Tone Madison’s favorite songs of 2024, pt. I

The Madison songs that beat the odds and helped us get through the year.

All throughout 2024, Madison musicians’ resilience and artistry were on display. In a city where the deck seems to be constantly stacked against meaningful support for its local musicians, that’s no small feat. Even when a new setback appears, our music community retains its clear and irrepressible appetite for creation. Defiance is, by extension, inherent to so much of the excellent music that Madison musicians release every year, giving listeners art to rally around, uplift, and celebrate. 

From haunted tomes to venomous lash-outs to soulful introspection and far beyond, the thousands of songs Madison-area artists released in 2024 were a welcome challenge to digest. A handful of them connected with the writers and editors at Tone Madison in ways that felt profound. We’ve pin-pointed a collection of our favorites and split them across a two-part series, with 15 selections each. As has been the case for a few years, none of these tracks appear on the 20 records we’ve chosen as our 2024 favorites (though many of these songs belong to records that were truly excellent as well).

Look for those selections throughout the week, as we roll out our reflections on the past year of local music. It was hard not to feel galvanized by the output of local musicians in 2024, and seeing these releases connect with different audiences was a joy. Music has the capacity to be extraordinarily powerful and a large number of Madison musicians wielded that power with grace and good intention.

We, of course, can not possibly hope to cover every Madison release in a given year, and there will undoubtedly be releases that we missed. A lot of great, local 2024 music landed on Tone Madison‘s proverbial desk. These are 15 of the tracks that truly stuck. —Steven Spoerl

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Baby Tyler Band, “The Top”

Hard-hitting motorik drum patterns and fuzzed-out, oscillating bass lines open Baby Tyler Band‘s “The Top.” A cataclysmic ending that expands on that opening perfectly demonstrates the band’s brawny livewire aggression. Searing hardcore, sneering indie-punk, and a splash of power-pop principles enliven “The Top,” with vocalist/songwriter Tyler Fassnacht leading the band—drummer Heather Sawyer, guitarist Liam Casey, bassist Griffin Beltane, and guitarist Graham Hunt—through a jagged, riff-heavy, high-octane brawler. —Steven Spoerl

Chris Di Bernardo, “Forever Bougie”

Before leaving Madison for Nashville, Mickey Sunshine drummer Chris Di Bernardo released the exploratory jazz composition “Forever Bougie.” Aided by a sterling cast of jazz musicians with local ties (John Christensen, Will Greene, Matt Blair, and John Smith), Di Bernardo crafts a mesmeric gem. Jazz, funk, ambient-pop, and post-rock all collide on “Forever Bougie,” creating a fusion that proves surprisingly seductive throughout the track’s seven minutes and change. As riveting as it is intoxicating, “Forever Bougie” is a great reminder to appreciate local talent while that talent’s readily available. —SS

Combat Naps, “Sunbeam Bully“

Colorful indie-pop act Combat Naps released a great digital single, an incredible album, and a standalone single in 2024. The latter of those three—”Sunbeam Bully“—may be the most impressive work of the band’s fast-growing output. Neal Jochmann’s project flourishes in the margins, implementing a studied whimsicality that makes the band’s songs feel familiar but slightly subversive. From the rollicking, bluesy ragtime piano riffs to the Beatles-esque distorted guitar licks, there is a lot here to love. One of the most surprisingly fun tracks to come out of Madison in years. —SS

Diati, “Loud Cloud“

Vanishing Kids guitarist Jason Hartman followed up a stellar 2023 with a new solo thrash project: Diati. The project released a three-track self-titled EP that ended in a flurry of guitar pyrotechnics on the gnarled “Loud Cloud.” Taking some classic metal influence and eschewing Vanishing Kids’ moody restraint, “Loud Cloud” features some of Hartman’s most blistering guitar playing to date. A relatively subdued chorus sets up the final minutes of “Loud Cloud” perfectly, and Hartman seizes the moment, delivering a furious guitar solo that serves as a hard-won exclamation point. —SS

Endswell, “Spirit Blues”

A rollicking entry in the long-running Midwest emo tradition, Endswell‘s “Spirit Blues” opens with the genre-required chiming guitar intro. The rest of the band quickly joins in to build epic counterpoint, expanding the song into big fuzzy group-chanted vocals that escalate into heartfelt screams. Intricate riffs run underneath, clicking together like a train on the tracks. Stop-start precision and crazy-fast runs lead us into a chorus where hearts get screamed out: “Things haven’t been perfect.” The intro riff returns for a spacious bridge, “Can we both be honest?” gets shouted over it all, and just like that—in not even three minutes—you’ve got the full emotional arc, sparking past telephone poles between small towns in the middle of nowhere. —Dan Fitch

Foghaven, “Voices Beyond The Haze”

Haunted ambient swells, a ripple of foreboding, and a coldly gripping aesthetic combine on Foghaven‘s “Voices Beyond The Haze.” Ludwig The Bloodsucker—a member of the DIY metal collective forming around the Madison based-label Empty Pit Recordings—conjures up a gentle nightmare on the track. Operating like a siren that’s pulling listeners out to sea, “Voices Beyond The Haze” creates a genuine allure, forcing listeners in for close examination. Buried in the Gothic-tinged ambient mix are a sea of voices, fighting to be heard above a tattered blanket of noise. The prospect of unearthing those voices and clearing up what they’re saying seems as frightening as it does enticing. —SS

Friendly Spectres, “Box Fort“

“Box Fort,” the fiery-eyed centerpiece of Friendly Spectres’ excellent Promised Land EP, is emblematic of Friendly Spectres‘ sheer strength of conviction (as well as the project’s growing artistry). Cam Scheller-Suitor has long been one of the more convincing songwriters and vocalists in Madison’s punk community, and “Box Fort” heightens those traits further still. Electro-pop, indie-punk, and a host of other influences collide as Scheller-Suitor yelps “I’ve been overstimulated for too long,” while hurling war-time metaphors like “homemade molotov cocktails” with abandon. Thrilling, tragicomic, and highly relatable, “Box Fort” cuts through without mercy. —SS

Jane Hobson, “Not My Medicine”

Jane Hobson‘s “Not My Medicine” sets a new high watermark for translating the songwriter’s punchy, rock-tinted live show to a studio environment. Hobson continues to excel in narratives hinging on damaged romanticism. Whether that comes by way of internal or external relationships doesn’t seem to matter, and “Not My Medicine” invokes both. “You don’t know what I am apart from you / Have you ever looked at it from my point-of-view?” intones a pained Hobson, clinging to a defeatist, widescreen rumination that still allows for a sliver of distant hope. —SS

Jasper John Maxwell, “Dead Dog”

“Trying to remember / All the names and faces that I met / And all the drugs I took are helping me forget,” goes a memorably playful line in Jasper John Maxwell’s debut single, “Dead Dog.” It’s a twisty, tongue-in-cheek romp that feels perfectly-suited to the trio’s buoyant Americana. (Jasper, John, and Maxwell were the names almost given to the band’s respective members: Jacob Plageman, Chris Mazur, and Gabrielle Dublo.) Bouncy, polka-esque bass lines, warm acoustic guitar tones, complementary banjo pickin’, and a well-worn lead vocal performance turn “Dead Dog” into a transportive experience. Lean in close enough and you’ll feel the flames of a well-tended campfire licking your cheeks. —SS

LEADS, “Killer Highway (No Trees)”

Cult Of Lip guitarist Ronnie Lee’s long-running synth project, LEADS, released two strong EPs in 2024. “killer highway (no trees)” stood out as one of the clear highlights from the overall collection, showing off Lee’s penchant for retro aesthetics and a genuine gift for dynamic composition. On sheds‘ penultimate track, Lee drifts into the sublime, conjuring up a drums-and-synth vibe that feels like it was tailor-made for a pixel-art video game permeated by complex moral quandaries and a subtle sense of dread (think somewhere between Kentucky Route Zero and Katana Zero). Bouncy, icy, and immediately absorbing, “killer highway” is a road worth travelling. —SS

MEDLÉN, “number30maybe31“

Hannah Edlén and Nate Meng of The Stolen Sea let their multi-intrumentalist experimental sides roam in MEDLÉN. Among the standout tracks on the duo’s triply self-titled 2024 album is this patient 15-minute exploration, which opens with delay trails and sparse guitar loops. Like a sonar signal that’s searching for the next place to land, the guitar harmonies slowly pile on each other while the delay birds circle. When the drums finally enter, the guitar fades, and something that might be a melodica begins looping, dubby and confused, to form a new spine. Edlén’s clarinet playfully dodges in different directions atop; pulse evolving, now the clarinet mimics the warbling tones of the duduk (an Armenian double-reeded instrument). Meng’s drums drive at different emphases and collapse in dub delay waves, and where we are headed next is bound to be a damn surprise. —DF

Rockstar & Elise, “Makeup”

Emily AF’s emergent pop project Rockstar & Elise got off to a strong start in 2024, debuting with the standalone single “Makeup.” Appropriately, “Makeup” established a theme that wound up recurring throughout a string of follow-up singles and releases: new beginnings. Whether that emergence comes via emotional revelations, intellectual realizations, embracing identity, the world collapsing and being reintroduced, AF shows an innate ability to translate a sense of quiet euphoria into searingly honest music. Cribshitter co-leader Karl Christenson adds a bit of attention-catching color with some guest guitar work, lending support to a strong showcase for AF’s talent. —SS

Ruwa Alien School, “Qualified Class“

Alex Driver’s kaleidoscopic sample-heavy producer project Ruwa Alien School hit a new high with “Qualified Class.” Bleeps, bloops, scrapes, and squeaks all serve as a deceptively propulsive engine on the track, which flirts with moments of comedy as much as it flirts with moments of unexpected, avant-garde noise. Driver keeps listeners on their toes, even as a steady backbeat keeps things firmly on the rails. A head-nodder that makes you think, “Qualified Class” never really stops evolving across eight and a half wild, exhilarating minutes. —SS

The Stoplights, “Get Out Of Your Own Way”

Singer-songwriter Ryan Liam put together an incredible 2024. All three of the records Liam released during the year under the moniker The Stoplights are gripping affairs. “Get Out Of Your Own Way,” a highlight from the piano-and-vocals-only Morning Doves, operates as a clear standout in a generous batch of superlative material. In 81 seconds, Liam showcases a masterful blend of melody, lyricism, and composition, creating an immediately, immensely satisfying tune that proves inescapably sticky. Landing somewhere in the ballpark of “modern update of Randy Newman,” the track continues to carve out Liam’s own distinctive artistic voice. Madison’s fortunate to have a songwriter this gifted. —SS

We Should Have Been DJs, “Daisy J”

“Daisy J” is a sledgehammer of a rock track, especially when We Should Have Been DJs unleash the track in a live environment. Alissa Taylor (Gods In The Chrysalis) and Indigo Smith-Oles (solo, ex-Interlay, ex-Mickey Sunshine) appear as guest vocalists on the track, which features the core trio teeing off on a brooding, grunge-heavy barn-burner. “Burn my home / Til it’s nothing to me” goes a particularly striking line as the track picks up steam. Staccato snare hits, a weirdly soft psychedelic bridge, impassioned vocals, and hard-hitting contributions from everyone credited on the track create a jarring “can’t-look-away-from-the-crash” effect. It’s riveting. —SS