Altopsy Dissected 2024 - The best of Hardcore and Alternative in its biggest year yet
In 2024, Hardcore reached bold and brave new heights, and delivered some unbelievable releases along the way from Mindz Eye, Drug Church, Shooting Daggers and more.
It’s been a big one for Hardcore. 2024 saw Knocked Loose pulverise national TV when they performed Suffocate with Poppy to America on Jimmy Kimmel live, Outbreak Festival got bigger than ever, and bands made a huge difference as Scowl, Zulu, Pest Control and more pulled out of Download Festival until their ties with Barclays was severed - and they were. Hardcore has earned the right to celebrate at the end of 2024, and we’re keen to see what the best bands of the genre are willing to put forward in the new year.
Here at Altopsy, I like to make sure that Hardcore is my absolute focus, as the chances to celebrate the genre via the medium of long-form writing are minimal - but there have been heaps of alternative records that have been genuinely remarkable this year, and I’d love to share them with you in hopes that you won’t leave 2024 without hearing this year’s best Hardcore record for you specifically, as in terms of releases across the subgenre spectrum, we’ve been seriously treated this year.
So, in no particular order, and covering the world of Alternative music (because otherwise, this would be a very BRAT-and-GNX-and-WOOF-heavy list), these are Altopsy’s best albums and EPs of 2024.
The Obvious Choices
Let’s get them out of the way, shall we?
Knocked Loose - You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To
There is very little doubt that if any Hardcore band made a significant difference in the genre this year, it’s Knocked Loose. From their incredible TV performance to touring with support from the legendary Hatebreed and The Black Dahlia Murder, the fruits borne of You Won’t Go… have been astounding - and equally deserved.
The record is screaming and scathing, rubber-banding between head-swelling bass and screeching guitars, all stabbed forwards by Bryan Garris’ now-iconic carving vocals, becoming the ultimate reflection of the abilities of Knocked Loose. While the consistency of concept EP A Tear in the Fabric of Life stands as the band’s crown jewel, they borrow so much punishment from the EP and stretch it across a record with iconic moments abound that the latest from Oldham County’s finest has no doubt earned the right to be considered one of the very best heavy albums of the year.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Speed - ONLY ONE MODE
Hardcore’s most charismatic frontmen make a bid for the big time with ONLY ONE MODE, a slice of excitement with so much swagger that you’ll feel bought off. ONLY ONE MODE is the debut album from Speed, though their presence in the genre’s community and their elevation to de facto Hardcore ambassadors would have you believe that they’ve been around for years.
Paired with flutes and a real bark, the album is an example of just how far a sense of belonging can affect a band’s sound, and as Speed barrel through each of the album’s ten tracks, they prove their prowess instantly with devastating force and enough bounce to see you through the whole year. Catchy, infectious and electrifying, ONLY ONE MODE is a statement of intent. Speed is nearing the top, but they’re not likely to stop there.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Pest Control - Year of the Pest
If you’ve ever listened to Pest Control, you’ll know why they’re an obvious pick. The Crossover crew have never disappointed yet, and after a barnstormer of a debut album in Don’t Test the Pest, the band innovates and amplifies its thrash influence into the stratosphere with Year of the Pest.
Creative, compelling and with an unparalleled whirlwind pace, Pest Control tears through four of the best Crossover tracks of the year that pummel and pound. In terms of bang-for-your-buck, it doesn’t get better, tighter or more exciting than Year of the Pest, a four-track EP packed with more quality than 90% of bands can hope for with whole albums.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Altopsy’s 2024
unpeople - unpeople
A rogue choice for this newsletter, yes, but for my money, this is the very best release of the year bar none. Born from the ashes of Press to MECO, unpeople is a driving and immaculately considered rock outfit that proved its immense songwriting talents with its self-titled EP, packed to bursting with layered vocal harmonies and ladder-scaling riffs. It all feels incredibly clever without becoming too much of a musician’s band, and is a concise, diverse five-track release that stands as a huge broadcast of intent. unpeople is going to be one of the biggest bands in the world. Trust me on this one.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Mindz Eye - The Vision
Groovy and excited by its own [ahem] vision, The Vision is one of the greatest examples out there of how immediately a band’s character can influence its output. Borrowing bright guitar tones and bouncy riffs from Turnstile and booming callouts from the worldwide underground, Mindz Eye leapt out of nowhere this year with a fresh Hardcore release that has as much fun with it as you will. Dancable, infectious and more than enough to get you hustling, The Vision will put a smile on your face quicker than any other release on this list. If you don’t know, get to know - because one of these days you’re going to need a pick-me-up - and Mindz Eye will deliver, and make it look so easy.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Cosmic Joke - Cosmic Joke
Cosmic Joke taught me this year that if Hardlore tells you to listen to a record, you should listen to it. Juiced up with old-school excitement and gravel, Cosmic Joke’s self-titled album is a barnstormer full of riffs that ping around your head like a rogue pinball. Wall-to-wall Punk crowdpleasers that make you shake some ass, the record has immense charm that you’ll struggle to shake off. It’s the easiest record on this list to throw on, throw down to, and throw on again, ad infinitum.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Drug Church - Prude
Drug Church is one of the most consistent bands on the dreamier side of the Hardcore world, and all you have to do is tell me that a new Drug Church record is coming out for me to know that I’m going to hold it dear. Vocalist Patrick Kindlon is one of the most intriguing and welcoming voices in alternative music, and his lyrical contributions to Prude would make it their best record alone - but its impassioned guitar leads and enveloping choruses push the qualities that make Drug Church who they are into the stratosphere. Prude will give you an experience you won’t know how to describe, somewhere on the road between fascination and head-over-heels adoration.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Splitknuckle - Breathing Through the Wound
Splitknuckle is a scary band with scary shows, and Breathing Through the Wound is a scary record. You won’t want to look away for a second.
Fury and freneticism combine with deceptively complicated musicianship to make a beatdown record like no other - a smoothie of stimulants and razor blades. Breathing Through the Wound remains one step ahead of you at all times without forgetting to remind you about the scene that fostered them and the foundations that Splitknuckle is built on, and breaks your expectations in two with a gorgeous right-hand turn in beatdown ballad Gethsemane. You might struggle to keep up in places, but don’t fall down, or you’ll be trampled. They don’t call ‘em the Essex Kingz for nothing.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Going Off - Die Fast
Going Off has been an essential band to see live on the UK circuit for a few years now, and it feels like the recording quality of Die Fast has caught up to just how compelling the Manchester Punk mob can be at the height of their powers. Wearing the Pain of Truth Rosette for excellence in guest spots, Die Fast is diverse, eclectic, and over before you’ve blinked once in a whirlwind of animalistic chaos. It feels like Going Off are doing everything at once on Die Fast, and somehow, it’s still immensely consistent.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
Shooting Daggers - Love and Rage
Shooting Daggers delivers exactly what it says on the tin with Love and Rage, an excitable and inspiring blast of skatey, danceable Punk belters. Every track on the band’s first full-length record is infected with passion and excitement, bouncing around speedy drum scrambles and airy, enveloping reverb to build an immensely fun sound profile. There’s something incredibly charming about the atmosphere that Love and Rage builds, and it has marked the Queercore trio as ones to watch from here on out. If you want a live show and a body of work that reminds you of why it’s so easy to fall for Punk music, Shooting Daggers deliver the ultimate shot of adrenaline.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music
2025 has a lot in store if this year is anything to go by, so stick with Altopsy to stay in the loop with the best of UK and global Alternative! Thank you for your support this year, and we’ll see you in the New Year.
Stick tight,