December 23, 2024 • 52 mins
Well we made it to the end of 2024! Join us as we take a moment to look back on the year that was and our favorite records that came along with it.
- Denzel Curry – King of the Mischievous South
- The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
- Fontaines DC – Romance
Other Diggins
- Shabaka – Perceive It’s Beauty, Acknowledge It’s Grace (2024)
- Soft Play – Heavy Jelly (2024)
- The The – Ensoulment (2024)
- Gillian Welch and David Rawlings – Woodland (2024)
- Lunar Effect – Sounds of Green and Blue (2024)
- Mac Leaphart – Motel Breakfast (2024)
What do you think of these records? What are you favorite albums of 2024? Let us know on our website, albumnerds.com or email us, podcast@albumnerds.com.
Listen to more episodes and suggest topics for the Wheel of Musical Discovery on albumnerds.com. Follow us on Instagram & Facebook.
Thanks for listening!!!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Album Nerds podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don, and Dude.
(00:13):
Happy New Year's.
It's the Album Nerds podcast.
Damn it.
Dude, I got Andy and Don with me.
Andy, how you doing?
Looking back, reflecting on 2024.
Yeah.
I mean, 2024, man.
It was definitely a year that existed in our history and it is almost over.
I can say that much for sure.
(00:34):
Remember when Andy disappeared for a while?
Yes, he did.
Was that this year?
Yes.
Off on Safari discovering himself.
Luckily, he realized through those trials and tribulations how much he loved us and
he came back.
We'll never really know what happened out there in the wilderness.
How are you doing, Don?
(00:55):
Looks like we made it.
Look how far we've come.
Okay.
That's touching.
Yes.
I thought you were going to do Barry Manilow.
Looks like we made it.
Yeah, that's the better one.
Either way, we've definitely made it.
They offended all the fanelos.
We really need to get to some Barry Manilow at some point.
(01:18):
We should do fanelos versus juggalos.
There you go.
This is the Album Nerds podcast.
We love albums, the album format.
And we're going to have a really good show for you this time around.
We're going to be talking about our favorite albums of 2024.
So we're each going to share that.
(01:39):
Don's going to ask us yet another deep question.
And then we're going to have some shout outs to some of our other favorite albums that
we're going to briefly talk about at the end of the show.
And then of course, we'll spin that wheel of musical discovery to find out what we're
going to talk about next time.
But this week, it's all about our favorites.
That's what I'm talking about.
(02:00):
In 2024, the top grossing films were Inside Out 2.
Ouch.
That's really painful.
It's very painful.
I think that was the top grossing adult film.
The top grossing films were Inside Out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine and Despicable Me 4.
(02:28):
The most streamed shows were Fool Me Once, Bridgerton Season 3, and Baby Reindeer.
Did you guys see that?
That was messed up.
I've never heard of it.
What was that about?
About this guy, this comedian who was being stalked by this crazy person.
Really disturbing.
Sounds funny.
This year also saw LeBron James score his 40,000th career point.
(02:51):
The Paris Olympics made history by introducing break dancing.
Oh yes.
Yes.
We all remember that.
What was her name?
Freeze frame or something?
Dead lady from Australia?
It was something like that.
How quickly we forget.
What we don't forget are the great albums of 2024.
So today, each of us will present our favorite albums from this amazing year.
(03:14):
It was a very good year.
I guess to set some context here, the top selling albums of 2024 according to Billboard
and AI and everything else, Taylor Swift, the Tortured Poets Department, Future and
Metro Boomin, We Don't Trust You, and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter.
This exercise is of course our favorite albums of 2024.
(03:38):
Our approach might be different than what Billboard was looking at.
So how'd you guys do in terms of like calling your lists, making these decisions?
Andy's description might take longer than I've done.
How much time do you guys have?
Let me break down your indices.
No, I think this year I was a little more proactive with the list than I have been in
the past.
(03:59):
I started like in September, I want to say, putting together my general ordering of what
I've been listening to.
Definitely helps to keep up on it as they come out.
Yeah, I mean, it's always kind of just, how are you comparing one thing versus another
thing really?
They're totally different in terms of their value.
So it's really, I mean, for me, I'm just going back to like, what do I enjoy the most personally?
(04:20):
What's fun for me to listen to I think is my big motivation.
It was a good year for me because actually, I mean, there was like 10 to 15 legacy artists
that I love that came out with albums.
So I think the toughest part was sort of deciphering between those and also trying to expose myself
to, sorry.
I finished that sentence quickly.
(04:45):
Exposing myself to new things.
Okay.
Yes.
Yikes.
Yeah, I mean, for me, it was the usual kind of struggle.
I found more stuff.
It was keeping it all straight in my head as to what I liked and why.
I did not do as good a job as Andy of annotating or keeping track of like what I might have
(05:06):
liked about an album when I first heard it.
So I'd eight months later be like, oh yeah.
And I'd listen to it again.
I'm like, wait, I don't remember this.
So yeah, it is a long time.
Yes it is.
It doesn't feel like it sometimes, but when it comes to those sort of exercises of like
cataloging when something was within the last 365 days, that can be tough.
(05:30):
All right.
So why don't we get to our choo choo choices, our favorites.
You choo choo choose me?
All right.
Well, my favorite album of 2024 is from hip hop artist, Denzel Curry and his album, King
(05:53):
of the Mischievous South.
This came out back in October.
It is his sixth studio album for the Miami Gardens hip hop artists.
It's a kind of a unique album in that there was an EP that came out in July of the year,
technically a mixtape.
Yeah, we'll have to try and unpack that at some point.
(06:15):
This album came out a few months later, which includes a few additional tracks, which is
kind of an interesting release process.
There's tons of guest spots from over a dozen different artists in and around the hip hop
space.
Let's play the lead single.
This is Hot One.
(06:41):
So this is not about the program where celebrities eat hot wings and get interviewed.
I just caught some of those lyrics.
That's Hot Ones.
Oh, I gotcha.
Now, this is the lead single featuring Tia Corn and A$AP Ferg.
As Soon As Possible Ferg.
Yes.
(07:02):
Oh, I gotcha.
Wow.
Part of the A$AP crew for those heads that are aware of such a thing.
Anyway, so Denzel, Southern rapper, kind of fitting in with that Southern rap style.
Been around since the mid 2000s, came up on SoundCloud.
Do you guys ever listen to any music on SoundCloud?
When I have to, like if it's not on the other streaming services, yes.
(07:26):
Yeah, this was really popular in the early 2000s, 2010s, kind of before Spotify really
took over.
Actually for the style of rap in early 2010s, there was a lot of artists that kind of broke
through.
Denzel was one of them.
He had a mixtape, which I had just discovered.
King of the Mischievous South, volume one does exist.
It came out back in 2011.
(07:49):
Mixtape in name only though, right?
These are not being put on cassettes and distributed.
I know that bands do still do that sometimes, distribute cassettes with their music on them,
but that's not, there's no actual tape involved in this, is there?
Well, I don't know for sure.
Largely no, it's digital.
But I think it's kind of the spirit that you would have on like a cassette tape where it's
(08:09):
a little bit rough, maybe a little bit less produced.
Maybe it does have that kind of like handmade feel to it.
But I thought it'd be interesting to take a quick listen to what was really like his
debut single back in 2011 on volume one of this record.
This is a track called Headcrack.
That sounds quite blown out.
(08:36):
Yeah, I think the production value is much, much, much worse on those early records, those
early mixtapes.
Just Ghost Purp on production there, who was also like a big figure in that early SoundCloud
days of 2010s.
That clickbait headline for this album, Denzel takes a victory lap and reminds us that it's
(08:56):
good to be king.
This is definitely kind of one of those records that someone who's established themselves
in the space is kind of coming around and just like, look how great I am.
I had to establish this.
I'm kind of the king of the hill here.
That's what this feels like to me.
Denzel's been doing it for a long time.
He has a lot of imitators, I would say, in this space.
This is not his most innovative record by any means, but I think it's a super fun one.
(09:19):
And I just kind of feel like he's become that establishment almost in the Southern hip hop
genre.
Let's play the cut from the record.
This is Act A Damn Fool.
Wow.
It's really interesting that he penned a song all about Don.
(09:41):
That's right.
I was going to say this really spoke to me.
So this was not on the original mixtape.
This was one of the four or five cuts that they added.
The song was written by Curry, Duke Deuce and Stuart Goldsmith.
I like that name.
Duke Deuce.
That's how I would say it.
(10:01):
And then you have Stuart Goldsmith, who just got a lawyer for the group or something.
Yeah.
And of course, it also features Duke Deuce and Slim Gorilla.
High energy, intense.
I mean, I guess he's...
Yeah.
I mean, he has some charisma, I think, as a rapper.
My clickbait headline is East Coast Album Nerd Experiences Modern Southern Hip Hop and
(10:27):
Shrugs Shoulders.
And I'm not even criticizing the record, but I'm struggling to identify the differences
between Southern hip hop and the East Coast stuff that we've listened to.
I would say, Don, I mean, I'm not an expert by any means, but it's more the swagger and
(10:48):
the sort of laid back vibe that the Southern hip hop brings to the table.
Maybe the East Coast is a little bit more uptight.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
I would say, the beats are stretched out.
There's a sound to it that I've always...
It's a little bit slowed down.
Yeah.
At least, again, I'm no expert on it, but that's always been my impression of Southern
(11:13):
rap when I've heard it.
I don't know that I can identify it, but when I know what it is, that's something I've heard
as a commonality.
Yeah.
I noticed...
I mean, it seems very, going back to that word, braggadocious on this record.
I read that that's not really the case on his previous albums.
Well, but this is his coronation as the king of the...
(11:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It kind of seems like, is he like sort of...
This is putting his stamp on the genre or something?
Yes.
That's what it feels like to me.
I would say so.
His earlier work, I would classify it being much more aggressive, maybe violence, a little
more street-orientated.
On this record, he's kind of like removed himself from the street and he's kind of looking
(11:56):
down on things is how I would sort of describe this.
Yeah.
I enjoyed the record, just kind of a nice flow throughout it.
Definitely kept me engaged.
That's a little long, in the 50 something minutes, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But solid.
Yeah.
To be honest, I mean, the mixtape was about 35 minutes and I felt really good at that
(12:17):
length.
I mean, it's like X-Blockster tracks.
There's a couple that maybe didn't need to be there, in all honesty, but I think the
overall vibe and the flow on this, I think, is what brought me to it.
That was a panic cut from the record.
This was on the original mixtape.
It's called The Hoodwimps.
That's the sound that I kind of...
(12:44):
That beat has that Southern drawl to it almost, in my opinion.
Yeah.
So Hoodwimps, it's the first time Denzel Curry and ASAP Rocky have teamed up.
It's probably ASAP crew they're down.
Yeah.
They like to get things done quickly.
Oh, God.
Yes, as soon as possible.
Oh, my God.
Is that not what it stands for?
Is that not what ASAP is?
(13:07):
Oh, by the way, it's always strive and prosper.
So apologies all around.
There you go.
There you go.
Thank you, internet.
Learning things.
Yeah.
Yes.
Play That Boise brings his raw energy rounding out that trio.
It's bass heavy and I guess what a kind of a Southern beat.
(13:28):
It's the second to last track, but it does have that kind of climax feel to it.
I think he throws around King of the Mischievous South within the lyrics there as well.
It's gritty, slick.
I'd say this one production-wise sounds a little cleaner than some of the others and
it's very much full of swagger.
My clickbait headline to describe the album, King of the Mischievous South brings rapid
(13:50):
fire rhymes, beats with a Southern drawl and all of his friends.
We're talking, I counted maybe like 24 guests.
Sounds about right.
I mean, holy shit.
The whole ASAP mob.
Yeah, my God.
Yeah, so there's throughout this song and all of them, this rapid fire delivery that
comes and goes.
(14:10):
It's not constant, but those stretched out beats I think is what defines the sound for
me.
There's a lot to take in.
I felt somewhat lost.
I guess I just wasn't finding a lot of lyrical threads to hold on to.
I like a little narrative, a little storytelling and I wasn't finding a lot of that bits and
pieces but-
(14:30):
You got spoiled by that Kendrick Lamar record.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think I did.
Yeah, this is not nearly the level of poetry that Kendrick exudes.
No.
Yeah, I like the poetry in the hip-hop.
So Andy, my question to you is of your list of hundreds and probably thousands of albums
listened to this year, why is this your favorite?
(14:53):
What is it about this that brought it to the top?
Cream of the crop.
Yeah, I mean, it's a fair question because it's definitely not the best record I heard
all year, but I think it just comes down to like if I could listen to one record and have
a good time for 45 minutes, this would be the one I'd put on.
Good time.
That's just fun.
If I need to relax for a little bit, this is going to be fun.
(15:13):
Breathe in, hold it for a couple of seconds, breathe out.
Is that what you're talking about?
Whatever is involved there might be a good time.
But yeah, I mean, that's for me.
This is not high bro, by any means.
It's more about a good vibe, a good flow to it.
It tickles your innards.
(15:34):
Yeah, I feel tickled after this.
Tickled pinker.
But yeah, so this is somebody that's been around for a long time.
I think it's just kind of nice to highlight.
I don't think we've ever talked about him or really the style on the show before.
So I did something I enjoy quite a bit.
Yeah, if you've never heard of Denzel Curry or are familiar with what's going on in the
Southern rap space, I think this is a pretty easy spot to jump in.
(15:57):
And there's a lot more perhaps hard hitting records in the genre that you could explore,
but it's a good place to start with Denzel Curry and the King of the Mischievous South.
Before we get to our next favorite album of 2024, we want to give a shout out to one of
our partner podcasts, the Can I Pod with Madness podcast.
(16:20):
Dom, what are they talking about on their upcoming show?
Well, they're talking about Kerrang magazine.
Do you guys ever read that one?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like metal mostly or?
Metal and maybe some punk.
But yeah, it's a fun discussion sort of like us.
They can be all over the place.
But now is this discussion also Iron Maiden centric as is a lot of their show?
(16:43):
They do come up a lot.
So it's Can I Pod with Madness?
Can I Pod with Madness?
Sounded painful, but not too bad.
Well, this is going to be a big shock to our audience and to you guys.
But my favorite album of the year is the Cures Songs of a Lost World.
(17:07):
What?
Wow.
The way you even said the title sounded like so full of emotion.
Songs of a Lost World.
So it was released on November 1st of this year.
It's their 14th studio album by the British band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976.
(17:27):
It's their first album since 2008.
So a lot of anticipation.
So right now the cure is of course Robert Smith on voice and guitar.
Simon Gallup on bass, Jason Cooper on drums, Roger O'Donnell, the keyboardist is back in
the band.
He took an album off.
And Reeves Gabrell is their new guitarist.
(17:50):
He's actually been with the band for 12 years, but hasn't been on an album yet.
But he played with Bowie for many years and he was in that tin machine group with him.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
So let's hear the opening cut.
This is Alone.
Yeah.
So that's the opening cut written by Robert Smith.
(18:15):
In fact, this whole album, both the lyrics and the music is just credited to Robert Smith,
whereas on most of their albums, the rest of the band gets credit for the music.
Robert says this track unlocked the record.
He said it was inspired by a 1902 poem called Dregs by Ernest Dawson, which has the line,
(18:38):
this is the end of every song man sings.
Yeah.
He does that a lot throughout the secure discography.
There's lots of literary references in there.
It's a long song.
It's two or three minutes before you actually hear his voice.
Yeah.
There's a lot of those on this one.
But it's okay somehow.
That would have annoyed the shit out of me a few years back, but I feel like it's necessary.
(19:03):
It builds the, it kind of sets the scene.
I don't know how it works, but it works.
That's the kind of thing that I'm normally like, next song.
It's kind of like his voice is just sort of like another instrument being added to the
mix.
Well, with all the anticipation of so many years between albums, it also is like each
song that has that set up, it's like, come on, come on, Bobby, give it to me.
(19:28):
When are you going to make me sad?
Make me cry, dude.
Make me cry.
All right.
Well, my clickbait headline for Songs of a Lost World is The Cure Plays to Its Strengths
on Epic Return.
I mean, it's not really new territory for The Cure.
I mean, they've always been really good at these gloomier songs and that the whole thing
(19:49):
is mostly gloomy, dealing with themes of aging and death, loss.
The kings of the foggy London instead of mischievous South.
There's just something about it and I don't think it's just because I was desperate for
a Cure album.
(20:10):
There's something about it that just feels, I don't know, more natural or something.
It doesn't feel forced.
It's not like we had to make a Cure record and this is it.
It just kind of felt like this is what he wanted to do and it really works.
Let's hear another cut.
This is Warsong.
Warsong just sounded so Cure-y to me once it gets going.
(20:44):
I mean, I think we're a couple of minutes before we get to the Bobby.
Can we just call him Robert Smith, please?
I feel close to him now, so I call him Bobby.
It's a reflection on human conflict and it seems like about war and nations and stuff,
(21:06):
but it also seems maybe about just human relationships, destructive desires, that unattainable yearning
for peace, which the older you get, the more painful it becomes.
When you're young, you have all this, oh, world peace.
Everything's going to be great.
And as you get older, it's like, nothing changes.
It's getting worse.
(21:29):
Every generation seems to go down the same path, but musically the track builds that
tension with the pulsating drums, the dissonance on the guitars.
So yeah, Robert Smith sounds so good, so much just like he always has.
I don't know if it's trickery or if it's true.
Don, you've seen them live a lot.
Does he still sound that good?
(21:50):
Yeah.
Yeah, he really does.
And I don't really think he bothers with any of the vocal effects.
I mean, there's always some echo on his voice.
Sure.
But no, I think this is it.
He says it's just genetics because he said he's not taking care of himself at all.
Well, kind of blew that looking at him.
Well, you see, they still puts on the makeup.
(22:10):
He wants to look pretty.
Okay.
So my clickbait headline to describe the album, Gothic Majesty Returns, the cure and old Robert
Smith find themselves again, dark music for the dark joy of making it.
Like Don was alluding to, not so much a return to form, but maybe a return to making music
because they're moved to do so.
(22:31):
I just am so happy to hear a new album from them that just feels like them.
It's just a natural sounding reflection of who they are as a band.
So I dug it quite a bit.
It's in my top 10.
So excellent.
All right.
Well, let's hear the final cut from the record.
This is End Song.
Oh yeah, that is the epic 10 and a half minute closer there.
(23:00):
It's a little bit of background.
When I read on how the song was written, supposedly Smith was recalling a night he spent looking
at the stars with his father after the moon landing in 1969.
The quote I came across was, the world that I was born into was getting incrementally
better every year.
It just seemed that the world was on an upward trajectory and the moon landing was just part
(23:21):
of that.
And then around the time I turned 16 and 75, it seemed the world sort of stalled and has
been traveling down ever since.
There's something so nicely summed up.
I mean, Robert Smith, maybe The Cure in general, but it does feel like this record is largely
about the world's kind of off course or kind of leaving Mr. Smith behind.
(23:43):
That's pretty compelling stuff as our art goes.
My clickbait headline for Songs of a Lost World is, if End Song is their swan song,
it's a strong note to end on.
I don't know if this will be their last album or not, but if it is, I think it's a really
good way to go out.
It really does feel representative of who they are or who Robert Smith is.
(24:04):
It's kind of like the general ethos of the band.
It doesn't really feel like it's of the 80s or of the 2020s.
It just kind of feels in between all of that because of a classic timelessness to the sound,
I would say.
RL I think I really enjoyed their 2000 record,
Bloodflowers, but that felt like they were trying to do something different.
(24:25):
Because this feels more like just classic Cure, I guess, if that makes sense.
I really came to appreciate the drumming on this record, which is not something I usually
notice a lot on Cure records, but they sound great when they're doing the rock beat and
they have the dark atmospheric production around it and his vocal comes in.
It's a really good mix they have going on this record.
(24:46):
AC There's so many literary references and stuff
which makes it seem smarter, which is always part of what the Cure is about.
I can never say goodbye as that Something Wicked This Way Comes line in it, which is
from Macbeth and from the Ray Bradbury book and a movie made of it.
That's such a great line and it's used so effectively in that song.
I appreciated that quite a bit.
(25:07):
And Drone No Drone, the song after Warsong.
It's such a switch from sounds where it's much more aggressive sounding.
I really like that juxtaposition.
It was a good placement on the record, I think.
And the track kind of stuck out to me too.
It's so different than anything else they've done recently.
I don't think it would have made sense anywhere else on the record, but where they put it,
(25:29):
it works.
AC I agree.
I think that one, I think Reeves Gabrel's guitar, I feel his influences on that track
because he likes noise.
I think that's kind of, I mean, he's like a virtuoso, I think, but he's really into
just the sound of the guitar and just making just weird things happen with it.
(25:50):
And I definitely hear it on that track.
Speaking of a guitar, that end song, it features a lead line from Robert's Bass Six, which
is basically just a regular guitar that's tuned down a whole octave.
AC We're going to start losing control.
AC Sorry.
But my one complaint on this record is that six string bass is kind of lost in the mix.
(26:16):
If you hear a live version of it, it's much more prominent and I like that more.
Otherwise, I really can't complain about this record at all.
And as a big fan of The Cure, I just don't think you could expect more than this.
So I'm thrilled and it's my favorite album of the year.
It's The Cure's Songs of a Lost World.
AC Now it's time for a year end edition of Deep Questions.
(26:51):
So we're talking about our favorite records of 2024, but what was your favorite thing
outside of music this year, Andy?
AC Yeah, I was trying to think of what good movie experiences that I have in the theater.
I think the best one for me actually happened really early on in the year at a scene, Dune
Part Two in the old IMAX theater nearby.
(27:12):
AC Oh, I thought you were going to say when we went to that Pet Shop Boys film together.
AC Oh yeah, that just goes without saying.
That was epic.
AC Don, tried that popcorn bucket trick.
I did the yawn, where I stretch my arm out.
(27:35):
AC But I think really my favorite thing that came across was, did you guys see the story
about maybe it was three or four weeks ago now where Alex Jones has had a bunch of legal
problems over the last few years.
AC Who's Alex Jones?
AC Alex Jones, he's the host of Infowars, a talk show that's been-
(27:56):
AC Conspiracy.
AC Conspiracy theories.
He was in court for a lot of terrible things he said, and he's had to sell Infowars and
The Onion.
You guys remember The Onion, that satirical newspaper?
AC Oh yeah, they're still around.
AC Yeah, they're still around.
They got some money together and were able to purchase his company out of him underneath
him, which I think is one of the sweetest twists of fate that I've seen in a long time.
(28:21):
So good onion for The Onion.
AC Don't worry Andy, I'm sure old Alex will get back on his feet.
I actually don't doubt that at all.
Yeah, so 2024, really good year all in all, if you add it all up for me anyway.
Lots to be thankful for and lots of favorite things happened, but I'd say my absolute favorite,
and it was tough getting there.
(28:42):
Me and my wife, we made a move this summer and the office I'm in now where I have my
records and I work and all that stuff.
I love how it came out and I love how it looks.
It's such a nicer space than I had before and very thankful for that opportunity.
It was a lot of work to move and everything, but I love this space and I love sharing it
(29:03):
with you guys when we record these shows, virtually of course.
Maybe someday we'll have a shared studio.
Yeah, Elm Nerds headquarters.
AC Yeah, I got my records set up the way I wanted them.
They were spread out in the room before and just, it feels good every day when I come
in this room.
So.
AC I can't believe you managed to move during the summer of Don.
(29:25):
AC I know.
I mean, summer of Don was my main focus, but I had to squeeze to move in.
AC Yeah.
Yeah, I kind of struggled to come up with some things, but I figured I'd mention a couple
of streaming shows that I enjoyed this year.
One was called Disclaimer, starring Kate Lanchette, Kevin Kline, and the Borat guy.
(29:47):
What's his name?
AC Sasha something.
AC Sasha Baron Cohen.
Sasha Baron Cohen.
But really good show with a nice twist at the end.
And then my favorite show on HBO or Max lately has been Somebody Somewhere, starring Bridget
Everett.
This was the final season.
It didn't get renewed, but kind of a fun sort of offbeat comedy, sort of like Schitt's Creek
(30:10):
maybe a little more serious and real than that, but a good show.
Well, what are your favorite things of 2024?
Let us know.
Hit us up on the socials, Instagram and Facebook, or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds.com.
AC So my favorite album of the year, and I wanted
my favorite album of the year to be like metal or something, but it didn't, it just didn't
(30:33):
quite work out that way.
I mean, I have favorites in that genre, but my favorite ended up being Fontaine's DC.
And their album that came out in August of 2024, Romance.
Fontaine's DC is an Irish post-punk band formed in Dublin in 2014.
Greene and Chetton on vocals, Carlos O'Connell on guitar, Connor Curley on guitar, Connor
(30:54):
Deegan the third on bass, and Tom Call on drums.
Lots of Connors.
AC Yeah, that's Irish.
AC The band members met while attending music
college in Dublin and bonded over their shared love of poetry.
But Romance is their fourth studio album, marking their debut with XL Recordings after
leaving Partisan Records.
Critical acclaim, two Grammy nominations.
(31:17):
It's shaping up to be something special.
They shifted away from their traditional Irish themes.
A lot of their songs were about Irishness and experiences in and around Ireland.
But this one kind of features more of a futuristic dystopian landscape.
And the lead single Starburst sets the tone for Sonic Journey into kind of a new territory
(31:42):
for them.
So why don't we check out a little bit of that.
Starburst.
AC That gasp for some reason is like the highlight
of the song.
It's really weird.
AC It's the biggest innovation in rock in decades
right there.
AC Well, somehow it is.
(32:02):
Because that's the kind of thing.
Yeah.
I don't know.
AC It gives it an intensity, you know.
AC Yeah.
Yeah.
It blends industrial, electronic, and even a little new metal influence into their post-punk
roots.
Clear nods, I think, to like deftones, Alice in Chains.
There's just, and even that kind of almost rapping style on parts of the song.
(32:27):
Mix of melancholy and defiance, love and loss and yearning for connection in this dystopian
world.
But maybe the experiences of 2020, 2021 had something to do with shaping the way people
feel, especially younger folks like these guys about the world around them and relationships.
AC It seems like it, right?
(32:47):
That kind of disconnects, perhaps.
Everyone's experiencing.
AC Are you guys more like Starbusters or like Mike
and Iker's Swedish Fishers?
AC See, I'm more of a baked goods, dude.
I'm not so much into candy.
So if it was fruit cocktail caker or oatmeal raisin cookie-er, that would be more my conversation.
(33:14):
Mike Click may headline to describe the album Romance.
From gritty beginnings to alt-rock elegance, Fontaine's DC proved they can evolve without
losing their edge.
Kind of a rarity these days, a rock band that is breaking through.
AC Alt-rock elegance.
Ooh.
AC You like that?
But those punk vibes are mixed with a reverence for what came before.
(33:39):
And I really love hearing shades of the greats and hearing keyboards and drum loopy sounding
beats that somehow really works for these guys.
Why don't we get into another track?
Let's listen to a little bit of In the Modern World.
I don't feel bad, shine this little corner.
(34:02):
AC Yeah, the track there kind of works as sort
of the centerpiece of the record, I would say.
Honestly, I was really impressed they could pull off a song like that.
It's so stripped down and melodic and just kind of a sweet touching song.
Though it is about kind of being disconnected, but they really do a great job.
(34:24):
I was impressed by that one in particular.
AC Yeah, this album compared to the earlier ones,
even Skinty Fia, which we discussed on the show, there's definitely, it's more emotionally
charged.
It feels like less deflective and more reflective.
AC That's a good analysis there.
Yeah.
AC Where the fuck that came from?
AC Yeah, it gets pretty on point.
(34:46):
It feels like kind of a more emotional response.
Yeah, and their sound writing is really pretty freaking good for some punk rock guys from
Ireland here.
All right.
A clickbait headline for romance is, Fontaine's DC strike up a romance with shiny hooks and
what do you know, it works.
Yeah, this is a pretty big step forward for them, I would say, in terms of their overall
(35:08):
sounds and just kind of adding some polish to what was a pretty dark, rough sound earlier
in their career.
Lots of hooks, lots of well-crafted songwriting.
I think the record's at its best when it's taking chances and exploring the edges of
the box here, even if it is more of a shiny poppy sound.
I think those songs like we've played so far do work really well.
(35:31):
The middle of the record gets a little bit slowed down and be a little bit hampered by
some of the weight of these topics, I guess, maybe.
But I think it ends really strong too with a couple of really killer tracks at the end.
So yeah, I was pretty positive on this.
I think I had it close to my top 10, if not in my top 10, I'm pretty sure.
AC I think it was number eight on your list.
AC Seems about right, yeah.
(35:53):
These guys are ever evolving and I really appreciate that.
AC Yeah, me too.
The opening romance, I think, sets that tone so nicely.
It's a short song, but it kind of sets you up for the more slap in the face of Starbuster,
which I appreciate.
It seems like there's a little more attention to detail on the way the album is built and
(36:16):
where the tracks are.
I know, Andy, you found it a little laggy in the middle, but I thought moments like
Bug with the kind of acoustic jagged guitar riffs, I thought there was some really good
stuff happening in the middle for me.
Explorations kind of, but that's just my opinion.
It's my favorite after all.
Speaking of favorites, why don't we listen to favorites.
(36:38):
AC That's one of my favorites on the album, just
sounds so much like something I would have been listening to in the late 80s and early
90s.
So that's the closing cut on the record.
(36:59):
Frontman Grian Chattin described this song as having this never ending sound to it, a
continuous cycle from euphoria to sadness, two worlds spinning forever.
That's right up my alley.
AC That's the catnip for them.
AC Yes, exactly.
He also said it was inspired by There She Goes by The Laws.
So speaking my language.
(37:26):
It's more melancholy than what the last record was.
The last one had maybe more of a sinister darkness to it or something, and this one
just feels maybe a more romantic sadness.
I don't know.
AC It's more about I think relationships and
emotions and feelings about the world around us than, like I said, I think previous albums
(37:48):
were more focused on their-
AC Discontentment.
AC Yeah.
AC Yeah.
So my clickbait headline for Romance is Almost Great Band Becomes Great.
I think I remember I really enjoyed the last album and I spent a lot of time with it and
I'm like, wow, this is really good and they're just so close to really being something special.
(38:12):
Yeah, I think this album crosses that threshold.
I really think they've grown into something.
This is a really mature album, I think.
I mean, I guess it's poppier, so I guess maybe that makes it a little more palatable, but
they do it so well and they really embrace the melody.
(38:33):
It still has some of those intense moments that the last record had, but I think that
overall softer approach just really makes this just a great listen.
AC Chattin described this album as a collection of snow globes, emotional snapshots captured
in time, each song like a small encapsulated moment or feeling, kind of like that idea.
(38:55):
AC These guys are poets.
AC Yeah, yes.
It's starting to come out a little more, I think.
One of the things I really love about this and why it's my favorite is this is a rock
band that could be something that could have young listeners, could be on the radio, could
be something that actually brings people together and brings rock music maybe back to the forefront.
(39:19):
A band, an actual band, not just solo artists.
There's something, they've got something special cooking here.
So yeah, a bold evolution for Fontaines DC, blending raw emotion, alt rock influences
and new sonic textures that prove they're not just a band, but a force reshaping modern
rock.
So go check out my favorite album for 2024, Fontaines DC, Romance.
(39:42):
Can you dig it?
We mentioned our very favorite albums of the year.
What are some other great albums from 2024?
AC I got a couple here in my champagne glass for New Year's.
I got a little room in here.
(40:04):
AC Champagne glass, yeah.
I mean, if you can squeeze them in.
AC That's a stretch.
That's a stretch.
Let's talk about my favorite jazz album from 2024 by an artist named Shabaka.
AC I did that last time.
AC The record is called Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace.
(40:25):
This is the debut studio album for The Woodwindest from Lundgland, England.
It's a former member of Sons of Comet and The Comet is coming, which I think we may
have featured almost from those bands on previous shows.
It's a kind of experimental jazz, like the world music space.
This album has a bunch of features including Floating Points, Andre 3000, et cetera, et
(40:48):
cetera.
Let's play a cut from the album.
This is track three.
It's called Insecurities.
It's Moses Semney on the vocals there.
AC Laugh it up, fussball.
Oh, sorry.
AC Still on Shabaka.
Okay.
(41:08):
AC It's a really interesting record.
It's very much in the jazz spirit, though it has kind of more of a world music vibe to
it I would say.
It's very loose and experimental sounding.
Interesting production technique.
He went in and recorded this with all these variety of different musicians.
There's probably like 10 or 12 different musicians on the record.
He went back and edited the jam sessions and kind of created these songs from the edit
(41:33):
and less from the actual playing.
So it kind of exists on two planes, if you will.
AC Yeah.
Listening to this album, it is just one of those examples of how much more pedestrian
my taste is than yours.
I mean, it was like I was floating in space and just unable to grab onto a tether to get
(41:53):
my way back to the ship.
AC It's pretty loose.
It's pretty loose.
A lot of interesting things happen out there in space.
All right.
I'll switch gears for a second here and talk about my favorite punk rock album from 2024.
We're talking about Softplay, the recently renamed group and their album Heavy Jelly.
The four studio album, the band used to be called Slaves.
(42:15):
You may have heard of them in the early 2020s.
Somehow that didn't work out well for them being called Slaves.
AC Yeah.
That's not a good idea.
And they know Coldplay had a lot of success.
So right.
They should have gone Warmplay.
That was more obvious, but Softplay is fine.
All right, let's hear a little bit of, I think this was the lead single.
(42:36):
It's called Punk's Dead.
AC Who's he talking to?
Is it me?
I didn't do it.
AC The record is just kind of ridiculous sounding,
I would say.
It's super fast and in your face and it's kind of goofy and it's very like anti-woke sort
(42:59):
of critiques on society.
Which I appreciated.
It's unlike any other punk rocker record for this year.
That alone is pretty special.
I'm kind of down with the message they got going.
So.
AC I found it unhinged, which I guess is probably good for this type of music.
Some of the songs just seemed a little silly, but maybe it was my frame of mind at the time.
(43:23):
AC I think they are.
That's the jelly.
There you go.
AC What else is on your list, Al?
AC Well, as I said before, it was just a good year for all the artists I like.
One we didn't get to talk about much this year, I'm sure I mentioned it in Diggin, is
The Thas Insolment, which is another one we've been waiting now 24 years for.
(43:44):
AC Geez.
AC Of course, we did talk about two The Thas records this year.
We just got the Hank Williams covers and then we did Mindbomb.
AC So this makes it The The The, if we're not talking about a third.
Trips the.
AC The The is basically singer-songwriter, Matt Johnson, and a cast of musicians.
(44:07):
It's pretty much on brand.
It's kind of post-punk mixed in with some blues and some folk, some psychedelic and
some experimental stuff.
Here's a song called Some Days I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake.
AC Oh man.
So British.
AC The sun hangs low, the church bells toll.
(44:31):
AC It's called the rising sun.
AC Oh, sorry.
There's the folk.
AC Yeah, it's just, it's nice to hear from Matt Johnson again.
And a lot of these songs are like the subject matter is very modern.
He's talking about like modern dating and AI and stuff like that.
So it's kind of fun to hear his take on those things.
(44:52):
AC From like a get off my lawn sort of perspective.
AC Yeah.
He's always kind of been that guy.
AC I haven't always been the kindest to Mr. The.
I have not listened to this album, so I will check it out before the end of the year to
stay in the right frame of mind here.
AC I did have a chance to listen to it.
I was shocked at how much it sounded like his 80s output in terms of the production
(45:12):
on his voice and the whole thing.
I mean, the topics are different, but I think in terms of maintaining the doneness is the
doneness is strong.
AC All right.
And then just changing directions sort of in the, I guess we call it Americana these
days.
I mentioned this at some point this year, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, longtime
(45:34):
songwriting partners.
They came out with an album called Woodland this year.
It's actually their second album credited together.
This was recorded at their rebuilt Woodland studio in Nashville following its destruction
by a tornado in 2020.
Then Americana, folk, roots music, introspective lyrics, themes of renewal, loss and resilience.
(45:54):
Here's the opening cut, empty train load of sky.
AC You guys remember David Steele who talked to
us about Country Song, right?
He's actually good friends with Gillian.
I think they went to school together at Berkeley or something like that.
Is this where it got all original is done, do you know?
Yes.
That sound song is so familiar.
(46:14):
I like that track a lot.
Excellent.
How about you, dude?
So yeah, what I tried to do here is maybe pick some albums that are from genres that
I'm quite a big fan of.
So from the sort of metal stoner rock side of things, I went with Lunar Effect, Sounds
of Green and Blue.
They're formed in 2016, emerged from the London rock scene, Blending Blues, Psychedelia and
(46:39):
Retro Rock with a high octane sound.
So this is their second album.
Why don't we listen to a little bit of Pulling Daisies.
Love the bluesy strain in the voice, fuzzy riffs, kind of classic rockish, but they just
(47:00):
pull it off.
I just think it sounds great.
I like it too.
Yeah.
It's got the little swagger there at times, which helps.
Some good press on this.
I definitely think anyone that's a fan of those sounds should check this out.
I also do have a copy of it on vinyl and it's orange.
It's orange.
(47:20):
So my favorite country album of 2024 with some extra spices is Motel Breakfast by Mack
Leap Art.
Mack is an independent artist working out of Nashville, a real grinder doing it all
on his own and just has a real zeal for making music and having fun and expressing himself.
It comes through in this album.
(47:41):
It's a mix of country, folk, blues, rock, and even to my ears, a couple of splashes
of Zydeco.
Why don't we listen to a little bit of the first single from the album, Rock and Roll
Hey.
I just love his voice, his approach.
(48:06):
I've never heard the term Rock and Roll Hey before and it works really well here.
The title track, Motel Breakfast, being about life on the road and the hardships of it,
but at least you've got that motel breakfast to look forward to.
Your waffle and your watery scrambled eggs, but it's something.
Yeah, complimentary muffin and waffle bar.
(48:30):
Maybe some grits.
It's just that attitude that drives this record.
Some key tracks in my opinion, Rosie, Shake A Leg, Pony Montana, Ain't No Pistol.
Just great songwriting and Mack Leap Art's personality comes through on all of it.
The band sounds great.
They sound like they're having fun.
Did you guys get a chance to come back around on this one?
(48:52):
If not, shame on you.
If not, at least tell me what you think of Motel Breakfasts in general.
Sorry, man.
I just kind of lost track of this one for some reason.
I did listen to it before and I liked it.
Well, I'm a big fan of Motel Breakfast, particularly if there's like an omelet station.
Yeah, those are the fancy joints.
I usually end up at the places where it's boxes of cereal and maybe some coagulated
(49:14):
scrambled eggs.
No coagulation here.
This is a delicious Motel Breakfast.
Go check this album out if you like fun country Americana bluegrass rock and roll.
I think he covers all the bases and it's in a beautiful package.
Check it out.
Okay.
Well, what were you digging in 2024?
Let us know.
(49:34):
Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Also on our website, AlbumNerds.com.
It will be a discovery of extraordinary value.
Well, it's about that time on the show when I'm reminded of our founding father and all
around cool guy, Benjamin Franklin.
(49:57):
Sure.
It's cool.
Didn't he invent like sunglasses?
No, it was Bifocals.
Womp womp.
I'm sure he made the Bifocals look as cool as sunglasses.
Mr. Franklin said, be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let every
new year find you a better man.
(50:18):
With that in mind, let's bring out WODBOT and see what we'll be talking about on our
first episode of 2025.
It's time to venture into the vibrant, mind-expanding and transformative world of Neo-Psychedelia.
Next time, you'll explore three groundbreaking albums that redefined sonic landscapes, embraced
(50:43):
kaleidoscopic creativity and captured the surreal essence of an evolving musical revolution.
So Neo-Psychedelia, that's a mouthful there.
Basically second, third generation psychedelic rock, is that what we're...
Precisely.
Should be interesting.
Sounds right.
Turn on, tune in and drop out.
Right on.
(51:03):
Peace, love, dope.
Well, what's your favorite psychedelic record?
What else are you listening to?
Leave a comment on our website or email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and threads at Album Nerds.
And please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.
And if you'd like to support the show, you can do so via PayPal at albumnerds.com slash
(51:26):
support.
Thank you for joining us once again on the Album Nerds podcast.
We hope you had an awesome 2024.
We know we did.
We'll catch you next time with that Neo-Psychedelia.
Thanks for listening everybody.
Happy New Year.
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
(51:50):
Should old...
I don't know where to stop.
You never do.
Yeah, that song has always been very confusing to me.
But should you forget?
Should you not forget?
Exactly.
Happy New Year's you bums.
Welcome to the Album Nerds podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don, and Dude.
(00:13):
Happy New Year's.
It's the Album Nerds podcast.
Damn it.
Dude, I got Andy and Don with me.
Andy, how you doing?
Looking back, reflecting on 2024.
Yeah.
I mean, 2024, man.
It was definitely a year that existed in our history and it is almost over.
I can say that much for sure.
(00:34):
Remember when Andy disappeared for a while?
Yes, he did.
Was that this year?
Yes.
Off on Safari discovering himself.
Luckily, he realized through those trials and tribulations how much he loved us and
he came back.
We'll never really know what happened out there in the wilderness.
How are you doing, Don?
(00:55):
Looks like we made it.
Look how far we've come.
Okay.
That's touching.
Yes.
I thought you were going to do Barry Manilow.
Looks like we made it.
Yeah, that's the better one.
Either way, we've definitely made it.
They offended all the fanelos.
We really need to get to some Barry Manilow at some point.
(01:18):
We should do fanelos versus juggalos.
There you go.
This is the Album Nerds podcast.
We love albums, the album format.
And we're going to have a really good show for you this time around.
We're going to be talking about our favorite albums of 2024.
So we're each going to share that.
(01:39):
Don's going to ask us yet another deep question.
And then we're going to have some shout outs to some of our other favorite albums that
we're going to briefly talk about at the end of the show.
And then of course, we'll spin that wheel of musical discovery to find out what we're
going to talk about next time.
But this week, it's all about our favorites.
That's what I'm talking about.
(02:00):
In 2024, the top grossing films were Inside Out 2.
Ouch.
That's really painful.
It's very painful.
I think that was the top grossing adult film.
The top grossing films were Inside Out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine and Despicable Me 4.
(02:28):
The most streamed shows were Fool Me Once, Bridgerton Season 3, and Baby Reindeer.
Did you guys see that?
That was messed up.
I've never heard of it.
What was that about?
About this guy, this comedian who was being stalked by this crazy person.
Really disturbing.
Sounds funny.
This year also saw LeBron James score his 40,000th career point.
(02:51):
The Paris Olympics made history by introducing break dancing.
Oh yes.
Yes.
We all remember that.
What was her name?
Freeze frame or something?
Dead lady from Australia?
It was something like that.
How quickly we forget.
What we don't forget are the great albums of 2024.
So today, each of us will present our favorite albums from this amazing year.
(03:14):
It was a very good year.
I guess to set some context here, the top selling albums of 2024 according to Billboard
and AI and everything else, Taylor Swift, the Tortured Poets Department, Future and
Metro Boomin, We Don't Trust You, and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter.
This exercise is of course our favorite albums of 2024.
(03:38):
Our approach might be different than what Billboard was looking at.
So how'd you guys do in terms of like calling your lists, making these decisions?
Andy's description might take longer than I've done.
How much time do you guys have?
Let me break down your indices.
No, I think this year I was a little more proactive with the list than I have been in
the past.
(03:59):
I started like in September, I want to say, putting together my general ordering of what
I've been listening to.
Definitely helps to keep up on it as they come out.
Yeah, I mean, it's always kind of just, how are you comparing one thing versus another
thing really?
They're totally different in terms of their value.
So it's really, I mean, for me, I'm just going back to like, what do I enjoy the most personally?
(04:20):
What's fun for me to listen to I think is my big motivation.
It was a good year for me because actually, I mean, there was like 10 to 15 legacy artists
that I love that came out with albums.
So I think the toughest part was sort of deciphering between those and also trying to expose myself
to, sorry.
I finished that sentence quickly.
(04:45):
Exposing myself to new things.
Okay.
Yes.
Yikes.
Yeah, I mean, for me, it was the usual kind of struggle.
I found more stuff.
It was keeping it all straight in my head as to what I liked and why.
I did not do as good a job as Andy of annotating or keeping track of like what I might have
(05:06):
liked about an album when I first heard it.
So I'd eight months later be like, oh yeah.
And I'd listen to it again.
I'm like, wait, I don't remember this.
So yeah, it is a long time.
Yes it is.
It doesn't feel like it sometimes, but when it comes to those sort of exercises of like
cataloging when something was within the last 365 days, that can be tough.
(05:30):
All right.
So why don't we get to our choo choo choices, our favorites.
You choo choo choose me?
All right.
Well, my favorite album of 2024 is from hip hop artist, Denzel Curry and his album, King
(05:53):
of the Mischievous South.
This came out back in October.
It is his sixth studio album for the Miami Gardens hip hop artists.
It's a kind of a unique album in that there was an EP that came out in July of the year,
technically a mixtape.
Yeah, we'll have to try and unpack that at some point.
(06:15):
This album came out a few months later, which includes a few additional tracks, which is
kind of an interesting release process.
There's tons of guest spots from over a dozen different artists in and around the hip hop
space.
Let's play the lead single.
This is Hot One.
(06:41):
So this is not about the program where celebrities eat hot wings and get interviewed.
I just caught some of those lyrics.
That's Hot Ones.
Oh, I gotcha.
Now, this is the lead single featuring Tia Corn and A$AP Ferg.
As Soon As Possible Ferg.
Yes.
(07:02):
Oh, I gotcha.
Wow.
Part of the A$AP crew for those heads that are aware of such a thing.
Anyway, so Denzel, Southern rapper, kind of fitting in with that Southern rap style.
Been around since the mid 2000s, came up on SoundCloud.
Do you guys ever listen to any music on SoundCloud?
When I have to, like if it's not on the other streaming services, yes.
(07:26):
Yeah, this was really popular in the early 2000s, 2010s, kind of before Spotify really
took over.
Actually for the style of rap in early 2010s, there was a lot of artists that kind of broke
through.
Denzel was one of them.
He had a mixtape, which I had just discovered.
King of the Mischievous South, volume one does exist.
It came out back in 2011.
(07:49):
Mixtape in name only though, right?
These are not being put on cassettes and distributed.
I know that bands do still do that sometimes, distribute cassettes with their music on them,
but that's not, there's no actual tape involved in this, is there?
Well, I don't know for sure.
Largely no, it's digital.
But I think it's kind of the spirit that you would have on like a cassette tape where it's
(08:09):
a little bit rough, maybe a little bit less produced.
Maybe it does have that kind of like handmade feel to it.
But I thought it'd be interesting to take a quick listen to what was really like his
debut single back in 2011 on volume one of this record.
This is a track called Headcrack.
That sounds quite blown out.
(08:36):
Yeah, I think the production value is much, much, much worse on those early records, those
early mixtapes.
Just Ghost Purp on production there, who was also like a big figure in that early SoundCloud
days of 2010s.
That clickbait headline for this album, Denzel takes a victory lap and reminds us that it's
(08:56):
good to be king.
This is definitely kind of one of those records that someone who's established themselves
in the space is kind of coming around and just like, look how great I am.
I had to establish this.
I'm kind of the king of the hill here.
That's what this feels like to me.
Denzel's been doing it for a long time.
He has a lot of imitators, I would say, in this space.
This is not his most innovative record by any means, but I think it's a super fun one.
(09:19):
And I just kind of feel like he's become that establishment almost in the Southern hip hop
genre.
Let's play the cut from the record.
This is Act A Damn Fool.
Wow.
It's really interesting that he penned a song all about Don.
(09:41):
That's right.
I was going to say this really spoke to me.
So this was not on the original mixtape.
This was one of the four or five cuts that they added.
The song was written by Curry, Duke Deuce and Stuart Goldsmith.
I like that name.
Duke Deuce.
That's how I would say it.
(10:01):
And then you have Stuart Goldsmith, who just got a lawyer for the group or something.
Yeah.
And of course, it also features Duke Deuce and Slim Gorilla.
High energy, intense.
I mean, I guess he's...
Yeah.
I mean, he has some charisma, I think, as a rapper.
My clickbait headline is East Coast Album Nerd Experiences Modern Southern Hip Hop and
(10:27):
Shrugs Shoulders.
And I'm not even criticizing the record, but I'm struggling to identify the differences
between Southern hip hop and the East Coast stuff that we've listened to.
I would say, Don, I mean, I'm not an expert by any means, but it's more the swagger and
(10:48):
the sort of laid back vibe that the Southern hip hop brings to the table.
Maybe the East Coast is a little bit more uptight.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
I would say, the beats are stretched out.
There's a sound to it that I've always...
It's a little bit slowed down.
Yeah.
At least, again, I'm no expert on it, but that's always been my impression of Southern
(11:13):
rap when I've heard it.
I don't know that I can identify it, but when I know what it is, that's something I've heard
as a commonality.
Yeah.
I noticed...
I mean, it seems very, going back to that word, braggadocious on this record.
I read that that's not really the case on his previous albums.
Well, but this is his coronation as the king of the...
(11:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It kind of seems like, is he like sort of...
This is putting his stamp on the genre or something?
Yes.
That's what it feels like to me.
I would say so.
His earlier work, I would classify it being much more aggressive, maybe violence, a little
more street-orientated.
On this record, he's kind of like removed himself from the street and he's kind of looking
(11:56):
down on things is how I would sort of describe this.
Yeah.
I enjoyed the record, just kind of a nice flow throughout it.
Definitely kept me engaged.
That's a little long, in the 50 something minutes, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But solid.
Yeah.
To be honest, I mean, the mixtape was about 35 minutes and I felt really good at that
(12:17):
length.
I mean, it's like X-Blockster tracks.
There's a couple that maybe didn't need to be there, in all honesty, but I think the
overall vibe and the flow on this, I think, is what brought me to it.
That was a panic cut from the record.
This was on the original mixtape.
It's called The Hoodwimps.
That's the sound that I kind of...
(12:44):
That beat has that Southern drawl to it almost, in my opinion.
Yeah.
So Hoodwimps, it's the first time Denzel Curry and ASAP Rocky have teamed up.
It's probably ASAP crew they're down.
Yeah.
They like to get things done quickly.
Oh, God.
Yes, as soon as possible.
Oh, my God.
Is that not what it stands for?
Is that not what ASAP is?
(13:07):
Oh, by the way, it's always strive and prosper.
So apologies all around.
There you go.
There you go.
Thank you, internet.
Learning things.
Yeah.
Yes.
Play That Boise brings his raw energy rounding out that trio.
It's bass heavy and I guess what a kind of a Southern beat.
(13:28):
It's the second to last track, but it does have that kind of climax feel to it.
I think he throws around King of the Mischievous South within the lyrics there as well.
It's gritty, slick.
I'd say this one production-wise sounds a little cleaner than some of the others and
it's very much full of swagger.
My clickbait headline to describe the album, King of the Mischievous South brings rapid
(13:50):
fire rhymes, beats with a Southern drawl and all of his friends.
We're talking, I counted maybe like 24 guests.
Sounds about right.
I mean, holy shit.
The whole ASAP mob.
Yeah, my God.
Yeah, so there's throughout this song and all of them, this rapid fire delivery that
comes and goes.
(14:10):
It's not constant, but those stretched out beats I think is what defines the sound for
me.
There's a lot to take in.
I felt somewhat lost.
I guess I just wasn't finding a lot of lyrical threads to hold on to.
I like a little narrative, a little storytelling and I wasn't finding a lot of that bits and
pieces but-
(14:30):
You got spoiled by that Kendrick Lamar record.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think I did.
Yeah, this is not nearly the level of poetry that Kendrick exudes.
No.
Yeah, I like the poetry in the hip-hop.
So Andy, my question to you is of your list of hundreds and probably thousands of albums
listened to this year, why is this your favorite?
(14:53):
What is it about this that brought it to the top?
Cream of the crop.
Yeah, I mean, it's a fair question because it's definitely not the best record I heard
all year, but I think it just comes down to like if I could listen to one record and have
a good time for 45 minutes, this would be the one I'd put on.
Good time.
That's just fun.
If I need to relax for a little bit, this is going to be fun.
(15:13):
Breathe in, hold it for a couple of seconds, breathe out.
Is that what you're talking about?
Whatever is involved there might be a good time.
But yeah, I mean, that's for me.
This is not high bro, by any means.
It's more about a good vibe, a good flow to it.
It tickles your innards.
(15:34):
Yeah, I feel tickled after this.
Tickled pinker.
But yeah, so this is somebody that's been around for a long time.
I think it's just kind of nice to highlight.
I don't think we've ever talked about him or really the style on the show before.
So I did something I enjoy quite a bit.
Yeah, if you've never heard of Denzel Curry or are familiar with what's going on in the
Southern rap space, I think this is a pretty easy spot to jump in.
(15:57):
And there's a lot more perhaps hard hitting records in the genre that you could explore,
but it's a good place to start with Denzel Curry and the King of the Mischievous South.
Before we get to our next favorite album of 2024, we want to give a shout out to one of
our partner podcasts, the Can I Pod with Madness podcast.
(16:20):
Dom, what are they talking about on their upcoming show?
Well, they're talking about Kerrang magazine.
Do you guys ever read that one?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like metal mostly or?
Metal and maybe some punk.
But yeah, it's a fun discussion sort of like us.
They can be all over the place.
But now is this discussion also Iron Maiden centric as is a lot of their show?
(16:43):
They do come up a lot.
So it's Can I Pod with Madness?
Can I Pod with Madness?
Sounded painful, but not too bad.
Well, this is going to be a big shock to our audience and to you guys.
But my favorite album of the year is the Cures Songs of a Lost World.
(17:07):
What?
Wow.
The way you even said the title sounded like so full of emotion.
Songs of a Lost World.
So it was released on November 1st of this year.
It's their 14th studio album by the British band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976.
(17:27):
It's their first album since 2008.
So a lot of anticipation.
So right now the cure is of course Robert Smith on voice and guitar.
Simon Gallup on bass, Jason Cooper on drums, Roger O'Donnell, the keyboardist is back in
the band.
He took an album off.
And Reeves Gabrell is their new guitarist.
(17:50):
He's actually been with the band for 12 years, but hasn't been on an album yet.
But he played with Bowie for many years and he was in that tin machine group with him.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
So let's hear the opening cut.
This is Alone.
Yeah.
So that's the opening cut written by Robert Smith.
(18:15):
In fact, this whole album, both the lyrics and the music is just credited to Robert Smith,
whereas on most of their albums, the rest of the band gets credit for the music.
Robert says this track unlocked the record.
He said it was inspired by a 1902 poem called Dregs by Ernest Dawson, which has the line,
(18:38):
this is the end of every song man sings.
Yeah.
He does that a lot throughout the secure discography.
There's lots of literary references in there.
It's a long song.
It's two or three minutes before you actually hear his voice.
Yeah.
There's a lot of those on this one.
But it's okay somehow.
That would have annoyed the shit out of me a few years back, but I feel like it's necessary.
(19:03):
It builds the, it kind of sets the scene.
I don't know how it works, but it works.
That's the kind of thing that I'm normally like, next song.
It's kind of like his voice is just sort of like another instrument being added to the
mix.
Well, with all the anticipation of so many years between albums, it also is like each
song that has that set up, it's like, come on, come on, Bobby, give it to me.
(19:28):
When are you going to make me sad?
Make me cry, dude.
Make me cry.
All right.
Well, my clickbait headline for Songs of a Lost World is The Cure Plays to Its Strengths
on Epic Return.
I mean, it's not really new territory for The Cure.
I mean, they've always been really good at these gloomier songs and that the whole thing
(19:49):
is mostly gloomy, dealing with themes of aging and death, loss.
The kings of the foggy London instead of mischievous South.
There's just something about it and I don't think it's just because I was desperate for
a Cure album.
(20:10):
There's something about it that just feels, I don't know, more natural or something.
It doesn't feel forced.
It's not like we had to make a Cure record and this is it.
It just kind of felt like this is what he wanted to do and it really works.
Let's hear another cut.
This is Warsong.
Warsong just sounded so Cure-y to me once it gets going.
(20:44):
I mean, I think we're a couple of minutes before we get to the Bobby.
Can we just call him Robert Smith, please?
I feel close to him now, so I call him Bobby.
It's a reflection on human conflict and it seems like about war and nations and stuff,
(21:06):
but it also seems maybe about just human relationships, destructive desires, that unattainable yearning
for peace, which the older you get, the more painful it becomes.
When you're young, you have all this, oh, world peace.
Everything's going to be great.
And as you get older, it's like, nothing changes.
It's getting worse.
(21:29):
Every generation seems to go down the same path, but musically the track builds that
tension with the pulsating drums, the dissonance on the guitars.
So yeah, Robert Smith sounds so good, so much just like he always has.
I don't know if it's trickery or if it's true.
Don, you've seen them live a lot.
Does he still sound that good?
(21:50):
Yeah.
Yeah, he really does.
And I don't really think he bothers with any of the vocal effects.
I mean, there's always some echo on his voice.
Sure.
But no, I think this is it.
He says it's just genetics because he said he's not taking care of himself at all.
Well, kind of blew that looking at him.
Well, you see, they still puts on the makeup.
(22:10):
He wants to look pretty.
Okay.
So my clickbait headline to describe the album, Gothic Majesty Returns, the cure and old Robert
Smith find themselves again, dark music for the dark joy of making it.
Like Don was alluding to, not so much a return to form, but maybe a return to making music
because they're moved to do so.
(22:31):
I just am so happy to hear a new album from them that just feels like them.
It's just a natural sounding reflection of who they are as a band.
So I dug it quite a bit.
It's in my top 10.
So excellent.
All right.
Well, let's hear the final cut from the record.
This is End Song.
Oh yeah, that is the epic 10 and a half minute closer there.
(23:00):
It's a little bit of background.
When I read on how the song was written, supposedly Smith was recalling a night he spent looking
at the stars with his father after the moon landing in 1969.
The quote I came across was, the world that I was born into was getting incrementally
better every year.
It just seemed that the world was on an upward trajectory and the moon landing was just part
(23:21):
of that.
And then around the time I turned 16 and 75, it seemed the world sort of stalled and has
been traveling down ever since.
There's something so nicely summed up.
I mean, Robert Smith, maybe The Cure in general, but it does feel like this record is largely
about the world's kind of off course or kind of leaving Mr. Smith behind.
(23:43):
That's pretty compelling stuff as our art goes.
My clickbait headline for Songs of a Lost World is, if End Song is their swan song,
it's a strong note to end on.
I don't know if this will be their last album or not, but if it is, I think it's a really
good way to go out.
It really does feel representative of who they are or who Robert Smith is.
(24:04):
It's kind of like the general ethos of the band.
It doesn't really feel like it's of the 80s or of the 2020s.
It just kind of feels in between all of that because of a classic timelessness to the sound,
I would say.
RL I think I really enjoyed their 2000 record,
Bloodflowers, but that felt like they were trying to do something different.
(24:25):
Because this feels more like just classic Cure, I guess, if that makes sense.
I really came to appreciate the drumming on this record, which is not something I usually
notice a lot on Cure records, but they sound great when they're doing the rock beat and
they have the dark atmospheric production around it and his vocal comes in.
It's a really good mix they have going on this record.
(24:46):
AC There's so many literary references and stuff
which makes it seem smarter, which is always part of what the Cure is about.
I can never say goodbye as that Something Wicked This Way Comes line in it, which is
from Macbeth and from the Ray Bradbury book and a movie made of it.
That's such a great line and it's used so effectively in that song.
I appreciated that quite a bit.
(25:07):
And Drone No Drone, the song after Warsong.
It's such a switch from sounds where it's much more aggressive sounding.
I really like that juxtaposition.
It was a good placement on the record, I think.
And the track kind of stuck out to me too.
It's so different than anything else they've done recently.
I don't think it would have made sense anywhere else on the record, but where they put it,
(25:29):
it works.
AC I agree.
I think that one, I think Reeves Gabrel's guitar, I feel his influences on that track
because he likes noise.
I think that's kind of, I mean, he's like a virtuoso, I think, but he's really into
just the sound of the guitar and just making just weird things happen with it.
(25:50):
And I definitely hear it on that track.
Speaking of a guitar, that end song, it features a lead line from Robert's Bass Six, which
is basically just a regular guitar that's tuned down a whole octave.
AC We're going to start losing control.
AC Sorry.
But my one complaint on this record is that six string bass is kind of lost in the mix.
(26:16):
If you hear a live version of it, it's much more prominent and I like that more.
Otherwise, I really can't complain about this record at all.
And as a big fan of The Cure, I just don't think you could expect more than this.
So I'm thrilled and it's my favorite album of the year.
It's The Cure's Songs of a Lost World.
AC Now it's time for a year end edition of Deep Questions.
(26:51):
So we're talking about our favorite records of 2024, but what was your favorite thing
outside of music this year, Andy?
AC Yeah, I was trying to think of what good movie experiences that I have in the theater.
I think the best one for me actually happened really early on in the year at a scene, Dune
Part Two in the old IMAX theater nearby.
(27:12):
AC Oh, I thought you were going to say when we went to that Pet Shop Boys film together.
AC Oh yeah, that just goes without saying.
That was epic.
AC Don, tried that popcorn bucket trick.
I did the yawn, where I stretch my arm out.
(27:35):
AC But I think really my favorite thing that came across was, did you guys see the story
about maybe it was three or four weeks ago now where Alex Jones has had a bunch of legal
problems over the last few years.
AC Who's Alex Jones?
AC Alex Jones, he's the host of Infowars, a talk show that's been-
(27:56):
AC Conspiracy.
AC Conspiracy theories.
He was in court for a lot of terrible things he said, and he's had to sell Infowars and
The Onion.
You guys remember The Onion, that satirical newspaper?
AC Oh yeah, they're still around.
AC Yeah, they're still around.
They got some money together and were able to purchase his company out of him underneath
him, which I think is one of the sweetest twists of fate that I've seen in a long time.
(28:21):
So good onion for The Onion.
AC Don't worry Andy, I'm sure old Alex will get back on his feet.
I actually don't doubt that at all.
Yeah, so 2024, really good year all in all, if you add it all up for me anyway.
Lots to be thankful for and lots of favorite things happened, but I'd say my absolute favorite,
and it was tough getting there.
(28:42):
Me and my wife, we made a move this summer and the office I'm in now where I have my
records and I work and all that stuff.
I love how it came out and I love how it looks.
It's such a nicer space than I had before and very thankful for that opportunity.
It was a lot of work to move and everything, but I love this space and I love sharing it
(29:03):
with you guys when we record these shows, virtually of course.
Maybe someday we'll have a shared studio.
Yeah, Elm Nerds headquarters.
AC Yeah, I got my records set up the way I wanted them.
They were spread out in the room before and just, it feels good every day when I come
in this room.
So.
AC I can't believe you managed to move during the summer of Don.
(29:25):
AC I know.
I mean, summer of Don was my main focus, but I had to squeeze to move in.
AC Yeah.
Yeah, I kind of struggled to come up with some things, but I figured I'd mention a couple
of streaming shows that I enjoyed this year.
One was called Disclaimer, starring Kate Lanchette, Kevin Kline, and the Borat guy.
(29:47):
What's his name?
AC Sasha something.
AC Sasha Baron Cohen.
Sasha Baron Cohen.
But really good show with a nice twist at the end.
And then my favorite show on HBO or Max lately has been Somebody Somewhere, starring Bridget
Everett.
This was the final season.
It didn't get renewed, but kind of a fun sort of offbeat comedy, sort of like Schitt's Creek
(30:10):
maybe a little more serious and real than that, but a good show.
Well, what are your favorite things of 2024?
Let us know.
Hit us up on the socials, Instagram and Facebook, or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds.com.
AC So my favorite album of the year, and I wanted
my favorite album of the year to be like metal or something, but it didn't, it just didn't
(30:33):
quite work out that way.
I mean, I have favorites in that genre, but my favorite ended up being Fontaine's DC.
And their album that came out in August of 2024, Romance.
Fontaine's DC is an Irish post-punk band formed in Dublin in 2014.
Greene and Chetton on vocals, Carlos O'Connell on guitar, Connor Curley on guitar, Connor
(30:54):
Deegan the third on bass, and Tom Call on drums.
Lots of Connors.
AC Yeah, that's Irish.
AC The band members met while attending music
college in Dublin and bonded over their shared love of poetry.
But Romance is their fourth studio album, marking their debut with XL Recordings after
leaving Partisan Records.
Critical acclaim, two Grammy nominations.
(31:17):
It's shaping up to be something special.
They shifted away from their traditional Irish themes.
A lot of their songs were about Irishness and experiences in and around Ireland.
But this one kind of features more of a futuristic dystopian landscape.
And the lead single Starburst sets the tone for Sonic Journey into kind of a new territory
(31:42):
for them.
So why don't we check out a little bit of that.
Starburst.
AC That gasp for some reason is like the highlight
of the song.
It's really weird.
AC It's the biggest innovation in rock in decades
right there.
AC Well, somehow it is.
(32:02):
Because that's the kind of thing.
Yeah.
I don't know.
AC It gives it an intensity, you know.
AC Yeah.
Yeah.
It blends industrial, electronic, and even a little new metal influence into their post-punk
roots.
Clear nods, I think, to like deftones, Alice in Chains.
There's just, and even that kind of almost rapping style on parts of the song.
(32:27):
Mix of melancholy and defiance, love and loss and yearning for connection in this dystopian
world.
But maybe the experiences of 2020, 2021 had something to do with shaping the way people
feel, especially younger folks like these guys about the world around them and relationships.
AC It seems like it, right?
(32:47):
That kind of disconnects, perhaps.
Everyone's experiencing.
AC Are you guys more like Starbusters or like Mike
and Iker's Swedish Fishers?
AC See, I'm more of a baked goods, dude.
I'm not so much into candy.
So if it was fruit cocktail caker or oatmeal raisin cookie-er, that would be more my conversation.
(33:14):
Mike Click may headline to describe the album Romance.
From gritty beginnings to alt-rock elegance, Fontaine's DC proved they can evolve without
losing their edge.
Kind of a rarity these days, a rock band that is breaking through.
AC Alt-rock elegance.
Ooh.
AC You like that?
But those punk vibes are mixed with a reverence for what came before.
(33:39):
And I really love hearing shades of the greats and hearing keyboards and drum loopy sounding
beats that somehow really works for these guys.
Why don't we get into another track?
Let's listen to a little bit of In the Modern World.
I don't feel bad, shine this little corner.
(34:02):
AC Yeah, the track there kind of works as sort
of the centerpiece of the record, I would say.
Honestly, I was really impressed they could pull off a song like that.
It's so stripped down and melodic and just kind of a sweet touching song.
Though it is about kind of being disconnected, but they really do a great job.
(34:24):
I was impressed by that one in particular.
AC Yeah, this album compared to the earlier ones,
even Skinty Fia, which we discussed on the show, there's definitely, it's more emotionally
charged.
It feels like less deflective and more reflective.
AC That's a good analysis there.
Yeah.
AC Where the fuck that came from?
AC Yeah, it gets pretty on point.
(34:46):
It feels like kind of a more emotional response.
Yeah, and their sound writing is really pretty freaking good for some punk rock guys from
Ireland here.
All right.
A clickbait headline for romance is, Fontaine's DC strike up a romance with shiny hooks and
what do you know, it works.
Yeah, this is a pretty big step forward for them, I would say, in terms of their overall
(35:08):
sounds and just kind of adding some polish to what was a pretty dark, rough sound earlier
in their career.
Lots of hooks, lots of well-crafted songwriting.
I think the record's at its best when it's taking chances and exploring the edges of
the box here, even if it is more of a shiny poppy sound.
I think those songs like we've played so far do work really well.
(35:31):
The middle of the record gets a little bit slowed down and be a little bit hampered by
some of the weight of these topics, I guess, maybe.
But I think it ends really strong too with a couple of really killer tracks at the end.
So yeah, I was pretty positive on this.
I think I had it close to my top 10, if not in my top 10, I'm pretty sure.
AC I think it was number eight on your list.
AC Seems about right, yeah.
(35:53):
These guys are ever evolving and I really appreciate that.
AC Yeah, me too.
The opening romance, I think, sets that tone so nicely.
It's a short song, but it kind of sets you up for the more slap in the face of Starbuster,
which I appreciate.
It seems like there's a little more attention to detail on the way the album is built and
(36:16):
where the tracks are.
I know, Andy, you found it a little laggy in the middle, but I thought moments like
Bug with the kind of acoustic jagged guitar riffs, I thought there was some really good
stuff happening in the middle for me.
Explorations kind of, but that's just my opinion.
It's my favorite after all.
Speaking of favorites, why don't we listen to favorites.
(36:38):
AC That's one of my favorites on the album, just
sounds so much like something I would have been listening to in the late 80s and early
90s.
So that's the closing cut on the record.
(36:59):
Frontman Grian Chattin described this song as having this never ending sound to it, a
continuous cycle from euphoria to sadness, two worlds spinning forever.
That's right up my alley.
AC That's the catnip for them.
AC Yes, exactly.
He also said it was inspired by There She Goes by The Laws.
So speaking my language.
(37:26):
It's more melancholy than what the last record was.
The last one had maybe more of a sinister darkness to it or something, and this one
just feels maybe a more romantic sadness.
I don't know.
AC It's more about I think relationships and
emotions and feelings about the world around us than, like I said, I think previous albums
(37:48):
were more focused on their-
AC Discontentment.
AC Yeah.
AC Yeah.
So my clickbait headline for Romance is Almost Great Band Becomes Great.
I think I remember I really enjoyed the last album and I spent a lot of time with it and
I'm like, wow, this is really good and they're just so close to really being something special.
(38:12):
Yeah, I think this album crosses that threshold.
I really think they've grown into something.
This is a really mature album, I think.
I mean, I guess it's poppier, so I guess maybe that makes it a little more palatable, but
they do it so well and they really embrace the melody.
(38:33):
It still has some of those intense moments that the last record had, but I think that
overall softer approach just really makes this just a great listen.
AC Chattin described this album as a collection of snow globes, emotional snapshots captured
in time, each song like a small encapsulated moment or feeling, kind of like that idea.
(38:55):
AC These guys are poets.
AC Yeah, yes.
It's starting to come out a little more, I think.
One of the things I really love about this and why it's my favorite is this is a rock
band that could be something that could have young listeners, could be on the radio, could
be something that actually brings people together and brings rock music maybe back to the forefront.
(39:19):
A band, an actual band, not just solo artists.
There's something, they've got something special cooking here.
So yeah, a bold evolution for Fontaines DC, blending raw emotion, alt rock influences
and new sonic textures that prove they're not just a band, but a force reshaping modern
rock.
So go check out my favorite album for 2024, Fontaines DC, Romance.
(39:42):
Can you dig it?
We mentioned our very favorite albums of the year.
What are some other great albums from 2024?
AC I got a couple here in my champagne glass for New Year's.
I got a little room in here.
(40:04):
AC Champagne glass, yeah.
I mean, if you can squeeze them in.
AC That's a stretch.
That's a stretch.
Let's talk about my favorite jazz album from 2024 by an artist named Shabaka.
AC I did that last time.
AC The record is called Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace.
(40:25):
This is the debut studio album for The Woodwindest from Lundgland, England.
It's a former member of Sons of Comet and The Comet is coming, which I think we may
have featured almost from those bands on previous shows.
It's a kind of experimental jazz, like the world music space.
This album has a bunch of features including Floating Points, Andre 3000, et cetera, et
(40:48):
cetera.
Let's play a cut from the album.
This is track three.
It's called Insecurities.
It's Moses Semney on the vocals there.
AC Laugh it up, fussball.
Oh, sorry.
AC Still on Shabaka.
Okay.
(41:08):
AC It's a really interesting record.
It's very much in the jazz spirit, though it has kind of more of a world music vibe to
it I would say.
It's very loose and experimental sounding.
Interesting production technique.
He went in and recorded this with all these variety of different musicians.
There's probably like 10 or 12 different musicians on the record.
He went back and edited the jam sessions and kind of created these songs from the edit
(41:33):
and less from the actual playing.
So it kind of exists on two planes, if you will.
AC Yeah.
Listening to this album, it is just one of those examples of how much more pedestrian
my taste is than yours.
I mean, it was like I was floating in space and just unable to grab onto a tether to get
(41:53):
my way back to the ship.
AC It's pretty loose.
It's pretty loose.
A lot of interesting things happen out there in space.
All right.
I'll switch gears for a second here and talk about my favorite punk rock album from 2024.
We're talking about Softplay, the recently renamed group and their album Heavy Jelly.
The four studio album, the band used to be called Slaves.
(42:15):
You may have heard of them in the early 2020s.
Somehow that didn't work out well for them being called Slaves.
AC Yeah.
That's not a good idea.
And they know Coldplay had a lot of success.
So right.
They should have gone Warmplay.
That was more obvious, but Softplay is fine.
All right, let's hear a little bit of, I think this was the lead single.
(42:36):
It's called Punk's Dead.
AC Who's he talking to?
Is it me?
I didn't do it.
AC The record is just kind of ridiculous sounding,
I would say.
It's super fast and in your face and it's kind of goofy and it's very like anti-woke sort
(42:59):
of critiques on society.
Which I appreciated.
It's unlike any other punk rocker record for this year.
That alone is pretty special.
I'm kind of down with the message they got going.
So.
AC I found it unhinged, which I guess is probably good for this type of music.
Some of the songs just seemed a little silly, but maybe it was my frame of mind at the time.
(43:23):
AC I think they are.
That's the jelly.
There you go.
AC What else is on your list, Al?
AC Well, as I said before, it was just a good year for all the artists I like.
One we didn't get to talk about much this year, I'm sure I mentioned it in Diggin, is
The Thas Insolment, which is another one we've been waiting now 24 years for.
(43:44):
AC Geez.
AC Of course, we did talk about two The Thas records this year.
We just got the Hank Williams covers and then we did Mindbomb.
AC So this makes it The The The, if we're not talking about a third.
Trips the.
AC The The is basically singer-songwriter, Matt Johnson, and a cast of musicians.
(44:07):
It's pretty much on brand.
It's kind of post-punk mixed in with some blues and some folk, some psychedelic and
some experimental stuff.
Here's a song called Some Days I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake.
AC Oh man.
So British.
AC The sun hangs low, the church bells toll.
(44:31):
AC It's called the rising sun.
AC Oh, sorry.
There's the folk.
AC Yeah, it's just, it's nice to hear from Matt Johnson again.
And a lot of these songs are like the subject matter is very modern.
He's talking about like modern dating and AI and stuff like that.
So it's kind of fun to hear his take on those things.
(44:52):
AC From like a get off my lawn sort of perspective.
AC Yeah.
He's always kind of been that guy.
AC I haven't always been the kindest to Mr. The.
I have not listened to this album, so I will check it out before the end of the year to
stay in the right frame of mind here.
AC I did have a chance to listen to it.
I was shocked at how much it sounded like his 80s output in terms of the production
(45:12):
on his voice and the whole thing.
I mean, the topics are different, but I think in terms of maintaining the doneness is the
doneness is strong.
AC All right.
And then just changing directions sort of in the, I guess we call it Americana these
days.
I mentioned this at some point this year, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, longtime
(45:34):
songwriting partners.
They came out with an album called Woodland this year.
It's actually their second album credited together.
This was recorded at their rebuilt Woodland studio in Nashville following its destruction
by a tornado in 2020.
Then Americana, folk, roots music, introspective lyrics, themes of renewal, loss and resilience.
(45:54):
Here's the opening cut, empty train load of sky.
AC You guys remember David Steele who talked to
us about Country Song, right?
He's actually good friends with Gillian.
I think they went to school together at Berkeley or something like that.
Is this where it got all original is done, do you know?
Yes.
That sound song is so familiar.
(46:14):
I like that track a lot.
Excellent.
How about you, dude?
So yeah, what I tried to do here is maybe pick some albums that are from genres that
I'm quite a big fan of.
So from the sort of metal stoner rock side of things, I went with Lunar Effect, Sounds
of Green and Blue.
They're formed in 2016, emerged from the London rock scene, Blending Blues, Psychedelia and
(46:39):
Retro Rock with a high octane sound.
So this is their second album.
Why don't we listen to a little bit of Pulling Daisies.
Love the bluesy strain in the voice, fuzzy riffs, kind of classic rockish, but they just
(47:00):
pull it off.
I just think it sounds great.
I like it too.
Yeah.
It's got the little swagger there at times, which helps.
Some good press on this.
I definitely think anyone that's a fan of those sounds should check this out.
I also do have a copy of it on vinyl and it's orange.
It's orange.
(47:20):
So my favorite country album of 2024 with some extra spices is Motel Breakfast by Mack
Leap Art.
Mack is an independent artist working out of Nashville, a real grinder doing it all
on his own and just has a real zeal for making music and having fun and expressing himself.
It comes through in this album.
(47:41):
It's a mix of country, folk, blues, rock, and even to my ears, a couple of splashes
of Zydeco.
Why don't we listen to a little bit of the first single from the album, Rock and Roll
Hey.
I just love his voice, his approach.
(48:06):
I've never heard the term Rock and Roll Hey before and it works really well here.
The title track, Motel Breakfast, being about life on the road and the hardships of it,
but at least you've got that motel breakfast to look forward to.
Your waffle and your watery scrambled eggs, but it's something.
Yeah, complimentary muffin and waffle bar.
(48:30):
Maybe some grits.
It's just that attitude that drives this record.
Some key tracks in my opinion, Rosie, Shake A Leg, Pony Montana, Ain't No Pistol.
Just great songwriting and Mack Leap Art's personality comes through on all of it.
The band sounds great.
They sound like they're having fun.
Did you guys get a chance to come back around on this one?
(48:52):
If not, shame on you.
If not, at least tell me what you think of Motel Breakfasts in general.
Sorry, man.
I just kind of lost track of this one for some reason.
I did listen to it before and I liked it.
Well, I'm a big fan of Motel Breakfast, particularly if there's like an omelet station.
Yeah, those are the fancy joints.
I usually end up at the places where it's boxes of cereal and maybe some coagulated
(49:14):
scrambled eggs.
No coagulation here.
This is a delicious Motel Breakfast.
Go check this album out if you like fun country Americana bluegrass rock and roll.
I think he covers all the bases and it's in a beautiful package.
Check it out.
Okay.
Well, what were you digging in 2024?
Let us know.
(49:34):
Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Also on our website, AlbumNerds.com.
It will be a discovery of extraordinary value.
Well, it's about that time on the show when I'm reminded of our founding father and all
around cool guy, Benjamin Franklin.
(49:57):
Sure.
It's cool.
Didn't he invent like sunglasses?
No, it was Bifocals.
Womp womp.
I'm sure he made the Bifocals look as cool as sunglasses.
Mr. Franklin said, be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let every
new year find you a better man.
(50:18):
With that in mind, let's bring out WODBOT and see what we'll be talking about on our
first episode of 2025.
It's time to venture into the vibrant, mind-expanding and transformative world of Neo-Psychedelia.
Next time, you'll explore three groundbreaking albums that redefined sonic landscapes, embraced
(50:43):
kaleidoscopic creativity and captured the surreal essence of an evolving musical revolution.
So Neo-Psychedelia, that's a mouthful there.
Basically second, third generation psychedelic rock, is that what we're...
Precisely.
Should be interesting.
Sounds right.
Turn on, tune in and drop out.
Right on.
(51:03):
Peace, love, dope.
Well, what's your favorite psychedelic record?
What else are you listening to?
Leave a comment on our website or email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and threads at Album Nerds.
And please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.
And if you'd like to support the show, you can do so via PayPal at albumnerds.com slash
(51:26):
support.
Thank you for joining us once again on the Album Nerds podcast.
We hope you had an awesome 2024.
We know we did.
We'll catch you next time with that Neo-Psychedelia.
Thanks for listening everybody.
Happy New Year.
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
(51:50):
Should old...
I don't know where to stop.
You never do.
Yeah, that song has always been very confusing to me.
But should you forget?
Should you not forget?
Exactly.
Happy New Year's you bums.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.