2024's Best Albums for Old Heads...So Far

Halfway through the year, let's review ten records that scratch a nostalgic itch

Since we’re all still new here, let me get this off my chest right off the bat: top ten lists stress me out.

The small number isn’t the problem. It doesn’t have to be exactly ten to stress me out; twenty, fifty, or a hundred will make me sweat just as much. More, even! I’ve been on the staff roster of the internet’s most unpopular best kept secret music magazine for nearly twenty years — god only knows why, since the cavernous time gaps between my music review submissions have seen entire careers rise and fall — and their annual end of year album ranking ritual, like every other music publication’s, is one I always dread. Lord knows I love a spreadsheet as much as the next guy, but there’s something about fighting over decimal place scoring systems that rises to a level of pedantry that even I can’t stomach.

I approach New Bands for Old Heads recommendations a little bit differently. There are no ratings, no specific order. And perhaps most importantly, while I’ll never recommend a re…