Best of 2024 — Music
Compared to last year, narrowing down my favorite albums from 2024 was easy. In truth, it took less than an hour. But the albums that did make the cut made an outsized impression on me. Read, listen, and enjoy!
Ceres - MAGIC MOUNTAIN (1996 - 2022)
You and me, the songs we singWill be everything we ever needWe'll sing so loud their ears start ringing, yeahWe won't need a single thing
The last time I encountered a musician that so nakedly, fearlessly put their emotions on display like this was the first time I popped Dashboard Confessional’s The Swiss Army Romance into my CD player in high school. This double album captures the optimism of embarking on a new journey with the person you love, the anxious anticipation of welcoming a new life into the world together, and the utter devastation when that life fails to reach the starting line. Listening to this album is like holding a too-hot cup of tea on a winter morning; you know it will damage you, yet you can’t stand to be away from its warmth.
Carly Cosgrove - The Cleanest of Houses Are Empty
This time, I will turn my life around and do it rightAnd this time, I will turn my life around and do it, right?And this time, and this time I really mean itNot like those other times when I said I really meant it that time
2024 felt like driving an old Jeep through an endless series of ruts, struggling to make forward progress towards a destination frustratingly unknown to me. Work was painfully slow, but instead of taking the opportunity to work on one of the half-dozen, half-formed story ideas I have kicking around, I would tidy up the house. I used my son’s struggles with anxiety and temper as an excuse not to do things for myself, telling myself that I couldn’t stray far from home in case school called. I kept my wants and needs tamped down so I could take care of others first.
This album really captured that feeling of being aware of one's own listlessness, yet lacking the tools to make change. I can read the lyrics for each track on this album and point to a specific time in the past 12 months that they describe.
Stay Inside - Ferried Away
Yeah I like it, and I might just stay‘cause I miss these daysYour daughter, your neighborsI wish they knew my name
I’m less connected to people from my past than ever. While deleting nearly all my social media accounts saved me from panic-inducing doom scrolling that was taking over too many of my waking hours, it also severed the most direct line of communication to most people I know. Each song on Ferried Away is about a specific person from one of the band members’ past. It has me longing for the days when my friends were down the hall rather than across the country. Lately, running into someone I know when I’m out with my kids feels like encountering an endangered animal in the wild.
Macseal - Permanent Repeat
I'll be waiting at the doorAging and desperate to ignoreEvery day that never wasIt felt so great to feel so lost
While we’re on the subject of missed opportunities, this album really rubs salt into those wounds. The level of specificity on display in the lyrics, delivered in a breezy, midwestern twang makes me nostalgic for a time when conversations weren’t reduced to rushed recaps of the past few months over coffee, but months-long dialogues, picked up naturally with only the briefest of ellipses in between.
Touche Amore - Spiral in a Straight Line
Send me offSend me awayI'll take some time, recalibrateI'll try anything, anythingIf it'll course correct me
Helping my son navigate and understand his own mental health has opened my eyes to just how many people are simply not holding it together. As hard as it can be to put in the effort day-in and day-out, whenever I see a parent yell at their kid, or argue with waitstaff, or fight over a parking space, or come close to blows at a bike race, I’m thankful for the work I’ve put in. Being the person others need me to be means being a person capable of putting in that type of work. This album is all about finding strength in the struggle.
Alkaline Trio - Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs
We are so far, so lost, it's trueWe can't attempt to start anewWe lost our way so long agoChopping things down before they grow
Relieved of his duties as “not Tom” in Blink 182, Matt Skiba returns to his first band to sing goth tinged pop-punk earworms. Growing up, Alkaline Trio always seemed a little bit dramatic, dressing like funhouse mirror versions of Clockwork Orange characters, singing songs about dead bodies and suicidal thoughts, but God damn, they can write a catchy song.
Southtowne Lanes - Take Care
Your arms the walls, your legs the floor.Your words ring out, but will ring no moreThe lights go out. The heat won’t hold.We shut the door and your soul goes cold
I am incredibly fortunate in that (as of this writing), I’ve never experienced a major loss in my life, at least not one that capsized my entire existence. My and my wife’s parents are healthy. Two of my grandparents are still alive. And yet, I cannot help but be drawn to music that very specifically deals with the loss of a loved one. Take Care by Southtowne Lanes — based out of Eugene, OR — is an unrestrained journey through the grieving process following the “brutal and sudden” death of lead singer Matt Kupka’s father. It’s not an easy listen, but incredibly powerful.
Edit: Two weeks after writing this, my father passed away unexpectedly. I listened to this album on the plane ride home at full volume and found such catharsis in it.
Bayside - There are Worse Things Than Being Alive
Where do wishes go when they're tossed in a well?Are they screaming for help?I think that I should finally go and fish 'em all outClaim 'em all for myself
Bayside is like pizza to me. Even if I just had it for lunch, I’m more than happy to have it for dinner, too. That’s really all I have to say about it.