Words by Jonathan Stout
When not doing freelance writing – including the Head Space column, Jonathan Stout is heavily involved in the NKY and Cincinnati music scenes as the Marketing Manager for Kentucky based venue The Southgate House Revival and founder of DIY Recording label Lo Fi City Recordings. He’s also an active musician, performing and recording with Sleepy Drums, Mutt Fuzz, Burnt Cabins and gewgaw. Here are his top ten albums in no order.
Ducks Ltd. – Harm’s Way (Carpark Records)
Released in February, Harm’s Way was probably the first album of 2024 that I knew immediately would end up on my top 10. There’s something just automatically endearing and energizing about their music. There’s lots of wistful heartache throughout, though it’s never whiney but reflective and existential. However, the record’s biggest strength is the band’s application of memorable, melodic lead guitar hooks coupled with big, sing-along choruses. For a band that already has a very strong discography, Harm’s Way feels like another important benchmark. A record that will serve as an entry point for many future listeners, as it so aptly instills the bands strengths so wonderfully. Their first release working with an outside producer (Dave Vettraino), Harm’s Way sees Ducks Ltd.’s Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis, enlisting a marquee cast of Windy City collaborators including: Finom’s Macie Stewart; Ratboys’ Marcus Nuccio; Dehd’s Jason Balla; and backing vocals from Julia Steiner (Ratboys), Nathan O’Dell (Dummy), Margaret McCarthy (Moontype), Rui De Magalhaes (Lawn), and Lindsey-Paige McCloy (Patio). The band’s touring drummer, Jonathan Pappo, and bassist Julia Wittman also appear on the LP. However, this is not to mean that it sounds like a hodge podge tapestry- the end result is still very much a Ducks Ltd. album. It’s so catchy, without being cheesy. It’s the kind of album where every song seems good enough to be a hit single and nothing needs to be skipped.
Cloud Nothings: Final Summer (Pure Noise Records)
Cloud Nothings returned in April with Final Summer, an exciting album that distills the band’s refined melodic bombast and delivers one of their most accessible song collections to date. For remaining so remarkably consistent, Final Summer particularly hits hard on all of the touchstones that make the band great. From emotive and thought provoking lyrics, to melodic hooks and intricate drumming, all often at a furiously speeding pace- Final Summer is the kind of record that gives fans everything they could ask for while also providing another great entry point for new listeners.
METZ: Up On Gravity Hill (Sub Pop)
METZ’s Up On Gravity Hill was also released in April, and energized a fanbase that had been waiting four years for new recordings. Unfortunately, by October the band announced they’d be entering an indefinite hiatus at the close of this year’s tour. And it’s this that makes the success of Up On Gravity Hill that much more bittersweet. At only 8 songs in 35 minutes, the record doesn’t overstay its welcome, but instead delivers perhaps the most succinct and accessible tracklist in their discography. Simply put, Up On Gravity Hill hones in on the hooks and remains exciting from start to finish. The band still lets the feedback roar here, but this time with a refined sense of melody and dynamics. It’s the kind of album that makes you really anticipate and wonder where they will go next, so it’s too bad that this momentum must come to such a grinding halt. But with that being said, there’s no shame in going out while you’re still on top, and Up On Gravity Hill is indeed that- an exhibition of a band that’s honed its strengths to perfection.
MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks (ANTI)
Ok, I know that you have to basically be living under a rock if you’re not familiar with this record by now, but with that being said, I’d be a gosh darned liar if I denied the fact that I’ve listened to it probably more than any other release this year. I’ve been closely watching Lenderman’s output over the past couple years and always enjoyed his work, but Manning Fireworks really just presents all of his strengths with greater clarity than ever before. On this collection everything clicks- from the killer guitar hooks, catchy and emotive lyrics and vocal harmonies to a very clean and clear mix- it finally provides the perfect package for this talented artist to be presented to the world. For those not familiar with Lenderman, his work doesn’t reinvent any wheel per say, but it gloriously carries on in the heartfelt, hard rocking Americana tradition of Songs Ohia, Son Volt, Smog and Tom Petty with a new modern lyrical inflection. Manning Fireworks maintains an intimate ambiance throughout, though it is clearly higher production value than many of his earlier releases. This clarity in mixing helps move his vocals and lyrics to the forefront, a move which serves the weight of these songs well. The higher production also doesn’t water down the impact of these compositions- there’s still a genuine nature felt throughout and a certain sense of purity. I hope this kind of balance can continue to be recreated on future albums and his sound doesn’t eventually get hindered by expensive producers, but hey, who am I to decide such things for other people anyway…
The Lemon Twigs: A Dream Is All We Know (Captured Tracks)
The Lemon Twigs are masters of recreating vintage pop masterpieces in such a way that seems much more genuine and heartfelt than other bands trying to do the whole retro-act thing. They can truly write the songs that measure up side by side with those they’re inspired by without sounding like parody. You could probably sneak a majority of these songs onto an oldies radio station’s playlist and most listeners wouldn’t even question it. The band often wears influences on their sleeves- from Todd Rundgren to T. Rex, Big Star and the Byrds- and on A Dream Is All We Know there is a lot of attention paid to the West Coast surfy psych sounds of the early 70s- in particular The Beach Boys. “How Can I Love Her More?” is truly the best Beach Boys song not written by The Beach Boys. But it’s not simply The Beach Boys who are being paid homage, as there are also broad strokes of Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and more here, warped and made anew, fresh again. This band is peerless in the way they rejuvenate the greatest era of pop music by making it appealing to younger listeners without seeming like some kind of lame tribute act. Pick up this record and blast it if you love rocking power pop of the 60s and 70s with touches of glam and psych.
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis: self-titled (Impulse! Records)
It may have been unexpected for The Messthetics, already an allstar band of sorts, to collaborate with accomplished alternative jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, but it’s a collaboration which proved to be very rewarding. Mixing together the rhythm section of Fugazi (Joe Lally, Brendan Canty) with the multi talented guitarist Anthony Pirog, The Messthetics create a unique brand of instrumental post rock which – although often relying on punk and noise rock conventions – still affords quite a bit of space for an additional lead instrument to be introduced. And being a forward thinking musician, uninhibited by clear genre restrictions, James Brandon Lewis jumps right into these compositions seamlessly, adding a depth and pushing the members of The Messthetics to stretch out further than usual. It’s an exciting step in the careers of both artists. It’s an inspired work boiling over with shared chemistry. One only hopes that these artists continue to collaborate or further releases!
The Uranium Club – Infants Under The Bulb (Static Shock Records)
2024 brought Infants Under the Bulb, the triumphant new offering from the Minneapolis based Uranium Club. This welcomed return arrives 6 long years after their previous album, and pulls no punches, yet does throw some curveballs. Album opener “Small Grey Man” sets the stage for an overall tension that continues throughout the rest of the album. Following tracks “Viewers Like You” and “Game Show” rage forward with Minutemen- like angularly jerking prog punk, propelled by a newly acquired horn section. It’s all very thrilling, although not necessarily unexpected, until “The Wall Pts.1-4” are introduced- a storybook-like composition telling the metaphorical story of two societies of people who are kept from communicating with one another under the protection of an omni-present wall. It’s now that the listener starts to see there’s a little bit more to this release than the average punk LP. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Infants Under the Bulb is a concept album, but their intent is clearly more cerebral than many of their peers. But this album isn’t fully bogged down by heady conceptualism- the riffs and hooks are also abundant and a reliably driving chemistry fuels this record and keeps it burning until album closer “Big Guitar Jackoff In The Sky,” which seems to capture everything great about the release in one composition. An energetic, biting and occasionally downright vicious collection of compositions, reflecting upon a weird, changing world with strong amounts of cynicism and sarcasm, Infants Under The Bulb is a stand-out punk album for the ages.
It’s been 5 years since Wand released the masterful Laughing Matter, which saw the band stretching out and re-establishing their sound. Sure, it can be hard to know where to go after releasing such a critically acclaimed work, but as years went by and chief songwriter Cory Hanson began churning out cosmic solo albums, the future of Wand became unknown. Fear not! Wand has returned with Vertigo. But also – prepare yourself! This album is neither a full return to the sound of Laughing Matter nor is it a return to their stoner garage origins. Vertigo instead exhibits the band doing something a bit different once again. Kicked off by the brooding “Curtain Call” which grooves itself into crescendoing intensity at the bridge, only to die down to a slow post rock meditation, with strings and synth bringing the song to completion. The comparisons of Hanson’s voice to Thom Yorke’s is always going to be evident, which makes “Curtain Call” sound all the more like a glorious OK Computer b-side, and I’m here for it honestly. Those who may have expected more straightforward structures after Hanson’s riff crazy Western Cum might be a little shocked at how abstract some of the song structures and arrangements are on Vertigo (“Misteltoe” being a major example, as it goes from an intense syncopated march with screeching guitars, to pulsing bass, airy synth and mournful strings and vocals). The compositions really feel like the band’s going through something heavy, and the listener has been invited to partake in their sorting it out. No matter what muse they evoke per song- the mysterious cabaret of “JJ,” jammy folk rock of “Smile,” or the hard hitting, distortion soaked “High Time”- each piece exists behind a veil of darkness and pensive longing. Similar to Laughing Matter, the listener feels somewhat like they’ve been punched in the gut by the time the album reaches completion.
Ty Segall: Three Bells (Drag City)
For someone who stays as active as Ty Segall, it can sometimes be hard to maintain creativity with equal measures of productivity. So maybe Segall has spun the wheels slightly on a couple recent albums, let’s not deny that even an album at Segall’s “worst” is still a lot better than many other artists at their best. That being said, Three Bells finds the artist straddling a thrilling precipice of exploring the heady prog (“The Bell,” “Void,” “Reflections”) with future fan favorite fuzzy riff rockers (“Hi Dee Dee,” “My Best Friend,” “I Hear”), faux Funkadelic style psych funk (“Move”) and jazz fusion (“Denee”). In effect, Segall is able to create a template that leans into his strengths while also stretching out to remain creative. It can be a tough balance to maintain, but on Three Bells, we hear an artist succeeding at both pleasing their creative urges while also providing a satisfying offering to fans.
J Spaceman and John Coxon: Music for William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton (Fat Possum Records)
In 2015, artists J Spaceman (Spiritualized) and John Coxon were asked to perform new original music live to a screening of William Eggleston’s art film Stranded in Canton for Doug Aitken’s Station to Station festival. After years of being under wraps, Music for William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton was finally released this month. Although one might expect this simply to be a collection of jams, Spaceman apparently insisted against that, so what we have instead are focused instrumental compositions that sometimes spill over into improvisation – often accented by segment’s of the film’s dialogue. The film, made in 1974, follows filmmaker Eggleston’s friends partying, playing music and basically raising all kinds of hell. The film itself is hard to track down, but if the audio samples are any indication, it seems pretty greasy. The soundtrack is quite the sensory experience- creating an atmosphere filled with raw blues (“Last week I took a trip”), mellow melodic psych (“What train blues”), cosmic country (“Back up William”) and more. One of the most thrilling parts of it, for fans of J Spaceman, is to hear him take part in and release a collection of such stripped back recordings. Spiritualized has become known for huge, beautifully ornate and orchestrated compositions but let’s not forget that this is the same person from the minimalist (and legendarily loud) psych masters, Spacemen 3! It’s inspiring to hear him this raw and stripped down, especially on tracks like the heavy droning wah smash of “Love for the asking” which echoes Spacemen 3 more than anything that Spaceman has released in quite some time. Strongly recommend jamming this one next time you throw on some headphones.