With Staff Picks, our writers and editors highlight some of our favorite new music this month. Check out the picks for the best albums of August 2024 below.
The final quarter of 2024 is imminent, but August gave us some terrific albums to savor. Some artists really showed up with their best works this month: Sabrina Carpenter proved that the hype extends beyond just two great singles, Fontaines D.C. took a massive left turn towards an intriguing, nostalgic sound, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds came back with another late-career powerhouse, and our August CoSigns Wishy offered 10 tracks of fuzzy, hook-heavy alternative rock.
Here are our staff picks for favorite albums of August 2024, listed out in alphabetical order.
David Rawlings and Gillian Welch — Woodland
Few things in this life are as reliable as the output of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Should those two names grace some dusty, well-worn-looking cover art, folk fans everywhere start salivating like Pavlov’s pups — and Woodland is no exception. Following 2020’s cover project All the Good Times , Woodland is a welcome return to masterfully composed, exceptionally written, beautifully performed originals. The lyrics house revelations (something Welch is known for), the guitar work is intricate and mesmerizing, and the production is as lush as the pair have ever allowed it to be. Ultimately, Woodland is a warm, timeless trip into classic folk stylings, and it more than clears the already high bar Welch and Rawlings have set for themselves. — J. Krueger
After dropping a pair of collaborative tracks with Dirty Art Club, slowcore icons Duster surprised fans with a brand new album, In Dreams . The project marks their third full-length release since their return to recording new material in 2018 and, fittingly, continues to see the band exploring new avenues of their spacey, downtrodden, melancholic sound. In between characteristically ominous guitar tones and melodies that move like icebergs, Duster finds newfound timbres and rhythms, resulting in a tone that feels at once modern and nostalgic. Managing to remain cohesive throughout its 11-song tracklist, In Dreams is sure to further cement Duster’s well-deserved canonization. — Jonah Krueger
On their fourth album, Romance , Fontaines D.C. aim to break new ground, moving further away from the “post-punk” label they’ve been associated with from the start. The Irish rock band’s new sound feels like a logical next step, and the explosive record explores the concept of romance writ large. “Maybe romance is a place,” sings frontman Grian Chatten on the title track, setting the tone for the contemplative body of work. At the same time, the album serves as a reflection of a band who’ve essentially “made it.” Romance simply adds to the incredible run Fontaines D.C. have been on since the release of their debut. — Sun Noor
Sometimes dream pop is meant to be sedative and tranquil — but in Gift’s universe, it’s all about action. The New York band elevates and escalates the genre, making otherwise dreamy sounds feel like soaring epiphanies. Illuminator is a particularly apt title for the album, because wherever darkness looms in their reverb-ridden sound, they open up like a beaming lighthouse. “Later,” one of the album’s climactic peaks, is a great example of how much clarity they bring — there’s so much warmth and beauty all around that diving in feels like a reward. — Paolo Ragusa
Horse Jumper of Love have proven to be one of the more tapped-in acts within the modern revival of slowcore, and with Disaster Trick , they barrel forward into new territories while retaining the band’s trademark vulnerability. The record houses some of their loudest, weirdest, and haziest songs to date, as well as a who’s who of contemporary indie rock darlings within the songs’ credits (including producer Alex Farrar, Karly Hartzman of Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, and Squirrel Flower’s Ella). With such an accomplished cast supplementing the Boston act’s rock-solid songwriting, Disaster Trick is about as far from a disaster as you could get. — J. Krueger
JPEGMAFIA is one hell of a live wire, he always has been. From early controversies like “I Just Killed a Cop Now I’m Horny” and “I Might Vote 4 Donald Trump” to his recent work with Kanye (hilariously lampooned by Philly punkers Soul Glo ), Peggy just can’t help but stir up trouble. On I Lay Down My Life for You , the rapper and producer falls even further into the rabbit hole of aggression, leaning harder into hardcore and metal stylings than ever before — and to genuinely exhilarating results.
The tracks of I Lay Down My Life for You offer intense, off-kilter dance grooves (“New Black History,” “I’ll Be Right There”), distorted guitar breakdowns (“i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone,” “vulgar display of power”), or, more often, both within the same cut (“SIN MIEDO,” “don’t rely on other men”). Sprinkle in a couple of cool-downs and a slew of album references in the track names, and you’ve got a blood-pumping project that puts JPEGMAFIA in a position to be Knocked Loose’s next opener. — J. Krueger
Magdalena Bay have been presenting their kaleidoscopic music as just one facet of their project — there’s a whole visual universe and narrative taking place. It’s pop music cinema, their candy-coated melodies fitting into overarching themes and generating an air of unpredictability. On Imaginal Disk , their ambitious, 15-track sophomore album, Matt and Mica do the most. The sci-fi narrative concerns consciousness, the dawn of man, the journey of becoming a human, and all sorts of macro themes; the music is more potent and fragile, with discovery and turmoil becoming interchangeable, sometimes in the same song. It’s their best album yet, and a convincing portrait of why pop music could do with a bit more world building. — P. Ragusa
With Wild God, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds find beauty in the darkness. Even though the band’s 18th studio album came together during a period of grief for frontman Nick Cave — who lost another son in 2022 — the record exudes joy and catharsis, bursting with emotion. Cave’s narrative-driven lyrics exist somewhere between biblical stories and poetry, turning the mundane into epic, hopeful narratives. Wild God feels like a warm embrace and serves as a reminder that love will always prosper. — S. Noor
In a year of high-profile pop girl releases, Sabrina Carpenter might just be the one to take the cake. Short n’ Sweet is a frothy, confident, utterly addicting record that’s refreshing in its straightforwardness. The vocalist knows exactly what she wants to say on this LP, and she does so unapologetically; she knows she’s hot and fun, and she’s on a mission to make all of us feel hot and fun, too. From the effervescent “Good Graces” to the Kacey Musgraves-adjacent “Slim Pickins” and completely unhinged “Juno,” the project is simply a blast. — M. Siroky
Our August CoSign Wishy worked for over three years on their debut album, Triple Seven . The effort shows, because the album is pretty much all bangers, no skips; across 10 tracks, Wishy lift off from the well-worn paths of shoegaze, power pop, and general alternative rock to a place entirely of their own. Vocalists and songwriters Nina Pitchkites and Kevin Krauter each have distinct styles, but their contributions on each other’s tracks are unmistakeable; their nostalgic tunes are psyched-up and unabashed, playing off the earnest candor of late ’90s and early 2000s pop rock with a visceral edge. Don’t sleep on Wishy — they’ve got quite the repertoire already. — P. Ragusa
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