JUST WHAT WE NEEDED, ANOTHER “BEST OF 2025” MUSIC LIST

[defrog]

Another year, another Best Albums list.

 

And you’re lucky to get one – not just because I was busy traveling for a couple of weeks over the holiday, but also because, to be honest, it wasn’t exactly a banner year for new music for me. Quite a few usually reliable artists put out albums that just didn’t really work for me (hey, it happens), and most of what I came across throughout the year, while good, didn’t really set my world on fire.

 

Luckily, several late-year releases moved the needle, but even so, the only way I could fill out a Top 20 list was to lump LPs and EPs into a single category rather than break them out separately.

 

And why not? This ain’t Rolling Stone, after all. And that’s not a bad thing. Besides, good music is good music regardless of running time.

 

dEFROG’S TOP 20 LPs/EPs OF 2025

 

BB Bomb

Practice Songs (Damnably)

Taiwan hardcore punk band that started in 2003 as an all-girl outfit led by singer/guitarist Hsu Pei Hsing, who is now the only original member (and only woman) left. As far as I know, this is their second album, and it’s louder and faster than their debut, with 15 songs in under 21 minutes – which is intentional in that Hsu has said that she challenged herself to write songs more quickly because the first album took 17 years to release. In any case, it’s noisy shouty fun.

 

Billy Nomates

Metalhorse (Invada Records)

Third album by British singer-songwriter Tor Maries, who goes by the stage name Billy Nomates, and whom I’d never heard of until I came across this. Loosely organised around the concept of a decrepit funfair, the song cycle ruminates on themes of loss and insecurity, inspired by the recent death of her father from Parkinson's and her own diagnosis of MS. Which sounds like a bummer, but it’s a surprisingly upbeat album musically, and the songs are pretty sharp.

 

The Bug Club

Very Human Features (Sub Pop)

Fourth LP by Welsh duo, and their second for Sub Pop that essentially doubles down on last year’s On The Intricate Inner Workings of the System – so, more eccentric fuzzy indie rock. This didn’t knock me out as much as the previous album – it’s somewhat less fun, with some songs getting a bit more reflective and personal – very human, you might say. Still, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and there’s still plenty of charmingly snarky bounce to be had.

 

The Cleaners From Venus

Neverland For Now (Mr Mule)

The evergreen Martin Newell returns as The Cleaners From Venus with another EP of slightly psychedelic indie rock in which he seems to long for simpler days in a crazy world, although he also whimsically volunteers to save America from itself by becoming its latest pop obsession (cos hey, someone’s gotta do it). Hey, I’d vote for him. Anyway, it’s a nicely solid and lovely little collection of songs.

 

Del The Funky Homosapien + thegoodnews

This Just In! (Nature Sounds)

Thegoodnews is Del The Funky Homosapien, producer CTZN and rapper Po3 presented mainly in cartoon form via illustrator Pete Cosmos. But this ain’t Gorillaz – the cartoon bit is secondary to the musical style, which is adjacent to Deltron 3030 (whom Del has also worked with in the past), with Juan Alderete (of Mars Volta and Dr Octagon) and Taka Tozawa (who has also collaborated with Deltron 3030) also onboard the project. They’ve been a thing since the mid-2010s, and this EP was released for Record Store Day. Put simply, if you like Deltron 3030 (or any project that has Del in it), you may like this. I do and I did.

 

Holly Golightly

Look Like Trouble (Damaged Goods)

Holly Golightly had a busy year, both with her return to duty in Thee Headcoatees and this, her 14^th solo album (not including the ten LPs she did with The Brokeoffs). Golightly returns to her Southern Gothic torch’n’twang sound that suggests smoky nightclubs at 2:30am as she casually sings about life’s ups and downs with a twinkle in her eye and a switchblade in her boot.

 

Half Man Half Biscuit

All Asimov and No Fresh Air (RM Qualtrough)

Somehow I’d missed the fact that Half Man Half Biscuit were still active. This is their 16^th LP, and it’s pretty much business as usual for singer-guitarist Nigel Blackwell and bassist Neil Crossley – biting and subversive satirical lyrics set to catchy hooks, with references to everything from Isaac Asimov, Edgar Allen Poe and Badly Drawn Boy to horror clowns, Legoland and telepathic crime-solving chickens. The doom-folk epic “Falmouth Electrics” literally made me laugh out loud. That’s your review right there.

 

Thee Headcoatees

Man-Trap (Damaged Goods)

Billy Childish revived two of his old bands this year – Thee Headcoats and Thee Headcoatees, the latter being an all-girl band that was originally created by Childish as an alternate backup band to Thee Headcoats but became successful on their own terms before breaking up in 1999. This is by far the better of the two comebacks – groovy, solid garage rock with great vocal interplay between all four members.

 

The Hives

The Hives Forever Forever The Hives (PIAS)

Two years after their comeback album The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, their majesties The Hives return for album no. 7. Their mission and sound remain unchanged: swaggering tongue-in-cheek garage rock intent on world domination. They dress like kings now and everything. And you know what? They’re entitled.

 

Kling Klang

Half Life (Wrong Speed Records)

Experimental synth rock from Liverpool! Kling Klang have been around since 1999, but their recorded output isn’t prolific – this is only their second LP (and the first, 2006’s Esthetik Of Destruction, was really just a singles/EP comp). I’d never heard of them before, but I have now, and this collection of mostly instrumental tracks is strangely addictive – not alt-Kraftwerk so much as a Delia Derbyshire/Hawkwind collaboration. Whatever it is, it’s oddly mesmerising, and the more I listen to it, the more it embeds itself in my brain.

 

Leenalchi

Heungboga (HIKE)

Second full length LP from Korean band that blends traditional pansori folk with bass-driven dance-pop. The songs here are based on the pansori epic of Heungbo, who rescues an injured swallow and is rewarded with fortune, while his greedy brother Nolbo brings about his own ruin. Even if you don’t speak a word of Korean (which I don’t), Leenalchi knows a catchy dance hook when it hears one, and the blend of that and pansori vocals makes Leenalchi utterly unique. Nothing else sounds anything like this, and it’s fantastic.

 

James McMurtry

The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy (New West Records)

James McMurtry (son of Larry) has been making records since 1989, but I only got into him a couple of years ago after coming across his brilliant song “We Can’t Make It Here” via a book about protest songs. This is his 13^th studio album, and while nothing on here quite reaches the expectations set by that song, it comes close a lot of times. McMurtry specialises in solid storytelling embodied in songs populated by ne’er-do-well characters haunted by regret and seeking redemption – the kind of thing Warren Zevon used to do so well. Two cover songs (Jon Dee Graham’s “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Broken Freedom Song”) seamlessly bookend the album. Powerful stuff.

 

Willie Nile

The Great Yellow Light (River House Records)

16^th studio album from NYC stalwart who gets compared to Dylan, Springsteen and Lou Reed, which I think is overselling it, but there’s no doubting Nile’s gift for passionate lyrics and his ear for air-punching anthems. The song quality falls a little short of the best bits of his previous album The Day The Earth Stood Still, and I think sometimes he tries too hard to sound inspiring and hopeful. And yet I can’t help admire that he makes the effort, bless him.

 

Nusantara Beat

Nusantara Beat (Glitterbeat)

Indonesian Sunda Pop from Amsterdam! Sunda Pop first emerged in the 1960s in Indonesia, where traditional Sundanese music with contemporary pop, psychedelia, surf music and funk. Nusantara Beat – all of whom are of Indonesian heritage – essentially put a modern spin on Sunda Pop that tilts the balance a little more in favor of pop over Sunda. This is their debut LP after having the spent the last year or so putting out several 45s on the Les Disques Bongo Joe label.

 

Jonathan Richman

Only Frozen Sky Anyway (Blue Arrow Records)

Jonathan Richman returns to duty with his 18^th studio album, which also reunites him with former Modern Lover (and Talking Head) Jerry Harrison. Despite the album’s underlying theme of death and mortality (and it’s jarring to remember Richman has been making music for 55 years now), it’s a typically light-hearted and whimsical affair, with some occasional welcome musical experimentation (with Richman giving fair warning in “But We May Try Weird Stuff”).

 

Sparks

MAD! (Transgressive Records)

Album no. 26 from the unstoppable Mael brothers, and it’s about what you’d expect from Sparks – synth pop, art rock and repetitive lyrics about everything from rocky relationships to JanSport backpacks and being stuck in freeway traffic. This is one of those cases where “more of the same” is both good and not so good. By general standards it’s good – by Sparks standards, it’s good but average.

 

Mavis Staples

Sad And Beautiful World (Anti-)

14^th studio solo album from Mavis Staples featuring a collection of (mostly) cover songs selected as vehicles for her to reflect on the state of the world we live in and what we can (and should) learn from the past as we look towards an uncertain future. Obvious highlights are Tom Waits’ “Chicago” and Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem”, but just about everything here is gold in Staples’ hands – moving and inspiring without resorting to bombast or preaching, and offering a ray of hope. This is indeed how the light gets in.

 

Stereolab

Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Warp/Duophonic UHF)

Stereolab returned to active duty this year with their 11^th studio LP and their first album of new music in 15 years. Superficially it’s like they never left – posh electronics, song titles lifted from operator manuals and lyrics that read like socialist essays – but their sound has matured over the decades into something simultaneously laconic and fizzing with energy. They also haven’t lost their ability to muck about with their own formula. Mary Hansen’s absence is still noticeable for me – the Groop have never quite managed to duplicate the natural vocal interplay between Hansen and Laetitia Sadier. But it’s still nice to have them around.

 

Cosey Fanni Tutti

2t2 (Conspiracy International)

Third solo LP from legendary Throbbing Gristle co-founder Cosey Fanni Tutti that offers up experimental electronica ranging from hypnotic beats to abstract moods. Probably not for everyone, and I admit I have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it (long bus rides, for example). But it’s pretty trippy. If nothing else, it’ll make a great soundtrack for the next Blade Runner movie someday.

 

Voice of Baceprot

Transisi (Dark Anthem Records)

Second EP from all-girl Indonesian metal trio who continue to kick against the pricks. The songs cover a range of social and political problems – war, violence, colonialism, govt corruption, deforestation, etc. More striking (and encouraging) is that VoB continues to evolve into something that’s more than the sum of their musical influences. Still possibly the most underrated metal band in the 21^st century.

 

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

 

Annie and the Caldwells

Can't Lose My (Soul) (Luaka Bop)

Annie and the Caldwells are a funk-gospel outfit that have been around since 2000 and have released a couple of albums on the Memphis-based Ecko label. This is their first for Luaka Bop, and it reworks six of their earlier tracks. There’s no doubting Annie Calwell’s pipes and sincerity, but I came away feeling she was trying a little too hard to engage with the listener. Still, it do be funky.

 

Gelli Haha

Switcheroo (Innovative Leisure)

Second LP from the artist formerly known as Angel Abaya, and her first as Gelli Haha, her alter ego that embraces her inner child. The switch to Gelli also sees Abaya switch from fairly standard indie rock to more experimental synthesiser dance pop. Doesn’t really hold up after a few listens, but it’s goofy fun while it lasts.

 

The Let's Gos

Tracks For Lucks ~Swampbag Sessions~ (CMA-SUN Records)

Tokyo’s The Let's Gos is an all-girl punk band that have been around since 2009 cranking out fairly standard pop punk – pretty good, but nothing Shonen Knife and a few dozen other bands on K.O.G.A. Records haven’t done before. This mini-LP of covers, on the other hand, is rather charming, not least because of their obvious love for the material. It’s also an strikingly eclectic selection, from The Who, The Clash and The Beatles to Strawberry Switchblade and France Gall.

 

Stress Eater

Everybody Eats! (Silver Age)

In which comic book-inspired hip-hop supergroup Czarface team up with Kool Keith, who takes on the character of Stress Eater. For the most part, it doesn’t really add up to more than the sum of its parts, but the parts are high quality, so it has its moments.

 

Throwing Muses

Moonlight Concessions (Fire Records)

11^th studio album from Throwing Muses, who pivot from the heavy vibes of 2020’s Sun Racket to a bleak, stripped down acoustic sound that isn’t that far removed from some of Kristin Hersh’s solo material, though at this stage there seems to be increasingly little difference between a Hersh solo LP and Throwing Muses album apart from personnel. Anyway, there’s some good stuff here but overall this didn’t really click with me.

 

Vondré

0:00 (Bandcamp)

Second album from Mexican alt-rock band that are invariably described as a combination of shoegaze, grunge and post-punk. To my ears, they’re more reminiscent of 90s bands like Curve – droning noise over catchy basslines fronted by melodious female vocals singing about alienation (only in Spanish!). I like it, but sometimes it feels like a case of form over substance. Then again, some of it is riveting. Will be keeping an eye on them to see where they go with this.

 

BEST SINGLES

 

David Boring

Nancy Nightmare (Damnably)

Hong Kong no-wave-inspired post-punk noise band David Boring returned to action on Halloween 2025 after time off due to the back-to-back upheavals of the 2019 protests and COVID-19 with several new singles ahead of their second LP, which is due out this month. This is the first of those, and it’s nightmarish indeed – in the best possible way. Looking forward to the new album.

 

Fulu Mikiti

Fungola (Moshi Moshi)

Latest single from Congolese band where literally every instrument they play is made from stuff recycled from the dump, from petrol cans and flip-flops to car parts and plastic tubing. They also describe themselves as an Eco-Friendly Afrofuturist Punk collective. In any case, they remain as fun as ever to listen to.

 

 

THE PLAYLIST

 

Wanna sample the above? Well you can.

Same time next year,


This is dF