In 2024, Philadelphia radio has been dominated by two types of content—Eagles highlights and the same three election ads aired ad nauseum on every station. Amid such distractions, it’s hard to separate the signal from the noise—but why rid ourselves of the noise that fills our lives at all? After all, 2024 has been a banner year in music, from industry veterans finally breaking into the ultra–mainstream (you know exactly who I’m talking about) to new acts shaking things up deep underground. Whether you’ve had a BRAT summer or a Cold Visions year (a phrase I just invented—pass it on), Street has you covered with all the highlights from this year’s music scene.
– Nishanth Bhargava, Music Editor
Kaho Matsui—scrutiny portrait
Kaho Matsui’s emo ambience, recently brought from Portland, Ore. to Philly, is intensely indoors—the kind of stewing that emerges from a day stuck in your bedroom, as your direct surroundings sink their teeth deep into your consciousness, and your memories woozily distort them. In her avant–folk sketches, peeking sunlight is symbolized by a rich collection of bright guitars and distant howling, and a train ride home is a wall–to–wall metallic screech. Couched in it all is a soft spoken–word: pages and pages of diary entries, revelations of an identity forged by another.
Matsui’s April offering, scrutiny portrait, is an opus of sorts: a gentle foraging in acoustics to come across an incalculable closeness, a thousand unsent letters, and the occasional end–of–the–world exhalation. It’s the most strikingly personal record of this year, whose domestic pangs and strums unearth an exceptional landscape and whose lyrics should be breathed in like particulate.
– Will Cai, Music beat
Malcolm Todd—Sweet Boy
“Well uh, I hope you like my mix–tape,” Malcolm Todd says unsurely at the end of “Earrings,” the first song on his new, dreamlike collection of smooth guitar riffs and R&B vocals, replete with head–bumping drums and electric keys. Sweet Boy, Todd’s debut album, came out in early April and is a modern sensation that I’ve had on repeat ever since, serving as my summer album without a single skip. Toying with bass lines, snare drums, and an ear–melting voice, the rhythms in this album take shape in a way never seen before, leaving listeners addicted to its distinctly fluid sound. Revolving around a messy breakup in which Todd is attempting to get over a past lover, the core of this album is a frustrated scream of “I’m fucking trying, but I can’t move on,” though it doesn’t shy away from having fun with its tunes. In songs like “Rodrick Rules,” an unbelievably catchy and energetic rhythm is coated with lyrics like “I lost you but maybe now I won / I’m gonna guitar solo now / I don’t—I don’t think it needs—/ I’m gonna guitar solo now / Don’t do it,” followed by a 30–second guitar solo that leaves listeners smirking from the bickering that preceded it. This stupidly boyish creativity and how it interacts with the vulnerability of Todd’s lyrics on this album easily made these 16 heartsick songs my album of the year.
– Maren Cohen, Music beat
Reserv—Pop, Ballad, Electronic, etc.
Reserv is The Postal Service reincarnate: peak indietronica backdrops and homely singing that anyone could pull off. His lyrics paint fragments of a quiet urban existence with an oddly poetic innocence—sometimes deeply sad, sometimes drunk in love, always imbued with yearning. Most importantly, the music sticks.
This all rings especially true for Pop, Ballad, Electronic, etc., Reserv’s most fleshed–out work to date. Its illustrative words and compositions have seeped into the deepest recesses of my being: “Chit Chattin’ Away”’s layers of plucky synth–work and cute duetting, “Nouns on Top of Verbs”’s waltzy begs and admissions, “Headacher”’s cozy crooning over midi–string crescendos, and the array of other tightly woven portraits. Over all these pixelated heartbeats, Reserv sings with profound specificity, simple American idioms, and shattering self–awareness.
Pop, Ballad, Electronic, etc. is the album equivalent of romanticizing the little things: It’s coming out of your apartment, desperate to find a direction to walk in; it’s looking up at gold escaping a concrete sky, once flooded in the gray of your hoodie.
– Will Cai, Music beat
Adrianne Lenker—Bright Future
Move aside, Taylor Swift—Adrianne Lenker is the true Tortured Poet, the bona fide sad girl, the unparalleled beacon of devoted suffering. In her fifth studio album, the Big Thief frontwoman shows us once again that she is absolutely no stranger to the kind of heartache that absolutely guts you. The stripped–back production is classic Lenker; her last two albums are also instrumentally sparse, but the direct–to–tape recording here is a totally different animal—and my god, she loses none of her artistic finesse. The static, slow paced piano of the album opener “Real House,” the combination of staccato and palm–muted pickings in “Already Lost”: They all form an arrested tenderness. Her lyrical ability, transportive and sincere, is just as touching. In 12 tracks, she takes us to places of painful remembrance, stitching together a bruised portrait of childhood, singing on the sort of “lost” feeling you can’t quite put your finger on.
Bright Future is a testament to simple storytelling, stubborn proof that true vulnerability is soul–spun. Forming gospel from a string of scattered chords and a slant rhyme—many try, few succeed. For Lenker, it’s second nature.
– Sophia Mirabal, Music beat
Vince Staples—Dark Times
In an environment in which all you experience is struggle, loss, and violence, love is often the only positive thing you can find in life. But what happens when the few instances of love you find all end in betrayal? Vince Staples answers this question on Dark Times, a catchy yet cynical album featuring anecdotes from Vince’s past lives. Growing up in the more dangerous areas of North Long Beach, Calif., Vince has experienced trauma that has given him a negative outlook on life—a topic he discusses extensively across most of his discography. On this record, however, he discusses the stressors of romance and its complications in life. Don’t let the depressing themes fool you, though: Vince’s negativity doesn’t translate to poor quality, as Dark Times is still a triumph in musical excellence.
– Jett Bolker, Music beat
Tyler, the Creator—Chromakopia
As someone who has seen Tyler, the Creator perform live twice, bought several of his records on vinyl, and frequently buys clothing from his company Golf Wang, putting this album on this list may seem a little biased; I might as well be the fan he talks about on “Colossus.” However, Tyler’s recent album Chromakopia is an emotional rollercoaster that will have you both shaking ass and crying on the floor. This is an album of growth: As Tyler hits 30, he pays homage to the sound of his Odd Future days while also showcasing his musical and personal development. Tyler has never been this vulnerable in his music before—even albums like Flower Boy and IGOR that discuss private aspects of his life pale in comparison to Chromakopia. Tyler samples older, foreign music while keeping the same synth production that he’s known for, pairing it with hard–hitting lyrics about familial struggles, relationship issues, and … getting sticky? The album is a fantastic balance of good vibes and raw coming–of–age storytelling, and it’s something that everyone should experience.
– Jett Bolker, Music beat
MJ Lenderman—Manning Fireworks
Every generation needs a voice to channel its angst. These pained anthems have ranged from the country ballads of Johnny Cash to the snide musings of Pavement (or even the emo ragers of My Chemical Romance). With MJ Lenderman’s newest project Manning Fireworks, the littles agonies of the 2020s have finally found their spokesman. Manning Fireworks is both a submission and a triumph—on every track, Lenderman opines upon the daily miseries that characterize his life, from his need for emotional intimacy on “Wristwatch” and “Joker Lips” to the alienation that comes with losing someone you love on “Bark at the Moon.” In totality, however, these songs transform into an exaltation of the beauty of striving to live, a tension expressed perfectly on the bombastic “On My Knees”—“Every day is a miracle / not to mention a threat.”
Manning Fireworks draws from country, indie, and alternative influences to flesh out its twangy but robust sound. These charged instrumentals serve to further complement Lenderman’s phenomenal songwriting talent, which is the real highlight of the album. The strategic vulnerability of Lenderman’s lyrics are precisely what make him so cool—his colorful lyrics cut deep, reflecting your own experiences back at you in ways you could never have conceived. Drifting perfectly from the jangly indie of “You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In” to the crowd–pleasing country rock of “She’s Leaving You” (the most powerful rendition of which I heard at a rest stop on the N.J. Turnpike), Manning Fireworks reveals Lenderman’s genius because of how powerfully it reflects upon struggles that everyone can understand. While anyone could have written these songs, no one else did.
– Nishanth Bhargava, Music Editor
Mannequin Pussy—I Got Heaven
Mannequin Pussy has always been angry—what else would you expect from Philly’s punk–leaning indie rock sweetheart? But in their fourth studio album, I Got Heaven, the band is at peak emotional intensity, growling with their teeth bared, face burning hot, and passionate emotions in constant flux.
The record hits the ground running with “I Got Heaven,” one of the best title tracks and openers of recent indie rock. Mannequin Pussy grounds their themes in the body; there’s no higher power to look towards for answers. The body is where lovers can find respite from the storm outside, though beware, as the storm is also inside. Missy Dabice’s voice—which seamlessly shifts from soft singing to a guttural screaming that could kill—is the glue of the record, vocalizing the unruly but yearning lyrics throughout.
It’s songs like “Loud Bark” that strike this balance and plant I Got Heaven among the greats of this year’s releases. Mannequin Pussy has a “loud bark / deep bite,” but underneath is much uncertainty and hurt. More melodic songs like “Nothing Like” or “Softly” sneak in melancholic lyrics about giving so much of yourself for a partner that it leaves you gutted. Fans of the band’s more hardcore sound can be satiated with songs at the latter end of the tracklist, like “Aching” and “OK? OK! OK? OK!” which, to be frank, fucking rips, thanks to Missy and Bear Regisford’s horny yelling. I Got Heaven explores both a rage and love that is primal, all–consuming and contradictory. It’ll eat you up until you’re ravaged and limping, with nothing but blood on your hands.
– Hannah Sung, Features Editor
Waxahatchee—Tigers Blood
About a minute into “Right Back To It,” the lead single on Katie Crutchfield’s 2024 album Tigers Blood, Crutchfield and fellow Southern rocker MJ Lenderman croon out, “You just settle in / like a song with no end.” It’s a perfect ten seconds that also encapsulates the entire album, which unspools and unfolds into a gorgeous, meandering journey with no end in sight. Tigers Blood is Crutchfield’s fourth album as Waxahatchee, and the first after doubling her audience with 2020’s Saint Cloud. Yet unlike what many indie songwriters do after hitting a certain level of acclaim and fame, Tigers Blood eschews typical reinvention in favor of refinement. It’s also an album full of restless energy. “I get ahead of myself / Refusing anyone's help,” Crutchfield laments on the aforementioned “Right Back To It.” Her songs are rarely linear, moving between images, observations, and conversations with a keen eye. The easy road beckons, but Crutchfield won’t take it. In this spacious and warm record, Crutchfield gives herself the time to chart her own paths.
– Catherine Sorrentino, Print Managing Editor
Xiu Xiu—13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips
In spectacular chrome and seafoam green, the illustrious art–rock band Xiu Xiu’s 17th album 13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips proposes an outsider take on glam rock for the esoteric. Coming off their twisted and dense Ignore Grief, the band utilizes their newest member, former Devo drummer David Kendrick, to return to their roots in guitar–based music. They use his pop sensibilities on songs like “Veneficium,” which has an opening lick so sticky it could be used as easily in a Mazda commercial as a witch meeting in the woods. You even have the lead single, “Common Loon,” which sounds like a garbled karaoke cover of David Bowie played on broken speakers. Its whimsy gets captured in a music video performed by the zany, incredibly talented Philly local McDazzler. The tracks are crazy, but they’re catchy. It’s a new balance for the band, unreached since Angela Seo first joined the group. You never lose sight of what makes Xiu Xiu, well, Xiu Xiu—arcane songs titled like “T.D.F.T.W.” (The Devil’s Forgiven That’s Why) and lyrics as heart wrenching as “I have done almost nothing right / my entire adult life / but having dared to touch the fire with you / breaks the chain of my being nothing too” (from “Arp Omni”). It’s weird music attempting to reach normal people, but getting caught up in the wonder of making noise.
– Logan Yuhas, Staff writer
Remi Wolf—Big Ideas
Remi Wolf’s music bookended my college experience, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Big Ideas is Wolf’s sophomore record, following her 2021 release Juno. Three years later, the Palo Alto, Calif. native continues to blend funk, disco, and bedroom pop for sensory overload at its finest. Big Ideas is theatrical and whimsical—an amalgamation of neon colors, flailing limbs, and chirping animals, accompanied by guitar solos and brass instrumentals. When Wolf is struck by an outlandish intrusive thought, she doesn’t hesitate to share it: “You’re so heavy, I’m horny / And I’m not worried about the sound,” she belts on “Toro.” While “Cinderella,” “Pitiful,” and “Slay Bitch” are quirky danceable anthems, Wolf slows down on “Motorcycle,” “Alone in Miami,” and “Cherries & Cream” to reflect on her mental health, her journey to sobriety, and the beauty of her solitude. “Just the Start” is a Kimya Dawson–esque reminder that there is nothing wrong with staying up a “little later talk[ing] about art and wine.” Maybe, à la “Kangaroo,” the Cabernet could save us all!
– Kate Ratner, Assignments Editor
NMIXX—Fe304: BREAK
NMIXX has always been the weird little sister of the K–Pop world. From their controversial debut “O.O” to the eccentric “DICE,” NMIXX has attempted to sell MIXX POP—combining two drastically different genres of music into one song—to an intrigued but unreceptive audience. 2023’s éxpergo and its lead single “Love Me Like This” attempted to revamp the group’s image, using a conventional R&B pop song to catapult the group into fame. If éxpergo was meant to attract fans that may have once been turned off by the group’s chaotic style, Fe3O4: BREAK is an upgraded return to form for the group. Title track “DASH” reintroduces the group’s infamous MIXX POP formula to greater success and demonstrates the group’s vocal abilities and harmonization. But the group doesn’t stop there—“Run For Roses” is arguably the group’s magnum opus, a perfect demonstration of the group’s vocal color, backed by country–tinged production and the welcome surprise of a fiddle. Album tracks “BOOM” and “Passionfruit” showcases the group’s musical range, from flirtations with R&B and hip–hop to Jersey Cub inspiration. The genre–bending EP never feels like a costume, but rather a showcase of the very fabric of the group’s whimsical identity. Altogether, Fe3O4: BREAK demonstrates the group’s passion for music and love of the arts. The group has taken the goodwill they gained from éxpergo and exceeded expectations, making it one of K–Pop’s most compelling releases of the year.
– Derek Wong, Video Editor
