Well, I did my Annual Best Records List – 2024 Edition right after the first of the year. You can read it here if you missed it: JCE's Annual Best Records List - 2024 Edition — Pencil Storm. Of course, I then had to start reading best of 2024 lists all over the internet to see what else I might discover. I definitely found some nuggets I did not hear in 2024, but my favorite is a self-titled record by Kill City Bandits. (Full Disclosure: It appears to me that some of the songs on this record have been around for years, but this is indeed a 2024 release.) This Scandinavian band is not one I had ever heard of, despite the fact that I find a ton of bands from Denmark, Sweden and Norway to be excellent. The band’s sound cannot be easily classified. It’s not metal, and it’s not punk. It is most definitely rock & roll.
From the band’s website:
KILL CITY BANDITS is the rock n’ roll alternative to boring indie-rock bands, ugly-looking metal bands and transparent Idol-plastic artists. Born on the streets of Oslo the five-piece formed Kill City Bandits on the assumption that the world is in dire need of heroes. Not the clean-cut, glossy paper kind of mass consumption type of heroes – Kill City Bandits’ heroes are dead serious, real and somewhat erratic. This approach to life shines through their creativity both in songs and live shows. But it also sets the context for more aspects of KCB, taking the rock and roll lifestyle back to its basics while facing the future with all guns blazing.
I think that’s a fair description. Their 2024 record is outstanding from start to finish. I really can’t name the standout tracks, because I like them all. I’ll let the music do the talking.
JCE, or John to his friends, was born in Washington. He grew up in the VA suburbs of D.C. His earliest musical memories are tied to a transistor radio with a single earphone that he carried everywhere listening to AM radio. His wife of 33 years says he’ll never grow up, and she’s exactly right. He attributes that to his lifelong love affair with all things rock n roll. He just retired after a 37-year career in local government, and he’s ready to keep on rockin’!