Let's be honest - trying to sum up a year in music is like attempting to explain Matty Healy to your grandparents or giving a sensible answer when someone asks you, 'What kind of music do you like?'. It's messy, it's subjective and someone is definitely going to disagree with you in the comments.
But here we are again, Dear Reader, doing what we do best: Ranking things and having opinions about them. 2024 has been the kind of year that makes music journalists reach for increasingly elaborate metaphors - a year where artificial intelligence tried to write pop songs (badly), where every other week brought another "unexpected" collaboration, and where pop girlies ruled all.
From bedroom pop breakthroughs to stadium-sized statements, from heartbreak to hyperpop, we've listened to it all. Multiple times. Probably while crying in the shower or doing our silly little tasks or commuting to our silly little jobs. These are the albums that made 2024 feel less like a simulation and more like somewhere we actually want to be - ranked meticulously, debated passionately, and served up with a signature side of mild sass. Strap in. Things are about to get opinionated.
20. THE DARE - What's Wrong With New York?
Like a midnight taxi ride through rain-slicked streets, The Dare’s latest offering captures that precise moment when city exhaustion transforms into electric possibility. ‘What’s Wrong With New York?’ isn’t just another urban chronicle - it’s a love letter written in neon and grime, where jagged post-punk riffs collide with indie sleaze sensibilities. It’s the sound of someone falling in and out of love with concrete and steel, sometimes within the same song.
Top Track: ‘You’re Invited’
Fun Fact: Once upon a time, Harrison Patrick Smith was a substitute teacher at a New York City private school; now he hangs out with Charli xcx.
Read our full interview with The Dare from our September issue of Dork
19. SPRINTS - Letter To Self
Dublin’s noisiest new heroes have delivered a debut that hits harder than your first pint of the evening. Raw enough to scrape your knees on but polished enough to see your reflection in, it’s the sound of a band who’ve found their voice and decided to use it to wake up the whole neighbourhood. From the brass-knuckle charm of ‘Ticking’ to the cathedral-sized ambitions of, well, ‘Cathedral’, this is what happens when urgency meets excellence and decides to start a proper riot.
Top Track: ‘Adore Adore Adore’
Fun Fact: Sprints’ 2021 EP ‘Manifesto’ is also 10/10.
