If It's Too Loud...

Songs of a Lost World has no business being as good as it is. The Cure have been releasing music for well over forty years, and this is the band's fourteenth studio album. They're well past the point in their career where they could easily just play the hits, and maybe put out an album every five years or so that their fans listen to once and then forget about. It's a cliche joke at this point that fans use the new songs as a time to go to the bathroom and/or get another beer, but I can't imagine that being the case with any of these songs. Of course, the negative part of Songs of a Lost World is that it feels like The Cure's final album. As much as Robert Smith insists it's not, the opening line of the album is "This is the end of every song that we sing," and the last song is called "Endsong." I guess we can't complain about a band nearing their fiftieth anniversary hanging it up, but... you know how it is. The album also feels like a c...

I absolutely loved Mannequin Pussy's 2017 album Patience and really liked their 2021 EP Perfect. This year's I Got Heaven is an absolute masterpiece of an album. As bands continue to defy traditional genre expectations and blend musical styles into one, I Got Heaven eradicates the line between punk and pop completely. The album opens with the title track which seamlessly jumps between the two styles, transitioning from hardcore to sweet sounding pop smoothly. "Loud Bark" is more of a pop leaning alt-rock song, and "Nothing Like" is almost pure pop. And this is all within the first three songs. I can't imagine even the most stringent punk purist not loving this album. Earlier this year there was a viral video claiming a venue tried to clear out a hardcore show by playing Cher's "Believe" and having it backfire by a dance party breaking out. That was debunked by Mannequin Pussy vocalist Marisa Dabice, who let everyone know it was their show a...

With song titles like "Vibrator," "My Labia is Lopsided, But I Don't Mind," and "Nipple Hair" and the fact that their bio states that the idea for the band was "...  sparked by the idea of creating a band that humorously explores the challenges of everyday female experience,"  I 'm not exactly the target audience for The Baby Seals' Chaos. But, great music is universal (plus, I can relate to the bizarre joy of being middle aged and getting asked for your ID that is the subject of "Id'd at Aldi"), so it can still work for everyone. The songs on Chaos hit this very specific sweet spot for me where they're punk and about important subjects while keeping a mocking sense of humor about the world. Plus, these songs are catchy as Hell. Personally, I've had the chorus of "He's gonna come in her face / He's gonna come in her face / He's gonna come in her face" from "Yawn Porn" crammed into ...

It's been quite a year for The Last Dinner Party, complete with going from indie darlings in the Spring to a backlash in the Fall apparently based on them having met at private school. Regardless of what the ultra-hipsters think, Prelude to Ecstasy is a great album. They have a more theatrical and modern take on Britpop, and apparently that's something I've been craving for twenty-five years. It's the type of album that I listen to nearly obsessively for a few weeks, and then keep going back to over the course of 2024. I kept watching live videos from various festivals over the summer and got swept up in the pure joy audience members were experiencing. (Missing their show at Royale earlier this year is my big concert regret of the year...) Sure, The Last Dinner Party were the indie band of the moment of 2024, but Prelude to Ecstasy brought a lot of people a lot of joy throughout the year, myself included. Songs of note: "Caesar on a TV Screen," "Sinner,...

sidebody almost didn't make my top ten for 2024. I first heard the Somerville band's album full time job shortly after it was released in May of this year. I enjoyed it, but it slipped off my radar like many new releases do. I revisited the album when it was announced that they were playing with Hallelujah the Hills in November, and I ended up liking it even more. I became enamored with the band after that show, and each time I listened to full time job , I got more and more into the album. It's a quick one, only lasting seven songs in a little over sixteen minutes, but something about sidebody's mixture of art rock and fun that I can't resist. I was still a little hesitant to add it to my top ten of the year since sometimes my flavor of the month albums don't hold up as well when I revisit them down the road, but sometimes I wish I had put them up higher on my end of the year list. But sidebody fandom may not officially be a cult, I have a feeling they're t...

I was/am a huge fan of And the Kids, the previous band of Hannah Mohan. As much as I was bummed out to hear that And the Kids were no more, I was intrigued to hear what Hannah Mohan's solo music would sound like. Time is a Walnut is going to work for all fans of Mohan's previous band without sounding exactly the same. The western Massachusetts artist is still sitting right on the line of indie rock and indie folk. The songs on Time is a Walnut have that sound that makes them perfect for chilling out on some grass outdoors somewhere or dancing around. This is wonderfully organic dance music. If we had to lose a band as beloved as And the Kids, Hannah Mohan's solo debut is the perfect way to continue that legacy. Plus, if you're just discovering Hannah Mohan's music, there are years of fantastic releases to explore from here. Time is a Walnut is a perfect solo debut that has us thrilled to hear more. Songs of note: "Time is a Walnut," "Soaked," ...

As someone who is always talking about how I prefer 80's and 90's hip hop over rap being made today, it's kind of surprising that I enjoy the latest from Angry Blackmen so much. The Legend of ABM doesn't sound anything like my favorite legendary hip hop songs, but it also doesn't sound anything like most being made today. Angry Blackmen have been called industrial hip hop, and that fits this album perfectly. The Legend of ABM is a noisy album. There are no R&B choruses. Your favorite hits from the 70's and 80's aren't being sampled in full and rapped over. This is a completely fresh sound. The label industrial hip hop is going to give you a great idea of what Angry Blackmen sound like, and a good idea if you're going to like it. The closest artists I can compare this album to are the discordant sound of early Public Enemy and the digital hardcore of Atari Teenage Riot.  Songs of note: "Stanley Kubrick," "GRIND," and "Dead...

I've been a huge fan of Perennial's joyous noise punk for years now. They're one of those bands that I can't quite remember how I discovered them, but I was instantly smitten. This year saw the release of Art History , which changed up Perennial's sound a bit. It's still a raucous version of noise punk, but it's a bit more toned down and melodic. If you follow the band on social media it makes sense since they regularly post what they're listening to, which is a lot of the time oldies. And by oldies, I mean Motown and British Invasion classics. That sound is all over songs like "Up-tight" and "How the Ivy Crawls." Art History sounds like a mixture of Refused and The Kinks, which kind of feels like they geared this album towards me personally. It's nice to know there are at least a few other people out there obsessed with these sounds, and I have to thank Perennial for combining genres I didn't even realize I needed mixed toget...

Miami's Las Nubes first came to my attention when their press release listed Iggy Pop and Thurston Moore as fans. That's enough to get me to drop everything to listen, and I quickly became a fan myself once I heard Tormentas Malsanas. The album is one of those where each song sounds different from the one before but they all sound like a cohesive collection. The songs primarily land in the dream pop, punk, and alt-rock categories. All songs have an amazing mixture of heavy and beautiful, and there are 90's influences and comparisons throughout. You're going to hear the proto-punk groove of The Stooges, the dissonance of Sonic Youth, and the alt-rock melodies of Veruca Salt. The not so secret weapon of Las Nubes are the vocals of Ale Campos and Emile Milgrim, particularly when they are harmonizing. Tormentas Malsanas is one of those magical albums where everything comes together perfectly, and it locks into so many of my personal tastes that I can't help but love it....

This one should probably be higher on my list than #10, but I may have burnt myself off on it by leaving the CD in my car for months. Abigail Lapell's fifth album, Anniversary , is an amazing mix of traditional folk and modern folk. The album opener, "Anniversary," is a beautiful and light love song that sets the mood for the rest of the album. A song like "Count On Me," one of the tracks that Lapell collaborated with Great Lake Swimmers on, has a more modern feeling while still being rooted in tradition. "Rattlesnake" and "Flowers In My Hair" are more traditional while still sounding like music recorded this decade. The latter was recorded in a church and consists of vocals, handclaps, and foot stomps. Anniversary is one of the more compelling folk releases of the year, and is a showcase for Lapell's fantastic songwriting and vocals. If you haven't checked this album out yet, it's definitely time to. Songs of note: "Count On...