The end of the year is upon us, and it's time to reflect on your favorite music of 2024! Here are Zach McCormick's favorite music of the year. Once you've made your own list, vote in The Current's Top 89 poll by December 19, and we'll count down your Top 89 of 2024 at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, and at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1.

Best of 2024 List for Top 89 

Top Songs

1: DEHD – “Dog Days” – Poetry
This band just keeps finding ways to get better, adding layers of nuance and stacking hooks upon hooks and intertwining beautiful melodies while still retaining their punky/DIY edge. Also one of my favorite live shows of the year!  

2: Waxahatchee – “Bored” – Tigers Blood 
It’s been a real treat to watch Katie Crutchfield’s growth from emo/punk in P.S. Elliot to those great early, indie-rock dominated Waxahatchee records, and now to becoming a bonafide, GRAMMY-nominated alt-country star. Awesome album and another great live show too! 

3: Fontaines DC – “Favourite” – Romance
I tend to get twitchy when my favorite bands spend the press cycles for their new album citing influences from questionable genres (what’s with the nu-metal stuff, dudes?) and talking about wanting to broaden their appeal, but these brilliant Irish lads pulled it off, taking their unique sound and blowing it up to stadium size without losing their depth an inventiveness.  

4: MJ Lenderman – “She’s Leaving You” – Manning Fireworks
A supremely talented Gen Z memelord made a record that sounds like something Uncle Tupelo would have made if they had been a Merge Records band touring with Archers of Loaf (complimentary). Sing it with me, Lenderheads: “I’ve got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome…” 

5: Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Alibi” – The Past is Still Alive
This record is like the audio equivalent of a barside chat at your favorite dive with the most interesting stranger you’ve ever met. It’s full of fascinating, warmly told stories with delightful turns of phrase and emanates a worldly confidence. Another production win for Brad Cook! 

6: Leon Bridges – “Peaceful Place” – Leon
The Texas Son put it all together on this one, synthesizing the lush vintage soul of his debut, dirt-road Americana and storytelling from his Lone Star home, and a modern R&B artist’s sense of sonic adventurousness.  

7: Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies – “Mint Tea” – Passage Du Desir
It’s so awesome to have Sturgill Simpson back. While this record’s mellow turn has me wishing for some of the fiery pyrotechnics of Sturgill and his band’s quickly-becoming-legendary live show from the tour behind this record, it’s still masterfully written and performed as always with Sturge.  

8: Thee Sacred Souls – “Live For You” – Got a Story to Tell
Daptone simply never, ever, ever misses. Thee Sacred Souls are the latest success story in the powerhouse soul-revival label’s trophy case, and their sophomore album finds them delving into sophisticated early ‘70s sounds, anchored by Josh Lane’s featherlight but impassioned vocals.  

9: Sleater-Kinney – “Say it Like You Mean It” – Little Rope
The legendary riot grrrl innovators’ 11th record is a meditation on profound grief, making this defiant, anthemic track feel like a breath of fresh air that you immediately want to exhale at the top of your lungs.  

10: Yannis & The Yaw – “Walk Through Fire” feat. Tony Allen – Lagos Paris London EP
Yannis Phillipakis’ love of afrobeat’s urgent polyrhythms and serpentine melodies has been palpable on wax as far back as Foals’ 2008 debut, so it’s rad to hear him work with one of the genre’s pioneering instrumentalists. I only wish they could have made a full-length together, RIP Tony Allen!

Honorable Mentions

Been Stellar – “Passing Judgement” 

Chicano Batman – “Fly” 

Common and Pete Rock – “Wise Up” 

Ezra Collective – “God Gave Me Feet for Dancing” 

Friko – “Get Numb to It!” 

Jack White – “Bless Yourself” 

JD McPherson – “Sunshine Getaway” 

Kamasi Washington – “Get Lit” 

Khruangbin – “A Love International” 

Mdou Moctar – “Funeral for Justice” 

Reyna Tropical – “Cartagena” 

The Gaslight Anthem – “Spider Bites” 

Yard Act – “Dream Job”

Top Local Songs

Ahem – “Leap Year” 

Bermuda Squares – “Outsider” 

Christy Costello – “Sus” 

Faith Boblett – “Never Right” 

Gully Boys – “Bad Day” 

King Pari – “Better the Devil” 

MaLLy and Last Word – “Show Me Love” 

Prize Horse – “Further From My Start” 

Scrunchies – “The Empire” 

The Shackletons – “Caller Number 10” 

Time Room – “Yeehaw!!!” 

Unstable Shapes – “Glass Ladder” 

Uranium Club – “Small Grey Man” 

Visual Learner – “Last Channel (Four of Yer Life)”

Favorite Punk/Indie/Misc Heavy-ish Records I Also Really Dug This Year

Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness 

Being Dead – Eels 

Cloud Nothings – Final Summer 

Sheer Mag – Playing Favorites 

Liquid Mike – Paul Bunyan’s Sling Shot 

High Vis – Guided Tour 

Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven 

The Chisel – What a F***ing Nightmare 

Wild Pink – Dulling the Horns 

Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere