Southern Sounds: South Carolina's Best Albums of 2024

Exploring the music of the Southern USA, one state at a time. Featuring: Brave Baby, The Simplicity, Shovels and Rope, Dog Named Squid, E.Z. Shakes, Slow Funeral, Little Stranger

Welcome to a new series I’ve been working on exploring the music of the Southern USA. It’s a diverse and musically rich region with a deep history in all kinds of musical genres. I’ll be going through some of my favorite recent music from local artists in each state, while at the same time learning just a little bit more about the region I call home. It doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention in the big popular media, either, aside from the major cities like Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and maaaaybe Charlotte although nobody is really from Charlotte, they just move there to work for BofA for the first couple years of their careers before moving on to somewhere else.

Anyways. I’ve lived in and listened to awesome music in every state in the South, and I’m here to tell you there’s far more music from this region - both past and present - than what you know from the bigger cities. It’s easy to make a caricature out of the South, to lump the region together and ignore the diversity it has to offer. But not on my watch!

First state up: South Carolina

I was born and raised in the state of South Carolina - for anyone not familiar, that’s the little pie-shaped state on the U.S. east coast, about 1/3 of the way up between Florida and New York. It’s in the heart of the Southeast, part of what’s traditionally known as the American Deep South, the land of warm weather, twangy accents, and a whole lot of problematic history.

There we are! The little piece of apple pie! Or maybe peach pie actually. ***IMPORTANT NOTE*** Florida is left out of the South on purpose. It’s not the South, no matter what people from other regions might think, for many silly mostly-joking reasons that I’m sure I’ll get to at some point. Texas is its own thing and didn’t fit on the map and I was too lazy to fix it so it’s not in the box either, but it can be. TBD if Texas gets its own newsletter or not. Kentucky and Virginia are included. West Virginia and Arkansas are debatable.

If you’re from any other region in the US, you’re probably thinking “oh yeah, South Carolina, I’ve been to Myrtle Beach before.” I just want to let you know that Myrtle Beach is basically the Florida of South Carolina - it’s technically part of the state, but it isn’t really part of the state. I won’t be explaining or defending my position further; if you know, you know :)

I have no idea what Southern Music, Inc. was all about - I spotted its remains in Orangeburg, SC on a long drive through the SC countryside and had to stop for a photo as part of my blossoming photography obsession. Also on second thought I suppose the sign could just as easily have said Northern Music, Inc. based on the missing letters. I guess we’ll never know

South Carolina is a small state, but has a surprisingly vibrant music scene. It had an impact on many genres, including beach music, bluegrass, Soul/R&B, jazz, and many others. The music history of the state is almost as fractured and contradictory and troubled as its non-music history, and will make a fascinating read another day. But for today we’re focused on the now - so let’s dive into the current music scene in South Carolina!

Awesome South Carolina Albums of 2024

Brave Baby - 3x Blood

Brave Baby released this album in 2024 after an almost 9 year break - long story short, life happened, and they came back together in Charleston, SC to find the magic was still there. Their pop-rock tunes have a little bit of indie rock tinge with a drummer who sounds like he secretly wants to be in a prog-rock band but is resisting the urge with mixed success, while vocalists Keon Masters and Wolfgang Zimmerman providing all the wistful expressiveness you could ask for. The explorative drumbeats confuse things a couple of times, but overall the band is tight and the songs are effortless and well-constructed, with some like “Cloak of Love” showcasing an almost wall-of-sound-like production that shows the band’s musical range.

The Simplicity - MONEY

The Simplicity lives up to their name in many ways; this is straightforward rock (described by the band as “Straight shootin rock and roll music from Charleston, SC”) driven mainly by the lead singer’s energetic and slightly froggy growl. It’s the kind of music that really brings out the flavors of a cold Miller Lite, unpretentious and just down for a good time. The kind of rock ‘n roll band that you hope to find playing when you walk into an old basement bar.

E.Z. Shakes - Leaves Grow Back

Hailing from Columbia, SC and founded in 2017, the E.Z. Shakes are an “ever evolving rock experiment” that has grown from its country-folk roots into an electric indie rock thing. At times lead singer Zach Seibert seems to be reaching towards good-timey Springsteen, and at other times the mood turns introspective. Although the band would undoubtedly sound fantastic on songs with cowbells and major chords, there’s a moody depth to a lot of the tracks that works really well, and I think they’ve found something much cooler in their sound.

Dog Named Squid - Manners

This EP is from Dog Named Squid, who started in the booming metropolis of Greenwood, SC before relocating to Charleston. Fun fact, I bought an old Ford Explorer in Greenwood, SC once (my first car purchase) - to this day I still get emails from the dealer looking to buy it back. Look, y’all, Explorers (aka Exploders) aren’t exactly known to last this long get off my back and move on.

Anyways. I can’t lie, I thought this was going to be death metal based on the name of the first song, but not to worry (unless you love death metal). This EP is clearly the work of a young band, but they have potential in their sound; it reminds me at times of The Dip, but with a little hint of country twang (just a hint, though).

If you’ve ever wanted to find a great artist with less than 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify that deserves many more, maybe for your bingo card or some kind of musical challenge you’re doing, this is it. Give this EP a listen and enjoy.

Slow Funeral - Super Jesus Small Town

This EP from Greenville, SC band Slow Funeral is largely a showcase for singer Mary Norris’ hyper-talented vocals. The band’s sound fluctuates from alt rock to punkyness, with the vocals falling somewhere between Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive, one of my favorites) and Amy Lee from Evanescence, and even a song or two that could have been Nirvana B-sides. The EP is certainly a nod to the South, but it’s a whole heck of a lot more energetic than the title would have you believe.

Shovels & Rope - Something Is Working Up Above My Head

Shovels and Rope is a South Carolina lowcountry** staple. The folk/country husband and wife duo are also the founders of High Water Festival in Charleston, which has grown since its inception in 2017 to attract some pretty solid national acts to the little city over the years.

**Side note, for those who don’t know, SC is half hills and small mountains and half extremely flat land leading to the ocean, most of which is relatively low elevation - aka the lowcountry. Pretty much the entire lowcountry is flat and hot and muggy and swampy and full of pine trees and alligators. It’s not as extreme in any of those areas as New Orleans, but it’s from the same family tree for sure.**

This album is almost spiritual at times, with a stripped back sound that’s reflective of the duo’s two-piece concert performances. And be sure to miss “Love Song From A Dog,” which is perhaps the first ever country song about a dog where (spoiler alert) the dog lives! Thrives, you might say.

Little Stranger - Sat Around Trippin

In what might seem like a total wildcard compared to the rest of my selections, this album from Charleston (by way of Philadelphia) group Little Stranger features Kevin and John Shields (no relation) rapping and reggae-ing their way through a mostly unserious set of songs.

There’s some Beck in their sound, plus some college kid hip hop goofiness that might have been inspired by Cypress Hill or the Beasties, although that’s more in spirit than in sound. They sing about Wordle and rap about Radiohead and sing over some goofy bossanova beats, and it can be a college-bro-ey experience at times, but all in all it’s a pretty good time.

I’ll leave you with my favorite lyric from “MAD DUMB” : “we stand on the shoulders of giants / so dummies like us can have phones and appliances.” Well said, my friends. Well said.