As the old saying goes: If you want to sculpt a statue of an elephant, you just get the biggest granite block you can find — and chip away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant. I am trying to take the same approach to my year-end lists. I start with the giant slab of music contained in The Long List of everything I heard; then I chip away more than half the releases to form this massive, woolly mammoth of everything I wanted to hear again; and finally, I whittle that down to a still-elephantine Short List of ivory-pure excellence that you’ll never forget. Read on:
The Manikins
Swedish Woods
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The garage-punk lieutenants of Sweden’s Manikins are back with a bang — their sixth studio album Swedish Woods.
Now they’re back and ready to unleash a raw and primitive rock explosion. The album features 12 tracks clocking in at 31 minutes, with the band exploring the more traditional sounds of rock ’n’ roll while keeping the energy and volume levels cranked to the max. Swedish Woods was recorded and produced by the band in their own Omega Studios in Nyköping, with mixing and mastering by Joakim Forsberg. “After years in solitary, due to the pandemic we’ve been working on new songs and are now ready to share it with the world,” they say. “In the process of the writing we’ve been searching in the back catalogues of the most primitive rock ’n’ roll in history. It’s hard-hitting, trashy, simple yet with a twist of finesse that makes you wanna hear it over and over again. Nothing is so ageless as the dark and massive woods of Sweden, and in a time of turbulence we wanted to create something similar to this in our music. With the classic recipes of rock ’n’ roll that has been used and recycled since the time we had the ability to count 1, 2, 3, 4, we want to describe our contemporary struggles and create sounds and beats that will let you let loose.”
Mannequin Pussy
I Got Heaven
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Mannequin Pussy’s music feels like a resilient and galvanizing shout that demands to be heard. Across four albums, the Philadelphia rock band that consists of Colins “Bear” Regisford (bass, vocals), Kaleen Reading (drums, percussion), Maxine Steen (guitar, synths), and Marisa Dabice (guitar, vocals) has made cathartic tunes about despairing times.
“There’s just so much constantly going on that feels intentionally evil that trying to make something beautiful feels like a radical act ,” says Dabice. “The ethos of this band has always been to bring people together.” Their latest I Got Heaven is the band’s most fully realized LP yet. Over 10 ambitious tracks which abruptly turn from searing punk to inviting pop, the album is deeply concerned with desire, the power in being alone, and how to live in an unfeeling and unkind world. It’s a document of a band doubling down on their unshakable bond to make something furious, thrilling, and wholly alive.”
The Mavericks
Moon & Stars
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Miami-formed and Nashville-based, genre-bending Americana icons The Mavericks return with their long-awited 13th studio album Moon And Stars. The record marks their first new music release since 2020’s groundbreaking and chart-topping En Español project, and their first return to a full English-language release since their acclaimed Brand New Day album in 2017.
“This record has been a journey of reflection, introspection, patience, learning and evolving,” the bandmembers say in a press release. “Some of these songs were written years ago, but they weren’t ready. Or maybe we weren’t. We are now.” Already known for their distinctive and eclectic Americana/roots fusion of alternative and outlaw country, rock, blues, R&B and Tejano/Tex-Mex influences, The Mavericks — singer-bassistt Raul Malo, drummer Paul Deakin, guitarist Eddie Perez and keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden — quite appropriately recorded the tracks of Moon And Stars around the South in Blackbird Studio (Nashville), Frogville Studios (Santa Fe), and Dockside Studio (Louisiana). The result is an album that instantly invokes both a timeless feel of a classic Mavericks release that will fit seamlessly among their most revered career work, while once again challenging genre conventions and pushing the boundaries of their melting pot sound ever forward.”
JD McPherson
Nite Owls
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “JD McPherson has created something unique and amazing with his latest album Nite Owls, his first full-length release since 2018’s critically acclaimed Christmas classic Socks.
Over the past five-plus years, McPherson has stayed consistently busy writing new songs while at the same time touring with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Being a touring musician offers the chance to see the sights, tour the town and pick up some inspiration from the local record shop. With Nite Owls, JD wanted to try something new and different. He wanted to take the inspiration from multiple decades and styles and incorporate them into his own sound. “The initial idea for the record was: It’s like if the late-’60s Ventures were the session band on the first New Order record,” he says. Idea achieved. Mission accomplished.”
Melt-Banana
3+5
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “3+5 is the long-awaited eighth album from Tokyo noise-rockers Melt-Banana. The album showcases the duo’s visionary approach and extraordinary abilities as performers: Yasuko Onuki’s giddy, hyperactive vocalizing and Ichiro Agata’s glitchy, cyberpunk guitar, delivered at dizzying speed, bathed in aggressive electronic sounds.
Their aesthetic approach is exultantly experimental, fusing diverse genres imbued with chaotic energy. As on their previous works, the music on 3+5 is unpredictable, always filled with surprises and excitement. 3+5 synthesizes elements of a variety of extreme music, hyper-pop, classic punk, vintage metal, and noise. It partakes of Japanese culture overall, especially the subcultures of gaming, anime and underground music.”
Melvins
Tarantula Heart
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The new Melvins album Tarantula Heart is like nothing they have done before. It could be the best work they’ve ever recorded. It’s certainly one of their weirdest — the five-song album opens with a mammoth 19-minute track called Pain Equals Funny, and also includes the noise-laden heavy hitter Working The Ditch.
“The way we approached Tarantula Heart was different than any other Melvins album,” explains guitarist Buzz Osborne. “I had Dale (Crover) and Roy Mayorga come in and play along with Steven (McDonald) and I to some riffs, then I took those sessions and figured out what parts would work and wrote new music to fit. This isn’t a studio approach we’ve ever taken. Usually we have the songs written BEFORE we start recording!” Adds long-time Melvins drummer Crover: “The majority of Tarantula Heart has dual drum parts. We invited Roy Mayorga from Ministry to come record with us. Roy is an amazing drummer! We would discuss what we would do pattern-wise, then we’d just go for it, improvising riffs and trading off on drum fills.” Adds Buzz: “When the rest of the band heard these songs I’d created from the sessions, they were blown away. These were fully developed new songs that they’d never heard before that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Presto!”
The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Instrumental trio The Messthetics join forces with acclaimed jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis for their new self-titled album.
The Messthetics formed in 2016 and is made up of the rhythm section from renowned D.C. punk band Fugazi, with Joe Lally on bass and Brendan Canty on drums, along with experimental and jazz guitarist Anthony Pirog. Praised saxophonist Lewis hails from New York City and first joined the trio on stage in 2019 and again in 2021, which sparked inspiration for the quartet to create an album together. The nine tracks of The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis were recorded in just two days in Maryland with engineer Don Godwin. The album captures the combustive chemistry the four musicians felt on stage while performing together and expands on the collaboration in all directions.”
Father John Misty
Mahashmashana
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After a decade being born, Josh Tillman is finally busy dying.
Mahashmashana is the sixth album by Father John Misty. It was produced by Tillman and Drew Erickson. It was engineered and additionally produced by Michael Harris. It was arranged by Drew Erickson. It was performed by Tillman, Erickson, Jonathan Wilson, Dan Bailey, Eli Thomson, David Vandervelde, Chris Dixie Darley, Jon Titterington and Kyle Flynn. It was executive produced by Jonathan Wilson. It was recorded and mixed at Five Star and East/West, United Studios and Drew’s House. Mahāśmaśāna (महामशान) — great cremation ground, all things going thither.”
Moby
Always Centered At Night
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Always Centered At Night, Moby has once again conjured into reality a collection of heartachingly beautiful, tender-yet-defifiant songs, made in collaboration with uniquely talented, soulfully aware, other-worldly vocalists. All the songs are love letters to the unrestricted and enchanting music scene of late ’70s, early ’80s New York that shaped Moby as a musician. The featured vocalists were given the same assignment: “Please don’t write anything commercial. Let it be weird. Let it be personal. It doesn’t have to make sense.”
“Because of that randomized freedom, I’ve been on the receiving end of so much genius work,” says Moby. “And the result has been one of the most exciting, surprising things I’ve ever done as a musician, and it’s one of the most worthwhile things a human being can do: make tender, gentle, vulnerable music that’s a clarion call to act.” Featured on this album are some of the most exciting vocalists of our time. Some are well-known — such as Serpentwithfeet on the breathless daydream of a song On Air, the jazzy soulstress Lady Blackbird on the haunting Dark Days, or the astounding poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah on Where Is Your Pride? Other contributors have been found in relative obscurity — such as friend and vocalist Brie O’Banion on the Cream cover We’re Going Wrong, or Sheffiffield poet laureate Danaé Wellington on the powerful Wild Flame. “The goal for always centered at night is to do something uncompromising,” says Moby. “To make music that is emotional, atmospheric and potentially beautiful. And what better use of this weird privilege I have than trying to foster creative expression that has uncompromising integrity?”
Mdou Moctar
Funeral For Justice
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Funeral For Justice is the new album by Mdou Moctar. Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following his 2019 breakout Afrique Victime, it captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political. Nothing is held back or toned down.
The songs on Funeral For Justice speak unflinchingly to the plight of Niger and of the Tuareg people. “This album is really different for me,” explains Moctar, the band’s singer, namesake, and indisputably iconic guitarist. “Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the U.S. and Europe came here, they said they’re going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution.”
Thurston Moore
Flow Critical Lucidity
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The title of Thurston Moore’s new album Flow Critical Lucidity comes from a lyric in the single Sans Limites, featuring vocals by Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab. “Sans Limites begins with a cyclic guitar and piano figure which expands further and further with each revolution before settling into a two-chord measure introducing lyrics intoning not only about eradicating any limitations towards enlightenment, but going beyond limitations. The idea that a soldier can fight the good fight. A warrior against war,” Moore explains.
Moore recorded the song with his group — Deb Googe (bass), Jem Doulton (percussion), James Sedwards (guitar and piano) and Jon Leidecker (electronics) — with additional backing vocals by Sadier. “Grow up to the stars / Speak to infinity,” Thurston sings over piano and guitar. Sans Limites follows three previously released singles from the album — the energetic Isadora Duncan-inspired Isadora with a video starring Sky Ferreira, the cerebral Hypnogram and the stirring Earth Day anthem Rewilding.”
Jessie Murph
That Ain’t No Man That’s The Devil
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “That Ain’t No Man That’s The Devil is the highly anticipated debut studio album from rising star and powerhouse vocalist Jessie Murph. The album features collaborations with Jelly Roll, Teddy Swims, and Koe Wetzel. Off the heels of her global headline tour selling over 85,000 tickets and a major festival circuit, the genre bending maverick is finally ready for her biggest, brightest, and boldest chapter yet.
Born in Nashville in 2004 and raised in Athens, AL, Murph blends country storytelling with elements of alt-rock and R&B. Her breakthrough came from videos she posted to social media, with her covers of Fleetwood Mac and Britney Spears drawing attention from fans and record executives. She was signed to Columbia Records in 2021 and began writing her own material; those deeply honest, stylistically fluid songs took aim at her online critics and spoke to young listeners who wanted to hear music that acutely described their tangle of feelings.”
Willie Nelson
The Border
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Border is Willie Nelson’s 152nd album (according to Texas Monthly’s interactive All Willie Nelson Albums Ranked list) and features 10 new tracks and four new Nelson / Buddy Cannon compositions — Once Upon A Yesterday, What If I’m Out Of My Mind, Kiss Me When You’re Through and How Much Does It Cost — along with Hank’s Guitar, a new song cowritten by Cannon and Bobby Tomberlin.
In keeping with his longstanding tradition of shining a light on country music’s finest songwriters, Willie rounded out The Border, his first album in 2024, with his versions of compositions by Larry Cordle and Erin Enderlin (I Wrote This Song For You), Rodney Crowell and Will Jennings (Many A Long And Lonesome Highway), Shawn Camp and Monty Holmes (Made in Texas) and Mike Reid (Nobody Knows Me Like You). Produced by longtime collaborator Cannon, The Border showcases Nelson (lead vocals, Trigger) accompanied by Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Bobby Terry (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar), James Mitchell (electric guitar), Jim “Moose” Brown (Wurlitzer, B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer), Fred Eltringham (drums, percussion) and Barry Bales (upright bass); backing vocals are supplied by Buddy and Melonie Cannon. The Border features cover art depicting the Big Bend area between Texas and Mexico.”
Willie Nelson
Last Leaf On The Tree
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Last Leaf On The Tree marks the first time Willie Nelson has worked with his son Micah Nelson in the producer’s chair, though the two frequently perform together onstage. Micah has also been part of family-oriented albums such as 2017’s Willie And The Boys (along with older brother Lukas Nelson) and 2021’s The Willie Nelson Family.
Tom Waits initially released the first single Last Leaf on his 2011 album Bad As Me, with Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards singing along. Willie covers Richards elsewhere on the album, and he revisits the Waits songbook for House Where Nobody Lives. But on Last Leaf, Willie fittingly sings alone, summoning a bittersweet spirit that recalls the title track of Nelson’s 2018 self-titled album Last Man Standing. Willie, who turned 91 in April, has forthrightly addressed the finality of life in recent years, and Micah tapped into that as producer. “There are little side quests,” Micah says, “but that became the through-line — facing death with grace.”
O.
WeirdOs
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “O. — the London duo of baritone saxophonist Joe Henwood and drummer Tash Keary — have released their debut album WeirdOs. Full of breakneck rhythms and groove-heavy, distorted sax riffing, it featured everything fans have come to love about their inimitable sound.
Honing their fearless sound through a residency at Brixton venue The Windmill, as well as on support slots across the UK and Europe with fellow heavyweights black midi and Gilla Band, O. have now distilled their unique live energy into these 10 tracks. Coming on the heels of last November’s debut EP Slice and once again featuring production from Dan Carey, WeirdOs is Tash and Joe at their most raucous and free. Across high-octane instrumentals recorded live to tape, the duo encompass everything from cathartic dancefloor drops to intricate jazz lines, and sludgy, menacing doom metal.”
Oneida
Expensive Air
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A song is a song until it isn’t, until it’s pushed to its limits and beyond to become harder, faster and more dissonant. The music on Oneida’s 17th album Expensive Air all started as tightly structured, melodic rock songs — very much in line with the non-stop bangers of Success from 2022 — but along the way, they changed.
Bobby Matador sketched the structures of these songs from his home base in Boston, then sent the demos to Oneida’s New York contingent: Kid Millions, Hanoi Jane, Shahin Motia and Barry London. “We were working out the songs in New York without Bobby. We would start out riding the riffs, and then Shahin and Jane would add wild, out-of-tune licks,” said Kid Millions. “It seemed so perfect.”
Osees
Sorcs 80
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This album was a self-imposed ambitious project for us,” says Osees singer-guitarist, songwriter and ringleader John Dwyer. “Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard-centric; I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo’d everything at home on cassette four-track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it ’til I had a pile of ‘songs.’
“Tom (Dolas) and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of three octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have four people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote and Brad Caulkins on tenor and baritone saxophones. (It’s) sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets The Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on eight track 1/4-inch tape. So pretty hot and raw.”
Bones Owens
Love Out Of Lemons
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On sophomore album Love Out Of Lemons, Bones Owens continues to evolve his cultured rock songwriting while capturing the energy of his renowned live shows. Love Out Of Lemons collects deeply grooving snapshots of carefree times and top-down drives with subtleties that linger long after the party’s over.
“This record sort of picks up where my debut full-length left off,” offered Owens from yet another hotel room on yet another tour. “Energetic rock very typical of my live show.” Owens’ self-described chameleon-like approach has not only played a pivotal role in his own music, but the ability to collaborate with artists across all genres, having worked with Yelawolf, Mikky Ekko and Grammy nominee Jelly Roll.
Like Eighteen Wheeler, Love Out Of Lemons was produced by Paul Moak at his Smoakstack studio in Nashville. But while the EP was something of an introspective departure for Owens, Love Out Of Lemons is a blithe dive into his eclectic, nuanced rock and alt-roots sensibilities, from the genre-fluid grooves of heyday War to the lean, bluesy influence of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Said Owens: “I wanted to do another record that was largely rock, but also for it to have more than one gear.”
