{"id":15966,"date":"2024-12-29T14:44:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T19:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/?p=15966"},"modified":"2025-01-03T07:59:26","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T12:59:26","slug":"favorite-songs-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2024\/12\/29\/favorite-songs-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorite Songs of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s taken a little longer than normal &#8211; I am almost certain this is the latest in the calendar year I\u2019ve ever posted it &#8211; but at last I can reveal my 20 favorite songs of the year.<\/p>\n<p>This year I\u2019ve had the the least enthusiasm I can recall about the process.<a id=\"fnref:1\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:1\">[1]<\/a> Usually I\u2019ll dive into the songs in mid-fall and slowly get obsessed with the list, or at least with certain songs on it. For a week or two these will be the only songs I listen to. I never caught that fever this year. The top 5\u20138 songs seemed locked in, in some order, but the rest just couldn\u2019t get my juices flowing. At one point I thought about doing only a top 10, but eventually my interest revived enough to settle on 20 songs. Still, it feels like a year where there isn\u2019t a ton of difference between songs 11 and 30-whatever.<\/p>\n<p>I realize I\u2019m not making the best pitch for you to devote time to reading my thoughts and reviewing these songs. I apologize and ensure you it will be worth your time. At least the listening part!<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Favorite Songs of 2024\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/5Zu77T5vGQWbpksclEaZa6?si=3065f643967d4020&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>20 &#8211; \u201cGlass\u201d &#8211; Glom<br \/>\nI nearly bumped this song because it is freaking impossible to search for information on this band in general and song in particular. Every search engine wants to spit out lists of the greatest <strong>Glam<\/strong> bands of all time. Not what I was looking for. Fortunately for Glom, the song is so pretty and fun I couldn\u2019t resist it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Glom - Glass (Lyric Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UJyBfqsR2o0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>19 &#8211; \u201cField Recordings\u201d &#8211; Restorations<br \/>\nThese guys show up every 4\u20136 years with another B+\/A- album that carries the banner for great, listenable, straight-ahead rock music. They make the wait worth it each time.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Field Recordings\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3Xm7W5OOBeQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>18 &#8211; \u201cIn A Dream\u201d &#8211; Trace Mountains<br \/>\nMaybe a little shared DNA between this track and a few The War on Drugs tracks that leverage an insistent, mechanical, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Krautrock\">Krautrock<\/a> rhythm section to propel the song forward.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Trace Mountains - In A Dream (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X6BXCRw8QhA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>17 &#8211; \u201cBlue Skies\u201d &#8211; Finnoguns Wake<br \/>\nEvery year-end list needs a certified ripper. Here is 2024\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Finnoguns Wake - Blue Skies\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gl9H_2eN2vQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>16 &#8211; \u201cKiss Me (Kill Me)\u201d &#8211; RINSE featuring Hatchie<br \/>\nIf Hatchie puts out music, she makes the list. That\u2019s one of the 157 rules that govern these annual collections. An interesting twist to this year\u2019s entry, as she provides the vocals for her husband\u2019s project.<\/p>\n<p>In a year that had a ton of great fourth (fifth? sixth?) wave shoegaze songs, this one, which leans more dream pop than shoegaze, hit the hardest with me.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"RINSE \u2014 Kiss Me (Kill Me) feat. Hatchie\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A-_cPzd2ZAs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>15 &#8211; \u201cPhilosophy\u201d &#8211; Middle Kids<br \/>\nHey, three straight Aussie acts!<\/p>\n<p>As tends to happen these days, the two best songs of MK\u2019s album <em>Faith Crisis Pt 1<\/em> were released as advance singles in 2023 (<a href=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/19\/favorite-songs-of-2023\/\">\u201cHighlands\u201d was #6 on last year\u2019s list<\/a>). This was the highlight of the tracks that were new in \u201924.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I received a personal message from lead singer Hannah Joy as part of my Spotify Wrapped package for this year. Even though she didn\u2019t address me by name, I know she recorded it just for me in appreciation for being an advocate for her band and one of their biggest listeners. <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CD7nwx8ASrw?si=s5WgFH3UmjSME9zQ\">So I\u2019ve got that going for me. Which is nice.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Middle Kids - Philosophy (Official Audio)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wr0lNZJfwwQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>14 &#8211; \u201cThe Howl\u201d &#8211; Crowded House<br \/>\nThe current CH lineup is 3\/5 Kiwi, 1\/5 Aussie, and 1\/5 American. So our Down Under run continues. Kind of. What the heck is going on here?<\/p>\n<p>Neil Finn\u2019s music has gone adrift a bit over the last decade, at least to my fanboy ears. He still makes nice enough records, but they lack singles loaded with the perfect pop punch present in his greatest songs.<\/p>\n<p>When he reconvened Crowded House for their latest album, he added his sons Liam and Elroy to the lineup on guitar and drums respectively. Liam wrote this track, and while the lyrics are a little more artsy and ambiguous than his dad\u2019s &#8211; I\u2019ve always thought Liam\u2019s voice sounds like his dad\u2019s but his music and lyrics land closer to his uncle Tim\u2019s &#8211; he helps guide Pops back to the sonic pocket he spent so much of his career in.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"CROWDED HOUSE - THE HOWL (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MFln0Ll2s6A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>13 &#8211; Slugger &#8211; SASAMI<br \/>\nSASAMI is one of the more interesting people making music these days, combining about as wide a range of influences as you can imagine, from Korean folk to singer-songwriter ballads to metal. Here she comes close to, but does not quite reach, <em>Crying In The Club Songs By Robyn<\/em> territory.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SASAMI - Slugger (Official Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SZXbimXyyDU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>12 &#8211; \u201cTonight (Was A Long Time Ago)\u201d &#8211; Jack White<br \/>\nOne of THE musical highlights of 2024 was White\u2019s surprise, <em>No Name<\/em> album. First given free to customers at his two stores who bought other albums, it was later made available to fans everywhere via a series of semi-cryptic clues online that lead to a free download site. A week later it landed on proper streaming services and in traditional record stores. White-heads like me spent a couple weeks blasting this return to the music that first made him famous: roaring, bluesy, raw, riffy-as-hell garage rock. It wasn\u2019t a full recreation of the White Stripes sound, and Meg was not behind the drum kit, but it was pretty damn close.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Tonight (Was A Long Time Ago)\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5aVEyoLvv3k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>11 &#8211; \u201cOld Tape\u201d &#8211; Lucius featuring Adam Granduciel<br \/>\nNo official new music from The War on Drugs in 2024. And it may be some time before they get around to it, given their touring schedule for 2025.<a id=\"fnref:2\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:2\">[2]<\/a> Adam Granduciel did help out his pals Lucius with backing vocals and guitar on this lovely song about shutting down the voices of doubt in your head and forging ahead.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Lucius - Old Tape (feat. Adam Granduciel) [Official Video]\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LtdvbiorPTY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>10 &#8211; \u201cSuperstar\u201d &#8211; Hinds<br \/>\nSummer time. Car windows down. A pissed off driver, thanks to a crush revealing their true nature. A song comes on the radio and the driver starts singing along. They sing louder and louder. Soon they are shouting. Then the tears come. Now they are screaming. By the end of the song the driver is laughing, wiping the tears away, and realizing that despite hurt, they are better without that asshole in their lives.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Hinds - Superstar\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cpsB00dy9P4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>9 &#8211; \u201cDocket\u201d &#8211; Blondshell featuring Bully<br \/>\nThere are a million &#8211; million and one? &#8211; songs about music groupies. Not many of them have come from the perspective of a female artist. This one is more about the difficulty of keeping a relationship back home when you are a traveling musician than the random hookups on the road themselves.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/19\/favorite-songs-of-2023\/\">Last year Bully made the list with help from Soccer Mommy<\/a>. This year she lends guest vocals to a friend\u2019s track, a true banger.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Blondshell - Docket (feat. Bully) [Live from Saturn Sound]\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zzZiTQ20EFc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>8 &#8211; \u201cSage\u201d &#8211; Sun June<br \/>\nVia the Duck Assist AI tool on the Duck Duck Go search engine:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Burning sage, also known as smudging, is an ancient spiritual ritual that involves the burning of sage or other sacred herbs to purify a space, release negative energy, and promote healing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We need a fuck-ton of sage in this country. And more songs as gorgeous as this one. The post-chorus\/outro section is the most beautiful 90 seconds of music made this year.<\/p>\n<p>This was the annual track that really grabbed me over the last two months and climbed from the bottom of the list to the top half.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Sun June - &quot;Sage&quot; (Official Music Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wYTB04JltfI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>7 &#8211; \u201cWildflowers\u201d &#8211; Jim Nothing<br \/>\nClean, pure, jangle pop that sounds like a warm spring day. You can draw a straight line from The Byrds to R.E.M. to this song. It made me about as happy as any song in the last quarter of the year, a period when I needed things to make me happy. Also, our second New Zealand act.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Wildflowers\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AtBfd6IROHY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>6 &#8211; \u201c3 Sisters\u201d &#8211; Waxahatchee<br \/>\nKatie Crutchfield has always had a presence. There\u2019s a quality to her voice that defies pinning down and appeals to me despite its pronounced twang. On her latest album, <em>Tiger\u2019s Blood<\/em>, she completed a transition that began with her last album. She sounds bigger, stronger, more confident than ever. She embraces her rural roots while keeping one toe firmly planted in the indie rock world. That comes across most clearly on a song like this, where the restraint she sings with makes her seem even more powerful than when she\u2019s emoting with all her might. <em>Tiger\u2019s Blood<\/em> was not my favorite album of the year (it was in the running,). But it likely was the best one I listened to all year.<\/p>\n<p>Bonus points for the title. Not sure if any of my girls have heard this song, let alone enjoy it, but I like that it makes me think of them.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Waxahatchee - &quot;3 Sisters&quot; (Lyric Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W9_KWzt0ycA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>5 &#8211; \u201cShe\u2019s Leaving You\u201d &#8211; MJ Lenderman<br \/>\nMan, did the music critics love Lenderman\u2019s album <em>Manning Fireworks<\/em>. It is at or near the top of every Best Of list I\u2019ve read this month. I gave it a shot; it wasn\u2019t for me. Too twangy and Appalachian for my tastes. This song, though? Incredible. Absolutely incredible.<\/p>\n<p>BTW, Lenderman appeared on Waxahatchee\u2019s album, and served as opening act for her tour.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"MJ Lenderman - She&#039;s Leaving You\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0rFVVzavii0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>4 &#8211; \u201cGift Horse\u201d &#8211; IDLES<br \/>\nWhen I first heard this, especially the closing lines, I was pumped for another pointed, anti-establishment track from my favorite rabble rousing band of the moment. Then I read an interview with lead singer Joe Talbot in which he said it is about how grateful he is to be a father, how much he loves his daughter, and how he wanted to write \u201ca beast of a tune\u201d about her. That puts the final line in a total different context.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Fuck the King<br \/>\nHe ain\u2019t the King<br \/>\nShe\u2019s the King<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"IDLES - GIFT HORSE (Official Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_HQrM5L9T1g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>3 &#8211; \u201cThe Fences Of Stonehenge\u201d &#8211; Wild Pink<br \/>\nJohn Ross has a gift for making hazy-yet-bright songs that hit me right in the core of what I love about music. Those big, layered, open chords on this track are pure magic.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Wild Pink - The Fences of Stonehenge (Official Audio)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oIiD2rZsAWU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>2 &#8211; \u201cHawkmoon\u201d &#8211; Hurray for the Riff Raff<br \/>\nA music critic at The Atlantic suggested that HFTRR\u2019s album was the newest, great, American road trip album. That makes this the newest, great, American road trip song. A perfect, three-minute and forty-two second distillation of Alynda Segarra\u2019s adventures as they navigated the artistic communities of New Orleans after running away from home in New York as a teen. This also contains my favorite lyric of the year:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I\u2019m becoming the kind of girl they warned me about.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe title=\"Hurray for the Riff Raff - Hawkmoon (Official Video)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IbPgztgsqQA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>1 &#8211; \u201cWreckage\u201d &#8211; Pearl Jam<br \/>\nPearl Jam isn\u2019t supposed to make new, great music anymore. Sure, they\u2019ll put out a new album every 4\u20135\u20136 years that might include a couple decent songs. But those singles and the albums themselves generally fade from memory quickly. Their concerts are still incredible, but they had fallen into the Old Rock Band trap of being pulled in too many different directions and spending too little time together (and probably being too old) to create compelling new songs.<\/p>\n<p>Until this year.<\/p>\n<p>Producer Andrew Watt, who helped Eddie Vedder on his surprisingly great solo album two years ago, insisted the band record as they used to: in focused studio sessions playing live. Rather than spending months, or even years, making an album, <em>Dark Matter<\/em> was mostly assembled in a three-week stretch. The result was a tight, fierce, absolutely locked-in effort, their best album since at least 2006\u2019s <em>Pearl Jam<\/em>, and possibly 1994\u2019s <em>Vitalogy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>This track was the clear standout. It does not compare, thematically, to some of PJ\u2019s greatest songs. It\u2019s about a relationship falling apart &#8211; standard old man rock stuff &#8211; rather than mentally ill homeless people, teens sent to mental hospitals against their will, school room suicides, serial killers, or how fame can overwhelm you. It is hopeful rather than hopeless. It is bright rather than dark. And the magnificent final 60 seconds? Maybe the most gorgeous 60 seconds in the entire PJ catalog. I listened to \u201cWreckage\u201d\u201d a million times this year and never got sick of it. For good reason it topped my Spotify Wrapped countdown. And this list.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Pearl Jam - Wreckage (Official Visualizer)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M-UaEQHA704?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<hr \/>\n<ol>\n<li id=\"fn:1\">Somewhat similar to my lagging Christmas spirit. Maybe I need to look into those \u201cbooster\u201d supplements Doug Flutie and Frank Thomas pimp on cable TV. \u201cShe\u2019ll thank you, too!&#8221; Sorry, I know that\u2019s gross. But still funny. <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:1\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"fn:2\">They did drop another live album this year. <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:2\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s taken a little longer than normal &#8211; I am almost certain this is the latest in the calendar year I\u2019ve ever posted it &#8211; but at last I can reveal my 20 favorite songs of the year. This year I\u2019ve had the the least enthusiasm I can recall about the process.[1] Usually I\u2019ll dive into the songs in mid-fall and slowly get obsessed with the list, or at least with certain songs on it. For a week or two these will be the only songs I listen to. I never caught that fever this year. The top 5\u20138 songs seemed locked in, in some order, but the rest just couldn\u2019t get my juices flowing. At one point I thought about doing only a top 10, but eventually my interest revived enough to settle on 20 songs. Still, it feels like a year where there isn\u2019t a ton of difference between songs 11 and 30-whatever. I realize I\u2019m not making the best pitch for you to devote time to reading my thoughts and reviewing these songs. I apologize and ensure you it will be worth your time. At least the listening part! 20 &#8211; \u201cGlass\u201d &#8211; Glom I nearly bumped this song because it is freaking impossible to search for information on this band in general and song in particular. Every search engine wants to spit out lists of the greatest Glam bands of all time. Not what I was looking for. Fortunately for Glom, the song is so pretty and fun I couldn\u2019t resist it. 19 &#8211; \u201cField Recordings\u201d &#8211; Restorations These guys show up every 4\u20136 years with another B+\/A- album that carries the banner for great, listenable, straight-ahead rock music. They make the wait worth it each time. 18 &#8211; \u201cIn A Dream\u201d &#8211; Trace Mountains Maybe a little shared DNA between this track and a few The War on Drugs tracks that leverage an insistent, mechanical, Krautrock rhythm section to propel the song forward. 17 &#8211; \u201cBlue Skies\u201d &#8211; Finnoguns Wake Every year-end list needs a certified ripper. Here is 2024\u2019s. 16 &#8211; \u201cKiss Me (Kill Me)\u201d &#8211; RINSE featuring Hatchie If Hatchie puts out music, she makes the list. That\u2019s one of the 157 rules that govern these annual collections. An interesting twist to this year\u2019s entry, as she provides the vocals for her husband\u2019s project. In a year that had a ton of great fourth (fifth? sixth?) wave shoegaze songs, this one, which leans more dream pop than shoegaze, hit the hardest with me. 15 &#8211; \u201cPhilosophy\u201d &#8211; Middle Kids Hey, three straight Aussie acts! As tends to happen these days, the two best songs of MK\u2019s album Faith Crisis Pt 1 were released as advance singles in 2023 (\u201cHighlands\u201d was #6 on last year\u2019s list). This was the highlight of the tracks that were new in \u201924. Also, I received a personal message from lead singer Hannah Joy as part of my Spotify Wrapped package for this year. Even though she didn\u2019t address me by name, I know she recorded it just for me in appreciation for being an advocate for her band and one of their biggest listeners. So I\u2019ve got that going for me. Which is nice. 14 &#8211; \u201cThe Howl\u201d &#8211; Crowded House The current CH lineup is 3\/5 Kiwi, 1\/5 Aussie, and 1\/5 American. So our Down Under run continues. Kind of. What the heck is going on here? Neil Finn\u2019s music has gone adrift a bit over the last decade, at least to my fanboy ears. He still makes nice enough records, but they lack singles loaded with the perfect pop punch present in his greatest songs. When he reconvened Crowded House for their latest album, he added his sons Liam and Elroy to the lineup on guitar and drums respectively. Liam wrote this track, and while the lyrics are a little more artsy and ambiguous than his dad\u2019s &#8211; I\u2019ve always thought Liam\u2019s voice sounds like his dad\u2019s but his music and lyrics land closer to his uncle Tim\u2019s &#8211; he helps guide Pops back to the sonic pocket he spent so much of his career in. 13 &#8211; Slugger &#8211; SASAMI SASAMI is one of the more interesting people making music these days, combining about as wide a range of influences as you can imagine, from Korean folk to singer-songwriter ballads to metal. Here she comes close to, but does not quite reach, Crying In The Club Songs By Robyn territory. 12 &#8211; \u201cTonight (Was A Long Time Ago)\u201d &#8211; Jack White One of THE musical highlights of 2024 was White\u2019s surprise, No Name album. First given free to customers at his two stores who bought other albums, it was later made available to fans everywhere via a series of semi-cryptic clues online that lead to a free download site. A week later it landed on proper streaming services and in traditional record stores. White-heads like me spent a couple weeks blasting this return to the music that first made him famous: roaring, bluesy, raw, riffy-as-hell garage rock. It wasn\u2019t a full recreation of the White Stripes sound, and Meg was not behind the drum kit, but it was pretty damn close. 11 &#8211; \u201cOld Tape\u201d &#8211; Lucius featuring Adam Granduciel No official new music from The War on Drugs in 2024. And it may be some time before they get around to it, given their touring schedule for 2025.[2] Adam Granduciel did help out his pals Lucius with backing vocals and guitar on this lovely song about shutting down the voices of doubt in your head and forging ahead. 10 &#8211; \u201cSuperstar\u201d &#8211; Hinds Summer time. Car windows down. A pissed off driver, thanks to a crush revealing their true nature. A song comes on the radio and the driver starts singing along. They sing louder and louder. Soon they are shouting. Then the tears come. Now they are screaming. By the end of the song the driver is laughing, wiping the tears away, and realizing that despite hurt, they are better without that asshole in their lives. 9 &#8211; \u201cDocket\u201d &#8211; Blondshell featuring Bully There are a million &#8211; million and one? &#8211; songs about music groupies. Not many of them have come from the perspective of a female artist. This one is more about the difficulty of keeping a relationship back home when you are a traveling musician than the random hookups on the road themselves. Last year Bully made the list with help from Soccer Mommy. This year she lends guest vocals to a friend\u2019s track, a true banger. 8 &#8211; \u201cSage\u201d &#8211; Sun June Via the Duck Assist AI tool on the Duck Duck Go search engine: Burning sage, also known as smudging, is an ancient spiritual ritual that involves the burning of sage or other sacred herbs to purify a space, release negative energy, and promote healing. We need a fuck-ton of sage in this country. And more songs as gorgeous as this one. The post-chorus\/outro section is the most beautiful 90 seconds of music made this year. This was the annual track that really grabbed me over the last two months and climbed from the bottom of the list to the top half. 7 &#8211; \u201cWildflowers\u201d &#8211; Jim Nothing Clean, pure, jangle pop that sounds like a warm spring day. You can draw a straight line from The Byrds to R.E.M. to this song. It made me about as happy as any song in the last quarter of the year, a period when I needed things to make me happy. Also, our second New Zealand act. 6 &#8211; \u201c3 Sisters\u201d &#8211; Waxahatchee Katie Crutchfield has always had a presence. There\u2019s a quality to her voice that defies pinning down and appeals to me despite its pronounced twang. On her latest album, Tiger\u2019s Blood, she completed a transition that began with her last album. She sounds bigger, stronger, more confident than ever. She embraces her rural roots while keeping one toe firmly planted in the indie rock world. That comes across most clearly on a song like this, where the restraint she sings with makes her seem even more powerful than when she\u2019s emoting with all her might. Tiger\u2019s Blood was not my favorite album of the year (it was in the running,). But it likely was the best one I listened to all year. Bonus points for the title. Not sure if any of my girls have heard this song, let alone enjoy it, but I like that it makes me think of them. 5 &#8211; \u201cShe\u2019s Leaving You\u201d &#8211; MJ Lenderman Man, did the music critics love Lenderman\u2019s album Manning Fireworks. It is at or near the top of every Best Of list I\u2019ve read this month. I gave it a shot; it wasn\u2019t for me. Too twangy and Appalachian for my tastes. This song, though? Incredible. Absolutely incredible. BTW, Lenderman appeared on Waxahatchee\u2019s album, and served as opening act for her tour. 4 &#8211; \u201cGift Horse\u201d &#8211; IDLES When I first heard this, especially the closing lines, I was pumped for another pointed, anti-establishment track from my favorite rabble rousing band of the moment. Then I read an interview with lead singer Joe Talbot in which he said it is about how grateful he is to be a father, how much he loves his daughter, and how he wanted to write \u201ca beast of a tune\u201d about her. That puts the final line in a total different context. Fuck the King He ain\u2019t the King She\u2019s the King Mission accomplished. 3 &#8211; \u201cThe Fences Of Stonehenge\u201d &#8211; Wild Pink John Ross has a gift for making hazy-yet-bright songs that hit me right in the core of what I love about music. Those big, layered, open chords on this track are pure magic. 2 &#8211; \u201cHawkmoon\u201d &#8211; Hurray for the Riff Raff A music critic at The Atlantic suggested that HFTRR\u2019s album was the newest, great, American road trip album. That makes this the newest, great, American road trip song. A perfect, three-minute and forty-two second distillation of Alynda Segarra\u2019s adventures as they navigated the artistic communities of New Orleans after running away from home in New York as a teen. This also contains my favorite lyric of the year: I\u2019m becoming the kind of girl they warned me about. 1 &#8211; \u201cWreckage\u201d &#8211; Pearl Jam Pearl Jam isn\u2019t supposed to make new, great music anymore. Sure, they\u2019ll put out a new album every 4\u20135\u20136 years that might include a couple decent songs. But those singles and the albums themselves generally fade from memory quickly. Their concerts are still incredible, but they had fallen into the Old Rock Band trap of being pulled in too many different directions and spending too little time together (and probably being too old) to create compelling new songs. Until this year. Producer Andrew Watt, who helped Eddie Vedder on his surprisingly great solo album two years ago, insisted the band record as they used to: in focused studio sessions playing live. Rather than spending months, or even years, making an album, Dark Matter was mostly assembled in a three-week stretch. The result was a tight, fierce, absolutely locked-in effort, their best album since at least 2006\u2019s Pearl Jam, and possibly 1994\u2019s Vitalogy. This track was the clear standout. It does not compare, thematically, to some of PJ\u2019s greatest songs. It\u2019s about a relationship falling apart &#8211; standard old man rock stuff &#8211; rather than mentally ill homeless people, teens sent to mental hospitals against their will, school room suicides, serial killers, or how fame can overwhelm you. It is hopeful rather than hopeless. It is bright rather than dark. And the magnificent final 60 seconds? Maybe the most gorgeous 60 seconds in the entire PJ catalog. I listened to \u201cWreckage\u201d\u201d a million times this year and never got sick of it. For good reason it topped my Spotify Wrapped countdown. And this list. Somewhat similar to my lagging Christmas spirit. 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