By Ian
Almost all my picks are from this year. It was a fantastic year for music. The following are in no particular order.
Kathryn Mohr, Waiting Room.
Powerful, bleak, and punishing. An isolating work that puts you in a dark room with the artist.
Tetragrammacide, Cyber Tantric Paradigm of Radical Sri Vidya.
Blast beat good. Blast beat life. Something something cyber nuclear Kali Om Kring Kalikaye Nama. (It’s really good!)
Omar Hound, OLDWORLD.
An extremely textural work of drone/ambient. I felt near the end of the record that the work itself is somehow profoundly spiritual. How, I can’t say. Just something you might catch on the wind when this album is playing.
YHWH Nailgun, 45 Pounds.
The hipster darlings have outdone themselves. An album of left turns and lurching vocals, while the synths seem almost tropical in comparison. So many genres of underground mashed together it’s no wonder it calls to horn-rimmed glasses wearing trendsetters like the Green Goblin mask from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.
Sumac, The Healer.
Though it came out last year, I had the pleasure of seeing them play this entire album live this year. And it was incredible. I’d not heard it ‘til I saw them, and I was totally floored, and bought the record then and there. It was like being beaten by a caveman under a deafening cacophony of incredible musicianship. A few years ago, I’d seen them at the DLC in Salt Lake City, and they topped that performance by miles.
Cities Aviv, Electric Chair.
Something I’ve always liked about Cities is that his music has a deteriorating quality to it. Crooning poetry over static hissing while the electrical pops of the samples make it sound like the song might be a little more distorted upon the next listen.
Cross Record, Crush Me.
I feel like I could use the word “texture” over and over again in these blurbs, but again, this album is so heavily textured in interesting ways that I had to keep guessing what certain sounds were. On top of that, it’s a great indie/alt-rock adjacent record that rewards a listener with subsequent listens.
ece era, Bedside Tunes (Lights On).
I’m a sucker for any electronic, glossy record with vocals buried so deep in the reverb that lyrics may as well not matter. Snowfall on neon lights, fun, dancy beats and ethereal synths.
Evoken, Mendacium.
I’m glad that, even in the tidal wave of great doom metal that came out this year, Evoken continually seems to occupy their own little corner of the genre. The funereal stalwarts put out a record that is both meditative and catchy, despite its glacial pace.
Primitive Man, Observance.
Primitive Man seems to have mastered the art of distilling actual human despair into something sonic. Where I prefer the more frantic uproar of the vocalist’s other band Vermin Womb, this album seems a great inverse sibling record to the latter project’s Retaliation.
Suffering Hour, Impelling Rebirth.
Suffering Hour has one of my favorite guitarists in the metal game right now. The guy is like an actual spider, seeming to crawl over the fret board, casting maniacal spells that I only wish I could figure out in my own playing. This effort being their comeback after their drummer’s battle with cancer is like all the more aggressive pieces of their previous records cranked to 11.
Hannah Frances, Nested in Tangles.
Dare I call this my album of the year? This is one of those records I found by accident, clicking on it in the sidebar of whatever service I was on. I don’t remember because the album was just too good, I saved it on everything, listened to it maybe a hundred times over. It’s wistful and melancholy, celebratory in key moments that seem to pass by with the horns and bird calls, and I can simply find no faults with it other than the album ending and having to press play again. It’s an atmosphere I could inhabit for long stretches of time.
By SoDak
I never got to see the Flatlanders play, but I saw the three main members—Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock—perform as solo artists. From Lubbock, Texas, the Flatlanders were a stunning band, with three unique songwriters, blending country, folk, and rock. While their initial run was short, from 1972 to 1973, they were legendary. Each member forged successful solo careers, often collaborating and covering each other’s songs. In 1998, they regrouped as the Flatlanders recording additional records and touring from time to time. I was still hoping to see the three of them perform as the Flatlanders, that is until Ely stopped touring due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia. His family continued to fill his world with music up to his death on December 15, 2025.
Ely was a masterful singer-songwriter. While he was rocker, much of his music is solidly Americana, fusing country and folk. He often incorporated brilliant guitar parts that upped the energy, propelling songs forward. When I saw Ely perform, he was a captivating storyteller, sharing details regarding the people, places, and historical moments that informed the songs. He embodied this tradition. At the time, I remember thinking about how few folks still authentically did this.
In the late 1970s, after seeing Ely play, the Clash befriended him. They would jam late at night, sharing music and stories, creating a rich bond. Ely opened for the Clash on some of their dates in the United States. In their song, “If Music Could Talk, on the Sandinista!, the Clash sing “there ain’t no better blend than Joe Ely and his Texas men.” Later, Ely sang backing vocals on “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” He had a deep appreciation for music, misfits, and renegades, and he easily moved between what appeared to others as different worlds.
I am a fan of Ely’s entire catalog, despite some of the unevenness in the 1980s. His first record, Joe Ely (1977), includes a brilliant version of Hancock’s “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me.” On his second record, Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978), his ballad “Because of the Wind” still moves me after all these years. I really love his 1990s records—Love and Danger (1992), Letter to Loredo (1995), and Twistin’ in the Wind (1998). Each of these records are distinct, yet they are all fully realized, capturing the richness of his voice and songs. Listen to “All Just to Get to You,” “Gallo Del Cielo,” “Run Preciosa,” and “Twistin’ in the Wind” to get a taste. Then settle into each record and absorb them in their entirety. To hear his brilliance as a country-folk singer listen to “Silver City” and “Wounded Knee” from his record Silver City (2007). To conclude, today, I am listening to the Flatlanders’s song, “South Wind of Summer,” to hear Ely singing with his comrades Gilmore and Hancock.
By Cam Starke
This list is in no particular order. I had a hard time figuring out how to compile this list. Should it be a top five by genre, LPs, EPs, demos, splits, or just my favorites with no ranking? In the end, I listened to my chaotic brain and went with no order. I will say, though, that the first two on the list are the most surprising releases that tickled my fancy just right!
There were so many great releases this year that I could keep this list going. I am sure I missed a lot, but I feel good about this list.
• Endless Joy, Endless Joy.
• Happy Farm, Happy Farm.
• Necron 9, People Die.
• Kaleidoscope, Cities of Fear.
• Mangled State, Learn to Suffer.
• Yellow Cake, Apparitions of War.
• Eulogy, Demo.
• Negative Degree, Negative Degree.
• Stimulant, Sub Normal.
• Bull Shits, Bull Shits.
• Uranium, Corrosion of Existence.
• Wits End, Demo I and Demo II (yes I’m counting this as one to keep it a 25 count).
• 80HD, Orc Party.
• Hedonist, Scapulimancy.
• Dark Thoughts, Highway to The End.
• Psych War, Psychotic Warmonger.
• Alienator, Meat Locker.
• Culture Shock, Culture Shock.
• Dismay, No Guilt.
• Subversive Rite, Apocalypse Zone.
• Destiny Bond, The Love.
• Laughing Corpse, Beyond Recognition.
• Puffer, Street Hassle.
• Bootcamp, Times Up.
• Trespasser, Let There Be Light.
All these releases are put out by labels that have done some amazing releases and deserve a dive into their catalogs.
Honorable mentions:
• Ancient Lights, Reclamation.
• Everything that Bryan Lothian puts out on his bandcamp: bryanlothian.bandcamp.com
Bonus:
Utah locals to always be on the lookout for: Deathblow, Ribbons, Nadezhda, Mindlock, Disfetid, and Gusano.
By Jack Rafferty
We have a consignment store in town nearby, and among many superficial oddities, they sell old used DVDs, CDs, books, and vinyl for around two to ten bucks. A lot of it is shit, but every once in a while, you stumble upon gems, with the search making it all the more exciting when you do find something good.
This is what I got on my most recent trip.
Vinyl LPs
Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba.
I love Harry and Miriam, so I was surprised to see an album with them collaborating that I was not aware of. I misinterpreted this to be a duet album, but they only perform together on two songs. The performances of South African songs by both are exceptional. I loved reading the story on the album cover that Harry contributed about when he first met Miriam, and how she introduced him to the plight of the South African people under the apartheid system, which led him to be a lifelong advocate for their struggle, and how she introduced him to a lot of African music in general. I also love the song titles, with highlights like “Mabayeke” (“Give Us Our Land”) and “Ndodemnyama” (“Beware, Verwoerd!” the “architect of apartheid,” a name I hadn’t thought of since my course on apartheid years ago. I still remember his awful face).
This one is definitely not my favorite by Willie. As far as cover albums go, I do think he does a great job of taking a pretty eclectic mix of songs and making them his own. It’s not necessarily the sound that I prefer from Willie overall, but it does have some standout tracks. My favorite is his cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” It’s one of my favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs, and Willie does well with it.
Waylon is one that I admittedly have not explored enough. There have always been songs here and there that I’ve enjoyed, but I was always more of a Johnny/Willie fan. This is something I’m intent on fixing, because I do enjoy what I have heard from Waylon. I have to start somewhere, so might as well grab the first record I see. Compared to what I have heard from Waylon prior, I think that there are things to enjoy on this album, but there are also tracks that fall flat for me. I really like the lead track, “Luckenbach, Texas.” The “Sweet Caroline” cover is just not Waylon’s style (I hate the original song, so maybe that is causing a bias). Overall, this album is a bit of a mixed bag for me, but there is some stuff to enjoy here. I’m looking forward to getting some more records by Waylon soon.
Pharoah Sanders is another one I have dabbled in but haven’t experienced much of their discography in depth. I was surprised to hear the yodeling that takes place on the first track, but Pharoah has never been one to do the expected. I liked it at first, but I do think it overstays its welcome. The following twenty-seven-minute track begins with some truly discordant experimental sound, which I imagine is maybe worthwhile to trip to, but is pretty harsh otherwise. It is just free jazz chaos for the first ten minutes, with some relief coming around the ten-minute mark with beautiful piano arpeggios, followed by the group finally getting into a groove and Sanders’s incredible saxophone playing shining through. The yodeling makes its return here, however, which dampens it a bit. Some truly unsettling stuff here. It’s rather shocking to think how ahead of its time this was, and how it must have really rocked the boat for the genre. I think stuff like this is definitely an acquired taste, and this is not my favorite material of Pharoah’s that I’ve heard. Regardless, I am glad to have it. Perhaps it will grow on me over time.
This is the album that introduced me to Phil Ochs, who has since become a favorite of mine. Tracks like “Love Me I’m a Liberal,” “When I’m Gone,” “Cops of the World,” and more get nearly daily listens from me. Phil was a real one, and had no problem being honest and upfront with his views. He wasn’t afraid to challenge the status quo of political songwriting or discourse, and he didn’t hide behind a veil of obscurity or seek out media celebrity like Bob Dylan. Ochs was one of the most sincere songwriters of his era, and also an incredible satirist (this live album especially highlights his fantastic sense of humor and sharp wit). In addition, he wrote some of my favorite poetic ballads that had a more romantic approach to them, such as “The Highwayman.” This is to say that his output was at times eclectic, but always earnest and rooted in a strong sense of solidarity with the people, and against the ruling class, with lyrical content addressing social justice, labor struggles, antiwar sentiment, and civil rights, among others. So many of these songs make my heart swell. I was very excited when I found this because I have wanted a physical copy of it for a long time.
CDs
One of my favorite film soundtracks of all time. This is also one of my favorite movies. I don’t have a ton of happy memories with my dad, but I remember sitting on the couch and watching this with him a lot. We used to laugh together throughout, and both loved the music. It is good to have things like this to return to and think about.
What is there that can be newly said about Trio? It’s a bona fide classic. Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou’s voices are all so distinct and powerful, you would think that on paper the mix of them all wouldn’t work, but it does, and it does so beautifully. Their harmony together is sublime. So many iconic tracks here. “The Pain of Loving You,” “Wildflowers,” “My Dear Companion,” on and on. Looking forward to wearing out the disc listening to this one over and over.
DVDs
Mean Streets, director Martin Scorsese.
Mean Streets is the one that put Martin Scorsese on the map in a lot of ways, and it also did so for Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. It has been quite a few years since I watched this one, but I loved it then. In some ways, Scorsese was still coming into form and finding his style, but there are a lot of great things here. I will be curious to see if it holds up based on my older impressions.
Snatch, director Guy Ritchie.
This is one that I liked a lot more when I was younger. Figures, as Guy Ritchie seems to make the types of films that appeal to teenage boys. The snappy dialogue, tough-guy attitudes, hit or miss humor, and violence all resonated with me and my friends at that age. I do still like Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films, for what it is worth, and there are parts of Snatch that still hold up well, but much of it comes off as overly edgy or tryhard at times. Perhaps revisiting it will kindle some kinder thoughts for it again.
Hero, director Zhang Yimou.
It has been years since I watched this wuxia film, but I remember being entranced by its visual presentation and choreography. I really should watch some other films by Zhang Yimou, since I do remember loving the style of this one so much. I also just learned that Zhang was the director for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics in China, which I thought was pretty cool. I remember being a kid watching those ceremonies and being blown away by how meticulous and grand they were. Excited to revisit this film.
The Master, director Paul Thomas Anderson.
I go back and forth on whether this one or There Will Be Blood are my favorite films by Paul Thomas Anderson. I still need to watch his new film. All these things to catch up on. The Master is excellent, though, and I’m happy I finally own a copy and can put it on the shelf. His films are dense, and I’m not always in the mood to rewatch them, but they are good to have all the same.
Books
Annie Proulx, Close Range.
I absolutely loved The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. It is one of my favorite books that I have read in the past few years. I’ve been meaning to read Brokeback Mountain for a while now. Since that story is in this book, I am happy to be getting around to it, and am also excited for what else is here. I hope it lives up to the writing present in The Shipping News.
Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.
I recently read Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago, and thought it was brilliant. I haven’t really found an author that thinks and writes somewhat similarly to Jorge Luis Borges until I read Saramago, and this was a wonderful thing to discover. I plan to get through as many of Saramago’s books as I can, so I will pick up any that I come across.
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things.
I have yet to read anything by Arundhati Roy, so I am eager to dive into this one, as it is long overdue.
Larry McMurtry, Leaving Cheyenne.
I love Larry McMurtry, and recently finished the Lonesome Dove saga when I read Dead Man’s Walk. I’ve since been wanting to branch out to his other work, and don’t really know where to start, so I suppose this will be it. I know nothing about this, so it will be interesting to see if I like it as much as the Lonesome Dove series, as that is a high bar.
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses.
Cormac is my favorite author, and I have re-read all of his books multiple times at this point. A while back I let some friend or other borrow my copy of All the Pretty Horses, and life happened so I can’t even remember who has it at this point. I was glad to get another copy of this, and I have been wanting to re-read the Border Trilogy soon.
Janice Emily Bowers, Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Deserts.
Shrubs and trees always were a weak spot for me in my field work, and I figured now is as good a time as any to work on ameliorating that. No idea if this book is worth a damn, but I guess I’ll find out.
By SoDak
Issues at Venues.
In general, attending a concert at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre (note the stupid naming rights) is not a pleasant experience. The shows are too expensive. The video screens bombard attendees with ridiculous ads (trucks, beer, canned water, whatever). A specific grievance this year, as far as this venue, is that the sound for Joan Jett was exceptionally poor. The band and her voice were barely audible. As a result, there was no power, no punch, to any of the songs. We did not feel the music. Instead, we watched a band go through the motions. The song selection was good, but the experience sucked.
Granary Live is a newish outdoor venue in Salt Lake City. It seems to have potential of being a decent place to see music. I am not sure if the issue that I note here characterizes other shows at the venue, or if it was just the night I was there. The transition between bands was over an hour each time. There was minimal gear to remove and set up. Perhaps the wasted time was due to the bands, or the venue wanting to sell more overpriced beer. Waiting so long to see/hear a band sours the evening.
Dipshits at shows seem to be a given. This includes bros in baseball caps ruining the show (see https://tickleyourtaint.blogspot.com/2025/11/bros-in-baseball-caps.html), assholes throwing their beer cups and cans at people, and folks loudly talking on their phones.
Windmill and Side-to-Side Dancing at Hardcore Shows.
I love energetic crowds and many forms of dancing at shows, but I find windmill and side-to-side dancing at hardcore shows frustrating and discouraging. In small venues, a handful of people occupy almost the entire space. Most of the folks are squeezed against the walls, having to watch the few folks dancing to avoid being hit by windmill kicks and flaying arms. The few folks, doing side-to-side, seem to think they are participating in whatever dumb fucking WWE match, treating the majority of folks in the crowd as they are the ropes in the ring. I am often told that all of this is controlled and is supposed to avoid hitting others, but the crowdkilling element of intentionally targeting folks in the margins seems to be ever present. Recently, I was unfortunate enough to see the Sissy Boys play on a bill. Following their performance, the guitar player relished going side-to-side, throwing punches and kicks into many of the folks standing on the edges. Like the Pit Boss, who shows up at many of the Salt Lake City Hardcore shows, he was very pleased with himself for dishing out pain to others.
Poor Quality Shirts.
Over the last few years, there has been shift in the quality of rock shirts. Some record labels, distributors, and a few bands are selling poor quality shirts. The images on the shirts seem to be plastic transfers, which peel and melt. Even the Nomeansno shirts that I bought from Alternative Tentacles this year were shitty.
Bad Punk Rock Documentaries.
I am generally interested in watching punk rock documentaries, especially the ones that focus on specific scenes. I do not expect the quality of the film to be outstanding, given old footage and small budgets. Unfortunately, some of the scene documentaries lack a strong story, focus on and celebrate folks being assholes, or lack interesting material. Like the Bones of Brundage (2018), I found Everything Is A OK: A Dallas Punk Documentary (2020) and Dope, Hookers and Pavement: The Real and Imagined History of Detroit Hardcore (2021) to be uninteresting and disappointing.
Bruce Springsteen, Tracks II: The Lost Albums boxset.
The music within this boxset is exceptional. The grievance is related to the very hefty price of the boxset, the wasteful packaging, and not including the song “Streets of Philadelphia” on the record Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, as the song was recorded then and would fit perfectly on this record.
Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Who Believes in Angels? (2025).
I am very surprised that this record has received strong reviews. My wife and I listened to this record a couple times while traveling. She kept saying that the songs suck and the record was a piece of shit. She is not wrong. It is stunning how uninspired and uninteresting the songs are.
Painful performances.
I saw many exceptional shows this year, but there were a few stinkers: John Grant, Bayway, and Sissy Boys.
By Jack Rafferty
The dead drift like empty boats
My people fled to the mountains,
but it’s nowhere the white man won’t go.
A new year, a new billy woods album. I marvel at the output every time, but it never ceases to amaze (he’s put out fifteen albums in ten years). The beats this time are something straight out of a horror film, along with the samples, such as scraping strings and musicbox melodies (in “Waterproof Mascara” a woman’s weeping is integrated into the beat with what sounds like a ghostly theremin). There are also some more typical jazz beats here, like on the track “Misery,” which was produced by Kenny Segal, so the quality is high as always with him. It goes without mention that woods’s lyrics are also top notch as usual. One thing I’ve consistently appreciated about woods’s work is his commitment to radical lyrics and storytelling, and as he has grown in popularity over the years, he has not compromised or sacrificed this in any way. A great example is the lead track “Jumpscare” about a diamond mine in Africa.
Death poems folded in breast pocket in my bed clothes
It’s a dark road, but it ain’t no accidents
No coincidences, it’s all praxis
Some drove, some crawled, some ran glancing backwards
Some ran ravenous
Tender is the flesh, slender imaginary friends
This winter, you’ll eat to live
Summer, heat blew the grid
One strip of tarmac lay through the wilderness to where the natives work the pits
And you don’t eat the shit.
Billy’s commitment to meaningful storytelling about human struggle has always resonated deeply with me, especially when much (nearly all) mainstream hip hop now has been deeply co-opted for so many years that its radical roots have all but vanished except for underground artists.
He goes on in later tracks to discuss growing up in poverty in Black communities, landlords evicting neighbors during the holidays, to quoting Fanon in a track titled “Maquiladoras,” etc. It’s fitting that the title of the album represents a racist caricature based on minstrel dolls, because so much of the horror that is explored in this album is done through a surreal, horrorcore lens and is directed at a history of exploitation and violence. This history extends beyond the Black community, and woods shows his solidarity in this way, through multiple examples like the one below, where he briefly touches on the suffering of the Palestinian people.
If you never came back from the dead, can’t tell me shit
Twelve billion USD hovering over the Gaza Strip
You don’t wanna know what it cost to live
What it cost to hide behind eyelids.
I also continue to admire his flow, as it is so unique and distinct to him. It seems to oscillate between conversational spoken word and more structured, yet winding rap with no effort. The features here are great as well. Whether it’s Bruiser Wolf coming out with a ghostly flow reminiscent of Doseone, to woods’s partner in crime ELUCID, Despot, the amazing vocals of Yolanda Watson, The Alchemist, and many others. This is easily one of my favorite albums of the year, and woods continues to impress.
The universe is a cycle
Body of death.
Speaking of, woods’s project with ELUCID also released a new album this year. The output is prodigious. This go around, they are working again with The Alchemist on production (previously they worked together on the excellent Haram). The production and beats by Alchemist are minimal but hold an arresting presence in each song, and the combination of woods’s doom-laden spoken word flow and ELUCID’s sharp, pronounced voice continue to complement each other. These guys just don’t miss. The lyrics as usual seesaw between the phantasmagoric to the utterly real, splashing equally in pools soaked in metaphor and lived experience.
Wide be gates of hell
Burning gas, standing still
There’s a way to crash
Sleepwalkin where the blade splits.
I especially love the ways vocal samples bleed into one another track to track, giving the album as a whole a great sense of flow. There’s also some great features here, such as the beautiful refrains by Kapwani, and one of my favorites being the verse that Quelle Chris has on “Glue Traps,” a track that also has some of my favorite lyrics on the album:
Somе of y’all never got up at the crack of dawn to go to work for the low and it shows (Good for you, though)
It’s hard to get out of bed when there’s glue traps behind the stove
Bulldozers in the olive grove, soldiers switching to civilian clothes
Every story tell a story that’s already been told
Everything’s dead and gone, we only had the name of the road
The people is fed from the palm of a tyrant
Michelin star, you dine in near silence
Silverware rattling, chewing and sighing
Luxuriously slow violence like Pinochet’s best pilots
Death flights with the sun behind us
The South Atlantic a carpet of shimmering diamonds.
If I keep writing about it, I’ll just want to include more lyrics, and this will become far too lengthy, so I’ll simply say that this is another incredibly strong album from woods and ELUCID. The Alchemist does a great job with the beats he provides here, and I’m just happy that I’ve got two more great underground hip hop albums to spin until they inevitably release two or more albums next year.
I wrote a review (https://tickleyourtaint.blogspot.com/2025/07/graveyard-hisingen-blues-2011.html) for this one earlier this year, and it pretty much covers all I have to say about it. All out kick ass rock and roll and a fucking endless joyride of a love letter to the state of the genre in the 1970s. This album shakes you in all the right ways from beginning to end.
I covered this one last year when it was released, but since we saw Sierra live this year, and what a show it was (we really, really liked it), it has been more on my radar this year, and so I thought I’d give it another shout out because Sierra has been and continues to be one of my favorite artists of recent years. Standout tracks include “I Could Drive You Crazy,” “American Dreaming,” “Dollar Bill Bar,” “Rosemary,” and “Lighthouse,” but honestly, the whole album is just solid. Can’t wait to see her again when they come back through Salt Lake City.
I was not a huge fan of the most recent Rivers of Nihil album, which bummed me out, since Where Owls Know My Name was one of my favorite albums the year when it came out. I’m happy to report that their new self-titled album has them returning to a level of quality that I hold them to. The addition of Andy Thomas from Black Crown Initiate was a great decision. His soaring clean vocals bring a lot to the sound Rivers is going for, especially with their proggier tendencies. I still don’t like this as much as Where Owls Know My Name, but it is a huge improvement over The Work.
Deep Purple has always been a bit of a white whale for me, since I didn’t grow up listening to them beyond “Smoke on the Water” (they also used to play “Space Truckin” on Sirius radio when I was working in the back country of Lake Mead, which was always a joy). I’ve always wanted to give their discography an in depth listen, but just felt overwhelmed due to the sheer extent of it. This year I finally committed to at least getting a couple of their earlier albums a go. What a great decision it was to take the leap, because I absolutely loved both of these albums. Of the two, I prefer In Rock, but I love them both for different reasons. “Child in Time” has quickly become one of my favorite songs full stop.
This was probably the album I listened to the most in 2025. Viagra Boys have been on a hell of a run these past few albums, and this one is their most consistent to date. I’ve always loved the seriousness with which Viagra Boys don’t take themselves seriously. I appreciated how the band took on basement-dwelling, toxic “alpha male” bullshit and QAnon losers on their previous album Cave World, and this continues that theme in certain ways, though not as directly.
This album has more spaced-out, catchy melodies than the previous ones, with a lot more melody present in the vocals. It has a bit of grungy 1990s alt rock sound to it. It works well, though, and does not come at a sacrifice to their signature sound. The dirty fuckin bass tone is still very present here and forward in the mix, which I love.
Absurdity and existential exhaustion are still plentiful here—from strange lyrics about everything from obsessing over a woman’s body preserved in a bog, an underground black market for teeth, cosmic healing rituals, spinal fluid harvesting, and much more. Each member is also putting in so much of their own personality and identity to the songs, which is why they are so entertaining to watch live. Sebastian is of course known for his antics and appearance, but they each bring something very unique, and stand out in their own ways. I can’t wait to see them live someday soon.
Overall, the band still excels in bizarre crudity, wild mysticism, grooving rhythms, melancholy and disillusioned singing, and some really engaging songwriting, and I think they are at their strongest right now. Their music feels at home in all the weirdness of the world, good and bad. A Treble reviewer described their sound and vibe well, saying Viagra Boys write “scumbag anthems…that refuse to succumb to the world’s hatred and malice. There is purity at its heart. Sleaze as an act of resistance.”
Tropical Fuck Storm is a band that I have listened to here and there, and I have enjoyed some of the stuff they have put out, but I’ve never been super passionate about it. For some reason, that changed with Fairyland Codex. Their angular, discordant, experimental punk rock sound really works here. I did like their debut a lot, which had this apocalyptic feeling to it at times. Codex maintains this feeling, but it adds a level of despondence to it, which is what elevates this one for me. Tracks careen from noisy psych freak outs to dour slow songs. The bass line in “Joe Meek Will Inherit the Earth” reminds me a lot of “Satan in the Wait” by Daughters. There are many examples of these eerie sonic choices throughout. One of the huge standout elements here are the lyrics. There are so many great examples that I am overwhelmed with which to pick and share, but I particularly like this passage in the second track, “Goon Show.”
It’s the golden age of assholes and the triumph of disgrace
Howling winds turn cornfields into rags
Yeah, I’ve seen the cellphone footage and it’s raining cats and dogma
You can rob a bank but you don’t really rob the bank
‘Cause if they lose they win
And all they needs the wind
That blows where people wave their flags at people waving flags.
The strong vocal performances here from each member are also noteworthy. They encompass a pretty vast spectrum and maintain a level of emotional rawness whether they’re soft-spoken or shouted raw. Every track on this album feels like a gut punch in different ways.
One part of 700 Bliss along with Moor Mother, Beside Myself is the solo debut for DJ Haram. The grimy and menacing beats that Haram concocts are unlike anything I’ve heard. Club electronica mixed with rap, melancholy jazz, and wailing Levant and West Asian instrumentation. This, coupled with equally provocative and at times venomous features from artists like Armand Hammer, Moor Mother, BbyMutha, and others, results in an eclectic mix that comes together to form a thriving sound full of life and anger and rebellion.
There are also great instrumental features present, such as those from Abdul Hakim Bilal and Aquiles Navarro. The tone of this album is persistently ominous, and an unnerving presence is felt throughout. From erratic percussion, to droning bass, discordance, and calamity, to calm yet dark reflection. On the track “Distress Tolerance,” Haram states “ruthless never been so gorgeous.”
This rings true as the viciousness with which consumer culture, false allies, class traitors, and other objects of Haram’s ire are targeted, seeping into every note. To quote a review from the Quietus, “Her work resists the reduction of non-Western musical traditions to mere exotic garnish, instead attempting to de-fetishise the gene pool of so-called ‘world music,’ and seeks to deconstruct this ornamental approach by reanimating its materials through cultural memory, embodied knowledge, and sonic intensity.” This project is electrifying, and embodies a real sense of radical community in art. This is an incredibly inventive and impressive debut, and I am looking forward to what Haram does next.
I’ve been a pretty consistent fan of Full of Hell since the masterpiece that was Trumpeting Ecstasy. They are an incredibly eclectic band, and they have experimented with a lot of different sounds and collaborations over the years, which I appreciate a lot. Even when they release albums that don’t resonate with me as much as some others, I give them credit for their creativity and willingness to be adventurous with their art.
Broken Sword, Rotten Shield is one of those albums that just didn’t grab me as much as others, and that is okay. This album finds Full of Hell playing with more industrial sounds, which I rarely get a kick out of. There are tracks like “Corpselight,” which use the unsettling industrial soundscape to great effect coupled with the acidic vocals, but it still just isn’t really my thing. Even tracks like “Lament of All Things” and the closer “To Ruin and the World’s Ending” have a slower, doomier pace, with the latter reminding me a lot of Thou. The leading title track is the only one that really feels at home on some of their older mainline albums.
I like all these tracks for different reasons, but together they feel quite disjointed and not at all cohesive (which, to be fair, isn’t always the goal with this band). So, to me, this is a good one, not a great one, from a band that is constantly evolving and trying new things, and for that I can still commend them. Who knows, this one might grow on me. I do like a lot of elements of it.
When I heard GREY Area in 2019, I knew Little Simz was going places, and that she was going to be an artist that I would follow closely. Eight years later, this has very much come to be. Simz is one of those artists who is just electric and full of visionary talent.
Lotus has Simz exploring a lot of personal trauma that she has experienced in recent years, and it gives this album an intensity that is palpable. I also appreciate when Simz is willing to be a little silly and have a sense of humor in the midst of heavier tracks, and she does this with the upbeat “Young” on this album. The soundscape here is sparser than entries such as Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, but the lack of the grandiosity of that album is not a bad thing. There is a sense of focus and clarity on a personal level here that is emphasized and elevated by the beats and instrumentation. There are also tracks such as “Blood” that have a deeply intimate, conversational essence to them, which reminded me of Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together.”
Simz has consistently put out incredibly high-quality, vulnerable music that pushes genres forward with each release. Given the recent drama splitting her and her childhood friend and producer/collaborator Inflo, I am intrigued to see where Simz goes musically from here. If Lotus is the first taste of that trajectory, it shows that no matter the context, Simz will create something incredible.
Turnstile’s sound has been softening for a few years now, and there are some that take issue with that. While I do miss the edge of their earlier sound, I do think their initial shift toward a dreamier sound worked really well. I will say that I think this divergence worked a lot better on Glow On. That being said, Turnstile’s ability to write incredibly catchy riffs and vocal melodies is still here. This shift toward a more pop sound this go-around does feel a bit watered down, and I unfortunately did not like it as much as I wanted to. I think Turnstile is in a growing phase where they need to find a way to bring back a bit of their old sound and synthesize it with this new direction, similar to what Glow On did so well.
Imperial Triumphant has long been known as a band that’s “not for everyone.” Their dissonant mix of death metal, jazz, and many other subtle influences can be a lot to stomach. I enjoyed Vile Luxury quite a lot when it came out, but I have been back and forth on the band beyond that. However, I think Goldstar does an excellent job of tampering down their most inaccessible elements just enough to the point that the truly brilliant aspects of their sound shine more powerfully. The dense insanity and dark technicality are still present, but are more controlled here, and less needlessly indulgent. This precision ends up leading to some of the best music this band has put out in years. Imperial Triumphant is special in that their thematic identity and sonic identity are pretty damn unique. It’s just an added bonus that they capture the essence of grime and opulence that they write about so well. A superb album.
Riff city. That’s about all I have (or need) to say about this one. If you are an enjoyer of riffs, this one can’t be passed up. It took me a while to get used to the gravelly, whisper vocals, but overall I enjoyed this a lot. The album cover art is fucking sick, too.
Ho99o9 have been pushing boundaries for a long time now. For me, they have been a bit of a mixed bag with each of their releases. There is stuff I like about each of them, but there are also tracks that just don’t grab me as much, and I think that has ultimately held back my enjoyment of them a bit. I have always appreciated what they were attempting, though, and their overall attitude and approach has resonated with me a lot. Their mixture of horrorcore/hardcore hip hop with punk, metal, and industrial is a tough one to pull off, and I think they have done much in terms of advancing this mix of genres.
Tomorrow We Escape has, in my eyes, Ho99o9 putting these pieces together in the most cohesive way that they have done so far. I feel they have finally settled into what their sound is, among this motley mix of so many extreme influences. They have also added more catchiness to their songwriting as well. Like previous releases, there’s a lot of early 2000s nu-metal influence that continues to guide their sound. I hear Slipknot especially quite a bit here. The track “Tapeworm” straight up sounds like the intro to “Eyeless.” This revival of the early nu-metal sound really hasn’t worked in most cases, and I think Ho99o9 is one of the few out there actually bringing something exciting to the table with these influences.
I was also surprised by features such as Greg Puciato and Chelsea Wolfe. Both of their contributions work extremely well. Puciato especially meshes very well with Ho9o99’s sound, and I think it would be cool if they did an entire collab album together. His raw screams are so iconic and meld perfectly with what Ho99o9 is doing.
Tomorrow We Escape is a huge step forward for Ho99o9, and it makes me excited for what they do next. Definitely worth checking out if you are into punk/metal flavored hardcore hip hop. They are doing some truly innovative and thrilling things.
Jason Isbell is one that hasn’t really been on my radar, though I’ve heard a lot of chatter about his music. After taking the time to listen to this year’s Foxes in the Snow, I’m now finding out why, and am just now realizing what I have been missing. Isbell’s command over his voice and his guitar are notable, and he carries on a powerful tradition of this time-tested combination. This clear technique and his sincerity in presenting it, along with his excellent songwriting, make for one hell of an album. This will definitely be a situation where I’ll need to find the time to go back and listen to as much of his previous music as I can.
I’ve admittedly have not paid enough attention to Tyler Childers. I’m glad this year sees me remedying that. Produced by the one and only Rick Rubin, Snipe Hunter shows me that there is a great versatility to Tyler’s sound beyond the songs I have heard from him here and there. There is a lot of groovy, gritty southern rock on this album, with Tyler bringing some very aggressive vocals to pair, which was a welcome surprise. From the little I know of Tyler’s music, he certainly is not the type to stay in one lane, and I’m sure the contributions from Rubin added to the adventurous approach to songwriting on this album.
There are still tracks on here that do have some more traditional approaches to country sounds, while always maintaining an ethos that is genuine and full of soul. I am enamored with Tyler’s vocals on this album. I don’t know why it has taken me this long to recognize just what a powerful singer Tyler is. There are also some great instrumental choices that seem to come out of left field, like the distorted organ on “Getting to the Bottom.”
This is the first time that I’ve given his lyrics the time of day as well, and I am not disappointed. While I do think that, at times, he can overwrite lines that seem crowded (good to read but sound rushed when sung), overall Tyler is an excellent songwriter. The lyrics are simultaneously grounded and dense:
The pheromones of this city secrete a sand quick set
To call for it from the recesses of my mind, the fear of death
The thrill my heart my thump so hard it breaks a joist or worse
Getting to the bottom of an angst hard-fought to learn.
There is also a lot of playfulness in the writing, like on “Bitin’ List” where Tyler explores the idea of making a list of people he would bite if he contracted rabies, and how long he would have to do it, in his words,
Before my brain was so inflamed, the spirit left my shoes
Foamin’ at the mouth, high in the hackles
Motherfucker, I’ma come for you.
Ultimately I’m loving this album. The production is immaculate, and Tyler’s voice is razor-sharp, raw, melancholy, and commanding. The range is extensive, and while there are tracks such as “Watch Out” and “Down Under” that I’m not as ecstatic about (a bit of a mid-album lull), I think the majority of what is here is brilliant. Now, to begin the process of going back and meticulously listening to all his older material, to give it the level of attention that it deserves.
Deafheaven is a band that I think I like more in concept than in execution. The combination of black metal and moody shoegaze really works well in concept, but I have struggled to fall in love with any of their previous albums. While this one hasn’t won me over the way it has seemed to for many, I will say that this album has Deafheaven bringing together all the elements of their sound in the best way they ever have. That may be a controversial opinion given the existence of Sunbather, but I do think that what they are doing here is balanced better.
Each of their albums up to this point has had them excelling in a certain aspect, while others faltered as a result. Lonely People with Power feels like a culmination and a realization of all they have learned up to this point, and it shines because of it.
Some great modern outlaw country with a voice very reminiscent of Randy Travis with traces of Merle Haggard. Dylan’s songwriting explores themes of loneliness, empathy, struggle, sense of place in forests and mountains, and solidarity. There’s a lot of great lyrics on this album, but some of my favorites come from the track “Outlaw Country.”
I’d rather be a bootlegger than a bootlicker
A side stepper than a homewrecker
And I don’t get a pick me up
From putting other people down
It’s clear to see by the air I breathe
Working-class solidarity
Is the only way
We’re gonna stamp that Fascist out.
I love that Dylan is working to call out people who claim to love outlaw country, but have erased its history, and their beliefs are so at odds with what it represents.
The instrumentation present throughout is (mostly) subtle, and works well to guide Dylan’s smooth, melancholy voice. I love that Nick Shoulders is featured on the track “White River Valley” and just contributes bird calls at the end. This is a wonderful throwback album that brings back the rebel spirit that the genre was built on.
The wind drags its clouds
The way I drag my sorrows.
Navigating grief can be like walking through rooms of smoke. There can be a senselessness to it that is disorienting and that removes us from our sense of place and self. Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (“Gentle Rains Will Come” an iteration on Sara Teasdale’s “There Will Come Soft Rains”) is Silvana Estrada’s way of making that journey. From heartbreak to the tragic loss of a close friend, Estrada has much to cope with on this album. As the album’s title illustrates, this journey could be interpreted to be about finding a sense of peace again amid such personal calamity. It also can be making peace with grief and learning to live with it. Estrada quotes Chavela Vargas in the track “Un Rayo de Luz,”
How beautiful must death be
that no one has returned from it?
Estrada’s voice is absolutely devastating, gorgeous, and captivating. Her pitch flows perfectly between soft whispers and soaring cries. Her cadence and emphasis in the ebb and flow of each song is like a garden, as it is so varied and so vibrant. This album is crushing and beautiful, and I have since had the pleasure to visit her previous work and marvel at that as well, but I will keep this succinct by only discussing Vendrán Suaves Lluvias here. You would do yourself an immense disservice to skip this one.
Recorded directly to tape in five days, the second collaboration between Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover explores songwriting “in the spirit of Woody Guthrie.” They carry this torch well, focusing on concrete historical political occurrences and labor history, such as Ronald Reagan’s 1981 suppression of the PATCO strike, abuse of FALN members, and others. One of my main critiques of this album is that there is not more of this, and that some of the writing traipses into vague, metaphorical, or symbolic territory that I think holds it back.
The alliterative and sharp poetic writing of the lyrics is great at times. While there can be a little too much emphasis on the alliteration aspect, such as on tracks such as “This Morning I Am Born Again.” There are lyrics I love throughout, though, like on the opening track “Song for Alicia,”
My grandpa was a communist
They might’ve said a terrorist
And when someone looks at what I’ve done
I know songs won’t seem like enough
Songs are for sure not nearly enough.
And this great section in “Buffalo, 1981,”
This scarcity, this poverty, this apple on the dappled tree
Is eaten by somebody using someone else’s teeth
This dripping spit, hit-or-miss debtor lord wilderness
Cats with the tails snipped that wail when the wind shifts
You can buy a body, sell a body, build a body store
The USA hates you being poor.
The production and instrumentation here feels warm and earthen. It is lofi in the best ways. Sonically there is a lot of space for their voices to mingle and breathe. I do wish that there was more direction in their approach to the admittedly on the nose political commentary and poetic allusions. I’ve seen far too many projects like this that seem to merely lament conditions without offering more. There are traces of what this album could have been throughout, and I do still enjoy it, but it’s hard when there are glimpses of something greater here.
My first impression of Impvreza was a positive one with 2017’s La Caida De Tonatiuh. I love their unique melding of flamenco and death metal, which is a combination that could fall apart so easily, yet they thread that fine line of over-reliance on either side of their genre blending to create something balanced and engrossing. This is still very much the case on their long overdue follow up, Alcazares. The songwriting and musicianship are refined and that balance is even more honed. The cohesion between the elements present in their sound coalesce more naturally here, and they feel at home with each other, as opposed to competing for space and attention. The achievement here is properly mixing genres whose cadences and rhythms can vary wildly. From a compositional perspective, this album is a major success. Everything here is tight, focused, and operating at a standard of quality that is the highest the band has delivered to date.
Cryptopsy really seems to be returning to form. They certainly had a period there where things weren’t exactly working, but they have been steadily rebuilding their sound. I enjoyed 2022’s As Gomorrah Burns, but there were still aspects of it that left it not sticking with me over the long term. I am happy to report that An Insatiable Violence is not burdened with the same drawbacks. This album fucking rips. I don’t think it reaches the levels of Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile, but I also don’t think it needs to. I’m not the type to hold bands to standards of repeating what made their glory days just that. There is a paradox in expecting a certain amount of innovation while also holding a gun to their head threatening the trigger at even the slightest deviation from what fans love. This album by no means reinvents the wheel, but it doesn’t need to. This is a collection of highly technical, exceedingly brutal songs that are well written and well executed. You’ll find no complaints from me on this front.
Deftones have remained a relevant force in alternative metal for decades now, continuing to shift and evolve their sound while keeping true to their roots. While I consider myself a fan of the band, I have been decidedly mixed about some output throughout the years, but this is certainly not the case with Private Music. Deftones are at their best when they mesh together the density of their downtuned facets with the shoegaze-adjacent despondent and melodic moments that can border on dreamy weightlessness, perfectly synthesizing the seemingly disparate elements of their signature identity. I’ve always felt the best part of what Deftones does is the release it provides to a certain mental tension, like finally letting go while driving down an empty highway at night, hands off the wheel and eyes closed, an abandonment to what is to come. Shatters the illusion of control we think we exercise over things. A deep breath on a cold night. The sudden violence and eventual serenity of falling from a cliff. This is what Deftones does right, and Private Music shows the ease in which a thirty-year maturation of this rigorously emotional and cathartic dance can lead. At a place of assurance, and mastery. An arrival of knowing, and the bittersweet thought of what was careening into what has come to be.
