My favorite albums from 2025

It’s that time of year again! By now, pretty much every music site has their end of year list up… and some were posted in mid November (way too early and a big reason why later 2024 releases end up getting lumped in with this year’s actual releases. Boo.)

Regardless of any other site, I try to take my time and make sure I deliver the goods. As a one-man show and someone who listens to a LOT of records over the course of the year (840+ in the last year!) it takes a lot of work and seeing all of these other lists posted so early only adds to the stress. But I kept my blinders on and plowed through an expedited re-listen of my 60 or so finalists for the year.

The good news is my rough tracking during the year has once again provided a pretty accurate framework for this final list. A few albums, like those from Wet Leg, Bartees Strange, Spite House, and quickly, quickly ended up making a bigger jump than I expected, but all in all I was pleased at how well my original list did, considering the sheer quantity of music I consumed this year.

With all that said, I’ll get to the list. It was a pretty damn good year for music if you ask me… I hope you feel the same.

The Rest (21-60)

21. God Save the Gun by Militarie Gun (Listen)
    FFO: post-hardcore, Fiddlehead, Drug Church, High Vis
22. Let God Sort Em Out by Clipse (Listen)
    FFO: Pusha T, Nas, Freddie Gibbs, Jay Z
23. Horror by Bartees Strange (Listen)
    FFO: indie rock X bedroom pop X classic rock X hip-hop X country X electronic
24. private music by Deftones (Listen)
    FFO: shoegaze X metal X post-hardcore
25. Who Let the Dogs Out by Lambrini Girls (Listen)
    FFO: snotty funny political punk, SPRINTS, Amyl and the Sniffers, IDLES
26. Near Death Travel Services by Deadguy (Listen)
    FFO: hardcore, mathcore, Every Time I Die, Botch, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Turmoil
27. Electric Hour by Sword II (Listen)
    FFO: feeble little horse, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, TAGABOW
28. Belong by Jay Som (Listen)
    FFO: Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Alvvays
29. Ego Death by Hayley Williams (Listen)
    FFO: Paramore
30. System by Prewn (Listen)
    FFO: noisy indie rock X orchestral pop X bedroom pop; PJ Harvey
31. Cowards by Squid (Listen)
    FFO: experimental rock, new wave, jazz, prog rock, and krautrock
32. Never Enough by Turnstile (Listen)
    FFO: post-hardcore, Angel Du$t, Drain, Trapped Under Ice, Drug Church
33. High Wallow and the Supermoon by Saintseneca (Listen)
    FFO: alt folk X indie rock
34. God Does Love Ugly by JID (Listen)
    FFO: Atlanta hip hop, Kendrick Lamar, Outkast
35. Altar by NewDad (Listen)
    FFO: The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Slow Pulp, Cherry Glazerr, 80s and 90s alt rock
36. s/t by Snocaps (Listen)
    FFO: Swearin’, Waxahatchee, P.S. Eliot
37. Cutthroat by Shame (Listen)
    FFO: Fontaines DC, The Murder Capital, IDLES, post-punk
38. Bloodless by Samia (Listen)
    FFO: Indigo De Souza, Squirrel Flower, Soccer Mommy, Gracie Abrams, Angel Olsen
39. Billboard Heart by Deep Sea Diver (Listen)
    FFO: The Shins, Sharon Van Etten, Wye Oak, and Bully
40. Bambi by Anxious (Listen)
    FFO: Fiddlehead, Samiam, Jimmy Eat World, and many other late 90s/early 2000s emo bands
41. Alfredo 2 by Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist (Listen)
    FFO: Clipse, Boldy James, Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher
42. Caroline 2 by caroline (Listen)
    FFO: experimental rock x emo x folk, Broken Social Scene, Water From Your Eyes
43. Drive to Goldenhammer by Divorce (Listen)
    FFO: Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Los Campesinos!, Peach Pit, Frightened Rabbit, St. Vincent… along with elements of folk, alt country, prog, post-punk, and shoegaze. Wilco X ABBA?
44. Blame it on the Weather by Kerosene Heights (Listen)
    FFO: Braid, late 90s/early 2000s emo
45. Hell is an Airport by Liquid Mike (Listen)
    FFO: power pop punk, Sugar, Weezer
46. Precipice by Indigo De Souza (Listen)
    FFO: Samia, Wednesday, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail
47. For Melancholy Brunettes by Japanese Breakfast (Listen)
    FFO: bedroom pop X folk, Snail Mail, Mitski, Soccer Mommy, Jay Som
48. Straight Line Was a Lie by The Beths (Listen)
    FFO: indie rock, power pop, Beach Bunny, Soccer Mommy, Swearin’
49. The Longer This Goes by Forth Wanderers (Listen)
    FFO: Slow Pulp, Great Grandpa, Ovlov, indie rock X emo
50. The Live You Save by Flock of Dimes (Listen)
    FFO: Wye Oak, Sylvan Esso, Madeline Kenney
51. 2 by Foxwarren (Listen)
    FFO: folk x psychedelia x indie rock, Big Thief, Kevin Morby
52. Everybody Scream by Florence + the Machine (Listen)
    FFO: Lorde, Hozier, Lana del Rey, Halsey
53. Planting By the Signs by S.G. Goodman (Listen)
    FFO: Tyler Childers, Margo Price, Waxahatchee, Plains
54. Here We Go Crazy by Bob Mould (Listen)
    FFO; Sugar, Husker Du, power pop
55. Don’t Tap That Glass by Tyler, the Creator (Listen)
    FFO: dance party Tyler
56. Blindness by The Murder Capital (Listen)
    FFO: shame, Fontaines DC, TV Priest, IDLES, Squid
57. Downpour by Charmer (Listen)
    FFO: midwest emo, Anxious, Free Throw, Hot Mulligan
58. Glory by Perfume Genius (Listen)
    FFO: bedroom pop, glam rock, piano ballads, singer-songwriter, folk and everything in between
59. Neighborhood Gods Unlimited by Open Mike Eagle (Listen)
    FFO: intelligent hip hop, billy woods, Armand Hammer
60. And Your Song is Like a Circle by Skullcrusher (Listen)
    FFO: Nick Drake, folktronica, Cranberries, singer songwriter