Here are some records that came out in 2024 that I really liked. They are in no particular order. Music is art and not a competition. I may seem biased with a few bands from the Pittsburgh area on the list but that’s not my fault this town finally has a crop of decent bands playing on a regular basis.
Gouge Away–Deep Sage–If we lived in a different time that still considered music as something of artistic value, this record would have been a monster. That’s why I feel Deep Sage could have been a product of the 90s. It would have broken through MTV and mainstream radio. And it was great to hear Gouge Away move away from being a great “hardcore” band and into simply being a great band. I wrote way too many words about the record here.
Uniform–American Standard–The word masterpiece does get thrown around a lot in very unwarranted ways but I can’t think of any other way to describe American Standard. It’s one of those records that demands my attention every time I put it on and I end up sitting down and watching the record spin as it plays. Uniform went out on a limb and reached for something artistically and stuck the landing. There is so much risk involved in putting out a record where track one takes up the entirety of side A. I am so glad this record exists to challenge the listener. Especially since no one has an attention span anymore.
De Rodillas–Implacable–I cannot say enough about how good De Rodillas is as a live band other than I need to see them play more than I have. In the meaningless and decades old debate of what constitutes hardcore or punk, De Rodillas ends that debate single handedly with Implacable. They are one of those bands that confound me when I see them live. I have no idea how a recording would be able to contain the fury of their sound and properly display what they can do but they managed to do that perfectly on this 7”.
Body Farm/Dry Socket–Body//Socket–Not since the Faith/Void split that Dischord put out all those years ago have I been enthralled by a split LP. Most of the time a split LP or single ends up sounding like a novelty record to me for some reason but Body//Socket made complete and total sense to me when I saw it was happening. Both bands attacked with clarity of purpose and complemented one side of the LP with the other so well that I’m not sure if having two separate 7 inches would have been equally as effective.
Yellfire–Dear Gods–I know absolutely nothing about this band other than they are on the label The Ghost Is Clear and they’re from Seattle. Any time The Ghost Is Clear puts out a record, I give it a listen and Dear Gods grabbed me by the ears. Yellfire scratches that same itch for me that bands like Botch and Karp do.
Speed Plans–D.U.I.--This is the best sonic representation of Speed Plans to date. I could always hear something trying to break through in their other recordings but the production constraints sounded like they were being held back. The mix on DUI sounds balanced and everything the band was trying to do is on full display. The record is a short blast of mayhem which is what Speed Plans does best. It feels like the band is about to have a moment of some sort and I can’t wait to see what happens.
Bed Maker–Bed Maker–Bed Maker features Amanda MacKaye, of the MacKaye clan from Washington DC, on vocals and is way more talented than her brothers, in my opinion. I had been waiting for this record to come out since Bed Maker put their first few songs up on Bandcamp years ago. After each song ended I was always left thinking that there had to be more music from the band. I had wanted to hear her sing again ever since I heard her voice on the Routineers record that she put out with Ryan Nelson back in 2004. The self-titled Bed Maker album far exceeded the expectations that I had built up in my head when it hit my turntable. I am so glad that I was part of a small group of people that got to see them play in a basement when they came through Pittsburgh.
Shellac–To All Trains–The last recorded testament of Steve Albini did not disappoint. As much as I had issues over the years with some of the production choices that he did or didn’t make while recording other bands, he was always very deliberate in his choices with his own music. Steve Albini always tried to fight the good fight for small artists. He saw how awful the landscape was going to get in regards to the business side of music and did what he could to push back against it.
Help–Courage–I discovered Help while I was doing an insomnia riddled deep dive down the Three.One.G catalog on Bandcamp to see if there was anything that I missed since I last checked in with the label. Help was one of the bands that I completely missed. Courage had just been released and right from the first track I was smitten. They have a sound that would have put them right at home on the Amphetamine Reptile roster in the early 90s and that is a sound that is right up my alley. Lots of yelling over odd time signatures seems to be my love language.
No Man–Glitter And Spit–Sometimes the time for nuance is over and the right tool for the job is a hammer to smash the ever living shit out of everything in the tri-state area because enough is enough. That is the vibe I get when listening to Glitter And Spit. It is a relentless slab of vinyl that has gone feral and will jump out of the shadows and cut you in a dark alley. This is what hardcore could be if for one moment it would take a half step away from the dunderheaded, willful ignorance that seems to have taken over. Everything that No Man does, from lyrics to the colors that get pressed to vinyl, seems aimed to educate. If only the bros would open their ears and listen.
