BEST OF 2024: INDIE POP & ROCK

My favorite debut albums and extended plays: upbeat indie pop and rock edition.

Welcome to my Best of 2024 newsletter!

I listened to a lot of new releases this year, and my Spotify playlists are obnoxiously large with my favorites from 2024. But I am going to do my best to pick some standouts, and deliver them to you by genre/vibe.

Today, we’re gonna discuss come great debuts in the indie pop and indie rock genres, focusing on upbeat energy, beats, and my favorite flavor, indie sleaze.

7. Adult Play - Deep Recess Dial Up Despair (EP)

For Fans Of: art punk | indie pop | Yard Act | The Vaccines | Parquet Courts

Release Date: March 2024

This English band from Shrewsbury released this EP, self-defining as post-pfunk, and I think it definitely brings a lot of that dance floor fun back into the scene, blending some indie pop with more experimental post-punk sounds.

6. Modern Alibi - M/A Extended Play (EP)

For Fans Of: indie rock | indie pop | IDK How | Dead Poet Society | Cold War Kids

Release Date: March 2024

A really fun debut album from North Carolina’s Modern Alibi, complete with an upbeat indie rock selection of tracks, with some seductive and yearning vocals from the lead singer, a la bands like Royal Blood and Dead Poet Society.

5. Dogpark - Breaking In Brooklyn (EP)

For Fans Of: indie pop | indie rock | COIN | Sun Room | Jet

Release Date: January 2024

This EP from New York blends catchy indie rock with early 00s pop/blues rock rhythms, akin to old radio hits we used to see from Jet, Train or Matchbox 20. There seems to a bit of star quality and charisma behind this band, and I can’t wait to see how their work continues to develop.

4. Home Counties - Exactly As It Seems

For Fans Of: dance punk | indie sleaze | LCD Soundsystem | Yard Act | Hot Chip

Release Date: May 2024

In this album, the English band deliver a great lineup of dance-pop and art-rock tracks, echoing that synth-rock sound that dominated indie rock in the mid 00s. All in all, there’s a lot of electro-rock/post-punk leaning sound in here that’s a joy to the ears.

3. bby - 1

For Fans Of: indie rock | indie pop | Royel Otis | COIN | The Vaccines

Release Date: July 2024

An emerging yet popular band from East London, bby managed to release a debut that mixes all of the great aspects of indie pop rock. A 16-track debut is an incredible feat, and I hear elements of bands like Phoenix, Royel Otis, COIN, The Vaccines, the Naked & Famous, and Tame Impala in this lineup. Overall, I think there’s a lot to look forward to from this band.

2. almost monday - DIVE

For Fans Of: indie pop | indie rock | COIN | Royel Otis | Circa Waves

Release Date: September 2024

With tracks that remind me of a summer time beach-hang and high energy anthems from bands similar bands such as The Wrecks and The Vaccines, this band delivers some of that needed Vitamin D from their Californian roots. I think this is an explosive debut album, and am eager to see their rise.

1. vincent’s last summer - GET RICH QUICK! (EP)

For Fans Of: indie sleaze | glitch rock | Master Peace | Parquet Courts | Bloc Party

Release Date: June 2024

These Mancunian guys have been putting out great indie sleaze/post-punky singles over the last couple of years, and from the first one, I was hooked. Since then, I’ve eagerly followed along, and I was very excited to get a compilation delivered in this official debut EP. It has everything I loved about the mid-00s, back when I was too young to dance to music like this in concert or in the club. If indie sleaze revival has no fans, that means I’m dead.

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If you want to check out my full, running list of the Best of 2024 debuts, you can find that playlist here. If you check out any of these artists or have suggestions for me, I’ll meet you in the comment section below.

x Erin

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