The 2024 Comeback Special included 22 artists who released albums of new original music after an absence of a decade or more. And yet, I missed another 28 comebacks from 2024: far too many to include on a CD-length compilation. I had to leave out Belong, Kittie, Manu Chao, Propaganda and Stetsasonic. (There was also a 2024 release from Plasticland called Spree, but I couldn’t find it online anywhere, and apparently the songs were completed a decade earlier.)
The award for the longest time between albums (40 years!) goes to The Heats, whose self-titled 2024 album follows their 1983 debut, The Heats Have An Idea. It’s been almost that long for The Prisoners, who returned with Morning Star in 2024. And over 30 years passed before the 2024 comebacks of the Jack Rubies, Propaganda, Stetsasonic, and Toadliquor.
Last year, Khayem reminded me that Beth Gibbons and Gavin Friday had released solo comeback albums in 2024. Koen discovered that Jona Lewie also released a new record in 2024.
The biggest name I missed among last year’s comebacks was The Black Crowes. The Robinson brothers buried the hatchet and reunited in 2019, but it took another five years to release an album of new songs. At the ass-end of 2025, “Rats And Clowns” sounds quite topical, as does “Cross The Line” by Connecticut hardcore band The Pist (who somehow knew in 2024 that the essential question of 2025 would be, “Am I being detained?”)
I front-loaded this compilation with the grooviest songs, and put the heavy stuff at the end. Like 2024 itself, it starts out fun and ends in anger and despair, with everyone wondering how the hell to make sense of this crazy mess. Here's to better days, friends.
2024 Comeback Special, vol. 2: https://pixeldrain.com/u/bte8aSnF
ReplyDelete2024 Comeback Special, vol. 1: https://tinyurl.com/2024comebacks
This looks great, Jon! Power pop simply doesn't come any better than THE HEATS (& I didn't know they staged a comeback!) They're right up there with The Spongetones, The Raspberries, The Smithereens, The Beatles, Badfinger, & Cheap Trick.
DeleteThanks, pal! For those unfamiliar with The Heats, their debut was a Hanukkah headliner at Wilfully Obscure a few years ago:
Deletehttps://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-heats-have-idea-19802007.html
Another comeback from 2024 deserves to be highlighted. SUN & SAIL CLUB is a side project from Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch and drummer Scott Reeder. They recruited Kyuss bassist Scott Reeder (that’s no typo, there are two dudes named Scott Reeder in the band). THEN they added legendary punk singer Tony Adolescent (aka Tony Reflex, aka Tony Molina)! If you're thinking, "That sounds a bit like Keith Morris' other band," you're not far OFF! Sun & Sail Club's SHIPWRECKED is a blast for fans of thrash metal with a punk influence.
Deletehttps://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sun-and-sail-club-shipwrecked
Good job Jonder, it's really hard to keep up... And it looks that in the near future there'll be zillions of AI generated comebacks: https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/spotify/spotify-king-gizzard-lizard-wizard-ai-clones?
ReplyDeleteFinally, some good news to look forward to! Thank you, Koen. Goodness knows we need MORE albums by King Giz and the LizWiz, whether they're authentic or not. But WHERE is the bluegrass tribute, "Pickin' on Gizzards"?
DeleteHilarious!
DeleteI'm sure AI is working on "Pickin' on Gizzards"!
DeleteI just discovered this Wikipedia article which made me realize the futility of trying to be comprehensive. In 2025, I also missed comebacks from the metal bands Astarte, Biohazard, Coroner, Corpus Delecti, Dark Angel, Earshot, Stepa, Sweet Savage -- and a Peter Criss solo LP.
ReplyDeleteThere was a new Lone Justice record in 2024, AND a Maria McKee solo album, plus comebacks from The Dictators (Adny, Ross, and BOC drummer Albert Bouchard minus Handsome Dick and the late Scott Kempner), plus Disco Biscuits, Little Feat, and Pinhead Gunpowder. And of course MORE metal bands: Atrophy, Brodequin, Dååth, Deadman, Kill The Thrill, Mutilation, and The Old Dead Tree. I'm just going to have to add a disclaimer to future volumes. They won't be comprehensive, and they won't include every heavy metal comeback.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_gaps_between_studio_albums