World
Songs of a Lost World is The Cure at their most devastatingly beautiful, weaving darkness and beauty into an achingly resonant record. Robert Smith’s haunting voice, paired with the band’s unmistakable intangibility, creates for a profound and immersive listen and cuts straight to the soul. It’s proof that after decades, their brilliance remains unmatched.
4. Kendrick Lamar – GNX
GNX is Kendrick’s coronation as the undisputed top dog of hip-hop. It’s not about breaking boundaries—it’s about Dot flexing his confidence, taking down his ops, and delivering something both accessible and powerful. Cocky and free-flowing, this is a record that can be distilled into one simple word—fun—as Compton’s finest revels in his success, handing the clown from “the six” a big L, though not without also paying homage to his home and its history. GNX is a victory lap for the ages.
3. Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood
Katie Crutchfield’s work, for years, never quite captured me—until Tigers Blood came along. This album is a revelation, as it blends her raw, confessional style with a more accessible sound that lets listeners in deeper than ever. With alt-country anthems that touch on self-discovery, addiction, and love, Crutchfield strikes the heart with a necessary sting yet somehow makes you feel embraced and understood in the process.
2. MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks
MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks doesn’t just grasp the moment and day and age—it distills it into something uncomfortably real and yet something to laugh about. His understated delivery and wry observations drive this looseness, and yet, a stirring guitar drone punctuates the record, causing Lenderman’s latest to linger, crushing listeners under unresolved tension and the existential futility that belies its casual facade. Few albums this year carried the weight and emotional complexity of Manning Fireworks.
1. Young Jesus – The Fool
John Rossiter’s unflinching exploration of guilt, trauma, and identity is riveting and the year’s best record. The brain behind this sprawling math rock act has stripped this back — his voice is at the center, laying bare the complexities of his experiences in the abstract. This record isn’t easy—it’s uncomfortable, heavy, and intense—but that’s what makes it so special; it pulls no punches, yet in its honesty, it becomes something more significant: an album that doesn’t just speak to the past, but challenges you to confront and move through your own.
Honorable Mentions:
Tapir! – The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain, Lupe Fiasco – Samura, Mach-Hommy – #RICHAXXHAITIAN, Still House Plants – If I don’t make it, I love u,Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties – In Lieu of Flowers,Friko – Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, Uniform – American Standard, Blue Bendy – So Medieval, Christopher Owens – I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair, Baggio – The Dreadful Human Tangle,Rachel Chinouriri – What A Devastating Turn of Events, Mdou Moctar – Funeral For Justice, Mabe Fratti – Sentir Que No Sabes, Los Campesinos – All Hell, English Teacher – This Could Be Texas, claire rousay – Sentiment, Laura Marling – Patterns in Repeat, Shrapknel & Controller 7 – Nobody Planning To Leave (feat. Curly Castro & PremRock), Katy Kirby – Blue Raspberry, Fat Dog – WOOF., Xiu Xiu – 13″ Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, Haley Heynderickx – Seed of a Seed
