20. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats “La Vipera”
The song “La Vipera” from Nell’ Ora Blu, British doom metal band Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats tribute to Italian giallo films of the sixties and seventies, finds frontman Kevin Starrs channeling Ennio Morricone to concoct a pocket-sized spaghetti western masterpiece of a song that could easily be dropped into any Clint Eastwood film featuring his Man with No Name character. “When he takes your hand he’ll show you, a shadow of a man inside, he’s treated us so bad, how does it feel to be had? Now we’ll kill,” Starrs sings over the gorgeously sinister score. “La Vipera” is a throwback to cinematic pop songs that helped evoke a feeling of dangerous cool that could otherwise only be manifested by a cadre of gifted mediterranean auteurs of their time. – Andy Mascola
19. Remi Wolf “Soup”
18. Geordie Greep “Holy Holy”
Perhaps the biggest surprise of 2024 was that a twenty-five-year-old London musician’s debut solo album would handily harness the best of jazz fusion and progressive rock’s musical tendencies and give voice to them using a character with the sexual inclinations of a reprobate from a horny Serge Gainsbourg song. With “Holy, Holy”, the Black Midi frontman gives an, at times, graphic first-person account of a sleazy lounge seduction. It’s not just the narrative that keeps our attention, however, it’s the song’s masterful musicianship that swings for the fences and succeeds with blazing guitar solos and exquisite salsa-inspired percussive breakdowns. – Andy Mascola
17. Charli XCX “Apple”
16. Kendrick Lamar “Squabble Up”
Built from a sample of Debbie Deb’s “When I Hear Music”, Kendrick Lamar brought a surprise eleventh hour showstopper to the last quarter of 2024 with “Squabble Up”. The song succeeds as a universal party anthem because of its immediately accessible eighties freestyle hook. You don’t have to be hip to Kendrick’s L.A. slang or clever references to Nelson Mandela and jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington to appreciate “Squabble Up’s” infectious groove. The track’s call and response bridge halfway in is the icing on an already thickly frosted cake. As if it wasn’t already clear who the king of hip hop is this far into the 2020s, “Squabble Up” secures Lamar’s crown and puts a final nail in Drake’s coffin. – Andy Mascola
15. Mui Zyu “The Mould”
With abstract lines like, “don’t regret or forget about acid crumbs, tickling wasted lungs, teething for special moves,” it’s okay to admit you don’t understand Mui Zyu’s (AKA Eva Liu) cryptic lyrics for “The Mould”. The quirky song’s unexpected chord changes and smartly placed bleeps and bloops make this early moment from Mui Zyu’s excellent sophomore album, Nothing or Something to Die For, a track meant more to be felt than comprehended literally. “‘The Mould’ is a frosted glacial sweetie about the many meanings of mould. Mould is very cool, and the right kind can give you super powers,” Liu told Stereogum.com. Whatever you say, Eva. We’re not going to overthink it. – Andy Mascola
14. Charli XCX “360”
13. Anna McClellan “Endlessly”
This gorgeously emotive piano ballad by Nebraska musician Anna McClellan had us in our feelings for the better part of 2024. It sounds strange to call a song about being sad and finding someone to be sad with uplifting, but when Anna’s fragile voice sings, “it’s okay, if I’m not okay, if it’s true, I’m blue, I’m strong, I belong, if you’ll have me, we can be blue, be our whole selves, not just make do,” one can’t help but feel hopeful about a love between two wistful individuals holding tightly to one another in a society where feelings of melancholy are too often shuttled to the sidelines, opting instead for artificial happiness. – Andy Mascola
12. Megan Thee Stallion “HISS”
11. Kim Deal “Nobody Loves You More”
With its rousing horn and string section, paired with guitar and plaintive vocals sung by the Breeders’ frontwoman Kim Deal, the Steve Albini-produced “Nobody Loves You More” made for a pitch perfect introduction to the former Pixies bassist’s long-awaited debut solo record. The title track from Nobody Loves You More is not only one of the brightest, most heartfelt moments on our list of best songs of the year, but it is also, sadly, in a way, an unintentional tribute to Deal’s three and a half decades’ worth of work in the studio alongside Albini who passed in May of this year. – Andy Mascola
