Ironically for this piece, Matt Johnson’s iconic band, The The, released a well-received new album, Ensoulment, in 2024, and yet, I found no time or emotional bandwidth to take it on – but I’m sure it’s great. That said, I am still reeling from all the other amazing albums other “The…” bands dropped in 2024. Here are some of the best.
It’s a miracle The Libertines lived to see the release of only their 4th album in 20 harrowing years, All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade. Pete Doherty, much like Keith Richards, managed to survive years of addiction to emerge somewhat unscathed to deliver what just might be the band’s best album. ‘Run, Run, Run’ is an instant classic, and the rest of the album shows this band still has plenty of gas left in the tank – if they can keep the car on the road.
Right around the time The Libertines were the talk of Camden, I saw The Zutons and Martini Henry Rifles open for a pre-fame Interpol at the Barfly. If I had to guess, Amy Winehouse was in the crowd that night, and all three sets were absolutely electric. A few years later, The Zutons dropped one of the finest albums of the decade, Who Killed… The Zutons, before writing one of Winehouse’s biggest singles, ‘Valerie’, and calling it a day. It’s a miracle they’re back from the dead and that the new album, The Big Decider, is that freaking good – with extra props to producers Ian Broudie and Nile Rodgers.
In 1995, New York’s The Bogmen released one of my Top 10 albums of all time, Life Begins at 40 Million, produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. I saw them play the Park West in Chicago; I don’t remember the headliner (perhaps Barenaked Ladies), but I’ll never forget their live show, it was an absolute spiritual experience. The edgier follow-up, Closed Captioned Radio, underwhelmed and it would be 12 years before a 4-track digital only EP bridged the 26 year gap to this new album. In My Kingdom captures the sparkling magic of the debut, with a cornucopia of earworm hooks, textured sounds and entrancing, danceable rhythmic landscapes that would change the world should the band eventually get the breakthrough attention it deserves.
The Woodentops, alongside The June Brides, were one of those jangly UK 80’s indie rock sensations that now anchor countless Cherry Red Records box sets of the era. Singer Rolo McGinty emerged from one of my favorite bands of the era, The Wild Swans, and was a college radio legend of the day with underground pop hits like “Good Thing”. The band would return to the scene a generation later with 2014’s Granular Tales (fittingly on Cherry Red). And now, a decade after that, seemingly out of nowhere they announced a new album, Fruits of the Deep, one that sits right up there with their best. A bit edgier and more ambitious than the last one, it rewards frequent spins.
Among the many power pop gems Big Stir Records blessed the world with this year was the first album in 50 years by a band that truly lived in the shadow of history. The Cyrkle opened for every date of the Beatles final US tour, were managed by Brian Epstein, and had a single written by Paul Simon. On top of that, John Lennon suggested the stylization of their name.
After Epstein died and the band imploded, one of the members went on to write the iconic Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz jingle. I bought their greatest hits before Revival dropped, and even though most of the members have been out of the game for as long as I’ve been alive, the new album is a huge step forward – it’s a tight, melodic, delightful toe tapper that fans of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Kinks, and Cheap Trick will certainly love.
Songs of a Lost World, The Cure’s gloomy and doomy first album in 20 years fittingly arrived mere days before the US Election as the nation plunged into the cold, drenched darkness of Daylight Savings Time and Fascism – it was the perfect soundtrack for the moment, capturing the sadness and mourning, anxiety and longing that will likely fill my body and soul for the next four years and beyond. Smith says he has two more albums at the ready, but don’t hold your breath. Odds are, Guns n’ Roses beats them to it.
The Gossip’s 2006’s smash ‘Standing in the Way of Control’ remains one of the best songs of the century so far, with its New Order’y bassline and riot grrrl vocal theatrics. Since then, Beth Ditto & Co. steadily morphed from a punk to a pure dancefloor act — as a band and with Ditto flying solo. Hard to believe 12 years flew by between albums, but here we are with Real Power, a magnificent welcome back. I honestly have no idea how queer folk like me are going to fare in the next four years, so it’s nice to have the CD cabinet stocked with anthems to bust out as needed.
Lou Barlow is one of those artists whose music ranks both at the rock bottom and absolute highest reaches of my music collection — because back before streaming, sometimes people would just buy CDs unheard and simply roll the dice. Some of his albums and EPs are just SO pretentiously lo-fi, DIY that it makes my head and heart hurt – but then he’ll left hook me with one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded (like Sebadoh’s ‘Willing to Wait’). The Folk Implosion brand has been around for some 30 years now, but it was 1999’s One Part Lullaby that absolutely swept me off my feet – every single instrumental part and/or sampled hook packed as much emotional wallop as the harmonic vocal performances of Barlow and John Davis. Despite the success of the project, Barlow returned to a solo career, Dinosaur Jr., and a Davis-free ‘New Folk Implosion’ which was as successful as the New Monkees. While their biggest hit, ‘Natural One’, from the Kids soundtrack came four years earlier, it wasn’t until 2023 that the band decided to re-mine the vault and re-release an expanded version of that album (Music for Kids). Riding that momentum, Barlow and John Davis are finally back with a proper follow-up, Walk Thru Me, and it was certainly worth the wait. When they want to be melodic, they achieve it in spades. They’re gifted storytellers too, and it appears we all became dads at the same time and are facing the same trials and tribulations here in 2024. As it might be another 25 before their next album, I will sit back and savor this like a Werther’s Original.
Next week, our series continues with the Year’s Best Albums with the Most Guest Stars
Featured image of The Libertines was taken by the great Edward Cooke
Comments