Hi, I'm Hunter, I DJ Storm Surge of Reverb aka The Surf Show, Mondays 4-6pm. My favorite surf records eventually get posted in their own separate thing at stormsurgeofreverb.com but I also listen to a lot of other things to preserve my sanity.
My list is big this year! And there were a few that I even left off because at some point this list has to end, so I can start my year-end surf list and catch up on all the records by bands I like that I didn't even know released something this year.
These are presented in order of whatever whim I was riding. I hope you find something you like.
Healing Gems - In the Mood
There are bands that take all the greatest hits of the World Music section of the record store and throw them in a blender. Healing Gems do that, but they go a bit more low-brow, tossing in the exotica and easy listening sections too. The result is something immersive, cozy, schmalzy, but also constantly taking on new forms. Take "Swords Dance", a track seemingly built to flex their diversity, with flashes of Eleki, Tuareg, Ethio-jazz, surf, Martin Denny, Olatunji, dub... and other songs feature more. I loved their 2020 LP, and this one seems a little darker and more instrumentally focused. At times, particularly on tracks like "Dreameater", they bare a strong resemblance to Room Thirteen, whose first LP was perhaps my favorite of 2017. Certainly room for more of that sound as far as I'm concerned.
Astrodome - Seascapes
Desert rock group decides to go for the exact opposite biome, and the cover makes me want to think Ride - Nowhere. Maybe a hint of that, but not really. Isis - Oceanic? Maybe a bit more? Really, what I hear a lot of is the colossal guitar sound and earth-rupturing bass of Cave In - Jupiter, even though it's entirely instrumental. I can totally see what they're going for with calling these seascapes, reflecting on its vastness and unfathomable mass and power, but it could just as easily soundtrack the forming of a star. That's the fun of instrumental music, and this is indeed some fun instrumental music.
The Lostines - Meet the Lostines
I frequently buy music for my dad for birthdays and holidays, but I think this is the only time I handed something to my mom and told her to listen to it. She texted me back to say "How did you know I would like this?" Well, I've picked up a few things about her taste, but it helps that this is really really good, hitting a sweet spot between country and brill-building pop. Their voices are great together (and occasionally apart), and they're backed by some of New Orleans' finest in their field. "No Mama Blues" has spent a lot of time in my head this year, and the crescendo of "Come Back to My Arms" is absolutely stirring. It was extremely gratifying to add this to WTUL's collection and watch it rocket to the top of our most-played list -- I guess it's not just me and my mom.
The Resonars - Electricity Plus
The Resonars are exactly the flavor of pop-psych that I like, and I have not yet heard an album of theirs that is less than very good. So it's hard to say that this is their best when everything is quality and most of it is sonically pretty similar... but this may be their best. All fourteen songs (two tracks aren't really songs) are excellent. Truly unappreciated masters of pop rock songwriting.
Medicine - On the Bed
I have really tried to be a Medicine fan. They can sound amazing sometimes, but unfortunately I rarely find their songs to be memorable. Take that sound and slap it on a bunch of Beatles songs and we're in business, adding a unique crunch and wildness to a band that some have said is un-coverable. And by choosing songs that are outside The Beatles top 20 or so, it all feels pretty fresh to me.
Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra - Tension
I'm woefully understudied on Astatke's work, and even though I have two other Hoodna Orchestra records, I haven't spun them nearly as much as they deserve. But this one has been great. I have a feeling they met a bit in the middle, compromising the extreme edges for each participating half. That sounds disappointing, but it merges well, cooling down to a mysterious, slinking vibe... almost like a spy drama out of Ethiopia and Israel. Don't think they've filmed that one yet.
Nice Biscuit - SOS
Hypnotic, disco-psych that's confident and oughta be. I saw another review assuredly claim that the title track was the winner but uh-uh, no way. "Love That Takes You Up" is as much of a "banger" as my elder millenial senses will allow me to proclaim. But then what about the out-of-control howling of "Rain"? And if this weren't enough, they swerve into shoegazey territory with "Moment", something their vocals needed zero adjustment for. What a fun record.
Indy Tumbita & the Voodoo Bandits - La Dança Ritual da Salamandra
I loved the last Voodoo Bandits record, and this is basically more. More cumbia with a surf/punk edge to it, but also with an explosive energy that feels like you're listening to a festival headliner. Guitar is a large part of it, but vocals are too (which is why it's not on my surf list), and the brass especially impresses with lots of extra flourishes. It's also got one of the most fun Clash covers I think I've heard.
Plant Cell - Botanical
Plant Cell call themselves flowergaze, and I think that isn't just related to their name. They are so freakin' lovely. Listen to "Live in the Green Fields" and tell me those big and bold piano chords aren't lifting you up above the clouds. "Speed Games at Daytona Beach" is the intersection of Sega Dreamcast and shoegaze you never knew you needed. And if you just can't get enough bliss, they had another album this year too.
Godspeed You! Black Emeperor - NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD
Godspeed still out there doing their cinematic, organic post-rock. And they're still exceptional at it -- it's almost perplexing how they can move you with abstract textures and chord-changes. I listened to this with the personal, interpretive approach that instrumentalism allows and loved it. But the title and packaging are all very focused on the horror of war via the Israel/Gaza conflict, and I have to say that that backfired for me. I think providing an instrumental soundtrack to something like that only hollywoodifies it. I understand the want for a musician to express themselves about something weighing heavily, but ultimately I'm experiencing the band's second-hand feelings rather than empathizing with those involved in the war. Perhaps others will think differently, but thankfully I can still appreciate the record on purely musical merits.
Wand - Vertigo
I'd heard a decent amount of Wand before this, but not enough that I remembered what they sounded like. After going back to previous albums it seems like the answer was "not as much like Radiohead as this album". Whatever, it's working. "Smile" has emerged as a favorite song of the year, a fuzzy blanket to return to when I need some warmth.
The Fadeaways - Pretty Wild
Unbeknownst to me, this Japanese garage rock group has been around for about 18 years. That's plenty of time to lose your spark! But every song is as good as the one before it, be it cover or original, played blisteringly loud and full of passion. They're not doing anything particularly special here, just doing it very well.
As it happens, they released an LP in November that's also very good, but I think I'm still leaning towards this one.
Peel Dream Magazine - Rose Main Reading Room
Peel Dream Magazine was always on the edge of being a band I really liked. Their earlier, noisier, gazier sound was up my alley, but the songs rarely clicked. But this version of them is absolutely working for me. That "reading room" part of the title gives you a hint of the coziness they're packing, but this record is also blooming with life and wonder. Put it on and feel good.
LAIR - Ngelar
I feel like a hallmark of the past decade and change has been digging up every country's traditional guitar style and bringing it out for the world to see: chicha, tuareg, cambodian golden age, anatolian rock, etc. I'm happy as a pig in shit. But even I have to admit that there comes a point where I hear another Tuareg guitar group and think "It's just another one." Well, here's another different guitar sound! LAIR hail from Jatiwangi, West Java, Indonesia, and it has all the mystery, musicianship, muted aggression, and unpredictable funkiness you could want.
Sven Wunder & Drumetrics - Free Time
This clocks in at less than 8 minutes, so I'm just gonna say "Whole album please".
Upupayama - Mount Elephant
Because of his zenny-light (despite album title) guitar style and krauty psychedelic leanings, I've always lumped Upupayama alongside Kikagaku Moyo, and despite enjoying both about equally, the greater global mindshare of the latter Japanese group has kind of edged out the former Italian artist in my own mind. Well, Kikagaku Moyo is done, so make way. This is such a pleasant record in its moment-to-moment moments that it's always startlingly fun when he rips raw into fuzzy freakouts.
Misha Panfilov & Shawn Lee
Usually when I write these I first go through my collection and find what came out in 2024. In this case I think "Any good Misha records this year?" While the new Penza Penza had great moments of alien rock & roll, it was probably the weakest from that group. This one is nice, a bit of a nod to Mort Garson's Plantasia with a tad of Silver Apples, sometimes reminding me of Air.
The Heavy Heavy - The Heavy Heavy
After a fantastic breakout EP that had "Christmas present for dads everywhere" written all over it, The Heavy Heavy's full-length doubles down on their lo-fi late 60's sound (perhaps even lo-ering the fi a smidge) and gets a little louder and in-your-face while still keeping a folky side. These songs are probably a little more festival-stage friendly, and a great listen all the way through, even if it doesn't quite pack a major earworm like their EP had. The important thing was to prove that they were more than an EP, and they are.
Mo Dotti - Opaque
Shoegaze may be boomin' right now, but nu-gaze can be so gloomy, grungey and deftonesey. The guitarists in Mo Dotti sound like their having actually enjoying themselves: blasting, volleying, and tweaking shoegaze noise, reveling in it. Because shoegaze rules, fuck yeah.
Oneida - Expensive Air
This brings me back to the mid-2000's. Is it because that's when I was in college in the northeast, seeing Oneida shows with friends? Well yes, definitely, but is it also because this is a sound that crested in popularity around then? No matter the answer to that question, the important thing is that it's able to get back there. It has the noise, the unpredictability, the energy, the condescension that I was feeding off of then, the punk rock energy that felt so much more punk rock than the Epitaph/Fat Wreck stuff I cut my teeth on in high school. I miss that stuff, and I miss spazzing around at shows listening to this stuff. Have Oneida ever played in New Orleans? Would it be the same without my college buddies? I wish I could at least find out.
Laurie Anderson - Amelia
A dramatic telling of Amelia Earhart's final voyage, and by dramatic I'd say imagine Laurie Anderson pretending to be Amelia Earhart. It's extremely immersive, and transports you right into the cockpit in cinematic style. Anderson clearly put a lot of time imagining what it was like, and even though I'd say we're looking at it more through the eyes of an artist, the vision presented to us is beautiful and fascinating.
deary - Aurelia
Guitars that sound a lot like Slowdive. Drums that sound like Massive Attack. That's a good combination!
Ghost Power - Ghost Power
It's funny, I hold back on comparing every other band I write about to Stereolab, but only now as I type this do I realize that one member actually was in Stereolab... and I wasn't even going to make that comparison on this time! Dark and spooky, but also lush and adventurous library music with krautrock leanings and some cool sampling.
Ghetto Brothers - Power-Fuerza
It's not what I expect something by a band called Ghetto Brothers to sound like, but that adjustment takes barely a few seconds because those vocals are so infectious. And that's to say nothing of their pristine psychdelic funk sound.
Trendafilka - For the Olives
You probably won't have the same listening experience as me for this, because half of the fun is that I can pick out the indentities of the many voices on this record, and they're people that I've shared great memories with (and in one case, share a house and two children). They're an exceptional group of people that have worked really hard on this record, and it's been great to watch this group evolve and hone into what you hear here.
The following records seemed really cool but came into my life while I was writing this thing and I'm wary of a recency bias boost.