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?
Pennsylvania rockers Time Being takes inspiration from indie, punk, noise, folk, and art rock to create compositions that tackle the uncertainty of modern American life through the lens of beauty, imagination, and humor. With the recent release Would You Rather Have A Ceiling available now from Killer Tofu Records, the band’s Marc & Jess shared their Top 10 Things Time Being has Learned to Love, and Loved to Learn in 2024
Bis
This year, we discovered the band Bis. Punky, synthy, poppy, techy, funny, feminist, what’s not to like? Also, they did the credits song to the Powerpuff Girls.
Check out “Kandy Pop” by Bis:
Nirvana
Beyond “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Jess had never listened to Nirvana until this year.
After a year of jogging through Emmaus PA while listening almost exclusively to Nirvana
(and Mannequin Pussy), Jess can say safely that she “really likes em.”
Watch “Breed”:
Dave Season 3
So this was released in 2023, but we just watched it now. It is a great, though absolutely over the top, depiction of musical tour and tour life and all the challenges that go with it. In addition, the season also addresses the challenges of celebrity and the pitfalls of status, which, ultimately, Dave does not escape.
Our Espresso Machine
We got an espresso machine this year. I’m not going to link it or tell you which brand ormodel because that isn’t what it’s about. It’s about the tasty, relatively cheap coffee. So thanks espresso machine, without you, our early Saturday morning band practices would still be possible, but less enjoyable.
The Devil Isn’t Red Repress
One of Marc’s all-time favorite albums, The Devil Isn’t Red (by Hella), got a well-deserved repressing this year. Filled with noisy, occasionally repetitive, and painfully detailed complexity, this album is densely aggressive, and offers no easy entry point. With previously unimaginable distorted guitar riffs, and a superhumanly athletic barrage of drum fills, The Devil Isn’t Red serves as a reminder that not only is it absolutely okay to challenge the listener, but the challenge can itself be the vehicle of appreciation and a way into an otherwise unknowable mindset.
Uno
We play a lot of Uno with our daughter. Like so much Uno. I honestly don’t think any of us really even like the game anymore. But for better or worse, our love for each other keeps us picking up the cards.
Milkweed
Jess loves gardening. She planted a native garden in our backyard with lots of fun/pretty plants, but nothing has more whimsy than Milkweed. Whether you’re 4 years and a half or 3 decades and a half, you just can’t beat taking a fistful of those white, puffy seeds and releasing them into the sky. It’s just great.
Jess’ coworker’s old bounce house
Our daughter was gifted a lightly used bounce house by Jess’ thoughtful colleague. Though the family was originally discouraged by the “Maximum combined weight limit”, we soon realized that a group bounce was absolutely worth the risk.
“I am a Loser” by Dagwood
Again, this was released in May of 2023, but we move slowly through time sometimes.
This barely minute-long song is a poppy, punky earworm that sounds like it lived and
died in the late 90’s, just to be miraculously resurrected by the Connecticuties, Dagwood.
Roxyunk Porch Fest with Heaven Man
Playing Roxyunk Porch Fest this year was one of the highlights of our live shows. It felt like a block party that stretched across the whole neighborhood, bringing together a beautiful community of friends and neighbors and family. Why don’t we do this in the Lehigh Valley? We played with Heaven Man, they are sick
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/
