The ten best albums of 2024 so far.

I don’t think I’ve done one of these midyear album updates since 2020, but given how many solid or better albums there have already been this year, I had plenty of choices for this post, and I know from experience it helps me do the year-end wrap-up if I’ve at least gotten a head start and summarized the first six months. This list is in alphabetical order by artist, although I do identify my favorite album of the year in the text. (No spoilers.)

Alcest, Les chantes de l’aurore

Alcest started out as a death-metal project for the musician who goes by Neige, then incorporated shoegaze sounds to create something called “blackgaze” that was later co-opted by Deafheaven (with whom Neige has worked), after which Alcest added a second member and released an album that was all shoegaze with no metal. They’ve varied their mix of genres on subsequent albums, but this latest one gets the balance right, as they did on 2016’s incredible Kodama. The album is primarily heavy shoegaze, with some very infrequent screamed vocals deeper in the mix, so the wall-of-guitars sound is really the emphasis. Other strong metal albums this year include Wheel’s Charismatic Leaders, Pallbearer’s The Mind Burns Alive, and Crypt Sermon’s The Stygian Rose.

Courting, New Last Name

Quirky pop music with a post-punk edge, New Last Name grabs you right away with the 2023 single “Throw,” followed by the poppiest track on the record, “We Look Good Together (Big Words),” both of which are anchored by infectious, clean guitar riffs. They show their post-punk influences more on “Flex,” which has some clear Buzzcocks influence and lyrically references “Mr. Brightside,” because that song is over 20 years old. You’re welcome.

Kid Kapichi, There Goes the Neighborhood

They’re probably never quite going to match their incredible, no-skips debut album, but Kid Kapichi keeps churning out angry yet catchy working-class anthems with a touch of Alex Turner in the lyrics but a heavier, crunchier backdrop of guitars more inspired by punk and pub-rock. Highlights here include “Let’s Get to Work,” “Can EU Hear Me?,” and the wonderfully weird “Tamagotchi.”

The Libertines, All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade

This is my most listened-to album of the year so far, as the likely lads came back better than ever, with a slew of intoxicating and surprisingly upbeat tracks – ”Oh Shit,” “Run Run Run,” “Shiver,” and “Night of the Hunter” – that still bear that clear Doherty/Barât sound, just with better production and less breaking and entering.

Mdou Moctar, Funeral for Justice

This is my album of the year so far, and it’ll be hard to top. Hailing from Niger, a country that has been torn by political strife including a military coup this time last year, Moctar blends Tuareg music with western rock styles, particularly psychedelic rock and blues rock, crafting indelible guitar riffs and furious solos beneath the protest lyrics (sung in his native language, Tamasheq) that have boosted his popularity in the Sahel. I caught the last show of Moctar’s U.S. tour, at Union Transfer in Philly, and he blew the doors off the place, with incredible shredding and extended jams for several of the songs he played, including jumping into the crowd for his final guitar solo.

The Mysterines, Afraid of Tomorrows

I loved the Mysterines’ early output, fun, punchy, uptempo tracks like “Gasoline,” “I Win Every Time,” “Bet Your Pretty Face,” and more, but their debut album Reeling didn’t include any of those, and saw Lia Metcalfe & co. wallowing a bit more in slower and less catchy territory. This album, released last month, is far more in line with what I want from the Mysterines, because it puts the rock part front and center, and then Metcalfe’s smoky voice is that much more potent. Highlights include “Sink Ya Teeth,” “Stray,” and “The Last Dance.”

Pond – Stung!

Pond are all over the place yet again, and I’m good with it because the highs are high enough. They’re an experimental rock band from Australia with a heavy emphasis on psychedelic rock, but are comfortable veering into funk-pop (“So Lo”) or a mélange of 1970s hard rock and 1960s Motown rhythms (“(I’m) Stung”), or just straight-up psychedelic rock that your parents might have heard at Woodstock (“Neon River”). The album is 14 songs and 54+ minutes long, so it does wear out its welcome a bit as it goes on, but I put it on this list over some other albums I liked, such as Ride’s Interplay and Parsnip’s Behold, because it’s more ambitious.

Sprints, Letter to Self

The long-awaited debut full-length from this Dublin punk-rock band did not disappoint, and it’s one of the most true-to-form punk albums of the last few years, with spare lyrics and repeated lines over fast-paced guitar lines that mostly get out in under 3½ minutes. (Unfortunately, lead guitarist Colm O’Reilly left the band abruptly in mid-May.) Highlights include “Heavy,” “Adore Adore Adore,” “Literary Mind,” and “Up and Comer.”

Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood

While I loved Katie Crutchfield’s 2020 album Saint Cloud, I think I respect this album more than I love it, as it’s a slower, more tenebrous affair than the previous record, and I like her music when she incorporates a little more rock or folk and works less in the traditional country lane. Highlights include “3 Sisters,” “Evil Spawn,” “Bored,” and “Crimes of the Heart.”

Yard Act, Where’s My Utopia?

This wasn’t quite up to the level of their debut album The Overload, but Yard Act are always messing around with styles and genres, and “Dream Job” might be their mostly overtly poppy song yet, even with their typical offbeat lyrics – how many pop hits can you name that use the word “kowtow?” Vocalist James Smith has cited his love of hip-hop in interviews, and that’s more evident in the words and his delivery across this album, and he moves seamlessly between rapping, talk-singing, and outright singing across the record. Other highlights include “We Make Hits,” “Petroleum,” and “When the Laughter Stops.”