While it’s easy to complain about everything from Autotune to Spotify killing real music, there’s still plenty being produced. And, yes, quite a lot of it coming out of the Alamo City, assuming you’re willing to seek it out.

As evidence of that wealth of compelling sounds, we had a hard time picking just 10 local releases to praise as the year’s best. If you haven’t yet explored the year’s crop of San Antonio sounds, let this list be your guide.

Here they are in no particular order, and with some singles and EPs thrown in with the albums for good measure.

Credit: Courtesy Image / Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country

Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country — Everyone is Everyone

San Antone’s cosmic cowboys released their sophomore album this year, continuing an emphatically humanistic ethos that originated with the group’s debut album, People Are Beautiful. However, Everyone is Everyone takes things further, blending positive psychology and celestial epiphany with cowboy prairie wisdom. Single “Flow State” presents this peaceful world view, which is reflected in a placid melody that meets somewhere between krautrock, Talking Heads and J.J. Cale. Quirky frontman Garrett T. Capps carries this eclectic taste through to the music calendar at his St. Mary’s Strip honky tonk, The Lonesome Rose. That said, the group’s biggest cosmic influence is delivered by modular-synth guru Justin Boyd, “the Brian Eno of the group.” Despite or perhaps because of the vast plane they cover in their influences, these bodhisattva bandoleros sound like nothing you’ve heard before. — Stephanie Koithan

Elnuh — “B.S.” and “Blue”

Elnuh is the brainchild of singer-guitarist Elena Lopez with Daniel Puente on drums and Luke Mitchell on bass. The trio’s moody, intoxicating dream-pop feels like it could have been released by British label 4AD during its classic era. Elnuh released two singles — “B.S.” and “Blue” — during 2024, and both feel world-class. It’s the sound of SA, but filtered through decades of distilled independent, soulful indie rock. It is outstanding, straight up. — Bill Baird

Excantation — Fleeting in Its Grandeur

Excantation specialize in a metal subgenre known as funeral doom, and as the name suggests, this duo specializes in taking the lumbering downtuned riffs of doom metal and slowing them to a depressing and glacial pace. Comprised of two marathon tracks, Fleeting in Its Grandeur is a masterpiece of spirit-crushing, atmospheric heaviness. Simultaneously beautiful and hideous, this is essential listening for those brave enough to explore music’s darkest and most extreme reaches. — Sanford Nowlin

Fear of Loss — Surrender to Suffering

San Antonio loves its heavy music, and hardcore act Fear of Loss gives the people what they want. The group’s sophomore EP punches listeners in the head with fast, snare-forward drumming and slow, crunchy guitar chugs. Thick bass lines and guttural vocals perfect the release’s dingy-basement-show feel. For a band that only got its start last year, Fear of Loss is on a quick rise in the Texas’ hardcore scene that the band actively supports in more ways than just releasing music. — Brianna Espinoza

The Fixations — The Fixations Are Who You Thought They Were

Blasting out no-frills three-chord rock ’n’ roll that stands out from the herd isn’t as easy as it looks. Thanks to catchy songcraft, primal energy and more swagger than a pimp convention, The Fixations have damn near perfected the formula. This self-released gem evokes the rough-and-ready riffage and bad attitude of early AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and Saxon — and manages to do it without grinding into tiring sameness over the course of 10 ripping tunes. — SN

Fluxus Mortis — When Pleasure Becomes Torture

Melodic black metal band Fluxus Mortis hasn’t produced much music yet, but what it has produced is already catching our attention. Its five-song debut album When Pleasure Becomes Torture, released Dec. 14, compiles a couple of singles it released throughout the year plus a few other tracks, all centered on the concept album’s BDSM theme. Standout track “Centuries of Her Sinister Domain” starts with a forsaken wail over a baroque and mysterious sonic landscape before ripping you apart with guttural snarls and rapid-fire blast beats. With every song centered on sadomasochism or sex rituals, the album harkens to spiritual forebears of sexual perversion like Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and Aleister Crowley. — SK

Credit: Courtesy Image / Lessons in Purgatory

Lessons in Purgatory — Morose Mūsēum

Eerie San Antonio duo Lessons in Purgatory emerged from its mossy tomb earlier this year with the release of debut album Morose Mūsēum. The production on the first song may appear a bit rocky, but as the album progresses the recording’s lo-fi nature adds to its personality. The crushingly distorted guitars, wavy synths and echoing drums give Morose Mūsēum an authentic ’80s and ’90s goth sound. Deep, dark vocals contrast with angelic singing, giving the album a Type O Negative feel that’s deliciously drenched in both punk and death rock. — BE

Credit: Courtesy Image / Mockingbird Express

Mockingbird Express — Mockingbird Express

Marc “Mockingbird” Smith is a puro-SA guitar hero. After playing in bands for years, he started Mockingbird Express as a custom vehicle for delivering heavy Texas psych. Seeing is believing — the live shows unabashedly shred, spreading sonic good vibes while showing off Smith’s impeccable fashion sense. This year marked the long-awaited — and delayed — release of the first full-length LP from Smith’s Mockingbird Express power trio. The band’s raw garage-psych is Texas to the core, and it manages to harness the energy of the live shows. — BB

Sex Mex — Repackaged

Prolific garage-punk purveyor Clark Gray — aka Sex Mex — has blasted out so many short, speedy and catchy songs over the past few years it’s easy to lose track, which is why this 11-song collection of recent EPs is essential listening. Raw, overdriven, hook-laden and beautifully immature, Sex Mex evokes the agitated immediacy of first-wave punk bands such as the Adverts, Buzzcocks and Swell Maps without sounding derivative. Repackaged is fast, frantic and most of all fun. — SN

Various Artists — Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label

The influential Numero Group released this stunning compilation of singles cut in the ’60s by San Antonio’s Dynamic label, founded by West Side studio guru and real estate mogul Abe Epstein. Epstein’s studio on General McMullen Drive captured anything from West Side Soul to blues to conjunto to psych-rock, providing a true musical and racial melting pot during a tumultuous era. The album offers a great introduction to SA gems including the Commands, Tonettes, Little Jr. Jesse & the Tear Drops, Don & the Doves, Willie Cooper & the Webs, Bobby Blackmon & His Soul Express and Doc & Sal. Essential and great for parties. — BB

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