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Andy Vaso writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Andy Vasoyan
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Here in the Pitch by Jessica Pratt (Mexican Summer)
Pratt is a champion of the less-is-more approach to lyricism, and the negative space in her tracks effortlessly swell with emotion. The only problem with the airy songwriting and short runtime is that you’ll eventually ask: hey, is that the 20th playback already? It’s a great problem to have. [Top Tracks: Empires Never Know, World on a String, Life Is] |
Spiral in a Straight Line by Touché Amoré (Rise)
That’s not to say the lyrics, hooks, and aggressive riffs aren’t there; it’s more that on their sixth album, Touché Amoré keep the tunes as heartfelt as they are muscular. In particular, a duet with Julien Baker shows that they know when restraint can be just as effective—if not more so—than skramz. [Top Tracks: Goodbye for now (feat. Julien Baker), Hal Ashby, Force of Habit] |
Honey by Caribou (Merge)
The singles are clearly the joyful, clever, zippy focus of a record that is singularly in love with love, but the entire record is one that stays dancey, bears repeat listens, and shows an artist (Dan Snaith) who is at the peak of his ability to make timeless jams fit for a party in either a dancefloor or a living room. [Top Tracks: Come Find Me, Do Without You, Broke My Heart] |
Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman (Anti-)
There are plenty of records in that vein, but Lenderman’s intuitive songwriting makes Manning Fireworks a standout in the genre. Yes, he does get a little cringe (skip “Rip Torn,” I’m begging you), but he’s so damn good it just doesn’t matter. [Top Tracks: Wristwatch, You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In, She’s Leaving You] |
End of the Nail by Gleemer (Other People)
They’ve never exactly been peppy, but on End of the Nail, Gleemer has managed to craft a full wall-of-sound-and-sad record that sounds like Transatlanticism’s darkest depths while also being neither dated nor toxic—a move that’s way harder than it looks. [Top Tracks: The Body’s Worth, Behavior, First Dream] |
Seed of a Seed by Haley Heynderickx (Mama Bird)
The fact that Heynderickx (who is only on her second full-length release after the immensely successful I Need to Start a Garden in 2018) can write and sprinkle lines like that throughout the entirety of Seed of a Seed is more than enough to make the record one of my most listened-to this year. The rich songwriting and compelling tunes will stay fresh ‘til her next record drops, even if it takes another six years. [Top Tracks: Foxglove, Seed of a Seed, Jerry’s Song] |
Real Deal by Honeyglaze (Fat Possum)
Though the tracks are relatively diverse in style, the vocals and energy stay deeply attuned to female rage, societal confusion, and the broad awkwardness of the unknowable other. [Top Tracks: Don’t, Cold Caller, Pretty Girls] |
No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead by Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Constellation)
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Baggy$$ EP by Fcukers (Technicolour)
The very New York group hang as loose and sexy as a pair of low-rise True Religion jeans, with the sonic equivalent of a bedazzled set of ass-pockets in poppin’, candy-spun tracks like “Homie Don’t Shake” and “Bon Bon.” [Top Tracks: Bon Bon, Homie Don’t Shake, Tommy] |
Pandora EP by Wisp (Music Soup/Interscope)
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Honorable MentionsLaura Marling - Patterns in Repeat |
Throughout December, 
Long-anticipated and richly rewarding, Jessica Pratt’s first album since 2019 is the wonderful, diaphanous, definitive statement of purpose that crystal girlies everywhere were hoping it would be.
“Visceral” is a word that gets thrown around a lot when you talk about post-hardcore records, but Spiral in a Straight Line is a record that isn’t actually that in-your-face about their emotionality…relatively speaking.
Honey is a troubling release to include on this list, because by the time the actual LP dropped, I had played the singles to death.
This is the obvious inclusion for a 2024 Best-Of; the indie sadboi answer to Brat, if you will. Unlike Charli XCX’s very of-the-moment (and kinda overrated, don’t @ me) release, Manning Fireworks is an album that isn’t tied to any particular sensibility besides a low-energy slacker aesthetic.
As a Death Cab for Cutie apologist, I am continually overjoyed to see the influence that Ben Gibbard’s SADBOI-XTREME brand of songwriting has had on the current generation of maligned dudes. Few bands really own that as fully as Gleemer, who pull from a deep well of discontent to present genuine feelings of sadness, confusion, and loss.
“You are the gifts that your mother had wished of you” is the kind of compliment that would stick with a person for life if they heard it in person.
Sprechgesang, or speak-singing, has been all the rage in the UK this year after the overwhelming reception for Black Country, New Road in 2022 and 2023. Honeyglaze are one of the most energetic disciples of that style, and they channel a “Haley Williams went to British art school” type vibe to keep Real Deal a surprising but palatable listen.
Canadian anarchist music collective/post-rock royalty GY!BE know exactly who they are and what they’re about. Who they are is a group of relentlessly capable musicians, and what they are about is soundtracking the dehumanizing, ultra-slow-motion collapse of the grinding capitalist and imperialist superstructures that undergird and amplify unknowable oceans of suffering, masterfully laid out on No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead. That, plus 15-minute tracks. [Top Tracks: BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD, RAINDROPS CAST IN LEAD]
THE LATE 90s AND EARLY 00s ARE BACK, BAYBEEEEE! Sure, they’ve been back for a while, but no group is presenting the funky, weird, bug-eyed unhingedness of the post-9/11 electronic era better than Fcukers.
The brightest star shining in the “Gen Z shoegaze revival” constellation is Wisp, who are touring with System of a Down (!?) in 2025 and have solidified themselves in the high canon of TikTok mood music. But fame aside, Wisp really know how to do it to’em: the lovelorn heights on the Pandora EP are breathtaking, and the valleys of soundscapes are lush, idyllic, heartbreaking. It may not be a particularly complex formula, but right now, Wisp are brewing up the good stuff. [Top Tracks: See You soon, Your Face, Mimi]Next entry: CHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Danielle Sines
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