2024 Year In Review Part 4: Top Singles

Honourable Mentions

Lyfe Sk!llz – “Pizza Party” and Wednesday Bender – “Wiley Coyote”

I had to disqualify both of these tracks from my Top 5 list for the same reasons:

#1 Neither song was properly released as a single, but rather included on the Go Kick-Ass! 2 compilation. (featuring 29 supercool tracks, many of them exclusives!)

#2 Said compilation was released via Cartridge Heart. (full disclosure – that’s my label). I’m a shill, but not such a shill that I’m going to include my own label’s releases on my year-end lists.

As of this writing, the only way to hear these tracks is via Go Kick-Ass! 2. Check it out here. That’s my plug. I won’t speak of the compilation again. Probably.

Now for the main course: I picked five songs that were released as stand-alone singles in 2024 and ranked them below. If you still have a CD burner, you can download them and make your own compilation disc. Make sure to throw your own Top 5 in the mix too!

Top 5 Singles of 2024

#5 Raised By Swans
Locket From a Wreck
Self-Released

After dropping the 33-song two parter Raised By Swans Is The Name of a Man I was certain London, ON-based Eric Howden – the man who calls himself Raised By Swans – would be ready to take a breather. I was incorrect. Howden has once again teamed up with producer Andy Magoffin to create “Locket From a Wreck”: a dour dose of reverb-drenched sadcore. Howden has the innate ability to churn out music that sounds both epic and intimate at the same time. Tragically beautiful.

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#4 Marvelous 3
Psalm of the Summer
Self-Released

Butch Walker shocked his fanbase last year by reuniting with Marvelous 3 bandmates Jayce Fincher and Doug “Slug” Mitchell for a three-night stand in their hometown of Atlanta at historic venue The Tabernacle. They recorded a full-length to coincide with the event (which I wrote about here). This year’s announcement of their now-recurring annual Halloween party came with a brand new single – “Psalm of the Summer”: a split with also-reformed American Hi-Fi. I wasn’t as keen on the b-side (sorry American Hi-Fi), but the A-side had me utilizing the repeat function on my music player. It’s a playful bit of fan-service that pokes fun at rock cliches. But even in jest Walker is able to construct a stadium sized anthem to please even the most cynical of fist-pumpers.

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#3 Taxi Girls
Rainy
Dirt Cult/Wild Honey

The A-side from the latest 7” from Montreal garage rock outfit Taxi Girls (now a four-piece) is a stompy number with a big hook and an old-school feel. I was tempted to put B-side “The Lion’s Share” – a chewy piece of bubblegum in its own right – in this spot, but the title track’s undeniable swagger put it over the top. With rumours of a full-length dropping next year, 2025 can’t come soon enough.

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#2 she
Vector Break
Self-Released

Polish producer Lain Volta Trzaska has been churning out electronica, synthwave and chiptune under his pseudonym she on a fairly consistent basis over the past couple years with near-monthly releases on his Bandcamp page. My favourite was Vector Break – released Bandcamp Friday (RIP) March 1. It’s a punchy assemblage of fuzzy basslines, stuttering beats and ethereal synths that would easily find itself at home on the soundtrack of an anti-gravity racing video game.

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#1 Joan Smith & the Jane Does
Free Range Human
Self-Released

Joan Smith & the Jane Does – now based out of Peterborough – surprised everyone at the start of 2024 by following up 2023’s Do Me Some Harm with a trio of singles right out of the gate. Blues-ey “Drown a Goat” dropped in early February, rock ’n roller “Diet Rock” was released eight weeks after and released in-between was personal fav “Free Range Human”. It’s a moody bit of dread that builds up to a hair-raising chorus. Guitarist Tom Juhas throws in a disgustingly fuzzy guitar solo right before the final crescendo. This song lived on my playlist all year.

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