December's Top 10 Albums

 It's time for December's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed and check these artists out. I am not writing little blurbs on them and just linking the reviews. Inclusion here does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most, I have albums in my in-box that are not coming out til next year so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month there is a wide variety from pop to black metal so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums of December.  

10-Justice - "Hyperdrama" 

Electronic / Pop / Dance

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/justice-hyperdrama.html

9- Lauren Mayberry - "Vicious Creature" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/lauren-mayberry-vicious-creature.html

8-Panzerfaust -'" Suns of Perdition IV :  To Shadow Zion" 

Black Metal- 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/panzerfaust-suns-of-perdition-iv-to.html

7-LEAVS - "Natura Universal" 

Shoe-gaze 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/leavs-natura-universal.html

6-Trelldom-"...By the Shadows..." 

Progressive Black Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/trelldom-by-shadows.html

5- Hidden Mothers  - "Erosion / Avulsion" 

post-hardcore 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/hidden-mothers-erosion-avulsion.html

4-Boston Manor- "Sundiver"  

Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/boston-manor-sundiver.html

3-Jerry Cantrell -"I Want Blood" 

Grunge 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/jerry-cantrell-i-want-blood.html

2-Pale Waves - "Smitten" 

Pop 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/pale-waves-smitten.html

1-Dax Riggs - "7 Songs For Spiders" 

Rock 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/dax-riggs-7-songs-for-spiders.html

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The Top 10 Pop Albums of 2024

Pop does not have to be a bad word. Sadly the music industry takes it down a deeper hole of vapid capitalism, by pumping out products rather than music with anything to say.  Unlike their more mainstream counterparts, these albums were not rolled from the same assembly line and did not need the teams of songwriters and producers to create for them, they generally did this themselves.  Here are albums that stand shoulder to shoulder with other genres, proving pop does not have to be trash, despite being that more often than not these days. 

 After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year for 2024. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Pop albums of 2024.

10- Little Hag -"Not That's What I Call Little Hag" 

Clever indie pop occupies a needed void in this kind of pop music. She sings about her vibrator, and adds quirky touches of actual instruments, more larger artists need to take notes from here.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/little-hag-now-thats-what-i-call-little.html

9-Lauren Mayberry - "Vicious Creature" 

Here first solo album might not be on the level of  Chvrches but does allow you to hear some different sides of her, though her vocal approach is not wildly different. Solid song diverted my thoughts from obsessing about the fact this could have been studio time invested in a new album from her band, but she seems pretty earnest in her efforts here.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/lauren-mayberry-vicious-creature.html

 

8-Eminem -" The Death of  Slim Shady"  

The opening track to Marshall Mathers' 12th album is a minute and a half, making it more of an intro to remind you who he is without having to knock on your TV set. This album might be s better than most pop music on the radio these days, even if it's not his best album. I am glad he did not censor himself and went for it on this one, which is actually this album's strength. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/eminem-death-of-slim-shady.html

 

7-Allie X - "Girl With No Face" 

She has always created a more thoughtful take on pop music, however, once she thinks too deeply into things the more she drifts in a dark wave direction. The 80s hint of it can certainly be heard on this album. This album is pretty infectious and another act that proves you do not have to have a whole team of songwriters and producers to make pop music.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/allie-x-girl-with-no-face.html

6-Denzel Curry -" The King of the Mischievous South" 

When it comes to Hip-hop this year there seems to be a Bone Thugs N Harmony theme when it comes to what is resonating with me. . While the phrase of lyrics being spat here, does share a similar cadence to Bone, there is more of a trap feel than what $uicide Boy$ were doing,.This much like their Louisiana peers, care about songwriting, and there is a darker vibe to what they are doing. For me to download a hip-hop album these days they have to be doing something right and care about writing songs, even if it is only to gain the kind of clout they rap about

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/denzel-curry-king-of-mischievous-south.html

5-Poppy- "Negative Spaces" 

I think Poppy is pretty sincere in what she does, but she also blurs the lines in what she does. This album is not "Suffocate". This album has nothing to do with Knocked Loose. Just because there is a distorted guitar on some songs does not mean this is not a pop album. It's a little over-produced and relies on her charisma, but it's fun which is what pop should be. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/poppy-negative-spaces.html

4 -Mothica -"Kissing Death" 

The third album by this dark pop singer finds a mix of post-millennial dark-wave sounds with thoughtful hooks in a concept album theme of romancing the death as personified as the Grim Reaper. As someone who has a worshipful adoration of death myself, I can appreciate this, as well as an artist who steers clear of the normal pop tropes.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/mothica-kissing-death.html

3-$uicide Boy$ - "New World Depression" 

Since Hip-hop does not have its own list just know this was the best hip-hop album of the year by a long shot. This is the fourth album by the New Orleans-based duo. The production value of their albums continues to improve, now finding the raw lo-fi quality that marked their early days as the first wave of Soundcloud rappers gone and it's not unlike when Bone Thugs N Harmony was at their peak in the 90s.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/uicideboy-new-world-depression.html

 2-Charli XCX -"BRAT" 

If you strip away the cultural marketing tactics that put her in the spotlight this year, she already has released an album of Strong Bangers, but she was not letting it just be a great album. It's the nature of the beast she is in the belly of, but that aside, these songs bump seriously, and I have been a fan of hers for some time now, so glad to see she is getting the recognition she deserves. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/charli-xcx-brat.html

1-Taylor Swift - "The Tortured Poets Department" 

She had pretty decent competition, but at the end of the day, it's her songwriting and lyrical ability that continues to dominate pop music. There is a reason she has a fantastical cult of fans. If we weigh her other albums again this one there might be more debate, but that is where she is as an artist, Swift only has her own work to measure things against. I think this is at least as strong as her more recent work, which is enough to put her over the artists like Charli XCX, who made a great album by pop standards, Swift is just head and shoulders above those standards, as she is not as much of a product. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html

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Lauren Mayberry : "Vicious Creature"

First off I am not a big fan of solo albums as I feel it's more often time better spent putting out an album with your band. Here are a great many of my favorite singers like Bruce Dickinson to Bryan Ferry who I feel this way about it. he steps out of the shadows of Chvrches for this album. Some catchy 90s-tinged songs are not far removed from what she does in Chvrches though perhaps a little poppier.  You could have Miley Cyrus or Allie-X sing these songs and it would not be dramatically different. I think Mayberry benefits from her partners in Chvrches as it balances out the pop side, and takes some of the sugar out of the mix. Watching her little pixie ass in the videos does not really change my mind on this. I felt pretty confident on the first song, but the pop elements began to weigh on me and she sounds less unique on these upbeat ditties. 

Maybe she just needs to get this out of her system? Her voice is the same, and these lyrics might work better over different music. "Change Shapes" bounces along, but does not have the depth of her previous work. I expect a lot from her as the Chvrches albums are so great, so just dialing in pop music is going to wear thin on me. There is a more organic feel to 'Anywhere But Dancing" as she is just singing again the strum of a guitar, which is different but works. 

. "Punch Drunk" is quirky indie pop, that is more organic than not. It builds kind of like "Madonna's "Ray of Light".  "Oh Mother" is an honest enough ballad so that is all you can really ask for from it, prefer it over the more overt pop" "Sorry etc" is more post-punk than the rest of this album up to this point,  "Mantra" proves she does not have abandon pop beats, as the more electronic side works well here.  The same can be said for the more atmospheric groove of " "A Work of Fiction" has a more 90s pop feel to me.  "Are You Awake' of an example of when doing something different that is not her band works for her. It's a piano ballad and feels more like she is just taking room to breathe while being true to the vibes of her band apart from them. There are some strong moments and maybe it needs to just grow on me, but I'll still round this down to a 9, as it's not as good as Chvrches but does allow you to hear some different sides of her, though her vocal approach is not wildly different. 

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Report to the Dance Floor - Chvrches : "Open Every Eye" & "Leave a Trace" Video

Funny enough I decided to break down and give Chvrches a shot a few weeks ago after hearing them brought up on the State Of the Goth Scene panel at this year's Dragon-con. While not what I consider goth they do have a more serious lyrical tone than most of today's pop music and much like Twin Shadow are an act that proves pop doesn't have to be a bad word. their last album some reviews compared it Taylor Swift's "1989". They took that as a compliment. And this might come as a surprise to readers here who normally click on for the goth/metal/ punk reviews, but I have gained an appreciation for Swifts last two albums. The hooks are addictive and the same can be said for Chvrches. Lauren Mayberry continues to ooze with the same youthful glee that Swift also possesses, the difference being more lyrical as Mayberry doesn't always have to be the protagonist in her songs. She has little regret for not always being nice claiming on "Leave a Trace" that she is as sane as she ever was. Mayberry might make you dance , but she didn't show up to the studio trying to start a party.

Often more metaphoric their lyrics are much like their music as it has more complex layers than Swift's. Compared to their previous album there are no drastic changes, a little more of an 80s slant to parts of "Make Them Gold" . "Clearest Blue" was one of the lead singles off this album that has been on the inner webs for some time. I don't listen to the radio, so I am unsure if Chvrches gets much air time in cities aside from New York and LA, but I can see this song being too angular in some places to neatly fit next to Katy Perry on the dial. Part of this is they don't follow the trends , but make their own and this doesn't have any hip-hop under tones, it's very white electronica.

The male vocals are more soulful and poppy than they were on the last album, but it's hard to argue against the fact that the are much improved from the previous album and have an almost Twin Shadow quality to them.Then they slap a new coat of sugar on the pop formula with "Empty Threat". The tempo picks up on the chorus and then its the expand and contract formula from there. Not the album's strongest song, but it's not bad and better than most of the stuff on the radio. The beat gets funky as in odd not James Brown on "Down Side of Me". The male vocals add texture in manner more reminiscent of the previous album. I would not say this is a ballad , but moving in that direction. The continue to color outside of the lines, taking on a more 80s pop sound on "Playing Dead".  Her voice fits well in the grooves making it one of the albums stronger songs. The samples wedged into the song give it more kick.

There is more of a quirky new wave feel...think Gary Numan, to "Bury It". The beats are more fuzzed out and while not comparable to Nine Inch Nails , they carry more punch that most pop. The album closes with "Afterglow" which does indulge itself in balladry. This song is pleasant but is not crucial to the album. They slightly face a refrain of sorts at the end. I'll around this one up to a 9.5 , It might have been a ten if I had written off the last song as an outro, but for the sake of this review it was intended to be a song that stands on its own two feet. Some of these songs might grow on me, most pop music creeps up on me over time. Fans will not be disappointed if they liked the last album.