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[5-5-5] of 2024 Part 1: New Releases

The year 2024 was, like all other years by definition, one for the history books. In the world: Steamboat Willy hit the public domain; Boeing had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year; the Nicest Man in the Country was arrested for no good reason; Tr*mp was found guilty of defamation (costing him $83.3 mil); Shithead Alex Jones lost in a very big way; Tr*mp was found guilty of falsifying business records, thereby becoming the first felon president (34 counts!); Giuliani was disbarred; someone tried to kill a fascist; Diddy had the worst year ever; Hurricane Helene really fucked things up for us. 

We said goodbye to Tony Todd, Maggie Smith, Phil Donahue, Ruth Westheimer, Richard Simmons, Carl Weathers, James Earl Jones, Sid Vicious (the wrestler), Kevin Sullivan, Shelley Duvall and American Democracy.

On a personal level: I was still way into folk punk this year but also listened to more pop than I have in years; I was able to successfully turn 40; went to Disney World; ran my first 5k in years; went to Orvieto, Massa, Cinque Terre, Montepulciano, Florence, Assisi and Rome; I wrote a book; I did my first convention as a vendor; built a very nice garden bed; celebrated two years of getting to be Katie’s husband.

Despite the turbulence and the poor forecast ahead, it was still a good year and I’ll be doing what I can to rock out the next one. This year’s posts are in loving memory of Quincy Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Tito Jackson, Jack Russell, Dave Loggins, Shifty Shellshock, Dennis Thompson, John Barbata, Steve Albini, Mojo Nixon, Fatman Scoop and Brother Wayne Kramer.

Part 1 of 3

Top 5 New Releases of 2024

In no particular order, of course.

Green Day – Saviors Release Date: January 19, 2024

My Favorite Tracks: Look Ma, No Brains!; Bobby Sox; One-Eyed Bastard

I don’t care to say it: 2024 was the year Green Day dethroned the Misfits as my all-time favorite band. Many things led to this development. For starters, the band’s tour this year was celebrating the 30-year anniversary of Dookie and the 20-year anniversary of American Idiot, two iconic, powerhouse punk rock albums. When I learned of the anniversaries, I spent a lot more time not only studying them but also registering just how much both records impacted my life. Next, I have always had a bit of a man-crush on frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and have a lot of respect for him as a musician.

And since we’re celebrating Dookie’s 30-year anniversary, the fact that their 2024 release Saviors packs as much of a punch as it does is a testament to the sonic tour-de-force that is Green Day. I think they’ve released great material post-American Idiot, but Saviors is, I think, their strongest effort of the last 20 years. 

Many of the album’s singles including ‘The American Dream is Killing Me,” “Look Ma, No Brains!” and “Dilemma” were all released late 2023 and I wasted no time learning them on guitar. These were quickly followed up by “Bobby Sox” and “One Eyed Bastard,” which means Katie was likely sick of them by February.

Billie Joe has reportedly said “Look Ma…” is the greatest punk song he’s ever written, which I personally wouldn’t agree with, but it’s definitely a strong punk banger. “The American Dream …” is Green Day doing what I think they do so well in providing punk-tinted commentary on American culture while not being an overly political band. My favorite track is “One Eyed Bastard,” primarily due to its simple, yet heavy, elements and the flow of the song’s melody. 

I think “Bobby Sox” is a nearly perfect punk rock song that asks the listener “do ya wanna be my girlfriend?,” “do you wanna be my boyfriend?” and “do you wanna be my best friend?” paired with humorous relationship realities – “And I’ll bore you to death, woah-ohaoh; doesn’t matter when we are in love.” The screaming choruses and the homoerotic nature of the verses that would make the normies clutch their homophobic pearls is enough to prove to me that Green Day is a punk band that has stuck to their punk rock roots for nearly 40 years and shows no signs of stopping.

Neck Deep – Neck Deep Release Date: January 19, 2024

My Favorite Tracks: Dumbstruck Dumbfuck; We Need More Bricks; Heartbreak of the Century

I “grew up” on pop-punk in its heyday. I feel very fortunate to have been in high school when Enema of the State, All Killer No Filler, The Young and the Hopeless and Sticks and Stones were released. And while it’s true that I still listen to pop-punk as a 40-year-old man, I have to admit that most of what I listen to is still the “Mount Rushmore” of the genre, which is to say Blink 182, Green Day, New Found Glory and Sum 41. I’ve dabbled with many of the emo-crossover and pop-punk adjacent bands like Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, but not much outside of that. And while I do enjoy some Knuckle Puck, The Wonder Years and Hot Mulligan, I just can’t get with most modern pop-punk.

Then I started listening to Neck Deep.

This self-titled record was formally announced in late September 2023 and was soon followed by the release of singles “It Won’t Be Like This Forever” and “We Need More Bricks,” the latter of which got me hooked on the band. Between the release of the singles and the album’s official release in January, I watched their music videos, dove into their back catalogue and watched their live performances.

When Neck Deep came out and I started playing album opener “Dumbstruck Dumbfuck,” I was blown away by the energy. Pop-punk has that “sound” that is so easy to replicate it’s hard to differentiate between bands, but Neck Deep brings the energy in the same way New Found Glory did in the early 2000s. I found my heart racing with excitement as lead singer Ben Barlow crooned about being a “useless dufus” and upon the song’s completion declared “this is going to be one of my top records of the year, I can tell.”

The guys don’t really cover much new ground … but just like their forefathers, if they do it well, there’s never a real need to. “Heartbreak of the Century” is a top-tier pop-punk song that stays true to the genre’s roots both sonically and conceptually (girls are hard!). Heartfelt ballad “It Won’t Be Like This Forever” is the band doing one of the things they do best – somber vibes with youthful energy – while “Take Me With You” brings a new spin to the “I hate this town” trope so often found in the genre by asking aliens to intervene.

All of this and more, packed into 10 songs that come in at just a bit over 30-minutes? Pop-punk’s not dead.

BRAT – Social Grace Release Date: March 15, 2024

My Favorite Tracks: Ego Death; Rope Drag; Social Grace

I came across New Orleans grindcore baby dolls BRAT thanks to the YouTube algorithm (much like how I discovered Scene Queen a few years back) and I was immediately a fan. Grindcore and hardcore are very much male-driven industries, which I don’t often mind but it can be unbearable at times. To have a band like BRAT come in with their “barbiegrind” in the way they have, I can’t help but love them even more. Anything we can do to make insecure tough guys upset, I will always be for.

The record has 10 songs and clocks in at around 20 minutes, so it stays true to the grindcore style, but it is far from a paint-by-numbers effort. In fact, there are many elements of death, doom and even thrash scattered about violent instrumentals and deliciously aggressive vocals provided by singer Liz Selfish.

“Ego Death” was the song that got me hooked but if you don’t listen to anything else from this record, make it “Rope Drag” – so, so, SO HEAVY, yet so, so, SO GROOVY! What a blast!

Imagine my confusion this summer when I noticed BRAT was trending and “Brat Summer” was all over the place. I was so hyped for this very niche band making waves so big they were in headlines! Turns out I was just unfamiliar with Charli XCX. If you hear me singing the praises of BRAT, please do not mistake who I am applauding. 

Gnome – Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome Release Date: September 13, 2024

My Favorite Tracks: Old Soul; The Ogre; John Frum

Another new-to-me band this year is Belgian stoner-metal powerhouse Gnome. A few years ago I went through a doom/stoner-metal phase and while I still like those genres, I thought that part was over for me … and then I heard “Old Soul.” The song itself is a masterclass in rock-and-roll with groovy basslines and guitar licks that switch between hard-and-heavy and slow-noodly. To make it better, the music video is kind of hilarious.

Let me state that I do like some goofiness in my heavy music, but when it comes to stoner-metal, much of that silliness comes in the form of drug references that start out fun but end annoying and kind of embarrassing. Gnome certainly do not take themselves very seriously, but their goofiness seems to come more from a place of D&D geekery than being a useless pothead, which I can – and do – appreciate.

The juxtaposition of their doom-style riffs with their often-silly, fantasy-driven lyrics make for a very fun experience as you ride your way through the many movements of eight-minute track “The Ogre” and the impossibly funky album closer “John Frum.” You mean you’re going to give me a 45-minute doom/stoner record with various movements, hard-hitting riffs, mega-funky basslines AND end on a song about a cult movement? Sign. Me. Up. (and give me one of those fun gnome hats, please).

The Linda Lindas – No Obligation Release Date: October 11, 2024

My Favorite Tracks: All In My Head; Excuse Me; No Obligation

I’ve been a fan of the Linda Lindas ever since they went viral with their library performance of “Racist, Sexist Boy” but I’m an even bigger fan now! Getting to see these ladies perform their craft as the opening act for Green Day toward the end of the summer was one of the highlights of my year. There, they performed many tracks from their not-yet-released (at the time) record No Obligation and by the end of their performance, I was chomping at the bit to pick up a copy once it was released.

Bassist/vocalist Eloise Wong is currently one of my favorite musicians. You don’t see many musicians out there who are obviously having as much fun as she does and I was NOT prepared for just how ferocious she would be when it was time for her to take over vocal duties. This can be heard on tracks “No Obligation” and “Excuse Me.” I also love how each of the bandmembers take turns with lead vocals, each bringing a completely different vibe to the track (guitarist Lucia de la Garza on “All In My Head,” guitarist Bela Salazar on “Yo Me Estreso” and drummer Mila de la Garza on “Too Many Things”).

“All In My Head” is a great pop song expertly written by Lucia de la Garza while “Resolution/Revolution” reminded me of what it was like to be a teenager frustrated with how things appear. “Lose Yourself” brings some serious Blondie vibes while “No Obligation” confronts all the people who try to paint the band into a corner or compartmentalize them in any way. So much energy, so much attitude – it’s perfect.

I was so incredibly hyped to see them get the opportunity to open for Green Day. Too many times I think a band made of youngsters like this can too easily get swept under the rug and forgotten as a gimmick but seeing how they dominated the main stage should be enough to prove that false. I hope nothing but the best for them as they’re out there taking punk rock in a fresh, fun new direction, all the while providing young women the world over with non-conformist role models.

I think it’s time we stop making their age a point of conversation and focus on how they’re pushing the genre forward because, make no mistake, they’re pushing with all their might.

Honorable Mentions:

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