Throughout December and January, the CAPC team has compiled a list of our favorite pop culture artifacts from the previous year. Unlike most year-end lists, we don’t claim that these are the “best.” Rather, these are the things that brought us the most joy and satisfaction in the last 12 months.
For 2024, our favorite music included goth icons, a hip-hop master, artful post-punk, Tay Tay, and more.
Songs of a Lost World by The Cure
When an iconic band returns after a years-long absence, there’s always that fearful question: What if they’ve lost whatever it was that made them so special and beloved in the first place? No doubt that was at the forefront of everyone’s mind when The Cure—icons of goth and alternative music—announced Songs of a Lost World, their first album in fourteen years. Preceding albums like 2008’s 4:13 Dream and 2004’s self-titled album had their moments, but they were largely hit-or-miss affairs, and a far cry the band’s most celebrated work, like 1989’s Disintegration.
But when The Cure released the album’s first single, a sprawling six-minute song titled “Alone,” there was a collective sigh of relief. Filled with dirge-like synths, moody guitars, and Robert Smith crying out “This is the end of every song that we sing/The fire burned out to ash/And the stars grown dim with tears,” it turned out to be the song that Cure fans had been waiting for all this time.
Songs of a Lost World finds Smith ruminating on grief and loss. The existential angst that drove such goth classics as 1982’s Pornography is still present, but tempered with maturity and experience. “I Can Never Say Goodbye” is a heart-wrenching ballad about the death of Smith’s brother and “And Nothing Is Forever” was inspired by a deathbed promise. Meanwhile, epic closer “Endsong” draws on Smith’s memories of watching the Apollo moon landings, and laments the loss of that innocence.
Smith is currently in his mid-60s. His famously tousled hair is thinning and his trademark makeup looks a little more ridiculous on his wrinkled face. Nevertheless, his voice remains as unique and powerful as ever, and his band’s music is still just as stirring and evocative—and gloomy!—as it was back in the “glory days.”
—Jason Morehead
GNX by Kendrick Lamar
It’s hard to imagine how Kendrick Lamar could’ve had a better 2024. He demolished Drake in a multi-song beef saga, landed the halftime gig for the 2025 Super Bowl, and dropped the surprise album GNX that captured the whole internet’s attention. We’ll likely look back at 2024 as the peak of his run as hip-hop’s brightest star and the world’s most respected—and feared—rapper.
Having the proverbial championship belt doesn’t matter much unless the music delivers, though. That’s where GNX succeeds, giving listeners slices of the sprawling and often conflicting persona that people have come to love, showcasing once more that Lamar indeed contains multitudes. “Squabble Up” is for fans eager for the West Coast bounce of his vicious and viral Drake diss, “Not Like Us.” For those who love Kendrick at his most dense and intricate, spinning stories and wordplay that demands close attention, there’s “Reincarnated” and “Gloria.” There’s even some deep inside baseball on his departure from TDE on the somber “The Heart pt 6.”
Beyond all this, the album’s most fascinating and notable aspect is that despite Kendrick clearly holding rap’s top slot, GNX‘s party vibes are background noise to his continued tortured wrestling with his responsibility as a community leader and his yearning for a deep spiritual life. Success and vanquishing one’s rap foes does not solve all; it merely makes the existential more pressing. The best example is the back-half of “Reincarnated,” an homage to Tupac Shakur, one in which Kendrick imitates Shakur’s flow and samples his ’90s song “Made Niggas.” Lamar leverages the song for a moment of spiritual interrogation, something Christians might register as not too far removed from St Ignatius’s examen. Lamar turns spiritually introspective, launching into a dialogue with his father, readily understood as heavenly, biological, or both: “Father, did I finally get it right? Everything I did was selfless.”
The examen reveals Lamar has been more sinner than saint, despite putting on for his community. Here, GNX teaches us that gaining the world only complicates matters of the soul. Beyond the chart toppers, this is the real gift GNX offers to discerning listeners willing to consider Lamar’s spiritual wrestling even atop the mountain of stardom.
—Claude Atcho
Like Unto Lambs by Luxury
Stop me if you heard this rock n’ roll story before. A young band starts generating a ton of buzz for their intense sound, crazy stage presence, and controversial image. Then, just as they’re about to break big, they get in a horrific car accident that sidelines their music career. Subsequently, three of the members become Orthodox priests and now, nearly thirty years after that fateful accident, they’re making some of the best music of their career.
That’s the story of Luxury, and it’s a doozy. (If you want to know more, I highly recommend watching the Parallel Love documentary, which is currently streaming for free on Tubi.)
The self-released Like Unto Lambs continues the band’s raucous-yet-melodic take on post-punk (think Fugazi meets The Smiths meets Radiohead), with a triple guitar attack and punishing rhythm section. And then there’s frontman Lee Bozeman, a slender bespectacled figure (and one of those aforementioned priests) with a voice like Morrissey and lyrics that plumb the depths of human brokenness and depravity as well as the heights of divine grace and sovereignty.
Due to their diverging paths, the five members of Luxury don’t record and release music all that often—their previous album, the also excellent Trophies, was released back in 2015—so when they do release a new album, it’s an event. And it’s worth the wait.
—Jason Morehead
Live in Amarillo, Texas by Hayden Pedigo
“When I’m on the road, I tell people that Amarillo is a flat, windy, hot, cold, brutal, and somewhat ugly place to a lot of people. But I say, I think Amarillo is quite a beautiful place. The pauses in my music, the reason they’re there is in Amarillo the flat plains that go on forever and ever, they’ve always been refreshing to me. They feel like a giant, long pause.” So says Hayden Pedigo on his latest live record and it would be hard to improve on the sparse beauty of these acoustic songs.
Like his beloved Amarillo, Pedigo’s music is punctuated by an understated beauty that’s both meditative and mournful. This record is all the more remarkable for being live. Songs with this much subtlety usually don’t mix well with crowds, but there’s such a reverential silence from the audience that the applause at the end comes as a shock.
Lest you think it’s just a post-production scrub, take a look at some of the footage from Pedigo’s Instagram in which entire crowds sit down in scummy venues just to let his music wash over them. If I see the man live, I’ll probably do the same thing.
“Hot to Go!” by Chappel Roan
Chappell Roan was arguably the most talked-about rising pop star of last year. Although The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dropped in September 2023, it truly took off in April after she delivered a show-stopping set at Coachella—including my personal favorite track, “Hot to Go!” The song became a slow-burning hit, landing on Billboard’s Hot 100 three times—in June, August, and October—before peaking at No. 15. A staple of her live shows, “Hot to Go!” even made its way into the Guts tour, where Roan performed it alongside Olivia Rodrigo.
Campy, fun, and irresistibly danceable, “Hot to Go!” is the kind of song that burrows into your brain—the moment you hear it, you’re humming the lyrics and itching to learn the dance. The music video perfectly captures Roan’s infectious energy, featuring her teaching the routine to Springfield, MO locals, including her own grandparents. And that’s the magic of Chappell Roan—her music doesn’t just make you want to dance; it makes everyday moments feel a little brighter. For this mom, it even made commutes to work and school drop-off and pickup lines with the kids a lot more fun in 2024. Somehow, when you’re singing along to “Hot to Go!,” you feel just a little more ready to tackle whatever the day throws at you.
—LuElla D’Amico
Lust for Gold by Starflyer 59
I’ve been a fan of Jason Martin and Starflyer 59 for three decades now, ever since I was captivated by the syrupy-thick shoegaze sounds of their 1994 self-titled debut album (commonly called Silver due to its monochromatic album art). For thirty years now, I’ve been following Martin’s music, with each new Starflyer 59 album a must-purchase.
Martin has always been prone to nostalgia, even on his earliest albums. So it’s no surprise that 2024’s Lust for Gold found him ruminating on old friendships (“1995”), youthful memories (“YZ80”), and even the vanity of a life spent pursuing wealth and comfort (“Lust for Gold”) in his cigarette-stained baritone.
But what makes Lust for Gold particularly enjoyable for long-time fans like myself is how Martin includes numerous throwbacks to the heavy shoegaze of Starflyer 59’s early days. From the heavy riffage of “909” and to “Lust for Gold”‘s gorgeous surf riffs to the swirling feedback of “My Lung,” it’s a delight to hear those “classic” sounds all over again, and proof that sometimes, you really can go back again.
—Jason Morehead
Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour
When I’m making dinner for the kids or driving my daughter to ballet, I often pause before putting on music and ask myself: What Era am I in today? If work was rough, I’ll turn to Reputation. If I’m feeling a little dreamy, it’s Folklore. If I’ve had a great day and want some extra bounce in my step, I’ll put on Fearless or Red. And let’s not even talk about the mood that calls for Midnights or The Tortured Poets Department.
Sure, you might call it basic—but in 2024, Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour made history, surpassing $2 billion in revenue and becoming the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. Clearly, I wasn’t alone in mapping my emotions onto her discography. With 149 shows across five continents, the tour was more than just a concert—it was a global cultural event.
My 9-year-old daughter and I saw it on the big screen, and she’s still making friendship bracelets for anyone who will take one, encouraging all her Swiftie friends to Speak Now. Taylor Swift didn’t just make music in 2024; she defined the year. From Eras dominating theaters to The Tortured Poets Department breaking records, she was the soundtrack to so many of our lives. And as the year came to a close, one thing was certain: in 2024, we were all in our Taylor Swift Era.
—LuElla D’Amico
Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend
Only God Was Above Us is a top-notch return to the heights of Vampire Weekend’s 2008 debut and 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City, but the years have found the band growing weary, particularly tired of all manner of discordance and strife. To put it more strongly, Vampire Weekend have war on their minds: “You don’t want to win this war / ‘Cuz you don’t want the peace” they cry out in the opening track. And in “Gen-X Cops,” Ezra Koenig’s voice foregrounds reluctance: “Dodged the draft but can’t dodge the war.”
The band’s latest album considers jingoism and the softer imperialism of the educated elite, pugilists with real power and prep-school wannabes with something to prove. The weariness feels earned (and, speaking personally, resonant) in a world of dissension. But if the topics betray exhaustion, there’s no hint of it in the songcraft, which displays Vampire Weekend at their most electrifying, unifying their myriad influences into what may be their strongest album yet.
—Micah Rickard
“To the Flowers” by While She Sleeps (Music Video)
While She Sleeps’ “To the Flowers” has the best music video I’ve seen in years. I’ve listened to a lot of While She Sleeps since my YouTube algorithm introduced me to this song in early 2024 and most of their music is standard metal/hardcore fare. But “To the Flowers” has a decidedly different sound. Its melodic portions enhance the harder ones, encompassing a range of emotions the lyrics were crafted to evoke.
This is where the cinematic music video not only elevates the song but becomes a standalone masterpiece. Tradition says simply filming a band play instruments can be a music video, but if you’re going to add video to music, why not make it mean something? I’ve watched “To the Flowers” muted and, not surprisingly, it’s perfect as a self-encapsulated silent short film.
I won’t spoil the narrative, seen through non-sequential clips, but what the three stars (Anna Thornley, Robert Peach, Jill Welsh), director Sean Long, and cinematographer/editor Arran McKenzie have crafted is nothing short of breathtaking. A tale of love and loss, grieving and overcoming depression, I ask why I’ve put myself through the emotions of watching the video for the umpteenth time, yet again swallowing the lump in my throat. If you’re a glutton for simultaneous punishment and inspirational storytelling, experience the video.
—Chris Fogle
