Best of 2024 | Albums | Songs | Irish albums | Irish songs | Best Of Podcasts | Guest lists |
Karla Chubb is the lead singer of the Dublin alt-rock band Sprints whose debut album Letter To Self, released on City Slang in January, shot them to an international audience, and out on tour around Europe, UK and US all year.
Chalk – Tell Me
One of the most exciting live bands in the country, if not Europe right now. It’s Aggressive, abrasive and euphoric.
Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
Not ashamed to admit that this was on repeat for far too many weeks when it came out. It’s pure queer pop perfection.
Mhaol – Pursuit
I’m extremely excited to see where Mhaol take their sound on their second album. Ironically this track has soundtracked many late night walks on tour. Connie’s drum work and the hook on the bass is just excellent.
Amyl and The Sniffers – Jerkin
Is there a better opening line in history than “You’re a dumb cunt?” No. The perfect song to listen to when you need to get hyped.
Fontaines D.C. – Starburster
Romance has been absolutely massive for Fontaines and ‘Starburster’ is just a brilliant song. From the structure, the keys and strings, the lyricism. It all just ties together beautifully.
Charli XCX feat Billie Eilish – Guess
One of the best pop albums of the last decade, Brat soundtracked our entire festival season and summer. It’s featured in most if not all of our SPRINTS DJ sets and is another piece of pop perfection.
Adrianne Lenker – Vampire Empire
Raw, emotive, and beautiful, Bright Future is one of my favourites of the year with ‘Vampire Empire’ being just one of the stand out tracks.
IDLES – Gift Horse
We had the pleasure of opening for IDLES over the summer and it was a case of definitely meet your heroes. The loveliest band around and TANGK was a perfect album. Collaborating with James Murphy of LCD has definitely give their sound a new refined edge and danceability. Look at him goooooo.
English Teacher – World’s Biggest Paving Slab
An incredibly talented band who take the every day and turn it into surreal and engrossing art rock. Incredibly catchy opening riff on the guitars and just a slice of indie heaven.
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven
This is hands down my album of 2024. It’s raw, it’s sensual, it’s aggressive and it’s catchy as fuck. It blends the rough edges of punk and garage with pop catchiness perfectly, with depth and diversity in the songs throughout. It’s been my on repeat album and song of 2024.
Best of 2024 | Albums | Songs | Irish albums | Irish songs | Best Of Podcasts | Guest lists |
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
