I’d rate 2024 as a solidly middle of the pack year for indie and alternative music. It was definitely better than the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021, and also outdid last year’s overall weak showing. That said, it didn’t have 2022’s glut of great releases, and a lot of what I heard fell into the “good but not great” territory. I also realize that I am an aging millennial indie/alternative fan, so I skew towards established acts and don’t quite have my finger on the pulse of debuts and up-and-comers. You should see the perplexed look on my face when I read most festival lineups.
Anyway, here’s 8 indie and alternative albums from this year that are definitely worth your attention:
8. The Decemberists – As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
It had been quite a while since the Decemberists released an album, and even longer since they released an album I really got into (sorry I’ll Be Your Girl). The Decemberists ninth album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again will remind every nerd who fawned over this band why they enjoyed them so much in the first place. As a whole, it really leans into embracing the heartland sound of their 2011 album The King is Dead, with country tracks like “Long White Veil” and “Never Satisfied,” and folk like “The Reapers” and “Born to the Morning.” The album also features some great unexpected styles the band has never tried their hand at before, like the swing revival of “Oh No!” Of course, the real showstopper on the album comes at its very end with the 19-minute epic “Joan in the Garden.” This meditation on Joan of Arc starts conventionally enough, builds into the most dramatic climax I’ve heard all year, and then delivers the ultimate coda after six whole minutes of an ambient false ending. This track alone makes the album worth checking out, and you can read more about As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again here.
7. Fontaines D.C. – Romance
While I don’t think Fontaines D.C.’s fourth album Romance is their best, it’s still a great album that really shows how promising this band has been since their relatively recent start in 2019. While their 2022 album Skinty Fia succeeded by sticking with a dark and gloomy theme, Romance’s greatest strength comes from attempting new styles the band hasn’t previously tackled. For instance, the single “Starburster” features singer Grian Chatten more or less rapping in between choruses filled with gasps for air, while “Sundowner” sees guitarist Connor Curley take the lead vocals on what’s essentially a shoegaze song a la My Bloody Valentine. In a similar contrast, “Here’s the Thing” has the power chords of a 2000s alt rock track, but “Motorcycle Boy” is the closest the band have come to making dream pop. The single “Favourite” closes the album, a straightforward and heartfelt pop-rock song that’s the band’s most accessible to date, and also really hard not to like. You’re guaranteed to find something you’ll really enjoy on the album, and it’ll keep you excited for whatever Fontaines D.C. do next. You can read more about Romance here.
6. The Smile – Wall of Eyes
The Smile – a band that combines Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner – released two albums in 2024, Wall of Eyes and Cutouts. While both albums are fairly comparable in style, and each are deserving of a listen, Wall of Eyes slightly edges out its more recently-released successor Cutouts. The tracks on Wall of Eyes are overall more multifaceted, especially the album’s clear highlight, “Bending Hectic,” an 8-minute epic that starts like a delicate lullaby and ends like a metal concert. “Read the Room” and “Under Our Pillows” also feature unexpected twists and turns that show off the band’s versatility and will have you thinking, “this is the same song?” There’s also plenty of the Smile’s already-signature sound that appeared on their 2022 debut A Light for Attracting Attention, like the tranquil “Telharmonic” and the jazzy “Friend of a Friend.” You can read more about Wall of Eyes here.
5. Jack White – No Name
Jack White has spent most of his solo career showing the world he’s so much more than one half of the White Stripes. His last three albums explored different styles, all worlds apart from the minimalist garage rock of the White Stripes. This makes it all the more surprising that his sixth solo album No Name goes back to fully embracing this sound – and boy, does it do that well. Some tracks like “Bless Yourself,” “It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)” and “What’s the Rumpus?” could all be mistaken as cuts unearthed from a 2000s White Stripes archive. Other tracks like “That’s How I’m Feeling,” “Bombing Out,” and “Missionary” are no less garage rock, but arguably rock harder than the Stripes ever did. There’s also shades of the newer, more experimental Jack White at times, such as when he raps the narrative lyrics of “Archbishop Harold Holmes.” If you liked the White Stripes at all, this is definitely an album to check out, and might be White’s best solo album yet. You can read more about No Name here.
4. St. Vincent – All Born Screaming
Amidst the funky 70s pastiche of 2021’s Daddy’s Home and the synth disco of 2017’s Masseduction, you may have forgotten that Annie Clark/St. Vincent is actually a very good rock musician who knows her way around an electric guitar. All Born Screaming is her hardest rocking album since her 2014 self-titled release, and its standout single “Broken Man” is her heaviest track yet. “Flea” is almost as heavy, oscillating between quieter versus more explosive choruses, while “Reckless” embraces a similar amount of contrast by starting gently before bursting into a cacophony of industrial beats. “Sweetest Fruit” combines the drum machine beat of a dance track with shoegazing guitar drones to make an album highlight. It’s definitely a louder album all-around, but some of its most interesting moments come when Clark lets her quiet, introspective side shine though. “Hell is Near” opens the album with a bit of ambient electronica, while the synthesizer and guitar combination on “The Power’s Out” will definitely remind you of Beach House. There are even some callbacks to her more recent albums, as both the bass on “Big Time Nothing” and the vocals on “So Many Planets” sound like they were taken right from Daddy’s Home. All Born Screaming is an energizing album that’s as varied as Clark’s career to date, and she even released a Spanish version of the album, Todos Nacen Gritando, that I’ve been meaning to check out.
3. Father John Misty – Mahashmashana
Josh Tillman/Father John Misty’s albums have tended to skirt a very narrow line between big, captivating musical pieces and self-indulgent grandiosity. Fortunately, his sixth album Mahashmashana (which means “great cremation ground” in Sanskrit) hits the sweet spot and then some. Its opening title track builds and falls alongside a full backing orchestra and a very prominent saxophone, never overstaying its welcome throughout the nine-minute runtime. This song and the gentle, flute-driven “Mental Health” sound like the best parts of his showtune-inspired 2022 album Chloë and the 20th Century, but Masashmashana is altogether more varied and compelling with all of the directions it pulls in. For starters, there are some moments of unexpected, Beck-like swagger on the album, as the surprisingly upbeat “She Cleans Up” echoes his album Midnite Vultures, while “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose” has the strings of his Sea Change song “Paper Tiger.” “Screamland” meanwhile combines the instrumentation of Sigur Rós’ “Starálfur” with a big chorus that sounds like one of Coldplay’s better tracks. As expected, Tillman’s lyricism is top-notch throughout, like on “Time Makes Fools of Us All” that contrasts questions of mortality with the funkiest 70s-esque groove you can imagine. It’s an excellent album, and might be on par (if not better than!) his 2015 breakthrough I Love You, Honeybear, so definitely give it a listen.
2. Jamie xx – In Waves
Way back in 2015, I named Jamie xx’s debut solo album In Colour the best of the year for the way it blended house, hip-hop, and ambient music in a variety of moods. Nine years later, his second solo album In Waves tones down the variety in favor of turning up the beats. It’s an excellent dance album from start to finish, with tracks like “Baddy on the Floor,” “The Feeling I Get From You,” and “Still Summer” as clear standouts. He also pulls in some impressive guest features, including his xx bandmates on “Waited All Night,” Robyn on “Life,” and the Avalanches on “All You Children.” While more straightforward than its predecessor, it’s not exactly dumbed-down party music either. The track “Treat Each Other Right” has more than one false stop within, and I really grew to appreciate its complexity. You can read more about In Waves here.
1. Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us
Vampire Weekend have yet to make a bad album, although it was tough to imagine them pulling off something as ambitious and overstuffed as their fourth album Father of the Bride a second time. Fortunately, Only God Was Above Us is classic Vampire Weekend, and anyone who enjoyed their first three albums should immediately love tracks like “Ice Cream Piano,” “Classical,” and “Prep-School Gangsters.” Not content with reminiscing, the band unexpectedly spends a fair amount of time experimenting with distortion throughout the album, best heard on songs like “Capricorn” and “Connect.” There’s also the unexpectedly trip-hop track “The Surfer,” co-written by former bandmember Rostam Batmanglij, which is nothing like they’ve done before. It’s an excellent album all around, and you can read more about Only God Was Above Us here.
