Earlier in the week we counted down numbers 20-11 of my standout tracks from 2024 – a mixture of Westcoast powerpop, indie-folk and straight down the line Americana, which of course is the raison d’etre of this dear little website. Here are my top 10 tracks from the last 12 months, on this evidence a vintage year for music. And please let us know your own in the comments, particularly if there are any absolute gems we’ve missed in the deluge.
10. GospelbeacH “Hang Thyme”
All political careers end in failure apparently – people leave it too late before they go – but it’s not always the case with artists. Exhibit one – Wham! And exhibit two – GospelbeacH. 10 years on from their debut they have signed off with an album fitting for a decade of recording, and the opening track has the same Laurel Canyon feel. They were just a great Americana band. I’m so glad I got to see them play in Liverpool before the pandemic. The only thing I won’t miss is the annoying upper case H at the end of the band name which just makes it look like we haven’t proofed the posts.
9. Lee DeWyze “Devil In The Details”
How many artists do we include on these virtual pages who have won a series of American Idol? (clue – it’s more than zero but less than two). We described “Gone For Days” in our 9/10 review back in September as having “top-quality musicianship and finely-crafted lyrics” and this particular song as “deliciously doomy, banjo and strings combining with heavily reverbed vocals and hand claps and surely another destined for a TV or film soundtrack.” And deliciously doomy could be a strapline for this site.
8. Susanna Hoffs/Jesse Malin “High Lonesome”
In 2023 Americana singer Jesse Malin suffered a spinal stroke which left him unable to walk. In the wake of this turn of events, Sweet Relief was set up to help fund his treatment and recovery and a group of Malin’s fellow musicians, many of whom he had collaborated with over the years got together to record “Silver Patron Saints: The Songs Of Jesse Malin” to raise money for the charity and at the same time show their love and admiration for the New York singer-songwriter. If you judge a man by his friends then Malin must be one of the most decent blokes on the planet as the roster of musicians who got involved is off the chart, including Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Jakob Dylan and Counting Crows among others, but it’s the version of this particular song of Malin’s with The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs on vocals which made gave me goosebumps on first listen.
7. Them Coulee Boys “I Am Not Sad”
While some tracks included in this year’s list were technically recorded in previous years, this track from Wisconsin folk-rockers Them Coulee Boys is taken from an album “No Fun In The Chrysalis” which hasn’t even been released yet. Frontman Soren Staff says of the song: “‘I Am Not Sad‘… captures the theme of accepting change this record focuses on. I’ve struggled with my mental health my whole life, dealing with depression, anxiety, and issues with self-worth. I’ve embraced those issues in my songwriting, hoping to shine a light on things that we all go through from time to time. We have plenty of songs that talk about these issues, but this one is the first that accepts them… “The song is built around the phrase ‘I am not sad anymore, at least not today.’ It’s a celebration of the happiness in the moment, while acknowledging that there’s times when it’s harder. It’s about being thankful for the good times, and letting them stack up on one another for when the bad times come. It’s a declaration, a moment of catharsis, while knowing that it won’t always be like that.” And honestly, it was a tonic, 4 minutes of musical therapy hearing this for the first time.
6. Grandaddy “Watercooler”
You don’t always get what you want running a website around Americana music and one of the things which we didn’t get was this album sent to us for review, which is such a tragedy since it’s my favourite Americana album of the year, an album just so crushingly beautiful that it’s almost too much to listen to in one go. It’s the band aka Jason Lytle’s first album since Kevin Garcia, bassist and co-founder died at a tragically young age back in 2017. “Blu-Wav” was accordingly their first new release in 7 years, a blend according to Lytle of new wave and bluegrass although it sounds more americana-y to these ears. I have long said that there are not enough bleeps in Americana – this puts that, and the world, to rights. It’s like a cosmic bath which never goes cold.
5. Briscoe “Wild Thing”
OK another track which was technically released in 2023 and in fact there is no discernable reason to include it in this year’s list other than it was released towards the end of 2023 and I completely missed it last year. Hey, we have a lot of music to get through. Have you heard of this great new country singer called Taylor Swift? As we noted in our review, Briscoe are Texan duo Truett Heintzelman and Philip Lupton who first met as fourteen-year-olds at a summer camp just outside Kerryville where they discovered a shared passion for the music of John Prine, as well as folk duos past and present such as Simon and Garfunkel and the Avett Brothers. The whole album is great but it’s this particular song which features a melody you would serve time for. I accidentally left it on a repeat loop in my car once which I am averse to doing in case a song loses its effect, but I didn’t lift a finger to stop it.
4. Charley Crockett “Good at Losing”
Charley Crockett released not one but two albums in 2024, both of which were standout releases in their own right, but this isn’t unusual for the singer-songwriter who madly has had 15 releases since 2015 and 9 in this decade alone. He describes his music as “Gulf and Western” and really does sound like he could have been recording 50 years ago. The highlight from both albums (which formed a $10 Cowboy pair) was an understated song from the first record called ‘Good at Losing’ which references the years he spent traipsing the country without a purpose other than playing: “They laughed at me in New York City, Called me a fool in L.A, I doubt that Nashville saw me coming, Besides the bar folks working late” It somehow reminds me of that series of Weeds when they went on the run. It ends with the words turning into a hum which is somehow perfect.
3. Icarus Phoenix “Nostalgia for Arannis Morissette, the Half-Elf Bard”
The only artist I’ve included twice in this year’s list are about as prolific as Charley Crockett – and while the track I included at number 13 was taken from the fourth album, ‘Nostalgia for Arannis Morissette, the Half-Elf Bard’ is taken from an EP release with a video which suits it down to the ground. Being a father these days makes my ear prick up whenever I hear references to parenthood – I actually think most artists who sing about it overdo it, like a never ending Facebook stream in the form of a song – but Drew Danburry somehow makes it feel magical and relevant in the best way. Danburry commented: “I was thinking about how my life had been changed by people who write songs…this thought combined with how my son had recently asked me to grow a wizard’s beard coupled with the idea that songs themselves are a sort of spell being cast. I guess that’s why I made the words what they are. Sometimes people don’t hear what you’re saying. Don’t feel what you’re feeling and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just move on and write another song I guess?” Also there is not enough whistling in music these days.
2. Nada Surf “New Propeller”
Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws told us in an interview earlier this year that “One of my favourite records of all time is The International Submarine Band’s ‘Safe at Home’” and that was so reassuring to hear since we’ve always had time for them here at AUK but it sometimes feels like we’re stretching ourselves genre-wise. Their new home on New West Records highlights the respect that this band which has been around now for 3 decades-plus has in the industry, and their debut release for the label “Moon Mirror” felt like a perfect fit on the strength of the song. Caws told me in the interview that effectively this song is about a certain yellow-haired orange-skinned man and although I didn’t realise this on first listen I now think “of course it is”. Given the events of November, the song feels more relevant and important than ever – I feel like sending it to every single American sometimes. “Don’t be scared, you won’t be replaced.” Too late now, but still. A genuine anthem for our times.
1. Merce Lemon “Backyard Lover”
I can honestly count the songs which have made me weep on first listen on one hand (or maybe two), but the song ‘Backyard Lover’ by Pittsburgh’s Merce Lemon is one such song when I heard it in October this year on 6Music. The album it’s taken from, “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild” is a fairly sad record all round, so maybe my reaction wasn’t surprising, but it’s so warm and inclusive and laidback that I always feel better not worse after listening to it. I’m ashamed to say that I can’t beat Pitchfork’s comments on the song: ““Backyard Lover,” a smoldering highlight, builds to one of the album’s purest moments of emotional catharsis, and encapsulates many of its disparate threads. The song peaks with genuine shredding: the ecstatic moment when, over peals of electric guitar, Lemon calls out, “You fucking liar.” This is a track about grief and self-loathing, a reflection on the death of a friend, and there’s an extraordinary depth to the sadness she’s describing. Lemon is angry, but she’s ultimately also resigned. She wants to be alone, but she needs her friends. She’s struggling, but she’s trooping through it. She sounds like a lot of things—which is to say, she sounds like herself.” Still healing from a relationship bereavement (which I have to say is taking an achingly long time) the song reached out and throttled my fairly bruised heart and I guess I sobbed with the potency of it all. I can’t think of a song which has affected me so much this year, and for that reason it’s my track of 2024.
