Being a MA-based outfit and being lucky enough to be a small part of the beautiful music community here we tend to be a little biased when it comes to local artists. Especially when it comes to year end round up’s and rankings! That said, and like last year, we’re going all loosey goosey-like and delivering 24 artists that did it for us in 2024 in the hopes that maybe you can take a second listen or a first if you haven’t already!
And while there are 24 artists on our list, we’re not ranking them as we did for the national list so that we can celebrate all equally. Criteria? Well, that depends and we’ll dive into that more as we get deeper in but know that release-wise it just had to be a single, EP, or LP released in 2024 and that’s pretty much it. Oh, and hyperlinks for the reviews we did in the respective headers if you’d like to read MORE!
And with that said…. let’s get to some honorable mentions, shall we? Wait, what?
Ruby Grove continues to astound and impress and we are HERE for what’s to come with 2024 seeing the band on a touring kick plus appearances at the annual Rock & Roll Rumble during the Spring along with the release of the single and video for the stellar “Crystal Land” to name just a few of their many accomplishments. Speaking of Rumble fam, The Roland High Life made an appearances in the ’24 class as well and was relentless with their releases having dropped no less than 4 songs in 2024 including “Oh Dolours” while Why Try? shared Just Fine, Canyons and Locusts dropped new EP The Red Angel early in the year with recently released “Anna Save A Life” heralding more new music in the new year and then Wayward Vine delivered 3 (4 as of 12/20) new singles on their way to a full-length due in 2025 (Did we mention we have a 2025 preview post on the way? Stay tuned for more WV and few others over on that one soon).
Did someone say full-lengths??? There were LOTS to love in 2024 and here are a few: Salem Wolves’ crushing concept record The Psychotron Speaks arrived and The Only Humans put out a concept record of their own called It’s A Beautiful Night. I Think I’ll Disappear Enough., both of which we can’t recommend enough. Then there was Already Dead with a riotous return on the Blue Collar fury of Something Like A War, Kit Orion‘s exquisite electronic-fused Bottle Grin, and Arrows of Athena‘s haunting Alternative found in The Ghost Archives! More full-lengths needed? Howzabout Viruette‘s take on mid-Aught Euro Rawk straight outta Boston on Your Lacuna? Or Count Zero’s first full-length in 13 years called thought so?? Or Circus Trees‘ emotive shoegaze within This makes me sad, and I miss you??? Southwest of the city, DNA’s Evolution dropped their larger than life new full-length and already have a killer show or two lined up in the new year with one featuring 2023 Rumble winners One Fall plus The Mighty Squirrels and Type 66 at Middle East Upstairs on May 9th (Tix available here)!
On the heavier side of things, Leather Lung and Worshipper dropped some appropriately epic full-lengths as did Miracle Blood later in the year (Along with a tasty brew collaboration with Deep Cuts!). Don’t like to be bothered by some vocalist spewing words over the music you’re trying to listen to? Well, Glacier had you covered in that department with their instrumental A Distant, Violent Shudder. Like your heavy with some melody? Well, after diving into the artists initially intended for the ill-fated Capulet Fest back in June we came across Major Moment who are on the verge of some major things with a massive hybrid sound and a diverse range that could be heard across a slew of new music released this year.
Following 2023’s grand amor fati release, Worcester/Providence hybrid Sapling mostly kept a low recorded profile with “Eris Worship” and the just dropped “Hoping Mechanism” (All proceeds from the latter go to The Brigid Alliance so you should definitely share and buy multiple copies here). Elswehere on the scene, The Magic City made their debut and mark in 2024 with a pair of singles, Michelle Forziati returned after some time away from the Boston music scene with two new songs as well, as did Lovina Falls who dropped “Tragedy” and the Joan Hathaway-directed clip and single for “Ellery Way” (Plus a Rumble appearance amongst other shows around town). Speaking of playing out, there was rarely a bill you couldn’t find Astral Bitch on in 2024 which was fine with us as long as tunes like latest single “Haunting You” could be heard (Who are we kidding? AB’s presence is so strong they could play TV Themes straight for a half hour and we’d be happy) and Diablogato and Bird language both released new EP’s which shined bright.
And now, 24 more:
Other Brother Darryl-“Sometimes”, “The Ballad of Joni and Graham”: OBD continued to honor the spirit of the late Dave Mirabella beginning early in the year with new single “Gypsy Girl” (Followed by “Sometimes” and “The Ballad Of Joni & Graham”), then made it far in the ’24 Rock & Roll Rumble, released a mini-doc on their origins and capped it all off with a big “W” in the “Best Country Artist” category at the BOSTON MUSIC AWARDS!!! To say 2024 was a successful one for the Alternative Country outfit would be a vast understatement. Oh, and there’s a full-length on the way next year… but we’ll save that for another post.
Falsely Accused, “A Drink Before The War”, “Witches”: Falsely Accused made their return in 2024 following 2021’s debut full-length with two songs representing different facets of the FA sound with “A Drink…” taking on the anthemic rallying call aspect of the band while “Witches” was all sorts of haunting Bluesy noise. More importantly, both tracks ruled and have us excited for what’s around the corner in 2025!
Ghost On TV-“Daily Laws”: GOT has big things on the horizon… and we feel a little bad that we’re kind of using this showcase of single “Daily Laws” to sort of hype that we have a preview post on the way that’ll offer way more on what those big things are. Again, we feel a little bad about all that. Anyway! “Daily Laws” is one of a handful of these 24 titles where it only took one song and barely 4 minutes of music for us to be enraptured enough in the Ghost On TV sound to make a space on this most coveted of year end lists. It is a coveted spot, yeah? Regardless, GOT is creating a Trip-Hop/Electro Indie Alternative hybrid that’s unlike anything happening in the Boston Music Scene today and we highly recommend you check them out now!
Sundrifter-An Earlier Time (Small Stone Recordings): We completely stand by our statement in the title of this review for Sundrifter and the comparison to the fabled Genereator Parties of yore. Sure, we never attended one but we worship the ground Kyuss used to walk on and can’t imagine why what Sundrifter is doing wouldn’t completely be at home in that atmosphere. By way of Boston, of course.
Jennifer Tefft & The Strange: Strange Beginnings (Rock Garden Records): Beyond the “Need to have listened to the record on our own beyond just reviewing purposes” aspect of our year end round up criteria is also that when song gets stuck in our head it’s usually an instant invite onto the list. And Strange Beginnings from Jennifer Tefft & The Strange had several of those. Hell, just looking at the header causes the infectious chorus of “Going Out” to play on repeat in the old noodle and when you’re making memorable music like that we kind of have to do our part and share it as much as we can!
Happy Little Clouds-“The Emperor’s Song”, “I Don’t Suppose”, “Lungs”: Happy Little Clouds had a great year. We know we were instantly hooked on anything they were selling the moment the warm fuzzy vibes of “The Emperor’s Song” hit earlier in the year. From there, the Jac Mestel-led outfit had a ferocious return with a reinvigorated lineup featuring JD Bergstrom and Jess Townsend, two more singles, countless shows, and appearances at some of the regional screenings of Dave Habeeb’s Beautiful Was The Fight documentary among other highlights.
slo-anne-whiplash: This record just owns from start to finish and sort of came out of left field for us which is one of our most favorite ways of discovering kick ass new music. And how could we ignore a Boston by way of Connecticut duo that works the term “boot scootin'” into their bio so effortlessly??? It also helps that they have the musical chops to back all of what we just said up.
DEPROGRAMMER CULT-Tactics For Manipulation (Constant Disappointment Records): Easily one of our most anticipated Heavy releases of the year, the debut full-length from Boston’s DEPROGRAMMER CULT lived up to the hype with a blistering flurry of calculated fury across a blissful barrage executed over eight tracks. DC also had the distinction of being the first band featured in our fancy new website layout late this summer so there’s that, too.
Phantom Ocean-Phantasmagoria, “Carfax Abbey”: Whether it was the raucous EP released early in 2024, the slew of shows, or the September single “Carfax Abbey” (And first feature under our new “Spooky SZN Sounds” banner!), there was no denying that Phantom Ocean’s brand of Rawk ruled hard in 2024.
Subpunch-dozy: There was just something about this release that rattled around in our headspace for a long, long time after it initially finished and was a welcome return when going through the archives to make sure we didn’t miss anything for the big list. Not that “Ugly Sunday (Pushing Daisies)” was ever far from our thoughts with the way this quirky, downtrodden ditty just latches on and never lets go. In a good way!
Alreckque-6PM: We couldn’t have a year pass without something Jim Healey-related, could we??? Of course not! And with his latest project, the Blood Lightning, Set Fire, and solo act luminary teamed with Grayskull Booking mastermind Aaron Gray and SF bandmate Rob Davol to create a sleek four tracks that’s all Harmony, Heart, & Heaviness.
Linnea’s Garden-“Chaotic Bisexual Summer”, “Nice Things”: While we only covered the video and single for “Nice Things” and single “Chaotic Bisexual Summer”, Linnea’s Garden celebrated 2024 with an abundance of shows and those aforementioned singles building a slow burn (Along with “Cherry”) towards new EP Looking forward to the moment which pushed the Glam Punk trio’s sound to new levels of sonic excellence.
The Shallows-“Channels”, “White Sands”, “Dust And Sun”, “Murder Your Darlings”: Let’s see, we started the year covering the coolest local Post-Punk outfit by premiering the video for “Channels” off last year’s Wave State LP and then The Shallows would go on to unleash 3 all new originals of silky Synth-laden Art Rawk which we were also lucky enough to cover. But please don’t ask us to pick which one is our favorite???
Mission To Sleep-“Designer Graves” (Mind Over Matter Records): We don’t know what happened between last year’s White Death EP and this year’s “Designer Graves” but we’re here for it. To put it simply, it’s like deftones jumping from the rawness of Adrenaline into the mega stars in the making that White Pony represents in a span of 6 months rather than the 5 years it took between both those iconic albums. And we can confidently tell you that what’s next is even better (Again, you have to wait for the 2025 preview post for more on this one, too. Sorry?)
Girl With A Hawk-“Way With Words”, “#VOTE (Rock The Boat)”, “Share It All” (Rum Bar Records): GWAH ended 2023 with some poignant prose for fallen comrade Justine Covault while 2024 saw the Linda Viens-led outfit raise their collective fists in the air with some powerful protest songs that we think will stand the test of time with the staying power that each release holds.
Parts Per Million-“Her Song”: Boston’s PPM started 2024 rather quietly with the release of “Off With Her head (The sad story of how Danny Ek broke my heart” and then dropped a certified banger in “Her Story” further in. Fittingly following GWAH on this list, “Her Song” is an anthem in support of women’s reproductive rights and a woman’s right to chose that’s easily the band’s heaviest, and quite possibly, most iconic to date.
GUT HEALTH-“CONVERSATION LOST”: There is something about the chaos energy that follows GUT HEALTH that makes their music and live shows so utterly enthralling and seeing it in person at this year’s Rumble was a revelation. They also happen to be one of those bands that can capture that sound in the studio which made “CONVERSATION LOST” all the more special for folks looking to continue their sonic education upon just discovering the Not Bad Not Well splinter cell.
Tysk Tysk Task-Helium Dreams: We didn’t cover everything that Lowell’s Tysk Tysk Task released in 2024 but we got a lot with “Intolerable”, “Trazodone”, and “My Side” all making their way onto RNRF in the first half of the year. Those 3 made up the bulk of EP Helium Dreams and just recently, “City Lights” dropped to cap off a killer 2024 which saw the refined line up of Samantha Hartsel, Rick Martel, Michael Benjamin, and Matt Graber rawkin’ the Boston Calling stage and basically emerging from the chrysalis with a whole new TTT energy.
Sunday Junkie-“Vultures”, “Haunted Head”: It doesn’t matter that the first material from Sunday Junkie only started to arrive in the last month or so, it still rules! Our second Not Bad Not Well-related outfit on here, Sunday Junkie taps into the more diverse yet dynamic aspects that other band encapsulated on the regular wrapped in a comforting modern Indie Alternative shell which had made the music released thus far so compelling!
Looking Glass War-“See You In Hell, Liberty Bell”, “Adamantine Chain Gang”: We already dug Looking Glass War going into this year’s Rumble where they were an entrant but holy hell after seeing the band we are definitely fans for life! You ever see a band live and it makes you revisit their entire discog in search of that on stage electricity again? Yeah, that was us and LGW. And luckily, soon after their appearnce the Boston quartet started dropping some new singles beginning with the catchy AF “See You In Hell, Liberty Bell” followed by the late summer release of “Rumination House” and ending with the recent “Adamantine Chain Gang” which was a menacing Post-Punk throwback that answers the question of what sounds would be produced if Generation X and Joy Division ever ended up in a practice space together.
Nevertheless.am-“Will I Ever?”: From the ashes of Lurid Purple Flowers? Not quite seeing as though all of LPF is a part of Neverless.am. But sound-wise, comparing Neverless.am and LPF is like talking the differences of the night versus the day if that makes sense at all. It doesn’t? Then just take a listen to first single “Can’t Let Go” or, more recently, “Will I Ever?” which both lean toward a denser sound and offer promise of more ShoeGrunge Indie Noise Rawk to come… sooner rather than later.
Parlour Bells-To Be Or Not To Behave: Y’know what? We could’ve gone the easy route here seeing as how PB and Looking Glass War share a few members (Goddamn Glenn, Tony Porter) but the stuff that each individually put out in 2024 NECESSITATED separate acknowledgements. And as massive Horror fans, especially the Slasher genre, we might be slightly biased toward the Parlour Bells folks currently and what we think may have been the best video of the year with their treatment of To Be Or Not To Behave track “Slasher Movie Weather” (Check out the clip below featuring the band alongside potential final girls Pearl Buttons, Tracey “Muthafuckin” Vaughan, Maggie Marraschino, Honey Pie and Abby Normal). Regardless of the visual accompaniment, the first new material from Parlour Bells in some time was a revelation and a reminder of the prolonged potency of the Boston outfit.
Stompbox-Final Summer: Having went to college in Boston in the mid-’90’s but being too young at the time to take in some of the cooler shows at Axis or Avalon for a spell, we were ridiculously excited when Stompbox announced a reunion for the Julie Duffy benefit shows back in 2021 and that we’d finally be able to see the band live (Our first during-COVID shows to boot!) Cut to earlier this year and the thought that we’d also be able to hear new music from Stompbox early for reviewing AND get a chance to interview drummer Zeph Courtney for our small rag as well? Can’t be real. But it was (The proof is here and in the header!) and we still have all the feels regarding all of it. As for the music? It’s pure Stompbox Rawk through and through just slightly older and maybe even a little wiser.
Wyn & The White Light-Luck: How serendipitous that we’re finishing the final edits on this 2024 in review post while listening through the corresponding Spotify playlist (To make sure the sequence is a’ight) and as we dive into this bit on Luck, “White Noise” starts playing! Anywho! Sometimes it’s the albums or artists that are so far outside of our norm that have the greatest impact and we can’t think of an artist that embodies that more than Wyn & The White Light (Need further proof? Just check out the very loud Top 5 on our national list when that posts). Every moment of this album, whether in recorded form or out on the road, has been a reflective celebration of this “34 minute journey through the divine feminine and near death experience” (Per Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Wyn Doran) and we’re just happy we could play just a tiny part in spreading the word on this wonderful noise created by Doran, Heidi Tierney, and Lucia Jean.