By Brennan O’Neil
Here’s what longtime OFNL fan and newly minted contributor Brennan O’Neil was vibing to last year:
You can check out the complete list (100 songs deep!) at his newly created blog here: https://indie-wave.com/2025/02/02/top-100-indie-songs-of-2024/
Brad stank – “Natty Wine”
Most artists in the scene use “indie voice.” I can’t quite describe it, but I know it when I hear it, and I’m sure you do, too. Brad Stank caught my attention this year with his deep bass crooning and an emphasis on the piano. It may seem like I’m painting a picture of Tom Waits, but it’s also bubbly and catchy… a refreshing approach to the indie-alt/pop universe.
Goth Babe – “Bioluminescence”
Lola is the type of album you can just put on shuffle and enjoy whatever song comes up. You don’t have to do the typical ‘save three songs and ignore the rest’ as he found his pocket of enjoyable electronic pop and stayed there. While this song lives in that same vein; it feels bigger, it feels more emotional, it just feels a little more important than the rest.
Kowloon – “Coasting”
If someone asked me to pick a song to put in an audio dictionary next to the word Cool, it would be this. It makes me want to drive around town with the windows down and speakers on full tilt so everyone knows what I’m bumping. In the context of his catalogue, this song is distinctive with some of the vocal distortion and production work, but it still exists in the easygoing retro pop landscape he’s been building in his music for years.
Mk.gee – “Alesis”
His new album sounds like he took bites out of old Mk.gee, Jersey rock, 80s pop, neo-soul, lo-fi, and Dijon; chewed it all up, and spit it all out into a single microphone hanging in the middle of a dimly lit room. The music still has melodious foundations, but it’s crunchy and muddy and entirely in its own lane. Alesis is the tour de force. The snare heavy drum beat drives the song; but the lyrics are passionately delivered and I’ve been singing along at the top of my lungs all year.
STRFKR – “Under Water / In Air”
2008’s “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” is one of the most recognizable and iconic songs in the entire genre. With bands like this, the longer they keep going, the more I start to fear their downfall, like a great TV show that drops one too many seasons and loses the plot. However, in their 17th year of activity, they are still on an upward trajectory. Parallel Realms is a great album, and “Under Water / In Air” is a near-perfect song. It’s chill enough to be work/study background music, emotional enough to play during a moment of introspection, or upbeat enough to carry a party. Choose your own adventure with this one.
–Brennan
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