If the memeverse is any indication, September 1st was a rude awakening for many (including me). Brat Girl Summer has given way to Smashing Pumpkin Spice Latte Fall in a blink. 2025 is less than 4 months away and the election cuts the time our Democracy may have left in half. That’s why I’m really hustling to round up the year’s 50 best releases. So far, 2024 has delivered an avalanche of bangers–Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Ariana Grande owned pop culture, leaving countless solid records scrambling for the stereo time they deserve (Smashing Pumpkins, The Libertines, The Zutons, Frank Turner, and James to name a few).
But before we celebrate those, let’s mop ourselves to the door and preview the big albums still to come with release dates courtesy of our pals at the absolutely essential new release date authority Pause and Play.
Betty Boo • Rip Up The Rulebook
You have not lived until you hear the track ‘Doin’ The Do’ from Betty Boo’s 1990 debut Boomania. It paired perfectly with Dee-Lite’s ‘Groove is in the Heart’, Black Box’s ‘Everybody, Everybody’, C&C Music Factory and other smash dance hits that ushered in the pop decade. 30 years passed between her second and third albums, but my god was 2022’s Boomerang worth the wait, with Betty holding her own with Robyn, Charli XCX, Tove Lo, and Allison Goldfrapp. Thankfully, the album’s warm embrace inspired her to keep writing, and you can tell moments into ‘Barbarella’, she’s still channeling full mojo. Out now on DSPs, physicals to follow in October.
Nada Surf • Moon Mirror (September 13)
Let’s face it, Beck, Radiohead, and Nada Surf could have been one hit wonders in the 1990’s with ‘Loser’, ‘Creep’, and ‘Popular’ respectively, but those timeless mega hits were merely the springboard for decades of creative evolution, with each discography rife with highs and lows – pun intended as we’re nearing the 30th of Nada Surf’s debut album High/Low (Elektra 1996). That album ranks among my all-time best albums ever, as it channeled a more full throttle rock edge than the subsequent indie heartworm albums that followed, including a legendary run on Barsuk Records. If the preview singles are any indication, Moon Mirror (not to be confused with Coldplay’s upcoming Moon Music or The Chameleons upcoming Arctic Moon) is going to be among their best yet – you can also pre order the deluxe, Moon Mirror (Reflection), filled with bonus track demos.
Also of note this month:
Suki Waterhouse’s 18-track Memoir of a Sparklemuffin on Sub Pop • Nelly Furtado’s aptly titled 7th album, 7 • Radios & Rainbows, the second solo album by Kate Pierson of the B-52’s, Home is Another Life by Tacoma rockers Enumclaw • City Lights, the second album by The Waeve (Graham Coxon of Blur and Rose Elinor Dougall formerly of The Pipettes) • and an all-star tribute to Jesse Malin starring Bruce Springsteen, Susanna Hoffs, Frank Turner, and Billie Joe Armstrong.
The Armoires • Octoberland (October 11)
The 4th album from California power poppers The Armoires, is a deluge of indelible moments, ear worm hooks, buoyant melodies, and brilliant lyrics that connect with my heart, spirit, fists and feet… that is, when I’m not scratching my head while untangling potential meanings of some of their more inventive verses. Opening track and lead single, ‘We Absolutely Mean It’, is a call to arms reminiscent of the title track from Poster Children’s Junior Citizen (Sire, 1995). The spirit of that Illinois band, Canada’s New Pornographers, and Australia’s The Go-Betweens (not to mention the solo careers of Robert Forster and the late Grant McLennan) are evident throughout the 11-track Octoberland-scape.
The Armoires circa 2024 appear to have settled into its Rumors-era perfect lineup: Christina Bulbenko (vox and keys), Rex Broome (vox and guitar), Larysa Bulbenko (viola, violin, vocals), Cliford Ulrich (bass, vocals) and John M. Borack (drums). It’s the latest release on a packed schedule for power pop label Big Stir Records, also home to Popdose darlings Chris Church, Dolph Chaney, Librarians with Hickeys, and legends Graham Parker and The Cyrkle (see below). There’s always a bit of heightened expectation with Armoires releases as Christina and Rex own the Big Stir label. Their last album was the ultimate April Fools prank, a string of one-off singles from a roster of new Big Stir signings that turned out to be the Armoires incognito.
One of the new album’s many peaks, ‘This One’s for the Swedes’, features an otherworldly yet somewhat Sahara-esque melodic line that I just couldn’t place. Broome explained the sparkling mix, fittingly produced by Michael Simmons of Big Stir labelmates sparkle*jets u.k. “That’s a synth played by Christina,” he said. “Although as the song goes on, Larysa’s viola starts to double it, first in a lower octave and then in straight up unison. There is a LOT of that in the lead instruments — doubles and harmonies and call-and-response stuff between viola, 12-string, and whichever keyboard sound Christina’s favoring from song to song.”
‘Here Comes the Song’ could have been a fitting companion for the “take the moon from the trees” lyrical theme in Grant McLennan’s ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’ – had the intertwined vocals sung “sun” instead of “song”, as I originally thought I heard. Give me some slack, for years I thought AC/DC had a rainman anthem called “Dirty Dean, Thunder Chief.” Regardless, The Armoires’ “Song’ is a dreamy summer single on par with The Beatles’ iconic ode to the fireball in the sky. Its triumphant conclusion to Side A only sets the stage for magic to come. Octoberland is a true triumph in songcraft, performance, and production. If you ever wondered if the Jefferson Airplane had stayed on their 1970’s rock and roll path instead of embracing 80’s gloss pop as Starship, The Armoires hint at what could have been.
Pre-order all of the vinyl and CD variants here; get an advance taste of the album with this split single to benefit Ukraine Aid, now available at Bandcamp.
The Linda Lindas • No Obligation (October 11)
In 2021, four teen and tween girls plugged in their amps at a public library in LA to deliver the defining song of the #metoo movement, ‘Racist, Sexist, Boy’, and soon landed their genre-hopping debut album Growing Up (Epitaph) as my best album of 2022. Since then, they’ve balanced school with a seemingly non-stop tour of the world and are currently on a stadium run with Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, and Rancid. As they’re now besties with Kathleen Hanna and a who’s who of 90’s riot grrl alumni, it was a delightful surprise that their big guest star on the first single of this new album was Weird Al Yankovic.
Also out in October, Propaganda (the self-titled third album by synth pop legends that we reviewed WAY TOO EARLY here), Cutouts, the surprise third album by Radiohead offshoot The Smile, and a new album by Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas (with The Voidz).
OTHER BIG RELEASES:
Screenshot
PULSARS • Pulsars (2024 Reissue – Out September 20)
I was there, I swear I was, during Chicago’s ascent as the temporary vortex of the worldwide hipster indie power pop alt rock scene, also known as the “Guyville” from which Liz Phair found exile in 1993. I saw pre-Pumpkins Star Children open for Big Hat at Avalon on Belmont. Packed, sweaty, headache-inducing gigs at Lounge Ax, Elbo Room, Metro, The Abbey Pub, the Beat Kitchen, Double Door, Crash Palace – I was in the thick of it all. And I have absolutely no memory of Pulsars, comprised of two brothers haunting Wicker Park with a signature post-Devo/B-52’s sound that fertilized the garden from which grew the likes of They Might Be Giants, Weezer, Simian, and eventually Beck and Blink 182.
Legend has it, they recorded a batch of songs in a single day that led to an opening slot for Oasis, a label bidding war and a ridiculously large deal with Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’s post A&M label, Almo Sounds. One self-titled album squealed out before the deal imploded, leaving the band on the ash-pile of history. Rolling Stone called it “one of the 40 greatest albums ever recorded by an act with one real album.” Well, if you missed out, the band has regained ownership of some 300+ recordings, and is kicking off a major reissue campaign with the expanded, re-adjusted, and remastered release of their first album. Like a lot of the music of that era, the 17 tracks are wry, quirky, catchy, and timeless. If someone had told me this was the latest Gen Z tik tok indie darling, I’d believe em.
Dakota Shakedown • We All Spin Together (Out Now)
Ask anyone about the “Minneapolis Sound” and you’re likely to hear one of two completely different answers. One answer starts at “Prince” and will extend to as many protege acts as the person can name (The Time, Jesse Johnson, Alexander O’Neal, Vanity 6, and bonus points for The Jets). The other answer will likely start at “The Replacements and Husker Du”, and include a festival roster of acts like Soul Asylum, The Suburbs, Semisonic, and the Hold Steady. Sure Bob Dylan’s from there, but he kinda fit more into the Haight/Ashbury scene. Judy Garland’s from there too, and I bet 99% of Lizzo’s fans have no idea she also hails from the Twin Cities.
Dakota Shakedown (Erik Hagen, Elliot Hilton, Mike Hjelden, Chad Wheeling)
Dakota Shakedown are a blossoming branch along The Replacements family tree, so much so that if I told you their new album We All Spin Together was the latest from Paul Westerberg, it would take you a few beats to catch on to my lie and throw a Lonely Blonde Ale in my face. The quartet cross pollinates with another anchor of the modern Twin Cities scene, High on Stress. I recently saw the Michael J. Fox/Joan Jett vehicle Light of Day, which was set in my hometown of Cleveland and shot primarily in suburban Chicago (where I spent my 20’s). The subplot of the story is a bar band (also featuring Spinal Tap’s Michael McKean) that can pack venues like the Euclid Tavern (or Empty Bottle in Chicago and the iconic First Avenue in MPLS) and are always one break away from breaking onto the national scene (look no further than the Michael Stanley Band). That’s the vibe, the spirit, and the passion I hear in Dakota Shakedown as they deliver 12 more earnest, uplifting, heartbreaking, and cathartic pages to the Midwestern Songbook.
Scott Collins • Purple Pain (Out Now)
With the release of his new solo record, Nashville musician Scott Collins is taking a break from his day job band, The Smoking Flowers, a spellbinding rock duo with his wife Kim, and his side hustle band, Justin and the Cosmics, a full throttle soul garage outfit helmed by his brother. The former is an absolute discovery (I’m very late to the party), as Kim and Scott burn intensely like a Jason Isbell/Amanda Shires style pairing that will hopefully stand the test of time.
If you like tripped out cosmic indie garage pop, this solo platter could be your new jam. Imagine Jack White with a drum machine or The Killers’ Brandon Flowers demoing songs during a sleepless, lovelorn night in a seedy New Orleans motel. Throughout the record, Collins’ anguished vocals and dissonant guitar slabs push the needles in the red and radiate from speaker to speaker. This is not groove rock, it demands and rewards attention, kindred in spirit to classic Suicide and Jesus and Mary Chain albums, not to mention current Pitchfork darling Cindy Lee. Lee made waves by keeping the double LP, Diamond Jubilee, off streamers, offering free lossless downloads, but requesting a bold $22 tip (which I happily paid and hope many others did too). Collins is selling his wares via Bandcamp, along with music from his other bands. There’s so much more sonic gold in them there hills to explore, so that’s where I’ll be once I publish this piece and dive back into my best album countdown (watch this space).
Comments