Best of 2025 — Music
Before I get into my favorite albums of the year, I want to share my two favorite songs not tied to any 2025 album release. Both these songs capture the mood of the year better than anything else. The first (above) is the best song Alkaline Trio has put out in close to a decade, and the second is an alt-country toe-tapper off my most anticipated album coming in 2026 that I simply can’t wait another 12 months to share.
Moving Mountains — Pruning of the Lower Limbs
“So runDon't rely on your friends to makeSpace forever, in time you'll breakThe door is open for you to come in”This album reminds me of the first time I listened to Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity, my all-time favorite album. As I entered my teenage years and began to dive deeper beyond TRL-sponsored pop punk, I snagged a CD of Clarity because it was from the The Middle band. At that point I had no idea what emo was, so hearing such a nakedly emotional album from a band I associated with radio-friendly rock was a revelation. Pruning of the Lower Limbs gets me worked up in the same way—so gorgeous that it makes my bones ache and my eyes well up.
Durry — This Movie Sucks
“I’m freaking out thinking about everything and nothing at all,
I can’t slow down, I’m spiraling out,
If ignorance is bliss I wish I could get a little more dumb.”
How do you weigh your own good fortune against the chaos happening outside your front door? By all accounts, I’ve never been more secure. My wife and I have good paying jobs, savings, and kids thriving in a private school. In many ways, I’ve “got mine.” For way too many people, that’s where their responsibilities end, and it can be tempting to say, “not my problem.” This band and album are oftentimes silly, but speak to this dissonance. Do you retreat, or lend your energies to those who don’t have the luxury to switch off?
Turnstile — Never Enough
“My head is overjoyed
And this is where I wanna be
But I can't feel a fuckin' thing”
It’s not hyperbole to say Turnstile is the hottest band in the world right now. What other band can film a “visual album” consisting of 14 music videos, then put it in movie theaters on launch day? Experiencing this album for the first time in the front row of a packed movie theater was like being swallowed up by a tsunami of distorted guitars, concussive drums, and overwhelming visuals. But even on it’s own, the album takes hardcore punk music to new heights; the perfect gateway for more casual listeners.
Coheed and Cambira - Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make Believe
“This can't beAll that we wanted for us in the here and right nowI won't fight for the old lifeHelp me try to understandI just want to be someone who can”It must have been a nightmare living in the Colonial Homes apartments in Atlanta circa 2008-2009. Imagine listening to a bunch of 20-somethings belting out Coheed & Cambria's six minute and fifteen second-long Welcome Home on Rock Band over and over and over. If playing plastic instruments while day drunk on rum & Cokes is your only exposure to this band, I’m pleased to inform you they never stopped making music. And their latest album is filled with some of the catchiest songs in their career. But don’t even try and untangle the three decades of prog-rock lore hidden within this album’s title.
Motion City Soundtrack - The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
“One of these daysI'll break, and it all will come tumbling outUntil then, I'll brace for the courageTo say it out loud”Motion City Soundtrack has always spoken to my particular set of anxieties and neuroses. Social awkwardness, pharmaceutical dependences, the nagging feeling that you’re simply a spectator in your own life. No band is better at capturing the feeling of being stuck in your own head through catchy as hell songs that worm their way into your skull and refuse to leave.
Slow Joy — A Joy So Slow At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming
“I still try to forgetEverything reminds me that you’re goneLike a voice in my headPlaying on a loop I can’t turn off”A year on, the routines of daily life make it easy to put the loss of my dad in the back of my mind. But the 10-minute drive home from the gym every morning before the sun even rises is, without fail, when I’m reminded of him. Like me, he was an early riser, getting up at 5AM to workout, tiptoeing out of the house to keep from waking the rest of us. It’s a brief moment I look forward to every day. Anyway, if you’ve ever lost someone, this album is incredibly cathartic.
Winona Fighter — My Apologies to the Chef
“And I'm thankful, I swearI'm lucky to be hereBut hope I slip into the sofaMake my body disappear”I had this album on repeat all throughout the summer. It’s just a sweaty good time. And the album title is my favorite kind of silly & stupid joke.