It's the music of 2025 and I was paying attention this year! Well, at least more than the past few. Not bad for a guy who's circled the sun 50 times. Only some of this list would be considered "dad rock".
The last time I was this locked in to the hippest new sounds was 2020, and 2025 rivals that year for consistently incredible new records. These past 12 months I discovered Geese, Florry, Shallowater, and Caroline - all exciting young rock bands. Jeff Tweedy put out his strongest solo album and best collection of songs (30 of them! And at least 20 are really really good!) since Ode To Joy. Wednesday keeps getting better - Bleeds tops Rat Saw God to my ears. The two best lyricists working today - Billy Woods & Ryan Davis, put out exceptional and endlessly rewarding LPs, and Woods also turned in a second great one with Elucid as Armand Hammer. But my constant go-to, more than anything else, was the brilliant, deconstructed, found sound, collage-soul of Dijon. To me, it's the best instant classic in a year that had a bunch of 'em.
Beyond these top 10, 2025 also saw cool new records from long time favorites Will Johnson, Hotline TNT, Frog Eyes, Deafheaven, Califone, Destroyer, Earl Sweatshirt, Bon Iver, Alex G, and The Men, and some new-to-me artists like Cameron Winter, Friendship, Preservation, Fust, Eli Winter, and Agriculture.
Here's the full top 30:
1. Dijon - Baby
2. Geese - Getting Killed
3. Billy Woods - Golliwog
4. Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band - New Threats From the Soul
5. Wednesday - Bleeds
6. Shallowater - God's Gonna Give You A Million Dollars
7. Caroline - Caroline 2
8. Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override
9. Armand Hammer - Mercy
10. Florry - Sounds Like...
11. Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal
12. Will Johnson - Diamond City
13. Hotline TNT - Raspberry Moon
14. Frog Eyes - The Open Up
15. Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
16. Preservation, Gabe 'Nandez - Sortilege
17. Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
18. Fust - Big Ugly
19. Califone - The Villager's Companion
20. Eli Winter - A Trick of the Light
21. Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound
22. Destroyer - Dan's Boogie
23. Earl Sweatshirt - Live, Laugh, Love
24. The Men - Buyer Beware
25. Alex G - Headlights
26. Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE
27. Sharp Pins - Radio DDR
28. Florist - Jellywish
29. No Joy - Bugland
30. Momma - Welcome To My Blue Sky
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