Longtime Ink 19 staff writer Christopher Long spent almost the entire year consuming and writing about new music. Here are his personal Dirty Dozen: the 12 records that made his heart the happiest in 2024.

Stormchaser (Inebriated Music / Anthem Entertainment). Review by Christopher Long.

Staff writer Christopher Long wedges his way into a private after-show soirée with reigning British pop-rock princess Lauran Hibberd. In the process, the 25-year-old singer songwriter reveals her passion for pop music, Disaronno, and Taco Bell.

In the news today: Osees, Death Cab For Cutie, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, Riot Fest, The Cure, The Mars Volta, The Postal Service, Turnstile, The Sisters of Mercy, Andy Rourke, The Smiths, Rivers Cuomo, Weezer, Knower, Patti Smith, Pavement, The Walkmen, The National

In the news today: Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Faith No More, INXS, Lenny Kravitz, Live, Motley Crue, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Soul Asylum, Stone Temple Pilots, Van Halen, Weezer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Animal Collective, Steel Panther, Zola Jesus, Gorilla Biscuits

Juliana Hatfield is once again in the middle of an unstoppable creative streak, now mixing her needle-sharp pop sensibilities with some truly out-there production.

Big Whoop. Review by Julius C. Lacking.

This week’s compendium of five carefully selected albums are all connected by the quantuum improbability of having landed on Julius C. Lacking’s desk at precisely the right time.

Misty Morning Dew. Review by Michelle Wilson.

Doing Asbestos We Can (Bar/None). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Heart Explosion. Review by Carl F Gauze.

Planta (SQE Music). Review by Jen Cray.

Pythons (Warner Bros). Review by Jen Cray.

Weezer brings the Memories Show to Orlando for a pair of full album performances that sell out with fans looking to take a time machine back to the early ’90s. Jen Cray caught the 1992 train and heard the Blue Album from start to finish.

Free Energy make their Central Florida debut in front of more than just the bartenders, and Jen Cray thanks her lucky stars that she decided to brave the 60 degree wintry blasts to catch the show.

Death to False Metal (Geffen Records). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Jen Cray discovers that An Evening with Cake, while frought with some forgivable frontman soapboxing, is an evening well spent.

Hello=Fire (Schnitzel Records). Review by Jen Cray.

Soundtrack (Epitaph). Review by Carl F Gauze.

Pinkerton [Deluxe Edition] (Geffen). Review by Tim Wardyn.