The Top 10 Punk Albums of 2024

Punk has been in an interesting place. There is no shortage of people claiming to play it, but to find real punk driven by the desire to not conform is a harder aspiration, given the masses' willingness to conform.   These albums captured the true spirit of punk, by doing their own thing. It was a competitive year for the genre, and tough choices had to be made.   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. 2024The very fact that 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 Punk albums of 2024

10 -Modern Life is War -"Tribulation Worksongs" 

This compilation of their three most recent 7"s makes it clear they know what they are doing, making them one of the most solid punk bands going today.  Despite screaming their way through the  Stooges cover,  here they prove themselves, and at least they know who the Stooges are making them real punk. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/modern-life-is-war-tribulation-worksongs.html

 9-Seeyouspacecowboy- "Coup de Grace" 

This album finds them in a more kinetic grooving take on hardcore that is not unlike Callous Doaboys sonically, though leaning in a more Myspace-influenced era of sound. There is an equal balance of sass and substance. The breakdowns are not delivered predictably, though the hooks are poppy enough to conform to expectations in this regard. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/seeyouspacecowboy-coup-de-grace.html

9-Amyl and the Sniffers- "Cartoon Darkness" 

At times this Australian band indulges in pop-infected bliss thanks to the pla7ful attitude of their frontwoman Amy Taylor. She must have listened to The Spice Girls and the Runaways in equal measure as a kid., and typically carries the album with her charisma. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/amyl-and-sniffers-cartoon-darkness.html

                 

7-Chain Cult -"Harm Reduction" 

This band from Greece has a punk energy to them though the guitar tone rings out with a darker nuance. The ocals stay firmly on the punk side, against the creepy bass lines and the guitar's spectral tension. All factoring in to sound that is more interesting than your average punk band. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/gothtober-chain-cult-harm-reduction.html

6-Drug Church -"PRUDE" 

 These guys came out blazing in all the right ways on their new album. It has a hard-core drive, but still some hooks and melody, though the vocals are more roared. This is a moodier album that t makes me think of Bob Mould, but pumped up on modern hardcore production values.  Yet this is not as in-your-face as a hard-core album is, but enough to earn its place here. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/drug-church-prude.html

5-Rotten UK - "Agent of Chaos" 

Remember when punk was fun? It cared about songs and thrashed with a darker mood lurking under it. Yeah, I am talking about bands like the Exploited and GBH. Bands that obviously influenced this band, take the angry fire and make their own sound with it. Not only did they capture the sound, but they also wrote song catchy songs while not compromising the aggression getting there. They know the finer points of riffs and dynamics. Perfect music for the current state of things.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/rotten-uk-age-of-chaos.html

 

4- High Vis -"Guided Tour '

This time around things are not as tense or dark, in fact, the guitar jangles and rings out with a tone that owes more to "Joshua Tree" era U2. I don't need them to be post-punk so the more upbeat songs work for me as they are well written and sound great. The London-based band leans more toward a punk thing for the second song, though it is more nuanced than most punk. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/high-vis-guided-tour.html

3-Whores- "WAR" 

 After an 8 year wait, the Atlanta band is back with their biggest most polished album yet. This more refined, could even be thought of as more accessible.  The Spinal Tap-like cycling out of drummers finds them with drummer number five Douglas Barrett behind the kit. A great deal of the punk sound has been shed, for hooky syncopation that feels more anthemic.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/whores-war.html

 

2-Alakine Trio-""Blood, Hair and Eyeballs" 

Everything seems dialed in tighter for this album. Their melodic sensibility sometimes reminds me of Bad Religion if they were into the Addams Family instead of politics. It might not be the most rebellious or rowdy punk album you will hear this year, but it is going to be hard to beat the kind of presentation they have dialed in here. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/alkaline-trio-blood-hair-and-eyeballs.html

1-Gouge Away -"Deep Sage"

 Been six years since the Flordia punk band released their last album. They return with the kind of angular dissonant hardcore-tinged rock you expect from them.  Christina Michelle is crying out with the same level of abrasive edge she had last time around. The album gains more nuance with each song, and it is more of a sonic tapestry than the raw outpouring of emotion they initially hit you with. They have matured to perfection here. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/03/gouge-away-deep-sage.html

Gothtober- Chain Cult : "Harm Reduction"

 Sometimes what makes a band work for your ears is an intangible quality. Though I typically dissect that feeling to understand it. That is the nature of music journalism. Or at least it should be. This band from Greece has a punk energy to them though the guitar tone rings out to tell a different story. The vocals stay firmly on the punk side in the opening song and I do not expect for these guys to turn into vampires any time soon. But the bass has creep to it and the guitar forms a spectral tension. All factoring in to sound I resonate with it more than if this was just a punk band. 

There is a slight hint of the Misfits to 'Ending Things" though not as invested in movie monsters and more exploratory of depression. The punches in this song work well. It's more dark punk than death rock, though it shares certain sonics with it. The title track only has hints of the shadows in the chord progressions and is closer to straight-up punk. The chords of "Poison Scars" feel more like early New Model Army. Though the vocals have more of a shout to them. "Harrowing Times" is a better balance, though most of the weight rests on the guitars as the vocals pretty much do one thing. Not an uncommon occurrence in punk music. 

The bass line that sets the stage for 'The Plan" is pretty cool and the rest of the song reminds me of old AFI. The vocal tone might not change but the cadence shifts enough for the song. Lots of palm-muted tension built. This is one of the album's strongest songs. 'Red  Lines' finds them working off formulas that have already worked for them with moody guitar phrasing. "Concrete Wind " closes the album on a marginally darker tone. The vocal circle the same patterns they have been hitting you with. The guitars also hold a similar gray-clouded tension.  I will give this album a 9.5, as they keep things interesting enough even in the basic framework of punk rock. 

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