Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2024. Our next list is from DJ Steven Grady.

#1 Old School by Selwyn Birchwood (self-released)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Blues Music Award winner Selwyn Birchwood throws back, literally, with an unquestionable winner in Old School. Having diverse influences as wide-ranging as Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy, Birchwood hits a home run propping his heavy guitar sound and clever lyrics with upright bass and distinguished grand piano.

A guest vocal and harmonica appearance on the title track by Blues Hall of Famer and Grammy winner Bobby Rush is a microcosm of Birchwood's shift in focus. Old School is a prolific and powerful shoutout to the pioneering blues greats of old.

#2 Blame It On Eve by Shemekia Copeland (Alligator)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Blues superstar Shemekia Copeland's Blame It On Eve is a cornucopia of sounds not previously heard from her previous releases. Sounding relatively more conventional than past efforts does nothing to obscure her immensely talented signature vocals. Similar to previous releases, her messages are always sassy and arguably controversial, but never mundane.

With a strong supporting cast of established musicians including Alejandro Escovedo, Charlie Hunter, and Luther Dickinson, Blame It On Eve has solidified Copeland as one of the great blues artists of this generation.

#3 No Name by Jack White (Third Man)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Jack White's No Name is a mother. It's loud, raw, unfiltered, and reminiscent of his early work with the White Stripes. Of note, an unmistakably heavy and hazy cloud of Led Zeppelin wafts over several songs. White also contributes throwback garagy material worth a listen as well.

While White produced and recorded just about everything on the record, current wife Olivia Jean (bass/drums) and daughter Scarlett (bass) also contribute on various tracks. His most badass release in years is an unexpected treasure.

#4 The Gates of Slumber by The Gates of Slumber (Svart)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Indianapolis' doom metal masters, The Gates of Slumber, finally has released its sixth overall longplayer and its first since reforming in 2019, a lineup that remains the same to date. Founded in 1997, the band has endured multiple incarnations due to personnel changes and deaths, not to mention a 2014 dissolution.

Currently rostered are original members, Karl Simon (vocals/guitar) and Chuck Brown (drums) as well as newcomer Steve Janiak (bass). who played previously with Simon in the Apostle of Solitude. The self-titled record, its first overall since 2011, is emblematic of a markedly no nonsense, stripped down sound, harkening back often to early Black Sabbath.

#5 GOOSE by Mol Sullivan (self-released)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Cincinnati-based singer/songwriter Mol Sullivan recorded her debut album, GOOSE, at Fox Hall Studio in Chicago over the course of a week in the fall of 2021. Her Bandcamp page characterizes it as a “long exposure photograph,” representing snippets of her songwriting styles throughout the past fifteen years.

GOOSE also captures the radical change Sullivan has experienced as a person through the process and emerging from a decade-long affair with alcohol.

#6 Make a Little Spark by Funkrust Brass Band (self-released)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Brooklyn's Funkrust Brass Band is a 20 piece outfit mixing post-apocalyptic, disco, EDM, Balkan brass and New Orleans second line. Their explosive live performances exhibit full band choreography, signature wasteland/glam uniforms and LED lighting effects.

Wielding a megaphone on lead vocals is lyricist Ellia Bisker (half of the popular goth-folk duo Charming Disaster). Sometimes introspective, sometimes existential, Bisker makes this already larger-than-life band sound uniquely memorable. Her real life partner, veteran brass band Phil Andrews, pens the music.

There's plenty of big sound to go around on this third longplayer. The album includes previously unrecorded classic favorites and rare cuts as well as brand new material. The record explores hope and despair, anger and joy, utopias and dystopias through the lens of science fiction, steampunk, alternate futures, and other mysteries.

#7 Dark Superstition by Gatecreeper (Nuclear Blast)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Gatecreeper bills itself as Sonoran Desert Death Metal. Its third release, Dark Superstition, on the one hand establishes the Arizona quintet as masters of the throwback...to the 90s to be more specific. However, its first longplayer in five years also demonstrates an uncanny ability to merge the past with the present.

Lead vocalist Chase H. Mason emits some of the most intensely guttural growls ever put on tape. Much of the record defines itself adroitly with dueling harmonic guitar riffs (featuring guitar players Israel Garza and Eric Wagner).

#8 Essential Tremors by Hooper Crescent (Spoilsport)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Brunswick, Australia's Hooper Crescent is fuzzy and quirky with a beat you can dance to. This record is not wanting for joyous dischordant sound. Essential Tremors delivers those aforementioned attributes with remarkable consistency.

Building upon its zesty, albeit low budget debut, Hooper Crescent's sophomore release enjoys a comparatively more polished sound without sacrificing delightful weirdness, courtesy of producer John Lee (Laura Jean, Lost Animal, The Stroppies).

#9 Canary by Neva Dinova (Saddle Creek)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Neva Dinova, a long-time Omaha-based indie-rock combo, often was overshadowed by its more well-known geographic contemporaries, Bright Eyes and Cursive. The release of Canary signals a new chapter in the band's history with a radically new lineup. Neva Dinova's "Mach II" now is a stripped-down trio consisting of founder/singer/songwriter/guitar player Jake Bellows, drummer Roger Lewis (The Good Life), and newly acquired bass player, Megan Siebe (Cursive's cellist).

Bellows' signature baritone voice and Neil Young-inspired guitar chops define Canary. One of the highlights of this solid longplayer is an impressive arrangement of "Never Let Go" by 60's Jamaican band Carlton & the Shoes.

#10 Bleachers by Bleachers (Dirty Hit)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

New Jersey modern pop-infused Bleachers' self-titled fourth LP is full of substance, addressing singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Jack Antonoff's personal issues of grief/loss of his sister, past relationships, and the celebration of actualizing fulfillment with his wife, actress Margaret Qualley.

This longplayer often evidences Antonoff's Springsteen-like vocal delivery and sonic aura throughout the record (Bruce appeared on Bleachers' previous album, 2021's Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night). Bleachers also is not wanting for contemporary star power with respect to vocals, co-songwriting credits, and production. Several contributing artists to some or all of these categories include St. Vincent, Bartees Strange, Lana Del Rey, Florence Welch, Kevin Abstract, Sam Dew, and Sounwave.