Top 40 Albums of 2024
Here’s our Top 40 Albums of 2024.
40. Shambolics – Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams (full review)
A fine debut from the promising Fife outfit.
39. Richard Thompson - Ship to Shore
The folk icon’s consistency is showing no signs of waining.
38. Lime Garden – One More Thing
Brighton’s wonk-pop debut has left an indelible mark.
37. The Smile - Wall of Eyes
Two-thirds Radiohead and one-third Jazz drummer Tom Skinner returned with another fine offing.
36. The Rifles – Love Your Neighbour (full review)
Walthamstow’s cult heroes returned with their first album in eight years. Great melodies throughout!
35. Richard Hawley – In This City They Call You Love
Enchanting Orbison and Duane Eddy songs from Sheffield’s romantic treasure.
34. Paul Weller - 66
Gritty and majestic soul music featuring the likes of Noel Gallagher, Bobby Gillespie, and Richard Hawley.
33. Camera Obscura – Look to the East, Look to the West
Traceyann Campbell’s vocals can still melt hearts from distant galaxies!
32. Jack Jones - Jack Jones
Step aside John Cooper Clarke, Jones is ascending to Albion’s poetic throne.
31. Gruff Rhys - Sadness Set Me Free
Recorded in just three days in Paris, Rhys twists from dark to light with a spellbinding freedom.
30. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown
It beggars belief that a talent such as Gibbons has taken this long to release her debut solo album, but it was worth the wait!
29. Ride - Interplay
Bell, Gardener and co’s run form since reforming has written a joyous technicolour new chapter in their memoirs.
28. Bob Vylan - Humble as the Sun
Their anarchy has come of age on this sonic riot!
27. Junodream – Pools of Colour
Breakout performances on tour with Ride and their debut album have put this band firmly in the hearts of a nation.
26. Fightmilk - No Souvenirs
Blending emo, indie, and pop-punk with life-affirming consequences.
25. Kula Shaker – Natural Magick (full review)
The trippy pop-psyche of the 90s superstars made a surprise and welcomed return.
24. 86TVs – 86TVs
Maccebee’s Hugo and Felix White’s side project brought a fresh take to their familiar indie licks.
23. Desperate Journalist - No Hero
Strip away the album's Gothic, Smiths, and The Cure undertones, leaving you with great pop music. Add them back in, and it’s astonishing pop music!
22. Solar Eyes - Solar Eyes
Serge Pizzorno’s soul oozes through this superb Fierce Panda Records release.
21. The Vaccines – Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations
Great. Indie. Rock ‘n’ Roll.
20. Confidence Man - 3am (La La La)
Weird and wonderful rave-inspired hedonism.
19. Mick Head & The Red Elastic Band - Loophole
Head’s ever-expanding catalogue of excellence keeps the flame of ‘Forever Changes’ burning bright.
18. The Shop Window – Daysdream
Jingle-jangle heaven from the Maidstone outfit.
17. Wunderhorse - Midas
English rock music has been given it’s credibility back!
16. The K’s – I Wonder if the World Knows (full review)
There's an aching amplitude flickering needles and hearts alike throughout this fine debut album.
15. James - Yummy
The mercurial Mancunians continue their tremendous run of albums with another chameleon performance, restoring your faith in the creative process.
14. Bill Ryder Jones – Iechyd Da
The ex-Coral man’s best work since ‘A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart’.
13. Rob Vincent - Barriers
It's an enriching set of songs. Easy to see why Robert Plant took him on tour.
12. Office For Personal Development – Doing. Is. Thinking (full review)
Re-defining all that pop music can be
11. Cast – Love is the Call (full review)
Incredible return to form. On par with ‘All Change’.
10. Fontaines D.C. - Romance
The sound of a band conquering their destiny.
9. Baggio – The Dreadful Human Triangle
Indie-folk steeped in melancholy and the passing of the time.
8. Shed Seven – A Matter of Time (full review)
It is their first UK number-one album. It is a testament to their friendship as much as it is to their anthem-making.
7. Memorial - Redsetter (full review)
It's a pin-drop moment of an album. An alt-folk triumph from Brighton via Texas.
6. Meryl Streek: Songs For The Deceased
Incendiary brilliance from the Irish punk producer. Huge things await!
5. Kasabian - Happenings (full review)
Pizzorno lays the Meighan ghost to rest on this record. Pizzorno owns the record, and the record owns the night!
4. Jake Bugg - A Modern-Day Distraction
Bugg returns to his roots and his very best. Classic songwriting and endless guitars chime, and chime big!
3. Deadletter – Hysterical Strength
Wayward post-punk and feral psyche unite on this fine second album.
2. The Libertines – All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade (full review)
An ode to friendship and staying alive. From the soul-crushing to the envigorating, the likely lads rediscover form and reinvent all they were and could be.
1. The Dream Machine – Small Time Monsters
Modern Sky UK’s golden goose lay another golden egg on their second album. Magical. Whimsical. Perfection!
Interview with Rick Witter
Interview with Shed Seven frontman Rick Witter.
For most of Shed Seven’s thirty-year career, they have been called indie’s underdogs. In the past ten years, their popularity has started to grow. The kids of Britpop have grown up and now stand shoulder to shoulder with those who lived through the heady days of the 90s. However, after festival appearances at Isle of Wight, Neighborhood Weekender, TRNSMT, Kendal Calling, and Tramlines (to name a few), something beautiful happened. They’ve broken through to generations without an immediate connection to their initial run.
This newfound adoration is reflected in the sales of their latest album, ‘A Matter of Time’. Yesterday, it was announced they are number one in the album chart mid-weeks. We caught up with Shed Seven frontman Rick Witter yesterday afternoon about the potential number one and discussed the new album:
Images & artwork courtesy of Cooking Vinyl
Hey Rick, how are you doing?
Rick: Good, thanks, you?
I’m good, thank you, a bit under the weather but I can’t complain. My daughter comes home from nursery determined to kill me these days.
Rick: Well, I'm quite fortunate; well, I say I'm fortunate. It’s only Tuesday, and we’re out on the road until Sunday with 2 record store performances a day, 2 cities per day, shaking 200 people's hands a day. I'm surprised I've not picked anything up.
So, number one in the mid-weeks. It’s all very exciting.
Rick: (tentatively) Yeah, I know it is, and I think we’re about nine thousand in front of Mr. Capaldi, but it’s such squeaky bum time. Anything could still happen in two and half days, so I keep trying to put it to the back of my mind.
I guess, ultimately, it doesn’t matter. But, over the years, you’ve always had an underdog status so you have earned this moment.
Rick: Yeah, it’s taken us thirty years to get us even having a sniff at it. It would have definitely been number 1 if we had released it last week (laughs). It would open us to so many new things, like playing at foreign festivals, which we’ve not done for a long time.
Does the promo trail differ a lot now from when you started?
Rick: Everything moves on, doesn’t it? The music industry is hugely different, even from when our last album (Instant Pleasures) came out six years ago. I’m constantly learning, but we just do what we want to do. We’re not tied down; we don’t have management. We get offers, and we accept the ones we wanna do or turn down the ones that are not worth our while.
The week the album is out, I’d much rather be out and about, seeing people buying it rather than sitting at home doing absolutely nothing. It’s great to be able to phone my mate Chris Moyles and say, “Have us on your show, mate”, and to get Sunday Brunch was great for us. Plus, we’re doing lots of in-store acoustic performances. Getting to sign people's vinyl and see the whites of their eyes has been relating to the people who are parting with their hard-earned money.
Image courtesy of Cooking Vinyl
Yep, well, I am sitting with my copy in front of me, and my dad got one for his 73rd birthday on Sunday.
Rick: You know what? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a cooler 73-year-old man than your dad.
It’s been six years since ‘Instant Pleasures’ was released. Was this album difficult to make?
Rick: Weirdly not. So ‘Instant Pleasures’ was a little bit of an accident. We didn’t set out to write new music. I think with two band members leaving, it put us in a predicament. What do we do now? Do we call it? Do we have a bit of rest, leave it a few years, and come back again or do we try and carry on? And I’m so pleased we chose the carry-on version. It’s actually breathed new life into us. I think we all feel like we’re 18 again. So, me and Paul did sit down and discuss writing a new album, and we started the process in March 2022, and we had it all by Christmas 2022, which is kind of a bit unheard of.
Oh wow, that is quick.
Rick: Yeah, I could just sense that everything we were considering was working when we were writing it through those months. There just didn’t seem to be any problems with any of it. Even the lyrics just flowed out of me. It was a really positive and brilliant time. Then we went to Spain to record it last February, and I think you can hear the joyousness of it coming out of the speakers.
Yeah, definitely.
Rick: We did a song a day and were all in the live room to get the drums down, so it felt like we were all being recorded as a live band, and it felt great. I’m just so pleased now that it can be given to people. Well, it's not given; you have to buy it (laughs).
It’s funny you say you felt like 18-year-olds. Tracks like ‘Throwaways’, ‘Let’s Go’, and ‘Let’s Go Dancing’ have that teenage sense of us versus the world feel and a lot of defiance coming through.
Rick: Yeah, there’s definitely that. Obviously, with age comes experience. So yes, there is stuff on there that you could only write as an early 50s gentleman but yeah. With ‘Starlings’…
That’s a heartbreaking song.
Rick: Yeah. I had this idea of someone being with somebody all their lives, and one of them dies. Then the other one is just waiting to die so they can be reunited, which isn’t the happiest of subjects, but it does happen in life, so I wanted to broach that.
Even ‘Real Love’, that’s all about how badly we’re being treated by those in charge of us. You know what I mean, come on, you’re supposed to be looking after us. I’ve never really gone down the political route but I wanted to vent my spleen after covid and all that.
We can all relate to that. Well, most of us.
Rick: Well yeah (laughs). I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there's an awful lot of references to birds in the songs. I guess, subconsciously, with what happened a few years ago and not being able to go anywhere, I've been writing songs about going places. I noticed 6 songs into the writing process, I’d mentioned a bird. After that, I was trying my hardest to do that for the entire album, but I failed as I missed out on two songs. I would say the keywords for this album are love, sex, death, drugs, recreation, stalking, and ornithology.
Ticking all the boxes there. There are three collaborations on the album. How did they come about? Especially the Pete Doherty one. Upon hearing it, I was expecting to see a split songwriting credit (it’s 100% Shed Seven) as it ebbs and flows from your sound to Pete’s easily.
Rick: So, we had them all recorded and ready to go, and, in a nutshell, we didn’t have any plans to get guest vocalists on it. During the writing process, at some point, Paul sent me the guitar chords for what became ‘In Ecstasy’. I am sitting at home listening to the guitar part, trying to think of a melody. When I came up with the melody, I immediately thought that sounds like something Rowetta would sing in the Happy Mondays circa 1990. I thought that was interesting and then pushed the thought to one side. Then when I got the words to the chorus “stand with me, in ecstasy, cover me in ecstasy” I again thought that is something Rowetta would sing. So, I thought, I’m thinking this too much now so I reached out to her and said “we’re making this album do you want to get on board with it? We’ve written this track that has you written all over it”. Thankfully, she heard it and loved it and wanted to be involved, which was lovely.
Fast forward a couple of months, and we’re playing the Bingley Festival, and The Libertines are headlining. As I’m singing my set, I keep looking to the side of the stage where my family are standing, and there’s Peter Doherty singing every word. I was thinking I’d no idea he even knew who we were. So I went and introduced myself after the set, and he told me as a kid, he would sit in his bedroom learning Shed 7 songs on his guitar. Which is always great to hear. So I said, “Look, we have Rowetta on the album. Do you want to join in?”. And he replied, “I’d absolutely love to”.
So, without even hearing the song, he agreed. He recorded his bit remotely, and it was pretty amazing. I said to him, “If you want to take over the second verse and add some harmonies in there. Just do what you feel you wanna do”. It was amazing. To get a song I’d written sung back to me in a Peter Doherty style was quite an amazing moment for me. Fingers crossed, at some point, he might come to join us on stage.
The York Museum Gardens shows are shaping up very nicely, then?
Rick: Fingers crossed. Time will tell; at our 30th-anniversary shows, it would be quite the moment. If we do hold on to number one in the charts, I might get the keys to the city, and I can do whatever the bloody hell I want.
Grand Old Duke of York beckons.
Rick: About time (laughs).
This Feeling TV Live at Nambucca
Nambucca played host to the Other Kin, Shed Seven and Cabbage’s live performances of This Feeling TV (episode 5) Tuesday night. One thing is striking about the night, optimism. It’s everywhere. The youngest in the audience fuck about care free whilst, the elder states people among us, can sense the ground swell of rock n roll emerging once more. Despite the neglect from the mainstream, This Feeling has provided a home for the outsider and, after years of graft, they look set to kick the doors in and take back the airwaves for the righteous!
Opening the live proceedings were the Dublin five piece Otherkin and, although Shed Seven are legends and Cabbage are well established, the sense of “follow that” loomed large. Their blend of psyche, grunge and rock n roll was a joy to behold. The guitar playing, comfortably the best we’ve seen in some time. It was intensely brutal but, in a similar fashion to Nirvana or The Cribs, never loses sight of great pop melodies.
Shed Seven treated us to a rare acoustic set. On new tracks ‘It’s Not Easy’ and ‘Better Days’, it struck home just how heartfelt they are and highlighted the trust Rick and Banksy have as song writing partnership. The classics ‘Going For Gold’, ‘On Standby’ and ‘Chasing Rainbows’ were giving an airing and, as ever, their hymnal quality reigned supreme.
Cabbage’s set is less promotional trail for the upcoming debut album release and more a rampaging assault on Downing Street. Their guttural psyche-cum-punk is the sound of this generation kicking back against all things Tory. Never without humour or melody, you can’t help but feel they are one big single and tabloid scandal away from scaring little Englanders half to death.
Top 20 Albums of 2017
20. Ride – Weather Diaries
The Oxford quartet’s first album since 1996’s ‘Tarantula’ saw them on mixed form. At it’s best though, ‘Cali’ and ‘Lannoy Point’ deliver their brand of melodic shoegaze.
19. Cast – Kicking Up The Dust
The Scouse legends deliver their best album since the 1995 classic ‘All Change’. Flitting between their free flowing blues and spritely pop numbers, John Power has hit a purple patch of song writing once more
18. Noel Gallagher – Who The Built Moon
The old mongrel shed a few coats for his latest album. When he nails it, as he does on ‘Holy Mountain’, it’s magnificent. It’s big bold and new. Alas, when he doesn’t, its because the leaps are not big enough or he doesn’t remain in his big key change comfort zone. Nevertheless, with plans to make another record with David Holmes, this could be the start of a glorious journey.
17. Public Service Broadcasting – Every Valley
Those clever clever bastards have churned out the goods once more. Getting to grips with pit life in Wales this time round. The guest vocals from Camer Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell and Manics’ James Dean Bradfield were welcome additions to their sound. However, the standout track comes from the rage
16. GospelbeacH – Another Summer of Love
The West Coast veterans channel their inner Byrds spirit and deliver exactly what it says on the tin. As the cold sets in and all that’s left to eat is cold meat, this blast of sunshine will see you through to your next holiday.
15. Alvvays – Antisocialites
Molly Rankin’s sublime vocals should be saved for a long journey staring out windows at vast landscapes. Everything this band do sounds life changing or affirming.
14. Girl Ray – Earl Grey
With the single of the year ‘Touble’ on its books, Girl Ray were always making this list. Brilliant melodies, unique vocals and a sense of humour unrivalled, they are band with magic at their fingertips.
13. Tom Williams – All Change
History has always proven the poet can achieve far more than social comment. Nevertheless, the social commentary here is smothered such warming pop music vibes, it’s hard to picture this not reaching even those who disagree.
12. Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band
There is nothing we can say, that the genius John Dorman hasn’t about Michael Head already: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/3ka349/the-british-masters-michael-head Nevertheless, we love this album, we love that Head is in a good place and long may it continue.
11. Liam Gallagher – As You Were
To quote Jurassic Park, “clever girl”. Did anyone see this album coming? All the money was on a flailing Beatles via psyche album. What we got was, big emotive albums with remarkably honest and humble lyrics from the icon.
10. Shed Seven – Instant Pleasures
Sixteen years was well worth the wait. All the pain and bitterness felt by band and fans alike when they were shunned by the industry has dissipated. Emerging from the fog are the unsung heroes of Britpop. This new offing is packed with great choruses, wit, and a charming underdog spirit. Business as usual!
9. The Moonlandingz – Interplanetary Class Classics
This supergroup was always going to deliver wasn’t it? Whether it’s the Mary Chain inspired ‘The Strangle of Anna’, the Gary Numan-esque ‘The Rabies are Back’ or Earl Brutus via The Horrors ‘Black Hanz’, everything sounds so fresh!
8. Idles – Brutalism
Wry, sarcastic and effing hilarious. This pitiless body of work will stop at nothing to take the piss and provide punk rock nirvana.
7. Johnny Flynn – Sillion
The one true genius of the nu-folk era returned from acting to prove he is still the master. No one in the folk world can touch him for sincerity of song writing. Everything he delivers has a warmth and depth of emotion to be admired.
6. British Sea Power – Let The Dancers Inherit The Party
Is this the first ‘Remainer’ album? Quite possibly. It has overarching sense of together is better and, inevitably, a sense of loss.
Forever consistent, BSP have risen their pop sensibilities to ‘Open Season’ standard and, on leadoff single ‘Bad Bohemian’, surpassed it. Despite the “half glass empty” and “what’s done is done” lyrics, it’s as defiant single your likely to hear. Effortlessly free, it tumbles and swirls with abandon.
Elsewhere, ‘Don’t Let The Sun Get In The Way’ is a sauntering rock behemoth which will stop you dead in your tracks to ponder life as you know it.
5. Daniel Wylie’s Cosmic Rough Riders – Scenery For Dreamers
Proving age is but number, Wylie, 59, as delivered a masterpiece. No one thought it was possible for him to ever reach the heights of the Cosmic Rough Riders’ ‘Enjoy The Melodic Sunshine’ but, this Teenage Fanclub via Neil Young offering just does that.
4. Theatre Royal – And Then It Fell Out My Head
Comfortably the pop record of the year. Smart, funny and always brave in its song writing topics. The heartfelt ‘Standing in the Land’ just grows in resonance the more the British press turns away from atrocities of Syria. To wrap such a subject in a achingly beautiful acoustic number is the very reason why so many people think Ed Sheeran is shit. This is the pinnacle of a simple song!
‘Locked Together on the Lines’, ‘Port Bou’, and ‘Will Somebody Please Write Me a Song’ ooze a carefree spirit that demands instant affection.
3. Ryan Adams – Prisoner
Mr Prolific is back, and his back with the most brutal of break up records. This is the sound of a crushing divorce and searing unseen pain. Channelled through big rock riffs and dream pop production, Adams is at his scintillating best.
2. Wolf Alice – Visions of Life
The hottest property in the UK right now, and rightly so. They’ve combined a sense of experimentation with punk and pop immediacy on an album that is forever shape shifting in sound. Rock music might not be dominating the charts right now but, Wolf Alice have taking a big stride towards making it relevant again and, they’ve done it with the utmost integrity.
1. Trampolene – Swansea to Hornsey
What a year these boys have had. As if supporting The Libertines and Liam Gallagher wasn’t enough, all the promise from the early EPs has been followed up with an instant classic. There's the aching beauty of ‘Gangway’ and ‘Beautiful Pain, the vitriolic social comment of ‘Dreams So Rich, Life So Poor’ and William Blake poetry scattered throughout, it has it all
Shiiine On: Then, Now, Forever!
“When something's good it's never gone”
New Order, 1990.
From the second summer of love to the end of 1996, saw several cultural spikes from the UK. Acid House, Baggy, the Camden pop art scene and the 60s renaissance of Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene and Cast. They haven't just sound-tracked the lives of the 30 plus crowd at the Shiiine On Weekender, they continue to be the fulcrum for subsequent generations looking for something real. Yes, The Libertines, The Streets and The Enemy have contributed significant albums, but, there has never been that Joe Strummer defamation “finally Beatles mania has bitten the dust” written about the Happy Mondays, Oasis or Stone Roses. Why? Well, as this great weekend showcased, it was music by the people for the people. Not a bunch of tossers kitted out Topman clobber. Every act, DJ, venue host, heck, even the dancing security guard proved that a working class hero is still something to be.
'Do you remember when....' is probably the most uttered phrase this weekend. Do you remember when he Bluetones went straight in at number 2 with 'Slight Return', or, when Steve Lamacq used to help us with our homework on the evening session? On and on the fond memories went.
To cynics, the Shiiine On Weekender is a festival for the outdated and irrelevant. They're wrong. For any artist or band yearning to breakthrough, a lot of these bands hold a the answers their looking for.
Echo & The Bunnymen show the value in looking cool as fuck. Mark Morriss and Rick Witter demonstrate the value of between song banter. Meanwhile, Echobelly's Sonya Madan's ability to connect her dancing to their sound gives that additional meaning to songs and makes her look every bit of a star now as in 1995. In a world where music is stolen as much as its bought, these things matter even more now. Talent is not enough to garner adoration, it's got to be earned!
Recently, the glorious Caitlin Moran spoke about the differences between the approach taken by Radiohead and Kasabian on Richard Herring's RHLSTP (RHLSTP) podcast:
“Radiohead and Kasabian are interested in exactly the same music. Kasabian are a working class band from Leicester and Radiohead are a middle class band from Oxford. I love both intensely and dearly but this seems to absolutely typify the differences between working classes and middle classes.......Where as Radiohead make these impenetrable things and don't really talk to the audience, we make these scary things and to make you cry. Where as Kasabian make the same music and are like oooooaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh. There was a quote from Serge after a Radiohead gig saying 'there was no birds on blokes shoulders, that's a shit gig'. That's exactly it, they want to share it with everyone and make it joyful.”
This come one, come all spirit is alive and well at the Shiiine On Weekender and can be seen in the various cover songs played. It's an art form often overlooked but cultivates identity so easily, it should be rehired immediately.
The Farm remind everyone of their punk and protest roots via The Clash's 'Bankrobber' and arguably draw the biggest reaction of the weekend when Paul Hooton rightly revels in the victories over the West Yorkshire Police, Thatcherites and the Murdoch press.
The music industry is often looked upon negatively, and often with good reason. The lack of reward for the risk is nothing compared to what it was for this weekends acts. Nevertheless, is there a better time to be in a band? There are more festivals, more radio stations and a ton of more interesting less corporate ways of promoting yourself. The talent that Cabbage, Whistlejacket and The Academic possess, the world is theirs to take if they want it enough.
The odds are clearly stacked in favour of those from more comfortably backgrounds but let the likes of Jake Bugg and especially Skepta and Kano be the example of not only how but why it should be done.
NB:
Please go read Mark Beaumont's Guardian review and the beautiful piece from Step On Magazine:
http://steponmagazine.com/purple-love-balloon-shiiine-on-weekender-wrap-photos/