50 best albums of 2025

FFO: Bauhaus, Darkness by Lord Byron, Mulholland Drive
STANDOUT MOMENT: As is their nature, the LP sees AFI shapeshift, breaking new sonic ground — but it’s Davey Havok’s operatic vocals that take the cake, hitting lower notes than ever before. He shows off the full scope of his range in the chorus of “Nooneunderground,” where the dark, rumbling line, “There’s no one in the sky,” swings upward into a playful shout, “There’s no one underground!” It’s Danzig straight into Poly Styrene — though Havok is likely more in tune than those two would be. Another honorable mention: Jade Puget’s rapturous guitar riffs on one of the album’s hookiest songs, “Marguerite.” —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Holy Visions”

FFO: Chat Pile, The Exorcist, queer history
STANDOUT MOMENT: Intensity and beauty are peers on The Spiritual Sound, the second album by the “ecstatic black-metal” quartet. That push and pull between extremes is mirrored in dual vocalists Leah Levinson and Dan Meyer — the former fortifying the songs with doomy, throat-shearing screams, whereas the latter casts them in an otherworldly shimmer, inspiring moments of bliss that evaporate just as quickly as they arrive. It’s a combination that pulses with life, debilitating lows and euphoric highs, letting all the rage, fear, and joy drain out until they have nothing left to give. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Bodhidharma”

FFO: The Smashing Pumpkins, Thin Lizzy, melodrama
STANDOUT MOMENT: Alien Boy’s vocalist Sonia Weber has a knack for turning insecurity into something sharp and immediate. Throughout You Wanna Fade?, melodramatic honesty threads every track, and on “Cold Air,” Weber teeters between longing and self-analysis, singing, “It’s feeling fragile to the touch/I think I want you to break me all at once,” over jittery, driving guitars and drums that rattle. The mix swells with her voice, with the production making it feel like you’re just as down bad. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Cold Air”

FFO: Cheshire Cat by blink-182, Title Fight, Third Eye Blind
STANDOUT MOMENT: It’s in the moments between. With an album that draws from a variety of genres like Bambi, the transitions and sequencing are important. As the tracklist expands from melodic emo hardcore into ’60s harmonies, from shiny pop punk to ’90s alt-rock guitars, this LP remains a unified body and experience. It’s in the connective tissue. For a taste, listen to the aggressive ending of “Counting Sheep,” as it fades into the first acoustic riff of “Audrey Go Again.” —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Tell Me Why”

FFO: Hot Mulligan, Modern Baseball, emo banjo
STANDOUT MOMENT: The first moments of “The World” — the opening song from There’s a Whole World Out There — are slow and somber. Quickly, though, strummed guitars morph into explosive chugs as Allen Steinberg blasts straight to the chorus: “I love watching you in crowded rooms…” The track sets the tone for everything to come — a heavier direction, a self-assured attitude, and a willingness to stretch the borders of their contagious emo, referencing everyone from Porter Robinson to Bon Iver. It’s a gratifying and hard-hitting statement of intent from the Ontario greats, which they’ve used to close their sets all year long. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Fatal Flaw”

FFO: MUNA, bad decisions, late-night overthinking
STANDOUT MOMENT: Listening to an artist process something as it happens can feel strangely vulnerable, as their mistakes reflect the ones you’ve made, too. That’s the power of “23’s A Baby” on If You Asked For A Picture. Blondshell is self-aware yet still figuring it out, singing “23’s a baby/Why’d you have a baby,” with a mix of judgment and worry. Across the album, the sound shifts and bends with her, the fuzz buzzing like static, and the whole thing feels like you’re moving through her reckoning in real time. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Toy”

FFO: Iron Maiden, ’80s arena rock, “Turn to Stone” by ELO
STANDOUT MOMENT: While the album sees Coheed drifting further from prog metal with its shiny, poppier feel, “Play the Poet” packs a punch. It’s the heaviest moment on the album, with a delicious, solid breakdown at 2:08, and complete with Claudio Sanchez’s vocals twisting into a rough snarl. Though it pairs well with the track before, “Blind Side Sonny,” with a transition so seamless the two sound almost like one long song, for heavy music lovers, this harsh banger is super satisfying on its own. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “One Last Miracle”

FFO: The Sundays, Sneaker Pimps, Metal Gear Solid
STANDOUT MOMENT: On “starburn,” the lead single from crushed’s debut album, no scope, the band edge toward despair, reckoning with time over a pulsing trip-hop glow. It is the sort of anthem that’s made them unlikely friends with the hardcore community, its slick production and search for divine intervention so in tune that you would never know it was created in the final week of recording. “Look up now,” urges its final verse, offering a surge of hope for whatever future remains from the debris. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “starburn”

FFO: Psychedelic rap, Detroit, JPEGMAFIA
STANDOUT MOMENT: Stardust is Danny Brown’s first album recorded while sober, with a newfound clarity that is immediately apparent upon listening. Sonically, the album shifts between the humbling, grounded, more soft-spoken rap of “What You See” and the kinetic energy of “Starburst” and “1999,” with beats that warp to match Brown’s introspection. On “What You See,” Brown’s voice sits low in the mix, measured and introspective, owning up to his past careless habits. The lyrics “Self-sabotage, I thought it was a mirage/Player for life, but it was all a facade” feel less like confession and more like a confrontation that he’s moving past toxic patterns and temptations. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Baby”

FFO: Kodama and Ecailles de Lune by Alcest, At the Drive-In, wall of sound
STANDOUT MOMENT: Can I say the entire album? Top to bottom, this LP is an impeccable effort, which not only draws from but learns from Deafheaven’s previous albums’ styles — begetting a refined recipe for their most balanced project yet. Sifting through the experimental black-metal sound of Sunbather to find its darkest, heaviest parts, and claiming what worked best from the clean, shoegaze-forward Infinite Granite, the band reclaim “blackgaze” with a metallic vengeance. Atmospheric and stirring, it matches melodic vocals with screams, effects-heavy swirling guitars with quick, brash drumming, emphasizing the vast gaps between quiet and loud, beautiful and violent. It captures a full range of emotions. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Winona”

FFO: The Cure, Hum, AJ Soprano’s style
STANDOUT MOMENT: Deftones haven’t released an album since 2020’s Ohms, but their return proved them as elite elder statesmen. Made with producer Nick Raskulinecz (who also oversaw 2010’s Diamond Eyes and 2012’s Koi No Yokan), the high point of private music is that it reinforces Deftones’ unique position as a band that unites the old school with the new school — embraced by the next generation on TikTok and at their own Dia de los Deftones festival, which this year included everyone from Ecca Vandal to 2hollis to Glare. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “infinite source”

FFO: Rocket, Nirvana, post-punk
STANDOUT MOMENT: On their debut, Die Spitz don’t request attention but demand it. Something to Consume is 11 tracks of jagged riffs and gritty vocals that simmer with anger. The production coils and snaps around the instruments, a sonic mirror for the band’s fury and unflinching feminist message. “American Porn” sees vocalist Ava Schrobilgen snarl with rage against pounding riffs as she pushes back on the objectification of women, singing “Perform for the masses, show something new/Put on a smile, tighten your screws.” —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Sound to No One”

FFO: PMA, Descendents, wearing shorts
STANDOUT MOMENT: The definitive standout on this album is track eight — where Drain make a daring expansion past thrash metal and hardcore, adding a shinier, pop-leaning moment to the mix. The blink-182-adjacent banger “Who’s Having Fun?” may to some feel in conflict with the aggressive, heavy sound they’ve come to expect, but this band would like us to know that skate park pop punk fits for the moshpit, too — this is new wave hardcore, after all. Just like another Santa Cruz band on the scene, Scowl, they’re writing their own guidebook on “How to Punk.” But the track isn’t a sore thumb. It’s Drain through and through: Sammy Ciaramitaro rips into a guttural primal scream, just after showing off his clean singing. Purists can recoil, but whatever you think of it, it’s undeniable that “Who’s Having Fun?” oozes with self-confidence, defiance, and ultimately, that’s PMA. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Living in a Memory”

FFO: October Rust by Type O Negative, Life of Agony, Albert Camus
STANDOUT MOMENT: All year long, Dying Wish have been on the road leading up to Flesh Stays Together, where they trade melodeath riffs for chuggier passages, toy with slow-burning songwriting, and build to sticky dark choruses. For all its intensity, though, FST finds Emma Boster balancing her ferocious screaming with cleans that feel genuinely haunting. There’s the bridge of “A Curse Upon Iron,” where she slips into a soft falsetto; the soaring opening of “Heaven Departs” produces chills; “Nothing Like You,” couched in a serene promise, builds anticipation like none other. The experiment never takes away from the heaviness but, rather, enhances it. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Nothing Like You”

FFO: Baltimore hardcore, Scowl, stage-diving
STANDOUT MOMENT: Hardcore has a long history of tying music and lyrics to social commentary, and End It tap into that tradition throughout Wrong Side of Heaven. On the bruising song “Billion Dollar Question,” vocalist Akil Godsey poses a question immediately: “Who must die to keep you in your luxury?” It’s a moment where the band lock into a jagged, lurching riff that carries the weight of the track while exposing the human cost behind wealth disparity, making it feel as if Godsey is screaming in the face of the wealthy. Every beat drives his questions straight at the listener. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Anti-Colonial”

FFO: Trap, Surf Gang, facial piercings
STANDOUT MOMENT: There’s certainly an emo element that FearDorian has infused this album with — a combination of vulnerability and darker, slower, almost simpler sounds. However, the sharpest angles on the LP can be found under a blanket of distortion on the gritty punk track, “Floor Tom” featuring POLO PERKS <3 <3 <3. Longtime collaborators, the song sees them drawing on rock and post-punk influences, for an experience that is louder, and more aggressive, than any other track, though maintains FearDorian’s humble, stripped-back pacing and honest lyricism. The texture is interesting, and important on this tight LP that comes in at under 30 minutes — and spans a spectrum of very real, raw emotions. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Pray 4 The People”

FFO: Ray of Light by Madonna, ’90s club nostalgia, speaker testing playlists
STANDOUT MOMENT: FKA twigs calls EUSEXUA “a state of being, a feeling of momentary transcendence often evoked by music, art, sex, and unity.” But though its emphasis falls on head-nodding club bounce, drawn from late nights at warehouse raves in Prague while they were in town shooting scenes for The Crow remake, her breathy, laser-focused soprano upstages it all. Across 11 exquisite tracks, FKA swerves between growls, childlike playfulness, and featherlight sensuality — all in the name of collective healing on the dancefloor. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Keep It, Hold It”

FFO: “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, Pavement, questionably satirical denim
STANDOUT MOMENT: Strained cracks and vocal fry are core to Cameron Winter’s singing. And it’s easily argued that his vocals are Geese’s most precious instrument. Producer Kenneth Blume was a perfect fit for this band, and this album — for many reasons — but especially as someone able to embrace flaws and imperfections. This is how we get a song like “Au Pays Du Cocaine,” which showcases Winter’s toothsome flaws. It’s an acquired taste, but the intentional dearth of vocal technique allows him to push his range into uncharted, strange, and ultimately successful territories, bonding him in sonic brotherhood with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Trinidad”

FFO: 2000s pop-punk nostalgia, MTV, unexpected collabs
STANDOUT MOMENT: “We said it back then, we said forever,” Joel Madden sings on “GC FOREVER,” the closing track to Motel Du Cap. It’s a declaration that embodies the ethos of both GC and the album — a song that doubles as a call-to-arms, tying their past to the present. Motel Du Cap balances punchy, driving pop-punk riffs with polished, arena-ready production, with lyrics — about chasing dreams and never giving up — that hit like a surge of collective memory, reminding listeners of the band’s early days while celebrating how far they’ve come. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Mean”

FFO: PJ Harvey, Bloc Party, exorcism (the good kind)
STANDOUT MOMENT: Hayley Williams has always been able to express the tender, the tough, and the tension between. This album is a true exploration of that, across the board. But for After Laughter fans, find it in “Love Me Different,” a track that feels like a sister to “Hard Times,” both sonically and contextually. Though EDAABP spans genre, speed, and sentiment, “Love Me Different” — which muses on grief and heartbreak — is a release, its addictive rhythm full of levity. It is undeniably the track to dance to the hardest, and just like “Hard Times,” an upbeat anthem made for those who are feeling down. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Glum”

FFO: “What Goes On” by the Velvet Underground, Michael Rother, Cate Le Bon
STANDOUT MOMENT: Living in Chicago made forming a band a rite of passage, with Horsegirl quickly joining the Hallogallo collective alongside Friko and Lifeguard. However, Phonetics On and On was written after moving to NYC, capturing just how strange and lonely it can be to lay down new roots. The spaciousness of Phonetics seems to reflect that, clearing room for their overwhelming feelings — excitement, terror, possibility — by adopting bare-bones guitar pop. More often than not, they get hypnotic by way of repetition, whether it’s the wordless chorus of “Rock City” or the locked-in groove of “Switch Over.” The magic is in not overthinking it. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “In Twos”

FFO: Industrial, Halloween, Death Grips
STANDOUT MOMENT: If escapism means distracting yourself from reality, Ho99o9’s Tomorrow We Escape is a chaotic, frantic journey through the ways we try to confront it. Distorted guitars, pounding drums, and industrial textures pile on top of each other in a claustrophobic wall of sound, making the concept of escape feel like anything but a pipe dream. On tracks like “Escape,” vocals shift violently between theOGM’s tense, urgent delivery and Yeti Bones’ aggressive chants, reflecting the internal struggle both are facing. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “LA Riots”

FFO: digicore, Machine Girl, Pokémon Wii
STANDOUT MOMENT: For those looking to “TURN UP OR DIE,” this song lives up to its title — and drops like the one at 3:03 invite a bit of EDM/dubstep into what’s primarily a digicore party. It embodies much of what this album is about — sonically and literally — which is a crash out, and a reflection on the past. It’s heard in references to Jane Remover’s prior work, and unlikely, layered sounds that they detonate on drops like this. It might sound like chaos, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly precise, thoughtful, and narrative. Across the entire record, that paradox is present, and it’s also where Remover’s genius lies. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Dreamflasher”

FFO: Beastie Boys, Cross by Justice, moshing with care
STANDOUT MOMENT: Joey Valence & Brae’s live shows are a raucous time, loaded with disco balls, mosh pits, and over-the-top banter. HYPERYOUTH treads that same spirit, where the duo contend with growing up. However, their most juvenile moment is also one of their best. Halfway through “THE PARTY SONG,” a jazzy Cortex sample attempts to tweak the vibes, like your shy friend finally reaching for the aux, but is met with fratty scorn. “Bro, turn that garbage off! Where’s the club shit?” Eventually, the sample resurfaces, soundtracking a shot of clarity as the lights flick back on and the crowd filters out. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “SEE U DANCE” (feat. Rebecca Black)

FFO: First Reformed, societal critique, Touché Amoré
STANDOUT MOMENT: The image of a crashed self-driving Tesla on fire after killing two people was enough for La Dispute to name their latest album No One Was Driving the Car. Structured through different acts, the LP picks apart the global turmoil shaped by capitalism. Choppy guitars slice through restless percussion, and Jordan Dreyer’s voice moves from tense utterances to strained howling, dragging the listener through the fiery rubble on songs like “Landlord Calls the Sheriff In.” The lyrics mix religious imagery with economic despair (“No yachts will drift off when the rapture comes”), while the instruments twist and surge around them, making you feel the weight of promises broken. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Landlord Calls the Sheriff In”

FFO: Bikini Kill, Joy… by IDLES, fighting TERFs
STANDOUT MOMENT: “Cuntology 101” is a standout song, and one that showcases Lambrini Girls’ signature use of satire to speak about weighted issues. It’s a track that recalls Peaches’ “Fuck the Pain Away” with relish, reliant on repetition, a hypnotic and profane mantra put to a pulsing, DIY club beat. From the start, upheld by buzzing distortion and a faint hi-hat, the song vibrates with anticipatory, pump-up energy — a perfect match to its message of empowerment. And like with Peaches, it’s got a sticky, memorable chorus worthy of a pair of pom-poms: “C-U-N-T, I’m gonna do what’s best for me!” —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Cuntology 101”

FFO: 2000s New Brunswick, desert rock, calling a project your AOTY in January
STANDOUT MOMENT: While reading Greta Morgan’s memoir, The Lost Voice, there’s a part where her teacher gives praise during a workshop, calling her lyrics a “fuck you” song — as in “fuck you, I wish I had written that.” L.S. Dunes’ Violet, released at the top of the year, is crammed with them, but none more so than the vengeful title track. Though Frank Iero sent the demo around as a fully fleshed-out song, everyone found something to add, taking it to a higher place. When Anthony Green wishes someone exactly what they deserve, it’s gleeful, satisfying, loving. “Violet” is the sound of a supergroup firing on all cylinders, choosing present tense above everything else. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Violet”

FFO: Slow-burn storytelling, clocking your progress on Goodreads, Jensen McRae
STANDOUT MOMENT: “This is bliss/This is hell,” Lucy Dacus croons on Forever Is A Feeling’s title track. It’s that crux that defines the entire LP — where having a crush is both a revelation and a risk. The instrumentation mirrors that duality, shifting between delicate fingerpicked guitars, subtle piano flourishes, and swelling, atmospheric arrangements that highlight the push and pull of longing. The fuzzy feeling of infatuation comes alive with warm, analog-leaning production and soft tones that make each song feel suspended in the moment when something small turns into something deeper. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Best Guess”

FFO: Drug Church, Killing Joke, Little Miss Sunshine
STANDOUT MOMENT: God Save the Gun swings wide emotionally and stylistically — from abrasive hardcore bursts to vulnerable, melodic, even acoustic detours. It’s a soliloquy on self-loathing, addiction, fear, and anger. However, the record’s collaborations provide an anchor, both conceptually and literally. “God Owes Me Money” packs a punch with a feature from Marisa Dabice (Mannequin Pussy) and a rap from Shelton’s brother, Max. On other tracks, Phillip Odom supplies additional vocals, while Nick Panella of MSPAINT layers in woozy keyboards, adding to the LP’s unexpected texture and depth. James Goodson of Dazy co‑wrote and produced “Fill Me With Paint” and “Kick,” with their immediate, weighty hooks. Add in Riley MacIntyre’s emotionally driven ear, and the original lineup, God Save the Gun is a powerful and complex work, both a tragic offering and the work of a community — frenetic and tightly knit all at once. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Fill Me With Paint”

FFO: Britney Spears’ Blackout era, Moulin Rouge!, sensory overload
STANDOUT MOMENT: For all of Pirouette’s sweaty dopamine rushes, there’s a moment when that dissolves. “Headlights,” a spoken-word interlude near the album’s middle, offers a radical change in pace as frontman Cole Haden recounts a painful moment of childhood — an unrequited crush on a friend of a friend. “Over time, I started hating him, or I started hating myself, but I hated most how I’d pray each night asking God to make him see me in all the ways I couldn’t,” he says plainly. The song was written in a feverish 15 minutes, right as they were finishing work on the album. The words had been bubbling up inside him for years, but the resolve to put them on tape was brand new. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Diva”

FFO: Soccer Mommy, 2000s alt-rock, aimless drives
STANDOUT MOMENT: You can only make one true coming-of-age album, and for Momma, that’s Welcome to My Blue Sky. The LP feels like the final drive through a neighborhood you’ve already outgrown, with melodies drifting in with ease and the band stitching in tight harmonies and diaristic confessions. “My Old Street,” the final song, has the kind of hazy and heavy nostalgia that ambushes you — the realization that growing up is equal parts shedding skin and gripping what’s left, a closing shout from a place that made you who you are. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “How To Breathe”

FFO: Norah Jones, Radiohead, making seasonal mixtapes
STANDOUT MOMENT: María Zardoya of the Marías purged her pain on the band’s 2024 album, Submarine, documenting all of the grief, love, and hope that came with ending a relationship with her longtime bandmate Josh Conway. For those who’ve endlessly replayed “Back to Me,” written a couple of months after Submarine’s completion, consider its companion song, “Back to You,” whose heavy-hearted longing will sit you down hard. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Swan”

FFO: Moody synth, Blood Orange, Hanes cotton tees
STANDOUT MOMENT: It’s not often that a song meant to be played in a club depicts the exhaustion and demands of the working‑class grind and having creative ambition, but that’s exactly what Nourished By Time created on “9 2 5.” Over a propulsive beat and hypnotic synth lines, he captures the tension between never-ending daily labor and the pursuit of dreams as the rhythm drags you forward, the synths twisting and looping around you. By the chorus, the track swells into catharsis, mirroring the push and pull of chasing creative ambition while under pressure. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “9 2 5 ”

FFO: Lily Allen, Basement Jaxx, archive Juicy Couture
STANDOUT MOMENT: This mixtape is an ode to British culture, to drum and bass, jungle, ’90s rave music. She samples Basement Jaxx, a foundational artist for Pink, multiple times across the record. But the standout moment here is a sample that’s so quick, you may not have noticed — at the start of “Tonight,” Panic! At The Disco make an appearance. It’s an orchestral blip, but ties back to some of Pink’s first influences as an artist — scene icons like Gerard Way, Hayley Williams, Brendon Urie, with a penchant for flair and drama. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Girl Like Me”

FFO: Knocked Loose, Loathe, r/natureismetal
STANDOUT MOMENT: Pinkshift are thousands of miles from the pop-punk bounce of “i’m gonna tell my therapist on you” — a bona-fide hit that led to them getting signed to Hopeless and releasing their 2022 debut LP, Love Me Forever. Their sound has shed its skin, getting viciously heavy, challenging, and more receptive to change. It’s not for aesthetics — it’s a temperature check, a response to the disorienting levels of intolerance, burnout, and rage that’s permeated the last few years. All the while, the songs buoy the urgency that’s always lived at the very heart of their band. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Don’t Fight”

FFO: Militarie Gun, Sweet Pill, big riffs
STANDOUT MOMENT: There’s a cyclical nature to Pool Kids’ Easier Said Than Done. The whole record loops and twists on itself, every track ruled by rumination — “Dani” burns hot with betrayal, and “Tinted Windows” drifts through snapshots of lost moments. Then “Bad Bruise” hits, with Christine Goodwyne lunging after the guitars and shouting, “Can’t help but try to touch it like a bad bruise,” with the band swerving the sonic energy and immediately taking a sharp, urgent turn to keep the jittery arrangements unexpected. It’s undoubtedly their best album yet. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Dani”

FFO: Rap-rock, unclean vocals, emo trap
STANDOUT MOMENT: Trap, pop, metal, emo… This album is a bundle of genres. Now more than ever, Rico Nasty leans into that, and makes it work. The standout moment is on the album’s heaviest track, “SMOKE BREAK,” that not only features a gritty punk beat, and some of her best screaming, but a full-blown hardcore breakdown. It’s at 1:10, but don’t skip ahead. Top to bottom, this track will rile you up. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “TEETHSUCKER (YEA3x)”

FFO: Clairo, Kelly Clarkson, hard pivots
STANDOUT MOMENT: SASAMI went from covering System of a Down’s “Toxicity” to creating a flat-out pop album. Touring with HAIM was the catalyst, where she was “mainlining Lady Gaga and Rihanna to keep the vibes up,” but the peak is that she lands it. Hear the proof in “Slugger,” speckled with Dolly Parton references, an eye roll to love cliches, and a playfulness that allows her classically trained background to come through. She’s the sole writer, along with the album’s other 12 tracks. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Slugger”

FFO: Alt‑pop, experimental indie, Phoebe Bridgers x FKA twigs
STANDOUT MOMENT: SAYA is a kaleidoscope of sorts — at every point, different genres and textures are colliding with each other. Saya Gray pulls you through flickers of folk confessionals and shadowy electronics, the whole album shifting under your feet constantly. Halfway through “HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP UP A LIE?,” Gray keeps repeating “I’m out of my, my mind for you,” her lovelorn voice cutting through the subdued, mellow production that glitches and jerks. It’s disorienting in the best way — the perfect sonic mirror for an album built on losing your grip and following the feeling anyway. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “LIE DOWN..”

FFO: Will Yip, No Doubt, Sonny Angels
STANDOUT MOMENT: The album ends on the title track — it’s a fast, aggressive, with moments muffled and atmospheric. It feels like being at a hardcore show, kicking off with Kat Moss’ Ari Up-esque shout, “One, two, three, four!” But also like at a hardcore show, with the energy at a high, it ends. Instruments are discarded, and everyone runs off to their friends, drenched in sweat. A noteworthy way to end a polished, alt-rock-leaning album that shows the band expanding far beyond their former style, reminding us they’ve still got hardcore roots. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Special”

FFO: Spring Breakers, 20mm plugs, screaming “Fuck Skrillex, this is Sonny Moore”
STANDOUT MOMENT: Skrillex is an infinite source of inspiration for 100 gecs. During their 2023 AP cover story, Dylan Brady and Laura Les revealed that 2010’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” recalibrated how they thought of music, its dubstep aggression giving way to blinding amounts of catharsis. “Sometimes you just want to fucking bang your head to something. It takes you out of yourself for a minute, you know?” Les said of the music. It feels full circle, then, that Brady has turned from fan to peer, hopping on songs with the EDM giant since 2021. Naturally, he lent production to WARHOL, Skrillex’s return to roots, plus featured on a pair of bulletproof bangers — “ZEET NOISE” and “BOOSTER.” —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “THINGS I PROMISED” into “RECOVERY”

FFO: Progressive metalcore, Architects, chain harnesses
STANDOUT MOMENT: It might be too on the nose to say Tsunami Sea feels like you’re being engulfed by water, but the production does close around you — the mix rising and folding like a wave, vocals slipping between clarity and distortion as if they’re trying to break through the surface. “No Loss, No Love” is where that pull tightens. A brief moment of calm, the submerged spoken-word lines are balanced with the pressure of the slamming riffs, dragging the whole soundscape back below. When the chorus finally erupts, it thrashes with that heavy roar, swallowing the listener whole. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “A Haven With Two Faces”

FFO: The Clash, High Vis, Fred Perry
STANDOUT MOMENT: A real gem on Spiritual Cramp’s self-titled album was the slower, sentimental ballad “Herberts on Holiday.” For those looking for the “Herbert” of RUDE, try “You’ve Got My Number,” featuring Sharon Van Etten. However unlikely the pairing seems, the duet of Van Etten and vocalist Michael Bingham is exceptional, eerie, and resounding. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Young Offenders”

FFO: Angel Du$t, David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, two-stepping in movie theaters
STANDOUT MOMENT: Turnstile’s a community, and the way NEVER ENOUGH lifts up the people around them through mass collaboration is the real highlight. Will Yip, who’s been in their corner since 2016’s Move Thru Me, offers his production expertise. Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes and Hayley Williams throw down on “SEEIN’ STARS” (the latter joining the band onstage at their release show at Brooklyn’s Under the K Bridge). BADBADNOTGOOD’s Leland Whitty adds saxophone to “DREAMING,” continuing their collaborative relationship after their joint New Heart Designs EP in 2023, whereas Faye Webster hops on “TIME IS HAPPENING.” They’re the band that everyone wants to keep winning. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “LOOK OUT FOR ME”

FFO: Post-punk, satire, Amyl and the Sniffers
STANDOUT MOMENT: Viagra Boys usually thrive on chaos and sarcasm, but hearing vocalist Sebastian Murphy crack open on “Medicine For Horses” feels disarming on first listen. The track moves with a subdued, unnerving calm, a haze of throbbing drums and low, unsteady vocals that make every line feel like it’s trembling at the edges. Murphy sounds worn down and reflective, drifting through surreal, off-kilter images — spinal fluid is harvested, horses stomping on human skulls — as he reaches for some kind of collapse and renewal. It’s a rare moment where the band let the noise fall away. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Store Policy”

FFO: Anxiety, rototom fills, Walt Whitman
STANDOUT MOMENT: YHWH are like a Rube Goldberg machine — the odd, complicated journey it takes you on, and the satisfying result, are in the sum of its parts, one triggered by another. With YHWH, what sets it all in motion, providing the energy to achieve its goal, is Sam Pickard’s drumming. Feverishly complex, his rhythms are both anxiety-inducing and cathartic — feelings core to experiencing the music. With a wonky cymbal and clashing floor toms, his parts are a scattered heartbeat that propels the pulsing instruments, and Zack Borzone’s harrowing, poetic lyricism. But most importantly, the patterns are incredibly precise, like a twisted take on jazz drumming, evoking chaos without throwing a song into it. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Sickle Walk”

FFO: Ween, Francis Bacon, contemplating the cosmos
STANDOUT MOMENT: Someone coming to Water From Your Eyes’ IABP without a primer might think they’ve been slipped a dose of Owsley’s finest. Its brilliance lies in its whiplash variety. Uniting nü metal, grunge, dance, John Frusciante guitar, and beyond, filtered through their tongue-in-cheek pop, there’s always another idea to chase. Honorable mention: They whittled down “Playing Classics” from 10 minutes. They lost the original version, but you can hear a new, faster one with car sound effects (“because cars are fast”) on their companion EP, It’s Beautiful. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “Playing Classics”

FFO: Southern shoegaze, Big Thief, extremely specific storytelling
STANDOUT MOMENT: Storytelling is the core of country music, so it’s apt that Wednesday’s country-tinged sixth album embraces the pull of finely crafted narratives. Vocalist Karly Hartzman plays the observer gawking at small-town tensions, a collage of stories and characters from the past. Then, “The Way Love Goes,” a love song she wrote for her now-ex and bandmate MJ Lenderman, turns the camera on her. The track moves slowly against a quiet, swaying arrangement. It’s carried by soft, plucking guitars and production that’s haunting and hangs in the air. It’s the emotional center of Bleeds, balancing Hartzman’s ache and the world around her. —Kelsey Barnes
A-SIDE: “Carolina Murder Suicide”

FFO: ’00s pop punk, Travis Barker, the place off Ocean Avenue
STANDOUT MOMENT: There was a long runway from announce to release for this LP, but the first single drop did not disappoint, with two songs that let listeners know this album had big, sing-along anthems — and was here to revive the sound of classic pop punk. Immediately catchy, title track “Better Days” delivered tight riffs and some of Ryan Key’s strongest vocals yet. The second single, “honestly i,” showcased Sean Mackin’s 1600s Italian violin in a way that felt straight off Ocean Avenue. This album gave us something pop punk has needed — it tips its hat to nostalgia, rather than clumsily attempting to embody the past. —Anna Zanes
A-SIDE: “Better Days”

FFO: Drain Gang, Lil Peep, the Opium roster
STANDOUT MOMENT: No matter how you feel about the rise of 2hollis, you can’t deny that the bleach-blond rapper has put in the work, building a community on Discord, making his own merch, and digging through Reddit threads to learn how to use Ableton. The strength of star, his fourth album and major-label debut, is in the unpredictable sequencing. When the warped bass and drums of “flash” spill into the narcotic reflection of “cope,” his gift for emo melodies shines through, flipping the chorus of David Bowie’s “Heroes” into something sadder and infinitely catchy. —Neville Hardman
A-SIDE: “flash”