Curious what notable personalities in the scene think was great this year? So is TGEFM! So we reached out to some of our favorite luminaries ranging from musicians, label personnel, and more for their “Best of 2024” lists. Now, listen: TGEFM is not a taskmistress. Contributors can write these out however they want. So if it doesn’t actually look or read like a list… and sometimes it really is just a list with no other observations! Who cares?
JASON SCHREURS is a music and mental health writer, host of the Scream Therapy podcast, author of Scream Therapy: A Punk Journey through Mental Health, mental health advocate, and self-proclaimed punk rock weirdo living in the qathet region of British Columbia, Canada. He feels most alive when he’s screaming into dented microphones and beating on his guitar like it’s a percussion instrument. His desert island band is, and always will be, Fugazi. He was kind enough to share some of his favorites from the past year with Thats Good Enough For Me.
I used to write about loud music for a bunch of different websites/magazines, so I would have to wade through a dozen albums a day, most of them less-than-average, I’m sorry to say. Now that I’ve moved onto other pursuits (podcast hosting, writing, and mental health volunteer work), I can truly enjoy music. What a concept!
Best albums 2024:
Paint It Black – Famine
More vitriol in 16 minutes than most punk bands have in a career. Like a fist to the face of fascism, and we’re not talking nazi punks, we’re talking about the fascist world we live in. Right now. This “album” will be over before you blink but put it on repeat and tell me it’s not the best hardcore going right now.
Whores. – War
Perfect noise rock that will make every hair on your body bristle. Feedback is its own instrument on this absolutely crushing, yet catchy rock record. Think Unsane bludgeoning Queens of the Stone Age to death.
Gel – Mirage
Just an EP, but holy shit! Gel are one of the best hardcore bands I’ve heard in the 21st century. Those rapid-fire riffs, that production sound, her screams… There’s Minor Threat, there’s Los Crudos, there’s G.L.O.S.S., there’s Paint It Black (see above), and then there’s Gel.
Planes Mistaken for Stars – Do You Still Love Me?
Their frontperson died in 2021, so they spent three years delicately putting together an album that is heartbreaking and hopeful at once. Known for serrated hardcore in their early years, the culmination of this band was a transcendent sound that defied whatever label put on it.
Gouge Away – Deep Sage
I over listened to listen one, but we all know how it goes. Love a record, love it too much, get annoyed by it for a while, love it again just as much. Melodic hardcore a la Fiddlehead and Drug Church, but better, mostly due to the singer’s ear-drill of a voice and guitar work to die for.
The Chisel – What a Fucking Nightmare
I usually don’t dig oi punk, but here we are, The Chisel on my best of the year list! How did that happen? Probably because it’s the best trad punk album of the year. Lots of cursing and spitting, but there’s some humility and tenderness underneath. Weird, right?
Best band who didn’t have an album this year:
Lambrini Girls
With one EP last year (You’re Welcome) and an album out early 2025 (Who Let the Dogs Out), Lambrini Girls were one of my most played bands this year. Just that sweet venn diagram of punk, garage, noise, and bad fucking attitude.
Best podcast:
How Did This Get Made?
After more than a decade, this hilarious podcast about shitty movies is still busting guts in the studio and at live recordings. Paul, Jason, and June are all funny improv comedians in their own rights. Put the three of them in front of movies like Q the Winged Serpent and Trolls 2 and watch them go. Kick back, close your eyes, feel the power of laughter reverberating through your body. Next episode.
Best part-time job:
Working at a historic movie theatre. I get to watch free movies in a beautiful theatre, from a private balcony no less. I’ve seen so many movies in the past three years, I wouldn’t know where to start. Just go see a movie at a theatre, like, any theatre outside your home. That’s my recommendation.
Top 10 thrash albums my 17-year-old son reminded me were life-defining for me when I was his age:
- Slayer – Reign in Blood (duh)
- Megadeth – Rust in Peace (where’s Metallica, guys?)
- Razor – Violent Restitution (Canadian dark horse)
- Sepultura – Arise (close tie with Beneath the Remains)
- Kreator – Coma of Souls (Teutonic titans)
- Exodus – Bonded by Blood (good, friendly, violent fun)
- Death Angel – The Ultra-Violence (thrash-tastic teens)
- Metallica – Master of Puppets (okay… fine)
- Sacrifice – Forward to Termination (another dark horse from the North)
- Anthrax – Among the Living (goofy vibe, but god-like riffs)
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
