The Band Next Door’s 2024 Top 10
This release from Melbourne/Naarm outfit Garage Sale is definitely one of the first things that comes to mind when trying to think of a few highlights from 2024. A record that looks too the beautifully woven melodies of dream rock and shoegaze. Stitching that aesthetic together with subtle, tender moments of stary-eyed guitar twinkle, not to mention the distorted (yet incredibly cathartic) dive-bombs of distortion. The hushed vocal delivery just adds to the dynamic representation mixed throughout this record, which is really driven by the charmingly somewhat stunted passages of quiet fire. A simply divine atmosphere.
Call A Doctor by Girl and Girl
After signing to Sub-Pop records on the back of a few EPs and word of mouth, this Brisbane/Meanjin outfit defied the traditionally ‘safe’ first album with what could only be described as a mental-health rock opera. Call A Doctor is a narrative through one’s own personal demons alongside expectational anxieties, self-centeredness and emotional detachment all while being soundtracked by sharp jangle guitar-pop. The album’s endearingly ragged and loose instrumentation is paired up by a voice that slices through with a piercing quiver and results in a tandem attack that is exciting, joyful and euphoric in stark contrast to it’s deeply intimate themes.
Loveshovel – The Only Good Thing I’m Bad At
Coming out of Fremantle/Walyalup on the West Coast is the punk outfit of Loveshovel. Kickin’ off with the no-holds bared tune of Lisbon! This album absolutely rockets through 11 tracks of thumping garage punk. Thick and searing guitar riffs are a battering assault on the senses and over it’s 33 minute runtime barely lets up. Bonus points for the psychedelic breather Dirty Word which feels like it comes out of nowhere, but only adds to the allure of this band who have called it a day (for now). It’s hard not to get swept up in the frenzied energy of this adrenaline inducing record. You won’t really know what came over you.
I remember when I was at 4ZZZ for Sounds Like Community Radio back in 2023, I had the pleasure of staring through the glass into one of their studios, captivated by the magical duo of Fred Leone and Samuel Pankhurst performing some of their Yirrinda material. Their self-titled album paints an even bigger picture of what those two can do when working side by side. A collection of beautiful, cinematic soundscapes harnessed by a wide berth of experimental production. We’re talking strings, horns, synth, piano and percussion to create otherworldly tapestries, that carries one of the country’s oldest and most endangered languages into a modern context bringing with it countless generations of story and culture
Full Flower Moon Band – Megaflower
Megaflower by Full Flower Moon Band
The mighty Full Flower Moon Band are one of the hardest working groups that the country has to offer. After putting the pedal to the metal on their previous album Diesel Forever, the band have taken a detour across untarred terrain on Megaflower. Armed with varied strains of alt-country and fuelled by urban swagger, this audible piece of Australiana flora straddles the divide between hard rock and the soft moments of reflection. Where Diesel Forever captured the screech of skid marks down the highway, Megaflower follows the rolling groove of those wheels unfurling road offroad. As bandleader Babyshakes says herself, there’s an entire botanical garden of ideas growing out of the dirt.
Twine – New Old Horse
South Australia has definitely left an imprint on my mind over the past two years now, thanks to bands like Placement and The Empty Threats. There seems to be an influx of Adelaide/Kaurna outfits who revel in offering up thick blazing lines of noise-addled guitar and I’m all for it. One of the latest to emerge from that ether is Twine. Wrestling the torment of suburban existentialism via way of frenetic exorcism, Twine have burnt their way into my head through white-hot leads of suffering aided by the old-soul squeak of a violin. A record that is somewhat Trojan in its delivery as it’s built around a blueprint of dusty folk yearns, but quickly ends up galloping with post-hardcore turmoil.
Ela Stiles – Not A Stranger
It’s been a decade since Melbourne/Naarm based artist Ela Stiles put out her first release. A self-titled record that consisted of devotional droning and numerous vocal expressions. Fast-forward to 2024 and the mysterious musician issues her fourth album, Not A Stranger. Marking a stylistic shift, Not A Stranger drifts effortlessly through murky muttered mantras to throbbing club pulses and is slickened with a dense, yet haunting synth symphony. Even though this is an album who’s mainstream-accessible moments are spearheaded by Ela’s love of pop music – it is still largely a record that encapsulates Ela’s underground personality and a testament to the longevity and maturation of someone who is still synonymous with niche labels like Bedroom Sucks and Paradise Daily.
Nice Biscuit – S.O.S
Brisbane/Meanjin is absolutely cooking for stellar albums this year and if you’re after a woozy, psychedelic experience this five-piece have you covered. Fronted by co-vocalists Billie and Grace and rooted in the fumes of 60s jam bands, Nice Biscuit are more than capable of taking you along for a cosmic joyride with a hypnotic signature cocktail of slow-burning sage, golden disco gyrations and krautrock fuelled driving rhythms. Concerned with the state of the global environment through climate change as they are with creating ultra-tight musicianship, SOS is the double package of education and elevation.
Sports Bra – Spite World
One of the first albums that I feel in love with this year comes from the sadly now defunct Sydney/Eora group of Sports Bra. They parted ways back in 2021, but not before recording one last album and sitting on it till February of 2024. A supergroup of sorts, Sports Bra brought together veins of indie rock, shoegaze and punk, it’s the display of Mid-West emo that really takes the cake on Spite World. An album that is as scalding as it is incandescent. Spite World is a record of metamorphosis, individuality but perhaps mostly martyrdom. Artists sacrifice a lot of themselves for their craft, and Sports Bra offer it all up for your listening pleasure.
Gut Health – Stiletto
Stiletto (digital album) by Gut Health
Even though a bunch of these tracks had already been released as singles earlier, the anticipation I felt for this album was huge and it didn’t disappoint. The six-piece from Melbourne/Naarm give plenty of bounce on their debut album, anchored by a nuzzling bass tone and array of synth blips. This concoction and the resulting dance-ability of this record is unmatched to any other rock-centric album this year thanks to the completely unhinged instrumentation. Even when it isn’t exponentially accelerating at full force, when it does pull back, there’s plenty of angular interludes with a littering of exotic components. It’s a maximum record with minimal bloating.
