My Top 12 Albums of 2024
This middle-aged dad loves his pop and disco
This is my 15th year (🤯) of sharing my favorite new albums (read past picks.) I joke that it’s a list nobody asked for, but I get a kick out of the tradition and enjoy doing it.
All the usual caveats apply — music is subjective, there is no “best,” these are personal faves, I may have missed something awesome, etc.
Of course, these are the admittedly poppy preferences of a 50-something white guy whose musical taste is still overly influenced by the 80s synth and guitar pop of his youth. 😉
Whatever you enjoyed this year, I encourage you to BUY your favorite music and support the artists who made it. Sure, streaming is convenient, but it don’t pay the bills for music creators.
1. Sha La La — Winnetka Bowling League
Love this slice of indie alternative pop. Strummy guitars, recurring strings, shimmery synth and sparkling wordplay. Fountains of Wayne and XTC are probably too high a bar to reference, but WBL has a similar approach in that they clearly have mad respect for the pop-song form, so they take care to craft something that’s just a bit more special than your standard fare. Led by Matthew Koma (fun fact: he’s married to Hilary Duff) who writes and produces for many other artists, it’s fun to hear an artist get a chance to make his own thing. (Bonus: this just-three-guys-in-the-back-of-a-truck recording of “This is Life” with Medium Build and Dawes is one of my faves.)
2. Romanticism — Hana Vu
An album I kept coming back to again and again this year. Vu’s warm contralto and driving guitar give these songs more gravitas than your average pop album. (At times, she reminds me of 2001-era Pete Yorn.) Apparently, she’s still in her early 20s, but she’s been kicking around the LA music scene since she was 14, which may explain why she feels like an old soul. The themes here are well-trod territory: exiting young adulthood for an uncertain future, but she delivers them with such authority, it makes for a rewarding listen.
3. The Tortured Poets Department — Taylor Swift
The biggest artist on the planet really doesn’t need a spot on my annual list. (I tend to want to call attention to lesser-known albums.) But back in 2022, I thought, “I don’t need to include Midnights on my annual list,” and in hindsight, there’s no 2022 album I’ve listened to more. I’m not making that mistake again. What can I write about Swift that hasn’t already been written? Her Eras tour was a master class in, well…just about everything. This album is sprawling and a bit all over the place, but contains some absolute gems. She can write a stadium anthem like nobody’s business, but a silky mood piece like “I Can Fix Him” is just as intoxicating. And can you imagine having a song like “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” written about you? Oof.
4. Mountainhead — Everything Everything
Listen, this band is an acquired taste and not everybody is going to love it, but I can’t get enough of the quirk. (I saw an online review that described them as “Radiohead with an ABBA obsession,” and it feels perfect.) There’s a skittishness to the band (and frontman Jonathan Higgs) that means you’re never quite sure what’s coming next, which is goddamn refreshing. This genre is often pejoratively called “art rock,” and this album is based on a weird concept: a society that was focused on building a giant mountain but that, to do so, they had to dig a deep hole…honestly, I don’t really get it either. But I loved the album; one of my favorites this year.
5. Big Ideas — Remi Wolf
When Remi’s Wolf dropped her 2021 album Juno, the funky, soulful collection announced the arrival of an uber-confident new voice. This is an artist who knows who she is and is doing her thing with a lot of JOY. She named this album “Big Ideas,” and it’s clear that she’s going for it — both lyrically and musically. It’s a vibe; this was definitely a go-to this year when I needed a lift. (Also, her Tiny Desk just dropped a few months ago: the woman can sing!)
6. Bad Bad Hats — Bad Bad Hats
Charming, peppy pop. So charming, in fact, that it takes a few listens to really appreciate the craft. The Minneapolis duo has put together a snappy collection, with some sly funk influences that feels both fresh and familiar. Lead singer Kerry Alexander’s vocals evoke 90s singers like Kim Deal and Liz Phair.
7. The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel — Chime School
Jangly guitar pop! You’ll hear the influence of Britpop icons like Oasis, The La’s and The Charlatans, but (local alert!) Chime School is, in fact, the solo project of San Franciscan Andy Pastalaniec who drums for bands Flowertown and Seablite. Melancholy and picturesque, it’s a dynamite collection of songs.
8. Prima/Vera — Post Sex Nachos
This band has one of those names that is funny when you pick it in college and then you’re sort of stuck with it, for better or worse. (True story: when my wife logged onto my Spotify account and noticed that it was one of my most-played bands of 2024, there was some ‘splaining to do!) But the name belies the groovy, funky musicianship. This isn’t a novelty act, it’s a real band and this is really good album.
9. Model — Wallows
You can almost feel the band trying to make the leap into “big band” status, but why knock them for ambition? It’s starts out big — the first 3–4 tracks crackle with a driving energy that makes you think, “these guys are bound for stadiums.” Then, it slows down and starts to wander and the collection never really recaptures the same mojo. But there’s still a lot to dig about it and I kept coming back to it this year.
10. (tie) Paradise — Purple Disco Machine, Radical Optimism — Dua Lipa, Tuxedo IV — Tuxedo
Let’s cheat and do a three way tie for 10 — but all three will make you want to move, so cur up the hi-fi and have yourself a dance party. 😉
When call yourself Purple Disco Machine, you’re pretty clear about your mission — sun-dappled, synth-heavy, nu-disco. Don’t expect any big ideas here; this is just get-your-butt moving dance music, chock full of impeccably-produced collabs with Nile Rodgers, Metronomy, Chromeo, and others.
I don’t really envy artists that have to follow up a bona-fide smash album like Duo Lipa’s 2021 Future Nostalgia. Radical Optimism doesn’t have the lightening-in-a-bottle feel of that last album (or of her single from the Barbie movie, TBH) but it’s still expertly-produced, sugar-coated dance pop that feels damn good.
Tuxedo is a synth-funk/boogie duo consisting of producer Jake 1 and frontman Mayer Hawthorne. This is their first album in five years and it’s great to have this throwback R&B, soul explosion back in the game.
Other 2024 Honorable Mentions: Girl With No Face by Allie X, Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé, All I Ever Want is Everything by Blu DeTiger, BRAT by Charli xcx, Paradise State of Mind by Foster the People, People Who Aren’t There Anymore by Future Islands, Flood by Hippo Campus, A LA SALA by Khruangbin, Family Business by Lawrence, Leon by Leon Bridges, Older by Lizzy McAlpine, Shirt by Porches, Welcome the Night by Sad Night Dynamite, Loveseat by Still Woozy, Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party, A Dream is All We Know by The Lemon Twigs, No Obligation by The Linda Lindas, Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend, and empathogen by WILLOW.
And PLEASE buy your faves…but here’s a Spotify playlist with a selection of favorites from the albums above (plus a few bonus tracks.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Kovacevich is a writer and creative director based in San Francisco.
Hey, if you liked this, hit that hand-clappy-thing-y below, will ya?
