The 30 Top Albums Of 2024

It's been a year for hating, but here's some LPs I loved.

It’s been a long year. Even looking at the things simply inside of the music world, we’ve had Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef, brat summer, Chappell Roan’s rise, Knocked Loose on Kimmel, and so much more. Besides a dramatic rise in emerging popstars (and some legends getting their flowers), it’s hard to pinpoint perhaps one trend, sound, or idea that defined 2024 (although many things certainly came close). Instead of getting into too many specifics, here are 30 albums that I loved this year.

30. Liquid Mike – Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot

The midwestern indie punks, fronted by Mike Maple, released their breakout album in February, and it’s been a steady burn. The band puts fiery punk pacing under fuzzy power pop. With all of the songs clocking in at under 3 minutes long, Maple and company truly understand the art of reduction. Tracks like “K2” and “Pacer” hit every beat that they need to and wrap up just as fast.

29. Green Day – Saviors

With their epic tour marking the 20^th and 30^th anniversaries of American Idiot and Dookie, some casual listeners may have forgotten that Green Day released a new album earlier this year. On Saviors, the pop-punk trio show that they can continually crank out catchy rock songs, like the chant-ready “One Eyed Bastard” or the stadium ballad “Goodnight Adeline.” Throughout the album, the band let their most memorable qualities shine on rowdy rippers like “Look Ma, No Brains!” or “The American Dream Is Killing Me.” Billie Joe Armstrong also shows off his knack for sugary sweet pop rock, which make you feel like you’re a teenager on the quest for love on a song like “Bobby Sox.” Still, just two songs later, he gives one of the best looks at the pitfalls of addiction and relapse on “Dilemma.”

28. Four Tet – Three

This year, I decided that I would try to get into electronic music. While I haven’t been to any live DJ sets, I have found some enjoyable listens from some of the biggest artists to come out of that scene. Four Tet’s Three was both an engaging and soothing listen. It felt very in line with the post-rock and emo music that I usually enjoy, while helping me to expand my taste.

27. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “No Title As Of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead”

It may be some recency bias, because 30 years into their career, I’ve only just started listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. While the title and album cover are certainly bleak, reflecting the horrific genocide in Gaza, the album does showcase what the post-rock veterans do best. It’s moving, ethereal, and it proceeds like a classical piece. “Raindrops Cast in Lead” is a triumphant piece, while “Broken Spires at Dead Kapital” is short and mournful. The band truly captures a range of emotions in one of their most exciting works.

26. Queen of Jeans – All Again

In the five years since Queen of Jeans released if You’re not afraid, i’m not afraid, the band has become a full-fledged rock group. While their previous album skewed more towards being a singer-songwriter project, All Again is a delightful piece of indie rock. The confessional lyrics are still there on songs like “Karaoke”, “Books in Bed”, and “Bitter Pill,” but the sounds are expanded into catchy, full band tracks. With a song like “Horny Hangover,” it’s certainly setting up Queen of Jeans for the next phase of their career, which will certainly include more catchy bangers.

25. Hovvdy – Hovvdy

Hovvdy was one of those bands that I always meant to get into. Their name was interesting to me, and I didn’t realize that it was supposed to be pronounced “Howdy.” Given that the name was part of what intrigued me, it made the most sense to me to explore their self-titled album. The band’s brand of acoustic, bedroom pop ultimately provided me with a lot of calm this year. Some songs certainly have a little bit more of a beat behind them, but the stripped down nature of all the songs really made them feel like tender ballads. Each song reminded me of something that could’ve played in a big budget indie romcom in the 2010s.

24. Mdou Moctar – Funeral For Justice

You don’t need to understand Tamasheq or have an understanding of Nigerian politics and the influence of colonialism to appreciate Mdou Moctar’s latest album Funeral for Justice. You can simply enjoy the Tuareg guitarist’s skills. He’s a phenomenal guitar player, reminiscent of 70s guitar gods, while incorporating elements of traditional African music.

Reading up on the translated lyrics paints a fuller picture. A man fed up with colonial influences and poverty in his home country is brought to the front and center. While there is certainly a flash to his playing, the underlying rage can also be heard.

23. Jack White – No Name

No, I didn’t expect a new Jack White album to wow me in 2024. Despite having grown up in the peak White Stripes period and enjoying his first few solo efforts, the modern guitar god’s more recent albums had been underwhelming to say the least. While the odds of a proper reunion with Meg White seem slimmer by the year, White seems happy to finally give the fans what they want. Tracks like “That’s How I’m Feeling” merge both the groove from bands like The Raconteurs and the explosive outbursts from The White Stripes in his most satisfying album in years. After venturing into less exciting territory for his last few albums, Jack White has finally returned to the bluesy garage rock sound that we love.

22. Frank Turner – Undefeated

Frank Turner’s latest offering is a true return-to-form, combining his folk-rock troubadour ethic and punk rock values in a thoughtful record about maturity. Plenty of punks do the “I’m getting older” albums, but Turner’s Undefeated seems like both a testament to his resilience and appreciating all the lives he needed to live to get to where he is. This album is the most in conversation with his younger self. Insight has always been a key part in the English singer-songwriter’s work (see: Tape Deck Heart), but songs like “Letters” and “Ceasefire” seem to take up his own shortcomings and give in to how you can carry some guilt in your life whether its for a failed relationship or simply letting your younger self down.

21. Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me

Maggie Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me is a record that I continually found myself revisiting. In some senses, it exists on the cusp of the popular singer-songwriters that have exploded in the past four to six years (think: boygenius) but also alongside the rising popstars that have taken off in 2024 (think: Sabrina Carpenter). Rogers has never shied away from showing her excellence in her past indie-pop releases, but Don’t Forget Me has inched her closer to the mainstream than ever before. There’s enough of a beat behind songs like “On & On & On” while songs like “If Now Was Then” feel like they could be deep cuts from a folk singer.

Perhaps this is partially thanks to appearing on Zach Bryan’s excellent song “Dawns,” but her new record is filled with songs that sound fun, but contain deeply confessional lyrics. Songs like “The Kill” and “So Sick of Dreaming” are truly two of the most fun songs this year, and I don’t think they’ve gotten the same attention they deserve. That being said, Rogers seems like she’s fine. She had a stint opening for Coldplay in Europe, and she had her own North American arena tour. Plus, it was a lot of fun to hear her make variations on that Knicks line all over the country.

20. Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor Swift fatigue seems to have mostly set in. Admittedly, it seemed like a strong possibility that The Torture Poets Department would be a complete flop. Even though The Anthology cut of the album is overblown, there are certainly plenty of songs to get excited about on the album. The title track, “But Daddy I Love Him,” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” showed Swift’s continued ability to churn out pop songs.

Swift’s relationship with her fanbase and her critics has always been interesting. Despite having plenty of songs responding to critics and naysayers, this is the first time she’s seemingly taken shots at the parasocial relationship that many of her fans have with her music. It’s also an intriguing deep dive on a very shortlived relationship, which does show that even though something may seem like a blip and insignificant to others, it can inspire a deep fuel in us.

19. Max Richter – In a Landscape

In a stressful and turbulent year, I tried to take solace in a fair amount of classical music. Through job applications, another terrible election, and grinding myself down doing comedy, Max Richter really struck a chord with me in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Earlier in the year, I finally listened to The Blue Notebooks, and I had a visceral experience, crying to “On the Nature of Daylight.”

In a Landscape brought some sense of peace in an often turbulent time. The longer pieces like “The Poetry of Earth (Geophony)” or “A Colour Field (Holocene)” were welcome reprieves, and the short “Life Study” tracks were brief moments to breathe. As I look for hope heading into 2025, I’m sure that I’ll spend a lot of time breathing deeply to this record and other Richter compositions.

18. One Step Closer – All You Embrace

One Step Closer’s All You Embrace is a perfect evolution after their 2021 album This Place You Know. The Wilkes-Barre hardcore band have stepped up slightly in their clean vocals, and they’ve found an excellent oval within the Venn diagram of hardcore, indie rock, and nu metal. Like many great hardcore albums, All You Embrace is about growing up, but vocalist Ryan Savitski’s lyrics incorporate imagery that would be fitting for a pop-punk band, and his reflections on relationships sound more mature. As the band experiments with dynamics, many of the tracks are just as ready for sing-alongs as they are for moshpits.

17. Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To

As the hardcore wave seems to crest, Knocked Loose bring it down with a wave of breakdowns. The Kentucky metalcore outfit have completely amped up their sound with more intense vocals, pulverizing guitars, and iconography that can’t be beat. While You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To grapples with faith, loss, and inner-demons, Knocked Loose have simply flexed in how heavy they’ve gotten. There was a tweet that I remember seeing that mentioned how many metal bands usually get less heavy as they get more popular, but Knocked Loose have moved in the opposite direction.

The vocals are just as harsh and in your face as on previous albums. YWGBYST doesn’t have an obvious standout like “Counting Worms” (maybe “Suffocate” featuring Poppy), but the album’s intensity shows that they’ve leveled up, challenging audiences to go deeper, darker, and more intense with them. As we gear up for another tumultuous four years, Knocked Loose give a brutal record to offer a soundtrack.

16. Oso Oso – Life Till Bones

The latest Oso Oso record was a stroke of brightness that carried it through the late days of summer (and the hot fall that followed). Jade Lilitri continues to show off his knack for ultra-catchy tunes with emo-adjacent indie rock songs that seems to find some enjoyment in a normal life. Tunes like “the country club” and “dog without its bark” both exemplify the band’s best qualities: catchy, hook-driven indie rock. Still, there’s a balance. Lilitri can just as easily transition into a folky ballad like “seesaw” or janglepop on “skippy.”

15. Good Looks – Lived Here For a While

Good Looks toe the lines between heartland rock, americana, and indie rock with ease on their excellent sophomore record Lived Here For A While. The band weaves personal anecdotes (“Desert”) alongside deeper issues, like religion, poverty, and even ableism (“Broken Body”). Like some of the artists on this list, the Austin band does a good job of offering some stability through it all.

14. Kendrick Lamar – GNX

“I want y’all to feel this shit.” In some senses, this was Kendrick’s year. The rapper’s feud with Drake really captured the cultural conversation in a way that other heavy hitters like Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Zach Bryan, and even Chappell Roan weren’t able to. Sometimes hatred can light a fire under you.

Prior to the GNX drop, I was tempted to include all the barbs from the beef as one compilation album. Even though Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” ended up becoming the de facto song of the summer, the whole back-and-forth from “Like That” to “7 Minute Drill” to “Taylor Made” were incredibly fun. “Euphoria” is my most streamed song of the year. As I started writing this, the temptation was real, but I opted for integrity.

While some aspects of GNX are in conversation with the songs that Kendrick released over the summer, it’s arguably the most fun record of the rapper’s career. Between lush, sensual songs (“luther”) and thoughtful self-reflections (“man at the garden”), there’s many moments where Kendrick simply lets loose and shows his knack for spitting venomous rhymes. Whether it’s the ultra-intimidating “hey now”, the life update “wacced out murals”, or simply defending his crown on “reincarnated”, there’s a lot of songs that are simply a good time, without sacrificing K.dot’s literary lyrics.

13. Touché Amoré – Spiral in a Straight Line

Touché Amoré is a band that I should’ve gotten into years ago. The band’s decision to include post-punk, shoegaze, and pop-punk influences really pulled me in for Spiral in a Straight Line. Despite having seen Touché as an opening band a few times, the band hadn’t connected with me on a record until very recently. Maybe it’s a symptom from a year which has been incredibly isolating, but Spiral in a Straight Line has been an album that’s felt like it’s spoken to my situation in sitting at home and grinding out job applications, cutting my teeth at open mics, and simply trying to float by.

“Mezzanine” and “This Routine” ended up feeling like the most accurate depictions for how I’ve been on my own spiral this year. Jeremy Bolm has found a poetic way to show how sometimes loneliness and anxiety can be monotonous. Despite being stuck most of the time, the band’s soaring instrumentals, and his brutal vocals have made me feel even more motivated, as best as I can.

12. MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks

I can’t honestly tell you why MJ Lenderman seems to resonate with so many people. There’s an everyman quality to his work that puts him in the tradition of artists like Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. While that lets him tap into a certain Americana poetry, it also lets him slide some jokes into his songs. There’s a little bit of silliness and fun poking in lines like “Every Catholic knows he could’ve been pope.” There’s also a pastiche of both classic images and less beloved pieces from the past (like the opening line referencing Slade in “Wristwatch”), and it mixes in a way that’s incredibly satisfying. It’s a perfect slice of musical comfort food.

11. Young Jesus – The Fool

John Rossiter’s latest album under his Young Jesus moniker is easily his best. The album retains some of the post-rock, singer-songwriter aspects that made albums like Welcome to Conceptual Beach so enjoyable, but there’s a bit more of a heartland rock undertone here. Rossiter can channel the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits to make a record that really bleeds.

This was a late bloomer for me. After being released in May, the songs on The Fool didn’t connect with me until the fall. The minimal instrumentation and Rossiter’s baritone and occasional yelps really soundtracked many emotional walks around the park on my own. There’s a lot of loneliness and sadness throughout the record, but there are also many portraits of resilience. Knowing that there’s going to be bullshit flung at you, there’s some sort of weathered sturdiness through this all.

10. John Moreland – Visitor

In the way that much of the modern mainstream country explosion among artists like Post Malone are owed to the likes of Zach Bryan, those country artists owe a tremendous debt to John Moreland. The folk singer keeps his sound simple and sparing, letting his lyrics and gentle baritone float to the top. Even though Moreland’s voice is soothing and his songs are often laidback, his lyrics are often relatively dark, addressing tyranny, depression, and technology.

Despite how bleak his words can seem, there is a comfort in a record like Visitor. At 39, Moreland sounds weathered and familiar, like your grandfather telling you about all the things he’s seen. There’s a conversational nature in songs like “The More You Say, The Less It Means” or “Blue Dream Carolina.” This year has certainly ended feeling like we’ve been punched in the stomach, but Visitor feels like the hand reaching out to help you off the ground, reminding that there’s strength in community. Despite the darkness, this record does give me a fair amount of hope.

9. Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet

After bubbling up with 2022’s Emails I Can’t Send and an opening slot on Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” Sabrina Carpenter has arrived as one of the most prominent popstars in the world. The hypersexual and undeniable fun album Short N’ Sweet skyrocketed her to a major force to be reckoned with. While the earworms “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” were inescapable, the record is jam-packed with catchy songs. As her concert tour continues to milk the album for meme-able moments, like the positions in “Juno,” the record continues to reward.

It seems like songs like “Taste” and “Espresso” are on track to become pop staples. With their throwback groove and not-so-subtle innuendo, it’s very exciting to see where Carpenter is heading next.

8. Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter

The second installment in Beyoncé’s promised trilogy is an exciting piece of country-pop. While many people have pointed to Zach Bryan or Morgan Wallen as responsible for the recent mainstream country explosion, Queen B shows her work. Including Linda Martell, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Shaboozey, the singer shows country’s well-documented history, less-discussed Black roots, and a glimpse into the future. While certain tracks like “Texas Hold ‘Em” lean into the straightforward aspects that have made country huge, Beyoncé has brought more modern influences in songs like “16 Carriages” and “Ameriican Requiem.”

While Renaissance was a chance to show off dance and club music, Beyoncé’s decision to lean into her country roots was an opportunity to show her versatility. Ultimately, it paid off. With bombastic pop songs that are wearing cowboy boots and hats (“Bodyguard”) or stripped-down folk songs (“Protector”), this has been one of the most exciting albums to come out this year. I was a little lukewarm on her last album, but Cowboy Carter has reinvigorated my interest in Bey, and I’m excited to see what she has in store for the third installment.

7. Kneecap – Fine Art

Along with a major movie depicting their formation and early rise, Kneecap have dominated the back half of the year for me. Fine Art is an implicitly political album, rapped partially in Irish, along with some English verses. While many of the songs aren’t as straightforward in their political messages like “H.O.O.D.” or “Guilty Conscience,” the album’s songs like “Sick in the Head” and the title track are indictments about the current state that our world continually occupies.

Even though there’s a political subtext in everything the group does, Fine Art is also a celebration. With electronic beats and mile-a-minute raps, Moglai Bap and Mo Chara have showed that they’re not going to let tyranny get in the way of a good time. “Parful” is an ode to how sometimes partying is the only escape. “I’m Flush” is a straight-up party song about the joys of taking drugs.

The film and the band have had a much more direct impact on my day-to-day life than I really expected them to. After seeing the movie, I stopped doing French lessons on Duolingo and started focusing on Irish. Even though I’ve accepted that I’m American, I feel like the best way to honor my ancestors is to start learning the language. In the same way that the band has aimed

6. Charli XCX – Brat

It’s hard to pick a popstar who’s been more impactful to culture this year than Charli XCX. You’d think that Brat was not a word prior to her album dropping in June. She continued to dominate culture by cultivating the meme, and her collaborations throughout the year (like the excellent “Girl, so confusing” remix with Lorde). Brat was inescapable in the best way.

While Charli has skated around the edges of the mainstream, her most experimental and boundary-pushing record ended up being her breakthrough. Brat is undeniably a dance record, but there is a hidden intensity in songs like “Club classics” or “Sympathy is a knife.” The pulsating rhythms and party-ready lyrics are an escape from a darker reality in the current world we’re living in.

While the “Brat Summer” meme got driven into the ground, the record continues to be one of the most enjoyable to hit the charts this year. The underlying darkness on hits like “360” or the personal spin on dance-ready songs like “Rewind” are reminders that sometimes joy and living unapologetically are the best ways to spit in tyranny’s face.

5. Zach Bryan – The Great American Bar Scene

The Great American Bar Scene sees Zach Bryan stepping into a more comfortable place as a storyteller and songwriter. The Springsteen worship has always been clear, but Bryan has found a way to nod to the Boss, while carving out his own corner of rock-influenced country tunes. Songs like “American Nights” and “Sandpaper” are clearly in the E Street Band tradition (the latter even features Springsteen), but Bryan lets his singer-songwriter influences show on more mellowed out songs like “28” and “Memphis; The Blues,” which features John Moreland.

Given the controversy after the Brianna Chickenfry breakup, some of these songs may not seem to age as well in the Bryan narrative, but as songs, they’re still some of his best work. He seems comfortable seeking new spaces for his tunes, with some of these songs being his most romantic. While he’s hinting at taking a major step back in the next year, Bryan will definitely give us something new and exciting to look forward to, and hopefully next year’s album will also find its way into the top five.

4. Tyler, The Creator – CHROMAKOPIA

After Flower Boy, it seemed possible that Tyler, The Creator would never give us an album more personal. His following records Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost were both excellent additions to his discography, but not nearly as vulnerable as the album that came before it. With Chromakopia, Tyler gets personal about some of his fears, anxieties, and dives deeper into his sexuality.

That’s not to say that this is simply a confessional album. There are plenty of rowdy tracks where Tyler feels like he’s channeling the Odd Future days (“Rah Tah Tah” or “Sticky”). He also feels the most comfortable flexing his R&B chops on songs like “Darling, I” or “Judge Judy.” Ultimately though, I still really love when Tyler shows off his rhyming skills to be personal (“Tomorrow”) or taunting his foes (“Thought I Was Dead”).

3. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties – In Lieu of Flowers

In the third full-length installment in the Aaron West story, songwriter Dan Campbell takes his title character through the depths of alcoholism, while helping him heal. “It is also about closing wounds. The record in large part is about doing the work to close wounds,” Campbell told me in an interview with Atwood Magazine.

While this may be the final Aaron West record, it marks a satisfying close to the whole story. As someone who has been the following the project for a decade at this point, I’ve enjoyed seeing the project grow and change. I also feel that this does hit some of the strongest emotional viewpoints. It also shows how priorities change over the course of a decade.

Additionally, as someone who has spent the past three years abstaining from alcohol, the story about Aaron’s experience getting sober also struck plenty of personal notes. This has been a very trying year, and as I put on the title track, I’m still filled with some sense of hope.

2. Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood

After 2020’s Saint Cloud seemingly made Katie Crutchfield into an indie superstar, Tigers Blood is one of her most calming records of her career. In the trilogy began by Out in the Storm, this is Waxahatchee’s most romantic album yet. Tigers Blood reflects a calm middle point in a relationship. Tracks like “Right Back To It” and “Burns Out at Midnight” are beautiful tributes to finding someone who can weather anything with you, but you’ve both settled into a routine.

While most of my year has been dominated by frustration about my job status, the country, and more, there have been many great moments, like getting engaged. Despite all the chaos and difficulties, I’ve found solace in my partner, and I’ve found peace in songs like “Lone Star Lake.”

1. Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven

Once Marisa “Missy” Dabice sang, “What if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch?” I was locked into Mannequin Pussy’s new album I Got Heaven. Nearly 15 years into their career, the Philly band have been chipping away at indie stardom for sometime now, and I Got Heaven is their best album yet. The band seamlessly moves between roaring hardcore songs (“Ok? Ok! Ok? Ok!”) to progressive indie rock (“Loud Bark”) to singer-songwriter inflections (“I Don’t Know You”) to straightforward pop rock (“Sometimes”).

All at once, Dabice takes on the role of both popstar and hardcore vocalist. Seeing the band live is an integral part of the experience, as she dresses in gorgeous dresses and stalks around the stage like a dancer, but she can quickly explode, going from a whisper to a shout in no time, just like with the music. A song like “Of Her” can follow “Softly,” as she can go from a sweet whisper where she preaches about love and acceptance before denouncing the rise of right wing Christian fascism.

Even though Dabice most often takes center stage, Colins “Bear” Regisford also contributes many lead vocals to this album (most notably on “Ok…”), giving the band true hardcore tracks. It shows how the band can truly act as a unit rather than a backing band for one person.

As the year progressed and things appeared to get worse, I Got Heaven was a place of solace, and it’s a reminder that there’s a need to be strong in the coming year (and four years). There is a strength in vulnerability, and you can still spit the shit back in someone’s face. In addition to the loud bark, you need a deep bite.

Honorable Mentions:

This Is Lorelei — Box for Buddy, Box for Star

Cindy Lee — Diamond Jubilee

Judas Priest — Invincible Shield

Microwave — Let’s Start Degeneracy

Hot Water Music — VOWS

Ariana Grande — eternal sunshine

Bleachers — Bleachers

Riley! — Keep Your Cool

Vampire Weekend — Only God Was Above Us

Morgan Wade — Obsessed

Maxwell Stern — In The Good Light

Talker — I’m Telling You The Truth

Speed — Only One Mode

Carly Cosgrove — The Cleanest of Houses Are Empty

illuminati hotties — Power

Los Campesisnos — All Hell

Christopher Owens — I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair

High Vis — Guided Tour

Chat Pile — Cool World