Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

Arts and Entertainment

Our non-exhaustive list of great music out of SoCal in 2024

A pair of headphones.
Southern California is full of great music being put out all the time, but you already knew that.
(
Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist
)

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive. 

One of my favorite parts of living in Los Angeles — if not my absolute favorite — is how many different music genres, venues and scenes are represented within an hour's drive. Exciting artists are popping up all over, from South L.A. to Orange County to the Inland Empire.

It's hard to stay on top of it all, even if you live and breathe music, so here are a few recommendations to get you started (especially if you like shoegaze). Fair warning: This list is not supposed to represent everything going on in Southern California, just a few personal favorites.

Listen 4:58
LA Gems: Our non-exhaustive list of great music out of SoCal in 2024

Support for LAist comes from

Nailah Hunter - Lovegaze

L.A.-based harpist and singer Nailah Hunter's album Lovegaze came out at the very beginning of this year. I wholeheartedly recommend it for when you’re having a moment of calm, or need to have one. The album shows off Hunter's range — some of her songs wouldn't be out of place on a poppy Spotify playlist, while others resemble Björk's experimental approach to songwriting.

Mo Dotti - Opaque

Support for LAist comes from

Moving on from Lovegaze, I'm going to focus on shoegaze for a little bit. The alt rock subgenre has totally blown up in the 2020s, and as someone who was uploading obscure shoegaze albums to YouTube back in 2010, I always crave bands like Mo Dotti that really know their references. Don't call them a throwback act, though — they have an inventive approach to chords and melodies, and I can already tell their choices of chords and melodies are going to hold me through the dreary winter months.

Cold Gawd - I'll Drown on This Earth

Other bands, take note: This track, “Malibu Beach House,” is a great example of how to sound heavy and pack a punch while still staying true to that dreamy shoegaze sound. The Rancho Cucamonga-based band opened for the excellent Mexico City band Mint Field at El Cid in Silver Lake this year, and I’m excited to see where 2025 takes them.

Julie - My Anti-Aircraft Friend

Julie started up in Orange County, and they’ve blown up with their album my anti aircraft friend. They've been building an audience locally for a while, and they actually got a major label deal when they only had a few songs out — they’re labelmates with Charli XCX on Atlantic Records. Their live shows dial up the Sonic Youth influence to 11, which I love. Please bring earplugs, though. (That probably applies to most of these bands, come to think of it.)

Support for LAist comes from

Estrada - "Wrong Again"

Estrada didn’t put out a full album this year — if you're reading this, please drop it ASAP. But he did release this icy, vital song “Wrong Again.” I love his take on 80s and 90s rock, and I also love that Estrada tagged this single as “foogaze” and “chologoth” on Bandcamp.

03 Greedo & Helluva - Hella Greedy

I'm going to finish out with 03 Greedo, who's been one of my favorite figures in L.A. rap for a while now. He's super prolific, and one of his projects from this year is a collaboration with the Detroit producer Helluva. Lots of Detroit rappers have this skittish offbeat flow with bars full of punchlines, and 03 Greedo is kind of a perfect match for the sound, especially given how California and Michigan rap have been influencing each other for years.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist