ATH Top Songs 2024 – RayRay Edition
Another year is coming to a close and as we try to survive the ensuing insanity of 2025, it’s always fun to take a look back on the year that was. At this point in our existence, I can’t say any of us here at ATH put all that much stock into posturing and arbitrary year end lists, but again, I can appreciate the reflection. I am the lucky one who gets to kick off this nonsense with a year end playlists featuring a bunch of songs I found myself enjoying in 2024. Hopefully you might just find some gems you didn’t know about or something you forgot about. Though I think we ARE Brat in mindset, we are not Brat in musical tastes. Did I do that right? Check out the jump for links to both Apple Music and yes, even Spotify.
In a world where folks are rushing to put out their year end lists, so you can debate their tastes, I’m just over here putting out songs with my bud RayRay. We covered a surprising 21 new songs last week, and 22 if you included a tune that’s not on any of the DSPs. Tons of rad Austin stuff like Strange Lot, Gus Baldwin, Lunar Gold…and of course the ATH Records’ own Fantastic Purple Spots. New music from FACS and Sprouts made my week complete, though I also found some soft spots in there you can dig through on the site. Don’t forget to also check out our Rock n’ Recipes with Sasha Bell of the Ladybug Transistor, just in time for their little tour and reissue! We also got to premiere a brand new Gaytheist tune worth your time!
There were a lot of jams, and there wasn’t a lot of time, and all that to say, I still got an excuse to write about the new Cistern EP, with it’s banging opening track included below. Prism Shores continued to shell out hits, while Austin act SKLOSS return with news of their signing to Fuzz Club Records. The Rishis dropped in some delightful psychedelic pop, if that’s your bag, and if not, well maybe you get a little folk on your feet and crank up new Will Johnson for our ears. We also brought out some slow jams from Clara Ziegler and Disarme, among others, so all your feels are here below. Just press play.
After a fairly slow week, we hit it hard this week, bringing you a nice collection of great tunes, as we’re focused on that side while everyone else is scrambling to wrap up their year end lists. There was a heavy Austin contingent, particularly as we announced we’ll be dropping the new EP from 
I apologize for taking Friday off, but had to head out of town with my old lady to celebrate her birthday. But, wanted to run a Last Week’s Jams post as there were some super rad tunes sneaking under the radar of the masses. I can’t get enough of this Cistern track that kicks this playlist off; it’s matched up with the most energetic tune from the Green Child‘s new LP. Plus, old ATX songwriter Matthew Squires made an appearance, which always warrants a celebration. Cool new stuff from Ryli got us started off in the week, not to mention the great slow burners we get from the latest Constant Follower and Wussy records. Press play and thank me later.
Just when we thought the year was dragging to a close, we managed to find enough hits to fall in love with and make you a proper playlist! We even have a few of the tracks we covered from Maneater and Boyracer missing, so be sure to check those out. I loved the opening song from Prism Shores; it’s definitely a bright spot on last week, along with the reemergence of Mogwai on the scene. We managed to get in some Austin love for Whalers and Gus Baldwin and the Sketch, not to mentioned representing for the local festival with Levitation interviews from Hello Mary and the Strange Lot. Plus, our pal Michael Maly was able to swing some coverage for Air‘s 25th Anniversary performance of Moon Safari, giving me a chance to slide “Sexy Boy” into yet another playlist. Check it all out below.
It seems like the year is grinding to a slow halt, as there are fewer and fewer trickles of new tracks coming our way, though I’ll admittedly hope that that’s the end of the year preparations not the musical end of times. Still, I fell in love with a lot of great songs, like a new single from the last Mope Grooves LP, which just came out on 12XU. Also, 12XU adjacent is a new single from Austin’s Quin Galavis, which I was digging too. There was a brand new single from The Gentle Spring, which hopefully got you Field Mice fans excited. Plus, RayRay has been busting his ass on getting coverage out for Levitation this week, with new posts up on Pissed Jeans and Acid Mothers Temple.
There was so much new music dropping last week that it was hard to keep track of it all, but I think with 22 new songs out there, we managed to do our part. Greg Mendez was a big winner, with a brand new EP we loved; I also definitely didn’t turn away from the fresh Innocence Mission, which maybe one of my favorite they’ve ever concocted. We had a premiere of a new Sunnsetter tune, and also hit up the latest from The Great Divides, so we’re kind of all over the place musically, making this playlist a journey of sorts. You can’t go wrong by pressing play below!
We crushed the coverage last week; we had some ACL coverage as well as some Sigur Ros notes from their Austin show. But, we also covered a solid 28 tracks, 26 of which made the cut on our Last Week’s Jams (the new Boyracer and Rocky Lorelei can only be found on the site). A new track from the Serfs is still living rent-free in my brain, while I discovered just how much I’m enjoying Kim Deal‘s new solo stuff. That doesn’t even scratch the surface, as there were several Texas’ acts like Pets and Trauma Ray getting some new jams out. I will admit, perhaps I overdid it, but eh, you love the new stuff right? Cool. Stream it then.
It’s always strange when I feel like I didn’t do a good job covering new jams, yet I end the week with 20 or more new tunes we’ve tried to get you to crank up…and last week was definitely one of those…feel like I barely dipped my toes in the pond of goodness. Alas, there were some great tunes for you, particularly if you’re into the Australian scene, with new stuff from both Pop Filter and Skegss, not to mention the Oceanic adjacent Jim Nothing. Naked Roommate threw down an end of Summer block party, while Austin’s Cast of Thousands let us say hello to some old friends. Tons of stuff to indulge upon here, so feel free to let me know what I might have missed along the way.