W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

04. Waxahatchee – Tiger’s Blood Katie Crutchfeld has been on some kind of roll these past couple of years.  Picking up right where 2020’s breakout LP, Saint Cloud left off, Waxahatchee has not only hit their stride but that stride is setting the pace for a veritable entire genre of alt-country/indie female singer-songwriters.  Tiger’s Blood…

05. Todd Farrell Jr. – Might As Well Be Ghosts Todd might be a southerner at heart but there’s no denying that his version of rock and roll, especially his metal guitar fills are straight out of the heartland.  I’ve probably said it here before but I will put Todd’s ability to capture the essence…

06. Frank Turner – Undefeated I make no qualms about it, I am a tried and true Frank Turner fanboy.  That being said, Undefeated to my ears is easily his best album since 2013’s Tape Deck Heart.  That’s not to say, he’s been putting out bad albums for the past decade.  On the contrary, he’s…

07. Trevor Beld Jimenez – Wild Blues Yonder This album from Trevor Beld Jimenez is one of those great albums which could easily slip through the cracks.  Jimenez, who hails from Riverside, CA. writes light and breezy California style pop.  If he’d been around during the early to mid 70’s he would have fit right…

08. Fightmilk – No Souvenirs It could easily be understood if No Souvenirs didn’t make it onto this list.  It was only released less than a month ago, giving it very little time to get fairly digested.  However, after listening to it the first time through, I immediately knew that I wanted to keep listening…

09. Healees – Coin De L’ceil Healies are another one of my “off the beaten path” artists who put out a terrific album in 2024.  As one might expect with a album titled Coin De L’ceil, Healees are a Paris based foursome that create beautiful floating dreamscapes with a mix of jangly guitars combined with…

10. The Umbrellas – Fairweather Friend It took three years for The Umbrellas to release the follow up to their excellent eponymous debut and Fairweather Friend proves that it was well worth the wait.  Right from the get go with the upbeat and bouncy opening track of “Three Cheers!” with the baritone vocals of guitarist…

11.  Oceanator – Everything is Love and Death This one should really be considered a 10A rather than 11 because if it killed me not to include Society Of Rockets in my top 10 then, not including Everything Is Love and Death absolutely rips my heart out.  EIL&D tends to be a harder rocking album…

12.  Society Of Rockets – Tough Trip Through Paradise Damn, I really love these San Francisco pop rockers and it killed me to have to drop them out of my top 10 this year.  Tough trip Through Paradise offers up exactly what one would expect from The Society.  This album makes me think of what…

13.  Late Bloomer – Another One Again More heartland punk rock, this time from Charlotte, NC.  Opening up with the slow burner, “Self Control”, Another One Again is a bit of a roller coaster ride as the band seems to have made a tracking sequencing choice to alternate slower more introspective tunes with hard rockers. …