10. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats: Nell’ ora blu
A valentine to Italian giallo films of the sixties and seventies, British stoner metal band Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats’ Nell’ ora blu collects nineteen tracks that combine anthemic instrumentals, straightforward rock songs featuring Deadbeats’ vocalist Kevin Starrs, and monologues (all in Italian) from classic giallo actors employed specifically for the project. Musically, Starrs draws inspiration from Ennio Morricone, Goblin, and John Carpenter. Listening to Nell’ ora blu is like experiencing a creepy horror movie that exists only in one’s mind’s eye. Unless you speak Italian, the monologues and creepy phone conversations interspersed won’t help you with Nell’ ora blu’s plot. The album’s overall creepy mood, however, should tell you all you need to know about this 78-minute imaginary film for your ears. – Andy Mascola
09. Remi Wolf: Big Ideas
08. The Smile: Wall of Eyes
Wall of Eyes, The Smile’s follow up to their 2022 debut, found the trio of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner, delivering eight more songs mostly comprised of extended mellowed-out arty experimental jazz. As early as the summer of 2023, The Smile began teasing fans with singles like the post-rock “Bending Hectic”. Just weeks before Wall of Eyes was ready for the world, the album’s final single, the masterful “Friend of a Friend”, dropped and with it a Paul Thomas Anderson-directed music video which featured Yorke and company performing the track in front of a room filled with indifferent children. Don’t be fooled, Wall of Eyes isn’t comprised solely of laidback vibey grooves. Much like everything Greenwood and Yorke touch, there’s much more here than meets the eye in terms of moody explorations both musically and lyrically. Long live The Smile. – Andy Mascola
07. Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More
It took over forty years of Kim Deal recording and releasing music with bands before we were finally delivered a proper solo album from this masterful musician who was an integral part of both the Pixies and the Breeders. Needless to say, Nobody Loves You More was worth the wait. The album, comprised of Deal’s trademark vocals and indie rock chops, was recorded between the years of 2011 and 2022. Remarkably, “A Good Time Pushed”, Nobody Loves You More’s finale, was recorded by frequent collaborator Steve Albini just days before his passing. Kim Deal’s solo debut is a beautiful collection that spotlights all the signature sounds and stylistic choices and ideas Deal has become beloved for. – Andy Mascola
06. Fontaines D.C.: Romance
05. Adrianne Lenker: Bright Future
No artist can cut through to my heart faster than Adrianne Lenker. With her resonant, singular tone and incredibly beautiful lyrics, each track on Bright Future hit me harder than the one before. When Lenker’s voice becomes tremulous at times, it highlights her confidence rather than seeming like it might break; she has nothing to prove by straining. We are all leaning in to hear her as if she were a friend strumming a guitar in our living room. In my March review of this album, I wrote, “These twelve tracks are a gift – somehow all at once a step back in time, a balm for the present, and a light for the road ahead. It is music the way music was meant to be: communal, creative, full of emotion, and technically astonishing. At once recognizable and yet completely new, Bright Future is a triumph for Lenker.” I stand by it all these months later. – Ali Meizels
04. Kendrick Lamar: GNX
Named after an experimental muscle car made by Buick way back in 1987, Kendrick’s surprise full-length provided us with more than a few memorable, meme-able moments in the final quarter of this this year. “I never lost who I am for a rap image, it’s motivation if you wonder how I did it,” Kendrick raps on the record’s opening shot, “Wacced Out Murals”, a tense moment that builds beautifully with Lamar’s vocal intensity growing alongside the stellar production. The Luther Vandross-sampled song “Luther” is one of two duets performed with SZA, while on the West Coast anthem “TV Off”, L.A. rapper Lefty Gunplay offers up his scratchy gangster snarl. With production from, among others, DJ Mustard, Jack Antonoff, and Kamasi Washington, GNX was one of the best hip-hop albums we heard in 2024. – Andy Mascola
03. Cursive: Devourer
Omaha’s post-hardcore band Cursive taking five years between albums felt like forever when compared to their early prolific years in the nineties and early 2000s. Regardless, the time away was well spent, as, much like its name suggests, Devourer is a monster of an album that has frontman Tim Kasher and company taking on the ravages of time and age. “Up and Away” finds Tim listing the things he missed out on in life. “Imposturing” is an upbeat moment complete with a Minimoog-esque synth line winding through. Not to be outdone, the album’s second side stunner “Dark Star” is downright danceable. All told, Devourer proves Cursive still has a lot to offer. – Andy Mascola
02. Charli XCX: Brat
01. Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us
One look at Vampire Weekend’s discography to date and you can clearly see that rushing to the studio to quickly push a new collection out into the world so that they stay in the public’s consciousness has never been Vampire Weekend’s pattern. In its sixteen years of releasing recorded music, the indie pop band has delivered only five full-length albums, their latest being Only God Was Above Us. From its cover and promotional artwork featuring moody 1980s photographs taken in abandoned subway cars, to its song “Mary Boone”, named for a NYC art dealer and collector, Only God Was Above Us feels altogether very New York City. “We’re all sons and daughters of vampires who drained the old world’s necks,” frontman Ezra Koenig sings on “Ice Cream Piano”. While the songs on OGWAU are largely upbeat in tone, many foretell apocalyptical changes and an imagined war that’s either already over or yet to be fought. Regardless of its often dark lyrical tone, next to Modern Vampires of the City, Only God Was Above Us is Vampire Weekend’s best work to date and Surviving the Golden Age’s favorite album of 2024. – Andy Mascola
