Streamed music is still just too slick a concept for my soul; it just glides through me, rarely leaving a meaningful trace. I was privy to an early excerpt of Casey Rentmeester and Jeff R. Warren’s seemingly excellent book Heidegger and Music (Bloomsbury, 2022), wherein a spectrum is posited. On one end, the “earthy”—finite, ephemeral, physical—with its purist example being live music performance. The opposite is “liquidated”—”easily accessible, easily replaceable, and easily repeatable”—with maximally liquidated music being on-demand digital streaming. With regard to these terms:

“While liquidated musical formats are more convenient—I can simply tell my smart speaker to play Bob Dylan rather than find out if he’s on tour this year and see if I can commit to seeing a show—their very accessibility makes the music more readily prone to disposability.” ~ Rentmeester/Warren

With considerable disregard for my income and square footage, I continue to accrue music in physical formats. Perhaps I’ve been paying more regard to monetary and spatial limitations, though, as 2025 was the first year in probably the past 15 when I’ve bought more CDs than vinyl, and by a decent margin, particularly with used CDs.

However, I also bought more newly released albums in 2025—a combined total of seven CDs and records!—than I have in a long time, and as a way to possibly share some worthwhile new music, I’ve decided to rank these platters. We live in a dreadfully atomized culture these days, so it’s useless for me to qualify this list in terms of (un)popularity. This is as subjective as it comes; feel free to tread on this list:

7. The Prize – “In The Red”

I bought this one at the recommendation of Timebomb Tom Smith, with a dash of Timm Buechler and smidge of Steve Stengl. Sometimes your friends catch you at the record store when you have a lil more dough left in your wallet, and it feels good to roll the dice on something unsampled. I’m a big “context” guy, so it’s thrilling to purchase something unknown, on the off chance I end up loving it at first listen, and later bolster that appreciation with additional details—”Of course I loved it; it was produced by so-and-so, and the drummer used to play with so-and-so,” and the like.

Well, with no offense to the pals who endorse it, I didn’t love this album off the bat. Turns out I like it alright. It’s a slightly unique production—not as lo-fi as the nice ’70s-harkening cover art suggests, rather, it’s got a surprisingly clear punch to it that makes it feel like it could’ve only come out contemporarily. I think that’s what I appreciate most about it; it brings a unique, subtle update on the garage rock sound. I also appreciate the bountiful dual-guitar work throughout. My favorite tune on it’s probably “First Sight”, with it’s extra Thin Lizzy-ness.

You get the sense this band really could rock live. In a live setting, the songs might be powerfully veiled in energy. On record, though, there’s not a great deal of substance to the tunes. There’s not quite enough attitude, either, to put these certainly competent power-pop numbers over the top. Nor quite enough hooks, which, I get if straightforward rockers is the goal, but then, as per the great pop-rock sliding scale, one’s gotta rock more.

Might be my fault for hoping this one would immediately grab me. I’ve spun it a few times, though, and am still hopeful it’ll click more. Or, am I simply anti-Aussie?! Only in finding the above album link did I find out where they’re from. Call me soulless, but contemporaries Amyl and the Sniffers nor King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have not yet stirred me either. Notable exception: I really like the neo-soul-to-Kraut-rock odyssey/jukebox bargain of King Giz’s “The Dripping Tap”. Take heed, erstwhile Oz rockers: listen to more Can?!

6. The Darkness – “Dreams On Toast”

Yeah yeah, I like these guys. If you’re not a fan, I won’t be able to convince you, although singer Justin Hawkins’ excellent YouTube channel has had a way of endearing the band beyond its most famous song/album.

I actually included their album “Pinewood Smile” on the last annual album list I did, back in 2017. I prefer their 2021 album “Motorheart” to “Dreams on Toast”, and I prefer their 2015 album “Last of Our Kind” to “Motorheart”, but “Dreams On Toast” has some outstanding highs that only they can manage.

Even for a band whose secret weapon is its intellect, this album does feel a tad brainy for its own good, which makes some sense. Imagine having a YouTube show where you discuss in detail the merits of songwriting to a subscribership of over half a million every week. Very, very few critics attempt to create music themselves, presumably for this reason. This also has to be the most songwriterly, composerly platter for The Darkness, which I can also understand. Tough to go from touting the whipsmart savantry of the likes of The Lemon Twigs and turn around hamfist a rocker of one’s own.

But hey, sometimes good songwriting’s just good songwriting, and same goes for talent and production. This album amounts to an odd ride, where sometimes it all clicks, but even when it doesn’t quite, it’s still interesting. Sorry for the lack of individual examples—this summation applies to just about every song on “Dreams on Toast”, where certain sections of songs are more compelling than others.

If it’s an uneven ride, the record’s conclusion is Immaculate: “Weekend in Rome”. I highly recommend listening to the full album and letting it culminate with this one rather than skipping right to it. What in the holy Roman hell is going on here? This is perhaps the most absurdly bombastic, hypercinematic album-closer you might ever hear—possibly outdoing the last track of The Darkness’ second album, “One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back”, “Blind Man”.

5. Smart Shoppers – “Shop Among Us”

This one clearly takes the trophy for best album title of the year. Misfits’ nod or not, this one is the grooviest platter from the Shoppers yet. “Snack” is an absolute banger, which oddly could’ve fit in with the more fun side of indie-dance-punk stuff from the early aughts like The Rapture.

Compared to The (aforementioned) Prize, in this case, I’ve got almost too much context: this is a Green Bay band; I have both of their other records (here’s my review of their first one); I’m familiar with each members’ other musical exploits; before the band had a name (or was officially a band at all), the man now known as Joey Shops asked me to play bass; I’ve gotten to hang in the studio where they record; and to varying degrees I know them as people! Forget what they say ’bout familiarity: I am, in fact, a fan. This has been my favorite GB band since they started gigging. Maybe I should’ve taken up the bass offer, but come the hell on, we’re all better with Rev. Norb. (Was going to finish that sentence with “in that role,” but I’m leaving it as is.)

These first three Smart Shoppers albums hit a sweet spot of stupefyingly stupendous, standoffishly seductive songwriting. (How they managed to title every song on this LP with an “s” is seriously… uh… simpressive.) Catchy, at times antisocial (but anti- the stuff of society one ought to be anti- of), so tight it’s loose, highly rhythmic but with a satisfying dollop of sonic tomfoolery. Joey’s delirious, motormouth vocals (punctuated by those of Norbie ShopKo) run a grocery-list gamut of plastic luxury to surrealistic misery as Aaron Smart and Jash Thrift lock into the most sickly intricate concoctions coupons can buy.

I’ll mention the one-two punch of “Spurs” into “Shake” as a highlight example of the album’/band’s ‘s (if not the band’s overall) range of incite-ful ennui to gleeful oddity.

Here’s a new interview with them that just published yesterday. (See, I was just waiting for that to publish, and that’s why I’ve posted this list a month late. That’s it.)

4. The Hives – “The Hives Forever Forever The Hives”

This band… I don’t think they ever really swore in the previous six albums. Then they open up this one with line, “EVERYONE’S A LITTLE F*CKIN B*TCH!” God save ’em.

I was over-the-sun when they shocked the world and announced their last album, 2023’s “The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons”, after 11 years of no new music, due to some serious legal issues (involving, randomly, fellow Swedes The Cardigans). I loved the advanced singles/videos/promo from the new album—super creative in light of what had surely been a will-challenging decade. Admittedly, though, the rest didn’t end up hitting me crazy hard.

After coming off such a long delay, when the cover art for “The Hives Forever Forever The Hives” was suddenly promoted on social media on April Fool’s Day 2025, I had a good chuckle, i.e., “Look at the preposterous attire and album title.” The absurdity was underscored by its comparably hyperspeed turn-around—no way did they crank out a new album in under two years after how long the last one took. But apparently they don’t celebrate April Fool’s in Sweden, and not long after, videos for brand-new singles appeared.

THFFTH (the acronym for the album—not my Sylvesterian attempt to say “This”) was the opposite for me from its post-hiatus predecessor—these new singles didn’t floor me, but the rest of the album turned out really quite good. Part of why I love The Hives is their sonic homelessness; these songs could work at a basement show or a stadium, which is to say they aren’t tailor-made for anywhere, and doggunnit if that ain’t the stuff that’s always hooking my foolish ears. They’ve got innate pop sensibilities (I’m pretty well convinced this is a genetically Swedish thing) but actual garage-rock attitude. Just a dandy buncha Scandis.

The Hives started confusing people with 2004’s new-wavier “Tyrannosaurus Hives”, which I do believe’s my favorite of theirs. 2007’s “The Black and White Album” was a swing to the mainstream fences of sorts, with its team of producers even including the likes of Pharrell, but it was also one of their most experimental albums. Results were mixed, but the lasting impact was a vastly expanded production/songwriting palette, considering the band’s more primitive roots. (The Dwarves *kinda* come to mind as a band that’s taken a similar trajectory, where the polish almost comes off more punk than the punk stuff because it’s gutsy and defiant.) It may have been too much evolution too soon, but the albums since TBaWA stretched out their style have had a wide-open Hive-rton window in which to operate. 2012’s “Lex Hives” solidified this Hive New World, possessing almost too-sugary of pop alongside absolutely indispensable rock’n’roll.

With THFFTH, it feels like they’ve really arrived at this accumulation of all the chances and changes. There’s some more of the grit that got introduced on the last album, but the hi-fi sound is there with it. It took some getting used to; hate playing the “Is this pitch-corrected?” game, but that’s definitely going on here.

It took me a few spins before I had the great, most forehead-slappingest revelation: TURN IT UP, DUUUUDE.

Loud, it all made sense. Louder, more still. Must. Crank. Up.

Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist’s confidence is ultimately The Hives’ key asset, and he’s just kickin’ ass all over this album. It’s so satisfying in a post-Cobain world of reluctant rockstars.

Highlights: “Enough is Enough”, “Paint a Picture”, and “Born a Rebel”.

3. Sharp Pins – “Radio DDR“

What a silly thing to say, but: I love good production. I don’t even really know what production means, but we can always feel it, right? (Many a dork will use the word vibe re: this subject.) And sometimes the best production happens to be the lo-fi stuff. I went through a big lo-fi phase in my teens—the likes of early Modest Mouse, Pavement, and Guided By Voices. Of course, music from the mid-’60s and earlier is naturally lower fidelity, so the actual “lo-fi” distinction applies when more-advanced technology is available yet eschewed as an aesthetic and/or financial decision.

That’s not to say lo-fi production is the be-all-end-all; there are plenty of acts/songs/albums that simply sound like trash (in a bad way), and plenty of others who lean on the production to obscure what simply aren’t very compelling songs/performances.

In the case of Chicago’s Sharp Pins—the solo project of stylish wunderkind Kai Slater—I’m not going to try and read his mind as to why he’s chosen this aesthetic for this early output. Quite simply, it works, and I’m not interested in questioning the magic away from something this good.

I first learned of Sharp Pins from the aforementioned Tom Smith, who shared footage of them from the most recent Gonerfest. It struck me as some damn good power-pop, and while I’m pumped Kai and crew can pull it off live, holy cats, these recordings are truly fab. Bedroom-y in the best way possible (which makes the capable live reproduction all the more impressive). The record glides from glorious mod rock to profoundly sweet acoustic tunes. The melodies and hooks make it all work.

For deeper divers, Sharp Pins is informed by Slater’s rally cry—”Youth Revolution Now”—which was also the original name of this set of songs, before the last three were added on and it was renamed “Radio DDR”, casting these tracks as a sampling from the airwaves of a mythical, awesome radio station.

You recall all kinds of wonderful sounds in this set: not just Guided By Voices, but the early Who and the other mod-rockers. To paint with broad strokes, The Beatles show up in the best way (a.k.a. no self-conscious/satisfied McCartney “whimsy”), and a generally psychedelic sense throughout; this record sounds great on the stereo or in headphones.

It’s tough to pick highlights here, but today I’ll go with “Lorelei”, “You Don’t Live Here Anymore”, “If I Was Ever Lonely”, “Circle All the Dots”, “You Have a Way”, “I Can’t Stop”, and “Storma Lee”. You know… half the freaking album.

2. Wesley and The Boys – “Rock & Roll Ruined My Life”

Tom Smith looms large on this list! Like Sharp Pins, I owe Tom entirely for my introduction to Wesley & The Boys, as he booked them in Green Bay in 2023. It was positively wild to see a band like this attacking the stage at Frets, which is much more of a hippie bar, and it ruled. I want to say they were sold out of merch, so it wasn’t until last year when GBUFO got a few copies of their latest LP, “Rock & Roll Ruined My Life”, that I became a stockholder of WesBoy Inc.

You ever wonder if rock’n’roll ruined your life? I mean I know a number of people who have tragically sacrificed their brain cells, vital organs, families, careers, and very lives at this altar. Fortunately, I hang. However scathed one might be by the lifestyle, merely developing a taste for rock’n’roll is risky biz these days: once you’ve come to know the good stuff, you’re surrounded by rubbish from then on.

In a musically pathetic world, it can feel like a curse to love rock’n’roll. However, for those afflicted with The Boogie Disease, a band like Wesley & The Boys makes it all worth it.

Urgency, in this ennui economy? Yes, says Wes.

Righteous sounds rendered from a—gasp—guitar? Weedily-reeeeer!, says Jonny Ullman, who might be my favorite player out there right now.

Everything intense and interesting about Wesley & The Boys’ live set is represented here, thanks to Mr. Berryhill’s tunesmithery, the rhythm section’s switches from mighty thrash to swinging stomp and back, and Ullman’s damn fine axin’ and studio skills. A glorious blur of punk, rock, and new wave, veering into some satisfyingly Spits-esque territory at times.

So grateful this crew’s getting after it. Whatever’s driving them to grind out this caliber of fire, we can only hope they’re gearing up for much much more. They’re so aggressive and abrasive, but so catchy and groovy—such id, but you know they’re intelligent, too.

For a highlight, let’s go with the greatest song title of the year: “Fight On the Internet”.

In the long run, this record may wind up my favorite of the year’s batch.

But until then…

1. Sharp Pins – “Balloon Balloon Balloon“

Tough call, but I’m going with the latest entrant of the list.

After getting into “Radio DDR”, I was damn excited to find out this album was set to drop in November. The three songs added on to the end of the “Radio DDR” evinced something a jump in Slater’s songwriting, and he does indeed make a lovely leap up on “Balloon Balloon Balloon”. Honed yet still homespun. If only because the previous album was semi-Frankensteined, this tracklist—21 songs in all—feels a bit more of a consistent piece.

It’s not just the songwriting; it’s the (say it with me) production as well. Some beautiful new tricks and blends on this one. Killer harmonies… I mean, there’s not much I can say about this album that I didn’t say about “Radio DDR”. The highs just might be a tad higher, and it’s all stitched together with interesting experiments.

Highlights: “I Don’t Have The Heart”, “Queen of Globes and Mirrors”, “I Wanna Be Your Girl”, “Gonna Learn to Crawl”, “(In A While) You’ll Be Mine”, “Ex-Priest / In a Hole of a Home”, and “Maria Don’t”.

Curious to see what this cat gets after. Putting out a set as robust as this, one wonders if it was almost a clearing-out of sorts, preparing for a new approach. His new Silver Dolls project is interesting and a bit different, after all. Either way, Kai has tremendous potential, and it’s super exciting to see him realizing it at such a young age.

Conclusion

I’ve generally got what could be considered the opposite of Recency Bias when it comes to music. Partially because I’ve bought too many new albums over the years based on what I wanted them to be—and for the high-quality creativity I wanted to be possible in the present—versus what they actually were.

For me to up my new music purchasing game (however modestly) in 2025, I can’t decide if it means I’m getting more open-minded or if it was just an above-average year for new tune-age. At any rate, it’s not been altogether bleak out there in musicland. Top that, ’26!

If you see stuff on here that makes you think of other contemporary bands I might be missing out on, please let me know.

Yours,

–Day the Discerner