It’s time for this year’s superlatives in Orlando music: the annual Undie Awards

Best fruition: Sistamatic

Yes, new song "Bastard" is the hard-hitting debut by young Orlando band Sistamatic. But it's uniquely historical as the first official release by alumnae of the vital Orlando Girls Rock Camp, the annual summer workshop for female, nonbinary and trans youth. OGRC has been doing empowering work for years, but this is a door-kicking new landmark.

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Best debuts: The veterans

2023 was a vintage year for debuts due to momentous emergences by some of Orlando's most seasoned players. Soul powerhouse Katie Burkess, freak-rock savant Evan Shafran and indie-pop polymath Jeff Ilgenfritz (as The Real Fritz) all finally released their first true solo material this year, making it one of the most credentialed graduating classes in ages.

Best new wave: Feminist punk

Florida's on the frontline of the American culture wars and, thanks to Governor Baby Hitler, it's ugly trench warfare here. Fortunately, Orlando's pushing back with a rising new tide of feminist and queer hardcore bands like Stiletto and M.A.C.E., who are bringing the anger just in time for a critical election year in the war on women.

Best new supergroup: Great Graves

They haven't even played out yet but they're a big deal. Consisting of Jeff Ilgenfritz (Mumpsy, Moonmen From Mars, Florida Slang, Luscious Lisa, etc.), Nick Sprysenki (The Punching Contest, Crutch & the Giant Junshi) and Daniel Orr (American Party Machine, Moonmen From Mars), this new hardcore band is an all-star unit whose collective CV boasts some of the best homegrown work of the past two decades. Even so, their self-titled debut EP is something utterly fresh and powerful. A vision of punk that's visceral, complex and fully realized, it's an instant statement by a band to watch.

Best living history: Figurehead

The Figurehead: Music & Mayhem in Orlando's Underground exhibit that's run for the past year at the Orange County Regional History Center was a game-changer. Besides what it did for both the museum and the city's indie-rock culture, the exhibit sparked fresh interest in Orlando music history beyond its walls with satellite events that included talks and walks with local scene luminaries, as well as affiliated concerts bringing Orlando legacy to life on stage. All told, the robust series of happenings surrounding Figurehead brought overdue pomp to a local past that's more storied and illustrious than some may realize.

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Biggest calendar boost: Tuffy's Music Box

Conduit was the biggest new kid on the block in the area's concert landscape, but Tuffy's out in Sanford leveled up the hardest in their bookings. Thanks primarily to partnering with Southeast promoter Colt Classic Presents, Tuffy's calendar has sported conspicuous leaps in not just caliber but also diversity. Besides quality bookings in their usual roots genres like Paul Cauthen and Amanda Shires, Tuffy's this year has also hosted spicy contenders like dirty-rap queen CupcakKe and hip-hop cartoon Riff Raff. Things are looking even more eclectic for 2024, somehow.

Best new DIY venue: Framework Craft Coffee House

On the street level, this young Mills 50 craft coffee joint has emerged as a fresh alternative for occasional live shows. No, I don't mean sensitive-guy-with-acoustic-guitar pap at your typical coffeehouse. Thanks to partnerships with forward-looking indie promoters like Ugly Orange, shows here have been up-close engagements with next-gen talents, both national and native.

Most meta show: Jordan Foley's local covers

For the recent debut of his new rotating-theme monthly series ("The Set List") at Barley & Vine, local country-rocker Jordan Foley did an entire night of covers of Orlando artists. With a set list that included notable natives like Terri Binion, Hannah Harber & the Lionhearts, Thomas Wynn & the Believers, Patrick Hagerman, Hannah Stokes, Elizabeth Ward, Matthew Fowler, Kyle Keller, and Have Gun, Will Travel, Foley gave love and spotlight to our homegrown talent like no other.

Best lineup: Bestial Mouths remix album

Consisting of Mother Juno, Zoya Zafar, Black Wick, Jas000n, Ootheca and BRAT, among others, the roster that Popnihil's Matthew Moyer assembled to remix Bestial Mouths' music this year for the In Tongues album isn't just a league of locals, it's a frontline assembly of Orlando's current underground.