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The Audible Snail writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: The Audible Snail
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Poetry by Dehd (Fat Possum)
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The Future is Our Way Out by Brigitte Calls Me Baby (ATO)
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Fate & Alcohol by Japandroids (ANTI-)
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The Party Never Ends 2.0 by Juice WRLD (ANTI-)
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BRAT by charli xcx (Atlantic)
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The Collective by Kim Gordon (Matador)
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Funeral for Justice by Mdou Moctar (Matador)
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Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend (Columbia)
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No Obligation by The Linda Lindas (Epitaph)
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Smoke & Fiction by X (Fat Possum)
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Throughout December, 
This album makes it to the top due to the rabbit hole of discographic obsession I followed after seeing them live at the Avrom Farm Party music festival in Wisconsin in August. I played this album and the band’s preceding releases for days! Then, I told everyone I know about the band. Local indie rockabilly heart throbs – treat yourself and play this album on repeat.
If Pansy Division’s lyrics, “Don't be sad like Morissey” were an album, local Chicago band Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s The Future is Our Way Out would be an opus. Swinging vibes out the gate, this album is impressive, dancy, sassy, and fun as hell. With some 1950’s influences (think Roy Orbison) paired with some serious Smiths mood beams, this album is well worth a repetitive spin – & srsly, gift a copy to your besties, they'll thank you later.
�� Really tho, we're so lucky to get a final Japandroids album. Enjoy & play at your garage rock heart’s content!
The Party Never Ends 2.0 is Juice WRLD’s second posthumous release. Continuing the positive hip hop & r&b beats with a nod to Chicago House, this album gives wings to the struggle of south side Chicago, addiction, & hustle. We’re lucky to have these tracks, but it’s sad to have lost one of Chicago’s up and coming artists so soon.
British synth pop released by charli xcx is an absolute delight! Dance beats on each track, BRAT is catchy, fembot forward, messy, and sassy. Think MIA remixed with Robyn, with downtempo realism. This album is fully realized, well-produced, and refreshingly narrative. A critique on the demands placed on young women (in any industry) to be shiny, new things. More pop social commentary on the dance floor like this, pls.
Poetic. Industrial. Mesmerizing. Kim Gordon’s The Collective is a meditation on personal and collective identity, with a descriptive critique of consumerism. I was lucky to see her perform many of these tracks at the Empty Bottle in 2023, and again at The Bohemian National Cemetery in June. Her live performance of these songs is just as transfixing as the album itself. Mediate. Dance. Defy. Enjoy.
West African Tuareg singer, song-writer Mdou Moctar’s Funeral for Justice is a desert blues rock album deeply engaged with topics of political struggle, social justice, colonialism, loss, and resilience. A blend of traditional Saharan music with western rock influences, the album continues to break boundaries, notably raising global awareness with tracks like “Modern Slaves” and “Oh France.” I played this album on-air frequently when it was in rotation, and recommend spinning these tracks well into the new year.
Only God Was Above Us is at its heart a nostalgic Vampire Weekend album. Sentimental, positive, with a dash of strange pop cultural references showcasing the band’s social awareness, notably on the singles “Capricorn” and “Gen X Cops.” This album is a gorgeous mash up of their self-titled debut, Contra, and Modern Vampires of the City.
The Linda Lindas of course making it in my Top 10 again! Fast-paced garage rock punk feminist anthems from this L.A. band is exactly what the future needs. The album is more realized and melodic than the first, with a splash of 90s grunge influence on the tracks. They opened Green Day’s Saviors tour at Wrigley in August, and are due for far more stage time.
Long-running L.A. punk band returns with their 9th and final studio album. Smoke & Fiction is garage rock delightful. Releasing albums since 1978, you can hear the grit and synergy in their meandering guitar solos and fast-paced, upbeat drum beats. The lyrics are nostalgic and bittersweet. The pulse of Los Angeles beats throughout this whole album, and it is sad to see X close the curtain on recording, but any track on this album would be welcome a spin. Enjoy!Next entry: CHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Tyler Clark
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