25 BEST TRACKS OF 2024 (So Far)
Already 6 months behind us this year.
Time to look/listen back. These 25
tracks made TUTV’s ears go bonkers.
ALL TOGETHER
.
TRACK-BY-TRACK
1. ‘Starting And Staring’ by GUSTAF (NYC)
The swirling 5-piece from Brooklyn led by charismatic frontwoman
Lydia Gammil released their 2nd album Package Pt. 2 last April.
Lead single Starting and Staring is a knockout.
Funkier than the B-52’s in their heyday, and they spin around
with more dash and class than Bodega and Parquet Courts.
Let’s roll.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ‘Mustang’ by KINGS OF LEON (Nashville, US)
The Nashville family launched their 9th album
named Cand We Please Have Fun’ last May.
Peak piece Mustang is a roasting steamroller that
turns up the heat even more when the cooking chorus
kicks in.
KOL.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Ticking by SPRINTS (Ireland)
The flabbergasting energy these ear-splitting loud Irish beatniks develop on their ace debut LP Letter To Self is off the charts. The opener Ticking is what these 4 Irish indies
do on repeat. Building a near-unbearable tension and exploding insanely along the rough ride.
Holy smoke.
.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ by AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS (Australia)
Since this Australian punk tornado released their 2nd
longplayer Comfort To Me back in 2021 they’re on an
endless tour around the globe.
Yet, in between all gig mayhem they found some time to write/record/release
two new searing sucker-punches with U Should Be Doing This as my favourite.
Amyl: ‘This song makes me laugh, but it’s also in a way poking fun at the shock that
people still feel at a little bit of skimpy clothing, and the bitchy high school way that
the music community still is.’
Sassy striking stroke.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. ‘Hallelujah’ by BAD MOVES (Washington D.C.)
Washington‘s flamboyant guitar pop quartet release
their 3rd LP, baptized Wearing Out The Refrain next
September.
On Hallelujah they rage against the anti-LGBTQ
machine with knives between their teeth and an
unstoppable drive.
“To express oneself, now expressly forbidden/ That’s a spiritual hell, that’s
a new prohibition/ And they’ll boil you down to reproductive function/ When
they see you as a vessel and not as a person!”
Punktastic.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. ‘Sink Ya Teeth’ by THE MYSTERINES (UK)
Sink Ya Teeth from their 2nd LP, named Afraid Of Tomorrows
which came out last month, is a a maddening master blaster.
Cool as fuck!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. ‘Body Of Mine’ by LAMBRINI GIRLS (Brighton, UK)
The feminist-punk duo went nuclear the past year following their
amazeballs 6-track EP You’re Welcome and this year’s bulldozing
and gender-themed missile Body Of Mine.
Speedball stunner.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. ‘Starburster’ by FONTAINES D.C. (Ireland)
Irish indie stars FONTAINES D.C. will share their 4th LP,
named ROMANCE with the world on August 23rd.
The lead single Starburster is a feverish corker
with a bone-chilling gush and frontman Grian
Chatten rapping all over it with his characteristic
uptight parlando.
New look, new vibe, new feat.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Danzig With Myself’ by THE DANDY WARHOLS (Portland)
Last March the Dandys came up with their 12th album, named Rockmaker.
Lead single Danzing With Myself features Pixies‘ general Frank Black and
is a gloomy and doomy groover. With its poignant progression, this piece
creeps under your skin in an eye/ear blink.
Danz here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. ‘Aeroplane’ by THE LIVING PINS (Austin, TX)
These two electrifying Amazons hit the bullseye with this
jagged jackhammer from their rawk-ing EP Let It Be So.
Imagine 60s British glam rock legends T. Rex and
American trash duo Royal Trux jamming together.
Fly along here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. ‘Repeat After Me’ by RAPTUROUS (Kent, UK)
UK’s rock/hip-hop team Rapturous invite us to scream
our lungs out on their avid anthem that celebrates freedom.
“The song was inspired by the old blues style of call & response, we wanted to create something that could be easily sung back to us by the crowd. The song is about being free from anything that is getting you down, be it your job, finances, the world, or the weekend’s football scores. Freedom from misery, that’s the idea.”
Think Cypress Hill fronted by Zack de la Rocha,
rattling like a rapid-fire riot-gun.
Repeat after them.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. ‘All The Same’ by FAT DOG (South London)
Fat Dog are coming up faster than an out-of-control comet.
These bloodhounds are working on their debut LP.
One of the shared tracks (so far) is this disco-punk
axe.
Bingo!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
13. ‘Oh Shit’ by THE LIBERTINES (UK)
British infamous mavericks dropped their 4th album
called All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade last April.
Oh Shit was one of the singles. A shit-along crackerjack sung by
Carl Barât and joined on the chirpy chorus by his buddy Doherty.
Oh fun.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. ‘A Foretold Ecstasy’ by MAYFLOWER MADAME (Norway)
This Norwegian band specializes in a dark and distinctive blend
of post-punk, shoegaze and psych-noir. So far they released two
albums.
On this new, superb single drums and bass team up for an
incessantly beat that carries this instantaneously sticking ride,
along with a magnetizing Cure-esque guitar riff that gets you in
a trance.
Truly hypnotizing from start to finish with velvety vocals
and darkwavish synths in the back adding a twilight tone.
Top-tier tune.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
15. ‘Lights Down Low’ by DIE SEXUAL (Los Angeles)
This hepped-up EBM duo conjure their influences of EBM, techno and electropop,
their sound is an intoxicating mix of analog synthetics and seductive vocals, touching
on themes of desire and despair, domination and submission.
They have a new 3-track EP, titled Inservio out, with opener Lights Down Low
as my favorite. An electro booster with a mindblowing techno beat à la The Prodigy
that rotates irresistibly, non-stop.
Bang-on.
.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
16. ‘Big Time Nothing’ by ST. VINCENT (Oklahoma)
Glamorous songstress St. Vincent delivered
her 7th LP All Born Screaming last April.
High-spot cut Big Time Nothing is a 24-carat
pumping dancefloor knockout.
Party time.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
17. ‘S o f t e r by VIRGINS (Ireland)
This Belfast-based shoegaze team made an impact on my ears
last April, with their notable debut LP nothing hurt and anything
was beautiful
Lead single Softer is a psychedelic shoegaze stunner, a multi-layered symphony
propelled by about a thousand guitars, a mindboggling bass riff, and combative
drums, while Rebecca Dow‘s ghostly vocals scrape the sky. A titanic thrill.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
18. ‘Peace Sign’ by RIDE (UK)
The shoegaze veterans scored an excellent
opus with their 7th LP, named Interplay
The album’s first single Peace Sign
is a sickly sticky pop earworm with
an orgasmic chorus.
Bingo.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
19. ‘I Don’t Understand What Any Of You Are Doing’ by DEAD ANYWAY (UK)
This British duo combine the dark lyricism of Kate Arnold
against the music and soundscapes of Marc Symonds.
They caught my attention with last February‘s top album
Partially Eaten By Animals.
Highlight ‘I Don’t Understand What Any Of You Are Doing’ dives into trip-hop-pop territory with Arnold‘s crystal clear voice floating all over shiny synth dynamics. Catchy as hell.
.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
20. ‘Welcome Tou Your New Future’ by LEG PUPPY 2.0 (London, UK)
This madcap techno act scored their best (so far)
album with Humanity 2.0 which came out last May.
You can shake your (p)elvis to single Welcome To Your New
Future while getting nervous about the unknown tomorrow.
What’s in store for humankind. Nuclear war or peace and free love?
Or will we be just another brick in the wall? Whatever happens,
never stop pirouetting yourself dizzy to manic music .
We don’t need your education
We don’t need no your thought control
________________________________________________________________________________________________
21. ‘Just Like Everybody Else’ by SPIELMANN (Leeds, UK)

Photo credit: Thandiwe Zivengwa
This cut features on Spielmann‘s new, splendid
EP, titled Fifteen Minutes With Spielmann
Just Like Everybody Else is a glorious, full-orchestrated pop gem, that transfers you in an eye/ear blink to a sonic dreamland with its affecting melodiousness, riveting chorus and warm-hearted vocals. Three highly-entertaining minutes and twenty seconds with Spielmann
________________________________________________________________________________________________
22. ‘Just Another Rainbow’ by LIAM GALLAGHER & JOHN SQUIRE (UK)
New star tandem Gallagher-Squire produced/released their debut LP last March.
The lead-single Just Another Rainbow is partly Oasis, partly Stone Roses.
Liam sings like Liam (who else?) and Squire does his psychedelic 6-string
Stone Roses thing.
Infectious lads rock.
.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
23. ‘Close Enough’ by STRESS DOLLS (Buffalo, NY)
Stress Dolls is the musical moniker of songstress Chelsea O’Donnell.
Last May she released her enchanting debut album Queen Of No.
Close Enough is one of my favorite tracks. A captivating pop song.
Tantalizing tunefulness, glistening guitar sparks, and gratifying vocals
combine for a top tune.
.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
24. ‘Red’ by YOKOPHONO (Finland)
This is how British blues rock titans Royal Blood would sound if their
producer is a fanatic post-punk fan. Red is a riff-rough stormer.
The crude combination of hammering drums, stoner rock electricity,
and firm vocals create a shocking effect. Yokophono is a RED-hot 2-piece.
.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds have canned album number 18.
It’s baptized Wild God and will show up on August 30.
The title track is a sublime composition. The first part is crooner Cave as we know him,
but quickly the vocal passion and goosebumps intensity go up and from halfway on, this diamond turns into an orchestral masterpiece, with a zealous hallelujah choir and an opera-like majesty.
Best piece they wrote in years. Breathtaking.
TUTV: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter








































